January 2009 Archives

Confederate forces in June 1863 were quite active in York County, Pennsylvania, trying to destroy the logistics and communications infrastructure. Telegraph lines were a particular target, and telegraph stations were often raided, including those at Hanover and Hanover Junction. Another military objective were the railroad bridges. Upon entering Pennsylvania, Confederate cavalry on June 15 and 16 of that year raided the Cumberland Valley Railroad, which was to become a repeated target over the next two weeks. The Gettysburg Railroad was the next Pennsylvania line to receive damage, when a couple bridges between Gettysburg and New Oxford went up in flames. Finally, on June 28 and June 29, the focus shifted eastward to the Hanover Branch Railroad and the Northern Central Railway.

Among the many bridges torched or otherwise wrecked along the NCR's line was its longest bridge, the 324-foot span over the Codorus Creek near the P.A. & S. Small flour mills.

The aerial photograph of the modern York Flour Mills, Inc. is courtesy of Microsoft Virtual Earth, and shows the location of one of the old P.A. & S. Small mills nestled between the railroad and the Codorus Creek. In 1863, the railroad line was the Northern Central's tracks that led from Baltimore to Harrisburg, and Confederate troops camped in and around the mill yard. Armed guards made sure no one broke into the mill.

Earlier in the war, thousands of Union soldiers crossed by the landmark mill on troop trains headed south to join what became the Army of the Potomac.

Philip Albright Small and his brother Samuel were among the leading citizens of York, Pennsylvania, during the mid-19th century. They inherited mills, land, and wealth from their industrious father, George Small, who built the original mill on the Codorus Creek in Manchester Township. They owned comfortable homes in downtown York, were well respected by most of the citizenry, and well networked within both the social and business fabric of York County and the region.

During the Gettysburg Campaign, the Small brothers were also known to the invading Confederate army. In fact, their mills were a particular target for Major General Jubal A. Early.

I will be speaking at the Greater Dover Historical Society at 7:00 PM on March 19, 2009, on Confederate general Jubal Early's march through Dover Township and J.E.B. Stuart's subsequent march through the township and Dover Borough. The meeting will be at Calvary Lutheran Church, which is nestled in between Civil War houses.

Making extensive use of the York County Border Claims and records, I will discuss the various Confederate campsites in and around Dover, and will touch on several farmers, merchants, and millers in the area whose personal property was taken by the Rebels. Colonel William French's 17th Virginia Cavalry was particularly active in Dover Township over a three-day period and racked up more than 100 horses by themselves.

That was an impressive feat for a single regiment that stripped a lot of horses away from Stuart's three brigades which camped around Dover the day after French headed west with Early's Division. So many current Dover Township residents' ancestors were raided by the Rebels, with local names such as Daron, Spangler, Bentzel, Leckrone, Meisenhelder, and more than 200 others being hit by the Southern visitors.

I am scheduling upcoming talks on East Berlin in the Gettysburg Campaign for the East Berlin Historical Preservation Society and one in Emigsville for the Emigsville Heritage Project. I will speak on the Columbia-Wrightsville bridge burning and the raid on Hanover Junction at the York CWRT meeting in March, and am lining up numerous other talks in the Mid-Atlantic region following the debut of Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863 (it's now printed and awaiting the release of funds from the publisher to the printer so it can be shipped! Let's hope it hits the shelves shortly).

The Myers grist mill was one of several similar establishments that once dotted the banks of the Codorus Creek north of York, Pennsylvania. The old mill is in excellent condition today, and is privately owned. It is next to the York Heritage Rail Trail and Locust Lane Park off of Emig Mill Road in Manchester Township.

In late June 1863, this peaceful setting was the site of a break-in and robbery. The perpetrators were infantrymen from the famed (and much feared) "Louisiana Tigers" of veteran Brigadier General Harry Thompson Hays of New Orleans.

View of the old Henry Myers mill located on Green Valley Road northeast of Jefferson, Pennsylvania. On the afternoon of June 30, 1863, Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's Confederate cavalry of Stuart's division rode past this once thriving mill en route to Hanover Junction (they would pause near John Epley Zeigler's house and his father's old tavern before changing course for New Salem).

