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.

Posted in Civilians Gettysburg Campaign Gettysburg battlefield Wrightsville York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Author and paper scientist Scott Mingus enjoys a recent Cincinnati Reds victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Great America Ballpark on Tom Browning Perfect Game Night.

I have spent much of this year on temporary assignment to our paper mill in my native southern Ohio. Ironically, I worked at this same mill (three ownership groups ago!) when I was a 19-year-old newlywed. Debi and I rented an old house for the summer between my junior and senior years at Miami University, where I was majoring in Pulp & Paper Science and Engineering. Little did I realize I would be back three decades later as an executive with a different company that bought the mill.

Posted in Books Gettysburg Campaign

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Author, editor and Licensed Battlefield Guide, Diana Loski, will speak to the Lancaster Civil War Round Table about the life and military career of Confederate General William Dorsey Pender at 7:00pm on Thursday, October 9th.

William Dorsey Pender was one of the youngest, and most promising, generals fighting for the Confederacy in the American Civil War. Pender commanded a division of the 3rd Corps under A.P. Hill at Gettysburg where he received shrapnel in his leg. His leg was amputated but he died on July 18, 1863.

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Local ACW events One-tank road trips

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civilians Gettysburg Campaign Wrightsville

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Books Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Yankees

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

After an expensive renovation, the Gettysburg Cyclorama will be reopened for public viewing in its new custom-engineering theater within the new Gettysburg Visitors Center at Gettysburg National Military Park. I plan to see it in a couple of weeks, but don't plan to fight the crowds this Saturday (I will be at Dutch Wonderland with my grandson instead).

Many of you may not be aware that this particular painting is one of four very similar Gettysburg Cyclorama paintings done by the same overall artist and his team of assistants. There are also other Civil War cycloramas that were created in the same time period, including one depicting the Battle of Atlanta.

Posted in Gettysburg Campaign Gettysburg battlefield One-tank road trips

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Gettysburg Campaign Hanover Yankees

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civilians Gettysburg Campaign Yankees York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Confederates Dover Gettysburg Campaign Yankees

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

The replanted Peach Orchard as seen from across the tree-lined swale on the George Rose farm at Gettysburg.

A few years ago, the National Park Service had all the trees cut down in the historic Sherfy Peach Orchard along Emmitsburg Road in the Gettysburg National Military Park. They applied nutrients to the soil and allowed the field to lay fallow for a couple of years before replanting fresh saplings. They also dramatically expanded the area covered by peach trees to more closely resemble the dimensions of the 1863 peach orchard that was defended by elements of Daniel Sickles' III Corps of the Union Army of the Potomac. The trees are maturing well, and nearly all have survived the Pennsylvania winter and the spring rains. In addition, the NPS has replanted nearly a dozen other historic orchards, including several along Emmitsburg Road (such as the Rose Farm just south of the Peach Orchard). This is part of the overall battlefield rehabilitation project that has drawn so much praise and criticism, depending upon one's environmental versus historical preservation mindset).

Posted in Gettysburg Campaign Gettysburg battlefield One-tank road trips Preservation efforts

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

The commonwealth of Pennsylvania has erected a new wayside marker in Weiglestown on State Route 74 between Shiloh and Dover. It marks the spot where Confederate Major General Jubal A. Early turned off the Davidsburg Road and began his movement into York, as well as where he dispatched the 17th Virginia Cavalry under his antebellum friend Col. William H. French on a mission to destroy two railroad bridges at York Haven.

For a closer view of the text, please click on the link.

Posted in Confederates Dover Gettysburg Campaign

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

The Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Civil War Round Table is, once again, pleased to welcome historian and actor Patrick Falci to our Thursday, September 18, 2008 program., which will be held at 7:00 PM at the Lititz Public Library on Thursday, September 18th. Lancaster Civil War Round Table is free and open to the public. Anyone with an interest in the Civil War is welcome!

Come out and enjoy an evening with Patrick Falci! Registration for this free event is suggested by emailing your name, phone number and number attending to srihn@lititzlibrary.org or call the library at 626-2255. For more information, contact Micky Kraft at 392-4976, email lancastercivilwarroundtable@gmail.com.

