A delegation of ladies from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, volunteered to travel to the distant Gettysburg battlefield to help minister to the wounded soldiers being treated at a myriad of temporary field hospitals in and around the badly battered borough. One of the writers left her impressions of their brief pause in Wrightsville, and then a longer-than-planned sojourn in York.

She also gave a colorful word picture of their carriage ride from York to Gettysburg across what is today U.S. Route 30. It is a portrayal of pastoral beauty and serenity that is quite different than today's car ride across the modern landscape.

The ladies begin their day in Columbia, Pennsylvania, where they need to arrange for a boat to ferry them across the broad Susquehanna River because the Union militia had burned the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge.

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Local artist Bradley Schmehl's excellent depiction of the burning of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge will be featured on the cover of an upcoming book on the event by author Scott L. Mingus, Sr. Used by written permission of the artist as fair use for marketing and advertising this new book. Prints of Mr. Schmehl's painting are available on the Internet from Somerset House.

The Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge was set ablaze on the evening of June 28, 1863, by retreating Pennsylvania state militia to prevent it from being used by Brigadier General John B. Gordon's oncoming Confederate troops. The lurid glow from the burning bridge was clearly visible to many onservers in and near Lancaster. Later, one local woman and her friends used the pen name "Patriot Daughters" to write a book about their service in the field hospitals of Gettysburg after the battle. She was among those Lancaster County residents who could see the flames from the distant nighttime spectacle along the river.

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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.

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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.

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Fellow blogger and York historian and architectural expert Scott Butcher has recently announced the publication of his latest book, York's Historic Architecture, by History Press, a Charleston, SC-based publisher. The book is now hitting local bookstores and gift shops, and is also available on Amazon or directly from the publisher (scroll to bottom).

Scott will be signing books at the York Emporium on West Market Street in York on August 17th.

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Author Scott Mingus signs copies of his latest book at a store in Gettysburg

The August meeting of the York CWRT will feature Scott Mingus as the guest speaker, telling true tales and Human Interest Stories from the Gettysburg Campaign - many of which are taken from the manuscript for Volume 3 of this series, which is being compiled currently.

The meeting will be in the auditorium of the York County Heritage Trust at 250 East Market Street in York, Pennsylvania at 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening, August 20. There will be a PowerPoint slide show in conjunction with the talk.

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Tucked in a pleasant little valley not far from Spring Grove, this house was the home in 1863 of the Rev. Samuel L. Roth, a prominent area minister whose church was not far from his abode.

Background post: Confederate camp site - Jacob S. Altland House.

As an attorney, Civil War general, railroad executive, coal mine owner, U.S. Senator, and Governor of Georgia (as well as an early organizer of the KKK in Georgia by some accounts), John Brown Gordon met thousands of people during his busy lifetime. The vast majority were forgettable - common folks who elicited no special mention or recognition, consigned to be just another hand shaken by a veteran politician, or another nameless private saluting his commander.

However, a handful of York Countians received special recognition from Gordon in the years after the war during his popular speaking tours and his oft-quoted and somewhat controversial memoirs. And then there were his memorable encounters with Samuel Roth, a Jackson Township preacher whose persistence and never-give-up attitude stayed long in the memory of the Confederate general.

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A few years ago, York County author and blogger Jim McClure and I briefly discussed a fellow by the name of John A. Wilson, who is thought to be the last black Civil War veteran from York County to have been laid to rest. I started digging into this man, researching what Jim had found and searching for a little more information. Not only was "Quil" Wilson the last surviving black ACW veteran, he was among the youngest men to take up arms against the Confederates during the Gettysburg Campaign, when he served as an unpaid volunteer manning the trenches defending Wrightsville against the Confederate brigade of Brig. Gen. John B. Gordon. There are no specific records of Wilson's individual service at Wrightsville, but his small company was noted by the Lancaster Examiner and Herald as having "fought bravely."

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Historian Tim Smith of the Adams County Historical Society will be the guest speaker at this month's CWRT meeting in York.

