Wrightsville: October 2009 Archives

Headstone erected in 1988 to mark the approximate spot of an earlier grave of a Confederate soldier who perished in the June 1863 Gettysburg Campaign. 2006 photo by Dr. Thomas M. Mingus, Civil War historian and author from Manchester Township, York County, PA.

This modern headstone is nestled between scenic River Road and the Susquehanna River about a mile north of the Accomac Inn in northeastern Hellam Township in York County, Pennsylvania. Of all the gravestones associated with the Army of Northern Virginia in the Gettysburg Campaign, this one is farthest east (excepting those soldiers who died in captivity or in hospitals). It is one of the three known graves of Rebel soldiers from the campaign who are buried in York County - the other marked gravesite is in York's Prospect Hill Cemetery where five Rebs are interred after dying at the temporary hospital in the local Odd Fellows Hall. An unmarked grave near Big Mount marks the final resting place of Charles Brown of the Louisiana Tigers (I recount that story in my recent book on the Tigers). And, not to forget, at one time there were several Confederate graves from the Battle of Hanover in southwestern York County, but these men were disinterred in the late 1800s and re-interred elsewhere..

So, who was this unknown Rebel who is remembered with a small headstone alongside the mighty Susquehanna?

The popular Civil War blog "Gettysburg Daily" has now posted the second installment of my video tour series of the skirmish at Wrightsville and the Confederate approach to the Susquehanna River. Have a look!

Scott Mingus' tour of Wrightsville, Part 2

I have read several excellent books on the aftermath of the Battle of Gettysburg, including the late Greg Coco's fine works, especially his classic A Strange and Blighted Land. More than 150,000 combatants descended upon the town of less than 3,000 people and left the buildings, countryside, and streets littered with dead, dying, and wounded men, and the debris of war. Among the more deadly of the war materiel left behind were unexploded artillery shells, loaded pistols and rifles, and other weapons. Greg Coco related several stories in his fine book about civilians who perished at Gettysburg in the weeks and months following the battle, including the sheriff of York, Pennsylvania. Disease was the number one cause of death, but another significant problem was children (and at times adults) who were playing with or handling explosives that detonated.

York County had its own tragic story.

During the Skirmish of Wrightsville, Captain William Tanner of the Confederate army fired forty rounds from his battery, the Courtney (Virginia) Battery. At least one of those rounds failed to explode as designed.

It had tragic consequences.

Here is a newspaper article from the Columbia Spy of March 3, 1866, that related the ultimate result of Captain Tanner's long-delayed shell.