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A view of the northwestern corner of the main intersection in Dover, Pennsylvania. In the 19th century, the town (and surrounding township) had a significant population of citizens with German heritage, including a Mrs. Forscht, who owned the white house.

The sturdy red brick building was the office of Dr. John Ahl, which was the Confederates' business office during their half-day stay in Dover on July 1, 1863. Here, Brig. Gen. Wade Hampton fired off dispatches via couriers, and later supervised the parole of 230 Yankees, including 21 men captured at the Battle of Hanover. Ahl's house was a beehive of activity, with a long line of Union prisoners lining the pavement awaiting their turn to sign the papers that promised they would not take up arms again until they were properly exchanged. They would be sent down into York, where they would be generously fed by the citizenry.

Dr. Ahl never filed any border claim for any damage to his property or theft, so it would appear that Hampton and his staff kept a tight rein on their men (and on the prisoners who paraded before them).

Who was Dr. John Ahl?

Back in November of 1907, the citizens of Dover, Pennsylvania, commissioned a copper-plated cast iron plaque commemorating the July 1, 1863, raid by Major General J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry on the town and its environs during the Gettysburg Campaign. That plaque was later moved to the Dover Fire Hall when it was built and is now on one side of a small rectangular brick pillar, along with an old fire bell and a flag pole.

The Stuart marker was one of the earliest memorials to the events surrounding Stuart's Ride unveiled in southern Pennsylvania, and it remembers the suffering of the residents of that day while their small town was occupied by three full brigades of Rebel cavalry, concurrent with the opening of the Battle of Gettysburg some 30 miles to the southwest.

As Major General J.E.B. Stuart's division of three brigades of Confederate cavalry departed Dover, Pennsylvania, on July 1, 1863, patrols fanned out in a wide swath to acquire fresh horses. More than 700 horses are known to have been taken in York County alone by Stuart's men, and another 500 by other Rebel troops that criss-crossed the county. Among Stuart's early victims as his troops left Dover was farmer Jacob Spangler, who owned this impressive characteristic red barn that still sits alongside Fox Run (not very far from two of my kids' houses in Dover Township). He lost a ten-year-old bay mare and a six-year-old black horse taken from his stable.

The Spangler clan was the hardest hit family in all of York County, as seventeen different men by that surname reported losing horses or trade goods to the Confederate raiders! In total, the Spanglers lost thirty horses, not to mention the contents of Charles Spangler's West Manchester Township store. Many of the Spanglers lived along Carlisle Road, the path that Stuart's column took to reach Dillsburg and then Carlisle. Fathers, sons, brothers, cousins, uncles - the interrelated group took a serious financial loss in terms of lost horseflesh right at the important summer harvest time.

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...

This well maintained old 19th century farmhouse and associated outbuildings are located at the intersection of Butter and Bull roads (a.k.a "Eastmont") in northeastern Dover Township in York County, Pennsylvania. During the American Civil War, Confederate cavalry patrols from Brig. Gen. Wade Hampton III's brigade of Jeb Stuart's cavalry corps passed by this home and foragers likely wandered around the barn and stable looking for horses. It is probable they found none, as farmer E. Gross did not file a formal damage claim with the state to recover any losses for personal property taken by the Rebels. Of course, not every York Countian whose horses or other possession were stolen bothered to file a claim after the war.

Stuart divided up his force, with the brigades of Col. John Chambliss, Jr. and Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee heading northwesterly via Harmony Grove Road to Wellsville, where they too apparently split up on parallel roads for a short period before rendezvousing south of Dillsburg.

Press Release:

DOVER -- Glatfelter scientist and local historian Scott L. Mingus Sr. will give a presentation at the March meeting of the Greater Dover Historical Society, 7:00 p.m. Thursday. March 19, 2009, at Calvary Lutheran Church on the square in Dover (near the intersection of Carlisle Road (Route 74) and Canal Road).

