Dillsburg: April 2009 Archives

Early 20th century view of downtown Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, looking up Baltimore Street, the town's main street. A. N. Eslinger's post office and store were on the east side of the street in the middle of the block as one walked toward the town square from Locust Alley. Courtesy of DIllsburg Online.

Augustus N. Eslinger became the postmaster of Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, in early 1863 following a succession of other local merchants and businessmen to hold the position. Eslinger would give the office stability, capably filling the job until July 1885. A. N. and Agnes (Diller) Eslinger raised several children in Dillsburg and among the borough's leading citizens throughout the mid and late 1800s. A proud pro-Union man, he named one of his sons Edwin Lincoln Eslinger.

In 1902, the former postmaster became an author, writing and publishing an interesting little book on the history of his adopted hometown, entitled Local History of Dillsburg, Pa. By then, he was in his fiftieth year as a resident.

Among his collection of memories and thoughts is a brief treatise on the pair of Confederate cavalry incursions - one a raid by Brigadier General Albert Gallatin Jenkins and then a subsequent and unrelated trip through town by the partial division of Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, which paused in Dillsburg on July 1 after marching up from Dover, Pa.

Here is A. N. Eslinger's rarely retold eyewitness account of Dillsburg during the Gettysburg Campaign...

Dill's Tavern has been patiently and accurately restored by volunteers from the Northern York County Historical and Preservation Society (NYCHAPS).

Background post: In the Footsteps of J.E.B. Stuart: Dillsburg

Stuart's cavaliers rested in Dillsburg before he ordered Fitzhugh Lee's column to head for Carlisle, trailed by the brigade of John R. Chambliss, Jr. Before the Rebels left in the late afternoon, they visited most of the merchants in town. Some of the DIllsburgers suffered rather severe losses; other had removed much of their inventory to safety well before the Confederates arrived in town.

Many of the Rebels watered their horses and refreshed themselves from a well outside the venerable Dill's Tavern. After a long day in the saddle riding up from Dover, the cool well water was welcomed, and lines of Southerners patiently waited their turn for a drink.

Meanwhile, a few officers took the opportunity to take a drink of a different sort, visiting Dillsburg's taverns for a meal and some more potent beverages.

Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, is the principal town in Carroll Township in northwestern York County, Pennsylvania. Irish-born Matthew Dill settled there in 1740 on a 504-acre tract, raised a company of men to fight the occasional Indian raids, and later prospered, becoming a county judge. By 1833, there were enough people living in Dillsburg for it to become incorporated on April 9 of that year. It was an important regional trade center, as well as a popular stopping place on the old state road between York and Carlisle, two of south-central Pennsylvania's most prominent towns. Dill's Tavern became a focal point of the community, providing rooms and refreshment for weary travelers.

Nestled near the termination of South Mountain and on an important road, Dillsburg during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign was the scene of a minor skirmish between the 26th Pennsylvania Militia (retreating from Gettysburg) and elements of Albert G. Jenkins' Virginia mounted infantry brigade, which was raiding the region for horses (we will have a detailed look at Jenkins' seldom discussed raid in a series of future posts).

On the late afternoon of July 1, 1863, more than 5,000 Confederate cavalrymen under Major General James Ewell Brown Stuart arrived in Dillsburg.

Stories abound about the brief incursion...

A typical old York County farmhouse along today's State Route 74 (Carlisle Road) not far from Dillsburg, Pennsylvania. Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee's Virginia cavalry passed by this house on the late afternoon of July 1, 1863, en route from Dover to Dillsburg. Beautifully restored and meticulously maintained, the "witness house" sat silently as more than 2,000 saddle-weary Confederate soldiers rode past.

J.E.B. Stuart's men were exhausted by the late afternoon of July 1. They had skirmished with a wagon train and captured it in Maryland, fought another skirmish at Westminster, endured a gruelling ride up western York County following the Battle of Hanover, and now had crossed the Conewago Mountains earlier that day. Unknown to them, their travails had only just begun... Gettysburg awaited.

Mount Top is a tiny hamlet tucked in northwestern York County, Pennsylvania, not far from Dillsburg. Today, it's a whistle stop, as cars blow through the place on State Route 74. Few if any of the passersby are aware (or care) that they are traveling the same route as parts of Major General J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry during the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War.

On the late afternoon of July 1, 1863, a long line of Confederate cavalrymen passed through this hilltop community en route to Dillsburg from their campsite at Dover. In command of this column was veteran Brigadier General Fitzhugh Lee, one of the South's better cavaliers. He led his own brigade of Virginia horse soldiers, as well as another Virginia brigade under Colonel John R. Chambliss, Jr. Perhaps 2,500 soldiers rode through Mount Top, and foraging patrols scoured the countryside in all directions, rounding up horses and mules, as well as seizing supplies and food of material value to the Old Dominion saddle soldiers.

The November 4, 1862, issue of the Philadelphia Press includes this brief entry on long-time Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, merchant / grocer Henry Sidle (spelled Sidle in some records). He was arrested for discouraging military enlistments and escorted to Fort Delaware near Philadelphia. I have not located any records that indicate how long Sidel was imprisoned, or when he returned to Dillsburg, nor what his attitude toward the Federal government may have been after his incarceration.

However, after the war, the elderly Sidel filed a border claim for damages inflicted by the Confederate army during the Gettysburg Campaign. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry raided his store and took $300 worth of groceries. He and his family soon packed up and left Dillsburg, moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for a fresh start.