War Returns to South Mountain

"Tell it not to Gath": A Brief Biography of George Alfred Townsend

2012-01-29T11:23:00.009-05:00

Located in the Maryland hills, nestled on the ridge of South Mountain lays the remains of the Gapland estate. The estate was built by a writer simply known as “Gath.” George Alfred Townsend was his given name, and he added the H to his initials for his pen name due to the biblical passage of II Samuel, 1:20 where it read “Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askalon.” Today, many people are unaware of George Alfred Townsend. Those who do take the time to learn about him either like his personality or despise of the man. Some of his works have been compared to Walt Whitman, and to several journalists of today.

George Alfred Townsend was born on January 30th, 1841 in Georgetown, Delaware. As a child, he spent a great deal of his time in Pennsylvania, Maryland, as well as in Delaware attending various schools wherever his father, Reverend Stephen was assigned to. His parents were highly religious and strict. This was a no nonsense type of family. The first theatrical play he attended was “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” After a gunshot in the theater rang out, he quickly hurried out, thinking that this was a sign from above that he shouldn’t be attending such things as theatrical performances. This was a reflection of his very strict upbringing.

Some of the schools that George attended were Newark Academy, which is now the University of Delaware. In February of 1860, George graduated from Central High School with a Bachelor in Arts degree. As a child, George was interested in writing, and had a love for nature, as well as an interest in art. At the age of 16, he published a small magazine.

The night before his graduation, George received some news that would change his life. He was told to contact the Philadelphia Inquire. He began working there as a news editor, and then became an editorial writer. Shortly afterwards in early 1861, George became a city editor for the Philadelphia Press. There he wrote about current events, poems, and then became a traveling correspondent. During this period he wrote a play called “The Bohemians.”

Upon graduating, he developed a love for travel. Using the book entitled “Fields of the Revolutionary Battlefields,” he visited many of the battlefields of the Revolutionary War. After his visit, he would write about his personal experiences there.

During the outbreak of the American Civil War, George worked for the New York Herald as a reporter in Philadelphia. Shortly afterwards, he took on a new position as a war correspondent and his first Civil War article was about the death of Lieutenant Greble during the Battle of Big Bethel. However, during the first year of the Civil War, George found himself writing more about local events in Philadelphia as they related to the war.

By April of 1862, George was a war correspondent. He got his break when General George McClellan rode through Philadelphia on his way to Washington. George became a war correspondent with the army where he wrote a piece on the Battle of Cedar Mountain. George was forced to suspend his career when he came down with Chickahominy Fever. By the end of the year, George was recuperating and decided to travel to Europe.

While in Europe, George wrote several pieces about the Seven Days’ Battles for the New York Herald, and wrote a book that was never published. The articles he wrote were good, but they were often outdated due to the time it took to get that information across the Atlantic Ocean. While in London he traveled the circuit, lecturing about some of his experiences. He studied European literature and developed a fascination for it. Although he enjoyed Europe, he grew dissatisfied with European journalism, and by 1864, he returned to America.

Still a war correspondent, he would see the Civil War end with Grant as overall commander. While still covering the war, he experimented with his writing, but found that America had no market for literary works. George’s first touch of fame came during the closing of the Civil War, when he wrote about the battle of Five Forks. This was the article that launched his career and helped him to achieve fame. Some of his best works came from his reports while covering the events following the assignation of President Abraham Lincoln.

Townsend also covered the news stories about the Lowrie Band in North Carolina while working for the New York World. Henry B. Lowrie was the leader of the North Carolina gang who was viewed as the “Robin Hood” of his day. He fought for the civil rights of the Lumbee and Tuscarora people. Lowrie was described by Townsend as “one of those remarkable executive spirits that arises now and then in a raw community without advantages other than those given by nature.” In one of his articles Townsend enraged a gang member to the point that he threatened to kill the journalist who wrote the article.

On December 21st, 1865, George Townsend married Miss Bessie Evans Rhodes of Philadelphia. Heading into the New Year, things were going well for George. During the year he managed to have his book entitled “Campaigns of a Non-Combatant” published.

In 1866, Townsend and his wife left America to travel to Paris where he covered the Austro-Prussian War. In October of that same year in Paris, his first child was born. He visited one of the Prussian camps where more than a 100,000 soldiers encamped, and felt that a war with France was inevitable, a feeling that came true in 1870 with the Franco-Prussian War. By 1867, George would see the end of the Austro-Prussian War while still in Paris.

George Townsend and his family moved to Washington DC shortly after returning to America. George wanted to study government. As a young writer, George became a major success, being employed by just about every major newspaper in the U.S. This career spanned for almost forty years. In 1868, in the Chicago Tribune, George Alfred Townsend used the penname GATH. This would have an influence once he began building his estate later on.

George was a successful man. He had several books published including “Katy of the Catoctin” and “Tales of the Chesapeake.” You can still buy many of his books today. Life was good for George. He spent most of his money in his early years on books, travel, and experiences. In his honor he even had a cigar named after him, and then race horses, and post offices, to the point where GATH became a sort of trademark.

Even though he was a writer, he often turned down jobs, hoping to leave journalism in the past and begin exploring more along the literary style as a means to earn his living. He was also a successful lecturer among the high society Washington bureaucrats. While living in Washington, he found that his writing schedule was very harsh. He was always busy, and shortly after his 40th birthday, he found he needed a place where he could go and get away from the stress of his work. George found that place in late 1884.

On October 17th, 1884, George was taking a buggy ride with a friend and happened upon the Crampton’s Gap Battlefield. He fell in love with the area due to the surroundings of nature, and knew this was where he wanted to have his retreat from Washington. On December 18th, he owned one hundred acres of land and named this estate Gapland. By late December of 1884 and early 1885, he built the first building, naming it Askalon.

With his passion for nature and art, he began constructing several buildings. By the time it was finished, there were over nine buildings in total, including the Gapland Hall, library & den, the lodge, barn, and out buildings for his children and guests. One of the buildings was a toll house that he built to keep up improvements of the public road, an idea unpopular with local residents. Aside from the buildings, there were over ten structures on the property, two of those structures still stand today. They are Gath’s empty tomb and the War Correspondent’s Arch.

The estate was built during a period known as the "Resort era". Many estates were built along the ridge of South Mountain from Gapland to Blue Ridge Summit. Although there is no connection to the time period of Gapland, these communities witnessed inner city bureaucrats traveling to these places for the cooler weather in the summertime.

Upon visiting the battlefield of Antietam in 1895, George noticed that there were monuments being constructed, itinerary markers, and battle lines being memorialized. He felt that the non-combatant would be a forgotten. So Gath took on the project, and in my opinion, erected one of the most unusual monuments that have ever been constructed. This is the War Correspondent’s Arch.

In Decmeber of 1895, plans were being drawn for the monument. During the initial drawing stage he incorporated something that he had seen at Hagerstown on his way to Gapland. These features were a horseshoe arch on a railroad station, and watch tower at the fire house. Gath contacted several war correspondents, and after their blessing, he began to raise the money needed to construct the monument. He had created flyers and sent them to every newspaper agency that he had worked for. Donations soon came in including donations from his friends Thomas Edison, JP Morgan, and George Pullman. Soon Gath had $5,000.00 to build his monument. John Smithmeyer volunteered his architectural experiences, and construction of the monument began.

Completed in 1896, at fifty feet tall and forty feet wide, this monument has many architectural themes that were incorporated into the drawing stage. Looking at the monument today, you can see how Gath also incorporated his love for art and nature. In her book "George Alfred Townsend," Ruthanna Hindes describes the monument best:

“Above a Moorish arch sixteen feet high, built of Hummelstown purple stone are super-imposed three Roman arches. These are flanked on one side with a square crenellated tower, producing a bizarre and picturesque effect. Niches in different places shelter the carving of two horses' heads, and symbolic terra cotta statuettes of Mercury, Electricity and Poetry. Tables under the horses' heads bear the suggestive words "Speed" and "Heed"; the heads are over the Roman arches. The three Roman arches are made of limestone from Creek Battlefield, Virginia, and each is nine feet high and six feet wide. These arches represent Description, Depiction and Photography.”

“The aforementioned tower contains a statue of Pan with the traditional pipes, and he is either half drawing or sheathing a Roman sword. Over a small turret on the opposite side of the tower is a gold vane of a pen bending a sword. At various places on the monument are quotations appropriate to the art of war correspondence. These are from a great variety of sources beginning with Old Testament verses. Perhaps the most striking feature of all are the tablets inscribed with the names of 157 correspondents and war artists who saw and described in narrative and picture almost all the events of the four years of the war.”

The unusual arched monument was dedicated by Maryland Governor Lloyd Lowndes on October 17, 1896. This was the beginning of the downfall for George Alfred Townsend. In 1903, his wife Bessie, passed away, and instead of being buried in the tomb on the Gapland Estate property, she was buried in Philadelphia.

In 1904, George turned over the arch to the National Park Service, to be maintained as a National Monument. Soon afterwards, George’s age caught up with him and it seemed as if he spent more time in Washington rather than traveling to Gapland. While visiting one of his children, Gath became sick and soon passed away. After Gath's death on April 15, 1914, he was buried next to his wife, and his daughter sold the Gathland estate. The empty tomb at Gathland simply states “Goodnight Gath,” a reminder to him where life's journey will take you in the end.

Today less than one-third of the Gapland estate still stands, and is part of the Maryland Park Service simply called Gathland State Park. Gapland Hall is only a fraction of what once stood and serves as a museum dedicated to the man. You have a small portion of the lodge that still stands as well as ruins of the barn. The lodge also serves as a Civil War museum dedicated to the Battle of South Mountain with special exhibits on the Battle of Crampton's Gap. Two of the other houses still stand, but are private residental homes. One of those houses was the tollgate and is located at the intersection of Townsend and Gapland Roads. Today the monument fall’s under the care of Antietam National Battlefield and stands as a reminder to those who risked their lives to bring the civilian population the news from the battlefields of the American Civil War.

Revisited Subject: Hamburg Pass on South Mountain

2012-01-26T13:48:00.008-05:00

Every year, while performing my duties at the South Mountain State Battlefield, I always get that one, particular question by an eager Civil War enthusiast. Where is Hamburg Pass located at? My reply is that it is on the Catoctin Mountain, near the town of Hamburg. Then, the park visitor elaborates with me because they were interested in the position of the 4th Georgia Infantry, which was noted as being on Hamburg Pass on South Mountain, three miles north of Turner’s Gap. It is with that in mind that I have decided to revisit the topic. Looking at several period maps, the location of Hamburg Pass on South Mountain is unknown. Looking at other maps that post date the American Civil War, it doesn’t appear there either. So, as Master Yoda would say, “A mystery, there is, we have.”

The only record of this Hamburg Pass located on South Mountain is written by General Roswell Ripley. In his report after the Battle of Antietam, General Ripley wrote: “On the evening of September 13, I received orders from Maj. General D. H. Hill to march with my brigade and take a position with it and a battery of artillery on the eminence immediately on the northeast of Boonsborough, and to send a regiment at daylight on the following morning to occupy the Hamburg Pass. This was accomplished, and on the following morning, at an early hour, Colonel [George] Doles, with the Fourth Georgia Regiment, was in position at the pass.” So where did the 4th Georgia Infantry perform this duty?

After studying the maps of the surrounding area, I discovered that there were several roads running through the area. The main route to it’s south was the National Pike, and to it’s north was the Baltimore Pike. Connecting these main roads that ran east to west were several smaller roads, running from the north to the south. One of the major roads was Mount Tabor Road. It ran from Bolivar northward toward the Baltimore Pike, and connected just west of Myersville. Connecting to that road was the Frostown Road, which forked at Frostown. The left fork went to Turner’s Gap and the other fork led to Monument Knob or the Zittlestown Road.

Before connecting to the Zittlestown Road, the Frostown Road again forked to another back road that led east of South Mountain, connecting to the Mount Tabor Road. Several homesteads dating back to the late 1700’s early to mid 1800's are located along this road. This is modern day Michael Road. This road on the eastern side of South Mountain opens wide and presents itself with a wonderful view shed of the Catoctin Mountain, and yes, in the distance one can see Hamburg Pass. As you travel a mile and a half through this very steep and narrow road it will take you to where Michael Road connects to Mount Tabor Road. About two miles north of Meade's right flank.

This area is also three miles north of Turner’s Gap. Considering the two main roads running east to west, and the Union army breaking through the Catoctin Mountain during the evening of September 13th, it would present a perfect opportunity, if given the chance, to flank the Confederate rear guard. But as history is documented, General George Meade’s Pennsylvania Division formed up along the Mount Tabor Road two miles to the south of Michael Road.

So how did the 4th Georgia Infantry get to what General Ripley referred to as Hamburg Pass? This could have been done by way of Zittlestown Road, that connected to the National Road just west of Turner’s Gap. From there, a mile and a half march would put a soldier at the base of Monument Knob. This is where the intersection of Michael Road and Zittlestown Road is located. Considering that it was a regiment, more than likely the companies covered both of those roads picketing the direction of Myersville, Frostown, and Mount Tabor for any flanking attempt by Union cavalry or infantry.

I have not found any evidence to suggest that this area near Washington Monument State Park is that of Hamburg Pass as described by the account relating to the 4th Georgia Infantry’s whereabouts. But rather an unnamed mountain pass that led to Zittlestown, running along side of Monument Knob. It is my professional opinion and the opinion of others who have studied the subject, that what is being referred to as Hamburg Pass on South Mountain is located one mile along Michael Road along the eastern summit past the intersection of Michael and Frostown Roads.

A Small Skirmish on the Catoctin Mountain and Jefferson

2012-01-10T14:03:00.001-05:00

Picketing the Catoctin Mountain and the Fight North of Frederick - The Fight at Quebec Schoolhouse - The Braddock's Gap Fight - The Fight at Jefferson Pass

On September 13th, as the advance of Union army was marching upon the eastern base of the Catoctin Mountain many cavalry skirmishes erupted as they collided with the rear guard of the Confederate army. These skirmishes are some of the first major actions to take place in Maryland, as detachments of the Confederate cavalry, supported by artillery, guarded the approach to the Middletown Valley via the Catoctin Mountain. The Union cavalry was under orders to probe and locate the rear of the Confederate army.

On September 12th, 1862 Colonel Thomas Munford and his 2nd Virginia Cavalry, along with the 12th Virginia Cavalry were ordered to guard the Catoctin Mountain pass of Jefferson. Supporting them was Chew’s Battery. The 2nd Virginia Cavalry and the 12th Virginia Cavalry were part of General Beverly Robertson’s Cavalry Brigade. The other units that made up Robertson’s brigade were separated and acting independently. The 6th Virginia Cavalry was left at Centerville, the 17th Virginia Cavalry Battalion was on detached duty in western Virginia moving toward Berkley, and the 7th Virginia Cavalry was ordered to Harper’s Ferry.

During the early morning hours of September 13th, General Alfred Pleasanton ordered the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry, Rush’s Lancers, under the command of Colonel Richard H. Rush, and a section of artillery to move from the Monocacy River to report to General William Franklin, whose 6th Corps was marching toward Jefferson. The 9th New York Infantry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Edgar A. Kimball was ordered by General Isaac Rodman to support Rush’s Lancers. Soon afterward, the remnants of the brigade that the 9th New York was part of, was ordered out.

