Confederate camp sites: September 2009 Archives

I spent Labor Day at historic Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, one of my favorites places to visit. Situated at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers, the town played an important role in the early U.S. It housed a major Army arsenal and gunworks (many Harpers Ferry rifles saw service in the Civil War), as well as other small industries that produced other items of use to the military, as well as to early explorers and pioneers such as Lewis and Clark. The Union garrison at Harpers Ferry was captured in September 1862 by Confederate forces under Stonewall Jackson; it was the largest surrender of U.S. troops until Corregidor in World War II.

All but abandoned after a series of devastating floods, much of the remaining town was restored and preserved as a National Park. It is well interpreted, with museums / displays on the early Harpers Ferry, the arsenal, the Engine House used as a fortress by abolitionist firebrand John Brown, recreations of old dry goods stores and other mercantile establishments, and various other interesting things to do. It's well worth the modest admission price. The private sector of the town has several good restaurants (check out the BBQ place), as well as a wax museum and some other tourist attractions. The upper town has an impressive old Catholic church that is often open for tours, as well as the ruins of an old Protestant church. There are some great hiking trails as well.

Here are some random photographs from my cloudy and rainy holiday visit back in early September 2009.

The Maple Shade barn on the old Harrisburg Pike in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, serves as the headquarters, meeting room, and gift shop for the local historical society. Confederate raiders are known to have camped nearby on the old John Mumper farm along Logan's Run. The small sign to the right advertises my talk on J.E.B. Stuart's Ride to Dillsburg."

Not much has previously appeared in books and historical documents regarding the June 28-29, 1863, raid through extreme northwestern York County by of a portion of Confederate Brig. Gen. Albert G. Jenkins' brigade of mounted infantry. I am currently assembling materials for an article I plan to submit to the Gettysburg Magazine regarding this incursion, and have found some interesting new material. Recently I spoke at the Northern York County Historical and Preservation Society on the topic of "J.E.B. Stuart's Ride to Dillsburg," and I included a few snippets from my recent research into Jenkins' {West} Virginians and their earlier raid, including the near-miss between Dillsburg and Franklintown between the retreating 26th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia and Jenkins' advance guard.

After the talk, Martin and Connie Trostle were among the attendees who paused to share the stories they had heard concerning the two separate Confederate raids through the Dillsburg area. Connie, the secretary of the NYCHAPS group, was kind enough to send me a copy of a transcript generated in 1930 by an older lady from Dillsburg who had been an 8-year-old girl named Anna Mumper when the Rebels came through Carroll Township in June and July of 1863. The account is fascinating, albeit heavily colored by time and dimming of memory (and the mixing up of the various raids, events, timeline, and officers). Still, much of her basic recollections corroborate other earlier accounts of events in Dillsburg (that brief account can be purchased at the NYCHAPS gift shop in the Maple Shade Barn).

Here is one anecdote with its genesis from the Anna Mumper account, with historical facts added from my research...