Some Union soldiers fought to defend their homes as well.

David Richwine was born in Cumberland, Pennsylvania in 1838. He worked as a laborer on the Sibe family farm near Monroe, Cumberland County by age 13, according to the 1850 census. He eventually became a miller in Carlisle, where he met Anna M. Hoffman. They married on December 12, 1858 in the Second Presbyterian Church of Carlisle. Reverend W.W. Eells performed the service. Their daughter, Mary Catherine, was born six months later.

Like many of his neighbors, David joined a local militia unit at the outbreak of the Civil War. He enlisted as a private in Company H, 1^st Pennsylvania Reserve in Carlisle on June 8, 1861. When the regiment was ordered to Baltimore for federal service the week after the first Battle of Bull Run, David was one of twenty men in the company who refused federal service. He remained in Carlisle working as a miller. A son, Edwin, was born in November.

David’s feelings apparently changed after the war came to Carlisle during the Gettysburg campaign. Lieutenant John Johnson enlisted him into Company D, 1^st U.S. Cavalry on August 31, 1863. His enlistment documents describe him as 5’7” tall, with blue eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion. His 1^st Cavalry squadron, comprised of Companies D and G, arrived at Carlisle the previous month to reconstitute following service in New Mexico since the beginning of the war. In October the squadron moved to Camp Buford at Giesboro Point, Maryland, where it was armed and equipped. On November 6^th it departed to rejoin the regiment.

David took to cavalry life well, earning a promotion to corporal before active campaigning resumed in the spring. Sickness struck him in February, eventually requiring evacuation to a hospital in Washington, D.C. until mid May. He returned to the regiment and escaped harm during the heavy fighting at Cold Harbor and Trevillian Station.

The regiment embarked on ships for the initial stage of their journey to the Shenandoah Valley at the beginning of August 1864. Near Fort Washington, Maryland, Corporal Richwine was kicked overboard by a horse and drowned in the Potomac River.

Anna submitted her pension application, which was promptly approved. She received $8 per month, and each of the children $2 per month until age 16. When she remarried in 1867, her new husband’s brother was appointed guardian of the children, and their monthly rate increased to $8 per month each until they turned 16.