Background post: 2008 speaker schedule - York CWRT

The monthly meeting of the York Civil War Round Table will feature author, historian, and Licensed Battlefield Guide Timothy H. Smith as the special guest speaker. He is speaking on his latest book, Farms at Gettysburg: The Fields of Battle: Selected Images From the Adams County Historical Society. Tim has a PowerPoint presentation, and he will interject, when appropriate, information about the Gettysburg civilians.

The meeting will be Wednesday evening, July 16, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium of the York County Heritage Trust's headquarters at 250 E. Market Street in downtown York. Parking and admission are free. Why not come and hear one of the most entertaining and knowledgeable Civil War experts in the region?

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An early 20th century view of the replacement bridge and the immediate area where several railroad buildings had burned down in 1863 as an indirect result of the Rebel invasion. Out of view to the right of this scene would have been the vicinity of the old industrial complex and warehouses that were also destroyed on June 28, 1863.

While Columbia Bank officials lamented the loss of their cash cow, the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge, after a six-hour blaze that entirely destroyed it, many residents of Wrightsville watched in horror as embers from the burning bridge were carried by the wind into the buildings along the York County riverbank. Soon, several structures were on fire, and, in one of the Civil War's more amazing acts of humanity and compassion, Confederate officers ordered their men to form a bucket bridge to dip water from the canal and river. Hand-over-hand, the Georgia infantrymen passed the heavy buckets to the end of the line, where the water was thrown onto the most threatened buildings, many of which were saved by this act of heroism from the Rebel invaders. The irony? Some of the Georgians hailed from Darien, Georgia, a town torched a few weeks before by Union troops, including black soldiers from Columbia, Pennsylvania, across the river from Wrightsville.

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Bonfires are ablaze on the 145th anniversary of the burning of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge. The piers are the original ones from the covered bridge of Civil War days. Photos courtesy of Michael J. Belgie Sr. of Fire & Ice Photography. Used by written permission. Contact him to purchase this or other photographs.

Perhaps the most spectacular fire in the history of York and Lancaster counties was the June 28, 1863, blaze that fully consumed the world's largest covered bridge -- the venerable structure that had spanned the Susquehanna River between Wrightsville and Columbia. Union high command had ordered part of the bridge destroyed to prevent the Confederates from crossing the river (which was too swollen from recent rains to be forded, and the bridge was the only viable crossing between Harrisburg and Maryland). Attempts to blow up a single span failed, and the Pennsylvania militia resorted to Plan B - burn a section. The winds shifted, and the old bridge acted as a wind tunnel, carrying the flames eastward for six hours until the entire thing had collapsed as a smoldering wreckage into the river.

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Cover art from a 1991 book, The Story of the Northern Central Railway, by Robert L. Gunnarsson, Greenberg Publications.

All over York County, from the outskirts of Abbottstown to the west across the turnpike to Wrightsville and from Hanover to the southwest up to Dillsburg (and dozens of other towns and hundreds of farms), residents took stock of their losses. For some, the damage was relatively light - as low as a single horse. For others, their livelihoods had been destroyed (for example, a large milling operation in Wrightsville that had burned down, displacing the workers). In the next few days, I will outline some of the damage in York County (and perhaps beyond) caused by the Confederates.

I thank York County railroad buff, author, and historian Ivan E. Frantz, Jr. (and a colleague of mine at work) for sharing the following very interesting information he has gleaned from the files of the Northern Central Railway, one of the hardest hit companies.

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Life here in York County, Pennsylvania, was slowly returning to normal, although, for many, the trauma and scars from the Confederate invasion would go away slowly. Efforts continued to clean the U.S, Army Military Hospital on Penn Common, even as patients from the Battle of Gettysburg began arriving. Work crews assessed the damage to the county's railroad bridges, and telegraphers in Hanover and Hanover Junction worked to restore that vital communications link.

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Jeb Stuart's three brigades of veteran Confederate cavalry rose in fields surrounding Dover and leisurely ate their breakfasts. Foraging patrols scoured neighboring farms for several miles looking for horses, mules, forage, horsehoes, and other supplies of military interest. They paid for them with worthless CSA currency or bank drafts to be paid by the Confederacy after the war ended. Scores of Union prisoners captured in Maryland or at the Battle of Hanover are paroled, released, and sent walking back down today's Route 74 to York. By early afternoon, Stuart's men are back in the saddle, as multiple columns wind their way through northwestern York County through Wellsville, Rossville, and Dillsburg, where the brigade of wealthy South Carolina planter and politician Wade Hampton III will camp for the night on the Mumper fruit farm.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the county...

