Bucktail reunion Aug. 9-10

Members of the public are welcome to attend when descendants of the famous Civil War regiment and other history buffs converge in Tioga County Aug. 9-10 for the annual Pennsylvania Bucktails Reunion.

Company E of 42nd Pa. Volunteers, an infantry re-enactment and educational group, will host the reunion with an encampment at the Ives Run area near the village of Tioga. There will be live period music, demonstrations of the Civil War era lifestyle, and other activities, with period attire encouraged.

Volunteers from the Pennsylvania "Wildcat District," an undefined region roughly encompassing today's McKean, Cameron, Potter, Tioga and Elk counties, answered the call to serve in the 42nd Regiment, 13th Reserves (First Rifles of the Pa. Reserves), a Civil War regiment under the leadership of Colonel Thomas L. Kane.

They were distinguished from other soldiers by the tail of a whitetailed deer attached to the back of their hats. It was a symbol of unity and a badge of marksmanship.

The Bucktails played a critical role in important Union battle victories, including Gettysburg.

To some extent, their effectiveness was a tribute to the leadership skills of Kane, who was eventually promoted to general, as well as the mental and physical toughness of the volunteers. The local soldiers also had a battlefield advantage as experienced marksmen from a frontier background.

Col. Kane's recruitment pitch was reportedly 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 Col. 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. They then boarded a train in Lock Haven to Camp Curtin in Harrisburg.