My son Tom, grandson Tristan, and I watched the annual Remembrance Day Parade in downtown Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, today. As usual, we watched from the vicinity of Gettysburg Miniature Soldiers, this time on a park bench at the neighboring reenactors supply store. Attendance was fairly good, with decent weather, albeit a bit nippy during the parade when the clouds rolled in on what started as a very sunny and bright day.

Here are some random photographs we took today of the reenactors.

The York Civil War Round Table is a non-profit organization that seeks to promote, interpret, preserve, and protect the Civil War heritage of York County, Pennsylvania, through the education and exchange of information with its members and the general public. Membership is free and open to anyone interested in learning more about the American Civil War.

Founded as the White Rose Civil War Round Table, the York CWRT holds monthly meetings the third Wednesday of every month except December at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium of the York County Heritage Trust's Historical Society Museum at 250 E. Market Street (the historic Lincoln Highway) in York, Pennsylvania. Each meeting features a guest speaker talking about a Civil War topic of local or national interest. There is no admission or membership requirements to attend any of these meetings.

Other scheduled events include an annual clean-up day at Gettysburg National Military Park as part of the "Adopt-a-Position" program. Members and guests tidy up the area around the 102nd Pennsylvania / 62nd New York on the John Weikert / Althoff Farm Lane. A free battlewalk with local experts is usually included to round out the day. Other regularly scheduled battlewalks by Dr. Charlie Fennell occur in the autumn.

For more information, contact the York Civil War Round Table.

The Historical Society Museum in York, PA, where the York CWRT meets monthly.

York Civil War Round Table - 2010 Schedule of Events

January 20, 2010 - Bruce Liddic - "George Armstrong Custer: From Ohio to Pennsylvania, Boyhood to Generalship"

February 17, 2010 - Cal Doucette - "A Conversation With Horace Greeley "

March 17, 2010 - Dick Simpson - "Missouri 1861 and the Battle of Wilson's Creek"

April 21, 2010 - Scott L. Mingus, Sr. - "The Louisiana Tigers in the Gettysburg Campaign"

May 19, 2010 - May 19, 2010 - Matt Atkinson - "Assault on Vicksburg"

June 16, 2010 - Jim McClure - Topic TBA

July 21, 2010 - John Ream - "Civil War Hospital Stewart John Weakley of the 87th PA"

August 18, 2010 - Dr. Charles C. Fennell, Jr. - "Fighting or Flying Dutchmen: The 11th Corps from Barlow's Knoll to Cemetery Hill"

September 15, 2010 - Tyrone Cornbower - "Sheepskin Fiddlers and Straw Blowers: Field Music in the Civil War"

September 18, 2010 - Battlefield Walk at GNMP with Dr. Charles C. Fennell, Jr.

October 20, 2010 - TBA

November 17, 2010 - TBA

No meeting in December!

This impressive old Civil War memorial has stood for more than a century at the intersection of Hellam Street (once the famed Lincoln Highway) and Fourth Street in downtown Wrightsville, Pennsylvania. It commemorates the town as the point farthest east reached by the Confederate army during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign. Union militia burned the mile-and-a-quarter long wooden covered bridge over the Susquehanna River to prevent the Rebels from marching into Lancaster County.

Here is an old newspaper account of the dedication of this memorial, an event that marked the apex of the summer season of 1900 for the residents of the river town.

Baltimore Sun, July 10, 1900. newsinhistory.com

Note that the reporter got his facts a tad incorrect. Brigadier General John B. Gordon, of course, did accompany his brigade to Wrightsville and in fact watered his horse in the Susquehanna River. The Union militia was the local command of Colonel Jacob G. Frick, a future Medal of Honor recipient who reported to Major General Darius N. Couch (not Crouch) who was in his Harrisburg office during the invasion.

Following the prolonged casualties suffered by the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsula Campaign and with manpower reduced in many other Union armies, the War Department needed more troops. In response to this call to arms, recruiting began in earnest across the North and some states and communities offered bounties and bonuses to attract volunteers for the war effort.

In York County, these enticements totaled a whopping $115, a significant amount of cash that for many laborers and clerks amounted to three or four months pay. Levi Maish, a 24-year-old school teacher in Manchester Township and York, was among the leading citizens actively involved in the recruiting efforts, forming a company that he would be commissioned to lead as its captain. Born in Conewago Township, Maish would steadily rise in rank and be promoted to colonel in early winter. Surviving the war, he became a prominent Democratic lawyer and four-term U.S. Congressman. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

The farm of Henry Hoff III during the Civil War; all photos by Scott Mingus taken in November 2009. Taken from Zeigler's Church Road looking west.