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Reenactors / living historians pose in front of the 19th Century Bonham House, one of downtown York's many beautifully restored and maintained older homes.

My grandson and I spent much of the morning Saturday visiting the annual Patriot Days celebration in downtown York, Pennsylvania. This series of events includes a Civil War encampment, a Victorian ball, 19th Century musicians / dancers, a historical drama, a panel discussion on York during the Confederate occupation, and others.

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Sunday dawned bright and early on June 28. Most townspeople in York went about their daily routines, including dressing nicely for worship, strolling the sidewalks, and visiting friends and relatives. While church was in progress at St. Paul's Lutheran, the vanguard of the Confederate division of Jubal Early marched into York, preceded by the pioneer corps and advance pickets from the 31st Georgia. Rebels hauled down the large flag in the Center Square, as well as a smaller one from a nearby shop. York was now under Confederate control. The lead brigade, the Georgians of John Gordon, moved on to Wrightsville, while Jubal Early ringed York with artillery and established a series of camps.

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Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's veteran Confederate division, one of the hardest fighting units in the Army of Northern Virginia, departs from camps near Mummasburg, Gettysburg, and Hunterstown and heads eastward toward the prize they had been ordered by Richard S. Ewell to capture - the prosperous town of York. Early's main column - 3/4 of his artillery, all but one company of the 17th Virginia Cavalry, and the brigades of Ike Avery and Extra Billy Smith trudged from Mummasburg toward Hunterstown, picking up the Louisiana Tigers en route. John Gordon's Georgians left the Wolf farm just east of Gettysburg and marched out the turnpike (today's U.S. 30). It would be a leisurely march for these two columns this day, one that would end at Big Mount and Farmers, respectively.

It was the third column that would create the military excitement on this day - White's Comanches which had terrorized much of northern Maryland and had earned a reputation for lightning raids on Union supply lines. Now, their war whoops would be heard in southwestern York County...

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An 1861 woodcut of the Confederate Stars and Bars fluttering over the Marshall House hotel in Alexandria, Virginia. Two years later, a later version of the Confederate banner floated in the breeze over York, Pennsylvania, the largest town in the North to be occupied by the Rebels during the Civil War.

This Wednesday night, June 25, the York County Heritage Trust and the York Civil War Roundtable will co-host a Civil War panel discussion on the occupation of York during the Gettysburg Campaign. As part of the city-sponsored Patriot Days, this event has been evolving for several months, but has now been finalized. A panel of four speakers will join moderator Jim McClure of the York Daily Record to present a series of brief talks on various aspects of the town, its people and buildings, its defenders, and its uninvited guests from Dixie.

The panel discussion is free of charge, and will be at YCHT's auditorium at 250 E. Market Street in downtown York at 7:00 p.m.. Parking is also free. This presentation deals with a very interesting and controversial subject, one that elicits numerous opinions.

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Among the many damage claims filed after the Civil War by York Countians are depositions regarding thievery of the Confederate soldiers. York resident William Ross reported that, on July 1, 1863, a squad of Rebel cavalry rode up to his farm, escorting a train of empty supply wagons. When the "Johnnies" departed, the wagons were now filled with 75 bushels of corn and other items taken from Ross's farm.

Dover resident Mary Roth had been visited a day earlier by William A. French's 17th Virginia Cavalry, which served under Major General Jubal A. Early. Confederate troopers confiscated 40 pairs of horseshoes and 50 pounds of horseshoe nails, as well as stealing 9 bushels of coal.

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An early war etching of some of "Jeb" Stuart's Virginia cavaliers. From Harper's Weekly.

Add Jefferson area merchant Conrad Myers to the long list of York County merchants who felt the sting of the Confederate raiding parties during the Gettysburg Campaign. Stuart's cavaliers paused to rob more than a dozen shopkeepers from Jefferson to Dillsburg over a 24-hour period. Throw in those merchants in York, Wrightsville, and other locales visited by the cavalry and infantry of Jubal Early, and it was a bad week for several families who relied on the weekly income from these stores for their livelihoods.

