Author Jay Jorgensen wrote an excellent tour guide of the fighting at the Wheatfield in Gettysburg a few years ago. He reviewed my most recent book for Civil War News, andI am flattered by his kind words.
Frederick Street in downtown Hanover
Southwestern York County had seen the hand of war, with a cavalry raid on Hanover Junction on June 27 and the Battle of Hanover three days later. On July 1, the streets of Hanover were filled with members of the veteran V Corps of the Army of the Potomac, the first large body of infantry seen in the prosperous town during the campaign. Thousands of men from New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maine, and other eastern states walked through Hanover, or paused there for a brief rest break. Only a handful left their impressions of the town and its citizens.
Here is one such description from an officer in the 118th Pennsylvania, a regiment of city boys from Philadelphia recruited in the summer of 1862 under the sponsorship of the Philadelphia Corn [Stock] Exchange.
Major General Jubal Early exacted a steep ransom from the citizens of York, including money, food, and military supplies. News of York's fate swiftly spread through the Union army and soldiers debated the merits of the surrender. In at least one case, a regiment decided to exact a toll of revenge for Early's actions in Pennsylvania.
Dover's venerable Salem Church was the scene of a small skirmish in June 1863 during the Gettysburg Campaign.
York County had a major cavalry battle at Hanover, as well as a skirmish at Wrightsville that easily could have been a more significant fight had the opposing commanders made other decisions. There were dozens of smaller engagements, often no more than a few cavalry scouts shooting at each other such as in the case of the 17th Virginia's brief exchange of potshots with the First City Troop west of York on June 27.
Here is a brief account of a short firefight on the ridges west of Dover on July 1.
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