Confederates: April 2009 Archives

Many of you have asked about the status of my upcoming book on the Louisiana Tigers in the Gettysburg Campaign. LSU Press sent me word that the book is now at the typesetter and I should expect galley proofs about June 3-4. I will proof the text and layout, and then I will index the book. Everything is due back to the publisher by June 24 for their final approval. Assuming there are no changes, the book should be then added to the schedule for their printer. It will be published on archival quality, library compliant permanent book paper manufactured by P.H. Glatfelter's paper mill in Chillicothe, Ohio. The book is expected to ship in early October to those who have pre-ordered it.

I have a series of talks and book signings being arranged for the autumn and winter, including several Civil War Round Tables and various historical societies in this area. I am also working on a swing through Louisiana for several personal appearances.

I am thankful for my friend Rhode Island historian and author Brent Nosworthy, who has used me as a reference and proofreader for some of his past works. He was kind enough to return the favor by writing the foreword to this new book.

Pre-orders are being accepted at amazon.com.

Background post: Rebels Ride from Hanover, Part 1

As some of J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalrymen escorted 125 captured Union supply wagons across Fairview Road south of Hanover, Pennsylvania, following the Battle of Hanover, outriders and foraging patrols frequently raided the barns and stables along the way in an effort to locate and procure fresh horses. Dozens of farmers in West Manheim Township were victimized, some to the point where they would have difficulty bringing in their harvest that summer. Among the early victims was Edward Becker, who lived off Fairview Road and Beck Mill Road. He lost a horse he valued at $100.

He would not be alone in his anger at the passing Rebels...

The Joseph Arnold farm south of Hanover, Pennsylvania, was astride Fairview Road, one of the main routes for the Confederate cavalry to leave the area during the Battle of Hanover.

It was the hot, humid afternoon of Tuesday, June 30, 1863. For several hours, the roar of artillery had echoed off of the many ridges, hills, and low mountains in southern York County, Pennsylvania. Residents stood on their porches listening to the cacophony and wondered about the angry sound of war. For the citizens of Hanover, tucked in the extreme southwestern part of the county, the noise was even more deafening, as shells whirled through the air above them as opposing gunners on hills north and south of town dueled, with the houses and businesses and people caught in the middle.

Realizing that he was unable to drive off the Yankee defenders, who had received considerable reinforcements since morning, Major General J.E.B. Stuart decided to withdraw toward York, where reports indicated he would rendezvous with the easternmost elements of the Army of Northern Virginia, the division of Jubal A. Early. During the afternoon, while artillery shells still burst over Hanover, Stuart began pulling out, conceding the town and its crossroads to the Yankees.

Early 20th century view of downtown Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, looking up Baltimore Street, the town's main street. A. N. Eslinger's post office and store were on the east side of the street in the middle of the block as one walked toward the town square from Locust Alley. Courtesy of DIllsburg Online.

Augustus N. Eslinger became the postmaster of Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, in early 1863 following a succession of other local merchants and businessmen to hold the position. Eslinger would give the office stability, capably filling the job until July 1885. A. N. and Agnes (Diller) Eslinger raised several children in Dillsburg and among the borough's leading citizens throughout the mid and late 1800s. A proud pro-Union man, he named one of his sons Edwin Lincoln Eslinger.

In 1902, the former postmaster became an author, writing and publishing an interesting little book on the history of his adopted hometown, entitled Local History of Dillsburg, Pa. By then, he was in his fiftieth year as a resident.

Among his collection of memories and thoughts is a brief treatise on the pair of Confederate cavalry incursions - one a raid by Brigadier General Albert Gallatin Jenkins and then a subsequent and unrelated trip through town by the partial division of Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, which paused in Dillsburg on July 1 after marching up from Dover, Pa.

Here is A. N. Eslinger's rarely retold eyewitness account of Dillsburg during the Gettysburg Campaign...

Dill's Tavern has been patiently and accurately restored by volunteers from the Northern York County Historical and Preservation Society (NYCHAPS).

Background post: In the Footsteps of J.E.B. Stuart: Dillsburg

Stuart's cavaliers rested in Dillsburg before he ordered Fitzhugh Lee's column to head for Carlisle, trailed by the brigade of John R. Chambliss, Jr. Before the Rebels left in the late afternoon, they visited most of the merchants in town. Some of the DIllsburgers suffered rather severe losses; other had removed much of their inventory to safety well before the Confederates arrived in town.

