Frederick Street in downtown Hanover

Southwestern York County had seen the hand of war, with a cavalry raid on Hanover Junction on June 27 and the Battle of Hanover three days later. On July 1, the streets of Hanover were filled with members of the veteran V Corps of the Army of the Potomac, the first large body of infantry seen in the prosperous town during the campaign. Thousands of men from New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maine, and other eastern states walked through Hanover, or paused there for a brief rest break. Only a handful left their impressions of the town and its citizens.

Here is one such description from an officer in the 118th Pennsylvania, a regiment of city boys from Philadelphia recruited in the summer of 1862 under the sponsorship of the Philadelphia Corn [Stock] Exchange.

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Confederate cavalry from North Carolina and Virginia charged up Frederick Street in downtown Hanover, Pennsylvania, during the beginning phases of a cavalry engagement on June 30, 1863.

I am back from a business trip to historic Baden Baden, Germany, which was a madhouse of activity because of the annual horse racing series (picture being in Louisville during Kentucky Derby week and you get the idea of crowds, bands, great meals at restaurants, and other social events). I now return my attention to York County in the American Civil War and present a first person account of the Battle of Hanover.

George William Beale was an old man in 1918, but he wanted to share his reminiscences of his Civil War service through a book he wrote entitled A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army. His memory was sharp and detailed of his years of service as a young lieutenant in the 9th Virginia Cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart. He picks up his narrative on June 30, 1863, following the Battle of Westminster in northern Maryland...

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Cover art from a 1991 book, The Story of the Northern Central Railway, by Robert L. Gunnarsson, Greenberg Publications.

All over York County, from the outskirts of Abbottstown to the west across the turnpike to Wrightsville and from Hanover to the southwest up to Dillsburg (and dozens of other towns and hundreds of farms), residents took stock of their losses. For some, the damage was relatively light - as low as a single horse. For others, their livelihoods had been destroyed (for example, a large milling operation in Wrightsville that had burned down, displacing the workers). In the next few days, I will outline some of the damage in York County (and perhaps beyond) caused by the Confederates.

I thank York County railroad buff, author, and historian Ivan E. Frantz, Jr. (and a colleague of mine at work) for sharing the following very interesting information he has gleaned from the files of the Northern Central Railway, one of the hardest hit companies.

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Life here in York County, Pennsylvania, was slowly returning to normal, although, for many, the trauma and scars from the Confederate invasion would go away slowly. Efforts continued to clean the U.S, Army Military Hospital on Penn Common, even as patients from the Battle of Gettysburg began arriving. Work crews assessed the damage to the county's railroad bridges, and telegraphers in Hanover and Hanover Junction worked to restore that vital communications link.

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Jeb Stuart's three brigades of veteran Confederate cavalry rose in fields surrounding Dover and leisurely ate their breakfasts. Foraging patrols scoured neighboring farms for several miles looking for horses, mules, forage, horsehoes, and other supplies of military interest. They paid for them with worthless CSA currency or bank drafts to be paid by the Confederacy after the war ended. Scores of Union prisoners captured in Maryland or at the Battle of Hanover are paroled, released, and sent walking back down today's Route 74 to York. By early afternoon, Stuart's men are back in the saddle, as multiple columns wind their way through northwestern York County through Wellsville, Rossville, and Dillsburg, where the brigade of wealthy South Carolina planter and politician Wade Hampton III will camp for the night on the Mumper fruit farm.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the county...

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Background post: Stuart's Ride reenactment

Just a reminder that this event is coming up later this week! For more information, or to request "will call" tickets, please see their website.

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James E. B. Brown, CSA Major General, led three brigades of veteran cavalry through southwestern York County after a half-day battle at Hanover.

