The 36th Pennsylvania Infantry took more than 100 prisoners and seized the colors of the 19th Georgia Infantry at Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862—before the battle ended in Union defeat. Among the wounded was First Lieutenant Jacob Thompson Zug of Company H, the lower part of his right arm shattered and requiring amputation.

Zug, a hardware store clerk, had joined his local militia, the Cumberland Guards, in May 1861 and rose from orderly sergeant to second lieutenant in the 36th. On June 27, at Gaines’ Mill, he fell into enemy hands, but weeks later was exchanged by his captors. He returned to the 36th to fight at South Mountain and Antietam, earning his first lieutenant’s bars; after his Fredericksburg injury, he was discharged in June 1863.

Zug made his home in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and succeeded in business before he died, at 44, from consumption in 1883. He left a wife and three children. A local newspaper ended a list of his accomplishments by noting, “He was a truly good man, of sterling worth, and a kind and good friend.” 

Ronald S. Coddington is publisher of Military Images, a magazine dedicated to showcasing and preserving photos of Civil War soldiers and sailors.