History: The 84th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in the Winter of 1861-1862

My first command simulation was "Longstreet versus Sickles" (LVS). I also ran two or three other simulations using Gettysburg period Union III Corps orders of battle. For those of us that have Gettysburg for a reference point, we often forget about the 84th Pennsylvania. It had served in the Valley in Carroll's Brigade and eventually in Whipple's 3rd Division of the III Corps. When that division was broken up after Chancellorsville, the 84th was assigned to Carr's Brigade of the 2nd Division, but... at Taneytown it was assigned to guard the corps trains and forward supplies to the battle, a "vitally important duty, but one devoid of heroic incident," as noted in Bates' History of Pennsylvania Volunteers. Bates give some insight into the early days of the 84th's service, which aligns with the period and local of the B & O WINTER command simulation, here is what Bates has for the 84th during the winter of 1861-1862 (the lack of paragraphs is as originally published):

Colors of the 84th Pennsylvania Volunteers

The men rendezvoused at Camp Crossman, near Huntingdon, and subsequently at Camp Curtin. Recruiting commenced early in August, and towards the close of October an organization was effected by the choice of the following field officers: William G.

Colonel William Gray Murray, the 1st Colonel of the 84th Pennsylvania
and the first Pennsylvania Colonel to be killed in the war
 (at Kernstown, March 1862)

Murray, Colonel; Thomas C. MacDowell, Lieutenant Colonel; Walter Barrett, Major. On the 31st of December, the regiment was ordered to Hancock, Maryland, arriving January 2d, 1862. Here it received arms, Belgian muskets, and crossing the Potomac, proceeded rapidly to Bath, where a portion of the Thirtyninth Illinois, with a section of artillery, Lieutenant Muhlenberg, was posted, confronting the enemy. Upon his arrival, Colonel Murray assumed command of the entire force, and at four o'clock on the morning of the 4th, advanced to the eminence beyond the town and deployed in line of battle. He soon learned that Stonewall Jackson, with a well appointed force of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, greatly superior to his own, was in his front. At eight o'clock, Jackson began to press upon him, driving in his skirmishers. By skillful manceuvring, preserving a bold front, he kept the enemy at bay until near nightfall, when he fell back to Hancock, with the loss of but one man, drowned in crossing the stream. During the night, General Lander arrived and assumed command, and Jackson, who had approached and was shelling the town, sent Colonel Ashby, on the morning of the 5th, with a flag of truce, to demand its immediate surrender. Lander defiantly refused, and having been reinforced with Parrott guns, a spirited cannonade ensued, which was kept up during the entire day following. But this demonstration on the part of Jackson was to cover his movement upon Romney, and Lander, as soon as he discovered his antagonist's purpose, hastened away to secure its evacuation, which he did, bringing his forces into Cumberland. The Eighty-fourth made a forced march to the latter place, arriving on the 12th. Jackson having been foiled in his expedition to Romney, by the rapid movement of Lander, returned to Winchester, and the Eighty-fourth was posted successively during the winter at the North Branch Bridge, at the South Branch Bridge, and at Paw Paw, points along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. 

From Bates,Samuel P, (1869)  History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1861 Vol. 2, Harrisburg: State Printer,. p. 1307