Pvt. Casper Richard Carlisle (October 1841-April 1908), arguably Richland Township’s “most famous” human resident ever, is virtually unknown. Notwithstanding his Civil War heroism, his is a sad, sad story.
Bakerstown’s Penn Tree, which took root in 1598 and officially has been proclaimed as Allegheny County’s oldest tree, is Richland’s most famous resident; however, she is of the Quercus alba species. If limited to Richland’s “most famous” homo sapiens, a strong contender would be Revolutionary War traitor Simon Girty, the “White Savage,” who occasionally camped on Girty’s Knob (the hill above today’s Route 910 and Meridian Road intersection).
Little known as Girty is, though, Carlisle, Richland’s most-famous human, a Battle of Gettysburg Medal of Honor recipient, is virtually unknown, a total mystery even to history buffs.
Casper Carlisle claimed to be from Bakerstown. It has not helped historians attempting to learn more about Casper’s life off the battlefield that: 1) he was actually born in Ross Township and lived there for at least 9 years; 2) he never technically lived in Bakerstown, the closet village to any of his residences; 3) it is possible that he never even lived with his mother and father in Pine or Richland Township, which was carved out of Pine and West Deer in 1860; 4) he and his parents never owned property (renting or living with others) and apparently were perpetually poor; 5) those in his Carlisle family who were property owners lived in West Deer, not Richland or Pine; 6) some of his siblings spelled their last name differently (Carlile, not Carlisle); and 7) he may have had some cognitive issues, if not for all of his life, possibly in his last 14 years.
Casper’s mother and father (Mary Ann Hawes and Richard Carlisle) appear on the 1840 Ross Township census without mention of Casper, who was not born until 1841. He appears on the 1850 Ross census as an 8-year-old living with his family and on the 1860 Pine census as an 18-year-old “laborer” in Esquire Thomas Gibson’s (1797-1865) household. Casper’s 1860 family is listed in Pine, but without him.
A pauper’s life
Gibson (after whom the then-“Gundakker” area of Pine-Richland was renamed “Gibsonia” in 1882) was a wealthy justice of the peace, owner of numerous area farm properties and one known to help the less fortunate. As Casper’s mother and father were poor, had eight children, moved frequently and never owned property, it is probable that Casper received little horse training while living with them. He likely learned to deal effectively with horses while living with the Thomas Gibson farm family.
Based upon what we have learned about Pvt. Carlisle’s life, the Richland History Group speculates that Casper may have been somewhat slow cognitively, although not enough to keep him from enlisting in the military. Our research revealed that Thomas Gibson helped people, including the less fortunate. The 1850 Pine census, for example, shows a 41-year-old who could neither read nor write living with Gibson’s family as a “laborer.” Might Esquire Gibson similarly have helped a young, slow-learning Carlisle?
Casper was a pauper his entire life. He never owned property nor rose above being a horse-driven wagon driver. He even sought small-dollar handouts from his Grand Army of the Republic Post, which, despite his being a Gettysburg Medal of Honor winner, never gave him any organizational responsibility. After the war, Casper lived in Allegheny City, an area close to the Pittsburgh Poor Farm for the “insane” and indigent. Our research indicates that it was not uncommon in 19th-century Pittsburgh for the “insane” to live in their “cognitive” doctors’ homes, rather than be confined as patients in the Pittsburgh Poor Farm.
Starting at age 53 (as best we can gather), Pvt. Carlisle was a “patient” at South Fayette’s Marshalsea Poor Farm (later called Mayview), a hospital for the “insane” and poor. He remained there until his 1908 death. All “patients” were required to work, and records list him as a wagon driver.
Was he at Marshalsea because he 1) was poor and not especially ambitious; 2) had Traumatic Stress Syndrome from the horrors of intense Civil War battle; or 3) was always somewhat slow cognitively?
Civil War heroism
In October 1861, Casper and brother Benjamin, two years his younger, mustered into the Union Army at Pittsburgh, serving in Capt. Robert Brown Hampton’s Independent Pennsylvania Light Artillery (a unit of cannons pulled by six horses), which later became known as Battery F.
On May 3, 1863, Hampton was killed in action at Chancellorsville. Capt. James Thompson’s Pennsylvania battery unit was merged temporarily with the deceased Hampton’s for the Battle of Gettysburg. On the second day of battle, commencing at 5 p.m. near the Peach Orchard, Thompson’s combined unit (Batteries C and F) came under extreme Confederate fire from three directions.
Together, Pvt. Casper Carlisle and Capt. Thompson (with Casper apparently taking the lead and putting himself at great risk in their effort, according to Thompson’s report) saved an important cannon about to be lost to the enemy. Carlisle attached new horses from those that had been killed or wounded and moved the gun to safety. It then was returned to battle. Pvt. Carlisle also nursed an injured horse as deadly bullets whizzed around him.
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For this extreme heroism, Captain Thompson immediately recommended that Casper be awarded the Medal of Honor. The Department of War did not act on this recommendation until 1893, some 30 years after the Gettysburg battle, and even then, only after Capt. Thompson was made an honorary member and then vice president of Casper’s Pittsburgh GAR Post 128. One has to believe that Casper, the only Allegheny County Medal of Honor winner from the three-day Battle of Gettysburg, was not much of a self-promoter.
Look for the second part of the Casper Carlisle story in next month’s Pine Creek Journal.