General John Park, the Chief of Staff for General Ambrose Burnside, ordered the remainder of Colonel Harrison S. Fairchild's 1st Brigade of General Isaac Rodman’s 3rd Division, General Jesse Reno’s 9th Corps to reinforce the 9th New York Infantry. The other infantry regiments that made up Fairchild’s Brigade were the 89th New York Infantry commanded by Major Edward Jardine, and the 103rd New York Infantry commanded by Major Benjamin Ringold. Fairchild’s Brigade also consisted of a battery of naval howitzers under the command of Captain James Whiting, which was Company K, 9th New York Infantry.

On September 13th, the Lancers moved out along the Jefferson Road. When they were approximately five miles west of Frederick, and a mile east of Jefferson they came upon a few Confederate soldiers. Early in afternoon, Rush’s Lancers were waiting for their infantry support to come up. Colonel Munford’s picketing force saw Union infantry marching upon three roads. Munford noted “The enemy advanced on Jefferson by the Point of Rocks road, on the main road from Poolesville, and by a road over a gap which intersects the road leading to Middletown about 1 1/2 miles from Jefferson.”

Upon arriving at the eastern base of the Catoctin Mountain, it was reported that a small Confederate force was positioned to the front with artillery near the ridge, blocking Jefferson Pass. Colonel Munford, seeing the Union force, began falling back toward Jefferson. Chew’s Battery was also reported as calmly limbering their guns and moving out toward Middletown. Colonel Fairchild confirmed that Munford’s force had left their position, noting “Company B, of the Ninth New York Volunteers, was thrown forward to reconnoiter on the left, and reported the enemy as having left the position they had occupied the previous night with three guns and a small cavalry force, and the road clear.”

Upon withdrawing, Colonel Munford ordered the 2nd Virginia Cavalry to hold back the Union troopers, while he and the 12th Virginia Cavalry dashed for Burkittsville in order to protect and keep the roads open. There, along the Catoctin Mountain, the mounted and dismounted cavalrymen were used as sharpshooters while hiding in a ravine covered with brush.

The 9th New York Infantry followed behind Rush’s Lancers, and within a few minutes, they deployed skirmishers. Company B took to the left of the road while three companies (C, H, and I) went to the right into the thickly vegetated woods. Within minutes, the Confederate skirmishers of the 2nd Virginia Cavalry under the command of Captain Holland fired. Private Charles Johnson of the 9th New York Infantry reported that he had heard at least a half a dozen shots. While the other companies of the 9th New York were held back in the reserve, Private David Thompson noted “Far up on the mountainside ahead of us we could see, in the fields confronting the edge of the woods that crowned the ridge, the scattered line of Rush’s Lancers, their bright red pennons flattering gaily from their spear heads.”

Within seconds, the mounted Confederate troopers charged into Rush’s Lancers, forcing them back. While this was going on, the 9th New York located in the woods, became entangled and finally reached the summit of Jefferson Pass. Seeing the Confederate mounted force ahead, and not realizing that a handful of dismounted Confederates were near, the Union soldiers began to scramble for a few minutes, resulting in a handful of Confederate soldiers being taken as prisoners.

By then the rest of the 9th New York Infantry was ordered into the woods. During the same time, Colonel Rush asked Colonel Fairchild for additional support. Colonel Fairchild detached two companies of the 103rd New York to support the skirmishers of the 9th New York that was engaged in the woods. The three New York companies were again pushing forward, and began descending the Catoctin Mountain into a cornfield just east of Jefferson.

As Rush’s men began their reorganized advance, the 103rd New York went to support Captain Haseltine’s company of lancers, who were skirmishing with Confederates near the road leading to Middletown. In the book “Annals of the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry,” by Samuel Levis Gracey, he remembered that they “Came across a body of dismounted rebel cavalry in the wood. Although largely outnumbering his small force, he drove them into confusion, and made some prisoners. The enemy were armed with carbines, though our men only had the lance and their pistols, by one determined charge they succeeded in dislodging the enemy.” Not able to hold, the 2nd Virginia Cavalry began to fall back.

Union troops of the 9th New York Infantry filled the streets of Jefferson. The naval guns of Company K were brought up and posted, but never saw action during the Jefferson Pass fight. In a line of battle, Colonel Fairchild was situated west of Jefferson with the 89th New York Infantry, and remained there until after sunset when orders came from General Jesse Reno for the brigade to return to Frederick. The next morning at 3:00 am, the brigade would be put into motion and arrive at Middletown by midmorning.

Toward the evening hours Munford took position along the Mountain Church Road and waited for the Union follow up to come, which never occured. General Paul Semmes, who had a brigade posted at Brownsville brought them forward to Brownsville Pass, which overlooked Burkittsville. During the same time, General Semmes ordered Colonel William Parham’s small brigade to Crampton’s Gap. Union General William Franklin arrived at Jefferson that same evening with the advance of the 6th Corps.

By the end of September 13th, all focus was shifting ever so quickly to South Mountain. There along that mountain ridge, the first major Civil War battle would be fought in Maryland. Although the Battle of South Mountain hosted a larger number of soldiers and casualties, the actions of September 13th, 1862 deserve recognition and are just as important. The Union cavalry with horse artillery, supported by infantry had done its job. South Mountain was a consequence of those actions just as Antietam was a consequence of the Battle of South Mountain.

Picketing the Catoctin Mountain and the Fight North of Frederick

2011-12-20T10:32:00.006-05:00

Picketing the Catoctin Mountain and the Fight North of Frederick - The Fight at Quebec Schoolhouse - The Braddock's Gap Fight - The Fight at Jefferson Pass

While the Confederate army was encamped at Frederick, many cavalry detachments picketed the Catoctin and South Mountains. On September 12th, as Confederate General JEB Stuart bivouacked near Middletown, he had left the Jeff Davis Legion to guard Braddock Gap in order to protect his wagon train, and to keep an eye on Union soldiers that may appear from the direction of Frederick. To the south portions of Colonel Thomas Munford’s cavalry was guarding the approach to Jefferson, near Jefferson Pass.

To the north of Braddock’s Gap lay three other mountain passes. Shookstown Pass, which was located on the Baltimore Road, High Knob, a rough and rugged mountain pass, and then there was Hamburg Pass. Hamburg Pass overlooked the valley between Lewistown and Frederick. The Frederick Road that ran through this area was a major artery that took inhabitants from Frederick to Emmitsburg and across the Mason and Dixon Line into Pennsylvania.

On the morning of September 5th, the gray-clad soldiers forded the Potomac River into Maryland at Edward’s Ferry. Edward’s Ferry is downstream from White’s Ford. The cavalrymen were ragged, some were even barefoot in the saddle. In Maryland they managed to buy boots, shoes and clothing, paying the merchants in Confederate money. While encamped at Barnesville they were ordered to attack a detachment of Union soldiers, who from their location at Sugarloaf Mountain, could see all of the Confederate movements. From there they were ordered to Frederick.

On the night of September 12th, the 4th and 9th Virginia Cavalry left Frederick, as they were ordered to the Catoctin Mountain. East of Hamburg, the 3rd Virginia Cavalry, 4th Virginia Cavalry and the 9th Virginia Cavalry picketed the mountain gap to watch for troop movements leaving Frederick. The town that the gap is named after no longer stands, but during the Civil War it was a small mountain community. Today ruins can bee seen in the woods in the park boundaries of Gambrill State Park.

During the evening of September 12th, Union General Alfred Pleasanton made his headquarters at Frederick. General Ambrose Burnside had arrived a half hour prior, after marching on the New Market Road. The brigade of cavalry under the command of Colonel John Farnsworth had bivouacked west of Frederick, while portions of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry, and a section of artillery ordered to Jefferson to meet up with General William Franklin’s Sixth Corps who were bivouacking to the east of the Catoctin Mountain.

Early the next morning, General Alfred Pleasanton ordered a section of Lieutenant R. Hunter Chapin’s 3-inch Rifles of the 2nd U. S. Artillery, Battery M, and the cavalry brigade of Colonel Andrew T. McReynolds to scout the Emmitsburg and Gettysburg areas to see if the Confederate army was moving into Pennsylvania. Under his command were two regiments of cavalry, Major James A. Congdon’s 12th Pennsylvania Cavalry, and Major Alonzo W. Adams’ 1st New York Cavalry, nicknamed the Lincoln Cavalry.

Pleasanton was to find the rear of the Confederate army. As the sounds of artillery broke the silence of the day six miles to the south at Braddock’s Gap, the troopers near Hamburg Pass were enjoying their duty. They soon received an order from General JEB Stuart to move east of the Catoctin, and try to turn the Federal right flank. They mounted their horses and moved rapidly toward Frederick to the New Market Road.

As the 4th Virginia Cavalry, supported by the 9th Virginia Cavalry, moved they came into view of the 1st New York Cavalry as it moved to Emmitsburg. The Virginians attacked the rear of the Federal column. Within minutes, nine Union troops and one ambulance fell into Confederate hands, although another account states that two ambulances were taken. As the fighting quickly began to die down, several Confederate troopers were taken prisoner. After the fight, the 1st New York proceeded to Emmitsburg where they encamped for the night.

Realizing that the majority of the Union army was encamped in and around Frederick and moving toward Braddock Gap, the troopers fell back to the eastern base of the Catoctin Mountain. There the Confederates remained in a line of battle until midnight. They were ordered to proceed back up the mountain and arrived at Hamburg just after 10:00 am on September 14th. As the Confederate soldiers passed through Hamburg, Sergeant George Beale of the 9th Virginia Cavalry noted the condition of the town, simply stating “Hamburg was a rude and scattering village on the crest of the mountain.”

Sergeant Beale also noted “The manufacture of brandy seemed to be the chief employment of the villagers, and at the early hour of our passage through the place, both the men and women gave proof that they were free imbibers of the product of their stills, and it was not easy to find a sober inhabitant of either sex.”

The Confederate troopers didn’t receive a very warm welcome at all. Lieutenant Colonel Richard L.T. Beale of the 9th Virginia Cavalry wrote “A party of women seemed amused and delighted at the ragged outfit of our men, and were certainly as intensely hostile as any blue-stocking "school marm" of Massachusetts.”

As the Confederate troopers passed through Hamburg, they began to descend Catoctin Mountain. There, the valley in the distance opened up, giving the soldiers a spectacular view of the fertile farmlands in what Sergeant Beale described as “A scene of unusual beauty and loveliness.”

As the Confederate soldiers came to a large grist mill, orders were given to halt. After a march of several hours on horseback, they rested in an apple orchard which provided them with shade. There they finally received rations and soon began to prepare them. This was the first time they had received them in two days. The troopers also took time to attend to their horses.

The men heard the sounds of battle taking place on the next ridge over at South Mountain. At 4:00 pm, the troops were ordered to mount up, and to head toward the town of Boonsboro, where they rested again after nightfall. Soon afterwards, they would be ordered on standby as the Confederate infantry retreated off of South Mountain, pouring into Boonsboro. Sergeant Beale noted “The nature of the ground was ill-suited to the operation of cavalry, and much relief was felt when, at dawn [15th], we began to fall back towards Boonesboro.”

The Fight at Quebec Schoolhouse, A Consequence of the Braddock’s Gap Skirmish

2011-12-16T14:07:00.003-05:00

Picketing the Catoctin Mountain and the Fight North of Frederick - The Fight at Quebec Schoolhouse - The Braddock's Gap Fight - The Fight at Jefferson Pass

As portions of Confederate General Wade Hampton’s Brigade withdrew through the streets of Middletown during the late afternoon of September 13th, 1862, the skirmish that developed at Braddock’s Gap was finally dying down. General JEB Stuart ordered General Wade Hampton to take the cavalry supply wagons to Burkittsville as quickly as possible, which was about five miles away to the south. From there, General Hampton could join up with Colonel Thomas Munford, who was guarding the approach to Crampton’s Gap. General JEB Stuart himself, along with Hart’s battery, and the Jeff Davis Legion made their way to Turner’s Gap upon South Mountain where General Daniel H. Hill had an infantry brigade deployed, ready to defend the gap.

Upon arriving at Turner’s Gap, General Stuart’s cavalry commanded the National Road forcing Colonel Alfred Colquitt’s brigade to move along side of the road. It was reported that a few brigades of Union infantry had broken through the Catoctin Mountain and were situated in the Middletown Valley. From there Stuart continued onward toward Boonsboro. What Stuart didn’t know was that the rest of Union General Jesse Reno’s Ninth Corps, soon followed by General Joseph Hooker’s First Corps, were in route to Middletown.

After the Confederate cavalry had withdrew from Middletown, portions of Union Colonel John F. Farnsworth’s cavalry brigade had pushed through Middletown to the Catoctin Creek, where the rear of Stuart’s forces had set fire to the covered bridge. It looked as if the tired Union troopers were finally going to have a rest after a hard days’ fight. While the pursuit was still going strong through Middletown, several citizens of Middletown informed Major William Medill of the Eighth Illinois Cavalry about a Confederate wagon train that had just left town moments before their arrival.

As Major Medill tried gathering troops to go after the baggage train, time ticked on and the wagon train advanced further out of their grasp. Major Medill managed to get two companies, A & G of the Eighth Illinois, and two companies, E & F of the Third Indiana, totaling about 230 troopers. William Pickerill of the Third Indiana recalled: “As the cavalry dashed into Middletown two companies of the Eighth Illinois and two companies of the Third Indiana, E and F, were detached and directed to pursue a rebel wagon train, which the citizens of the town told us had gone southward down the valley.”

Finding the wagons wasn’t going to be an easy task. As stated in my article “The Union Soldier during the Maryland Campaign,” weather conditions proved extreme from the heat on the march toward Frederick to a cold front that had pushed through producing rain. With the ground still being damp, no dust would be kicked up by the wagons; therefore their location could not be seen in the distance.

William Pickerill described the Middletown Valley as his unit moved on toward Burkittsville. “We were in the midst of its most fertile farms. Fields of ripening, waving corn were on every hand. Orchards were the background of many a cottage with its shrubbery-bedecked lawn. In the distance were the mountain crests wreathed in the blue haze of a perfect Autumn day’s loveliest sunshine.”

As the Union troopers pressed on, General Hampton found a road paralleling the main the route to Burkittsville. Hampton later recalled: “On the road to this place I discovered, on a road parallel to the one on which we were, a regiment of Yankee cavalry.” The Union cavalry had been spotted. William Pickerill also remembered seeing the wagon train as well. He later wrote “This detachment after a hot pursuit came in sight of the wagon train as it was slowly winding its way up a mountain road, but in its rear was a battery of brass guns and enough rebel cavalry to have swallowed the pursuing force.” These bronze guns were that of Chew’s Battery guarding the rear of the wagon train.

Pickerill continued “The detachment was satisfied with observation and decided that it did not want that wagon train anyhow, and started to return to the command which it had left at Middletown by a short cut down a winding stony ravine, hemmed in on either side by a very crooked worm fence, so that this particular route answered for the channel of a stream and a country road at the same time.”

