The fate that so often awaited Civil War soldiers who deserted their units. Illustration rom Frank Leslie's The Soldier in Our Civil War, 1893.
In reading through dozens of old accounts of soldiers visiting York, Pennsylvania, the researcher often will find the town referred to as "Little York." I understand from long-time residents of York County that the diminutive adjective was still heard on occasion in casual conversation when they were young, but it is rarely (if ever) heard today. Little York appears in scores of Civil War accounts - regimental histories, diaries, letters, journals, etc. and was apparently still a popular designation during the period, albeit the term York appears much more frequently..
Interestingly, for some reason, one prominent usage of the term "Little York" in my vast files on the Civil War in York County occurs in accounts of soldiers who decided to quit the army and go AWOL in the town. Here are just a couple of examples:
