Recently in Spring Grove Category

I have been fortunate this past year to speak at more than a dozen historical societies, Civil War interest groups, Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs, etc. here in York County, Pennsylvania, as part of my book tour to promote sales of Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863 (Columbus, Ohio: Ironclad Publishing, 2009). These engagements have all been fantastic experiences as I have had a chance to share some of what I have learned about my adopted county's Civil War history, meet and fellowship with some great people, and visit some places and locations I had not previous seen. Besides all of my new friends, my other pleasure from these events has been the willingness of audience members to bring or mail copies of old documents and photographs pertaining to the Civil War and to share their oral traditions and anecdotes handed down by their ancestors.

We are slowly losing the generation who physically knew and had contact with the eyewitnesses to the Civil War (my late father, for example, told me many wonderful Civil War stories passed down by his neighbors and relatives who fought in the war. He was born in 1914 and his life overlapped scores of elderly veterans that he knew as a youth). The same is true here in York County, which is why I treasure all those accounts people tell me of what their ancestors experienced when the Confederate army invaded this region in the summer of 1863.

I have captured many of these stories over the past year and will be sharing some of them throughout 2010 here on the Cannonball blog.

Here is the first batch, in no particular order:

York County author, historian, and Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide John T. Krepps recently posted a comment on Cannonball wanting to know if anyone had ever compiled a complete list of all the Confederate regiments and battalions known to have visited York County during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign. That inquiry led me to take a quick look at Busey & Martin's classic book Regimental Strengths & Losses at Gettysburg (1982 edition), in which the authors have painstakingly researched the best estimates as to the exact number of soldiers per unit in both opposing armies.

Using that source and others, approximately 11,000 Rebel soldiers marched or rode through York County. Note that this total is only the combatants, and does not include countless teamsters, personal servants, slaves, cooks, scouts, and others who are not on the actual muster rolls of the regiments or batteries.

Dover Township perhaps saw the most individual Rebels within its borders, as most CSA forces at one point or another passed through or camped there.

Here is a list of Confederate units that are known to have been in York County, with the major townships they visited (in a few cases, roving patrols reached other townships not listed, but not the main body of troops). I have also included the number of men in each regiment or battery as listed by Busey & Martin.

Joseph Menges lived on this prosperous York County, PA farm during the Civil War. The Franklin Township farmer filed a damage claim for $225 citing the loss of two horses to "Stuart's Cavalry" during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign). He lost a 14-yr-old gray horse and a 4-yr-old bay mare taken despite being "concealed in an out-of-the-way place" on his 125-acre farm. The losses occured on July 2, making it quite probable that the Confederates were from Brigadier General Wade Hampton's brigade of J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry division.

In the decade following the Civil War more than 700 different residents of York County, Pennsylvania, filed damage claims resulting from the Gettysburg Campaign. The vast majority of these so-called "border claims" asked for compensation for losses incurred to the invading Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, although a few dozen were from citizens whose property or horses were seized by either the Pennsylvania Emergency Militia that was defending the county or the Union Army of the Potomac, parts of which passed through southwestern York County on June 30 and July 1.

Glatfelter is a $1.3 billion global paper company headquartered in York, Pennsylvania. The company now operates paper mills and paper converting facilities in Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well as in Germany, France, England, Wales, and the Philippines. The company traces it roots to the Civil War era, having been founded during the first term of President Abraham Lincoln. Today, many first edition Civil War books are printed on Glatfelter paper because of its archival qualities that fully comply with Library of Congress standards for book permanence.

I have worked for the company as the Global Director of New Product Development since the summer of 2001 when I moved to York County from Cleveland's "Snow Belt." I knew the Spring Grove mill had been purchased by P.H. Glatfelter in 1863 and reopened in 1864 under new management, but I was determined to learn the "actual story behind the story."

Here is an excerpt from a book I wrote a few years ago in which I recount how Mr. Glatfelter built what became a leading international supplier of specialty papers and engineered products.

It's all because of the Battle of Gettysburg...

This very impressive homestead was in 1863 the Andrew J. Menges farm near Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, in Jackson Township, York County. It's located on Roth's Church Road near the modern school complex. It's just north of the June 27, 1863, campsite of the 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry (where the Spring Forge shopping center is now).

The A. J. Menges story is a good example of how the Civil War researcher must separate fact from fiction, or exaggeration.

I am now accepting orders for my latest book, Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition, June 1863 from Ironclad Publishing. Please see my website for this new book for details and a photo gallery of more than 100 pictures associated with the book and the historical locations and personages featured in Flames Beyond Gettysburg. I accept PayPal, personal checks, and money orders for this book. A portion of the proceeds will go for battlefield preservation efforts.

Copies of the book will be on sale at my upcoming talks at the York CWRT at the York Heritage Trust on March 18 and at the Greater Dover Historical Society on March 19. As soon as I know when my large shipment is coming in, we plan a talk and formal reception at the York Emporium (more details to come once Jim Lewin and I work out the details for this formal introduction of the book, and I am hoping to have some guests lined up for that event).

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.

Tucked in a pleasant little valley not far from Spring Grove, this house was the home in 1863 of the Rev. Samuel L. Roth, a prominent area minister whose church was not far from his abode.

Background post: Confederate camp site - Jacob S. Altland House.

As an attorney, Civil War general, railroad executive, coal mine owner, U.S. Senator, and Governor of Georgia (as well as an early organizer of the KKK in Georgia by some accounts), John Brown Gordon met thousands of people during his busy lifetime. The vast majority were forgettable - common folks who elicited no special mention or recognition, consigned to be just another hand shaken by a veteran politician, or another nameless private saluting his commander.

However, a handful of York Countians received special recognition from Gordon in the years after the war during his popular speaking tours and his oft-quoted and somewhat controversial memoirs. And then there were his memorable encounters with Samuel Roth, a Jackson Township preacher whose persistence and never-give-up attitude stayed long in the memory of the Confederate general.

Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's veteran Confederate division, one of the hardest fighting units in the Army of Northern Virginia, departs from camps near Mummasburg, Gettysburg, and Hunterstown and heads eastward toward the prize they had been ordered by Richard S. Ewell to capture - the prosperous town of York. Early's main column - 3/4 of his artillery, all but one company of the 17th Virginia Cavalry, and the brigades of Ike Avery and Extra Billy Smith trudged from Mummasburg toward Hunterstown, picking up the Louisiana Tigers en route. John Gordon's Georgians left the Wolf farm just east of Gettysburg and marched out the turnpike (today's U.S. 30). It would be a leisurely march for these two columns this day, one that would end at Big Mount and Farmers, respectively.

It was the third column that would create the military excitement on this day - White's Comanches which had terrorized much of northern Maryland and had earned a reputation for lightning raids on Union supply lines. Now, their war whoops would be heard in southwestern York County...

When not on campaign, Civil War troops (particularly the Federals) had semi-permanent camps with tents and log structures. While on the road, they made do without these luxuries. For the Rebels on the march to Pennsylvania, the camp was usually a piece of grass, an old blanket, and the starry sky. (Library of Congress)

Recently I posted a message and photograph of the John Wiest house / tavern in Spring Grove, which was used as a Confederate camp site during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign. Some of you have inquired as to the locations of other CSA camps and headquarters during the Confederate invasion, so I will begin a series of occasional articles on the topic. First, some basic information to help set the table for this new series...