At dawn, Confederate troops stir in their various camps, enjoy a final breakfast in York County, and prepare to resume their marching. Young Isaac Avery led his brigade out of downtown York, as the Tar Heels gustily sang "We'll Plant Our Colors on a Northern Hill," a popular ditty of the day. They picked up the Louisiana Tigers and Smith's Virginia brigade, and, trailing French's cavalry, marched toward Davidsburg.

In the meantime...

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Sunday dawned bright and early on June 28. Most townspeople in York went about their daily routines, including dressing nicely for worship, strolling the sidewalks, and visiting friends and relatives. While church was in progress at St. Paul's Lutheran, the vanguard of the Confederate division of Jubal Early marched into York, preceded by the pioneer corps and advance pickets from the 31st Georgia. Rebels hauled down the large flag in the Center Square, as well as a smaller one from a nearby shop. York was now under Confederate control. The lead brigade, the Georgians of John Gordon, moved on to Wrightsville, while Jubal Early ringed York with artillery and established a series of camps.

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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...

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The Battle of Hanover, June 30, 1863, is believed to have been the largest battle ever fought in what is now York County, although it is conceivable there may have been larger quarrels among Native Americans that were not recorded. Hanover was a significant par tof the Gettysburg Campaign, in that the scrap delayed J.E.B. Stuart for nearly a day, and forced him to swing further eastward than originally planned. It is entirely possible that the engagement directly led to Stuart failing ti intersect the troops of Jubal Early as they withdrew from York westward toward Adams County.

Hanover marked a Civil War rarity - open cavalry fighting on a large scale in the streets of a town. The majority of large cavalry fights occured in open areas, where the space and terrain enabled the mass manuevering of large bodies of mounted men. Hanover was a swirling fight that reached the very heart of the town. Here is one incident from the hand-to-hand, close order fighting as recorded by one of the Union participants...

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The Battle of Hanover, June 30, 1863, is believed to have been the largest battle ever fought in what is now York County, although it is conceivable there may have been larger quarrels among Native Americans that were not recorded. Hanover was a significant par tof the Gettysburg Campaign, in that the scrap delayed J.E.B. Stuart for nearly a day, and forced him to swing further eastward than originally planned. It is entirely possible that the engagement directly led to Stuart failing ti intersect the troops of Jubal Early as they withdrew from York westward toward Adams County.

Hanover marked a Civil War rarity - open cavalry fighting on a large scale in the streets of a town. The majority of large cavalry fights occured in open areas, where the space and terrain enabled the mass manuevering of large bodies of mounted men. Hanover was a swirling fight that reached the very heart of the town. Here is one incident from the hand-to-hand, close order fighting as recorded by one of the Union participants...

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For those of you readers interested in Civil war reenactments, there will be one near Hanover on July 3 of this year. Here is an entry from this month's copy of Civil War News by Deborah Fitts.

Come out and support this extremely worthy cause!!

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Well known Pennsylvania author J. David Petruzzi visited the York CWRT this past Wednesday night and presented one of the most interesting overviews of J.E.B. Stuart's mid-1863 ride around Hooker / Meade's army that I have recently heard. I had helped a little with the original research and data collection for his fine book, Plenty of Blame to Go Around: J.E.B. Stuart's Controversial Ride to Gettysburg, but I found a lot more information since its publication, so I decided to write a magazine article on the specific portion of Stuart's ride between the end of the Battle of Hanover and the shelling of Carlisle - that is, the ride from the outskirts of Hanover to Dillsburg through western York County.

That article appeared in the January 2008 issue of The Gettysburg Magazine and is a companion piece to the article I wrote for the July 2007 issue regarding "Jubal Early Takes York." Both issues are widely available from Gettysburg booksellers and gift shops, or can be obtained over the Internet directly from the publisher.

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The subject of a talk on May 21, 2008, by noted author J. David Petruzzi -- famed Confederate cavalry general James E. B. "Jeb" Stuart, who was killed less than a year after his controversial ride around the Union army.

