Hanover Junction: November 2008 Archives

The cover art for the upcoming new book on the June 1863 Gordon / Early expedition into York County, Pennsylvania. Artwork by Mike Stretch; painting by Bradley Schmehl used under license.

The graphics and files have been sent to the printer, and we expect proof copies in December. Once OK, we should be on press within a few weeks. A national roll-out is expected in Q1 '09. I will have autographed, first edition copies for sale before then, and we expect a York County kick-off celebration at the York Emporium.

For more info on the book, as well as photos, see the official website for Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863.

Following the Battle of Gettysburg in early July 1863, perhaps as many as 21,000 wounded soldiers remained in Gettysburg for medical treatment, according to Licensed Battlefield Guide Phil Lechak. As soon as they were stable enough for a train ride, they were transported from the various temporary field hospitals (often in barns, sheds, stables, private houses, churches, and schools) to the Gettysburg train station on Carlisle Street. Trains left regularly for Hanover Junction, and from there the men were taken to New York City, Baltimore, Harrisburg or York.

Here is a record of the initial shipments of Union soldiers to the York U.S. Army Hospital on Penn Commons:

The Hanover Area Historical Society will host a special free event for the public at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 18, in Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania. Entitled "Lincoln visits Hanover Junction", the event will commemorate the date of President Abraham Lincoln's journey by train to consecrate the cemetery grounds in Gettysburg. The program will feature Civil War accounts of the role the Hanover Junction rail depot played in troop movements, telegraph dispatch, and American history.

President Lincoln, portrayed by James Hayney, will speak to the crowd promptly at 5 p.m.

There will be a presentation on the Confederate cavalrymen (White's Comanches) who raided the Northern Central Railway route, destroying bridges and cutting telegraph lines.

Hanover Junction was a major telegraph dispatch station during the war, and Terry Koller will portray the head telegraph operator stationed at the depot. Koller will explain his duties and the history of the Hanover Branch Railroad which connected Gettysburg, Hanover, and Jefferson to the larger Northern Central Railway that ran from Baltimore to Harrisburg.

Historian and author Dennis Brandt will talk about the 87th Pennsylvania Regiment (Co. C) soldiers from the York County area who guarded bridges in Pennsylvania and Maryland during the Civil War.

Hanover Junction in November 1863: this may be the special train carrying Pennsylvania dignitaries to the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery.

In late June 1863, a few months before the politicians and newsmen posed for the above photo, Confederate Lt. Col. Elijah V. White's six companies of Virginia and Maryland cavalrymen raided Hanover Junction. They burned the turntable, railcars, supplies, and the bridge over the Codorus. They also severed telegraph wires, drank whiskey from the John Scott Hotel, and menaced some local civilians.

However, the Rebels were not the first soldiers to annoy the citizens of Hanover Junction...

For those of you who are wargamers, I am pleased to announce the impending publication of my latest collaboration with Chicago graphics designer and game author Ivor Janci. Entitled Brothers Divided: Skirmishes in the Gettysburg Campaign, the book presents several historical situations at various engagements during the campaign for wargamers to refight or try to change history.

Among the battles of local interest for gamers to play is the Skirmish at Hanover Junction (Elijah V. White versus the 20th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia). Illustrations and maps are by Ivor Janci and Colin Burke; dioramas by Dennis Morris, and other gaming photos by Gettysburg's own John Mayer. For more information, or to read about the hobby of miniature wargaming and see scores of photos of games in progress, please click here.