Mingus will discuss the trails of Civil War generals Early, Stuart, Hampton and others as they led their troops through Dover Township and Dover, and east to York or northwesterly toward Dillsburg.

He will speak on Dover-area families whose lives were directly touched by the troops while they camped on local farm properties and helped themselves to horses and crops. Some family names he will touch on are Meisenhelter, Bowersox, Kinsey, Laucks, Daron and Weigle.

The public is invited to the free program. Refreshments will be served following the presentation. For details, call president Madelyn Shermeyer at 292-2018 or e-mail mmshermeyer@ddogcom.net.

The society will meet again at 7 p.m. April 16, May 21, June 18, July 16 (picnic), Aug. 20, Sept. 17, Oct. 15 and Nov. 19, all at Calvary Lutheran Church.

On July 1, 1863, Confederate cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart, most likely patrols from the brigade of Brigadier General Wade Hampton III, foraged far and wide in north-central Dover Township in York County, Pennsylvania. They were looking for horses, and, more often than not, they discovered that the residents had taken their animals to safety. However, more than 260 horses were collected by Stuart (and earlier Rebels parties) in Dover Township alone, according to state border claim records in Harrisburg.

Among the farms hit by the Rebels was this one off Nursery Road. George Wintermeyer reported losing a three-year-old black mare from his stable in his barn.

The southeastern corner of Canal Road (foreground) and Bull Road (a.k.a "Motter's Corners") in northern York County, Pennsylvania, has been a site for a country store for more than 150 years. Heavily modified and expanded, the original frame building can be discerned within the newer structure. On June 29, 1863, Confederate raiders from the 17th Virginia Cavalry visited the store and cleaned it out. They took large quantities of coffee, sugar and some wearing apparel, and left worthless Confederate cash with the owner, Elias S. Quickel.

Youthful Eli Quickel opened the shop in extreme western Conewago Township in the early 1860s. Born November 3, 1837, in York, Quickel came from a large and old Pennsylvania German family. On December 1, 1859, he married Mary A. Bear in York and they established a household. They raised a daughter, Mary Magdalena Quickel, and were active in their community.

The Confederate raid on his shop did not deter Quickel, as he soon rebuilt his inventory and resumed business.

Quickel died on his wedding anniversary, December 1, 1914, at the age of 76 in York. He is buried in the city's Greenmount Cemetery.

The southern approach to Mount Royal, Pennsylvania, along the old Carlisle Road as seen in this February 28, 2009, photograph. On the afternoon of July 1, 1863, Major General J.E.B. Stuart led a column of Confederate cavalry into this tiny village nestled in the Conewago Mountains of northern York County. Those forces most likely consisted of the cavalry brigade of Brigadier General Wade Hampton III, the divisional wagon train, and a captured 125-wagon Union supply train that had been taken near Rockville, Maryland, a few days before Stuart's passage through Mount Royal.

The old Weigle grist mill is shown in this February 2009 photograph by SLM. During the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, Confederates raided the region numerous times, taking horses from the miller and nearby farmers. In the early 21st century, this old mill housed a very nice country gifts and antiques shop, and I visited the place several times. A tattoo parlor now occupies the structure.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Weigle family was prominent in Dover Township and what later became West Manchester Township. Martin Weigle emigrated from Germany in the 1730s and built a small stone grist mill about 1739 along the Little Conewago Creek on the road from York to Dover (today's Route 74). When local Indians came to investigate, he gave them home-made whiskey and they then helped dig the millrace.

For years, his family maintained ownership of the mill. After the American Revolution, the family member who operated the mill was not very patriotic toward the new government and was censured several times for questionable remarks. In the next few decades, a 2.5-story larger mill (the one pictured) was constructed several hundred yards from the old stone mill.

By 1863, another revolution in America was in full swing, and Rebels swarmed over the Weiglestown, Dover, and Shiloh region, taking horses and mules.