As a prelude to J. David Petruzzi's presentation Wednesday night at the monthly meeting of the York Civil War Round Table (7:00 p.m., York County Heritage Trust, 250 East Market Street, York; FREE admission!!!), I offer a couple of anecdotes from famed Confederate cavalier J.E.B. Stuart's torturous ride through western York County, which included a late night trek from the Battle of Hanover northward to Dover.

Of the nearly 10,000 Confederates that traversed York County in late June 1863, Stuart's troopers developed a reputation (well deserved) as the most significant horse thieves in the Rebel army. There are more than 900 damage claims filed after the war by farmers and residents of the county, and at least 600 of these deal directly with the theft of horses or mules by Stuart's passing column. It's hard to imagine how much they may have taken had they been allowed the luxury of staying and resting a few days, like their cavalry counterparts under William H. French and Elijah V. White, who accompanied Jubal A. Early's column into York and did their own fair share of horse trading.

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Pennsylvania author J. David Petruzzi is the featured guest speaker for the May meeting of the York CWRT.

From June 30 through the wee morning hours of July 2, elements of J.E.B. Stuart's vaunted, but road-weary and exhausted Confederate cavalry column trudged through western York County. They fought a pitched battle at Hanover, as well as a couple of very minor rear guard skirmishes near Jefferson and Dover. Stuart did not arrive on the Gettysburg battlefield until late on July 2, having fought yet again at Hunterstown.

Historians for 145 years have argued the merits of Stuart's controversial ride around the Union army, one that put him out of touch with the main force of the Army of Northern Virginia for part of the campaign. Some critics blame Stuart for leaving Lee blind while in enemy country; others argue that the move made military sense and circumstances beyond Stuart's (and Lee's) control contributed to the delayed reunion with the infantry.

Brockway, PA author J. D. Petruzzi will present a FREE talk at the York County Civil War Round Table on Wednesday, May 21, at 7:00 p.m. at the York County Heritage Trust at 250 East Market Street in downtown York. This promises to be of strong interest to anyone interested in exploring the Civil War history of this region, and a chance to see and hear one of America's leading cavalry experts deliver his personal opinion on Stuart's ride.

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The 18th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry marched past the market shed in Hanover's town square, seen here in this vintage postcard depicting the square not long after the Gettysburg Campaign.

With the outbreak of Fort Sumter and the bombardment of Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, hundreds of thousands of men enlisted in the fledgling volunteer armies over the next few months. Among them was William W. Hemenway a 24-year-old native of historic Lexington, Massachusetts, and the father of two. He enrolled in Company I of the 18th Massachusetts as a sergeant. He and his comrades participated in many of the Eastern Theater's more recognizable campaigns, including Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. He suffered a painful leg wound at Fredericksburg that would plague him the rest of his life. While recuperating, he finally was able to see his new daughter, Mary Grace, who was born shortly after the Battle of Antietam.

During the Gettysburg Campaign, Hemenway was now a first lieutenant. The vast majority of the nearly 100 men he had originally mustered in with in Company I were long since gone, most through illness or battles. Now, in June 1863, there were only 139 men left in the entire regiment, which had once boasted a thousand eager volunteers. The war had changed since then, and so had the handful of survivors still in the ranks. Soldiering was a hard life, and yet there were moments of pleasure, although they were few and far between. One of those rare moments came in Hanover, Pennsylvania, in southwestern York County on July 1, 1863...

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As the spring of 1863 began, the last thing many York Countians expected was that the Civil War would roll northward into this lush agrarian region. The war was down in Virginia, and in places way out west where names like Murfreesboro had been in the news over the winter. Yet, as April and May rolled into June, little did the locals dream that they would soon play host to two separate major Confederate incursions within a three-day period, as well as smaller raids.

Heidelberg Township merchant George Zain was among the dozens of merchants and shopkeepers who were visited by Confederate troops.