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The subject of a talk on May 21, 2008, by noted author J. David Petruzzi -- famed Confederate cavalry general James E. B. "Jeb" Stuart, who was killed less than a year after his controversial ride around the Union army.

As a prelude to J. David Petruzzi's presentation Wednesday night at the monthly meeting of the York Civil War Round Table (7:00 p.m., York County Heritage Trust, 250 East Market Street, York; FREE admission!!!), I offer a couple of anecdotes from famed Confederate cavalier J.E.B. Stuart's torturous ride through western York County, which included a late night trek from the Battle of Hanover northward to Dover.

Of the nearly 10,000 Confederates that traversed York County in late June 1863, Stuart's troopers developed a reputation (well deserved) as the most significant horse thieves in the Rebel army. There are more than 900 damage claims filed after the war by farmers and residents of the county, and at least 600 of these deal directly with the theft of horses or mules by Stuart's passing column. It's hard to imagine how much they may have taken had they been allowed the luxury of staying and resting a few days, like their cavalry counterparts under William H. French and Elijah V. White, who accompanied Jubal A. Early's column into York and did their own fair share of horse trading.

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A Civil War-era lavish dinner at a well-to-do household. Most southern Pennsylvanians did not enjoy such luxury, but their dinner spreads were often equally impressive. Confederates often marveled at the "vast oceans" of food that some were fortunate enough to have partaken during the invasion of Pennsylvania. Harper's Weekly.

Many of you know I am fascinated by the human interest side of the Civil War, having written three books (with a fourth one in the works now) on that aspect of the war. In particular, I enjoy studying the psychology of the interactions between the Confederate soldiers and the Pennsylvania civilians during the Gettysburg Campaign. There is a wealth of great material in the soldiers' old diaries, letters, and similar reminiscences.

Here's one interesting anecote of a group of Rebel artillerymen from Virginia as they intercoursed with a pair of Franklin County families. Note how the milk was served, and also the custom of dressing up for company. Also note that the head of the household does not eat with the rest of the family...

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For you Cannonball readers that may not be aware, there are some excellent on-line resources available from The Guilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The organization is sponsoring a temporary exhibit at the new Gettysburg Visitors Center at Gettysburg National Military Park, displaying several dozen "Letters from the War" in their gallery. Many are poignant and illuminating, shedding some light on the lifestyles of the average Civil War soldier.

Complete text of those letters can be found on-line at their website, which also features complete transcripts of many other epistles. Website visitors may listen to several audio versions of selected stories and other documents from the Battle of Gettysburg and other ACW events and campaigns. Also, they make available webcasts and podcasts from a number of leading contemporary ACW historians, professors, and lecturers.

The site is interesting and well worth bookmarking for future repeated visits.

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Every day, thousands of cars and trucks rumble through the new traffic circle in Spring Grove, passing by the old stone house pictured above. Few, if any, are aware of the historic significance of the building, which has been the local library, a private residence, and now is the headquarters of a flooring company. However, years ago, it served as the temporary headquarters for a Confederate cavalry unit from Virginia and Maryland during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign. The area was the campsite of these Rebels on the Saturday night before the Battle of Gettysburg.

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A 1911 newspaper offered a lengthy account of the occupation of York by parts of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. York would be the largest town in the North to be occupied by the Confederates.

M. L. Van Barman was just a kid in 1863 when Jubal Early and his powerful division of battle-tested veteran soldiers occupied York following a decision by civic officials to peacefully cooperate with the oncoming Confederates rather than try to resist. It was a decision that was not immediately challenged openly, but one that sparked considerable second-guessing and questioning in the following decades. Chief Burgess David Small would be at the center of this firestorm of controversy. Young businessman A. B. Farquhar would have an audience with Abraham Lincoln in which the president would teasingly introduce Farquhar to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton as the chap who surrendered York.

In 1911, as we conclude Van Barman's narrative of Early's Raid, he offers his retrospective and opinion on the actions of town leaders 48 years before. Many of the leading participants, both Pennsylvanian and Confederate, were by now dead, but the arguments continued as to whether or not York made the right call in "surrendering."

