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On the 6th of April, 1862, the 75th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers moved through Warrenton to Salem, Virginia, where it bivouacked
four days, taking shelter in the woods during a heavy snow storm. It proceeded on April 11th, via Upperville to Paris, Virginia, and
from there to Berry's Ferry. On April 15th, the regiment was ordered to cross the Shenandoah River, and move to
Winchester, in pursuit of Stonewall Jackson's force then confronting Federal General Banks. Several rafts were constructed
to cross the troops. The Shenandoah River was high, and the current was rapid. Company D, the skirmish company, crossed
in safety, when, to save time, an old ferry boat, which had been partly burned by the Confederates, was repaired, and a rope
streched across the stream to guide it. Companies I and K embarked, and when near the middle of the river, the boat swamped
and suddenly began to sink. It was a moment of terror. A shriek of agony rent the air as they were suddenly engulphed.
Scores of knapsacks covering the surface of the water were all that was visible of the unfortunate men as they floated,
thus burdened, in the river. Captain Christian Wyek, of Company K, Lieutenant Adolph Winter, of company I, First Sergeant
Joseph Tiedemann, of company K, and fifty enlisted men were drowned. Sergeant Tiedemann, an expert swimmer, sacrificed his
life in a vain attempt to save that of his Captain.
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