Ario Pardee
| Ario Pardee, Jr. | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
October 28, 1839 Hazleton, Pennsylvania |
| Died | March 16, 1901 (aged 61) Wyncote, Pennsylvania |
| Buried | St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania |
| Allegiance |
United States of America Union |
| Service/branch |
United States Army Union Army |
| Years of service | 1861 – 1865 |
| Rank |
 Colonel Brevet Brigadier general
|
| Unit | 28th Pennsylvania Infantry |
| Commands held |
147th Pennsylvania Infantry 1st Brigade, 1st Div., XX Corps |
| Battles/wars | |
Ario Pardee, Jr. (October 28, 1839 – March 16, 1901) was an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He rose to fame during the Battle of Gettysburg, where he led the defense of a portion of Culp's Hill on July 3, 1863. A monument on the Gettysburg Battlefield commemorates the spot as "Pardee Field."
Ario (Ariovistus) Pardee, Jr. was the eldest child of Ariovistus Pardee, a capitalist who founded Hazleton, Pennsylvania, and Elizabeth Jacobs. He was born in Hazleton on October 28, 1839. In 1847, his mother died in childbirth. The following year, his father married Anna Maria Robison, the family's governess. Pardee trained as a civil engineer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. After graduating in 1858, he became involved in running his father’s anthracite coal mines. By the outbreak of the war, he was married to Mary Allison. Their only child was stillborn during the Civil War. Ario Pardee Jr. had no direct descendants.
Pardee joined the 28th Pennsylvania Infantry on June 28, 1861. It was encamped at Camp Coleman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in July while completing organization. After serving as captain of Company A, organized by his father, he was named major on November 1 of that year. (Col John W. Geary had been made a brigadier general, and Pardee was among those promoted in the follow-up to that promotion.) Pardee served under Geary in the Shenandoah Valley, when MG Nathaniel Banks was bested by Stonewall Jackson. Pardee criticized Geary's actions in that campaign, especially his abandoning Thoroughfare Gap in the face of a Confederate advance. Apparently, Pardee thought a force of 5,000 federals could withstand a force of 28,000 Confederates. His reasons for this opinion are unclear to this day. Pardee thought Geary overestimated dangers confronting him. (Geary's actions may have been the wiser, since both survived the war. While serving under MG John Pope in Virginia, Pardee missed the Battle of Cedar Mountain; and Banks' command was not engaged at the Second Battle of Bull Run, being detailed to guard the rear of Pope's army. It only did some skirmishing after the battle had ended.
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