GEORGE C. BIDDLE: Civil War Soldier

Arlington National Cemetery

As we honor today the members of our country’s military who made the ultimate sacrifice, I wanted to share this information regarding George C. Biddle. He is a little more of a distant ancestor but like William Henry Harrison Phillips and John B. Biddle, he was killed in action in the Civil War.

George was born on July 4, 1840 and died on April 25, 1865. He was the grandson of Andrew Biddle and Christina Cover. He was a private in Company C, 205th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. He mustered in at age 25 on August 26, 1864. He was wounded on April 4, 1865 at the Battle of the Breakthrough in Petersburg, Virginia. This was one of the last battles of the Civil War and was a decisive Union victory that caused Confederate General Robert E. Lee to abandon Petersburg after a 10 month siege. I toured this battle field in 2010 although I was unaware at that time of George C. Biddle.

After being wounded on April 4, 1865, George was taken to Lincoln General Hospital in Washington, D.C., where he died on April 25, 1865. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery although there is also a headstone for him in the Biddle-Hoover Family Cemetery, Plum Creek, East Sharpsburg, Taylor Township, Blair County, Pennsylvania.