William W. Taylor served as colonel of the Blue Reserves in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On June 26, 1863, the unit was mustered into federal service as the 33rd Pennsylvania Militia Infantry. As one editor observed, the regiment “number[ed] eight hundred men, who have all been mustered in to serve ‘during the emergency’…The men were all finely uniformed and were much commended by officers and citizenry for their soldierly and gentlemanly appearance.” The regiment served in the Department of the Susquehanna during the Gettysburg campaign, and it mustered out on August 4, 1863.