What the Union cavalry did not realize was that General Hampton detached Cobb’s Legion of cavalry commanded by Colonel Pierce M.B. Young to pursue them. At a little schoolhouse called Quebec, Saturday classes were in session. The children and the teacher would soon witness something they would never forget.

Cobb’s Legion had taken cover in the brush to conceal themselves along the main road to Burkittsville, lying in wait. William N. Pickerill recalled “Quebeck schoolhouse stood at the head of this ravine, and just as Company F of the Third Indiana, the rear company of the detachment, had entered the ravine Cobb's Legion of rebel cavalry, commanded by Col. P.M.B. Young, dashed down the mountainside past the schoolhouse, charging us with sabers and pistols, and for a few minutes a desperate little cavalry battle ensued.”

As the Union cavalry appeared, Colonel Young’s men waited. As soon as the Union soldiers had passed, Cobb’s Legion charged after and surprised them. After wheeling, Young had come in from the south while Captain Gilbert Wright’s company attacked from the north. Hampton later wrote: “I directed Lieut. Col. Young to charge this regiment. The order was carried out in gallant style.” The Union cavalry responded firing into the Confederate horsemen. Company F of the Third Indiana, the last unit in the column was trapped in a ditch when Cobb’s Legion charged.

Pickerill recalled “The column halted and fired an oblique volley into the charging rebels and then the clash came and Yankees and rebels, horsed and unhorsed, mingled, indiscriminately shooting at each other and using their sabers in the same reckless manner, until the men at the head of the column tore down the fence on the side of the ravine next to the attacking force and went at them in such splendid style.”

During the first few seconds of the fight, over two hundred carbines were discharged and the scene became wild as men fought desperately to get out with their lives, while Young’s men screamed for their surrender. Captain Gilbert Wright of Cobb’s Legion recalled “Give ’em hell, boys” as he succumbed to injury. The legion crossed sabers with the Union cavalry, and as several accounts state sabers were used rather freely. The accounts of saber wounds are listed on several of the muster rolls of those injured. Some of the troopers were killed when sabers smashed the skulls of their opponents.

Fearing that he might be separated from Hampton’s and Munford’s forces, Cobb’s Legion called off the engagement and pulled back leaving their dead and wounded in the hands of the Union cavalry. Hampton stated that he had four killed and nine wounded in the fight at Quebec Schoolhouse. Among the Confederate wounded was Colonel Young. Hampton also wrote that the Union casualties were thirty killed and wounded, and five prisoners taken.

After the fight, the Union cavalry moved back to Middletown, bivouacking under the stars. The Union cavalry had a hard day of fighting both at Braddock’s Gap and Quebec Schoolhouse. The Union cavalry had secured the way for the Union infantry and by morning, the sounds of cannon and infantry musketry would echo throughout the Middletown Valley, as the Union infantry advanced on South Mountain. This would change the war both socially and politically, and force Lee to issue orders for his army to concentrate at Sharpsburg.

The Skirmish of Braddock’s Gap on Catoctin Mountain

2011-12-13T15:55:00.012-05:00

Picketing the Catoctin Mountain and the Fight North of Frederick - The Fight at Quebec Schoolhouse - The Braddock's Gap Fight - The Fight at Jefferson Pass

During the Maryland Campaign of 1862, many cavalry skirmishes were fought in Frederick County as a result of the Confederate army leaving Frederick, or occupying areas in the Middletown Valley. While the main Confederate army would march over the Catoctin Mountain at Braddock’s Gap (also known as Fairview Pass), detachments of Confederate cavalry would picket several roads that led into the Middletown Valley. One such pass was that of Hamburg, located near the Frederick City Watershed and Gambrill State Park. Hamburg overlooked the area north of Frederick, keeping an eye on Union General Alfred Pleasanton’s cavalry division and their movements.

During the night of September 12th, 1862, as the rear of the Confederate army marched toward Middletown, to concentrate their forces in the Cumberland Valley, the Jeff Davis Legion was left to guard Braddock’s Gap. The Mississippians were under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William T. Martin who was ordered to picket the National Road, keeping an eye on Union troop movements that may come from the direction of Frederick.

During the evening of September 12th, Confederate Captain James F. Hart, commanding the Washington (South Carolina) Artillery was ordered to send two of the Blakely Rifles from his battery to support the Jeff Davis Legion picketing the Catoctin Mountain at Braddock’ Gap. Before daylight on September 13th, Captain Hart deployed his section across the National Road commanding the gap.

General Pleasanton was ordered by General George McClellan to locate the Confederate army by sending his division in several different directions to the south, north, and west to locate the rear of the Confederate army. Union General Alfred Pleasanton ordered Colonel John Franklin Farnsworth’s Second Brigade of cavalry and three batteries to scout the Middletown Valley and South Mountain.

Just after daylight, the Confederates guarding Braddock’s Gap opened fire on the Union cavalry. The Third Indiana cavalry was leading the advance, followed by the Eighth Illinois Cavalry, the First Massachusetts Cavalry, and the Eighth Pennsylvania Cavalry. Captain Casper Crowninshield of the First Massachusetts Cavalry ordered his men to dismount and they quickly lowered themselves to the ground while holding the reins. The sporadic artillery fire sent shells every which way.

Captain Hart’s section fired upon the Union advance pushing them further back and forcing them to reorganize their advancing lines. As skirmishing broke out, the Jeff Davis Legion began to push the Union advance back, but only temporally. The Union troopers deployed on both sides of the National Road and attempted to advance on the mountain gap.

Soon, an order came to have a section from Captain James Madison Robertson's and Lieutenant Peter Conover Hains' batteries to deploy and return fire. Colonel Farnsworth then ordered some squadrons of the Eighth Illinois and Third Indiana to dismount as skirmishers and go up the mountain. Lieutenant Hains’ later recalled: “Brought forward the leading section and placed it in action on the right of the road. The other section was held in reserve. Captain Robertson took position on my left and somewhat nearer the enemy. The firing was thus kept up for some time.”

The fight became very hot as both sides were actively engaged for several hours. Union Lieutenant Hains’: “Being under Captain Robertson's orders, I received orders from him to bring forward my reserved section and open fire. This section I placed in an orchard about 1,400 yards from the enemy. The other section was moved up closer on the right. The whole battery then opened a fire of case-shot and percussion-shell on the enemy, and after a sharp cannonade of several hours the enemy retired.”

During the afternoon, a brisk artillery fire was kept up by Captain Hart’s guns. Lieutenant Colonel Martin received additional reinforcements from Middletown. The First North Carolina Cavalry under the command of Colonel Lawrence S. Baker was the rear guard for their brigade. The troopers formed their lines next to the Jeff Davis Legion, and in a sharpshooter manner, the troopers became hotly engaged with the Union troops where they fought with “perfect satisfaction.” General JEB Stuart later wrote: “They were exposed to a severe fire of artillery and musketry, which they bore without flinching, nor was there the slightest confusion in the ranks.”

General Wade Hampton later wrote: “I beg to commend the conduct of Lieutenant-Colonel Martin and his command while he held the gap of the mountain. The men of Lieutenant-Colonel Martin fought with their accustomed gallantry, and they were able supported by a portion of the North Carolina Regiment, who had been detailed as sharpshooters. Lieutenant-Colonel Martin on this occasion, as on all others, conducted himself as a gallant and able officer.”

During the climax, the Union troopers were held in check until the arrival of two brigades of Union infantry. General JEB Stuart later wrote: “Which was the only force we were yet able to discover, so well did he keep his troops concealed.” Earlier in the day, General Ambrose Burnside received a message from General Pleasanton asking for additional support from the infantry. General Burnside detached a portion of General Isaac P. Rodman’s Division of General Jesse Reno’s Ninth Corps to Braddock’s Gap.

William N. Pickerell of the 3rd Indiana Cavalry recalled the moments before the Union break through of Braddock's Gap: “Counted off by fours and the dismounted men crawled up the mountainside through bushes and over stone fences, and soon made it too hot for that battery to operate. In this fight Oliver H. Trestor, of Company D, was killed as he leaped a stone wall right into a bunch of Confederates in hiding behind it. The Confederate battery with its supporting cavalry limbered to the rear and broke into a wild flight down the National Road across the Middletown Valley pursued by the Third Indiana and Eighth Illinois into the village of Middletown”.

After a severe cannonading and several warm volleys with carbines, Lieutenant Hains’ stated: “Notwithstanding the inequality of position of our battery and that of the enemy, we drove them from their position with the loss of only two horses.” The Jeff Davis Legion began to fall back, having previously barricaded the road in several places. Captain Hart limbered up his guns, withdrew from Braddock’s Gap, and redeployed on the National Road, waiting for the Union troopers to appear. Lieutenant Hains’ recalled: “Upon their retiring, we followed with alacrity, and overtook them again near Middletown.”

As the Union cavalry began their decent down the Catoctin Mountain, trooper Pickerall recalled, “Encircled with forest crowned mountain ranges, I have seen no lovelier landscapes than the Middletown Valley, as it appeared to me.” Charles M. Smith of the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry recalled: “Abandoned Confederate corpses lying motionless along the roadside and adjacent cornfields haunted me.”

Union Captain Horatio G. Gibson’s Battery then came up, and “soon in beautiful style induced another backward movement.” Farnsworth's Brigade then advanced, and engaged the cavalry until they were driven beyond Middletown about 1,000 yards, to a third position. A few rounds fired from a section of Hains’ Battery positioned on the left, and Gibson's Battery that was deployed on the right, “sufficed to silence” the Confederate Blakely rifles of Captain Hart’s Battery.

Buying enough time for the Confederate army, those Confederates engaged at Braddock’s Gap were ordered to withdraw to Boonsboro. General Pleasanton later wrote: “The Confederates retreated rapidly to Turner's Gap of the South Mountain; but before doing so they blew up the bridge on the Catoctin Creek, and set fire to the barn and other valuables of the persons residing at that point.”

As Braddock’s Gap was overwhelmed by the Union cavalry, General Burnside ordered the rest of General Reno's Ninth Corps to move at once to Middletown. After the Confederate cavalry retired, portions of Colonel Farnsworth's brigade forded the Catoctin Creek and held the ground securing it for the Union infantry advance. Lieutenant Hains’ positioned one section of his battery on the National Road where he was supported by three squadrons of the First Massachusetts Cavalry. The fighting soon died down as daylight gave way to darkness. As Confederate Daniel H. Hill stood at the opening of Turner’s Gap, he knew by daylight of the 14th, a major battle would soon erupt.

The skirmishing that occurred on September 13th, 1862 set the stage for the Battle of South Mountain. While not a lot of information is known about the Braddock’s Gap skirmish, it was an important part of the Maryland Campaign. Because of this skirmish, it allowed portions of the Union army to march toward Middletown after it was discovered that the majority of the Confederate army was west of South Mountain. The Union army was now a day behind the main Confederate army and the focus would now shift toward South Mountain. It would be up to those Confederate defenders at South Mountain to hold back the Union tide and buy the Confederate army the time that it needed until it could reunite after the fall of Harper’s Ferry on the ground of Lee’s choosing.

Postcards courtesy of USGW Archives

The David Miller Monument

2011-12-07T07:51:00.001-05:00

Stop 4 on the Monterey Pass Battlefield tour is the David Miller Monument. After pulling into the parking lot of the Hawley Memorial Church (located off of Charmian Road), you’ll want to walk toward the main road and walk due east down the road for a short distance. Using caution as the road is heavily used by tractor trailers and community residents. The monument stands near the hedge row on your right as you walk down the road a short distance from Hawley Memorial Church. As you walk down to see the monument look back up the hill from where you were to see where Captain Tanner deployed one cannon. As you walk along side the road, notice the landscape and how it descends very rapidly at that turn. The cannon was positioned near the sudden drop and is where the first shots of the Battle of Monterey Pass took place.

Once you get to a safe area to view the monument, here is a little history. David Miller was the formal manager of the Monterey House. At the onset of the Civil War he was in the process of building the Clermont House. As he was taken prisoner, he was held at the Monterey House. His expertise helped to guide General Kilpatrick’s cavalry during the confusing fight at Monterey Pass. This is also the area where the Clermont House once stood. The monument stands near the hedge row on your right as you walk down the road a short distance from Hawley Memorial Church. As you walk down to see the monument look back up the hill from where you were to see where Captain Tanner deployed one cannon.

Battlefield Journal: Lee's Rock at Monterey Pass

2011-12-02T14:31:00.005-05:00

Driving by it, one may never know that a series of rocks along the Old Waynesboro Road once was host to General Robert E. Lee. This story was told to me by an elderly man, Mr Warner, who was 12 years old when he heard it from Dorctor Bridgers.

Mr. Warner grew up around Walter Taylor's children in the 1930's and 1940's. but the story goes, that Walter Taylor III, took Dr. Bridgers out and about and took him to a series of rocks. He then explained that his father Lee's Aid-de-Camp told him that he and Lee rested on this rock and watched the infantry columns of the Confederate army marching by.After a brief stay, Lee mounted his horse and proceeded down South Mountain into Pikesville.

The rock today has been dubbed the "Lee Rock" and is located a short distance from where the Appalachian Trail crosses modern day Old Waynesboro Road up against a telephone pole.

Read the complete article: Lee's Famous Staff Officer Walter Taylor Jr.

Battlefield Journal: The Attack of the West Virginian’s and the Buena Vista Road

2011-12-02T09:42:00.002-05:00

One South Mountain Gap that is not talked about is Buena Vista Springs. After the Civil War this area became home to a huge resort, but there are accounts of the gap during the Civil War from Union deserters to Confederate soldiers occupying it during the Confederate retreat after the Battle of Gettysburg.

The Monterey Pass Tollgate was located at a very important intersection. This is where the Fairfield, Mentzer’s Gap, Emmitsburg and Waynesboro Turnpike came together. Across from the tollgate, was Pendersville Road and connecting to that was a road that led directly to Buena Vista Springs and intersected with a road that led to the turnpike and what would become Cascade, Maryland.

During the Battle of Monterey Pass, there are accounts surfacing of Confederate troops ending up at Buena Vista Springs as the Union cavalry charged down the mountain. The only way to access the back road that led to Buena Vista today is by hiking a small portion of the Appalachian Trail. The parking area for the Appalachian Trail is located to the left along Route 16 leading toward Waynesboro. The hike will take you through areas of the Monterey Pass Battlefield where the 1st West Virginia Cavalry began attacking the Confederate wagon train.

This hike will take about hour and to start you will walk across the wooden bridge due south and following the white blazes.

This map is from the 1890s and shows the intersection located at Monterey Pass

This photo is taken from the Rolando Woods Lions Club Park
This is the Old Emmitsburg and Waynesboro Turnpike and is the same area where the Confederate wagon came under attack. The toll house is about 100 yards from this point.
This is the roadway leading toward Buena Vista and is seen crossing the Appalachian Trail
This is the same road looking toward Monterey Pass. From this point you are less than a quarter mile from the actual mountain gap.

