Author Dennis W. Brandt, an expert on the 87th Pennsylvania Infantry, was one of the speakers at the June 25, 2009, Civil War Symposium at York College of Pennsylvania as part of the annual Patriot Days celebration.
According to Dennis, the 87th Pennsylvania was the only 3-year regiment raised primarily in York County during the American Civil War (some of its men came from Franklin and Adams Counties as well as York). Recruited and organized in early 1861, the 87th's main task early in the war was to guard railroads, including a stint in western Virginia (now West Virginia). In late 1862, they found themselves serving in the scenic Shenandoah Valley and by the end of the year, the 87th was part of the garrison at Winchester, Virginia.
Little did they know as they celebrated Christmas in the midst of one of the most rabid pro-Confederate towns in the Valley that, for many of the boys, the following summer WInchester would be the gateway to life as a prisoner of war. For some, December 25, 1962, would be their final Christmas on Earth.
The winter and spring of 1863 brought boredom for the 87th as the boys performed routine garrison duty, a period in which division commander Robert H. Milroy of Indiana would become hated as a tyrant and "bombastic cow catcher." However, things turned quite ugly for the 87th and their fellow IV Corps soldiers in mid-June. Unknown to them, lead elements of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia entered the Shenandoah Valley after slipping put of their campsites near Hamilton's Crossing and Fredericksburg in northern Virginia. The Rebels' destination was Pennsylvania, but Winchester's garrison blocked the path and would need addressed before the Southerners could march down the Valley to the Potomac.
Brandt mapped the movements of the 87th as Milroy frantically shifted his troops in the face of the unexpected movements of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps down the Valley Pike and Front Royal Road on June 13. The 87th stayed in good order through the first day of the battle, in which the Rebels gained considerable ground but did not reach the main Union line of forts surrounding WInchester. During the wee early morning hours of June 14, General Milroy withdrew his forces from the heights above Abram's Creek / Milltown and concentrated in and around the forts and entrenchments immediately surrounding the town.
The forts surrounding WInchester (map courtesy of Wikipedia)
In the mid-morning of June 14, the 87th was involved in street fighting in downtown Winchester, combat that often degenerated into individual sniping and skirmishing, some of it sharp and severe at times. Pulling back to the environment of Fort Milroy on Flint Ridge, the 87th was ordered in late afternoon to occupy another smaller redoubt known as the Star Fort (an earthen fort that still exists and was among my many stops on my last trip to Winchester last summer).
The boys from York County bore witness to a stunning surprise attack launched by the Louisiana Tigers of Jubal Early's division, an assault that swept away an entire Ohio regiment and its 6-gun supporting battery at the West Fort. The 87th and another regiment were quickly shifted toward the West Fort to stem the tide, but it was too late. The Union troops were withdrawn back to Fort Milroy, where the battle subsided into an angry artillery duel that lasted well into darkness.
General Milroy abandoned WInchester during the night, leaving behind his hospitals, most of his wounded, and the families of his officer who were living in confiscated Rebel homes. The next day, June 15, at Carter's Woods / Stephenson's Depot, Milroy's retreating forces were shattered by Ewell's devastating attacks, and more than 200 of the 87th were captured. The rest "skedaddled" and headed for safety (some to Harpers Ferry, some to Bloody Run (now Everett), and some back home to Gettysburg and York where they would bring news of the Confederate invasion).
Some of the 87th's remnant would be part of the small defensive force assembled to protect York, and would wind up in the earthworks southwest of Wrightsville where they would again face the veterans of Jubal Early's division.
For more on the 87th, pick up a copy of Dennis Brandt's excellent From Home Guards to Heroes: The 87th Pennsylvania and its Civil War Community. For much more on the attack on the West Fort that doomed Milroy's defense of Winchester, pre-order a copy of Scott Mingus's upcoming book The Louisiana Tigers in the Gettysburg Campaign: June-July 1863 (available now for pre-order; LSU Press will publish this in October).
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