Some of Lee's troopers paid a visit to the mill, but found it not to be the lucrative prize they had hoped. Nearby Cold Spring shopkeeper Conrad Myers reported losing 50 bushels of flour he had stored in the mill, but his losses pale compared to millers and farmers elsewhere in York County.

My battlefield tramping partner admires the bust of President Abraham Lincoln in the memorial garden at Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania. This monument will be formally dedicated on February 12, 2009.

Linda from the Hanover Junction preservation group (and the Red Lion historical association) mentioned to me during the recent York CWRT meeting that the Lincoln monument at Hanover Junction will be dedicated at 1:30 PM on February 12, which marks the 200th anniversary of the birth in rural Kentucky of Honest Abe. The Hanover Junction museum / old train depot will be open from 1:00 PM until 7:00 PM for visitation and refreshments. A birthday cake will be served after the dedication. Lincoln changed trains at Hanover Junction before and after his dedication remarks at the Gettysburg National Cemetery - remarks that became immortal as the Gettysburg Address.

The event is free and open to the public.

See you there?

Henry Free was a native York Countian who served his country in the American Civil War. He enlisted in Company C of the 166th Pennsylvania, a nine-months' regiment raised in York. Free mustered into the army on November 10, 1862, and was named as a corporal in Company C. The 27-year-old served until mustering out with his regiment on July 28, 1863. He returned to his York residence, married Matilda Hamme and raised a family, with daughter Nettie M. Free and son Henry Jr. They lived in downtown York. Free is listed as a laborer in census data from the late 1800s.

The Rebels were not his ultimate threat, however. He died in the summer of 1907, and his obituary was recorded in a newspaper in New Oxford, over in Adams County.

"Henry Free, a Civil War veteran of York, died from the effects of a bite of an insect on the little finger of his right hand Monday. He was working in his garden when he was bitten. His finger began to swell and he suffered such pain that a physician had to be called. The swelling settled in his right arm and side and finally caused death.

New Oxford Item, New Oxford, PA, June 6, 1907"

Of course not - he wasn't even alive.

However, his far-reaching influence on military thinking may have made an impact on why Robert E. Lee lost the Battle of Gettysburg (or maybe it was just that the Yankees had something to do with it). Gettysburg Park Ranger Dr. Chuck Teague spoke earlier tonight at the monthly meeting of the York Civil War Round Table, presenting a PowerPoint presentation examining what impact the theories of war espoused by Napoleon may have had on Lee's thinking and planning.

Chuck has become widely known in Civil War circles in recent years, and his theories and ideas always spark lively conversation and thought.

The John Scott Hotel, seen above in this December 2008 photograph, was among the small cluster of buildings that made up the hamlet of Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania, on June 27, 1863, as the veteran 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry approached following the railroad and nearby roads.

The junction was defended by Lt. Col. William Sickles, who was destined to have the worst week of his military career (perhaps of his entire life). Little did he know as the howling Confederates headed toward his line of nervous, inexperienced militia that within days, he would lose Hanover Junction, walk to Wrightsville, be captured there by John B. Gordon's Georgians, be censured by his superiors in the press and public record as a coward, and then break his leg when he fell off a railroad handcar after being paroled by the Rebels. It was certainly a bad few days for the star-crossed officer.

Before his eyes, the Rebel attack unfolded, and his men hit the panic button...

The final section of the Hanover Branch Railroad roughly paralleled Green Valley Road to its intersection with Junction Road, and turned easterly at that point to follow Junction Road into Hanover Junction. On June 27, 1863, Elijah White's Confederate cavalry rode toward the junction using this road and tracks.

Reader Bob Resig submitted this photo of the old trace of the Hanover Branch Railroad along Junction Road.

After leaving Jefferson Station in southern York County, Pennsylvania, the Hanover Branch Railroad's tracks headed northeasterly toward the Cold Spring Station. Very little remains of the roadbed in this stretch, because it has been heavily farmed over the past 145 years since Abraham Lincoln's train departed Jefferson Station for Hanover Junction and his return train to Baltimore and then Washington, D.C. However, there are a few vestiges remaining, including the piers of bridges burned on June 27, 1863, by Lt. Col. Elijah V. White's 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry during its mission to wreck the HBRR and the Hanover Junction rail yard.

