The 97th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers was organized at Camp Everhart and Camp Wayne in West Chester, Pennsylvania, on October 29, 1861. Companies A, B, C, E, F, H, and K came from Chester County, and Companies D, G, and I came from Delaware County. Its field and staff officers at the regiment’s organization were Colonel Henry R. Guss, Lieutenant Colonel Augustus P. Duer, Major Galusha Pennypacker, Surgeon John R. Everhart, Assistant Surgeon George W. Miller, Adjutant Henry W. Carruthers, Quartermaster David Jones, and Chaplain William Whitehead. The regiment served at Fort Clinch, James Island, Secessionville, the Siege of Charleston, Wagner and Gregg, Dury’s Bluff, Green Plains, Cold Harbor, Petersburg Heights, Cemetery Hill, Mine Explosion, Deep Bottom, Charles City Road, Darby Town Road, Fort Fisher, Wilmington, and the surrender of Johnson. It was mustered out of service at Weldon, North Carolina, on August 28, 1865, and was dedicated to the memory of its dead on October 29, 1887.