Many of the Rebels watered their horses and refreshed themselves from a well outside the venerable Dill's Tavern. After a long day in the saddle riding up from Dover, the cool well water was welcomed, and lines of Southerners patiently waited their turn for a drink.

Meanwhile, a few officers took the opportunity to take a drink of a different sort, visiting Dillsburg's taverns for a meal and some more potent beverages.

Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, is the principal town in Carroll Township in northwestern York County, Pennsylvania. Irish-born Matthew Dill settled there in 1740 on a 504-acre tract, raised a company of men to fight the occasional Indian raids, and later prospered, becoming a county judge. By 1833, there were enough people living in Dillsburg for it to become incorporated on April 9 of that year. It was an important regional trade center, as well as a popular stopping place on the old state road between York and Carlisle, two of south-central Pennsylvania's most prominent towns. Dill's Tavern became a focal point of the community, providing rooms and refreshment for weary travelers.

Nestled near the termination of South Mountain and on an important road, Dillsburg during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign was the scene of a minor skirmish between the 26th Pennsylvania Militia (retreating from Gettysburg) and elements of Albert G. Jenkins' Virginia mounted infantry brigade, which was raiding the region for horses (we will have a detailed look at Jenkins' seldom discussed raid in a series of future posts).

On the late afternoon of July 1, 1863, more than 5,000 Confederate cavalrymen under Major General James Ewell Brown Stuart arrived in Dillsburg.

Stories abound about the brief incursion...

amazon.com is now taking pre-orders from the upcoming October 2009 publication of my latest book, The Louisiana Tigers in the Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863. This book contains perhaps the most detailed account written yet of the Tigers' smashing assault that doomed the Union defenses at the Second Battle of Winchester, and, of course, as one would expect from my books, there are a lot of human interest stories scattered throughout the narrative. Included are several brand new stories from here in York County, as the Tigers paid their respects to York merchants and to Spring Garden Township and Manchester Township residents. The book covers the Tigers two attacks at Gettysburg (July 1 and July 2), and the subsequent retreat into Virginia.

To place an order, or to read more about this book, please visit amazon's webpage.

A typical old York County farmhouse along today's State Route 74 (Carlisle Road) not far from Dillsburg, Pennsylvania. Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's Virginia cavalry passed by this house on the late afternoon of July 1, 1863, en route from Dover to Dillsburg. Beautifully restored and meticulously maintained, the "witness house" sat silently as more than 2,000 saddle-weary Confederate soldiers rode past.

J.E.B. Stuart's men were exhausted by the late afternoon of July 1. They had skirmished with a wagon train and captured it in Maryland, fought another skirmish at Westminster, endured a gruelling ride up western York County following the Battle of Hanover, and now had crossed the Conewago Mountains earlier that day. Unknown to them, their travails had only just begun... Gettysburg awaited.

Tom Ryan of the Washington Times has written many articles on the Civil War, including some rather thought provoking and illuminating material on the intelligence networks of both the Confederate and Federal governments during the Gettysburg campaign. Spies were quite active in this area. A Rebel spy named Will Talbot was captured in Gettysburg in the days before the Battle of Gettysburg; he was executed down in Maryland by the Union cavalry. Another spy was picked up near Harrisburg when he was spotted sounding the depth of the Susquehanna River from a rowboat. He was taken to Fort Delaware.

A lot of rumors floated around here in York. A one-armed Bible salesman who went around town peddling the Word supposedly, according to the rumor mill, accompanied the Confederates during the invasion of York. Another man drinking in a York bar claimed to be a member of an Alabama regiment who had been sent into York County at the specific orders of Robert E, Lee; he spent time in the local jail while he sobered up. He wasn't a soldier, just a wino.

Several strangers in Wrightsville were picked up and interrogated by the authorities, and the flood of refugees coming from the west from Adams County only added to the confusion and suspicion, and perhaps a tad of paranoia set in among some locals.

Ironically, the newspaper article shown above is from the Columbia Spy!

Mount Top is a tiny hamlet tucked in northwestern York County, Pennsylvania, not far from Dillsburg. Today, it's a whistle stop, as cars blow through the place on State Route 74. Few if any of the passersby are aware (or care) that they are traveling the same route as parts of Major General J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry during the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War.

