Logan A. Dyke, Union City Civil War Soldier
They were the boys in blue, the fresh-faced, peach-fuzzed young men who marched off to save the Union and came back to pick up their lives as weathered veterans. Logan a. Dyke had been in the thick of it. His service record is peppered with names like Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain and Buzzards Roost. During his long life – he lived to be 102 years, 11 months and 10 days- he often reminisced about his battle experiences.
Dyke was born on a farm in Franklin County, new York. He was the son of school teachers and one of Oberlin College’s first graduates. He came to Erie County, Pennsylvania, when he was very young and attended the public schools there. He also studied bookkeeping and accounting in an Erie commercial school. When the Civil War started, Dyke was living in Harbor Creek, and he, along with hundreds of other young men hurried to enlist.
The Civil War officially began for Dyke on November 23, 1861, when he enlisted as a private in Company F, 111th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. He left Erie in 1861 with 1,000 other soldiers from the area. The newly organized regiment entrained for the state capital at Harrisburg on January 26, 1862, and that spring was transferred to Harper’s Ferry where it joined the Army of the Potomac. From that time on, Dyke and his comrades fought in all major battles, including Harper’s Ferry, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga,Gettysburg, and Atlanta.
One of the battles Dyke remembered with bayonet sharpness was the Battle of Gettysburg when the 111th Pennsylvania Infantry successful defended Culp’s Hill against Confederate attack. He said that from his position on the hill he could see the men of Longstreet’s command, led by Pickett and his Virginians, advance upon Cemetery Ridge and meet their doom at the high-water mark and bloody angle. It was during this battle that a bullet creased his cheek. He also remembered that several other attacks made on the 111th Infantry during the war were just as courageous and bloody as the world-famous charge of Pickett’s men. Congress cited his outfit for the part that it played in the Battle of Gettysburg.
In 1864, during Sherman’s famous “march to the sea” Dyke lost his left arm and nearly lost his life. His company was fighting just outside of Atlanta in the first engagement of the siege at Peach Tree Creek, on July 20, 1864, when he was hit. He received three serious wounds. One bullet raked the top of his head. Another bullet struck his side directly over his heart, but glanced off after hitting his gold fountain pen.
Recalling the event, Dyke said, “I would have been a total casualty if it hadn’t been for a gold pen I carried which the bullet struck, glancing off into my arm.”
The third wound, the most serious hit, was in his left arm and shoulder where a main artery was severed. An Army surgeon amputated his arm on the battlefield, and the following day, he was moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where the wounded were sheltered temporarily before being taken to Louisville, Kentucky. He was confined to the hospital for eight months and the doctors predicted that he would not survive his wounds.
Altogether, Dyke served in the Army for three years and eight months and was on active duty with his command at the end of the war despite the loss of his arm. When the war ended in April 1865, Private Dyke had advanced to the rank of sergeant major, the highest non-commissioned rank in the Union Army.
When Logan Dyke came marching home again, he picked up the threads of his civilian life. In 1869, he married Sarah Baer at Pigeon, Michigan. After living on a farm near Wesleyville, Pennsylvania, for ten years, he spent ten years in Kansas, and then moved to Union City in 1898. The Dykes had three children: Ella, E.M. and Fred. After Sarah died in 1919, Dyke moved in with his daughter, Ella, and her husband, D.E. Junkins.
The people of Union City became accustomed to seeing “His erect, spare figure, his soldierly bearing, dignity, and impeccable neatness, his snow-white hair, moustache, and beard, his kindly grey eyes, his cane and empty left sleeve pinned back – all of these made up a picture familiar and loved by all.”
On Wednesday, January 28, 1942, Union City citizens celebrated the 100th birthday of Sergeant major Dyke. He received congratulations from President Roosevelt in the White House. Pennsylvania Governor Arthur H. james sent him a congratulatory telegram, as well as Congressman R.L. Rogers, Senator James J. Davis, the adjutant general’s office and other national officials. He received handwritten messages of congratulations from friends in all parts of the United States.
Local celebrations were just as noteworthy and festive. Members of the Union City High School band in full uniform serenaded Dyke at his home on Second Avenue at 11 o’clock in the morning. The day’s activities climaxed at 6:30 in the evening when about 250 people attended a community banquet in his honor at the Baptist Church. Coleman’s Band played his favorite selection, a march called “The Boys in Blue.” As they played, Logan Dyke, accompanied by members of his family was escorted to his table in the main dining room.
During the dinner, Dyke’s eyes gleamed as someone placed a birthday cake with 100 lighted candles on it in front of him. After looking it over carefully, he remarked, “Well, you can have your cake and eat it!” With two healthy puffs, he extinguished the candles.
Attorney Mortimer E. Graham of Erie, speaker of the evening, pointed out that Dyke had lived during the administrations of 19 presidents and the waging of seven American wars. After Graham’s talk, Dr. George H. Ledger, president of the Union City Lion’s Club, presented Dyke with a scroll, enrolling him as an honorary member of the Union City branch of the Lions. This made Dyke the oldest member of the Lion’s International.
Next, toastmaster O.C. hatch on behalf of the residents of Union City, presented the guest of honor with a banjo clock. It was inscribed: “Presented to Sergeant major Logan J. Dyke, of 111th Regiment, Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, with veneration and esteem by the citizens of Union City, Pennsylvania, in celebration of his 100th birthday, January 28, 1942.
The Sergeant Major accepted his gifts graciously at his place and in a “clear, understanding tone,” thanked the community for its consideration of him on his 100th birthday.
