Among the original Bucktails was Christian Wanzel, a Lancaster native who settled in Cameron County. His grandson, John Wanzel of Delaware, is tracing the soldier's Civil War service. He'll be in the area on Aug. 4 for the Bucktails Reunion in Smethport.

Saturday reunion recalls 'Bucktails'

Armed Forces Day will be observed with a special Civil War ceremony on Saturday in the southern Cameron County community of Driftwood.

The setting is appropriate, since members of the famous Bucktail Regiment gathered at the same spot more than 140 years ago to board rafts and float down the Driftwood Branch of the Sinnemahoning Creek to join the Army of the Potomac.

This weekend, their descendants and guests will gather at the Bucktail Monument in Driftwood at 11:30 a.m. for a ceremony being organized by the Bucktail Chapter of the Retired Officers Assn.

Smethport Mayor Ross Porter, a Bucktails descendant and active Civil War re-enactor, will deliver the keynote address. Traffic on Rt. 555 will be re-routed during the service. Veterans from all branches of the service and active-duty personnel are encouraged to attend.

Much has been written about the colorful 42nd Regiment, 13th

Reserves (First Rifles of the Pa. Reserves). Their skill as marksmen and frontier background gave them an advantage on the battlefield as soldiers.

In 1861, General Thomas L. Kane assembled the regiment of volunteers from the northwestern Pennsylvania "Wildcat District," which had no specific boundaries. Soldiers attached the tail of a whitetailed deer to the back of their hats, demonstrating marksmanship and pride in the regiment.

Mayor Porter describes Gen. Kane's recruitment pitch as follows:

"The nation is in grave danger. The Confederate states have seceded. The Union garrison, Fort Sumter, South Carolina, has been besieged by the Rebels. Washington, D.C. is threatened with attack."

Volunteers stepped forward to take the oath of enlistment. Before the men left town, the crowd offered three cheers for the regiment, three for the flag and another three for Gen. Kane.

They followed Potato Creek out of Smethport, proceeding to Emporium and then Driftwood. From there, they floated down the Sinnemahoning Creek on four rafts, one of which crashed later. They then boarded a train in Lock Haven to Camp Curtin in Harrisburg.