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Local ACW events One-tank road trips

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Confederate cavalry from North Carolina and Virginia charged up Frederick Street in downtown Hanover, Pennsylvania, during the beginning phases of a cavalry engagement on June 30, 1863.

I am back from a business trip to historic Baden Baden, Germany, which was a madhouse of activity because of the annual horse racing series (picture being in Louisville during Kentucky Derby week and you get the idea of crowds, bands, great meals at restaurants, and other social events). I now return my attention to York County in the American Civil War and present a first person account of the Battle of Hanover.

George William Beale was an old man in 1918, but he wanted to share his reminiscences of his Civil War service through a book he wrote entitled A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army. His memory was sharp and detailed of his years of service as a young lieutenant in the 9th Virginia Cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart. He picks up his narrative on June 30, 1863, following the Battle of Westminster in northern Maryland...

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Hanover

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Artist Lewis Miller's depiction of the occupation of downtown York by the Confederate army in late June 1863. (YCHT).

Francis Wallace was a veteran newspaper editor in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. When the Confederate army marched down the Shenandoah Valley toward the Potomac River, Wallace and several of the employees of his paper enlisted in one of the emergency militia regiments, the 27th Volunteer Militia. Wallace sent back frequent reports to the remaining newspapermen, which were later published in the local paper in Pottsville, PA. These accounts are often colorful, spiced occasionally with humor, and present the thoughts and opinions of one participant in the Gettysburg Campaign.

Here are Lieutenant Wallace's initial thoughts when he and his colleagues (stationed in Columbia just east of the Susquehanna River) first learned from refugees crossing the toll bridge that York had surrendered to the Confederates.

Posted in Gettysburg Campaign Yankees York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Spring Grove

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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?

Posted in Books Civilians Gettysburg Campaign Gettysburg battlefield York CWRT

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Rebels wearily slog through the rain during their retreat following the Battle of Gettysburg.

York Countians could breathe a sigh of relief after the Rebels departed. While there had indeed been considerable damage to the railroads and telegraph lines, as well as thousands of horses and mules seized, the damage was rather light compared with Franklin and Adams counties, and part of Cumberland. A reporter from the Lancaster Daily Herald trailed the two armies after they crossed the Mason-Dixon Line, and he left a graphic account of the destruction he witnessed in the southern part of Franklin County. He wrote from Greencastle on July 8, 1863,...

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civilians Gettysburg Campaign Wrightsville

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Hanover Hanover Junction Other places Railroads York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Veteran National Park Service Ranger and author Troy Harman speaks to an enthusiastic crowd during his outstanding battlewalk of the seldom visited, seldom discussed fight on Brinkerhoff's Ridge along Hanover Road (Route 116) between the main Gettysburg Battlefield and East Cavalry Field.

Posted in Gettysburg Campaign Gettysburg battlefield One-tank road trips Yankees

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (1)

Huge crowds attended today's first two battlewalks on this the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. National Park Service Ranger Eric Campbell leads a two-hour walking tour of Cemetery Ridge examining the actions and movements of Union Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock during the second day of the battle.

Posted in Gettysburg Campaign Gettysburg battlefield One-tank road trips Yankees

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civilians Gettysburg Campaign Hanover Hanover Junction York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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...

Posted in Civilians Confederates Dillsburg Dover Gettysburg Campaign Hanover Hanover Junction Jefferson Wrightsville York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

James E. B. Brown, CSA Major General, led three brigades of veteran cavalry through southwestern York County after a half-day battle at Hanover.

At dawn, Confederate troops stir in their various camps, enjoy a final breakfast in York County, and prepare to resume their marching. Young Isaac Avery led his brigade out of downtown York, as the Tar Heels gustily sang "We'll Plant Our Colors on a Northern Hill," a popular ditty of the day. They picked up the Louisiana Tigers and Smith's Virginia brigade, and, trailing French's cavalry, marched toward Davidsburg.

In the meantime...