This typical Pennsylvania German farm is tucked in a shallow valley paralleling Zeigler's Church Road (foreground) in North Codorus Township in southern York County, Pennsylvania. Many of the old 19th century farms in this region still have the original houses, summer kitchens, and the characteristic huge bank barns which are often painted red. Other than electricity, indoor plumbing, and the cars and trucks parked in the farmyards, not much has changed since Major General J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalrymen rode through this scenic and tranquil rural region on Tuesday, June 30, 1863 during the Gettysburg Campaign.

During the Civil War, the prosperous farm was owned and occupied by Henry and Rosanna Hoff and several of their children. A portion of Stuart's lead brigade, that of Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee of Virginia, passed by this house in the afternoon. When a squadron peeled off from the dust-clouded column and rode down to the Hoff property, the family knew trouble was approaching.

Here is the story of Rosanna Hoff, excerpted from an article I wrote for The Gettysburg Magazine.

York County photographer Dianne Bowders sent me a photo of one of her ancestors, Ellen Busey Roland of Emigsville. Ironically, just a couple of days before then, I had downloaded the following article from newsinhistory.com.

Adams County author and historian Timothy H. Smith will be the featured speaker at the November 18, 2009 meeting of the York Civil War Round Table. On the eve of the 146th Anniversary of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Tim's program "Abraham Lincoln : Twenty-five Hours at Gettysburg" will focus on the time that the President spent while a visitor in this historic town. Tim will also present a sampling of the largely untapped reminiscences of area residents and how the President interacted with the local population on his visit to Gettysburg in November of 1863 for the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery on November 19th.

Tim Smith has authored or co-authored eight books on the Battle of Gettysburg and the Civil War; his best selling book recounts the history of Devil's Den. His most recent work is Farms at Gettysburg: The Fields of Battle, which looks at the farms involved in the Battle of Gettysburg. Tim has been working on an extensive book detailing the civilian experience during the Battle of Gettysburg which he expects will take another five years to complete.

Tim Smith is a research assistant for the Adams County Historical Society, Licensed Battlefield Guide, Gettysburg Elderhostel Instructor, Harrisburg Area Community College history lecturer and operates his own historical consulting business. Despite all of his jobs, Tim's main emphasis is to get people to understand that the people who lived in the area in 1863 are also a part of the story of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Tim's presentation will be at 7:00 PM on Wednesday 18, 2009 in the auditorium of the York County Heritage Trust, 250 E. Market Street, York PA.

York County Heritage Trust Sanctioned Civil War guide Scott L. Mingus Sr. will present a PowerPoint presentation on the Confederate occupation of Wrightsville during the Gettysburg Campaign, with special focus on the Union defense of the town and the subsequent burning of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge. It was the longest covered bridge in the world, stretching nearly a mile and a quarter across the Susquehanna River.

The dinner and talk is sponsored by Historic Wrightsville Inc. and will be at 6:30 PM on Friday November 20, 2009 in the fellowship hall of the Locust Street United Methodist Church (314 Locust Street, Wrightsville, PA). It's a turkey dinner with all the trimmings for $11. For reservations call Carol Byers at 717-252-3319.

The talk is based upon Mr. Mingus's recent book, Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863 (Columbus, Ohio: Ironclad Publishing, 2009).

During the months prior to the Gettysburg Campaign in June-July 1863, south-central Pennsylvania was filled with spies, rumors of spies, secret agents, Southern sympathizers, and con men, who preyed on the fears of the populace to sell the farmers golden tickets and secret signs that allegedly would protect their farms from Confederate raiders in the event of an invasion of the North. These shysters claimed to have been authorized agents of the Knights of the Golden Circle, but it's not likely they had any connection to the real operatives.

Some of the spy stories proved true (a few men were captured and taken to prison at Fort Delaware or in Harrisburg; one was executed after being seized in Gettysburg a week before the battle). Others were dramatized (a one-armed door-to-door Bible salesman, for example, was later reported to have been guiding one of Jubal Early's columns through York County) or exaggerated (a drunken man in a York bar boasted of being a Confederate soldier from Alabama personally sent to Pennsylvania by Bobby Lee; after he sobered up he turned out to be just another local wino looking for attention).

Now, was the Dillsburg man (whose identity I am still chasing) actually the York County agent for the K.G.C., or was he another lonely soul looking for some last minute "five minutes of fame." Or, was he confessing his traitorous activities in a soul cleansing final moment?

Keep in mind that much of the purported activity and membership of the Knights of the Golden Circle is still wrapped in innuendo and myth; a definitive account of their dealings in south-central Pennsylvania is on my agenda of "to do" book ideas.

