Gettysburg Campaign: June 2009 Archives

Background post: The Union V Corps visits southwestern York County (account of the 118th Pennsylvania near Hanover)

I am up in upstate Maine on business this week (after a very active Civil War weekend in York County, PA). The weather is lousy (chilly, drizzle, fog), but the people are friendly and the scenery beautiful, particularly along the coast. Maine during the Civil War provided significant numbers of sailors to the Union Navy, as well as several regiments of infantry, a little cavalry, and some artillery. Perhaps the most famous (at least today to the modern casual Civil War buff) is the 20th Maine Infantry, which gained recognition from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Killer Angels and the later Ted Turner financed movie, Gettysburg. Commanding colonel Joshua "Don't Call Me Lawrence" Chamberlain's image to most people is the face of actor Jeff Daniels, who also portrayed the colonel in the prequel Gods and Generals.

But, what is the connection between the venerable Chamberlain, his regiment of woodsmen, fishermen, and townspeople from Maine, and York County, PA?

On July 1, 1863, the Union V Corps under Maj. Gen. George Sykes marched through extreme southwestern township, coming up from Maryland on the Hanover-Westminster Road (the same road used on June 30 by J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry to approach Hanover from Westminster). Much of the general area just a couple of days before had seen maneuvering of troops during what became the Battle of Hanover.

The V Corps camped on several farms near Hanover, but they did not stay very long (perhaps three hours, according to Hanover expert and Licensed Battlefield Guide John Krepps). By 7 PM, they were on the march for Gettysburg, having been ordered to move in that direction as the battle raged. Shortly after Sykes' men, including Chamberlain and the Maine boys, tramped through York County, the regiment entered Adams County, where their unknown destiny would take them to Little Round Top, where many would die or be wounded, and the rest achieve everlasting fame as one of the chief stops on the modern tourist route.

As soon as my photos I took today in Brewer, Maine, are developed of the mock "Little Round Top" hilltop memorial to Chamberlain and the 20th, I will post them here on Cannonball.

Following the cessation of the fighting at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in early July 1863, a huge issue emerged - how to deal with the thousands of wounded men left behind by the two armies as they left for Maryland and Virginia? Most houses, barns, churches, and public buildings in and around Gettysburg for several miles had become temporary field hospitals, but more permanent solutions were needed for those men able to be moved to formal hospitals in Baltimore, Washington, York, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and New York City. When the railroads damaged by the Rebels were repaired in the week after the battle, trainloads of wounded were taken from Gettysburg to Hanover Junction, PA, where they would be transferred to the north-south running Northern Central Railway for shipment to the designated hospital.

Representatives of the United States Sanitary Commission arrived in Hanover Junction and began tending to the comforts of the wounded men, as well as the throngs of relief workers headed into and out of Gettysburg.

Here are a couple of contemporary accounts from old books that shed some light on the workings of the USSC at Hanover Junction.

Dawn Roser of the Codorus Valley Area Historical Society unveils the newest Pennsylvania state historical marker, this one in the historic center square of Jefferson in southern York County. The CVAHS and the borough of Jefferson's combined efforts led to the installation of this marker, which commemorates the three separate times within a week in the early summer of 1863 that the town and the surrounding region were victimized by passing combatants during the Civil War.

The color guard of the 16th Pennsylvania Infantry reenactment group was among the participants in the hour-long ceremony, which occurred on the 146th anniversary of the first Confederate raid on Jefferson. On June 27, 1863, 250 troopers from Maryland and Virginia that comprised the 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry rode into the square. Commanded by Lt. Col. Elijah V. White (whose descendant attended the ceremony and spent some time talking with me about her ancestors in that battalion), the Confederates raided the region for horses. One trooper spotted a little girl along the square and handed her a brooch he had stolen from a Hanover jeweler that the Rebels had chased into the countryside before robbing him.

Author Dennis W. Brandt, an expert on the 87th Pennsylvania Infantry, was one of the speakers at the June 25, 2009, Civil War Symposium at York College of Pennsylvania as part of the annual Patriot Days celebration.

According to Dennis, the 87th Pennsylvania was the only 3-year regiment raised primarily in York County during the American Civil War (some of its men came from Franklin and Adams Counties as well as York). Recruited and organized in early 1861, the 87th's main task early in the war was to guard railroads, including a stint in western Virginia (now West Virginia). In late 1862, they found themselves serving in the scenic Shenandoah Valley and by the end of the year, the 87th was part of the garrison at Winchester, Virginia.

Little did they know as they celebrated Christmas in the midst of one of the most rabid pro-Confederate towns in the Valley that, for many of the boys, the following summer WInchester would be the gateway to life as a prisoner of war. For some, December 25, 1962, would be their final Christmas on Earth.

This old farm at the intersection of Baker Road and East Berlin Road in West Manchester Township was among the hundreds of similar farms visited by patrols from Confederate Major General J. E. B. Stuart's cavalry division during its sojourn through York County, Pennsylvania, on June 30 - July 1, 1863. More than 450 different residents of the county later reported losing horses to Stuart's column.