Posted in Confederates Dover Gettysburg Campaign Hanover Jefferson York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Representative Civil War troops on the march, in this case, New York volunteers. Courtesy of Corbis.com.

Failing to find a way across the Susquehanna River with the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge now a smoldering wreckage, Brig. Gen. John B. Gordon retraces his steps and marches back to York. Cavalry under Elijah V. White burn a few more railroad bridges and terrorize farmers in the Hellam region, stealing or buying (with worthless CSA money) as many horses as they can find. Gordon's infantry march westward through York in the late afternoon and camp out near the Carlisle Road (today's Route 74).

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Railroads York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

One of John Gordon's Georgians left a brief anecdote from his passage through York. This has not appeared in print since the 19th Century, I believe, when it was in a newspaper. Here is Private G. F. Agee's account...

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Wrightsville York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civil War people Civilians Confederates Dillsburg Emigsville Gettysburg Campaign Hanover Wrightsville Yankees York York Haven

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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...

Posted in Civil War people Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Hanover Hanover Junction Jefferson Other places Spring Grove Yankees York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (1)

Robert E. Lee,
General Orders, No. 73

Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
June 27, 1863

The commanding general has observed with marked satisfaction the conduct of the troops on the march, and confidently anticipates results commensurate with the high spirit they have manifested.

No troops could have displayed greater fortitude or better performed the arduous marches of the past ten days.

Their conduct in other respects has with few exceptions been in keeping with their character as soldiers, and entitles them to approbation and praise.

There have however been instances of forgetfulness on the part of some, that they have in keeping the yet unsullied reputation of the army, and that the duties expected of us by civilization and Christianity are not less obligatory in the country of the enemy than in our own.

The commanding general considers that no greater disgrace could befall the army, and through it our whole people, than the perpetration of the barbarous outrages upon the unarmed, and defenceless [sic] and the wanton destruction of private property that have marked the course of the enemy in our own country.

Such proceedings not only degrade the perpetrators and all connected with them, but are subversive of the discipline and efficiency of the army, and destructive of the ends of our present movement.

It must be remembered that we make war only upon armed men, and that we cannot take vengeance for the wrongs our people have suffered without lowering ourselves in the eyes of all whose abhorrence has been excited by the atrocities of our enemies, and offending against Him to whom vengeance belongeth, without whose favor and support our efforts must all prove in vain.

The commanding general therefore earnestly exhorts the troops to abstain with most scrupulous care from unnecessary or wanton injury to private property, and he enjoins upon all officers to arrest and bring to summary punishment all who shall in any way offend against the orders on this subject.

R. E. Lee
General

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SOURCE: Clifford Dowdey, editor, The Wartime Papers of R. E. Lee (New York: Bramhall House, 1961), pages 533-534.

Posted in Civil War people Confederates Gettysburg Campaign York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Last night at York's Patriot Days celebration panel discussion at the York County Heritage Trust, four authors with York ties along with author and newspapermen Jim McClure briefly discussed whether York should have surrendered to Maj. Gen. Jubal Anderson Early of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. There was no military reason to defend York, and the army did what it felt was prudent tactically to withdraw to the Susquehanna River, which they had been ordered to defend. The key issue was the controversial decision of York's leaders to seek out the Rebels and negotiate for the safety of the town, as act some Yorkers of that day felt was treasonous, while others strongly believed it saved the town from destruction.

One important point brought up by the panelists was that Jubal Early would likely have been court-martialled had he wantonly torched a Northern town against Robert E. Lee's orders. Targets of military value such as warehouses, railroads, bridges, telegraphs, etc. were allowable, but private property was not to be touched. Lee has issued very stern (for him) orders regarding his men's behavior, and it is incomprehensible to me that a major general, one of Lee's personal acquaintances and most trusted fighters, would have taken such a daring risk. True, Early had burned Congressman Thaddeus Stevens' Caledonia Iron Works, but Early had rationalized that this was fair game in retaliation for Stevens' open encouragment of the destruction of property in the South.

Here is the text of Lee's General Orders #72, which governed the behavior of his troops while in Pennsylvania. Read them, and you decide if Jubal Early would have been in trouble had he burned down York...