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Jim McClure recently posted some information about a Union courier who was killed by a farmer named George Bair near Green Ridge in southern York County. I have a little more information on the incident in my files, although in some ways, it deepens the mystery. To read Jim's background post, please click here.

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A 16-year-old high school student from Hanover, Sarah Adler, has been maintaining a blog on Gettysburg entitled Ten Roads (for the nexus of roads that radiate out from Gettysburg like spokes on a wagon wheel). She volunteers on Saturdays at the historic Gettysburg train station, which has recently underwent significant restoration.

She has recently been transcribing old Civil War letters, as well as discussing the train station.

Why not check out her efforts?

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On June 27, 1863, the 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry rode into Hanover. The battalion was comprised of four companies of Virginians and one from Maryland, all under the command of young Lt. Col. Elijah V. White. After raiding the town for supplies and items of interest to soldiers far from home (including liquor), they mounted and rode on through Jefferson to Hanover Junction.

Unseen by White, a few of his men stayed behind, either tired of the war or perhaps too drunk to continue. The next day, Hanoverians discovered some of these stragglers still in town. As there were no Union soldiers nearby and no policemen present to arrest them, the Confederates were “impudent and boastful in their manner.” Dr. Zieber, a local minister and the chairman of the Committee of Safety, walked up to them and demanded to know why they were still in Hanover. With the assistance of others, he arrested the cavalrymen and took them to the Central Hotel. There, guards placed the Rebels on a wagon and conveyed them to Westminster, Maryland, where they turned their captives over to military authorities

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Horatio Gates Myers lived a relatively quiet life prior to the Civil War. He owned and operated a retail store in downtown Hanover, and was a known area merchant. He was married and had two children, a son Herndon and daughter Elizabeth. Like so many other young men in York County, with the outbreak of the Civil War, the 30-year-old Myers enlisted in the Union Army.

On April 25, 1861, he became the captain of the Marion Rifles (Company F) in the 16th Pennsylvania Infantry, a three-month regiment. He suffered from exposure at the regiment’s campsite at Verdant Meadow near Hagerstown, Maryland, and was left behind when the regiment returned to York in July to be mustered out of the service. Myers eventually died on August 7 from lingering effects of his illness. His widow Mollie eventually married a man named William Russell from Lewistown, Pennsylvania, and moved away from York County.

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I took a day of vacation today from work to tramp a forgotten part of the Battle of Gettysburg with Ranger Troy Harmon and 40 or so folks from an Internet group of military history enthusiasts. I came home to shower and change clothes before I give a talk to the group tonight on Gordon's expedition to York and the importance of the roads into York County.

Troy's battle walk tonight was interesting, despite the persistent rain. He spent a lot of time talking about the strategic importance of the area we tramped (Wolf's Hill, "Lost Avenue", Highland Avenue, and the Hanover Road / Route 116, as well as Benner's Hill and Hospital Hill (later Camp Letterman)). All were critical spots where both the Union and Confederate forces tried to turn each other's flanks, opening the roads to York and Hanover, as well as the vital Baltimore Pike down to Union supply lines in Westminster, Maryland.

Late on July 1, 1863, who did Confederate high command entrust to repel any threats from a large boody of Yankees approaching the area? John Gordon and "Extra Billy" Smith, both of whom had recently travelled to Gettysburg from their billets on June 29 - 30 near York. Likewise, Federals in the area included Judson Kilpatrick's cavalry, fresh from the Battle of Hanover, as was J.E.B. Stuart's Rebels. The roads to York and Hanover would prove of major interest to both armies, and the bitter fighting at East Cavalry Field on July 3 and at Brinkerhoff's Ridge (a seldom visited spot on 116) kept the road to Hanover in Union hands, while the road to York remained under CSA control (White's Comanches and Smith's infantry were stationed there for parts of the battle).