On the late afternoon of July 1, 1863, a long line of Confederate cavalrymen passed through this hilltop community en route to Dillsburg from their campsite at Dover. In command of this column was veteran Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee, one of the South's better cavaliers. He led his own brigade of Virginia horse soldiers, as well as another Virginia brigade under Colonel John R. Chambliss, Jr. Perhaps 2,500 soldiers rode through Mount Top, and foraging patrols scoured the countryside in all directions, rounding up horses and mules, as well as seizing supplies and food of material value to the Old Dominion saddle soldiers.

Pennsylvania historical marker from the Gettysburg Campaign.

Several of you posted some interesting comments and thoughts in regard to whether Jubal Early or J.E.B. Stuart bears the brunt of the blame for their failure to rendezvous in York County on June 30, 1863, during the Gettysburg Campaign.

Today's briefly throw in another general officer into the culpability argument - Lt. Gen. Richard Stoddard Ewell, commander of the Second Corps and for much of the week before the Battle of Gettysburg, the highest ranking Confederate officer north of the Mason-Dixon Line. He was Major General Early's superior, and perhaps should share in that officer's blame for the fiasco that Stuart's absence implied.

According to Early, of course not exactly an unbiased source of information, he did not receive any orders from Ewell to watch for the arrival of Stuart, or to send parties out looking for the late arriving cavalier. Of course, Ewell and his defenders have a different slant, in that a major general operating along the border with Maryland should have been watching more carefully.

Here is Early's post-war summary of the actions of the days immediately preceding the Battle of Gettysburg. Note the entire lack of any mention of receiving any orders or advice regarding Jeb Stuart. Perhaps Early never did receive anything, and in that case, Ewell must held accountable in part for the failed connection between Stuart's cavalry and the Second Corps. Or, perhaps Ewell did indeed inform Early of Stuart's mission, and Early must accept sole responsibility for the failure, particularly in light of all the noise coming from the Battle of Hanover on June 30...

I will present over time some opposing views on whether J.E.B. Stuart or Jubal Early was at fault concerning missing their planned rendezvous in York on June 30, 1863, the day before the Battle of Gettysburg began. Stuart of course has been widely castigated for his supposed joy ride around the Army of the Potomac, but, as authors Eric J. Wittenberg and J. D. Petruzzi have pointed out in their landmark book Plenty of Blame to Go Around: J.E.B. Stuart's Controversial Ride to Gettysburg, Stuart must share some of the blame with several others, including Old Jube.

One of the earliest non-military commentators on the Stuart-Early controversy was a Chambersburg author and eyewitness to the Rebel occupation, a merchant named Jacob Hoke.

Here is his commentary from just after the war from his book, The Great Invasion...

Shortly after leaving Dover, Pennsylvania, in the early afternoon of July 1, 1863, Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia divided his cavalry force into two wings. One group, consisting of the brigades of Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee and Col. John R. Chambliss, Jr., rode through Harmony Grove and Wellsville to reach the rendezvous point at Dillsburg. The other wing, under Stuart's direct control, was the brigade of South Carolina planter Wade Hampton III and a lengthy and slow-moving train of 125 captured Union supply wagons. It headed up the Carlisle Road aka Old State Road (parts of which are today's Route 74) through the crossroads at Rossville.

Over my Christmas break from my duties as a scientist at a paper company, I have made a detailed analysis of the movements of Hampton's force, and it's very clear that he sent out patrols that ranged as far east as four miles from the main column, which kicked up a massive cloud of dust on the Carlisle Road that could be seen for miles according to eyewitnesses.

Before arriving in Rossville, At least one large column of Hampton's troopers rode up Bull Road, scouring the area for horses and mules.

Confederate Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee led his brigade of Virginia cavaliers into the village of Wellsville in Warrington Township in northwestern York County, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of July 1, 1863. Lee's men were tired and exhausted from their grueling ride northward through the county following the Battle of Hanover the previous day, and many of his men later recalled how they dozed off and slept in the saddle as their horses plodded along in the lengthy column. However, by the time the column reached Wellsville, spirits had been raised, and the Rebels broke out into song, serenading the Keystone civilians with Southern martial airs.

It must have been quite a scene.