Posted in Civil War people Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Local ACW events York York CWRT

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civil War people Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Local ACW events Yankees York York CWRT

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civil War people Civilians Dover Gettysburg Campaign Other places York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Jefferson

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Courtesy of Winchester-Frederick County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Used by permission.

Debi and I are spending the weekend in historic Winchester, Virginia, a town that changed hands during the Civil War more than seventy times. This area is rife with Civil War history and old battlefields, although few have been well preserved. First, Second, and Third Winchester are poorly preserved, although there are some nice parts such as Fort Collier and the Star Fort. Better preserved are the nearby First and Second Kernstown battlefields, parts of which are quite pristine.

Winchester is about two-and-a-half hours south of York in the scenic Shenandoah Valley just off of I-81. It's an easy drive, and there are many good hotels in the area for an overnight stay.

Posted in Gettysburg Campaign One-tank road trips

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (2)

Tucked away near Seven Valleys in southern York County, Pennsylvania, is the tiny hamlet of Hanover Junction. Now mostly known to locals as an important rest stop and parking lot on the York Rail Trail, the old train station has been in existance for more than 150 years. It has been altered, renovated, added onto, and subtracted from during its long history. Restored to approximate its 1863 appearance, today the station houses restrooms for the bike riders and hikers, as well as a small museum that is usually manned by volunteer guides during summer weekends.

If you have never visited this site before, it is well worth a couple of hours some Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Few casual visitors realize that a minor Civil War skirmish occurred at the station on June 27, 1863, when Lt. Colonel Elijah V. White's 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, raided Hanover Junction and drove off its Union defenders, elements of the 20th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia.

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Hanover Junction Lincoln One-tank road trips

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

The Battle of Hanover, June 30, 1863, is believed to have been the largest battle ever fought in what is now York County, although it is conceivable there may have been larger quarrels among Native Americans that were not recorded. Hanover was a significant par tof the Gettysburg Campaign, in that the scrap delayed J.E.B. Stuart for nearly a day, and forced him to swing further eastward than originally planned. It is entirely possible that the engagement directly led to Stuart failing ti intersect the troops of Jubal Early as they withdrew from York westward toward Adams County.

Hanover marked a Civil War rarity - open cavalry fighting on a large scale in the streets of a town. The majority of large cavalry fights occured in open areas, where the space and terrain enabled the mass manuevering of large bodies of mounted men. Hanover was a swirling fight that reached the very heart of the town. Here is one incident from the hand-to-hand, close order fighting as recorded by one of the Union participants...

Posted in Gettysburg Campaign Hanover Hanover Yankees

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

For those of you readers interested in Civil war reenactments, there will be one near Hanover on July 3 of this year. Here is an entry from this month's copy of Civil War News by Deborah Fitts.

Come out and support this extremely worthy cause!!

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Hanover One-tank road trips

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Background post: 2008 speaker schedule - York CWRT

The next meeting of the York Civil War Round Table will be Wednesday, June 18, at 7:00 p.m. at the York County Heritage Trust's auditorium (250 E. Market Street in York). The guest speaker will be Mr. Tom Schaefer, a long-time York County historian and local educator. Tom will speak on the topic "The Skirmish at Wrightsville: A Tactical Analysis."

Tom has provided a synopsis of his talk, which dovetails nicely with my upcoming book on the bridge burning from Ironclad Publishing.

Posted in Gettysburg Campaign Wrightsville York CWRT York CWRT

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Well known Pennsylvania author J. David Petruzzi visited the York CWRT this past Wednesday night and presented one of the most interesting overviews of J.E.B. Stuart's mid-1863 ride around Hooker / Meade's army that I have recently heard. I had helped a little with the original research and data collection for his fine book, Plenty of Blame to Go Around: J.E.B. Stuart's Controversial Ride to Gettysburg, but I found a lot more information since its publication, so I decided to write a magazine article on the specific portion of Stuart's ride between the end of the Battle of Hanover and the shelling of Carlisle - that is, the ride from the outskirts of Hanover to Dillsburg through western York County.

