John D. Hoptak lectures on James Nagle at the Pottsville Area Historical Society, Museum and Gift Shop. PHOTO BY JACQUELINE DORMER
Originally published on April 8, 2022.
POTTSVILLE - When Pottsville sign-painter, wallpaper-hanger, former Sheriff, school board member, Borough Council President and U.S. Army General James Nagle died in 1866 at the age of 44, the Miners Journal newspaper described his life and death with the purplest of prose.
Despite serving in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War, the Miners Journal reported that “he was succumbing to adversaries too great for medicine to combat.”
Nagle’s funeral was one of the largest in Pottsville history. Businesses closed. Flags were at half-mast. He was buried in Pottsville’s Presbyterian Cemetery wearing civilian clothes, in a walnut casket that the Miners Journal praised for its tasteful design. Atop the casket was an American flag and a ceremonial sword, a gift from the people of Schuylkill County when Nagle returned from the Mexican War. That sword is now on display in the Schuylkill County Historical Society, where John D. Hoptak lectured about Nagle (pronounced “Noggle”) Wednesday night.
Tuesday was the 200th anniversary of Nagle’s birth.
Hoptak, a park ranger at Gettysburg and Schuylkill County native, has had a lifelong fascination with the general.
“He was the quintessential citizen-turned-soldier of America’s past,” Hoptak said. “He responded to his community’s call, and his country’s call. He was a family man, a loving husband and father.”
James Nagle was the eldest of eight children, the son of a cabinet maker who settled in Pottsville in 1833. He grew up hearing stories of his grandfather, who served in the Continental Army under George Washington. At the age of 18, Nagle organized his own militia, the Pottsville Blues. They soon became known as the Washington Artillery. In a time when militias paraded around wielding gardening tools, Nagle prided himself on discipline.
“He seemed destined for higher command,” Hoptak said.
An unofficial member of the militia was a Black man named Nick Biddle. Born into slavery, Biddle settled in Pottsville. He would later go on to be one of the Civil War’s first casualties.
Nagle made deep connections with people from all walks of life. In 2021, Hoptak lobbied a nonprofit to replace the decayed gravestone of Emerguildo Marquis, a Mexican orphan who Nagle adopted during his service in the Mexican War. He was a beloved member of the Nagle family and later became a bugler in the Civil War, sharing the Nagles’ love of music.
The only known photo of Emerguildo Marquis (right) and his brother James Winfield Nagle. PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN NAGLE
“Few other citizen-soldiers did more for the Union, did more for the United States, than James Nagle,” Hoptak said. “He proved himself a competent leader, and apparently a brave leader, on the battlefield.”
When war with Mexico broke out, Nagle wrote to President James K. Polk and offered himself and his militia. Politically, the Whig Party, of which Nagle was a member, largely opposed the war. However, he was eager to prove his worth on the battlefield. Despite having no formal military training, he returned to Pottsville a hero.
On April 15, 1861, following the bombardment of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln placed an order for 75,000 volunteers. On April 17, Nagle’s Washington Artillery boarded trains for Harrisburg. They would forever be known as the “First Defenders.” During the Civil War, Nagle was a colonel and brigadier general.
“He raised, he organized and led not one, not two, not three, but four regiments of Pennsylvania volunteer infantry,” Hoptak said. “He helped to raise over 4,000 volunteers which he would subsequently command on the field of battle.”
In 1863, Nagle was forced to resign due to heart disease. Still, he continued to organize regiments as the war dragged on. His condition worsened, and he died on August 22 1866, two days after President Andrew Johnson formally declared the end of hostilities.
The grave of James Nagle and his wife. PHOTO BY JACQUELINE DORMER
“It was not a long life he led,” Hoptak said, “but it was a useful one. It was a full life, he saw a lot.”
Biographical booklets sung his praises. They, and the newspapers, declared that his name would live in posterity and be known by all Americans. Hoptak doesn’t see it that way.
“He ranks today among the most obscure generals,” he said, “even though he is immortalized in that monument atop Antietam National Battlefield.”
The monument shows Nagle facing westward, towards the enemy. His stance is not warlike, but calm and observant. It’s larger than life, but not by much.
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