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1909 postcard showing the Codorus Creek and the modernized flour mill once owned by the prosperous firm of P.A. & S. Small. Reports on June 29, 1863, reached businessman Samuel Small, Jr. that the infamous Louisiana Tigers were destroying the operations and gumming up the mill race and equipment by dumping flour into the water.

How far would you go in wartime to protect your own private property, or that of your neighbors and friends? During Early's Raid in 1863, local residents reacted in a mixture of ways that reflects the diversity of human emotions and personalities. Many Yorkers packed what they could and fled eastward to Lancaster County. Some of these refugees drove flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, horses, and other livestock and animals across the toll bridge over the Susquahanna to presumed safety.Other people hid their valuables and horses (and sometimes themselves as well) in woods, hollows, barns, and other hiding places in an attempt to escape detection from roving patrols of Confederate foragers.

A few bold residents confronted the Rebels and refused to allow them to steal property or livestock. Several men even insisted on personal audiences with leading Confederate generals, including Jubal Early, to ensure the safety of their property and possessions. M. L. Van Barman relates one such story.

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A typical old swimming hole from the 1930s

When I was a kid, our southeastern Ohio village was uniquely blessed with a very popular regional tourist attraction known as Lake Isabella. A sprawling complex of former limestone quarries, the Columbia Cement Company spent huge amounts of cash to dam a nearby creeek and convert the former quarries into a horseshoe-shaped lake, with shelter houses, a dance hall, recreational facililties, basketball and tennis courts, shuffleboard, boat docks, a marina, and best of all, a very nice swimming area replete with a diving board, a high dive tower, and a distant metal raft to rest upon after distance swims. It was a fantasy, as we lived on the bluff overlooking the lake, and I spent my youthful summers at the complex.

We also had an old-fashioned watering hole at the nearby Jonathan Creek, where some people would go skinny-dipping, an act obviously forbidden at the Lake Isabella beach. Somebody fixed up a rope and old tire, and swinging out over the hole and jumping in became popular.

Somewhat similar to my hometown of East Fultonham, York in 1863 had its own two water attractions, as we will see from the latest entry from M. L. Van Barman's 1911 recollection of the Gettysburg Campaign and Jubal Early's Raid.

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Civil War messages were conveyed by telegraph where the service was available, but most often were delivered in person by mounted couriers. A messenger sent from Carlisle by Richard Ewell rode through northern York County down to York to find Major General Jubal Early and give him updated orders, cutting short his raid.

Confederate general Jubal Early had planned to seize the long covered bridge over the Susquehanna River at Wrightsville, march his veteran division into Lancaster County, and threaten Harrisburg from the rear. This was in contrast to his original orders to destroy the bridge and then march to Dillsburg to link up with the rest of Richard Ewell's corps. However, in the early evening of June 28, 1863, "Old Jube's" plans were thwarted by the state militia's burning of the bridge. High water prevented any possibility of simply fording the rain-swollen river.

As we pick up York resident M. L. Van Barman's narrative, it is late afternoon on Monday, June 29. John Gordon's brigade is marching back to York, having passed through Hallam after leaving Wrightsville and the smoldering bridge. The Lousiana Tigers and Extra Billy Smith's brigades are camped between Loucks Road and Emigsville, along with artillery on the heights along the Codorus Creek. Ike Avery's North Carolinans patrol downtown York, and more cannons frowning from Webb's Hill south of town. Jubal Early has threatened to burn certasin railroad buildings if York does not fully comply with a ransom he has levied on the town, and he is meeting with York authorities. A few railcars and small shops are already on fire.

However, events in Maryland will now change forever the course of the Gettysburg Campaign, even as Early argues with one of the railroad officials...

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York's old county courthouse served as the temporary headquarters for the Confederate army division that occupied York in June 1863.

In several previous posts, we have looked at the Confederate invasion of York through the eyes of resident M. L. Van Barman, in an account not fully republished since 1911. Backgrounds posts: Introduction, Jubal Early arrives in Gettysburg, The Rebels Approach York, Farquhar Steps Up, York "Surrenders" at Farmers.