That article appeared in the January 2008 issue of The Gettysburg Magazine and is a companion piece to the article I wrote for the July 2007 issue regarding "Jubal Early Takes York." Both issues are widely available from Gettysburg booksellers and gift shops, or can be obtained over the Internet directly from the publisher.

Posted in Confederates Dillsburg Dover Gettysburg Campaign Hanover York CWRT

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Hanover York CWRT

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Dennis Morris's museum-quality miniature layout of a portion of the Battle of Gettysburg

Here is a link to my other blog, which I maintain for a wargaming society that Debi and I formed several years ago. It depicts what I consider to be a museum-quality miniature diorama depiction of the Confederate attacks on Devil's Den and the Rose Farm at Gettysburg, actions that are well within walking distance from the York CWRT's adopted 102nd Pennsylvania and 62nd New York's monuments. The actions shown in this outstanding miniature layout predated the advance of the 102nd and 62nd.

What do you think? Very impressive work from the master modeller, Dennis Morris, don't you agree?

Posted in Gettysburg Campaign Gettysburg battlefield Miscellaneous

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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...

Posted in Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Lincoln

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Pennsylvania author J. David Petruzzi is the featured guest speaker for the May meeting of the York CWRT.

From June 30 through the wee morning hours of July 2, elements of J.E.B. Stuart's vaunted, but road-weary and exhausted Confederate cavalry column trudged through western York County. They fought a pitched battle at Hanover, as well as a couple of very minor rear guard skirmishes near Jefferson and Dover. Stuart did not arrive on the Gettysburg battlefield until late on July 2, having fought yet again at Hunterstown.

Historians for 145 years have argued the merits of Stuart's controversial ride around the Union army, one that put him out of touch with the main force of the Army of Northern Virginia for part of the campaign. Some critics blame Stuart for leaving Lee blind while in enemy country; others argue that the move made military sense and circumstances beyond Stuart's (and Lee's) control contributed to the delayed reunion with the infantry.

Brockway, PA author J. D. Petruzzi will present a FREE talk at the York County Civil War Round Table on Wednesday, May 21, at 7:00 p.m. at the York County Heritage Trust at 250 East Market Street in downtown York. This promises to be of strong interest to anyone interested in exploring the Civil War history of this region, and a chance to see and hear one of America's leading cavalry experts deliver his personal opinion on Stuart's ride.

Posted in Books Confederates Dillsburg Dover Gettysburg Campaign Hanover Jefferson York CWRT

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

When not on campaign, Civil War troops (particularly the Federals) had semi-permanent camps with tents and log structures. While on the road, they made do without these luxuries. For the Rebels on the march to Pennsylvania, the camp was usually a piece of grass, an old blanket, and the starry sky. (Library of Congress)

Recently I posted a message and photograph of the John Wiest house / tavern in Spring Grove, which was used as a Confederate camp site during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign. Some of you have inquired as to the locations of other CSA camps and headquarters during the Confederate invasion, so I will begin a series of occasional articles on the topic. First, some basic information to help set the table for this new series...

Posted in Confederate camp sites Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Other places Spring Grove Wrightsville York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

The 18th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry marched past the market shed in Hanover's town square, seen here in this vintage postcard depicting the square not long after the Gettysburg Campaign.

With the outbreak of Fort Sumter and the bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, hundreds of thousands of men enlisted in the fledgling volunteer armies over the next few months. Among them was William W. Hemenway a 24-year-old native of historic Lexington, Massachusetts, and the father of two. He enrolled in Company I of the 18th Massachusetts as a sergeant. He and his comrades participated in many of the Eastern Theater's more recognizable campaigns, including Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. He suffered a painful leg wound at Fredericksburg that would plague him the rest of his life. While recuperating, he finally was able to see his new daughter, Mary Grace, who was born shortly after the Battle of Antietam.

During the Gettysburg Campaign, Hemenway was now a first lieutenant. The vast majority of the nearly 100 men he had originally mustered in with in Company I were long since gone, most through illness or battles. Now, in June 1863, there were only 139 men left in the entire regiment, which had once boasted a thousand eager volunteers. The war had changed since then, and so had the handful of survivors still in the ranks. Soldiering was a hard life, and yet there were moments of pleasure, although they were few and far between. One of those rare moments came in Hanover, Pennsylvania, in southwestern York County on July 1, 1863...

