Results tagged “Battle of Hanover” from Cannonball

In 1863, this brick building in downtown Hanover, Pennsylvania, was the Central Hotel. It served as the nerve center for Union cavalry under Brigadier General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick during and after the Battle of Hanover.

Thousands of cars and trucks pass through downtown Hanover, Pennsylvania, each day, often creating a traffic jam that can back up the queue at the various signals. Patience is a must for the modern traveler visiting this historic town, as similar to the nearby town of Gettysburg, a network of roads converge in Hanover conveying traffic into downtown.

That network of roads led to the June 30, 1863, unplanned collision between Major General J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalrymen coming up from Maryland and a column of Federal troopers from H. Judson Kilpatrick's division.

Like the modern traffic flow, the point of congestion and contention was the intersection of the roads in downtown Hanover.

Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer, a native of New Rumley in my native Ohio, remains one of the most colorful (and controversial) figures in American military history. Vilified by many for his stunning defeat at Little Bighorn, a fight that became immortal as "Custer's Last Stand," Custer was a lightning rod for adoration as well as hatred. Perhaps more books have been written about him than any other Western Indian fighter, and many also cover his extensive Civil War history where he rose from an obscure lieutenant to a renown major general in just three short years.

Custer's first battle as a brigadier general was here in York County, Pennsylvania, where he led his Michigan Brigade at the Battle of Hanover, where his men first became acquainted with the "boy general" in action. That same day, some of Custer's men traveled through southwestern York County and up into downtown York.

Here is this little known account of some of Custer's Wolverines visiting "Little York." It is adapted from Pennsylvania-born author Eric J. Wittenberg's interesting book Under Custer's Command: The Civil War Journal of James Henry Avery.

During the June 30, 1863, Battle of Hanover, Pennsylvania, Confederate horse artillery deployed on a low hill just off the Littlestown-Frederick Road southwest of Hanover. The guns were unlimbered, loaded, and aimed at a distant target - mounted Union cavalry along Frederick Street at the outskirts of the town. The lanyard was pulled and the gun discharged, hurling its iron shell toward the horsemen.

It missed its intended target.

Instead of striking the enemy troopers, the shell found a much different target - a house occupied by terrified civilians.

Mount Olivet Cemetery is at 725 S. Baltimore Street in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1859, the cemetery sits atop high ground southeast of downtown, and is a natural gun position from a military perspective. During the afternoon phase of the June 30, 1863, Battle of Hanover, horse-drawn Confederate horse artillery rumbled up the slope from the southwest and unlimbered. Gunners moved the cannon into position and sighted their distant targets, with a particular emphasis on a line of Union artillery on the heights immediately north of Hanover. Fuses were cut to the length appropriate for the distance, and the rounds loaded. Lieutenants sighted the target through field glasses, while crewmen prepared the guns for firing. The orders came, and the resulting detonation of the powder sent sound waves reverberating off houses, rattling windows and fraying nerves of the remaining citizens.

Mount Olivet Cemetery is in the foreground. Rebel guns placed there had to fire over the town of Hanover (note the church spire) to hit Yankee guns on the ridge north of town (the thin line of dark trees next to the spire and below the background Pigeon Hills). Some of the shells fell short and struck the town, or exploded over it. (Left click on the photo to enlarge it for better detail).

July 1, 1863, saw the opening actions of the Battle of Gettysburg in nearby Adams County, Pennsylvania. However, even while the artillery roared and musketry crackled from the fields and woods north and west of Gettysburg, thousands of troops from both armies were hustling to reach the scene.

Late in the afternoon the 146th New York Volunteer Infantry reached the picturesque town of Hanover, Pennsylvania. Near the crossroads were lying the bloated carcasses of half a dozen cavalry horses, slain in the brief skirmish between Judson Kilpatrick's and J.E.B. Stuart's cavalrymen the previous day. Close to the road, near the scene of the main cavalry fighting, stood an old farmhouse, at the gate of which was an old-fashioned pump and horse trough. The pump handle was in constant motion, as the weary, foot-sore soldiers flocked around it to quench their thirst with the delicious water that flowed into the mossy trough.

What follows is the memory of a veteran of the regiment, perhaps a bit fanciful, but it makes for a good human interest story...

This old farm at the intersection of Baker Road and East Berlin Road in West Manchester Township was among the hundreds of similar farms visited by patrols from Confederate Major General J. E. B. Stuart's cavalry division during its sojourn through York County, Pennsylvania, on June 30 - July 1, 1863. More than 450 different residents of the county later reported losing horses to Stuart's column.

Among Stuart's diverse regiments was the 2nd North Carolina Cavalry, which had lost its commander as a prisoner or war during the Battle of Hanover. The regiment had been severely depleted in manpower during the earlier battles of Aldie, Middleburg, and Upperville in the Loudoun Valley prior to Stuart's Ride around the Union Army, and the fighting at Hanover had not helped the matter, nor had the grueling retreat northward toward Dover. Horses played out, soldiers rode together on the remaining horses, and patrols scoured the countryside for fresh horses and mules.

Included in the saddle weary ranks was James A. Buxton, an 18-year-old soldier who had only joined Company H of the 2nd North Carolina in February of that year. Already he had seen considerable combat action and was now a seasoned veteran. He had been slightly wounded at the June 9 Battle of Brandy Station and had been reassigned to General Stuart's headquarters as a special courier while he recuperated. He was still serving in that capacity as the division rode through Maryland and southern Pennsylvania during the early stages of the Gettysburg Campaign. He would remain as one of Stuart's couriers throughout the Battle of Gettysburg and the rest of the summer campaign, returning to his regiment in September prior to the Bristoe Campaign.

Years later in the pages of the Confederate Veteran magazine, Jim Buxton, by then a senior citizen living in Newport News, Virginia, recalled his brief visit to York County...

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.

Dale Gallon is among my favorite Civil War artists. One of the most prolific of the modern generation of ACW artists, Gallon maintains an impressive gallery and retail store in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on Steinwehr Avenue. Limited edition art prints of the painting shown above may be purchased there either framed or unframed. Gallon's visually interesting work shows newly appointed Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer in his first battle action after being promoted from captain. His Wolverines of Company E, 6th Michigan Cavalry are armed with 7-shot Spencer Repeating Rifles and are deployed as skirmishers in a lush field near Hanover, in southwestern York County, Pennsylvania. The action depicted is from the afternoon fighting at the June 30, 1863, Battle of Hanover.

Gallon is not the only famous painter to depict York County Civil War subjects.

More than 700 York County residents suffered losses to the passing armies during the Gettysburg Campaign. In a few cases, they were victimized more than once, and at times to both the Union and Confederate forces. One such multiple unfortunate was wealthy Hanover merchant and land owner Josiah W. Gitt, whose properties were in the wrong places at the wrong times.

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.

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.

For those of you who are wargamers, I am pleased to announce the impending publication of my latest collaboration with Chicago graphics designer and game author Ivor Janci. Entitled Brothers Divided: Skirmishes in the Gettysburg Campaign, the book presents several historical situations at various engagements during the campaign for wargamers to refight or try to change history.

Among the battles of local interest for gamers to play is the Skirmish at Hanover Junction (Elijah V. White versus the 20th Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia). Illustrations and maps are by Ivor Janci and Colin Burke; dioramas by Dennis Morris, and other gaming photos by Gettysburg's own John Mayer. For more information, or to read about the hobby of miniature wargaming and see scores of photos of games in progress, please click here.