When Logan Dyke died on Monday, January 10, 1945, he had reached the grand old age of 102 years, 11 months and 10 days. He would have been 103 years old on January 28, if he had waited another two weeks to answer the final bugle call.
Dyke was born on a farm in Franklin County, new York. He was the son of school teachers and one of Oberlin College’s first graduates. He came to Erie County, Pennsylvania, when he was very young and attended the public schools there. He also studied bookkeeping and accounting in an Erie commercial school. When the Civil War started, Dyke was living in Harbor Creek, and he, along with hundreds of other young men hurried to enlist.
The Civil War officially began for Dyke on November 23, 1861, when he enlisted as a private in Company F, 111th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. He left Erie in 1861 with 1,000 other soldiers from the area. The newly organized regiment entrained for the state capital at Harrisburg on January 26, 1862, and that spring was transferred to Harper’s Ferry where it joined the Army of the Potomac. From that time on, Dyke and his comrades fought in all major battles, including Harper’s Ferry, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga,Gettysburg, and Atlanta.
One of the battles Dyke remembered with bayonet sharpness was the Battle of Gettysburg when the 111th Pennsylvania Infantry successful defended Culp’s Hill against Confederate attack. He said that from his position on the hill he could see the men of Longstreet’s command, led by Pickett and his Virginians, advance upon Cemetery Ridge and meet their doom at the high-water mark and bloody angle. It was during this battle that a bullet creased his cheek. He also remembered that several other attacks made on the 111th Infantry during the war were just as courageous and bloody as the world-famous charge of Pickett’s men. Congress cited his outfit for the part that it played in the Battle of Gettysburg.
In 1864, during Sherman’s famous “march to the sea” Dyke lost his left arm and nearly lost his life. His company was fighting just outside of Atlanta in the first engagement of the siege at Peach Tree Creek, on July 20, 1864, when he was hit. He received three serious wounds. One bullet raked the top of his head. Another bullet struck his side directly over his heart, but glanced off after hitting his gold fountain pen.
Recalling the event, Dyke said, “I would have been a total casualty if it hadn’t been for a gold pen I carried which the bullet struck, glancing off into my arm.”
The third wound, the most serious hit, was in his left arm and shoulder where a main artery was severed. An Army surgeon amputated his arm on the battlefield, and the following day, he was moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where the wounded were sheltered temporarily before being taken to Louisville, Kentucky. He was confined to the hospital for eight months and the doctors predicted that he would not survive his wounds.
Altogether, Dyke served in the Army for three years and eight months and was on active duty with his command at the end of the war despite the loss of his arm. When the war ended in April 1865, Private Dyke had advanced to the rank of sergeant major, the highest non-commissioned rank in the Union Army.
When Logan Dyke came marching home again, he picked up the threads of his civilian life. In 1869, he married Sarah Baer at Pigeon, Michigan. After living on a farm near Wesleyville, Pennsylvania, for ten years, he spent ten years in Kansas, and then moved to Union City in 1898. The Dykes had three children: Ella, E.M. and Fred. After Sarah died in 1919, Dyke moved in with his daughter, Ella, and her husband, D.E. Junkins.
The people of Union City became accustomed to seeing “His erect, spare figure, his soldierly bearing, dignity, and impeccable neatness, his snow-white hair, moustache, and beard, his kindly grey eyes, his cane and empty left sleeve pinned back – all of these made up a picture familiar and loved by all.”
On Wednesday, January 28, 1942, Union City citizens celebrated the 100th birthday of Sergeant major Dyke. He received congratulations from President Roosevelt in the White House. Pennsylvania Governor Arthur H. james sent him a congratulatory telegram, as well as Congressman R.L. Rogers, Senator James J. Davis, the adjutant general’s office and other national officials. He received handwritten messages of congratulations from friends in all parts of the United States.
Local celebrations were just as noteworthy and festive. Members of the Union City High School band in full uniform serenaded Dyke at his home on Second Avenue at 11 o’clock in the morning. The day’s activities climaxed at 6:30 in the evening when about 250 people attended a community banquet in his honor at the Baptist Church. Coleman’s Band played his favorite selection, a march called “The Boys in Blue.” As they played, Logan Dyke, accompanied by members of his family was escorted to his table in the main dining room.
During the dinner, Dyke’s eyes gleamed as someone placed a birthday cake with 100 lighted candles on it in front of him. After looking it over carefully, he remarked, “Well, you can have your cake and eat it!” With two healthy puffs, he extinguished the candles.
Attorney Mortimer E. Graham of Erie, speaker of the evening, pointed out that Dyke had lived during the administrations of 19 presidents and the waging of seven American wars. After Graham’s talk, Dr. George H. Ledger, president of the Union City Lion’s Club, presented Dyke with a scroll, enrolling him as an honorary member of the Union City branch of the Lions. This made Dyke the oldest member of the Lion’s International.
Next, toastmaster O.C. hatch on behalf of the residents of Union City, presented the guest of honor with a banjo clock. It was inscribed: “Presented to Sergeant major Logan J. Dyke, of 111th Regiment, Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers, with veneration and esteem by the citizens of Union City, Pennsylvania, in celebration of his 100th birthday, January 28, 1942.
The Sergeant Major accepted his gifts graciously at his place and in a “clear, understanding tone,” thanked the community for its consideration of him on his 100th birthday.
When Logan Dyke died on Monday, January 10, 1945, he had reached the grand old age of 102 years, 11 months and 10 days. He would have been 103 years old on January 28, if he had waited another two weeks to answer the final bugle call.