Cannonball reader Bob Resig sent in a series of photographs tracing Elijah V. White's route from what later became Valley Junction in southern York County, Pennsylvania, to Hanover Junction. This historic trace was once the Hanover Branch Railroad's right of way, and President Abraham Lincoln rode through here twice before and after his Gettysburg Address.

Bob's photo shows the old roadbed as it bends through the Civil War-era Miller farm. Some of White's Comanches may have followed the tracks northeasterly to a nearby bridge, while others took what is today's Park Road south down to Sinsheim road before turning toward Jefferson.

Let's retrace the historic route of the HBRR, nestled in scenery little changed from when Honest Abe rode these rails. I have intermixed Bob Resig's photos with some aerial photos from Yahoo.com, as these satellite photographs still show much of the original trace of the Hanover Branch Railroad.

All aboard!

Previous posts:
The Hanover Branch Railroad - Part 1 of a series
The Hanover Branch Railroad - Part 2
The Hanover Branch Railroad - Part 3

The approximate route of the historic Hanover Branch Railroad can be seen in the above map. The base map, courtesy of Google.com, shows the modern railroad tracks leading from Hanover, Pennsylvania, through Smith's Station to Porters Sideling, where they turn to the south. The existing track bed from Hanover is essentially the same as that of the old HBRR, and Elijah V. White and his raiders would have traveled this route. Undoubtedly some of his roughly 230 men would have followed the tracks themselves from Hanover while their ambulance, forge wagon, ammunition wagon, and a small train of empty supply wagons presumably used local roads that roughly parallel the tracks.

In the next few installments in this series (leading up to the skirmish and sacking of Hanover Junction), we will retrace some of the old HBRR line. Reader Bob Resig has sent in some photos taken a few years ago of some of the embankments of the old HBRR, as well as some piers from the old bridges that White burned (which were rebuilt in the months after the June 27, 1863, cavalry raid.

Citizens and veteran Federal soldiers lounge on the front porch of the Hanover Junction train station in this photograph taken in the spring of 1865. Less than two years before, inexperienced recruits of the 20th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia may have also stood on the same porch in the days before the Confederate raiders arrived on June 27, 1863. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Previous posts:
The Hanover Branch Railroad - Part 1 of a series
The Hanover Branch Railroad - Part 2

The third week of June brought excitement for the few residents of tiny Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania. A battalion of Union troops, clad in fresh, crisp new blue uniforms and carrying shiny Springfield rifles, marched through nearby Seven Valley and encamped on a hilltop near the camp. Some accounts suggest they had a small bronze cannon with them. Unfortunately, we have no contemporary records of the reception of the locals, nor any surviving letters from residents remarking on the Union occupancy of the Junction, or of the Howard Tunnel to the north. We do have some damage claims from a couple of farmers whose lands were used as campsites for the regiment in various places in the county.

The troops' job was simple -- protect Hanover Junction, the nearby railroad bridges, and the tunnel.

Modern view of Hanover Junction from the approximate line of the Union defensive positions that "protected" the junction in June 1863.

With the rapid development of the railroad industry in the 1840s and 1850s, farmers in rural areas such as southern York County now had a convenient and reasonably priced way to get their produce and goods to markets in larger towns such as Baltimore and Harrisburg, as well as points beyond. Several new railroads were constructed in the county, and work crews were kept quite busy laying out and building the lines. Once the railroad tracks were finished and all the supporting buildings, signage, etc. in place, commercial service began. Small hamlets developed around many of the refueling stops / cargo / passenger stations, and York County maps became dotted with new names such as Hanover Junction, Smith's Station, Porters Sideling, and dozens of other waysides.

Among the new railroads was the Hanover Branch, which ran from Hanover Junction (where it connected with what became the Northern Central) and the bustling town of Hanover. Later, another railroad connected Hanover with Gettysburg to the west.

All three roads became targets of the Confederate raiders in late June 1863, with the vulnerable wooden bridges being particular objects of Rebel attention.

Jefferson Station was located west of Jefferson, Pennsylvania, near the intersection of Krafts Mill Road and Jefferson Road (today's State Route 516). It was a railstop on the Hanover Branch Railroad serving the farmers of the Codorus region. The embankment in the right center marks the old track bed. Photo taken from the top of a hill along Jefferson Road / 516 looking to the southeast.