My wife and I enjoy popping a DVD into the player and watching movies together, a joy we indulge in a couple of times a week. We recently watched Denzel Washington's interesting movie Man on Fire, in which he plays a downtrodden bodyguard assigned to protect a little girl in Mexico from political kidnappers. He initially fails, and she is taken and held for ransom. Eventually, as with many Hollywood flicks, she is released and the movie has a happy ending. Unfortunately, ransom money has been around almost as long as humanity, The paying of tribute money was a common practice in the ancient Middle East, where an invading army might be dissuaded from sacking a village or town through the payment of crops, slaves, gold, or other valuables. That practice was still intact during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign.

Here is Van Barman's account of Jubal Early's ransom of York...

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Confederate troops from Georgia haul down York's huge flag in this Lewis Miller sketch, courtest of YCHT. York became the largest town in the North to be occupied by the Confederates. It was one of more than fifty such towns and villages in Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to see Rebels marching through the streets during the summer of 1863.

In several previous posts, we have looked at the Confederate invasion of York through the eyes of resident M. L. Van Barman, in an account not fully republished since 1911. Backgrounds posts: Introduction, Jubal Early arrives in Gettysburg, The Rebels Approach York, Farquhar Steps Up, York "Surrenders" at Farmers.

I cannot imagine what it would be like for an enemy army to march through the streets of your hometown, and then to physically occupy it. Millions of people throughout history have experienced such events, sometimes with horribly tragic results. Some time ago, I studied the Roman occupation of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, one of the more brutal occupations. York would be spared any significant damage, and women and children would not be molested as terms of an agreement offered to York's delegation by John B. Gordon at Farmers, PA. In this case, the opposing army would enter town peacefully and no civilians would be injured or killed, unlike some places in Indiana and Ohio visited a few weeks later by Rebel raiders under John Hunt Morgan.

Here is the continuation of M. L. Van Barman's eyewitness account of Jubal Early's raid...

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Photo of the house at Farmers, PA where York's four-man delegation met the night of June 27, 1863, with Confederate General Gordon to negotiate York's immediate future. This picture ran in a local York newspaper on the 100th anniversary of the event. Background post - Jim McClure's entry on the farmhouse.

M. L. Barman was an eyewitness to the Confederate invasion of York. His 1911 newspaper account is comprehensive and offers a broad overview of the occupation from a civilian perspective. In the last installment, he recounted the uncertainty among York's leaders as the Rebels approached, and the impulsiveness of young industrialist A. B. Farquhar, who dashed westward in his buggy to meet with the Confederates, without waiting for authorization. Now, as we pick up the story, Farquhar is heading out the turnpike (Route 30) again, only this time with the mayor, a former army colonel, and another leading citizen to legalize the terms offered to Farquhar by Confederate General John Brown Gordon earlier in the day just outside of Abbottstown...

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With the Confederates threatening in late June 1863, York's civic officials and other leading citizens took action. Among them was Arthur Briggs Farquhar, a young man not yet 25, who owned a fledgling agricultural implement company in York. Impetuous and full of energy, Farquhar had ridden down into Maryland in September 1862 to meet an old classmate, Confederate general Fitzhugh Lee. Farquhar, a Marylander by birth, before the war had attended school in Virginia with Lee. They discussed ways to ensure that Farquhar's business would be spared should the Rebels invade Pennsylvania and enter York. Luckily, that threat had not materialized.

Now, nearly a year later, as the Rebel vanguard marched eastward from Gettysburg along today's Route 30, the impulsive Farquhar again trusted his instincts that he could again intervene.

Here is the latest installment of York resident M.L. Van Barman's article that first appeared in the Gettysburg Compiler nearly a century ago.

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Mary Fisher was the wife of the judge of York, Robert Fisher. She had witnessed the march of John Gordon’s Georgia brigade through the town on June 28, and had suffered through the subsequent occupation of the town by Jubal Early, who had threatened her husband that he would burn the locked county courthouse to the ground if Judge Fisher did not produce the keys. Mary would be among those York residents who ministered to the wounded following the Battle of Gettysburg.

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One of the trends in tradebook publishing in the past two decades has been the strong growth of historical fiction, particularly those books aimed at women. Combining plots that strongly emphasis character development and personal interrelationships with believable historical situations and settings, these books generally sell very well and appeal to a broad audience. Some, like Cold Mountain, have become best sellers that have cut across across wide genre of readers.

