Description
This cdv was taken by Matthew Brady. In September 1861, Governor Andrew Curtin commissioned Knipe as a colonel to recruit the 46th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. In the spring of 1862, Knipe fought in the Valley Campaign against Stonewall Jackson's forces. He was wounded at the First Battle of Winchester. He was again wounded at the Battle of Cedar Mountain.
On April 15, 1863, Knipe was promoted to brigadier general, backdated to November 1862. He led first brigade first division XII Corps under Alpheus Williams which saw action at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Suffering from lingering effects from his wounds and a bout with malaria, he temporarily left the Army of the Potomac and returned to Harrisburg. He took command of a brigade of inexperienced New York militia and led it in pursuit of the retreating Army of Northern Virginia following the Battle of Gettysburg.
Returning to his XII Corps brigade, Knipe went to the Western Theater and served in the Atlanta Campaign. He took command of a division of Union cavalry during John Bell Hood's incursion into Tennessee, and captured 6,000 Confederates and eight battle flags in a decisive victory over the retreating Army of Tennessee following the Battle of Nashville.