Among Stuart's diverse regiments was the 2nd North Carolina Cavalry, which had lost its commander as a prisoner or war during the Battle of Hanover. The regiment had been severely depleted in manpower during the earlier battles of Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville in the Loudoun Valley prior to Stuart's Ride around the Union Army, and the fighting at Hanover had not helped the matter, nor had the grueling retreat northward toward Dover. Horses played out, soldiers rode together on the remaining horses, and patrols scoured the countryside for fresh horses and mules.

Included in the saddle weary ranks was James A. Buxton, an 18-year-old soldier who had only joined Company H of the 2nd North Carolina in February of that year. Already he had seen considerable combat action and was now a seasoned veteran. He had been slightly wounded at the June 9 Battle of Brandy Station and had been reassigned to General Stuart's headquarters as a special courier while he recuperated. He was still serving in that capacity as the division rode through Maryland and southern Pennsylvania during the early stages of the Gettysburg Campaign. He would remain as one of Stuart's couriers throughout the Battle of Gettysburg and the rest of the summer campaign, returning to his regiment in September prior to the Bristoe Campaign.

Years later in the pages of the Confederate Veteran magazine, Jim Buxton, by then a senior citizen living in Newport News, Virginia, recalled his brief visit to York County...

There are more than 1,000 books that have been written on the Battle of Gettysburg, the majority (including my three) in the past 20-30 years. Yet, there remains a strong market for new material on the battle and campaign, or for fresh, creative approaches to present and interpret well known, time honored material. Pennsylvania Civil War authors J. David Petruzzi and Steven Stanley have succeeded on both counts with their excellent new book, The Complete Gettysburg Guide.

Blending some of the best maps and color graphics ever seen in a Gettysburg battlefield guidebook with crisp, concise and enjoyable text, Stanley and Petruzzi have generated what will surely come to be regarded as the ultimate Gettysburg overview and guide. Already scores of battlefield trampers have used this book to help them interpret what happened on the hallowed grounds of the Gettysburg National Military Park, as well as some obscure sites outside the park limits that the authors include in their well crafted series of automobile tours of the area.

During the latter half of the 19th century, the U.S. cigarmaking industry flourished (including here in York County where more than 100 separate small factories or shops turned out rolled cigars for sale across the region). Competition between brands was significant in many places, and shelf appeal became increasingly important. With color offset lithographic printing coming into prominence, advertising pieces became more important, and the use of colorful graphics to attract attention widely increased.

Among the industries competing for the consumer/buyer's attention was the cigar industry, which took full advantage of lithography for box and lid labels. The topics (and brands) are a dizzying array of diversity, and many of these miniature pieces of artwork have become collectibles in the recent decades. Included among the more popular subject matters is the American Civil War, and the box lid graphics shown here are from a once popular novelty brand known as Gettysburg Commanders.

Cigar boxes and lids, as well as sometimes the unpasted artwork, can be found at times at flea markets and antique malls and shows, usually for only a few bucks. eBay and other on-line markets are also a good source.

I will be signing copies of Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863 at the annual Wrightsville river festival on Sunday night, June 28, 2009 from 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM at the John Wright building on Front Street. This coincides with the actual burning of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge on Sunday evening, June 28, 1863. The co-author of the well received chapter on the bridge burning, Adjunct Professor Scott L. Mingus, Jr. of Harrisburg Area Community College, will also be signing the books in a special joint appearance.

Stop by and say hello!

Advertisement from a June 1863 issue of the Gettysburg Compiler showing one of the new pieces of mechanical farm equipments coming into use by the farmers of southern Pennsylvania. In this case, the Wible farm would be used as a field hospital following the Battle of Gettysburg. There is no record if the mower was present at the time, but it is likely.

For much of my 30 years in industry, I have frequently traveled, sometimes as much as 30-35% of the business days, including 42 states and 18 countries. I have been privileged to see most of the United States and Western Europe, as well as Japan and other captivating places. Growing up in a small community in rural southeastern Ohio, I have always maintained a strong interest in the farming techniques and farmsteads of the places I visit.

The same was true in the summer of 1863 as Confederates from North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Virginia, South Carolina, and Maryland paid a visit to York County during the midst of the Gettysburg Campaign. A study of the enlistment rolls for the regiments of Jubal Early's division and J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry division reveal that the majority of the Rebel infantrymen and troopers were pre-war farmers.

Naturally, the agriculture of the southern tier of the Keystone State held special interest for these tillers of the soil, who marveled at the rich topsoil in PA, the huge barns, and the new fangled mechanical farm implements they encountered as they passed through the region.

Copyright 2007, Scott Mingus and Tom Poston, all rights reserved. Map of the June 28, 1863 skirmish of Wrightsville, Pennsylvania. No reproduction without written permission.