The most recent addition to this segment of the book industry comes from a Gettysburg author, Jessica James. Shades of Gray: A Novel of the Civil War in Virginia (ISBN 978-0-9796000-0-5, softback, 524 pages) is a worthy addition to the line up. Published by Patriot Press, the novel concerns the growing relationship between a Virginian who is a ardent secessionist and Confederate advocate. The lead female character, by contrast, is a devoted Unionist. The interplay of their divergent beliefs, coupled with the backdrop of the growing war, is well written and sustaining. Crisp, well flowing, and with a storyline that holds your attention, James shows off her talents as a novelist, as well as revealing a solid understanding of the Civil War era.

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Emily Bliss Souder was among the scores of people rushing to the Gettysburg battlefield to assist with the wounded. She and several companions arrived in Baltimore on Monday afternoon, July 13, but missed the last train to Hanover Junction. They explored the city and called on acquaintances. At 7:30 the next morning, the group left for Hanover Junction, reaching the intersection at 11:00 a.m. She eventually made it to Gettysburg, where she helped tend the wounded for a couple of weeks. She wrote several letters from the field hospitals, some of which mentioned her brief stays in York County.

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My wife and I used watch a half-hour TV program entitled 8 Simple Rules for Dating my Daughter. It starred the late actor John Ritter, the son of famous country and western singer Tex Ritter, and the show was a source of entertainment and escape. While I normally detest sitcoms, this was one of the rare ones I would sit through, unlike Ritter's earlier horrible Three's Company, which I could not stand. Not long before Ritter's death at age 54, I finally came to appreciate his talents. John Ritter had a famous lineage, as well as fame and fortune.

For one ordinary 19th Century York County namesake, the Gettysburg Campaign took away a little of his fortune, but made the name John Ritter a part of local Civil War history.

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Typical interior of a small country store

Boredom. Routine. Monotony... By June 1863, the Army of Northern Virginia had spent more than half a year relatively idle in its camps since the Battle of Fredericksburg, with the exception of the flurry of activity in May at Chancellorsville. As the soldiers headed northward for the summer campaign, they passed through dozens of small towns in Virginia, with most of the businesses barren from the hardships of the war. When the troops got to Pennsylvania, soldiers marveled at the well-stocked stores and shops, and there are scores, if not hundreds, of surviving letters and diaries that discuss individual Confederates' shopping sprees.

York County was no exception. While the soldiers were often gleeful at the rare chance to leisurely shop for whatever goods they needed, the local merchants were not at all happy about the situation.

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Typical York County farmland, Library of Congress

The Pennsylvania Germans of the mid-19th Century, as a general rule, were a hard-working, thrifty people that often did not readily embrace outsiders or admit them into their social circles. They were content to be at peace with their neighbors and families, and derive a good life from the fruits of the soil and their labor. A fair number of them were rather ambivalent to the Union war effort, preferring to be left alone to mind their crops and livestock. And, they really wanted nothing to do with the invading armies. When the Confederates rolled through York County, several soldiers commented on this perceived lack of hospitality of their "hosts."

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Southwestern York County was visited by multiple military units during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, beginning June 27 with the 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry (later to be known as White's Comanches for their ferocity in battle and their war whoops). Confederate cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart passed through the area on June 30, as did Union cavalry under Judson Kilpatrick. Over the next couple of days, Federal infantry columns also traversed the Hanover area en route to Gettysburg.

For many local residents, this criss-crossing of the armies brought emotional highs and lows - fear of the Rebels often turned to surprise when they proved to be well behaved and gracious, and joy when the Federal soldiers arrived turned to shock and disgust when they openly robbed York Countians. In many cases, the U.S. Army caused as much (or more) damage to property and livestock than did the invading Confederates. Favorite targets for these raiders included horses and mules, clothing and shoes, chickens and pigs. In particular, soldiers would open larders, pantries, and kitchen cabinets, emptying them of their supplies of food.