What an Amazing Year and Some Major Civil War Projects Are Coming

2011-11-21T10:54:00.002-05:00

As the season winds down, looking back on the year, it was a busy year all the way around. For those who participated in the South Mountain Battlefield hikes, thank you for coming out and supporting the battlefield. This year the Friday afternoon battlefield tours were a smashing success. The living history programs were also successful. Between all the battlefield programs and education program, I came in contact with more than 11,000 people for more than 150 total programs. That is amazing, so to all thank you again for your support.

Monterey Pass Battlefield also had a good year. The new Friends of Monterey Pass Battlefield has helped to raise more than $102,000 for battlefield preservation. My wife Alicia serves as the chairman of the friends’ organization while I dropped back from being a Board Member and Chairman of the Monterey Pass Battlefield Association/Monterey Pass Battlefield Committee to the Monterey Pass Battlefield Historian working with the township and the newly formed friends’ group. See their blog that I am doing.

While South Mountain in both Maryland and Pennsylvania had great success, I expanded my horizons now participating in my third major documentary serving as one of the main historians for that project covering South Mountain Battlefield, Emmitsburg, Maryland the Union advance to and from Gettysburg and the Confederate withdraw from Gettysburg including the Battle of Monterey Pass. More information about this project will be forthcoming.

As most of you know, I was one of the leading historians for the 10 Days and Still They Come documentary in which Ted Alexander, Wayne Hutzell and Russ Richards were the other historians and advisors on set. I was also one of the historians for the Battle of Hagerstown documentary that premiered back in July. I also served as the historical advisor to Carroll Smith with her project. She did a painting depicting the Battle of Monterey Pass.

In the beginning of the year, I was asked by Franklin County Tourism to conduct a Civil War interpretive program that was both formal and informal for the Chambersburg 150th kick off. My group of living historians recreated the 8th Virginia Infantry which was thoroughly research from what they did in Chambersburg to what they were wearing with regards to uniforms and equipment. We were the only authentic campaigner unit there.

Since then, I have accepted a very limited role with the Waynesboro 150th Committee. This committee is still in the midst of organizing. I have faith that this group will plan some exciting events and programs. Other important committees I am part of deal with the 150th of the Maryland Campaign as well as Franklin County in the Civil War.

But since my contract with Maryland ended (Don't worry, I will be heading back early next year), I have decided to return where I began with Emmitsburg, since I a two months before I go back to Maryland. I have researched Emmitsburg for over thirteen years and I have decided to work on producing my second book dealing with Emmitsburg during the Civil War. I have added footnotes and I am in process of editing the content. I hope that this book will be ready and available to the public by mid 2012.

My first 32 page booklet entitled “The Battle of Monterey Pass, Pennsylvania’s Second Largest Civil War Battle” is still available for $8.00 shipping included. If you are interested, please make check payable to the Monterey Pass Battlefield Association, 144 North Church Street, Waynesboro, Pa. 17268

South Mountain Offers Shelter to those Seeking Freedom and Protection

2011-11-11T12:44:00.000-05:00

First and foremost, I am not writing a history of the John Brown Raid as there are several sources available for that information on the internet. My focus of this article will be on the small role that South Mountain had during the aftermath of the John Brown’s Raid on Harper’s Ferry. This is the forgotten South Mountain history that I would like to begin to piece together. South Mountain, even before the John Brown Raid, led African Americans to freedom. Recently the tourism agencies of Franklin County, Pennsylvania and Washington County, Maryland have produced a documentary about the Underground Railroad, as well as a documentary on John Brown’s Raid starting at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

Slaves seeking freedom in the North would cross the Potomac River near Knoxville, Maryland, and seek shelter in South Mountain as they moved toward Boonsboro. South Mountain, because of the spurs and dense forested areas, provided shelter and safety. From Boonsboro, portions of the Underground Railroad led into Smithsburg, as well as in the Waynesboro, Pennsylvania area. In Rouzerville, Pennsylvania, just below Monterey Pass, is the Jacob Shockey Farm. From there slaves would continue northward using South Mountain to shield them while on their route that led to safety and freedom.

John Brown arrived near Harper’s Ferry on July 3rd, 1859 at Sandy Hook, Maryland. From there he and his sons made their temporary residence at the Kennedy Farmhouse nestled in Elk Ridge, on the road that led directly to the Potomac River. During his stay in Washington County, Brown was no stranger to Hagerstown. He had visited the town under the name of Isaac Smith.

Shortly before the raid on Harper’s Ferry, a telegraph wire near South Mountain was cut. A young Hagerstown telegraph operator Edward Aughinbaugh, received the message that the telegraph wire between Hagerstown and Frederick had gone down. Edward had to locate the problem and fix it. The line could have been damaged anywhere within a twenty-six mile radius. Edward started out to repair the line, and upon his approach to Middletown he found the problem. He repaired it, and went onward toward Frederick to get a hotel and rest before heading back to Hagerstown.

Around 9:00 pm, he checked out and began his journey back to Hagerstown. At approximately midnight he began to ascend South Mountain at Turner’s Gap. Upon reaching the summit near the Mountain House, he was stopped by a man holding a gun. The man knew Edward and ordered him into the Mountain House, where he became a prisoner with the understanding that as long as he did what was told, no harm would come to him.

Within a few minutes Edward recognized one of the men holding him hostage, it was a man by the name of John E. Cook, one of Brown’s soldiers. Cook shook hands with young Edward and told him to be a good boy and he would be released in the morning. Cook, as well as John Brown, frequented his father’s drugstore in Hagerstown. Early in the morning, Cook and the others left taking the road to Harper’s Ferry, and Edward himself, ran westward into Boonsboro.

At Boonsboro, Edward met Colonel Edward Mobley, who was the Sheriff of Washington County. The young boy explained what had happened and Colonel Mobley and two companies of militia began heading out to the Mountain House. The young boy went back to Hagerstown.

On October 16th, the time had come to execute the raid. John Brown left his son Owen Brown, Barclay Coppock, Charles Plummer Tidd, and Francis Jackson Meriam behind as a rear guard. Shortly before daybreak on the 18th of October, John Brown sent John Cook out of Harper’s Ferry, back into Maryland where he captured Terrance Burns and was to guard the farmhouse where the weapons were stored. As daybreak came, Cook heard the gunshots at Harper’s Ferry, and was relieved by the rearguard left by Brown. Cook ran back toward Harper’s Ferry, and from Maryland Heights he watched and even tried to draw Federal gunfire, with little success.

Soon the insurrection of Harper’s Ferry was over. Several of Brown’s men fled from the engine house, many who were shot and captured. Several others managed to escape, fleeing to the wilderness of South Mountain. Owen Brown, Charles Tidd, Barclay Coppock, Francis Merriam, Albert Hazelett, and Osborne P. Anderson all escaped. While making his escape, John Cook came upon four other members of the raiding party and they made their way through South Mountain together. Owen Brown, Barclay Coppock, Charles Tidd, and Osborne Anderson had joined together to make their escape into Pennsylvania using parts of the Underground Railroad. These five survivors walked for the next week only at night to ensure that they avoided any major populated areas of the mountain. These five men were now considered as fugitives.

John Cook himself, had made his way toward Chambersburg, to where his wife and child were staying. According to the Franklin Repository, Cook arrive near Quincy, Pennsylvania, when a local man by the name of Mr. Hiram Wertz saw a man walking along the road with what appeared to be a small rifle wrapped up in a blanket. Mr. Wertz asked Cook if he needed a ride and he hopped in the buggy. Once Mr. Wertz was about three miles from Quincy, Cook asked to be dropped off saying that he needed to get to the other road. Once he got out of the buggy, a revolver fell from the man’s jacket which raised suspicion. When Mr. Wertz got back to town he talked to several of friends about the incident and soon noticed Cook appearing. Cook was followed to a house where John Brown had boarded before the Harper’s Ferry Raid, but Cook escaped his follower. Franklin County Sheriff Brown and several others found the blanket wrapped around the rifle which was confiscated by the Sheriff.

Using South Mountain as shelter, Cook found himself one minute in the thicket, to standing in an open field the next. This mountain terrain would soon prove to be his downfall. Cook, claiming to be a hunter near Mont Alto Furnace, approached two men asking for provisions. Cleggett Fitzhugh, who was manager of the Mont Alto Furnace, and Daniel Logan were experienced slave catchers and knew of the reward that had been issued for Cook. They studied Cook, and even offered him provisions at the store. As they headed toward the store, Fitzhugh escorted Cook on one side and Logan was on the other. Cook, unaware of his surroundings, was taken at once by a signal given by Logan, who quickly grabbed Cook’s arm. After a very brief struggle, Cook asked “Why do you arrest me?” Logan replied “Your Captain Cook.” Cook was taken to Fitzhugh’s home and stripped of all weapons.

Cook was allowed to eat one hasty meal, and was then loaded into a buggy headed to Chambersburg. On October 26th, 1859, it was reported that Cook had been arrested. He was transferred to Charlestown, (West Virginia) where he was hung on December 16th.

Of the others that escaped, Albert Hazlett was also captured and hung on March 16th, 1860. Charles Tidd and Barclay Coppock were never caught and died during the American Civil War. Osborne Anderson served as an officer during the Civil War and eventually wrote a memoir about the John Brown Raid. After the raid, Francis Meriam headed south and eventually became a captain in the 3rd South Carolina Colored Infantry.

South Mountain played a huge role during the events that led up to the insurrection of Harper’s Ferry and the events that followed the Harper’s Ferry raid. Today, when most people hear the name John Brown, they think of the besieged men held up at a small engine house, while the role that South Mountain played in these actions have been a forgotten footnote in our American History. South Mountain was a vital mountain range that led several to freedom, and also helped to protect those who escaped from the disaster that became known as the John Brown Raid on Harper’s Ferry.

Military Operations of Woodsboro

2011-10-19T14:46:00.002-04:00

During the outbreak of the Civil War Woodsboro, Maryland was mainly sympathetic to the Union cause. Several men from Woodsboro joined many of the Union units including the 7th Maryland Infantry and the First Potomac Home Brigade (Cole's Cavalry). On November 14, 1861, for protection of loyal Union men at the polls of the late election, Major Stone served as the provost Marshall of Woodsboro and a few other election precincts. Because Maryland was so divided in it's political views, no armed men went near the polls.

In October of 1862, Confederate General JEB Stuart and his cavalry made their way across the Potomac. Their objective was to capture the Union depots at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. After completing his objective, General Stuart led his men back toward Hagerstown when he realized that a portion of Union Cavalry is following him. General Stuart orders his men to march toward Gettysburg. After passing through Cashtown, General Stuart decides to travel to Fairfield and make his way to Emmitsburg, Maryland. Just one hour before the Confederate arrival in Emmitsburg, 140 men of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry known as Colonel Rush's Lancers had passed through the town. A courier was captured carrying dispatch to Colonel Rush notifying him that 800 Cavalrymen under Union General Pleasonton was in pursuit of Stuart's Cavalry.

At a half past 10 p.m. on the night of October 11th, a company of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry observed General Stuart's column marching through Woodsboro. Corporal John Anders of Company D, Rush's Lancers gallantly scouted the Confederates at Woodsboro. He dismounted and entered Woodsboro on foot. He talked freely to the men of Stuart's Cavalry until he was detained for suspicion of being a Union Loyalist. Corporal Anders managed to escape and rejoined his unit shortly after midnight. Two prisoners that were taken at Fairfield, Pennsylvania by the names of Hartman and Sheads made their escape at Woodsboro, Md.

Before the battle of Gettysburg, on June 29th, 1863, marching orders at 4 a.m. were carried out. Portions of the Union Army would march through Woodsboro on their way to Middleburg. The 12th Corps and the 3rd Corps along with their corresponding Artillery would march through Woodsboro followed by General Meade's Headquarters wagon train. General Farnsworth's Brigade of Cavalry also traveled through Woodsboro as they headed toward Taneytown.

Union General Slocum commanding the 12th Corps wrote to General Meade at Woodsboro about delays occurring with the Union wagon trains upon Woodsboro Pike. Because of the wagon situation, this was slowing his Corps and they would not make it to Middleburg on time and would be forced to encamp at the double Pipe Creek near the Frederick and Carroll County line. Colonel Warren Packer commanding the 5th Connecticut Volunteers also encamped for the night at Woodsboro.

After the battle of Gettysburg, Woodsboro witnessed many of the same troops marching to Frederick, trying to get in front of General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army. On July 7th, the 12th Corps and 2nd Corps marched through Woodsboro on their way to Frederick. Many officers were impressed with the beauty of Woodsboro and how well were the condition of the roads. At 8 p.m. the Artillery reserve was ordered to encamp at Woodsboro and would resume their march to Frederick early in the morning of July 8th.

In June of 1864, Confederate General Robert E. Lee sent a corps of men under the command of General Jubal Early northward from Petersburg, Virginia to conduct a campaign that would threaten Washington. Many Maryland towns would see troops from both sides come through their towns much as they did during the Gettysburg Campaign a year earlier. Woodsboro was not exception. On July 9th, 1864 during the battle of Monocacy, the Chairman of Executive Committee David Willis reported that Confederate Cavalry had scouting parties at Woodsboro and were reported stealing horses and robbing stores.

Today, Woodsboro still holds the same appearance as it did during the Civil War. Although Woodsboro has grown over the past decade, the modern day convinces and the quarry has not taken any of the historical aspects on Main Street. Woodsboro is located on modern day Route 194 where it connects to modern day Route 550.

General Meade and the Defense of Emmitsburg

2011-10-17T09:51:00.003-04:00

Shortly after the Pennsylvania Campaign in the summer of 1863, General Daniel Sickles, commander of the Third Corp, tried to bring General Meade up on charges. The charges were related to General Meade’s plan for the Pipe Creek Defense Line during the opening phases of what would become the Battle of Gettysburg. After a short hearing on the charges, General Daniel Sickles was removed from field command. General Sickles however remained in the military until after the Civil War.

General Daniel Sickles was born in 1819 in New York. As grown man, Daniel Sickles went into the law practice. Three times he was indicted for legal improprieties. He was known to be as womanizer, and married a young beautiful girl who was 15 years younger than him. In 1857 Daniel Sickles was elected to Congress. In those days when you went into politics you spent a lot of time away from home. It was acceptable for a man to have affairs with other women, but it was un-lady like for a married woman to have an affair with a man. Daniel Sickles had asked his friend Philip Barton Key, the son of Francis Scott Key (who is a relative of mine), to escort his wife to the balls and dinners that were always held in Washington, D.C. Philip Key was caught having an affair with Daniel Sickles’s wife and in an act of rage Daniel Sickles shot and killed Philip. He stood trial and became the first American to be acquitted on a murder charge pleading temporary insanity. Daniel Sickles moved back to New York until the out break of the Civil War.

