Hanover Junction: February 2008 Archives

During the weeks following the Battle of Gettysburg, thousands of wounded soldiers passed through tiny Hanover Junction in southern York County, passing through the railroad intersection eastward on the Hanover Branch RR en route to Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Washington and other towns where they could receive medical care. A temporary medical facility at the junction provided assistance for soldiers in need of treatment before they could be reloaded onto cars of the Northern Central Railway. In addition, a few cars contained coffins of soldiers killed in the battle, men whose families had arranged for transport home for burial.

Hundreds of civilians also passed through Hanover Junction. Most were sightseers on an excursion to visit the now famous battlefield. Others were relief agents, medical personnel, nurses and aides, and newspaper correspondents seeking a story. Cars were overcrowded and unsanitary, with people often crowding into freight cars. Here's one story of how some clever sorts made a little extra room on one train from Hanover Junction as it passed through York County.

Some of you have recently asked me about the progress of my latest manuscripts. Here is a brief update on my writing activities.

1. Human Interest Stories from the Gettysburg Campaign, Volume 3 is about halfway finished. There is no timetable for completing this, as Colecraft Industries and I have published three of these human interest books in the past 2 years, and it's time to slow down to allow the market to catch up. The formal introduction of Volume 2 will be this spring, with the same sales channels as the first two books.

2. Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1862 is finally ready for printing. The next step will be to receive the galley proofs, approve them, and then it's off to the printing press. This book is being published by Ironclad Publishing and is Volume 5 in their Discovering Civil War America series. I cover Gordon's brigade from Virginia to the burning of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge, and then on to Gettysburg a second time.

3. A Spirit of Daring: The Louisiana Tigers in the Gettysburg Campaign has been completed and just now sent off to the publisher. This should be in print by 2010. I have a lot of material on the Tigers' brief stay in York County, much of it rarely or never before published.

4. Brothers Divided is my latest full-color wargaming scenario book, chock full of great photos of some of the best Civil War dioramas and wargaming table layouts. Volume 1 of this new series will be published late in 2008 by Marek/Janci Design of Chicago.

Work is just beginning on my latest project - a regimental history of the 51st Ohio.

Also, watch for Roll Call to Destiny, a new book by Brent Nosworthy. I helped research and write the Seven Pines / Fair Oaks chapter.

Emily Bliss Souder was among the scores of people rushing to the Gettysburg battlefield to assist with the wounded. She and several companions arrived in Baltimore on Monday afternoon, July 13, but missed the last train to Hanover Junction. They explored the city and called on acquaintances. At 7:30 the next morning, the group left for Hanover Junction, reaching the intersection at 11:00 a.m. She eventually made it to Gettysburg, where she helped tend the wounded for a couple of weeks. She wrote several letters from the field hospitals, some of which mentioned her brief stays in York County.