Isaac D. Knight

Isaac D. Knight

Delmar and Joan Hooley

Quick Facts

Significance:

US Army Medical Officer

Place of Birth:

Baltimore, Maryland

Date of Birth:

September 6, 1813

Place of Death:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Date of Death:

January 15, 1867

Place of Burial:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Cemetery Name:

Old Cathedral Cemetery

Isaac Donaldson Knight was the Chief Surgeon of the Federal Army of West Virginia during the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign.

Early Life

Issac D. Knight was born on September 6, 1813, in Baltimore, Maryland, to Elizabeth and Abel Knight. At the age of four, the family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was raised and educated as a Quaker. Knight graduated with a degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1837 from the University of Pennsylvania. The following year he moved to Galveston, Texas where he married Ann Catherine Hoff. They had three children: Henry, Mary, and Bernardo. 

Medical Career 

Doctor Knight’s medical profession took him to many places, including several cities in Mexico. When war broke out between Mexico and the United States in 1846, he returned to Galveston, and began working for the U.S. Army. In 1855 Knight and his family moved back to Philadelphia, where he established a private medical practice in the city.

Civil War 

Knight enlisted as a surgeon in the 91st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in 1861. In August of 1862, the regiment was attached to the Federal Army of the Potomac 5th Corps. Although the 91st Pennsylvania was not engaged at Antietam, Knight was present at field hospitals after the fact. Antietam remains the bloodiest single day battle in American history. At various points during the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, Knight served as the brigade level, and division level, medical director. 

In the Shenandoah Valley 

On June 30, 1864, Knight was appointed as a surgeon with the Federal Army of West Virginia which was operating in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. He was assigned to Captain Henry du Pont’s artillery battalion. He saw witnessed extensive fighting that summer and fall, including during the October 19, 1864, Battle of Cedar Creek. 

During the early morning of that engagement, Knight was captured by the attacking Confederates and taken prisoner. As the Confederates retreated from the battlefield in the afternoon, Knight accompanied the ambulance wagon of mortally wounded Confederate General Stephen D. Ramseur. As they moved south on the Valley Pike it became apparent that the wagon would be overtaken by approaching Federal cavalry. Major Robert R. Richardson, Ramseur's medical officer, surrendered to Knight on the general's behalf. Knight ordered that Ramseur be taken to Belle Grove Plantation so he could receive additional medical care. Ramseur died in the plantation house the next day. 

Post Civil War

Knight mustered out of military service in November 1865. He returned to his family in Philadelphia. Although raised a Quaker, Knight had converted to Catholic faith. On January 13, 1867, he died suddenly after attending mass. His widow, Ann, applied to receive a Knight's military pension in 1870. The claim was approved and she received $25 per month until her death in 1881. Both Issac and Ann are buried together in Philadelphia's Old Cathedral Cemetery.