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Neighborhood and country stores in the 19th Century were important gathering places where locals could exchange gossip, catch up on the latest news, exchange pleasantries with family and friends, and make general small talk. Often, the most popular place in these shops was the old cracker barrel, which seemed to be an accepted place for social interactions. The modern "Cracker Barrel" country restaurant chain attempts to evoke the memories of the old cracker barrel as the gathering place for travellers and visitors.

Back in the tumultous summer of 1863, one young York County shopkeeper learned the hard way about hanging around the cracker barrel.

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A number of libraries and schools this past week celebrated an event known as "Talk Like a Pirate Day," a clever way for teachers to spark interest in history in a fun and interesting way. With the wild success of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean movie trilogy, public interest in pirates and buried treasure has been high. The national pirates event sparked a connection for me to an article I originally posted last spring on my Charge! Civil War wargaming & news blog. It concerns one of the few tales of buried treasure in York County, not by pirates, but rather by Confederates (I'm sure some the victim felt he was dealing with pirates and cutthroats!).

What is York County's Civil War buried treasure story?

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During much of the Gettysburg Campaign, postmasters and mail carriers throughout south-central Pennsylvania feared they would be specifically targeted by oncoming Confederate forces. Paranoia swept the region, and there are dozens of stories about postmasters who hid their mail and parcels to avoid them being lost to the Rebs, and many Federal employees fled to avoid capture. Did they really have to fear the Confederates or was it merely mass hysteria?

The answer appears to be a resounding yes, in many cases, to both questions. As Richard Ewell's Second Army Corps entered Pennsylvania in late June of 1863, they did target post offices and Federal installations. Chambersburg's postmaster fled to Harrisburg, taking his mailbags with him, but the postmasters of Fairfield and Greencastle were not so fortunate. They were indeed captured and eventually taken into Virginia as prisoners of war, spending considerable time in Confederate jails. Postmaster David Beuhler of Gettysburg packed his most valuable government property into a valise and headed for Hanover in the train. One of his mail carriers, fleeing down Baltimore Pike, inadvertantly dropped a mail bag in Anna Garlach's yard, but she secreted it so the Rebels would not take it. Harrisburg's postmaster eventually fled, as did many other Federal employees.

What about York County's post offices?

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Major General Jubal Early led a powerful division of Confederate infantry, artillery, and scattered cavalry elements into York County in late June 1865. Early's first evening in York was a rather memorable one for the crusty officer Robert E. Lee called "my bad old boy." On March 5 and June 4, 1885, two decades after the war, from his home in Lynchburg, Virginia, an elderly Early penned a pair of letters to York County historian George Prowell relating his encounter with one of the local ladies of German extraction - an old woman who showed him some old-fashioned York County hospitality.

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During the few days in the early summer of 1863 that the Confederate army passed through Pennsylvania, many residents of Franklin, Adams, and York counties had a chance to interact with some of the Confederacy's most colorful characters (and among the best fighters) - the fabled "Louisiana Tigers." Recruited from the docks, saloons, and alleyways of New Orleans, as well as in nearby regions, the Tigers boasted an array of nationalities and personalities, although hard-drinking Irishmen and charismatic Cajuns were prevalent in their ranks. By the Gettysburg Campaign, their reputation for wildness has preceded them. They proved at times to be unruly and rowdy, and their division commander, Jubal Early, often camped them outside of town to reduce the risk of trouble. During the occupancy of Gettysburg on June 26 - 27, they were on Oak Hill, yet a few managed to make it into Gettysburg to brawl with locals at an Irish drinking house on Baltimore Pike. At York, they were camped north of town along the Codorus Creek - not far from today's Harley-Davidson factory. Here's one story from their short sojourn in York.

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Confederates from the Army of Northern Virginia passed through York County in waves in the early summer of 1863. The first incursion, rather minor, involved patrols from Albert Jenkins' western Virginia brigade. Jenkins, an antebellum U.S. Congressman, sent detachments of partisan or "wild cat" cavalry into extreme northwestern York County. Crusty old veteran Jubal Early led his powerful division of four infantry brigades, several artillery batteries, and a couple regiments / battalions of cavalry directly towards York on June 27. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry division roamed western York County on June 30 and July 1, fighting a battle at Hanover and minor skirmishes at Jefferson and Dover. One of his cavalrymen left this description of York County and its residents:

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