Civil War people: December 2007 Archives

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.

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????

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."

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.

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.