On the late afternoon of Sunday June 28, 1863, more than 1500 Confederate soldiers under Brig. Gen. John B. Gordon of the Army of Northern Virginia marched from York, Pennsylvania, eastward through Hallam to Wrightsville on the river, a distance of some 10-11 miles. Their goal was to seize the mile-and-a-quarter-long covered bridge over the Susquehanna River, a key military target that would allow passage into Lancaster County where several important railroads could be interrupted. Defending the bridge was a motley collection of hastily trained Pennsylvania volunteer militia, invalided veteran soldiers emptied from the beds of the U.S. Army Hospital in York and their guards, a handful of active duty troops from the 87th Pennsylvania who had been badly embarrassed at the Second Battle of Winchester by these same oncoming Georgians, and three small cavalry units, one of which was a parade show group from Philadelphia.

Looking southwesterly toward the fields through which Gordon's Rebels advanced.

Gordon formed the 31st Georgia into battle line in the fields beyond the white farm and slowly advanced the veteran regiment, while two other regiments skirted to the hills north of Wrightsville in a flanking movement and three regiments performed a similar flanking march near Kreutz Creek to the south.

When Debi and I moved to this area in 2001, one of the more familiar aspects of the York-Lancaster region was the Amish and their communities. We lived for two decades in northeastern Ohio, where the Amish population rivals Lancaster County, albeit without the massive tourism and commercialization. The characteristic black, horse-drawn buggies of the Amish are a very common sight in much of Ohio, so we were quite prepared to see them (and drive on the same roads).

During the American Civil War, the Amish and their fellow Anabaptists such as the Mennonites were largely pacifists, preferring to stay away from secular politics and political movements, and the war created by regional differences within the country. Cannonball reader Jonathan Stayer, head of the reference section of the Pennsylvania State Archives, called my attention to a 2007 book that I was previously unaware of, Mennonites, Amish, and the American Civil War, a treatise that explores the religious minorities of this area. Jonathan wrote, "156 York Countians sought exemption from military service on grounds of conscience in 1862 (conscientious objectors), the sixth highest number in the counties of Pennsylvania. Even tiny Adams County was home to at least 129 conscientious objectors. The reason? Both counties were (and are) home to significant communities of Mennonites and Dunkards (Brethren), and to a lesser extent, Quakers. "

Authors James O. Lehman and Steven M. Nolt have written a fascinating book that examines the Amish and Mennonites of Pennsylvania and other states during the Civil War. Published by Johns Hopkins Press, this book is perhaps the first detailed study of the pacifistic perspective of the local Amish and Mennonite communities. The book is wonderfully written, flows well, and offers fresh information and a new perspective on the home front in the Civil War that is rarely (if ever) covered in other works.

Fame commentator Paul Harvey used to close his popular radio show with the tag line, "And now you know the rest of the story." Most of us are well aware that York was occupied by Confederate forces during the early summer of 1863, but how many of us know the rest of the story? Come to the York Civil War Round Table's June 17 meeting to find out!

As a prelude to the annual Patriot Days in York and the Battle of Gettysburg, the York Civil War Round Table has scheduled York native, author and historian, Scott D. Butcher to speak at its June 17th meeting. His PowerPoint presentation is called "York: Prize of the Confederacy." He includes in his talk the residents of York in June 1863, specific York landmarks, numerous first-person accounts and quotes from both sides and the newspaper headlines from the days of the Confederate occupation.

He is also going to include information he has collected on the Underground Railroad in York County, a topic that has not often been discussed in any detail.

Civil War artist Bradley Schmehl of York, PA has produced an excellent depiction of Major General Jubal A. Early's entry into Gettysburg's "Diamond" (the town square) on the afternoon of June 26, 1863, following his successful repulse of Pennsylvania militia defenders at Marsh Creek and Witmer Farm. Both firefights, and Early's subsequent occupation of Gettysburg and York, are topics I cover in detail in my recently released book, Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863. The book is available on amazon.com or directly from me at www.scottmingus.com

Veteran wargamer Larry Reber snapped the above photograph of Brad's art print at a Gettysburg gift shop, and Brad gave me written permission to reproduce Larry's image of his copyrighted artwork.

Brad tells me "The Diamond can be ordered from us. The canvas prints are $200 + s/h ($20). Check or money orders, can be sent to 25 S Yale St, York, PA 17403. In G'burg, the Wax Museum carries them and so does Gburg Frame Shop."

If you collect Gettysburg art prints, this one is of interest as it is one of the few prints that depicts downtown Gettysburg under the Confederate occupation, and is one of only two I am aware of concerning Early's entry (the other one is of Early's cavalrymen under Elijah White entering town shortly before Early's Georgia infantry under John B. Gordon arrived).

One of downtown's York's most interesting places for the Civil War buff is the Penn Common (or Penn Park). It was the site of the U.S. Army Hospital which treated more than 14,000 wounded and ill soldiers during the war. Among them were hundreds of patients brought to York from the battlefield at Gettysburg.

Recently the state installed a series of historical wayside markers throughout southern Pennsylvania to commemorate the region's Civil War history. Among the Pennsylvania Civil War Trails sites is Penn Common.