So, even during the Battle of Gettysburg, the two mains roads leading to York County were always on the minds of the commanders of both armies. Not much is written about the jockeying and maneuvering along these two roads on July 1, 2 and 3, but a lot of men struggled to gain an advantage, and hundreds were killed or wounded on the eastern battlefield, much of which is in private hands today.

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When I was a kid growing up in southeastern Ohio, I loved to watch TV Westerns and to play Cowboys and Indians on my grandparents' sprawling farm. Among my favorite scenes to watch (and then to recreate outdoors) was the ubitiquous horse-drawn wagon or stagecoach chase, where mounted Indians or outlaws chased down a fleeing wagon, as the wagon guard and passengers blazed away from the careening vehicle, hoping to stop the pursuers. The scene must have been repeated in slightly different fashion in scores of movies and TV shows. Sometimes, the bad guys killed everyone and took the wagon or coach; at other times, the good guys got away to fight again another day. I had hundreds of Marx and MPC 54mm plastic figures of soldiers, cowboys, and Indians, and spent many a cold Ohio winter night chasing down little plastic wagons. Ah, the memories.

An 1863 New York Times newspaper account from a Union cavalryman elicits similar images describing an incident during the early stages of the Battle of Hanover...

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Neighborhood and country stores in the 19th Century were important gathering places where locals could exchange gossip, catch up on the latest news, exchange pleasantries with family and friends, and make general small talk. Often, the most popular place in these shops was the old cracker barrel, which seemed to be an accepted place for social interactions. The modern "Cracker Barrel" country restaurant chain attempts to evoke the memories of the old cracker barrel as the gathering place for travellers and visitors.

Back in the tumultous summer of 1863, one young York County shopkeeper learned the hard way about hanging around the cracker barrel.

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In middle of the 19th Century, York County was still primarily an agrarian society, although the Industrial Revolution was making its mark. The railroads had brought new jobs and industry to York, including the manufacturing of railcars and equipment for the emerging Northern Central Railway and other local carriers. However, agriculture and its supporting industries were still dominant. Youthful A.B. Farquhar's iron plow business was taking off, as were other companies established to support farmers.

One of the county's leading industries was leather goods. Tanneries abounded to process hides into leather for boots, reins, saddles, harnesses, and similar end uses. At the time of the Civil War, tanneries were foul-smelling, often with large wooden vats of tanning liquor sitting uncovered in the open. During the Battle of Hanover, one unfortunate Confederate officer inadvertantly paid a visit to one of these early "tanning salons."

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A number of libraries and schools this past week celebrated an event known as "Talk Like a Pirate Day," a clever way for teachers to spark interest in history in a fun and interesting way. With the wild success of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean movie trilogy, public interest in pirates and buried treasure has been high. The national pirates event sparked a connection for me to an article I originally posted last spring on my Charge! Civil War wargaming & news blog. It concerns one of the few tales of buried treasure in York County, not by pirates, but rather by Confederates (I'm sure some the victim felt he was dealing with pirates and cutthroats!).

What is York County's Civil War buried treasure story?

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Pennsylvania and Ohio troops at Camp Scott in York - May 25, 1861 (Harper's Weekly)

Recently, the various TV channels in the Susquehanna Valley have shown joyous scenes of local National Guard and Reserve units as they return home from their tours of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Soldiers are greeted with cheers, flowers, food, and speeches praising them for their service. Not as often do we see the opposite scene, when the troops first leave for their military assignment, a time usually associated with sadness, some apprehension, but mingled with a strong sense of duty and patriotism.

In the early days of the Civil War, nearly everyone expected the war to be brief and not very bloody. President Lincoln's call for volunteers had received a strong response, as tens of thousands of volunteers answered the summons to arms. In towns all across the North (as well as in the South), men and boys marched off to war unsuspecting that years of killing would follow, and a large percentage of those early volunteers would become casualties of disease, bullets, and accidents.

For the eager volunteers of one local regiment, their march through York town would be memorable, resulting in "a perfect storm of flowers."

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