Click to enlarge the photos.

A Cannonball reader has asked me to do a series of posts on the Hanover Branch Railroad during the Gettysburg Campaign. In the first of these, we will look at the little known Confederate cavalry raid on Jefferson Station, an event not marked by any kind of commemorative historical wayside marker, unlike so many other incidents during "the Late Unpleasantness."

Background posts:

The Cost of the Rebel Invasion - Part 1
The Cost of the Rebel Invasion - Part 2
The Cost of the Rebel Invasion - Part 3
The Cost of the Rebel Invasion - Part 4

The Gettysburg Campaign, notwithstanding the 50,000+ human casualties and countless animals, cost the citizens of several southern tier Pennsylvania counties a significant financial loss in terms of damage or loss of personal property and, in some cases, loss of real property such as houses and barns.

A government commission in 1869 covened in York, Hanover, and Dillsburg to hear citizens complaints and tally their losses. Any York Countian who wished to file a claim for damages could do so at that time. The commissioners officially placed the damages to York County, Pennsylvania, at $127,668.55 (an astounding $2,003,824.66 in 2007 using the Consumer Price Index calculations for relative worth).

How did this rank compared to other Pennsylvania counties, and how much was caused by the Confederates and Yankees respectively?

U.S. government photo from 1979 of the heavily modified exterior of 21-23 West Market Street in downtown York, Pennsylvania. In 1863, this was the confectionery and store of prosperous merchant Valentine C. Erney.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Valentine C. Erney was a Swiss immigrant who established a profitable confectionery company in downtown York. In the summer of 1863, his establishment proved to be very popular with Major General Jubal Early's infantrymen who occupied York and its immediate vicinity.

Today, his long since demolished store is the location of York's Cherry Lane park, a popular summertime outdoor spot to eat, look at the murals, relax with friends, and listen to live musical concerts.

What did the Confederates take from the 48-year-old Erney's store?

A view taken December 28 of the historic Detters Mill in northwestern Dover Township in York County, Pennsylvania. A lengthy column of Confederate soldiers passed by this mill, watering their horses in the nearby Conewago Creek. The old mill has been converted into apartments.

On July 1, 1863, as J.E.B. Stuart's column continued it march from Dover, Pennsylvania, to Carlisle, a portion of the division under Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee and Col. John Chambliss, Jr. turned off the main road (State Road / Carlisle Road; portions of which are today's State Route 74). and headed down Harmony Grove Road. Shortly after passing the white frame country church, they reached the Conewago Creek, dividing Dover Township from Warrington and Washington townships.

October 15, 1863 public notice by Gettysburg attorney David Wills seeking proposals for the removal of the dead on the Gettysburg Battlefield.

"After the battle, Gettysburg became a vast hospital and morgue: dead and wounded soldiers outnumbered civilians eleven to one," - so begins the Battle's Aftermath exhibit at the David Wills House, opening February 12, 2009, in downtown Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of Gettysburg National Military Park.

Here is the text of today's press release:

More than two thousand Confederate cavalrymen rode past the site of Harmony Grove Church, a landmark in Dover Township, York County, Pennsylvania. The present white frame building was constructed sometime about 1870 I believe.

Jeb Stuart's Confederate cavalry filed northwesterly from Dover, Pennsylvania, toward Carlisle in neighboring Cumberland County. Stuart did not turn west to follow the trail of Jubal Early's division, but elected to head to Carlisle, where it was rumored the bulk of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps was located.

Just north of Dover, in early afternoon, Stuart split his column to make better time and to scour a wider region of the countryside for fresh horses. He kept Wade Hampton's brigade and the wagon trains with him on the State Road, and sent Fitzhugh Lee and John Chambliss, Jr. to the left on Harmony Grove Road toward Wellsville.

The dust clouds kicked up by the cavalry and wagon train could be seen for miles.

This covered bridge spanned Little Conewago Creek east of Dover, Pennsylvania. Photo from an old postcard.

