Civilians: October 2009 Archives

Major General Jubal Anderson Early, CSA, commanded the division of infantry and cavalry that devastated much of Manchester Township in central York County, Pennsylvania in the days immediately before the Battle of Gettysburg. (Library of Congress)

Manchester Township Civil War historian and author Scott L. Mingus, Sr. will present a free PowerPoint presentation and talk on Tuesday evening, October 27 at Otterbein United Methodist Church, 3241 N. George Street in Emigsville, Pennsylvania. For directions or information, call the church office at 717-764-0007.

The talk will include considerable new information on Manchester Township during the Gettysburg Campaign, including an examination of the scores of damage claims filed by local residents for horses and personal property stolen by the Confederate army during its occupation of central York County in late June 1863. Among the highlights of the talk will be a discussion of the exact locations of several Confederate campsites, including that of the Virginia brigade of Brig. Gen. William "Extra Billy" Smith, the governor of Virginia.

This old farm along North George Street near Emigsville was raided by troops under the command of General Early. Photo courtesy of York County photographer and historian Dianne Bowders, whose ancestors lived on the farm in the early 1900s.

Dr. Mark Snell of the George Tyler Moore Center for Civil War Studies at Shepherd University is involved with the planning of the West Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission's inaugural events. The kick-off event take place on Thursday, October 15. Among the many events being planned is a panel discussion titled "Madman, Martyr, or Myth: John Brown's Portrayal in Film." The panel will be showing and discussing video clips from films and miniseries, including, among others, the Santa Fe Trail and North and South. Each clip will be followed by panel comments and discussion.

Dr. Snell, a York County PA native and well respected educator and author, will be moderating a distinguished panel, which will consist of Dr. Charles Niemeyer of the USMC University; Ron Maxwell, director of Gettysburg and Gods and Generals; Dr. Walter Powell, a cultural historian who also is adjunct professor of historic preservation at Shepherd University and past president of the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association; and Beth White, adjunct professor of journalism at the University of Charleston and a member of the WV Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission.

The event takes place from 6-7:30 pm this Friday, October 16 on the second floor of the John Brown Museum in the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. It is FREE and open to the public but seating is very limited.

The WV Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission also will have an information table set up in HFNHP on Friday and Saturday.

The identity of this southern Pennsylvania "Copperhead" farmer is unknown, but during the Civil War the majority of pro-Southern sentiment in York County was in Dover, Codorus, and North Codorus townships. A few farmers in those rural regions filed damage claims for multiple horses taken by the Rebels, but it is impossible to know exactly who the reporter was describing.

Interestingly, in reading through more than a thousand border claims from Cumberland, Franklin, Adams, and York counties, commonplace merchandise such as pencils and personal goods such as key chains were allowable claims, but livestock such as cattle, chickens, and pigs were not allowed to be listed as legitimate damage caused by either army. Foodstuffs such as jelly, flour, crackers, and even barrels of mackerel were allowed, but a herd of cows did not qualify for recompense.

The Louisiana Tigers were one of the most publicized (and feared) brigades in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Author Scott L. Mingus, Sr. has assembled many of the stories of the Tigers' invasion of southern Pennsylvania (including York County) in this major new work from Louisiana State University Press.

Background posts:

Pleasureville merchant receives visit from the Louisiana Tigers
A Louisiana Tiger describes York
Loucks Mill was a major Confederate campsite

The Louisiana Tigers in the Gettysburg Campaign: June-July 1863 is the latest book from long-time Civil War author, wargamer, and tour guide Scott Mingus. It includes a significant section dealing with the Tigers march into York County, the interactions of the soldiers with the local populace, their campsites north of the town of York, their exploits as they raided stores in downtown York, the "drunk pen", and their perceptions of York Countians. Drawn from a myriad of contemporary sources including letters, diaries, journals, newspaper accounts, and similar primary accounts, the book contains many human interest stories and anecdotes. The book is now in stock and for sale at the York Emporium, the first stocking location in York County.

