Author Dennis W. Brandt, an expert on the 87th Pennsylvania Infantry, was one of the speakers at the June 25, 2009, Civil War Symposium at York College of Pennsylvania as part of the annual Patriot Days celebration.
According to Dennis, the 87th Pennsylvania was the only 3-year regiment raised primarily in York County during the American Civil War (some of its men came from Franklin and Adams Counties as well as York). Recruited and organized in early 1861, the 87th's main task early in the war was to guard railroads, including a stint in western Virginia (now West Virginia). In late 1862, they found themselves serving in the scenic Shenandoah Valley and by the end of the year, the 87th was part of the garrison at Winchester, Virginia.
Little did they know as they celebrated Christmas in the midst of one of the most rabid pro-Confederate towns in the Valley that, for many of the boys, the following summer WInchester would be the gateway to life as a prisoner of war. For some, December 25, 1962, would be their final Christmas on Earth.