During the Gettysburg Campaign, General Hooker choose to be relieved of command and General Meade was appointed the new commander of the Army of the Potomac. General Meade and General Sickles could never mask their ill feeling for each other. During the Chancellorsville battle, which was held in the spring of 1863, General Hooker gave the order to Daniel Sickles to surrender the high ground. The Confederate Army subsequently took possession and began to shell the federal lines. General Sickles vowed never take an order like that again. That was a promise which, General Sickles kept even in Emmitsburg. On June 30th General Meade had made his headquarters near Taneytown, located about seven miles east of Emmitsburg on Route 194. While General Sickles' made his headquarters at Bridgeport which was part of a series of entrenchments made by the Federal army known as the Pipe Creek Defense Line. Bridgeport is situated five miles east of Emmitsburg on the Frederick and Carroll County border.

The Pipe Creek Defense Line ran from Middleburg, Maryland to Union Mills, Maryland. The Pipe Creek Defense Line included the major roads that led to Baltimore and Washington. D.C. Routes 30, 97, 140, and Bull Frog Road were the major arteries to Baltimore. The reserves that were held in Middletown and Frederick were protecting the road to Washington, D.C. The Western Wing under the command of General Reynolds was ordered to advance to Emmitsburg in on June 29th, to engage the Confederate Army head on rather than hitting them from the rear in the Cumberland Valley.

The intentions of the Confederates were uncertain. General Meade did not want to take a chance to prevent Washington or Baltimore from being targeted. Meade created the Pipe Creek Defense Line and deployed it on July 1st. General Sickles criticized General Meade for this defensive line for the reason that it predicted a Union defeat. (However at that time, General Meade did not know that the whole western wing of his army was already being deployed at Gettysburg.) If this was true, then Gettysburg would have never happened.

Some people surmise that the battle of Gettysburg should have happened near Taneytown, Maryland because of the Pipe Creek Defense Line. Some guess that General Meade took the wrong road and met the Confederates by accident. However if this was the case, General Buford would have never engaged the Confederate at Gettysburg. To prove this point, if the Pipe Creek Defense Line was created in case of a Union defeat then why was the order given to General Reynolds to advance to Emmitsburg. This order supports the idea there would be a major battle preparing to be fought in Emmitsburg and not Taneytown.

The Confederate Army was outside of Gettysburg from the directions of Cashtown, Carlisle, and York. A.P. Hill’s Corp came down Chambersburg Pike toward Gettysburg. Generals Early and Ewell moved down from the north and east on the York and Harrisburg Turnpikes. If General Buford had never engaged the Confederate at Gettysburg, the main parts of the Confederate Army would have moved toward Emmitsburg. Since General Reynolds received a message from General Buford that the Confederates were spotted in the direction of Fairfield, General Reynolds had the First Corp move north of Emmitsburg to Marsh Creek leaving behind the Eleventh Corp and a reserve of artillery at Emmitsburg. This was the protection of the town of Emmitsburg.

On the evening of June 30th through the morning hours of July 1st, The Third Corp under General Daniel Sickles was at Bridgeport, Maryland just east of Emmitsburg. It is here that the controversy begins with General Meade and General Sickles while the Third Corps was encamped at Bridgeport, Maryland. General Sickles was ordered by General Reynolds (his wing commander) to advance onto Cat Tail Branch facing Gettysburg, however due to General Meade's orders a series of events would follow when General Sickles disobeys orders directed to him while he was at Emmitsburg on July 2nd. The following Union correspondences state the specific orders given to General Sickles from General Meade and General Reynolds.

HEADQUARTERS LEFT WING, At Moritz Tavern, June 30, 1863.

Major-General Sickles, Commanding Third Corps:

General: Major-General Reynolds directs me to say he wishes you to camp upon Cat Tail Branch with your command, and for you to also send a staff officer to these headquarters.

I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Edward C. Baird, Captain, and Assistant Adjutant-General

[P. S.]-General Reynolds wishes, when you take up your position upon Cat Tail Branch, to face toward Gettysburg, and cover the roads leading from Gettysburg.

HEADQUARTERS THIRD CORPS, Bridgeport, on the Monocacy, June 30, 1863-7. 45 p. m.

Captain E. C. Baird, Aide-de-Camp, Headquarters Left Wing:

Captain: By direction of the general commanding, I have gone into camp here, countermanding a previous order to go to Emmitsburg, and I am to await here further orders from headquarters Army of the Potomac. When these orders were received, I sent Captain Crocker, of my staff, to communicate them to Major-General Reynolds, and to inform him of my position. My First Division and two batteries are farther toward Emmitsburg (across Middle Creek).

D. E. Sickles, Major General

HEADQUARTERS THIRD ARMY CORPS, Bridgeport, on the Monocacy, June 30, 1863.

Brigadier General S. Williams, Assistant Adjutant-General, Army of the Potomac:

General: Enclosed please find communication from Major-General Reynolds. It is in accordance with my written orders, received from headquarters Army of the Potomac at 1 p. m., but in conflict with the verbal order given me by the general commanding while on the march. Shall I move forward? My First Division is about a mile this side of Emmitsburg.

I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

D. E. Sickles, Major General, Commanding

Headquarters Army of the Potomac, June 30, 1863

Commanding Officer Third Corps (General Sickles):

Major-General Reynolds reports that the enemy has appeared at Fairfield, on the road between Chambersburg and Emmitsburg. I am, therefore, instructed by the commanding general to say that it is of the utmost importance that you should move with your infantry and artillery to Emmitsburg with all possible dispatch.

Very respectfully, S. Williams, Assistant Adjutant-General"

Upon reaching Emmitsburg on July 1st, General Sickles received an order to hold Emmitsburg in case of a Confederate break through at Gettysburg. Subsequently another order came for the Third Corp to move forward to Gettysburg. Once the Third Corp began to break camp, yet another order was issued to disregard the order, to march to Gettysburg, hold Emmitsburg at all cost.

General Meade must have felt that if a Confederate breakthrough occurred, the Confederate army would try to out flank the Union army, by way of Emmitsburg. General Sickles pressed forward to Gettysburg, completely disregarding the order of holding Emmitsburg. This was also General Sickles’ testimony when he tried to bring General Meade up on charges. General Sickles felt that the order of holding Emmitsburg, was preparing the Army of the Potomac to retreat back toward Emmitsburg.

General Sickles arrived at Gettysburg and took action in the Wheat Field. Here, another order given by General Meade was disobeyed. General Sickles was ordered to retreat back toward his original position giving up the ground gained by the Federals. General Sickles disregard for that order resulted in him being carried off the field, his leg shattered by a Confederate bullet. He was carried off the field smoking his cigar. His Third Corp holding of its position may have been significant in the Union victory at Gettysburg.

On July 7th, after the battle of Gettysburg, General Meade rode through Emmitsburg and briefly stopped to visit the town. The residents hailed him, thanking him for all that he had done to protect the town from the main Confederate Army. Since General Meade drew up the Pipe Creek Defense Line the Confederate Army really never had a chance of attacking Washington, D.C., considering that the Western Wing of the Army of the Potomac heavily protected Emmitsburg.

General Meade rode out of town heading down Old Frederick Road. The commander crossed Loyds Station-Covered Bridge and made his headquarters in the small community of Creagerstown. This cleared Emmitsburg of the hell and gore of the American Civil War to begin the healing and rebuilding.

General Sickles could have been court marshaled for disobeying orders given by a superior officer. Instead he was responsible for saving the Union on July 2nd at Gettysburg. General Sickles was awarded a medal of honor three decades after his actions at Gettysburg. The famous leg that was amputated at Gettysburg is still preserved today in Washington, D.C. Daniel Sickles returned to Washington to visit his leg whenever the opportunity existed. After the Civil War, he went to Gettysburg annually to pay his respects for all those who died there. Daniel Sickles is noted responsible for the preservation of those fields in Gettysburg, spending his own money to see it become a memorial. People in Emmitsburg today are reminded of his dedication to Civil War memorials and preservation work by the signs placed next to the U.S. Post Office.

The Effects of the Maryland Campaign on the Home Front

2011-10-06T14:43:00.002-04:00

While the people of the South rejoiced over the Confederate victory at Second Manassas in late August of 1862, the people in the North saw their morale sink even further as fear sat in. The Confederate army followed up on their victory with an attempt to cut off General John Pope’s Army of Virginia at Chantilly, Virginia, and prevent his retreat to the fortifications of Washington. By September 2nd, the Confederate cavalry attacked Union cavalry at Leesburg, opening a clear route to the Potomac River. By September 3rd, the main body of the Confederate army was encamped near Leesburg. With permission from the Confederate government, Lee was now ready to march his army across the Potomac River into Maryland.

Up until now, the Army of Northern Virginia fought their battles in Virginia, taking a toll of the civilian population in the South. No major battles or campaigns had been waged north of the Potomac River and because of that, the northern people had no idea of the devastation caused by the armies. By taking the war northward into Maryland it would provide Virginia farmers time to harvest their crops, and at the same time disrupt the daily lives of the northern population. If victory could be obtained, the Confederate government could get European recognition and additional manpower from Marylanders enlisting in the Confederate army. A victory on northern soil could turn the northern population against its leaders in Washington, demanding peace by putting an end to the war.

By September 4th, the Confederate army began fording the Potomac River. It was important for the Confederate army to be seen as liberators, and orders were issued to the Confederate soldiers respecting the people of Maryland. While the Confederate army was marching into Maryland, the alarm was sent out all along the countryside. Even in Pennsylvania, the civilian population began to panic. Many boat keepers along the C&O Canal fled with their animals to Frederick upon seeing the Confederate army fording the Potomac River.

As the fleeing civilians entered Frederick city, they told the people about the men of Lee’s army coming. Rumors spread all the way to Baltimore and Philadelphia about an invasion. In Philadelphia, a state of emergency was issued preparing people for the worst. Rumors have been rapidly here since June of 1862. But when farmers of the countryside ran into Frederick saying that a Confederate force would occupy the city in twenty-four hours, the rumors turned into a state of emergency. The people of Frederick that were Union loyalists began packing their belongings and fleeing the city, traveling north to Emmitsburg and Gettysburg. Several newspaper accounts stated that hundreds of fugitives were seen all along the Mason & Dixon Line. Other accounts stated that some ran in fear to Baltimore. Rumors of a Confederate invasion were old news to the people of Maryland.

By September 6th, Frederick city was occupied by Confederate cavalry, followed by infantry, and some artillery. Colonel Bradley Johnson was made Provost since he was a Frederick city resident before the war broke out. As the Confederate soldiers entered Fredrick, many pro-southern citizens watched in disbelief that this ragtag army of men were the same soldiers who achieved the recent victories in Virginia. Many descriptions were written about how dirty these Confederate soldiers were. While the pro-southern civilians stood in disbelief, the pro-Union civilians who could not escape were upset by the fact that there was no Union army to rid Frederick from the threat of the Confederate invaders.

Speeches were made to the civilians, many of which listened, but turned their backs on the Confederate plea. The soldiers were told to purchase items needed and not steal, but Confederate money was worthless in Maryland. As the Confederate soldiers ran door to door begging for food, many people kept their doors locked, including many of the pro-Southern people who upon seeing the dirty men, could not bear the smell and vermin that came with them.

The recruitment of men to serve in the Confederate army was less than one hundred and at that point. To Lee, it looked as though Frederick and Frederick County had already made its choice in favor of the Union. It wasn’t that Marylanders didn’t believe in the Confederate cause, the problem was that Maryland had already given up thousands of its sons and fathers, brothers and uncles to the Confederate cause. One example was the 500 men who left Maryland to fight in Charleston in December of 1860. Many Marylanders served in other areas of the Confederacy as well.

By September 9th, Lee issued Special Orders No. 191, moving his army into Washington County and sending more than half of his army to begin its part in besieging Harper’s Ferry. This was done to keep communication and supply routes open with no fear of Union soldiers attacking the rear of the Confederate army while it was in Washington County. The Confederate cavalry was busy. Many of them took to the mountain passes on the Catoctin Mountain, overlooking the country side toward Emmitsburg, Mechanicstown and Lewistown. Several Confederate cavalrymen were spotted as far east as Carroll County.

By the 12th of September, the rear of the Confederate army was moving through the streets of Frederick when the advance units of the Army of the Potomac were marching into the city. Clashes in the streets occurred. The next day, McClellan was hailed by the Frederick residents and was seen as the liberator. General George McClellan received a copy of General Robert E. Lee’s orders. But McClellan had to find out how accurate they were. McClellan ordered General Alfred Pleasanton to send out cavalry patrols. Many of those Union cavalry companies were spread across the country side. Upon their arrival in Emmitsburg, many civilians thought that these Union men were Confederate soldiers.

As the Confederate army marched into Washington County, many pro-Union civilians were afraid they would be turned into the Provost by their pro-southern neighbors because of their political views. Fear of being sent to a Confederate prison or being conscripted into the Confederate army as laborers, drove many of the pro-Union men to leave their families and flee to Pennsylvania taking valuables, livestock, and horses with them.

As a small portion of the Confederate army occupied South Mountain at Turner’s Gap and Fox’s Gap, the Wise family would have to leave their farmstead to avoid getting caught in the crossfire of the two opposing sides. They loaded up a wagon and headed west to a local church to take refuge there. As they left, an artillery shell came bursting through the woods, and General Daniel Harvey Hill, seeing one of the Wise children frightened and crying thought about his own child of the same age. He said a few soothing words to the young Wise girl and went back to work.

Allen Sparrow had taken many of his valuables to Pennsylvania. Upon arriving in Wolfesville, he heard the sounds of cannon firing. These sounds were from the Battle of South Mountain. At Wolfesville, receiving accurate news was hard to come by. He had heard that Middletown was torched by the Confederates but seeing the church steeples in the background in Middletown, he knew it wasn’t true.

The Battles on South Mountain were heard far and distant. Near Emmitsburg, Maryland, Right Reverend Monsignor James T. Dunn of Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary recorded "The battle of South Mountain, which lasted all day Sunday, the 14th of September, 1862, could be plainly heard at the College. As we were going up to Mass to the old church on the hill and as we were returning from Mass, we could hear the firing distinctly. Yet, recreation went on on the terraces and the ordinary routine of college life was followed, as if nothing unusual was happening. After vespers, which were held in the church on the hill, at 3 p. m., a few of us, under the care of Mr. John Crimmens, went down the Frederick pike, along the mountain side, to a place where a stream crossed the road well on towards Mechanicstown, and stood listening with awe to the sharp, ringing volleys of musketry and then the quick, sullen booming of the cannon, as they came along the reverberating sides of the mountain. The falling shades compelled us to tear ourselves away, as the rules required us all to be at home in time for supper. Again and again we stopped, as one report louder than another followed us, as if begging us to stay.”

The civilians in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania also heard the gunfire during church services. The sounds of artillery fire echoed up the Cumberland Valley and the citizens of Waynesboro knew that they must prepare to assist in any way they could. The women of the town hurried that evening to get supplies and comforts together for the wounded. During the night one woman screamed upon finding out that her son had been killed at South Mountain. This was only the beginning of what was to come.

The morale of the northern people was at its lowest point and the Maryland Campaign would change that, in that the Battle of South Mountain would be the turning point. As September 14th, dawned the citizens of Maryland had not seen the death and destruction that war brings with it. The battles on South Mountain would be the forefront of what the Maryland population had never experienced before with the sounds of gunfire, the loss of life, and the care for the wounded. The battles of South Mountain would be a political turning point of the American Civil War, although today, Antietam has that distinction. It could be argued that South Mountain was one of the most important battles to be fought, after all if it wasn’t for South Mountain, then Antietam wouldn’t have been fought and the Emancipation Proclamation would have been delayed.

