Hanover: April 2009 Archives

Background post: Rebels Ride from Hanover, Part 1

As some of J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalrymen escorted 125 captured Union supply wagons across Fairview Road south of Hanover, Pennsylvania, following the Battle of Hanover, outriders and foraging patrols frequently raided the barns and stables along the way in an effort to locate and procure fresh horses. Dozens of farmers in West Manheim Township were victimized, some to the point where they would have difficulty bringing in their harvest that summer. Among the early victims was Edward Becker, who lived off Fairview Road and Beck Mill Road. He lost a horse he valued at $100.

He would not be alone in his anger at the passing Rebels...

The Joseph Arnold farm south of Hanover, Pennsylvania, was astride Fairview Road, one of the main routes for the Confederate cavalry to leave the area during the Battle of Hanover.

It was the hot, humid afternoon of Tuesday, June 30, 1863. For several hours, the roar of artillery had echoed off of the many ridges, hills, and low mountains in southern York County, Pennsylvania. Residents stood on their porches listening to the cacophony and wondered about the angry sound of war. For the citizens of Hanover, tucked in the extreme southwestern part of the county, the noise was even more deafening, as shells whirled through the air above them as opposing gunners on hills north and south of town dueled, with the houses and businesses and people caught in the middle.

Realizing that he was unable to drive off the Yankee defenders, who had received considerable reinforcements since morning, Major General J.E.B. Stuart decided to withdraw toward York, where reports indicated he would rendezvous with the easternmost elements of the Army of Northern Virginia, the division of Jubal A. Early. During the afternoon, while artillery shells still burst over Hanover, Stuart began pulling out, conceding the town and its crossroads to the Yankees.