Results tagged “West Manchester Township” from Cannonball

On Monday, June 29, 1863, Col. William H. French's 17th Virginia Cavalry ranged throughout Dover Township and West Manchester Township in west-central York County, Pennsylvania, while foraging for horses, mules, and supplies. One patrol of the "Night Hawk Rangers" canvassed the region around the York Turnpike / Bairs Road / Wolf's Church area (today's commercial strip on U.S. Route 30 immediately west of the intersection with Route 462 Lincoln Highway).

Shown is 39-year-old farmer Henry S. Stambaugh's house, which is still in excellent condition despite being more than 150 years old. The Stambaugh name is still quite common in York County, and several members of the family filed damage claims with the state following the Civil War. Like the other victims of the Rebel raiders, they had to provide sworn testimony as to what was taken from their farms and include eyewitness depositions if available as to the thievery and/or testimony as to the known value of the horses lost. In several cases, neighboring farmers provided affidavits concerning how much the stolen horses would have been worth on the retail market had they been sold.

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...

Jacob Deisinger, like so many of his fellow farmers in York County, Pennsylvania, during the Civil War had either ignored the repeated warnings in mid-June 1863 that the Confederates were coming, or did not receive them for some reason. Deisinger, born in 1818 in the county, owned a sprawling farm off Baker Road in West Manchester Township. He married, raised a large family, and was active in his church and community. As far as can be known, he lived a productive, industrious life.

On the evening of June 30, his peaceful, secure lifestyle was temporarily interrupted by a passing patrol of Southern saddle soldiers.

The old Peter Bott, Sr. farm at 141 N. Emig Mill Road in West Manchester Township, York County, Pennsylvania. Bott filed a border claim after the war complaining that a large body of Confederate cavalry briefly camped on his land late on June 30, 1863.

Peter Bott was a member of a prominent family of farmers in the lower part of West Manchester Township. A small village, Bottstown, grew up around the turnpike gate on what is today U.S. Route 30 west of the city of York. Period maps are dotted with the Bott name or derivatives. Peter Bott's sprawling farm contained a hilltop cemetery that was filled with family members and nearby neighbors and distant relatives.

His farm was along the known path of J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry on the night of June 30, and was the first farm north of the turnpike (Route 30). It was (and is) prominent from the pike, and would have been a landmark in the moonlight.

Another picturesque York County farm that was visited by the Confederates during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign. This particular farm is on Taxville Road near Baker Road in West Manchester Township. The Knights of the Golden Circle operated in this region, but were most active in Codorus and North Codorus townships to the south and in Dover township to the north.

Background posts:
* The Knights of the Golden Circle
* 1863 Washington newspaper recounts outrages Rebels inflicted on York Countians

I have been fascinated by the June 1863 shenanigans of several New York con artists here in York County, Pennsylvania. These men traveled to York, set up headquarters there (presumably in a local hotel), and then canvassed the county to sell worthless certificates / tickets from the Knights of the Golden Circle, a secret pro-Confederate organization with alleged ties to the Copperhead or peace movement. The buyer would pay a buck for the golden paper, and would in turn be instructed in secret hand signals similar in concept to the Masons or other secret societies of the day. Of more interest to the farmers and residents, the tickets came with the promise that the Confederates would leave their property and horses alone should war come to southern Pennsylvania. The same con game was played on residents of Franklin and Adams County, and both Jubal Early and J.E.B. Stuart commented on the unusual hand gestures in their post-Gettysburg reports.

In March and April of 1863, reports circulated in Berks County that the Rebels would be invading Pennsylvania at harvest time (mid-summer) and that the payment of $1 would protect the livestock and crops (the same con as was perpetrated in southern PA). I have also read of similar accounts elsewhere.

Here is a Harrisburg reporter's view on the situation (forgive the butchered Pennsylvania Dutch: I do not speak the language and it was hard to make out the words of the microfilmed old newspaper).

Confederate cavalrymen stole three horses from this old barn in West Manchester Township on July 1, 1863.