The York Emporium is located at 343 West Market Street (the Lincoln Highway) in York, Pennsylvania, just a couple of blocks west of the Codorus Creek. Call the owner, Jim Lewin, at 717-846-2866 for more information.

Here are a couple of excerpts from this new book, which offers the first sweeping narrative of the Louisiana Tigers in the entirety of the Gettysburg Campaign and has been called the "definitive work" on the brigade's activities in Pennsylvania.

York County, Pennsylvania, was a valuable source of war materiel, woolen blankets, supplies, and perhaps most of all, fresh troops. As the war progressed, the need for additional manpower caused the Lincoln Administration to institute the first mass conscription in U.S. history, a controversial move that led to riots in several places, including a large scale civil disturbance in New York City in the summer of 1863. By the following year, the draft resistance had somewhat calmed down, but the Overland Campaign and the subsequent Siege of Petersburg, created the need for manpower in the Eastern Theater, while William T. Sherman's activities in Tennessee and Georgia also demanded soldiers by the tens of thousands.

"Hundred days regiments" helped fill the void, providing temporary manpower to guard bridges, railroads, and supply lines, thereby freeing veteran troops for combat duty. Additional front line troops were also being raised, including the 209th Pennsylvania.

In northwestern York County's Franklin Township, a prominent carpenter and builder stepped up to do his civic duty...

"The Rebels have come! The Rebels have come!"

As news spread throughout southwestern York County, Pennsylvania, on Saturday afternoon, June 27, 1863, that Confederate cavalry was raiding f arms and stealing horses in the region, hundreds of residents went into their barns, stables, and fields and made preparations to take their horses and livestock to safety. Some hid their animals in out-of-the way woods, ravines, or hollows. Others took to the roads in an attempt to make it to Lancaster County or deeper into rural southern York County, correctly (as it turned out) assuming the Rebels would concentrate their raiding to those towns and farms along the railroad.

This snippet from a period Baltimore newspaper is illustrative of the chaos and migration caused by the raid of Lt. Col. Elijah V. White and the 35th Battalion,Virginia Cavalry.

Engine House in Harpers Ferry (restored and relocated from its original location). John Brown and some of his raiders sought refuge here and used it as a blockhouse to resist local militia and then Federal troops under Robert E. Lee.

Background post: One-tank trip: Harpers Ferry, part 1

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the famous (or infamous, depending upon your perspective) insurrection of abolitionist firebrand John Brown and his small band of followers, a few of which had Pennsylvania connections. Five members of his group escaped and were not recaptured. A free black man named Osborn P. Anderson was among them, eventually making his way to York, Pennsylvania, where wealthy black businessman William C. Goodridge gave him shelter in his Philadelphia Street home (and his Centre Square business as well) and later smuggled him in a rail car across the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge. Anderson eventually returned to his home in Canada.

The popular Civil War blog "Gettysburg Daily" has now posted the second installment of my video tour series of the skirmish at Wrightsville and the Confederate approach to the Susquehanna River. Have a look!

Scott Mingus' tour of Wrightsville, Part 2

I have read several excellent books on the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg, including the late Greg Coco's fine works, especially his classic A Strange and Blighted Land. More than 150,000 combatants descended upon the town of less than 3,000 people and left the buildings, countryside, and streets littered with dead, dying, and wounded men, and the debris of war. Among the more deadly of the war materiel left behind were unexploded artillery shells, loaded pistols and rifles, and other weapons. Greg Coco related several stories in his fine book about civilians who perished at Gettysburg in the weeks and months following the battle, including the sheriff of York, Pennsylvania. Disease was the number one cause of death, but another significant problem was children (and at times adults) who were playing with or handling explosives that detonated.

York County had its own tragic story.

During the Skirmish of Wrightsville, Captain William Tanner of the Confederate army fired forty rounds from his battery, the Courtney (Virginia) Battery. At least one of those rounds failed to explode as designed.

It had tragic consequences.

Here is a newspaper article from the Columbia Spy of March 3, 1866, that related the ultimate result of Captain Tanner's long-delayed shell.