The Thirteenth Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment, also known as the 42nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, the 1st Pennsylvania Rifles, Kane's Rifles, or simply the "Bucktails," was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was a part of the famed Pennsylvania Reserve division in the Army of the Potomac for much of the early and middle parts of the war, and served in the Eastern Theater in a number of important battles, including Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. The "Rifles" designation was a holdover from the days when soldiers who carried rifled weapons were a special outfit, and the Bucktails carried breech-loading Model 1859 Sharps Rifles, normally only issued to sharpshooters. History Organization Service The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves was mustered at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on June 21, 1861. Thomas L. Kane was elected colonel, Charles John Biddle as lieutenant colonel, and Roy Stone as major. Kane, as a civilian, wanted to have Biddle, a Mexican War Veteran, be colonel instead, and a second election was held, granting Kane his wish. The unit served as part of the Pennsylvania Reserves for the majority of its service with the Union Army. The regiment was initially issued .69 caliber smoothbore muskets, but some of the men would not accept them, insisting that they were a rifle regiment. They eventually received .58 caliber rifles and used these weapons through August 1862. The 13th Reserves were first assigned to garrison duty in Maryland. On July 12 a scouting party under Kane of sixty men were surrounded by cavalry at New Creek Village, but fought them off, killing eight Confederates and wounding sixteen. After receiving reinforcements, Kane moved to Ridgeville which he captured after a skirmish. In the fall, it was assigned to the V Corps of the Army of the Potomac, then serving in the Shenandoah Valley. On October 20, it marched to Dranesville, where Colonel Kane was wounded in the mouth while repulsing the Confederates. During a reorganization of the regiment in January 1862, Hugh W. McNeil was elected colonel and Kane lieutenant colonel, with Stone remaining major. Biddle had resigned to take his place in Congress. During the Peninsula Campaign, the Pennsylvania Reserves division was assigned as part of the I Corps; only part of the regiment went to the Peninsula, Companies C, G, H, and I, under the command of Kane, remaining in the Valley. This provisional battalion