The armies would meet on the farm fields surrounding Sharpsburg during the evening of September 16th. The bloodiest single day of the Civil War would start at daybreak on the 17th. Many civilians prepared for this by hiding personal belongings and even fleeing their homes. One farmer hid eight horses in his cellar by tying feed sacks to their hooves to muffle their sounds. Upon a knock on a door by a soldier, one man hid under his wife’s crinolines to avoid detection.

Right Reverend Monsignor James T. Dunn wrote in reference to the Battle of Antietam: "The battle of Antietam followed immediately after South Mountain. During two days, the 16th and 17th of September, the battle raged, and more men were killed than in any previous battle of the war. The New York papers of the time even asserted that it was as great as the battle of Waterloo. As studies and classes and recreation succeeded one another, during those fearful days, little attention was paid, if even the students were conscious of it, to the battle.”

In Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, the town’s people wrote about the earth shaking throughout the day, as the percussion from artillery made it seem as if an earthquake had hit. Windows rattled, floors shook, and objects fell off the walls inside of homes. The carnage revealed the next day would be devastating and would not be experienced again until ten months later when the Confederate army invaded Maryland and Pennsylvania, meeting at Gettysburg.

After the Battle of Antietam, every community in the north and south were affected in someway or another by the amount of bloodshed that occurred at Antietam. Whole regiments were almost wiped away from the earth. Here, in Maryland as well as in portions of Pennsylvania, communities were turned into hospitals, caring for the wounded and dying. Women were turned into nurses, assisting in saving the lives of others. One organization that helped was the Sisters of Charity in Emmitsburg, Maryland, as they were called upon by Washington.

Elizabeth Ann Seton, was the founder and first Superior of the Sisters of Charity in the United States. Just after the Battle of Antietam, the Maryland state authorities petitioned the Sisters at Emmitsburg for help. The bodies of the blue and gray were scattered along the ground until many of them were moved into hospitals. For several days the Sisters went from site to site helping with the care of the wounded men. The soldiers were surprised to see the Sisters and bestowed upon them the nickname of the “Black caps.”

After the Battle of Antietam, the Confederate army forded the Potomac at Shepherdstown. There again the armies would meet. The civilians of Shepherdstown would be caught in the crossfire of war. Rumors spread throughout the town, but with so much confusion, people there didn’t know if these rumors were true. All communications leading to the town had been cut, due to the war being waged in the Shenandoah Valley before Manassas. The railroads lay in waste. By September 13th, the citizens of Shepherdstown awoke to see that their town was occupied by stragglers of the Confederate army.

By September 15th, thick fog covered the town and the people there had no idea of what was to come. Casualties from the Battle of South Mountain began to pour in. Everyone in town prepared for the massive hoard of Confederate wounded. By the 17th, the sounds of war were close, and the surge of wounded soldiers completely overwhelmed the town. The citizens were so fatigued with the care they provided to the Confederate soldiers. By September 19th, the war had approached them as the Confederate army began entering the town followed by the reserves of the Union army. Artillery fire aimed at the Confederates and their counter fire placed Shepherdstown right in the middle.

As a result of the Maryland Campaign, the war was brought to the civilian population in the North. The sites of the carnage, and the moans of the wounded and dying were now imprinted into the memories of those who experienced it. The sites of war took months and years to erase. Even in 1864, several Confederate soldiers with General Early’s army still saw damages suffered from the Battle of Antietam that took place almost two years earlier.

Although the war moved back into Virginia, the Union army still laid in wait. By October, General JEB Stuart and his Confederate cavalry launched a raid that now took the war north of the Mason & Dixon Line to Chambersburg. From there he would enter back into Maryland at Emmitsburg, where he was hailed and received additional recruitments. These recruits were the men who were previously afraid to leave their homes to enlist, for fear of pro-Unionists punishing them. Now they had protection.

Because of the Maryland Campaign, many things changed, although the fear was still there. Politically, the people of the north saw the war take on a new agenda. This was not only a war to preserve the Union, but it became a war with a political agenda that included the freeing of slaves. The war would enter Maryland several more times and by 1864, Maryland citizens saw a path of destruction and the ransoming of its towns, including a threat to Washington, itself.

The Importance of Crampton's Gap: Relieve the Garrison of Harper’s Ferry and Split Lee’s Army

2011-09-28T13:30:00.002-04:00

On September 13th, at Frederick, Maryland, General George McClellan received some valuable intelligence. This was a copy of General Robert E. Lee’s Special Orders No. 191 written on September 9th, 1862. In it was written orders disclosing the location(s) of Lee’s Confederate army that was divided into several sections. If McClellan could attack these sections before Lee had time to concentrate his army, McClellan might be able to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia in Maryland. While in communications with Washington, McClellan had to verify the authenticity of Lee’s orders, after all four days had gone by since Lee issued them, and many things could have changed.

McClellan heard reports from the civilians of the area stating that a large Confederate force was spotted in and near Hagerstown, as well as Pleasant Valley. A major factor that contributed to McClellan’s hesitation was the fact that as of the 13th, the garrison at Harper’s Ferry still had not surrendered. This could only mean that those portions of Special Orders 191 were not carried out. Despite many rumors circulating as to the whereabouts of the Confederate army, McClellan must learn their true position in order to prepare his Army of the Potomac for an assault.

McClellan sent a copy of the lost Confederate orders to General Alfred Pleasonton, to see if the orders were still being followed by the Confederates. Although Pleasonton had made his way to the foot of South Mountain, as dusk fell upon the Middletown Valley, he was still uncertain if the orders were being followed. Pleasonton did report hearing the sound of gunfire in the direction of Harper’s Ferry. Based on the information from Pleasonton, information from locals, and information coming from Sugarloaf Mountain from the signal corps, McClellan made a decision to advance his Union army.

During the evening, McClellan sent orders to his Corps commanders. General Burnside was ordered to take his wing and seize Turner’s Gap on September 14th. General Reno, who was part of Burnside’s wing, was to take his Ninth Corps and march to Middletown. General Joseph Hooker’s First Corps, still sitting on the banks of the Monocacy River, was to move in support and assist if necessary, in the capture of Turner’s Gap during the day of the 14th. General Edwin Sumner’s two corps was to move behind Hooker and bivouac in Middletown as reserves.

Further to the south, near Buckeystown in Frederick County, was the Sixth Corps led by General William Franklin. McClellan wrote in Franklin’s orders: “I have reliable information that the mountain pass by this road is practicable for artillery and wagons. If this pass is not occupied by the enemy in force, seize it as soon as practicable, and debouch upon Rohrersville, in order to cut off the retreat of or destroy McLaws' command. If you find this pass held by the enemy in large force, make all your dispositions for the attack, and commence it about half an hour after you hear severe firing at the pass on the Hagerstown pike, where the main body will attack. Having gained the pass, your duty will be first to cut off, destroy, or capture McLaws' command and relieve Colonel Miles. If you effect this, you will order him to join you at once with all his disposable troops, first destroying the bridges over the Potomac, if not already done, and leaving a sufficient garrison to prevent the enemy from passing the ford, you will then return by Rohrersville on the direct road to Boonsborough if the main column has not succeeded in its attack. If it has succeeded, take the road by Rohrersville to Sharpsburg and Williamsport, in order either to cut off the retreat of Hill and Longstreet toward the Potomac, or prevent the repassage of Jackson. My general idea is to cut the enemy in two and beat him in detail. I believe I have sufficiently explained my intentions. I ask of you, at this important moment, all your intellect and the utmost activity that a general can exercise.”

McClellan had an opportunity to destroy Lee’s army while it remained divided. He would call upon General William Franklin and his Sixth Corps to deliver the first major blow to the Confederate invasion. For McClellan, the key seemed to be on Turner’s Gap and Crampton’s Gap. McClellan wrote on October 15th, 1862: “The carrying of Crampton's Pass, some 5 or 6 miles below, was also important to furnish the means of reaching the flank of the enemy, and having, as a lateral movement, direct relations to the attack on the principal pass, while it at the same time presented the most direct practicable route for the relief of Harper's Ferry.”

As September 14th dawned, Franklin’s Corps moved out of Jefferson and arrived in Burkittsville around noon. General Franklin was to be the deciding factor in the beginning phases of splitting Lee’s army in half. Immediately after arriving at Burkittsville problems began for Franklin. He found that the passage of Crampton’s Gap was in possession of Confederate cavalry, infantry and artillery. At 2:00 pm McClellan received a dispatch from Franklin. McClellan wrote back to Franklin telling him to hold Burkittsville at any cost. McClellan also wrote that if he found the passage through South Mountain to be occupied by Confederate soldiers Franklin was to amuse them as reserves may be available to assist Franklin. As the Sixth Corps arrived on the outskirts of Burkittisville, Franklin ordered his men to bivouac and prepare rations. In the meantime Franklin was making his plan of attack and communicating with McClellan, whose headquarters were located near Middletown.

Late in the day, Franklin launched his assault upon Crampton’s Gap and, after a few hours of heavy fighting, he took possession of the Crampton’s Gap. Franklin’s Sixth Corps had smashed through Crampton’s Gap, but upon seeing a portion of McLaws’ and Anderson’s divisions deployed in Pleasant Valley, decided not to press on, fearing the surrender of Harper’s Ferry was imminent. Franklin was ordered to follow the Confederate force as rapidly as possible but night time quickly fell upon the battlefield and that plan was abandoned. Franklin was satisfied with his achievements and seeing a large force in Pleasant Valley, did not follow the retreating army. During the night, the cavalry escaped from Harper’s Ferry and made their way through enemy held territory, which meant that the garrison at Harper’s Ferry still in Union hands.

On the night of the Battle of South Mountain orders were given to the Union corps commanders “to press forward their pickets at early dawn”. General Franklin was ordered to move into Pleasant Valley and “occupy Rohrersville by a detachment, and endeavor to relieve Harper's Ferry.” At the same time, Generals Burnside and Porter, upon reaching the road from Boonsboro to Rohrersville, were instructed “to reinforce Franklin or to move on Sharpsburg, according to circumstances.”

The next day, Smith’s Division of Franklin’s Corps moved down the valley toward Weverton. Arriving at Garrett’s Mill, and taking the road that led to Sandy Hook, Smith halted his division upon seeing numbers superior to his own and being so far from reinforcements, pulled back. However, the firing at Harper’s Ferry ceased, indicating that a surrender had taken place. Franklin was too late and McLaws’ and Anderson’s thinly stretched divisions were spared. The Battle for Pleasant Valley near Weverton or Sandy Hook was not to be.

The Battle of South Mountain had stalled McClellan’s army. The fighting that took place at Turner’s, Frostown and Fox’s Gaps brought Lee the time he needed in order to carry on with the Maryland Campaign and get his army concentrated Sharpsburg. The Battle of Crampton’s Gap although is part of the Battle of South Mountain is in deed a separate action that could have been disastrous for the Confederate army during the Siege of Harper’s Ferry. If Franklin could have followed up on his victory at Crampton’s Gap, he could have cut McLaws and Anderson off striking a major blow and winning a decisive victory. As a result of the battles at South Mountain and the surrender of Harper’s Ferry, General Lee ordered the concentration of his Confederate army at Sharpsburg. McClellan and Lee would meet on farmland surrounding Sharpsburg, where the Battle of Antietam would begin.

Emmitsburg and the Recoil of Gettysburg

2011-09-22T15:33:00.002-04:00

The recoil of the battle of Gettysburg was seen two weeks before the actual battle had started. On June 15, 1863 during the night, civilians in Gettysburg were looking southward and saw an orange glow in the sky. The glow was coming from the direction of Emmitsburg. Fearing the worst was coming their way, this was surely a sign of what was to come. Rumors then started in town that the Confederates are coming this way as they just torched Emmitsburg. The fire was started in the loft of the Beam and Guthrie Stable around eleven o' clock on a Monday night. However this was not started by the Confederates, but by a careless lantern that fell into the stable.

During the Pennyslvania Campaign of July 1863, soldiers on both sides came through the town of Emmitsburg. Several of the miller’s in the area became victims by both forces. The cavalry of each side, after three days of heavy fighting needed fresh horses, supplies, and food. Some homesteads and churches in town were used as hospitals, and hiding places for deserters. All of the families were victims, as troops barged in and demanded the things in which they needed.

In one such case before the battle of Gettysburg, Union officers halted at a stone house beside of a mill, where a captain said "Feed us, we are hungry." As the occupants of the house said "We don’t have any food." The captain replied "Yes you do, you have a smoke house out there and where you have a smoke house you have meat." The occupants of the house complied and hams were brought into the soldiers and the men ate their fill. There was a hired girl at the stone house who helped with the meal, in which the captain took a liking to and said "After the battle I am coming back to marry you." However, the captain was killed during the first day of the battle of Gettysburg.

In another case Eli Hornor owned and lived on a farm east of Emmitsburg along Tom’s Creek where soldiers of the Eleventh Corp encamped. The day before the battle of Gettysburg, the family had baked bread all day long. The soldiers brought their containers of hardtack into the house and dumped them on the table and proceeded to fill them with the fresh baked bread. This was the position for most of the families that lived in the vicinity of Emmitsburg, as soldiers passed through the town and shared their homes.

A soldier and later historian of the Twelfth Massachusetts Volunteers recorded a story about a young boy from Emmitsburg, Maryland. Later in life he wrote:

“An instance of the bravery of an 15 year old Emmetsburg lad named J. W. (C.F.) Wheatley, as Baxter’s brigade was marching through Emmetsburg it was followed by the village boys, one of whom continued to the camp at Marsh Creek, where he offered to enlist. His offer, however, was ridiculed, and he was sent away. On the morning of the 1st of July he reappeared, and so earnestly entreated the colonel of the Twelfth Massachusetts to be allowed to join his regiment, that a captain of one of the companies (Company A) was instructed to take him on trial for a day or two. When the regiment halted near the seminary, the boy was hastily dressed in a suit of blue."

"Afterwards, during the action, he fought bravely until a bullet striking his musket split it in two pieces, one of which lodged in his left hand and the other in his left thigh. The boy was taken to the brick church in the town to be cared for, but nothing was afterwards seen or heard of him until July 4th. I saw him for the last time bitterly crying for his mother and sundry of other relatives. He was never muster into the service, therefore fought as a civilian."
Emmitsburg was being devitalized of its own surplus as both forces came into Emmitsburg in July of 1863. Emmitsburg had lost a great deal of supplies due to the fire that had occurred on June 15th of 1863. When the armies came through town, they were confiscating what little Emmitsburg had left. The roads were being torn apart by wagons, horse drawn artillery, and soldiers who marched through the town during a rain storm. Roads around and in town were flooded with troops pursuing the rebels as they marched home to Virginia.

