Yankees: December 2008 Archives

The cover photo for this upcoming book is courtesy of Chambersburg, PA history buff and taltented photographer Will Dupuis, who specializes in Gettysburg-related photography. For more of his work, click this link or visit his homepage.

My latest book of human interest stories from the Gettysburg Campaign, Gettysburg Glimpses: True Stories from the Battlefield, will be available in March 2009. Watch this blog for ordering information! Autographed first edition copies will be available for pre-order in February.

There are several new stories from here in York County in this 153-page collection of more than 200 stories from the battlefield and the campaign. The vast majority of these anecdotes and incidents will be new to you. Some are ironic, some humorous, some tragic, but all are sure to be of interest.

Here are a few examples from this new book, which is a companion to my two-volume Human Interest Stories of the Gettysburg Campaign.

One of the classroom assignments I recall as a child growing up in southeastern Ohio was a task to write a brief letter to the President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson. I penned a few lines, but I honestly don't recall what I said -- probably something along the lines of "have a nice day, Mr. President," and "greetings from Ohio." I have no clue if our teacher even mailed the letters, as we never heard anything back from the White House.

Back in the spring of 1863, a group of patients and staff members at the U.S. Army Hospital in York, Pennsylvania, got together and passed a series of resolutions avowing their support for the war effort. The cover letter was signed by the three-man executive committee. However, due to military protocol, it could not be mailed until endorsed by the senior post commander and sent up the command chain.

Here is the text of that letter from York sent so long ago to a man who at the time was embroiled in controversy as the "Copperhead" movement gained momentum, threatening to forever split the Union.

As the Civil War unfolded in the spring of 1861, neither the U.S. government or the fledgling Confederate States of America were fully prepared to go to war. One of the early problems that plagued both sides was keeping track of troop movements and creating a reliable supply and logistics network that fully functioned.The latter proved quite difficult at times, even for the established U.S. War Department.

In those early days of the Rebellion, the town of York, Pennsylvania, was a fairly significant training grounds and military depot for many new regiments, not just those from the Commonwealth. Major F. J. Porter was the assistant adjutant general at Harrisburg, and his name is prominent in a long string of telegrams and dispatches from Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Washington, and other military bases as he tried to ensure that the new troops in his jurisdiction were properly armed, clothed, and fed. In York, a 57-year-old citizen, Alexander Small, was trying to raise a regiment of men from York County.

Sometimes, men fell through the cracks, as happened to a group of volunteers who were "lost" at the Hanover Junction train station in early April 1861.

The Hanover Branch Railroad's station house at Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania, has been restored to approximate its 1863 appearance.

Background post: The Hanover Junction cavalry countermarch, an account of William Miller of the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry.

Among the Union cavalry troops in David M. Gregg's division who visited Hanover Junction on July 1, 1863, was the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry, also known as the 60th Pennsylvania regiment. One of the earliest cavalry regiments to be mustered from the commonwealth, it was recruited during the spring and summer of 1861, under the direction of Colonel William H. Young. It was initially known as Young's Light Kentucky Cavalry. Companies A, C, F, K and M were recruited in Philadelphia, with the majority of the rest of the men from Chester, Clinton, Allegheny, Delaware, and Schuylkill counties. Company D wasn't from Pennsylvania at all; it had been recruited in Washington D.C. from residents of the District of Columbia.

A few years after the war, the regimental historian briefly discussed the troopers' activities in southwestern York County. This is one of the very few accounts that mentions the Union vanguard encountering stragglers from J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate column and capturing them at Hanover Junction. Other stragglers from Stuart's column had reached Gettysburg on July 1, where they were spotted by Jubal Early's men.

While the Battle of Gettysburg raged on July 1, 1863, elements of David M. Gregg's cavalry division of the Union Army of the Potomac wasted several hours on a fruitless countermarch near Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania, because of conflicting orders the general received from HQ. This was not uncommon in the Civil War (or today).

CLICK THE MAP TO ENLARGE IT FOR MUCH BETTER VIEWING.

Please read the background post first! Oh, Just make up your mind, general!

I spent part of the day yesterday down in Hanover Junction with my little grandson. We mapped out what I believe were the various routes elements of David McMurtrie Gregg's division of Union cavalry took in its series of countermarches, and took a few photographs. Refer back to the map above during this discussion.

The Official Records of the War of the Rebellion is a compilation of the majority of the official reports written by the senior generals, corps, division, and brigade commanders, and often regimental or battery commanders as well. They usually focus on the movements of the particular unit and its subsequent battle actions. Some reports are lengthy; others are quite terse. Some are simple matter-of-fact rehashes of the facts; others are pages of flowery prose that may at times be self-serving to the writer. Keep in mind that these reports were meant to be read by the chain-of-command and then archived by the respective War Departments, so they normally "white-wash" the events described. However, often the real story, or as commentator Paul Harvey termed it "the rest of the story," may at times can be found in the common foot-soldiers' accounts in letters, diaries, newspaper articles, or regimental histories.

Here's one such story behind the official report from William E. Miller, an officer in the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry who would be awarded a Medal of Honor for his actions at Gettysburg.

The National Park Service has announced the winter schedule for the series of lectures lon the Gettysburg Campaign and the Battle of Gettysburg ed by park rangers from the Gettysburg National Military Park. These lectures and presentations are free of charge, and will be held in the meeting rooms in the new Gettysburg Visitors Center.

See also: Dueling carbines in Warrington Township for another local Civil War skirmish

Many York Countians are well aware of the Battle of Hanover, and some have heard of the engagement at Wrightsville. Few are aware that very minor skirmishes took place at several other locations within York County; minor encountered that left no or few casualties and have long since been forgotten. Even their exact locations are now hard to pinpoint, so don't plan on relic hunting.

Here's another example of these times when gunfire between the Blue and the Gray echoed through a section of York County.