Civilians: June 2009 Archives

Following the cessation of the fighting at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in early July 1863, a huge issue emerged - how to deal with the thousands of wounded men left behind by the two armies as they left for Maryland and Virginia? Most houses, barns, churches, and public buildings in and around Gettysburg for several miles had become temporary field hospitals, but more permanent solutions were needed for those men able to be moved to formal hospitals in Baltimore, Washington, York, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and New York City. When the railroads damaged by the Rebels were repaired in the week after the battle, trainloads of wounded were taken from Gettysburg to Hanover Junction, PA, where they would be transferred to the north-south running Northern Central Railway for shipment to the designated hospital.

Representatives of the United States Sanitary Commission arrived in Hanover Junction and began tending to the comforts of the wounded men, as well as the throngs of relief workers headed into and out of Gettysburg.

Here are a couple of contemporary accounts from old books that shed some light on the workings of the USSC at Hanover Junction.

Dawn Roser of the Codorus Valley Area Historical Society unveils the newest Pennsylvania state historical marker, this one in the historic center square of Jefferson in southern York County. The CVAHS and the borough of Jefferson's combined efforts led to the installation of this marker, which commemorates the three separate times within a week in the early summer of 1863 that the town and the surrounding region were victimized by passing combatants during the Civil War.

The color guard of the 16th Pennsylvania Infantry reenactment group was among the participants in the hour-long ceremony, which occurred on the 146th anniversary of the first Confederate raid on Jefferson. On June 27, 1863, 250 troopers from Maryland and Virginia that comprised the 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry rode into the square. Commanded by Lt. Col. Elijah V. White (whose descendant attended the ceremony and spent some time talking with me about her ancestors in that battalion), the Confederates raided the region for horses. One trooper spotted a little girl along the square and handed her a brooch he had stolen from a Hanover jeweler that the Rebels had chased into the countryside before robbing him.

Photo of a page of resolutions passed in September 1863 condemning President Lincoln and his war policies. These were a result of a convention of leading peace Democrats and Copperheads in downtown York, Pennsylvania.

1863 was perhaps the most momentous year of York's history, at least from a military perspective. More than 10,000 Confederate soldiers marched or rode through the county shortly before the Battle of Gettysburg, inflaming the passions of both the pro-Union and pro-Confederate (or Copperhead) elements of the county. York resident Cassandra Morris Small, part of a large prosperous family of merchants and millers, had a few observations on the local Copperheads in a letter she wrote in July.

"Our next neighbor has proved himself a Secessionist! We all liked him and his family so much before. We couldn't believe it -- but then he proved himself one. He entertained the officers all the time. His sister (Mary Campbell's friend) waved her handkerchief to them, until our clergyman rushed to her and stopped her, saying, "If you have no respect for yourself, have some for the people you live among." Now we have nothing to do with them; but only think that after his numerous entertainments, an officer deliberately walked through his office and through the yard to the stable and took his horse. Oh, we have many such persons, but nobody speaks to them... though real Southerners are more bearable than these traitors."

Barely three months after the Confederate invasion of York Country, the Copperhead element of York hosted a convention in the town. Among the resolutions was a letter drafted by the attendees and delivered to President Abraham Lincoln. The secretary of the convention would officially ratify the resolutions in February of the following year.

When Debi and I moved to this area in 2001, one of the more familiar aspects of the York-Lancaster region was the Amish and their communities. We lived for two decades in northeastern Ohio, where the Amish population rivals Lancaster County, albeit without the massive tourism and commercialization. The characteristic black, horse-drawn buggies of the Amish are a very common sight in much of Ohio, so we were quite prepared to see them (and drive on the same roads).

During the American Civil War, the Amish and their fellow Anabaptists such as the Mennonites were largely pacifists, preferring to stay away from secular politics and political movements, and the war created by regional differences within the country. Cannonball reader Jonathan Stayer, head of the reference section of the Pennsylvania State Archives, called my attention to a 2007 book that I was previously unaware of, Mennonites, Amish, and the American Civil War, a treatise that explores the religious minorities of this area. Jonathan wrote, "156 York Countians sought exemption from military service on grounds of conscience in 1862 (conscientious objectors), the sixth highest number in the counties of Pennsylvania. Even tiny Adams County was home to at least 129 conscientious objectors. The reason? Both counties were (and are) home to significant communities of Mennonites and Dunkards (Brethren), and to a lesser extent, Quakers. "

Authors James O. Lehman and Steven M. Nolt have written a fascinating book that examines the Amish and Mennonites of Pennsylvania and other states during the Civil War. Published by Johns Hopkins Press, this book is perhaps the first detailed study of the pacifistic perspective of the local Amish and Mennonite communities. The book is wonderfully written, flows well, and offers fresh information and a new perspective on the home front in the Civil War that is rarely (if ever) covered in other works.

Fame commentator Paul Harvey used to close his popular radio show with the tag line, "And now you know the rest of the story." Most of us are well aware that York was occupied by Confederate forces during the early summer of 1863, but how many of us know the rest of the story? Come to the York Civil War Round Table's June 17 meeting to find out!

As a prelude to the annual Patriot Days in York and the Battle of Gettysburg, the York Civil War Round Table has scheduled York native, author and historian, Scott D. Butcher to speak at its June 17th meeting. His PowerPoint presentation is called "York: Prize of the Confederacy." He includes in his talk the residents of York in June 1863, specific York landmarks, numerous first-person accounts and quotes from both sides and the newspaper headlines from the days of the Confederate occupation.

He is also going to include information he has collected on the Underground Railroad in York County, a topic that has not often been discussed in any detail.