Hanover: November 2008 Archives

I mentioned in an earlier blog post that a correspondent from the New York Times was attached to the Union army during the Gettysburg Campaign and had access to the high command of the cavalry corps, as well as some of the infantry. E. A. Paul claimed in an article preserved after the war in Frank Moore's Rebellion Record that a pre-teen boy served in the 1st Maine Cavalry (J. Irvin Gregg's brigade) and fought at Gettysburg as a bugler. He also mentions the lad had a horse killed at Hanover. One problem - Gregg's men were not at Hanover. However, the boy may have been a staff member or volunteer to Judson Kilpatrick.

In any event, here is the reporter's published story. If true, then this 12-year-old may have been the youngest trooper in the June 30, 1863, Battle of Hanover.

This anti-Lincoln pamphlet, published in 1864 by J.F. Feeks of New York City, is typical of the strong anti-war, anti-Lincoln rhetoric that pervaded many places in the North, including southern Pennsylvania and my native southern Ohio.

Pennsylvania's southern tier of Franklin, Adams, and York counties was a mixture of personalities, ethnic backgrounds, and political beliefs. Some pockets (including the Hanover, Codorus Township, and North Codorus Township area in southwestern York County) had fairly high concentrations of Southern sympathizers. Other enclaves were strongly Unionist, and another large group of residents were totally ambivalent and just wanted to be left alone.

E. A. Paul was a New York Times correspondent who was "embedded" (to use a modern term) with the Army of the Potomac as it traveled northward. Specifically, he accompanied the V Corps into southwestern York County on July 1 en route to Gettysburg. His comments and opinions regarding York County's Copperheads were recorded after the war in Frank Moore's Rebellion Record, a postbellum anthology of Civil War stories. Keep in mind as you read this account, Paul is biased and bases much of his article on hearsay and second-hand information. Still, there are some sentiments in here that have some authenticity, as York County indeed had a fair amount of Copperheads.

Hanover resident and Licensed Battlefield Guide John T. Krepps has spent years researching the Battle of Hanover, and the general Civil War history of southwestern York County, Pennsylvania. I ran into John a couple of years ago in the State Archives in Harrisburg when I was researching the state damage claims for York County, searching for stories about farmers and businesses raided by the Louisiana Tigers. John was researching the same files for a manuscript on the Battle of Hanover. Now, Colecraft Industries has published John's exhaustive work.

A Strong and Sudden Onslaught: The Cavalry Action at Hanover, Pennsylvania is a wonderful book, full of well researched accounts that have rarely or never been used in any previous studies of the June 30, 1863, battle. In addition to the damage claims, Krepps makes extensive use of Hanover-area accounts, including newspapers, letters, diaries, and other accounts from local eyewitnesses. He has also scoured hundreds of soldier's accounts and digested them in a fast-paced narrative that breaks new ground.

A lone Confederate supply wagon passes down a back country road somewhere in York County, trailing a patrol of Virginia cavalry who are going from farm to farm seeking forage, supplies, food, and, perhaps most importantly, fresh horses and mules. From a Civil War diorama / 15mm wargaming layout by Scott Mingus.

Maj. Gen. Jubal Early stripped his division of its encumbrances for the march from Greenwood, Pennsylvania (just west of South Mountain on the Chambersburg Pike). He left behind all his wagons loaded with tents, supplies, personal baggage, and non-essentials, leaving each regiment with an ambulance and a cooking wagon, as well as extra ammunition. What he did bring along was a vast train of empty wagons to be filled with the plunder he took from the region. The materiel would be sent back to the Old Dominion and used for future military needs. Few wagons returned empty, as Early's men, particularly his cavalry, were very efficient in scouring the county for these supplies. Here are some of their stories...

Cavalry statuary on the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. While no Ohio units fought at Hanover, Brig. Gen. George Armstrong Custer was a native Buckeye, although he commanded the Michigan Brigade.

The Rev. Louis Napoleon Boudrye was the chaplain of the 5th New York Cavalry. He and his comrades participated in the June 30, 1863, Battle of Hanover here in York County, Pennsylvania. Here is his account of the regiment's action at Hanover, taken from his 1865 book, Historic Records of the Fifth New York Cavalry, The Ira Harris Guard.

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.

One of the Licensed Battlefield Guides at Gettysburg National Military Park maintains an outstanding blog on the modern battlefield, as well as including historic photographs. Among his recent entries is a nice montage of photos of the Henry Winebrenner house in Hanover, PA, here in York County. This home played a role in the June 30, 1863, Battle of Hanover.

See the Hanover entry on Gettysburg Daily here. Scroll down past the photos of the Washington Monument (which are interesting in their own right).