The Lancaster Civil War Round Table will welcome Dick Simpson as their speaker on Thursday, November 12, 2009. A native of Vermont, Dick will be speaking about the 2nd Vermont Regiment at Gettysburg. He will, in period costume, be taking the role of his great-grandfather, Aaron Willey, who at the age of 74 in 1913, will tell of his travels with the 15th Regiment, 2nd Vermont Brigade, on the road to Gettysburg.

Simpson is a frequent Civil War speaker and lecturer, and is also a living historian portraying Vermont's war-time governor, Frederick Holbrook. He is also active in raising funds for various battlefield preservation efforts. He is retired from a position as Vice President of Graphic Design for InterContinental Hotels.

The Lancaster Civil War Round Table will meet at the Lititz Public Library located at 651 Kissel Hill Road at 7:00pm. These programs are free and open to the public. For more information, call Micky at 392-4976.

lancastercivilwarroundtable@gmail.com
www.community.lancasteronline.com/lancastercwrt/

Gettysburg National Military Park contains much of the ground where opposing armies from the Union and the Confederacy struggled for the first few days of July 1863 during the Battle of Gettysburg. The Pennsylvania Monument memorializes the soldiers and officers from the Keystone State who fought here. On November 19, 2009, the Gettysburg Address will be remembered in the annual Dedication Day ceremonies.

This November 19th, the 146th Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address will be honored with numerous events in Gettysburg. The day will begin with a 9:30 a.m. wreath laying ceremony at the Soldiers' National Monument, featuring the Gettysburg High School Ceremonial Brass Band. Wreaths will be laid by Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell, Richard Dreyfuss, Brion FitzGerald, the Acting Superintendent of Gettysburg National Military Park, and Frederick E. Clark, Commander of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Gettysburg Camp #112. Following a brief procession of Civil War reenactors along the upper drive, ceremonies will continue at 10:00 a.m. at the Rostrum, where Rendell and Dreyfuss will deliver remarks.

While Confederate cavalry under Brigadier General John McCausland threatened Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, rumors flew in York County PA that other Rebel raiders had entered the southern part of the county and were riding toward the village of Glen Rock. The rumors proved groundless, but they scared the locals, many of which still vividly recalled the Confederate invasion of York County the previous year.

Photo of Scott Mingus's 15mm wargame of the 1864 Battle of Monocacy near Frederick, Maryland.

Gettysburg, for the final time in the foreseeable future, hosted the annual Fall-In wargaming convention at the Eisenhower Resort and Conference Center on Business 15. More than 1000 gamers spend 2-3 days rolling dice and moving tiny model soldiers on model railroad / diorama quality tabletop terrain using rules that loosely simulate the tactics of combat.

The convention is moving from Adams County to Lancaster in November 2010.

For more photos of the wargame, see my CHARGE! wargaming blog.

During the week before the Battle of Gettysburg, the attention of the Union Department of the Susquehanna's commander, Major General Darius N. Couch, was on protecting vital railroad bridges and other transport and communications routes in south-central Pennsylvania between Harrisburg and the Mason-Dixon Line. Among his particular areas of interest were the bridges on the Northern Central Railway in York County.

Couch dispatched the newly raised 20th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia under Colonel William B. Thomas to protect the NCR. Thomas, one of the earliest backers of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania, was a political ally of President Lincoln and through patronage had received the coveted and influential post or Port Collector of Philadelphia, in charge of the Customs House and the tax revenue collection. He raised a regiment of nearly 1,000 emergency militiamen in mid-June 1863 and obtained arms and uniforms from the state at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg before entraining for York County.

Colonel Thomas made his headquarters in a hotel in downtown York and scattered his men in an 18-mile line on several farms from York Haven in northern York County down past Seitzville well to the south. Their positions can be determined from a study of York County Border Claims in Harrisburg and from the records of known troop movements.

Several companies were assigned to patrol the railroads south of York, including protecting bridges near Reynolds Mill, Hanover Junction, and Glen Rock, as well as the Howard Tunnel. Lt. Colonel William H. Sickles set up a campsite on the sprawling Jacob Bowman farm along today's state route 616 south of Hanover Junction at a place later known as Larue.

Here are some photos of the general area, as well as a description of the damage claim of farmer Bowman...

Harrisburg Evening Telegraph, June 18, 1863. Courtesy of NewsinHistory.com.

It is quite possible this capture took place in West Manchester Township just outside of York. The event occurred on June 17, making these four men from Albert G. Jenkins' brigade quite possibly the first Rebels to reach York County during the Gettysburg Campaign. The rest of the regiment arrived in the Dillsburg vicinity on June 27, the same day that Elijah White's 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry entered Hanover. Prior to my discovery of this old newspaper clipping, I was unaware of any CSA scouts physically in York County until a week later.