Posted in Gettysburg Campaign Hanover Yankees

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civilians Confederate camp sites Gettysburg Campaign Spring Grove

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

The new book is available from Borders in York and at leading retailers in Gettysburg. It's also for sale at Internet retailers such as amazon.com and target.com.

Here is an anecdote from my recent Human Interest Stories of the Gettysburg Campaign, Volume 2, which was published by Colecraft Industries of Ortanna, PA. This is just one of more than two hundred such true stories from Gettysburg. You will not find any ghosts of Gettysburg or other such tales in this book, but rather stories as related directly by the participants themselves about their experiences. Nothing supernatural, just extraordinary in many cases.

Posted in Books Confederates Gettysburg Campaign

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

The 102nd Pennsylvania was among the Union reinforcements that helped clear the "Valley of Death" late on July 2.

The York Civil War Round Table is sponsoring a National Park Service-sanctioned battlefield clean-up activity on Saturday morning, May 3, 2008. To further entice folks to turn out, in the early afternoon, there will be a free battle walk and tour of East Cemetery Hill led by Scott Mingus, who has written a new book covering the topic. There is no charge for either activity, and the public is welcome to participate, although a free-will donation is suggested to the York CWRT to help defray expenses for the speakers at future monthly meetings. Volunteers for the Adopt-a-Position work day need to bring gloves and clippers.

Meet at 10 a.m. at the monuments to the 102nd Pennsylvania / 62nd New York on the John Weikert / Althoff Farm Lane, just northeast of the Wheatfield Road intersection with Crawford Avenue (near Houck's Ridge / Devil's Den). Lunch is on your own. Then, at 1:00 p.m., meet at the Evergreen Cemetery Gatehouse for the 90-minute battle walk, which will involve only modest walking.

Posted in Gettysburg Campaign Gettysburg battlefield Local ACW events One-tank road trips York CWRT

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (4)

As the spring of 1863 began, the last thing many York Countians expected was that the Civil War would roll northward into this lush agrarian region. The war was down in Virginia, and in places way out west where names like Murfreesboro had been in the news over the winter. Yet, as April and May rolled into June, little did the locals dream that they would soon play host to two separate major Confederate incursions within a three-day period, as well as smaller raids.

Heidelberg Township merchant George Zain was among the dozens of merchants and shopkeepers who were visited by Confederate troops.

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Hanover Other places

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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."

Posted in Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Lincoln York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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...

Posted in Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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...

Posted in Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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...

Posted in Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Wrightsville York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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...

Posted in Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civilians Confederates Gettysburg Campaign York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

The old Gettysburg Compiler continues with considerable detail on Early's occupation of Gettysburg and some information on the march to York County... we now pick up the narrative as it deals with a York resident's brief description of the chaos on the roads leading through the borough as hundreds of refugees rushed eastward to escape the oncoming Rebels.

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Background post - Introduction to the Compiler article

In my last post, I introduced an article from an old issue of the Gettysburg Compiler that revisited the 1863 raid of Jubal Early through Gettysburg into York County, Pa. Here is the second installment from this old news article, reprinting in 1911 the original words of the editor when first published in the days immediately after the raid (and before the Battle of Gettysburg)...

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Over the next week or so, I will present the text of an old article that appeared in a now-defunct newspaper, the Gettysburg Compiler, regarding the Confederate occupation of York. A significant portion of the account is from a York resident who was interviewed just days after the raid by a correspondent. His description is a nice summary of the key events as Jubal Early took possession of York. The last week of June 1863 was a trying time for most Pennsylvanians, many of whom simply wanted to be left alone. Few had expected the Civil War to come to their doorsteps.

We start with an early 20th Century reporter's summation of the newspaper's 1863 status, especially with an enemy army openly operating in the general region and more troops perhaps on the way... Here is the opening paragraph from the June 28, 1911, Gettysburg Compiler.

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

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.