Background post: The Knights of the Golden Circle

A Washington, D.C. newspaper reporter visited York County and interviewed various farmers to here their tales of the Confederate occupation. His article first appeared the week after the Battle of Gettysburg, and is one of the earliest accounts of the human interest stories that comprised the Gettysburg Campaign in York County. The interesting article was reprinted by the Philadelphia Press and I have reprinted it, perhaps for the first time in 146 years, here on the Daily Record's Cannonball blog. It is emblematic of the interactions between the invading Confederates and the local residents.

Such stories were often repeated (and even worse) in the South. Both armies, blue and gray, had their share of vandals, thieves, and murderers.

This hand-carved Civil War soldier and his faithful dog stands guard at a house on Taxville Road in West Manchester Township in central York County, Pennsylvania. The pair of statues were carved in oak, and replaced an earlier set of statues that had been carved from an old tree that once stood in the yard.

The old farmhouse in 1863 was the Dr. Jacob Eisenhart house. He was related to Dr. Adam Eisenhart, whose Manchester Township farmhouse, raided by Rebel cavalrymen from Virginia, now serves as the offices of the church Debi and I attend, the Stillmeadow Church of the Nazarene.

The old George Eyster, jr. farm is at 1760 Taxville Road near the intersection with Derry Road in West Manchester Township, York County, Pennsylvania.

For several hours on the evening of Tuesday, June 30, 1863, thousands of Confederate cavalrymen rode through a part of West Manchester Township en route from the Battle of Hanover toward Dover, Pennsylvania. Commanded by colorful Virginia-born Major General J. E.B. Stuart, the long column entered the township north of York-New Salem, crossed the Gettysburg turnpike (U.S. Route 30) and followed N. Emig Mill Road to S. Salem Church Road, where it turned and headed up to Dover. The troopers came into the township in three distinct brigades, with the final column, that of Brigadier General Wade Hampton III of South Carolina pausing at a particular farm to rest and regroup while the leader slept (more on that in an upcoming post).

Patrols from Stuart's division scoured the countryside to find horses. Among the many farms where they found success was the George Eyster, Jr. place.

The old Cicero G. Weigel house at 1931 Derry Road in West Manchester Township, York County, Pennsylvania, has witnessed a lot of York County's changes. it dates back to before the American Civil War, when the township was agrarian, dotted with mills and farms. Now, the township is marked by bedroom communities, sprawling shopping complexes, and at times maddening traffic. Photo courtesy of Mel Miller.

I met Mel Miller back before all my eye problems when I was speaking at the March meeting of the Greater Dover Historical Society. We had a pleasant conversation, and Mel remarked that he was the historian for the West Manchester Township Historical Society. I shared with him that portion of my county-wide database of all Civil War damage claims that I have compiled over the years (more than 800 claims), and Mel has since invited me to speak to his organization on Confederate activity in the township during the Gettysburg Campaign. He and I are working on a date to get together to combine our efforts and exchange knowledge (and to take photos for this blog and for an upcoming new book).

Mel graciously provided me with an article he wrote for the newsletter of the West Manchester Township Historical Society. The society is open to any interested persons, and they maintain a website with some historical information of use, particularly the cemetery information for those of you readers with ancestors buried in the area. If you are interested, membership in the group starts at only $20 a year.

The old Weigle grist mill is shown in this February 2009 photograph by SLM. During the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, Confederates raided the region numerous times, taking horses from the miller and nearby farmers. In the early 21st century, this old mill housed a very nice country gifts and antiques shop, and I visited the place several times. A tattoo parlor now occupies the structure.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Weigle family was prominent in Dover Township and what later became West Manchester Township. Martin Weigle emigrated from Germany in the 1730s and built a small stone grist mill about 1739 along the Little Conewago Creek on the road from York to Dover (today's Route 74). When local Indians came to investigate, he gave them home-made whiskey and they then helped dig the millrace.

For years, his family maintained ownership of the mill. After the American Revolution, the family member who operated the mill was not very patriotic toward the new government and was censured several times for questionable remarks. In the next few decades, a 2.5-story larger mill (the one pictured) was constructed several hundred yards from the old stone mill.

By 1863, another revolution in America was in full swing, and Rebels swarmed over the Weiglestown, Dover, and Shiloh region, taking horses and mules.