Confederates: November 2008 Archives

I spent the summer of 2008 primarily working at our paper mill in Chillicothe, Ohio, a facility Glatfelter purchased two years ago from another paper company (no, not Dunder Mifflin of "The Office" fame). Ironically, when Debi and I were first married, we spent the summer of 1977 living in Chillicothe while I was a college intern / summer help student working at the very same paper mill. A lot had changed in the mill and the town in those three decades, but, most noticeably, the foul, rotten egg odor that always pervaded Chillicothe was almost totally gone. It was so bad back in '77 that we used to stash extra clothes at my parents's house near Zanesville so we didn't stink when we arrived as visitors.

Back in 1863, a few thousand unexpected visitors to York County could have used fresh clothes and some good old-fashioned lye soap before they arrived! Like the old Mead paper mill in south-central Ohio, they could be smelled all over town.

This anti-Lincoln pamphlet, published in 1864 by J.F. Feeks of New York City, is typical of the strong anti-war, anti-Lincoln rhetoric that pervaded many places in the North, including southern Pennsylvania and my native southern Ohio.

Pennsylvania's southern tier of Franklin, Adams, and York counties was a mixture of personalities, ethnic backgrounds, and political beliefs. Some pockets (including the Hanover, Codorus Township, and North Codorus Township area in southwestern York County) had fairly high concentrations of Southern sympathizers. Other enclaves were strongly Unionist, and another large group of residents were totally ambivalent and just wanted to be left alone.

E. A. Paul was a New York Times correspondent who was "embedded" (to use a modern term) with the Army of the Potomac as it traveled northward. Specifically, he accompanied the V Corps into southwestern York County on July 1 en route to Gettysburg. His comments and opinions regarding York County's Copperheads were recorded after the war in Frank Moore's Rebellion Record, a postbellum anthology of Civil War stories. Keep in mind as you read this account, Paul is biased and bases much of his article on hearsay and second-hand information. Still, there are some sentiments in here that have some authenticity, as York County indeed had a fair amount of Copperheads.

On the afternoon of June 29, 1863, a Confederate courier and his escort trotted down the road from Carlisle (parts of which are today's State Route 74) into downtown York, where he sought out Maj. Gen. Jubal Early. He delivered news that the Army of Northern Virginia was to concentrate to the west, near Cashtown. Early was to move toward Heidlersburg and reconnect with the Second Army Corps commander, Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell. At daybreak on Tuesday, June 30, Early's men broke their various campsites in and around York and convened near Weigelstown on the Carlisle Pike. From there, they would march to their evening campsite about three miles east of Heidlersburg.

"Dueling Banjos" was a popular instrumental composition from the 1972 movie Deliverance. In the film two musicians play off one another in an impromptu concert. Friendly duels to see who can outdo whom are often competitive, but inspiring. In the Civil War, individual duels were much more deadly.

When one thinks of the Civil War, the first mental image is often of sweeping, Pickettesque charges across open fields while the cannon roar. However, often the encounters between combatats was much smaller and more personal, but no less theatening. Here is an anecdote about one such incident in Warrington Township here in York County, Pennsylvania.

A lone Confederate supply wagon passes down a back country road somewhere in York County, trailing a patrol of Virginia cavalry who are going from farm to farm seeking forage, supplies, food, and, perhaps most importantly, fresh horses and mules. From a Civil War diorama / 15mm wargaming layout by Scott Mingus.

Maj. Gen. Jubal Early stripped his division of its encumbrances for the march from Greenwood, Pennsylvania (just west of South Mountain on the Chambersburg Pike). He left behind all his wagons loaded with tents, supplies, personal baggage, and non-essentials, leaving each regiment with an ambulance and a cooking wagon, as well as extra ammunition. What he did bring along was a vast train of empty wagons to be filled with the plunder he took from the region. The materiel would be sent back to the Old Dominion and used for future military needs. Few wagons returned empty, as Early's men, particularly his cavalry, were very efficient in scouring the county for these supplies. Here are some of their stories...

Frank Moore's classic Rebellion Record is one of my favorite anthologies of Civil War stories and events. The variety of topics is astounding, and there are some records that are now only to be found in this extensive work. Moore includes many dispatches and reports from period accounts, including reprinting a story written by a reporter for the York Gazette. It is a nice summary of the events of June 28 - 30 as York became the largest Northern town to be captured by the Confederates during the Civil War.

The cover art for the upcoming new book on the June 1863 Gordon / Early expedition into York County, Pennsylvania. Artwork by Mike Stretch; painting by Bradley Schmehl used under license.

The graphics and files have been sent to the printer, and we expect proof copies in December. Once OK, we should be on press within a few weeks. A national roll-out is expected in Q1 '09. I will have autographed, first edition copies for sale before then, and we expect a York County kick-off celebration at the York Emporium.

For more info on the book, as well as photos, see the official website for Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863.

The photograph, taken in the 1920s by a field survey team for the U.S. government, is part of a series of old pictures of York County that are now housed in the collection of the Library of Congress.

Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's CSA cavalry camped around Dover, Pennsylvania, in the wee early morning hours of July 1, 1863. Patrols were sent out throughout the region to gather forage, supplies, and, most importantly to riders whose mounts were played out, fresh horses. Some York County farmers took great measures to hide their horses, while others mistakedly believed the Rebs would not come near their farms.

The Jacob S. Altland house near Farmers in Paradise Township, where York civic officials "surrendered" the town to Brig. Gen. John B. Gordon, CSA.

I took a day of vacation today and escorted Georgia author and historian Gregory C. White around York County, retracing the route of John Gordon's Georgians and seeing many of the sites associated with Gordon's Brigade, including their daily camp sites and houses where key events occured. Greg wrote a book a few years ago on This Most Bloody and Cruel Drama: A History of the 31st Georgia, which was one of the six regiments in Gordon's Brigade that tramped across York County to Wrightsville and back. He is working on a new manuscript on Georgia at Gettysburg and is writing a definitive article on the Barlow-Gordon Affair at Gettysburg in which he will introduce some new sources and clarity to this controversial event (where Gordon and the badly wounded Union general Frank Barlow met on the battlefield).

Several of Greg's ancestors were members of the Gordon Expedition, and it was my distinct pleasure to discuss the Confederate perspective with him. Greg had graciously provided me many leads on Georgia sources that I used in my book, Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863. It was a delight for me to show him York County, which he had never before visited. We paused in New Oxford, Abbottstown, Farmers, and took a detour down to Hanover Junction before heading to York, Hellam, and Wrightsville.

Author Robert Trout, Jr. will be speaking to the Lancaster Civil War Round Table about his latest book entitled Memoirs of the Stuart Horse Artillery Battalion at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 13, 2008. Known for his books about General J.E.B. Stuart, Trout has again taken on the task of telling the story of some of Stuart's men in the artillery division. Written by the participants, these first-hand narratives and accounts of life during the Civil War in Stuart's Artillery Battalion make for fascinating reading. This latest volume of the "Voices of the Civil War" series, compiled and edited by the noted J.E.B. Stuart authority and historian, contains brief bio's on every officer in the battalion from the lieutenants to the colonels.

Lancaster Civil War Round Table meets at the Lititz Public Library. Registration is suggested but not required. Pre-register by emailing your name, phone number and the number of people attending to Sallie at srihn@lititzlibrary.org or call the library at 717-626-2255. If you have questions about the program, call Micky Kraft at 717-392-4976 or email lancastercivilwarroundtable@gmail.com.