Posted in Civilians Gettysburg Campaign Yankees

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Corporal Ernest Simpson of Battery E, 1st Rhode Island Artillery lived a short and tragic life. Born in Leipsic, Germany, as a young man he had quarreled repeatedly with his parents, who strongly disapproved of a particular love affair. Despondent, Simpson left home and migrated to London, England, where, alone and brooding, he tried to commit suicide but failed. Simpson bought passage on a boat to the United States and sailed to America to start over. He eventually settled in York, where he lived at the start of the Civil War. On October 7, 1861, a train arrived carrying Battery E, 1st Rhode Island Artillery, and, "attracted by the great reputation of Rhode Island batteries," Simpson decided on the spot to enlist. He fully expected to be put out of his misery on the battlefield.

Posted in Gettysburg Campaign Yankees

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Photo by Randy Drais. His ancestor may have been treated in this field hospital after the Battle of Gettysburg.

Randy Drais, a lifelong resident of York, has created an interesting new website specifically pertaining to the Battle of Gettysburg. Covering a broad and diverse range of topics, Randy's site has something for everyone, including a page with ideas to help children understand the battle and the Civil War experience.

Randy has pages devoted to out-of-the way locations that often are of interest to even the casual battlefield tramper, as well as pages for side-trips (including York and Hanover), recaps of National Park Service battlewalks, interesting monuments, and much, much more! For those who want to dive deeper into the battle's details, Randy includes an array of weblinks and books organized by topic and battle sequence.

Posted in Gettysburg Campaign Gettysburg battlefield Yankees

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

During the Civil War era, by far the largest number of foreign-born soldiers on both sides came from Germany or Ireland, although dozens of countries were represented in the ranks, including a fair number of Scandinavians. Irishmen were prominent in both armies, and there were many tiomes in the war that all-Irish Union regiments battled Gaelic troops in gray.

An estimated 185,000 Irish-born soldiers fought in the Civil War, with the majority on the Federal side (145,000). Georgia and Louisiana had significant Irish units, and one almost all-Irish Confederate regiment camped in York.

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Miscellaneous York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

To many Confederates, Pennsylvania was a "land flowing with milk and honey, " a place one amazed Rebel thought flowed with "such oceans of bread as I had ever seen before." Food was plentiful, the farms fertile, orchards overflowing with fruit, and the climate fair. Hundreds of men straggled or deserted during the Gettysburg Campaign, and a few evaded capture and stayed in the area. Some came back to PA after the war and settled down, and several Pennsylvania cemeteries contain the remains of former Confederates who became Keystoners. Descendants of Rebels still live in multiple communities, including a few here in York County.

Other Rebels headed to Canada, and some headed west to start a new life (often under an assumed name).

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

The Lancaster Civil War Round Table will welcome Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Wayne Wachsmuth to the Lititz Public Library (651 Kissel Hill Road in Lititz) at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 13, 2008, as he presents "Stuart's Ride: Mission Impossible? A Logistical Appraisal".

This program is free and open to the public. Registration is recommended by emailing your name, phone number and number attending to srihn@lititzlibrary.org or call the library at 717-626-2255. Come on out and enjoy an evening with Wayne Wachsmuth!

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Local ACW events

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

James Ashworth was born in 1836 in the town of Bury in Lancashire, a rural county in northwest England along the Atlantic coast / Irish Sea. He emigrated with his parents to the U.S., and the family settled near Holmesburg, northeast of Philadelphia. He moved to Frankford, graduated from Philadelphia High School, and entered the transoceanic shipping business, working for a firm that operated cargo packets to Liverpool, England.

With the outbreak of the Civil War, Ashworth accompanied General Robert Patterson's force down to Maryland as a civilian volunteer. He took up a musket and fought a Rebel raiding party that was attempting to wreck the C+O Canal near Williamsport, but was arrested by the citizens the next day as a rebel spy and put on trial.

Posted in Confederates Gettysburg Campaign Yankees York

Bookmark Permalink using

Comments (0)

Background posts: Introduction, Part 2, The Rebels and the U.S. Post Office, Part 3,