A 16-year-old high school student from Hanover, Sarah Adler, has been maintaining a blog on Gettysburg entitled Ten Roads (for the nexus of roads that radiate out from Gettysburg like spokes on a wagon wheel). She volunteers on Saturdays at the historic Gettysburg train station, which has recently underwent significant restoration.
She has recently been transcribing old Civil War letters, as well as discussing the train station.
Why not check out her efforts?
Coward. Yellow. Uncourageous. Turn-tail. Deserter.
Harsh words indeed; certainly words that the majority of us would never want associated with our character. Going AWOL or deserting from the military for generations has been frowned upon by the authorities, not to mention the effects on families and friends. There are legal ramifications, as well as moral and ethical questions.
In the Civil War, deserters were often rounded up and publicly hung or shot, at times by their friends and colleagues who were ordered to serve in firing squads. Imprisonment was also common. In Adams County following the war, the shame of public humilation was added to the ruined reputation of its deserters.
In a recent entry in this blog, I discussed Charles Lutz, one of the few black soldiers enlisted in the ranks of the Louisiana Tigers. The ranks of that brigade were filled with European immigrants (Scandinavia, France, Germany, and particularly Ireland), Caribbeans, Creoles, and natives of other U.S. states. Few were born in Louisiana.
By sharp contrast, the ranks of John Gordon's brigade were nearly all native-born Georgians. Several were not Caucasians, however, including Sam Jackson.
The six-story John Hartman building on the center square was highly noticeable to the Confederates. Courtesy of YCHT.
Original letters and diary entries from the Confederates who occupied York in late June 1863 are quite scarce, especially considering there were more than 6,000 enemy soldiers within York County. Less than a couple dozen are known to have left their impressions of the borough, although it is quite conceivable that scores of other accounts were written, but have since been lost to historians. Consistently, in perusing the existing accounts, the Rebels were impressed by the beauty of the prosperous town, and phrases such as "a lovely place," "a nice town," and "exceedingly tasteful" can be found in their surviving writings.
I spent the day today browsing through the collection of the U.S. Army Military History Institute library just outside of Carlisle, researching old records and files for my manuscript I am working on regarding the Louisiana Tigers during the Gettysburg Campaign. I found a cryptic comment in an old, obscure letter in the Robert L. Brake Collection of Confederate Civil War letters. Perhaps some of you Yorkers could help me identify the individuals mentioned in this letter????
John S. Salmon has assembled an excellent collection of some of the most famous photographs of the historic Gettysburg battlefield and town, most taken with a couple of decades after the July 1863 battle. Included are some of the very best photographs, including some of the studies of dead soldiers, pictures of the key buildings and locations, early battlefield monumentation, and the various reunions of the veterans. The book is a very useful addition to the Civil War library and would make a fine "coffee table book" for display and browsing. The photo collection is varied and insightful, and the breadth of the pictures selected allows the reader to get a good feel for early photography at the battlefield and environs.
Thomas Nast illustration, Harper's Weekly.
I would like to wish each Cannonball reader a safe and pleasant holiday season! We are spending much of today at my daughter's house for a family get together, and then enjoying Christmas at our house tomorrow. Few Civil War soldiers had the privilege of spending the holidays at home with their loved ones and friends.
Typical York County farmland, Library of Congress
The Pennsylvania Germans of the mid-19th Century, as a general rule, were a hard-working, thrifty people that often did not readily embrace outsiders or admit them into their social circles. They were content to be at peace with their neighbors and families, and derive a good life from the fruits of the soil and their labor. A fair number of them were rather ambivalent to the Union war effort, preferring to be left alone to mind their crops and livestock. And, they really wanted nothing to do with the invading armies. When the Confederates rolled through York County, several soldiers commented on this perceived lack of hospitality of their "hosts."
Visitor facilities at the Gettysburg National Military Park and the Eisenhower National Historic Site will close at 1 p.m. on December 24, in observance of the holiday, National Park Service officials have announced. The Visitor Center at 97 Taneytown Road will close at 1 p.m. on December 24th and reopen at 8 a.m. on December 26th. Eisenhower shuttle busses and house tours will end at 1 p.m. on the 24th and resume in the morning of the 26th as well.
The battlefield and cemetery will remain open on their regular schedules for visitors who wish to tour on their own. The visitor facilities will close again for the day on January 1.
For more information, please contact 717-334-1124.
While York Countians were dealing with the occupation of Jubal Early’s veterans during the Gettysburg Campaign, neighbors in Cumberland County had their own set of problems, with two full divisions of infantry, a large battalion of artillery, and the bulk of a brigade of cavalry operating in that county. Richard S. Ewell, who had in-laws in York, occupied Carlisle and other towns, and patrols roamed freely without much opposition from New York and Pennsylvania militia, who were ensconced behind the shelter of extensive earthworks surrounding the approach to the Susquehanna River bridges and Harrisburg.
Ask the average person on the street about their typical image of a Civil War Confederate soldier and quite often the reply will be some stereotype of a backwoods, illiterate, gun-happy "hillbilly," or some slave-owning plantation gentleman fighting for "states rahts." However, such was more often than not atypical. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, a part of which was here in York County, was a diverse mixture of people from all factions of life. Rich and poor, educated and ignorant, skillful in the outdoor sports and store clerks who had never fired a gun before, secessionist and politically ambivalent, and slaveowners and abolitionists all combined into one of the greatest fighting forces in American history to that time.
