Railroads: January 2008 Archives

Background post - Fire on the Conewago!

During the Civil War, the railroad tracks of the Northern Central crossed over the Conewago Creek near York Haven on a pair of single span wooden bridges. If these bridges could be destroyed, direct rail access from Baltimore to Harrisburg would be severed. Major General Darius Couch, commander of the Department of the Susquehanna, ordered part of the 20th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia to safeguard the twin bridges against any Rebel attack. The Philadelphia-raised regiment had only been in the service for a few days when it was taken by train to York County and marched to to its various assignments. Little did they know, the Confederates were indeed coming for those bridges.

Harper's Weekly woodcut of an 1865 train wreck in Connecticut.

On July 18, 1863, the 23rd New York Militia passed through York, enroute from Baltimore to Harrisburg, where they would catch another series of trains to take them home to Brooklyn. In a previous post, I mentioned their relaxing train ride through scenic southern York County, and their impression of the somewhat greedy street vendors of the borough of York. A little adventure lay ahead of the big city boys as their train steamed through the farmland of northeastern York County.

During the early part of the Gettysburg Campaign, militia troops from New York and New Jersey were sent to Harrisburg to help defend the city. These soldiers arrived via a variety of trains from diverse garrisons throughout the East Coast. Following the Battle of Gettysburg, many of them marched into Maryland in pursuit of Robert E. Lee's army before being ordered to return home. On Saturday, July 18, the 23rd New York State National Guard entrained at Baltimore on the Northern Central Railway and headed northward through Maryland and southern York County. The regiment, almost entirely city boys from Brooklyn and New York City, would pause for a rest break at York's train station.

Private John Lockwood left his impressions of that day.