Confederate horsemen were quite active in Dover Township visiting farms and mills collecting horses, mules, grain, and flour. On June 28 and 29, Col. William H. French's 17th Virginia Cavalry roamed the region, raiding more than forty farms and taking horses. Recruited in the mountain region of what had since become West Virginia, they were proficient foragers, and scores of York Countians were paid a visit by these troopers. At the same time, Major John Campbell of the First Louisiana Brigade (the famed and feared Louisiana Tigers) and a large contingent of infantrymen and wagons were raiding mills and nearby farms north of York, including roaming into Dover Township.

A view taken in December 2008 of the northwestern corner of the main intersection in Dover, Pennsylvania. In the 19th century, Dover had a town square, which accounts for the setback of the white frame building on the left. The town (and surrounding township) had a significant population of citizens with German heritage, including Mrs. Forscht, who owned the corner lot with the white house. The sturdy red brick building to the right was the office of Dr. John Ahl, which would be the Confederates' business office during their half-day stay in Dover on July 1, 1863. Here, General Wade Hampton fired off dispatches via couriers, and later supervised the parole of 230 Yankees, including 21 men captured at Hanover.

Dawn of July 1, 1863, saw Dover firmly in the grasp of the famed Southern cavalier, Major General James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart. His men surrounded the town, with the brigade of the future Governor of South Carolina, Wade Hampton III, likely occupying the ground immediately west of Dover as it was the rear guard of the force, and it is known that Hampton's men later that day skirmished with Federal pursuers near Salem Church. What is less clear is the exact location of the brigades of Fitzhugh Lee and John Chambliss, Jr. although I am still combing through old records to see if a clue can be obtained. It is known that the main body of the Rebels camped near Fox Run, the main source of water in the Dover area, although picket posts were established well out the main roads.

For more photos of modern Dover and commentary, click the link.

Typical York County farmland. Confederate columns criss-crossed the undulating region during the last week of June 1863. Rebel soldiers took more than 1,000 horses from county residents, at times leaving behind worn out nags and mules. Stuart's column freed 80 exhausted mules in one farmer's field, destroying his entire crop of oats. Many farmers hid their animals in ravines, hollows, brushy fields, orchards, woods, and on mountains. However, the Rebels often discovered the horses and mules and took them with them when they departed.

June 30, 1863, had been a trying day for J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry division. Many of the troopers had participated in an emotional battle against Union cavalry at the Battle of Hanover, and several men left friends and family members behind, dead or wounded. The Secessionist saddle soldiers had then endured a grueling ride through southwestern York County's undulating terrain, hampered by a captured train of 125 Yankee supply wagons. Most would march an average of 23 miles from Hanover.

The lead elements of Stuart's column, the Virginia brigade of Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, began arriving in Dover sometime about 2:00 a.m. on July 1.

Seasonal Gettysburg National Military Park ranger Lt. Col. (ret.) Chuck Teague will be the featured speaker at the Wednesday, January 21, 2009, monthly meeting of the York Civil War Round Table. The meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. as usual in the auditorium of the York County Heritage Trust, 250 E. Market Street, York, Pennsylvania.

Admission and parking are both FREE, and the public is welcome!

Dr. Teague will present a PowerPoint presentation entitled "The Shadow of Napoleon on Lee at Gettysburg," a study of how Lee's classical training in Napoleonic military techniques may have influenced his decision making during the critical stages of the July 1863 Battle of Gettysburg.

A view of the town square in Jefferson, Pennsylvania, (also known as Codorus Post Office during the Civil War) looking to the northwest down Berlin Street. The unusual iron Napoleon cannon tube was the subject of an earlier Cannonball entry. William T. Crist's dry goods store once occupied the large brick building during the Civil War. Rebel troopers paid a visit to this building during Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's June 30, 1863, pause at Jefferson.

All photos taken by SLM on December 18, 2008.

Jefferson, a small village in southern York County, saw three different armed forces of cavalry pass through its town square during a single week in the Gettysburg Campaign. It was first visited on June 27, 1863, by Elijah V. White and the 250-man 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, which had trotted into town from Hanover Junction to the northeast and then took the road in the upper right of this photo northwesterly toward Spring Forge (now Spring Grove).

On June 30, twenty times the number of Confederate cavalrymen would ride through the town square... and then on July 1, it would be Union cavalry that passed through Jefferson, this time to the welcome of the townspeople.