Lieutenant Colonel A. Dobke, Commanding the Forty-fifth Regiment New York Volunteers recalls the road conditions and also the troops morel during the pursuit of the Confederate Army. He wrote:

“After the battle (Gettysburg), the regiment remained on the battlefield on Cemetery Hill until 6 p. m. July 5, when it marched off toward Emmitsburg. At midnight the march was stopped, owing to the complete darkness and the horrible condition of the roads, which were nearly impassable from the heavy rain of the last two days. At 4 p. m. on July 6, the regiment arrived at Emmitsburg."

"On July 7, the heaviest march of the campaign was executed, marching 32 miles from Emmitsburg, and arrived at 10 p. m. at Middletown, a distance of 34 miles, through the open fields, taking a narrow pass road over the mountains in a circuit. Toward night the rein descended in torrents, amid which men and beasts sank down, tired to death, most of the soldiers without any shoes, barefooted, or shoes so ragged or torn that they did not deserve the name.”

The Confederates that came into Emmitsburg had no way of paying for the personal supplies that they received from the town due to the fact that Confederate money did not hold the value of green backs, and Confederate money was no good in this northern region. This meant that Emmitsburg couldn’t make a profit no matter how hard the town had tried. As the Army of Northern Virginia retreated some of its companies came through Emmitsburg.

On Sunday, July 4th, Confederate cavalry under the command of General Albert Jenkins Brigade came into Emmitsburg. Jenkins's Brigade was patrolling around the wagon train that was in Fairfield at the time when he came into Emmitsburg. While watering their horses, residents who were curious of the out come of the battle of Gettysburg asked the troopers who won, their reply was that the Confederates had won. The Confederate riders also became paranoid by some of this hamlet’s residents.

On one occasion some rebels detected two gentlemen watching every move they had made, when suddenly the rebels raised their pistols. These rebels thought that the gentlemen were Union spies or were part of the signal corp. Once the two gentlemen explained that they were villagers of the town and were curious as to what all the bedlam was about, the rebels placed their guns back into their holsters.

Farms in the area were also being raided for their horses. On one occasion, Confederate soldiers halted by a local mill and were in the process of taking the mill horses when the miller became aware of what was happening and ran outside and yelled "You can’t take my horses, I need them for my work." The soldiers told the miller that they needed them badly to get back home, and if they could use them to get to Hagerstown and across the Potomac the miller could have them back. So the miller went with the troopers and brought the horses back to his mill several days later. Soon the rebel cavalry left Emmitsburg to rejoin General Jones up at Jack’s Mountain.

On that same day General Kilpatrick’s men came riding into Emmitsburg at a full charge, hoping to find the parts of the Confederate cavalry in town. They were soon disappointed, for there were no rebels to be found. When General Kilpatrick arrived in town the Union cavalry proceeded to rest for a bit and get something to eat. The town had given away all the tobacco and most of the bread. Most of the medical supplies that the town had were being used to treat men who were wounded. Once General Kilpatrick learned of the movement of the Confederate cavalry only five miles away at Monterey Pass, the Union cavalry left Emmitsburg late in the afternoon and began to pursue the Confederate wagon train.

On July 5th, General Stuart came through the town of Emmitsburg during the dawn hours, where he heard that a large Union cavalry under the command of General Kilpatrick had just left the town only hours before his arrival. The Union cavalry was headed toward the rebel wagon train on Jack’s Mountain. General Stuart also learned that the route he wanted to take to get back to General Lee was in the same direction that the battle of Monterey Pass had occurred when General Kilpatrick left Emmitsburg.

After coming into the western side of Emmitsburg, General Stuart engaged in a small skirmish near the Farmer’s Inn taking seventy Union soldiers as prisoners. General Stuart also captured large quantities of medical supplies that the rebels needed from the convents in Emmitsburg. Once General Stuart got their required supplies needed, they left traveling down Old Frederick Road toward Mechanicstown.

Once in Graceham, Stuart learned that General Merrit’s U.S. cavalry occupied Harman’s Pass and Stuart order his cvalry northward to Franklinville. The Confederate cavalry left Franklinville, and cut through the Catoctin and South Mountain range.

After the battle of Smithsburg on July 5th, The Confederate cavalry had cleared the way for the main army, thus beginning their journey home to Virginia. General Stuart wrote in his report of the retreat from Gettysburg as follows:

“Previous to these instructions, I had, at the instance of the commanding general, instructed Brigadier-General Robertson, whose two brigades (his own and Jones) were now on the right, near Fairfield, Pa., that it was essentially necessary for him to hold the Jack Mountain passes. These included two prominent roads - the one north and the other south of Jack Mountain, which is a sort of peak in the Blue Ridge chain. In the order of march (retrograde), one corps (Hill's) preceded everything through the mountain; the baggage and prisoners of war escorted by another corps. Longstreet's occupied the center, and the third (Ewell's) brought up the rear. The cavalry was disposed of as follows: Two brigades on the Cashtown road, under General Fitz. Lee, and the remainder (Jenkins' and Chambliss'), under my immediate command, was directed to proceed by way of Emmitsburg, Md., so as to guard the other flank. I dispatched Captain [W. W.] Blackford, Corps of Engineers, to General Robertson, to inform him of my movement, and direct his co-operation, as Emmitsburg was in his immediate front, and was probably occupied by the enemy's cavalry."

It was dark before I had passed the extreme right of our line, and, having to pass through very dense woods, taking by-roads, it soon became so dark that it was impossible to proceed. We were in danger of losing the command as well as the road. It was raining, also. We halted for several hours, when, having received a good guide, and it becoming daylight, the march was resumed, and just at dawn we entered Emmitsburg. We there learned that a large body of the enemy's cavalry (the citizens of Emmitsburg said 15,000, which I knew, of course, was exaggerated) had passed through that point the afternoon previous, going toward Monterey, one of the passes designated in my instructions to Brigadier-General Robertson. I halted for a short time to procure some rations, and, examining my map, I saw that this force could either attempt to force one of those gaps, or, foiled in that (as I supposed they would be), it would either turn to the right and bear off toward Fairfield, where it would meet with like repulse from Hill's or Longstreet's corps, or, turning to the left before reaching Monterey, would strike across by Eyler's Gap, toward Hagerstown, and thus seriously threaten that portion of our trains which, under Imboden, would be passing down the Greencastle pike the next day, and interpose itself between the main body and its baggage.”

Colonel Hecker whose regiment of cavalry was stationed in Emmitsburg before and after the battle of Gettysburg. He tells of his movements and the actions of Fairfield and the retreat of General Lee's Army in which his regiment was in pursuit of. His report also tells a little about the road condition near Emmitsburg. He writes in his official report of the Gettysburg Campaign:

"Headquarters Eighty Second Regiment Illinois Volunteers, August 21, 1863.

SIR: In compliance with the circular from headquarters First Brigade, August 20, 1863, requiring regimental reports of the battle of Gettysburg, inclusive of the operations from Jun 28 until the arrival of the Army of the Potomac at camp near Warrenton Junction

At 6 a. m. on June 29, the regiment marched from Frederick to Emmitsburg, a distance of 22 miles, arriving at a field about 1 mile south of the latter place at 6. 30 p. m., where we encamped during the night. At 10 a. m. on June 30, the regiment was removed to within a few hundred yards of Emmitsburg. At 12 m. the same day, the regiment received an order to detail 100 men to proceed immediately to Fairfield, Pa., a distance of 7 miles, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the enemy had occupied the above-named place. The above detail, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Edward S. Salomon, reached Fairfield about 3 p. m. The citizens informed the colonel that, an hour previous to our reaching there, the enemy had occupied the above-named place, and evacuated the town, with a force of 2, 000 infantry. After resting a half hour, the detail returned to Emmitsburg, joining the regiment at 8 p. m., where we encamped during the night.

My report of the battle of Gettysburg, which was sent to headquarters in due time, forms the continuation of the course of events, and the following states all events from the day of the battle down to the arrival of the regiment near Warrenton Junction.

July 4. - We remained at Cemetery Hill, near Gettysburg. July 5. - At 5. 30 o'clock, we left the place of action to march to Emmitsburg, but on account of the horrible roads and darkness that prevailed, we encamped near a creek (name unknown) at the hour of 11. 30 p. m. July 6. - We started at 3. 30 a. m., and reached Emmitsburg p. m. July 7. - We started at 3. 30 a. m. to Middletown, via Creagerstown and Utica Post-Office, a distance of 30 miles, and arrived there in a rainstorm at about 10 p. m.

Very respectfully, your most obedient servant, F. Hecker, Colonel, Commanding Eighty-second Illinois Volunteers"

Another forgotten story of the battle of Gettysburg associates with Emmitsburg. Three photographers named, Alexander Gardner, Timothy O'Sullivan, and James Gibson were the first to the carnage of what was the aftermath of Gettysburg. Gardner himself stayed at the Farmers Inn and Motel at Emmitsburg before his voyage to Gettysburg on July 4-5th. As General Stuart came into Emmitsburg on the dawn hours of July 5th, a cameraman was captured and detained at the Farmers Inn. Which one of the three is not known however, they were released.

Evidence may suggest it could have been Gardner himself detained by the Confederate Cavalry. Gardner's fifth teen year old son Lawrence was attending a boarding school just outside of Emmitsburg. His father may have been assuring his sons safety while was held in captivity. After the Confederates left, the photographer was released and the three men headed to Gettysburg.

On July 7th, Gardner and his crew came back into Emmitsburg on their way to Washington. While in Emmitsburg, the photography crew produced seven negatives of different scenes in Emmitsburg. One is a picture of the Farmers Inn taken sometime in the afternoon on July 7th. There works on the Gettysburg battlefield and also those taken in Emmitsburg, would become some of the most famous photographs that future generations would marvel upon.

Emmitsburg was able to reassemble the homes and businesses that were destroyed by the Great Fire of 1863, however the shortages of livestock and produce made it even harder for the town folks to get through the winter. The military left Emmitsburg to account for itself from the severity of the Gettysburg Campaign. By spring the pastures were being cultivated with produce and the imprints that were left by the armies were utilized and leveled. As for the towns people their lives would manage to get back to normal by harvest time. Those recollections left of the carnage of battle, would still hold its terror in the hearts of those who experienced the reality of the struggle of Emmitsburg during the Pennsylvania Campaign.

Chesapeake Bay Duck Gun

2011-09-21T15:04:00.008-04:00

Although this has nothing to do with Civil War history, this does pertain to the organization I work for and the importance of conservation. Upon arriving at the Hessian Barracks for an event I did, I stumbled upon a neat artifact in the Bjorlee Museum which is located on the grounds of the Frederick Campus of the Maryland School of the Deaf. It is a bootleg (illegal) muzzle loader used by duck hunters along the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay gun was a weapon used by duck hunters and was thrown overboard from a boat to avoid capture by game wardens in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.

This firearm measures ninety-three inches long, almost eight feet! The wooden stock at the base measures about six and a half inches by three and a half inches. The barrel itself is five-feet long and seven inches in diameter with a two inch bore. Illegal duck hunters would mount this gun to the skiffs on a boat and hunt in the waters where water fowl would nest for the night. By dawn the hunters would pick up their spoils by combing the beach after the carcass came ashore or wading in the waters. This gun was designed to fire gravel or pebbles found along the bay and that would be loaded through the muzzle. This gun nearly wiped out entire poulations of duck.

Apparently, the gun was hanging on the wall while Mr. Hayward entertained many of his friends, one of which was a game warden. The game warden listened to the story and later told Mr. Hayward that was illegal to possess such a weapon. In order to keep the gun, Mr. Hayward complied with local laws, filing a groove under the barrel that would be flattened if it was ever fired. Mr. Hayward became a board member of the School for the Deaf in 1923. The gun was donated by Thomas Hayward, and has been on the site of the School for the Deaf since 1932. Mr. Hayward died in 1937.

This is an interesting piece of history, and is just one of many artifacts that are housed in the Bjorlee Museum. Another neat Civil War artifact is an 1861 sewing machine, and a complete set of threads and a sheet showing how needles were made.

South Mountain State Battlefield and Anitetam National Battlefield Commemoration weekends

2011-09-19T15:03:00.002-04:00

Besides conducting several battlefield hikes on September 14th, 2011, I participated or hosted several living history programs for the 149th commemoration of the Maryland Campaign. The first was held on September 9th which was part of my Live and Learn Experience. Mark Dudrow and I did a small hands on living history dedicated to who the Civil War soldier was. I portrayed a member of the famous Iron Brigade and Mark did a cavalry officer. Although the pouring rain kept most of the people away, we did do the program which turned into an informative event.

On Saturday the 10th and Sunday the 11th, I hosted the Behind the Line of Battle at Washington Monument State Park. This educational living history focused on the importance of what goes on behind the main fighting lines of opposing sides. One of the main themes was communications and how the Washington Monument was used by Union troops on September 17th during the Battle of Antietam. We had authentic camps and several working stations for spectators from what women did during the occupation of the Confederate to recreating from the research shows how the Union camp was laid out.

On September 17th and 18th, we participated in the artillery demonstrations at Antietam National Battlefield which included an 8:30pm nighttime firing. Seeing the exhibits and meeting tons of people it was good to see so many individuals eager about learning more about the Maryland Campaign and the Battle of Antietam. These living history programs are vital to our park’s success and to those who came out to both parks, I just want to say thank you as we now turn our focus onto the 150th commemoration of the Maryland Campaign in 2012.

Thank you to Ranger Manny Gentile for operating my camera during the artillery demos at Antietam.

The 149th Commemoration of the Battle of South Mountain

2011-09-16T13:24:00.002-04:00

On September 14th the staff here at South Mountain State Battlefield and Friends of Monterey Pass Battlefield Chair Alicia Miller, all participated in the walking tours of South Mountain State Battlefield. There were two tours of the morning phase of the Battle of Fox’s Gap which I led the 10 am tour. It was a great turn out. We took visitors back to the area where the battle began. We toured the area where Future President Rutherford B Hayes was wounded leading the 23rd Ohio Infantry. We also toured Bondurant’s Battery position as well as the field where hand to hand combat such as the bayonet was used.

At 12pm, I led another tour, this time we followed in the footsteps of Confederate Thomas Drayton’s Brigade and we toured the afternoon to evening phase of the Battle of Fox’s Gap. I shared stories about the slaughter of the Georgian and South Carolinian soldiers which in their own words, was a horrible experience. Another tour was given at 3pm at Crampton’s Gap.

The 149th Commemoration of the Battle of South Mountain went well and the people really seemed to enjoy the programs that were given. As the Park Historian, I just want to say thank you to ALL who came out and participated in the tours.

Daniel Beltzhoover: A Mount Saint Mary's College Professor Serving in the Confederate Army

2011-09-09T15:00:00.001-04:00

Daniel Beltzhoover was born in 1826, in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In 1832, young Daniel Beltzhoover moved to Natchez, Mississippi. Daniel was a graduate of the 1847 class at West Point. He was a veteran in the United States Military serving during the wars in Florida and in Mexico. After the war with Mexico, he became a professor at Mount Saint Mary's Seminary near Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he taught mathematics. While teaching at the Mount, Daniel married Elizabeth Miles, who was the sister to Professor George Miles, who also taught at the Mount. Daniel Beltzhoover was a highly religious man and practiced the Roman Catholic faith.