What is not often recognized are those free black men who willingly enlisted in the Confederate service, one of whom visited York County in the waning days of June 1863.
A typical World War II PX in Europe
Veterans of the armed forces will recognize the significance of the two-letter acronym, PX. Short for Post Exchange, the PX was the name given to the base or camp's mercantile store. There, a soldier could spend part of his paycheck on personal sundries, stationary and stamps to write home, refreshments and beverages, and gift items. During the Civil War, with the armies normally out in the field on campaign, the sutlers and merchandisers had to take their goods to where the buyers were. They hitched up teams of mules or draft horses, piled their goods and trinkets into wagons, carts, or buggies, and followed the armies into the field. Sometimes, their proximity to the front lines created problems for both the soldiers and sutlers.
Mount St. Mary's College in 1863 following the Battle of Gettysburg.
Photo by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, Library of Congress
Following the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, the U. S. Army Hospital on Penn Common treated hundreds of wounded Union soldiers, but only a handful of Confederates. The story goes that the surgeon in charge, Dr. Henry Palmer, refused to allow the stricken Rebels to be housed in his hospital wards, so they were taken to the Odd Fellows Hall (Washington Hall). Most of the Southerners were transported to prisoner of war camps after they were sufficiently able to travel. However, not all shared that fate.
Last night's book signing, lecture, and reception for the official premiere of my new Human Interest Stories of the Gettysburg Campaign, Volume 2 went very well. We raised some money for a local historical preservation group, had some great conversation with old and new friends, sold some books, and ate very well! The free event at the York Emporium was a marvelous way to spend a cold December Friday night.
National Park Service rendering of the new Visitors Center, opening in April 2008.
For those Cannonball readers who have not yet seen the final floor plans for the new Gettysburg National Military Park Visitors Center between Taneytown Road and Baltimore Pike, have a look at this schematic from the National Park Service's website.
A compromise has recently been reached to settle the recent dispute over the location of the old Rosensteel memorial plaques that had been in the old Visitors Center (they were scheduled to be placed into storage instead on display in the new building). Rosensteel had donated his massive relic collection to the NPS, which forms the backbone of the current Visitors Center's museum. The red X on the floor plans marks where these controversial plaques will be displayed.
Dwight Eisenhower remains an American icon - a hero of World War II who was thrust into the limelight following his success at D-Day, an American president during the 1950s, a strong proponent of creating the U.S. interstate system, and a land owner in Gettysburg whose farm is visited by thousands of tourists each year, many of whom were not even born when he was in the public eye.
"Ike" spent time in Gettysburg during World War I as the commander of the Camp Colt military base, situated on the grounds of Pickett's Charge. He came back after World War II in 1950 and bought a farm five years later in the rear of the 1863 Confederate lines.
Come to the January meeting of the York Civil War Round Table to hear Lt. Col. (ret.) Charles Teague, more popularly known as "Chaplain Chuck," talk about Ike's days in Gettysburg and his impact on the community and battlefield.
The meeting will be at 7:00 Wednesday, January 16, at the York County Heritage Trust at 250 East Market Street in York. Parking and admission are free. A hat will be passed to collect donations to defray the speaker's expenses.
Mark your calendars, and plan to attend this fascinating PowerPoint presentation!
Civil War-era locomotive from the PRR
York County has long been known as a town that cares for its military service personnel. Over the past few years, the local news on WGAL TV-8 has frequently shown clips of National Guardsmen and other soldiers returning from overseas assignments, often to joyous receptions and parties with all kinds of good food. Jim McClure's excellent book on local World War II history describes some of the homecomings after that conflict, and I have read similar accounts for other wars.
During the Civil War, as regiments left Camp Scott on the old fairgounds on York's east side, they were often treated to showers of flowers as they marched through the principal streets to the train station to go off to the front. At times, Southern Pennsylvania's hospitality even extended to soldiers merely passing through York.
I am collecting material concerning the "Louisiana Tigers" (the First Louisiana Brigade of Brigadier General Harry T. Hays) in the Gettysburg Campaign, particularly during their short time in York County June 27-30, 1863.
If anyone has sources, leads, information, diaries, letters, journals, clippings, or any other tidbits that you think might be of interest to me, please send me an e-mail ASAP. The Tigers camped along the Codorus Creek near where Route 30 crosses over the creek north of York. They were ordered to guard the flour mills in that vicinity, an odd order for troops often considered to be unmanageable thieves in some quarters.
I'm collecting material for possible inclusion in another manuscript...
Thank you!
The Lutheran Theological Seminary's Schmucker Hall
Matthew Brady, courtesy of the Library of Congress
This is a little off topic today, but it's for a very good cause as you will soon see...
Which Internet search engine do you routinely use? Do you Google, or do you prefer Yahoo or some other popular search engine? As of July 2006 (the latest data I could find), in a survey of more than 3 million Internet users by a third party watchdog company, (www.searchenginewatch.com), 43.7% of users prefer Google as their primary way of searching the Internet (and they are growing, up from 35% just a few years ago). I always use Yahoo, so I am in the next largest percentage of users at 28.8%. MSN was third at 12.8%, AOL was next at 5.9%, and Ask.com trailed among the Big Five at 5.4%. The remaining 3.4% is a hodge-podge of smaller providers.
Why do I provide this slightly outdated information, and what in the world does it have to do with the Civil War and local history??? Read on, please.
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