​Uriah Galusha Pennypacker was born in Valley Forge in Schuylkill Township. His mother died shortly after his birth and his father abandoned him to serve in Mexico. He later became a newspaperman in West Chester and gold prospector in California. In August, 1861 Galusha joined the 97th Pennsylvania Infantry, a unit organized in West Chester. Depending on his date of birth he was between 17 and 20 years old at the time. His family’s prominence played a major role in rank so Galusha started his career as a captain. Before joining the army, he was appointed to a cadetship at the West Point Military Academy through his uncle. After training at Camp Wayne near West Chester, the 97th travelled to Fort Monroe outside Washington and then by ship to the sea islands along the coast of South Carolina. Their most famous engagement in the South was the assault on Fort Wagner which took place about two weeks after the Battle of Gettysburg. The Fort Wagner assault is portrayed in the  1989 movie "Glory."

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The 97th would later be sent to Jacksonville, Florida before being returned to the upper South where it saw service in battles at Bermuda Hundred and New Market, Virginia. Pennypacker was wounded several times but during an engagement at Fort Fisher outside Wilmington N.C. in January 1865 he was so severely wounded that he was expected to die. He would later be awarded the Medal of Honor for his refusal to retreat or strike colors in the face of intense enemy fire. It took 10 months to recover from those wounds but in April 1865 he was promoted to brigadier general; the youngest officer to be appointed to such a high position in the history of the U.S. military. He remained in the service after the war and retired in 1883. He is referenced in Ulysses Grant’s memoirs.