Before the Civil War, he commanded a company of Zouave Mountain Cadets at Mount Saint Mary's, and drilled them thoroughly on Eardin's and Casey's tactics. During the winter of 1860, Daniel Beltzhoover gave a lecture on "Modern Fortifications." This was his last lecture before he entered the Confederate army. As the country became divided over the issues of the time period leading to the Civil War, Professor Beltzhoover and his students had a decision to make.

In March of 1861, before the first shots of the Civil War rang out in the Charleston Harbor at South Carolina, Daniel set out for the state of Louisiana, resigning from Mount Saint Mary's Seminary. Daniel Beltzhoover was appointed the rank of major on April 17th, and mustered into service on April 18th, with the 1st Louisiana Heavy Artillery Regiment. During this time period, Major Beltzhoover served as a staff officer to Major General David E. Twiggs.

On April 26, 1861, Major Beltzhoover, who was headquartered at New Orleans, sent a dispatch to 1st Lieutenant H. W. Fossler requesting him to report for duty at Fort Jackson to be mustered in and to receive his official commission from the Confederate States. This is the first official record stating Daniel's rank in the Confederate Army.

On July 25, 1861, Major Beltzhoover received a dispatch from the Assistant Adjutant-General R. Chilton at Richmond, Virginia stating: "When troops are organized under State laws and received into service as so organized, as, for instance, by battalions or regiments, all vacancies occurring are filled according to State laws; but where independent companies are tendered as such and so received by the President, all vacancies are filled by his appointment." This dispatch was sent to several other officers as well.

At New Orleans on July 1, 1861, Augustus C. Watson was a wealthy planter from the Tensas parish and equipped the battery with four 6-lb. Smoothbores and two 12-lb. Howitzers at a cost of $40,000-$60,000. The men serving in the battery were from Livingston, East Baton Rouge, and St. Helena parishes. According to the Story of the Mountain at least thirty Mountaineers (Mount Saint Mary's Students) also served in the ranks of Watson's Artillery. Shortly after Watson's Artillery was formed, many of the officers who served in the battery took demotions in rank. The battery's first Captain was Allen Bursly, a West Point Graduate. Sometime afterward, Augustus Watson, approached Major Beltzhoover to accept the position of the battery commander, which Major Beltzhoover accepted. In October, Beltzhoover took over as the commanding officer in Watson's Flying Battery.

Once the battery was equipped and enough manpower recruited, Watson's Artillery set out for camp in August of 1861. On August 13th, the members of Watson's Battery assembled at Lafayette Square to take a river steamboat to Watson's Plantation for drill. Their uniforms consisted of a steel gray woolen jacket with a nine button front, and crimson red facings and piping. The sleeves adopted a French cuff taped with yellow with eight small ball buttons. The trousers were made from steel gray material matching the jacket and featured a crimson red stripe down the outer seam of the trousers. Their head gear was a steel gray kepi with a crimson red band, red cord, crossed cannons, and brass letters "WB" for Watson's Battery to honor their founder Augustus Watson. Their uniform also included a black leather belt with the two-piece Louisiana buckle with the pelican insignia. As the war entered the fall and winter of 1861-1862, the flashy uniform would have been replaced with a deep south patterned uniform made of jeans-cloth.

At Lake Bruin, near St. Joseph, the men drilled until they were fit for active service. Many complaints from the enlisted men said that Beltzhoover was too hard and rough during drill periods. Petitions were signed by many of the unit’s enlisted men wanting transfers to other artillery organizations. Some of the men resigned from Watson's Flying Battery to join the Louisiana Point Coupee Battery. With the situation unresolved, many men of Watson's Battery tore off the "W" from their kepis in protest of General Polk's lack of investigation into their claims.

The members of Watson's Battery reported to Memphis Tennessee in September of 1861, and were ordered to report for duty in early October at Columbus, Kentucky. On November 7th, the men of Watson's Artillery received their first baptism of fire at Belmont, Missouri. During the battle of Belmont, Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover supported Colonel John V. Wright's 13th Tennessee Regiment, who was on Beltzhoover's left. They also supported the 13th Arkansas Regiment under Colonel Tappan, with the regiments of Colonels Pickett, Freeman, and Russell on their right. Beltzhoover's guns were directed to take up position in a field about one hundred yards from the Mississippi River. Watson's Artillery kept the fire hot and Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover was noted by several regimental officers for his gallant conduct during the battle. The Federals made an attempt to turn the left wing of the Confederates but was defeated by the destructive fire of Beltzhoover's battery supported by Colonel Wright's Tennessee Regiment.

Colonel Beltzhoover was ordered to remove his battery to the rear when it ran out of ammunition. During the execution to fall back, one team of horses ran off with the limber, leaving the gun in its position where the battery was first stationed. Some reports claim that a Federal artillery shell had exploded near Watson's Battery. While the other pieces of Watson's Artillery were withdrawn to the bank of the river, the gun fell into Federal hands. Colonel Buford's 27th Illinois were the first to press into the Confederate line and succeeded in capturing the gun belonging to Watson's Battery. Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover asked for assistance in recovering the lost gun.

Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover's report the day after the Battle at Belmont: "About 8 a.m., November 7, you informed me at Camp Johnston, Missouri, that the enemy were advancing in force against us, and ordered me to put the Watson Battery in position. I immediately posted a section at the end of each of the three roads by which our camp could be approached, and when you came out with your regiment you gave me a company to support each section. We stood as thus placed until the arrival of Brigadier-General Pillow, who ordered your companies back to the regiment, and united my battery at the edge of the woods and the bend of the right-hand road from the usual landing of the enemy's gunboats. There we stood doing our best until the whole line retreated to the river. At the river I formed in battery again, although I had no ammunition, and so remained until carried down the bank by the force of retreating troops. My loss is 2 killed and 8 wounded and missing; 45 horses killed; 2 guns missing. I feel bound to mention, for your favorable notice, Lieutenant C. P. Ball, than whom a braver or more accomplished officer cannot be found, and Privates White and Frederick. I am afraid Lieutenant Ball is seriously wounded by being run over by a caisson." Signed: Lt. Colonel D. M. Beltzhoover.

On November 30th, Watson's Artillery had 5 officers and 94 men present for duty. In late December, Watson's Artillery reported at Bowling Green, Kentucky where they were assigned to Colonel John S. Bowen's Brigade. From there, they would travel to Corinth Mississippi in February of 1862.

On March 13, 1862, Lt. Colonel Daniel Beltzhoover received an appointment for a staff position as Chief of Artillery (Special Order #44) and it was requested that Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover enter his duties at once. However, Beltzhoover failed to assume the duties as Chief of Artillery and continued serving in Watson's Artillery as its Captain. Major Francis Shoup was temporary appointed as Chief of Artillery in mid-April, although the appointment was never officially filled.

On April 6th and 7th, 1862, during the battle of Shiloh, Watson's Battery had 114 men manning four rifled 6 pound cannon and two 12 pound howitzers. They were part of Bowen's Brigade with Colonel John D. Martin commanding the brigade since General Bowen was recovering from a wound. H. C. Carke a Vicksburg, Mississippi native wrote about Watson's Artillery during the Battle of Shiloh. "The artillery were all hurried forward to complete the work. Thirty-six of our best guns were now brought into position on a ridge at a distance of three-fourths of a mile from the enemy's main body. There was the Watson heavy battery, of Breckinridge's Division, among the first to take its place, under the fearless and skillful Beltzhoover, who had already performed several brilliant feats in aid of Cheatham's movement. In this battery the liberal and patriotic gentleman after, whom it was named, who had been instrumental in putting it into the field with his own means, worked at the guns as an artillerist. There, too, was the battery of the still unwearied Robinson, of Mobile, whose guns were the handiwork of one of our own foundries." Reports from the battle state Watson's Artillery sustained two casualties and Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover was not there to command his battery.

On April 13, 1862, Brigadier General Breckinridge announced his staff in the Army of the Mississippi where Lt. Colonel Daniel Beltzhoover was appointed to Chief of Artillery. Because of this order, Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover resigned from Watson's Artillery. From May to July, Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover served as an Acting Inspector-General at Camp Moore.

Returning to the 1st Louisiana Artillery in August 1862, Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover assumed his duties under the command of Colonel Charles A. Fuller. Colonel Fuller, just like Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover, held a staff position as Inspector-General for the Confederate Army. The 1st Louisiana Heavy Artillery Regiment was organized with men from the New Orleans area during the spring of 1861. It served at Forts Jackson and St. Phillip in New Orleans.

By December of 1862, Daniel Beltzhoover was stationed at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Life for the artillery men consisted of drilling in the tactics of Heavy Artillery, picket duty and guarding prisoners. Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover wrote to the Assistant Adjutant-General Major J. R. Waddy stating "Five hundred political prisoners. None landed and will not be landed until definite instructions are received regarding them."

During the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover was attached to Colonel Edward Higgins’ Water Batteries that served as a portion of the Vicksburg defenses. Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton wrote on January 31, 1863, describing the layout of the area where Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover and the rest of Colonel Higgins’ Brigade were stationed. The batteries were divided into individual commands .The upper batteries, or those immediately on the city front, were under the command of Major F. N. Ogden, Eighth Louisiana Artillery Battalion, to whose command was attached Captain S. C. Bain's company of Vaiden Light Artillery. The low batteries were under the command Lt. Colonel Daniel Beltzhoover of the First Louisiana Artillery with a portion of the Twenty-Third Louisiana Volunteers.

Beltzhoover’s command served on 26 cannon, mostly heavy guns, in the "Lower Batteries," of Vicksburg. His command included the famed "Whistling Dick" and the "Widow Blakely." The "Whistling Dick" was a model 1839 smoothbore cannon that fired an 18 pound projectile and was later rifled. The muzzle of which was damaged by a premature explosion. The tube was cut short which gave its projectiles a unique whistle when fired, thus, the nickname "Whistling Dick." The gun was credited with the sinking of the Union gunboat Cincinnati. "Whistling Dick" disappeared after the surrender of Vicksburg and remains unaccounted for today.

The "Widow Blakely" was a 7.44 inch Blakely rifle that was called the "Widow" as it was the only Blakely in the city's defenses. On May 22, 1863, The “Widow Blakely” exploded as a shell in the tube burst while it was firing at a Union gunboat. The explosion took a portion of the end of the muzzle off, leaving the remainder of the tube intact. The ragged ends were then cut and the rifle was used as a mortar during the rest of the siege. After the trimming of the muzzle the overall length of the gun was about 100 inches. Originally, the tube would have been about 124 inches long.

During the siege of Vicksburg, a bullet had struck a sword that was given to Beltzhoover by a wounded member of his artillery command. This sword had been used during the battle of Waterloo against the French. When Beltzhoover was riding his horse, giving commands, the bullet struck the sword and cracked it while the same bullet forced his horse to fall to the ground.

On July 4th, 1863, the 1st Louisiana Artillery surrendered and was paroled several months later at Camp Enterprise, Mississippi. While waiting for parole Beltzhoover was stationed at Camp Enterprise until his release in November. On November 20, 1863, Major General John H. Forney made his report of paroled and exchange of troops at Enterprise, Mississippi. The Confederate troops involved during the parole and exchange for the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana under General Joseph E. Johnston listed Beltzhoover in command of the Heavy Artillery Brigade. The brigade consisted of the following units: 1st Louisiana commanded by Lieutenant Colonel D. Beltzhoover, 8th Louisiana Battalion commanded by Captain Toby Hart, 22nd Louisiana commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Jones, Vaiden Mississippi Artillery commanded by Captain Samuel C. Bains, Watson Louisiana Battery which was unassigned, 1st Mississippi commanded by Colonel John M. Simonton, and the 1st Mississippi Light Artillery commanded by Captain James J. Cowan.

On August 29, 1863, Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover wrote in his after action report "I cannot give any idea of the ordnance stores lost, because I have none of the reports of returns. During the siege the commanders of garrisons had nothing to do with the ordnance stores further than to see that they were taken care of. Ammunition was sent to the batteries and removed from them without our knowledge. Colonel Higgins and all his staff are absent, and I get no better information than given above."

Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover also assessed the losses of heavy artillery from his brigade during the surrender of Vicksburg. The losses were: eight 10-inch Columbiads, one 9-inch navies, one 8-inch Columbiad, one 10-inch mortar, three 42-pounders, five 32-pound rifles, five 32-pound smooth-bores, two Brooks', one Blakely, and two 6-pound field guns. In all, twenty-nine guns were lost.

During the events leading up to the siege of Vicksburg, where Beltzhoover was stationed, Watson's Artillery, Beltzhoover’s old command was assigned to Moaxey's and Beall's Brigade, Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana. After serving in Mississippi, Watson's Artillery became part of the garrison at Port Hudson, Louisiana and surrendered on July 9, 1863. The soldiers of Watson's Artillery were paroled and exchanged, but many of its members joined the 1st Louisiana Regular Artillery Regiment under the command of Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover. Watson's Artillery had ceased to exist.

After being paroled, Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover took over his former brigade and reorganized it. Beltzhoover's Brigade included the 27th Louisiana, 1st Louisiana Heavy Artillery, 8th Louisiana Heavy Artillery Battalion, 1st Tennessee Heavy Artillery, Anderson's Artillery, Bains' Artillery company, Wade's Missouri Battery, and one company of Sapper’s and Miner’s.

On January 1st, 1864, Beltzhoover's command consisted of the 1st Louisiana Artillery, 8th Louisiana Battalion, 22nd Louisiana, 14th Mississippi Artillery Battalion, J. S. Smyth's cavalry battalion, Trans-Mississippi Battalion, Vaiden (Mississippi) Artillery, 1st Mississippi Light Artillery, and a Signal Corps Detachment.

On April 23, 1864, Major General Dabney H. Maury, who was stationed at Mobile Alabama, wrote to Major General Samuel Cooper for the consideration of the establishment of a military school for the education of young officers. General Maury suggested that Mobile was the best place in the southwest for the establishment of military schools, and at this time there are several officers on duty here, graduates of military colleges and men of good ability and attainments, who will gladly aid in organizing a good system of military education. He had requested that Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover, as well as a few other officers, teach the young officers and men in the enlisted ranks.

Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover accepted the teaching position and was transferred to Mobile, Alabama, commanding the School of Practice for Artillerists. The school was located on Government Street. William T. Mumford of the 1st Louisiana Heavy Artillery Company B was ordered to report to class on May 10th, 1864. His teacher was Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover. By May 30th, class was in session. On June 28th, Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover left Mobile at 5:00 a.m. and took his class to Forts Morgan, Gaines and Powell. At Fort Gaines, there were 13 Federal blockading vessels in full view. The class didn't return to Mobile until 7:00 p.m. that evening.

On July 5th, the class received orders to be ready to march out of Mobile. Five days of rations were to be cooked, and a hundred rounds of ammunition were issued to each man. They were to march to Meridian at 3:00 a.m. the next morning to assist in repelling a raiding party of Federal soldiers coming from Mississippi to the north.

Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover marched his battalion of artillerists into Mississippi. At Tupelo, Mississippi Beltzhoover's Battalion was used as infantry. According to William Mumford of the 1st Louisiana Heavy Artillery during the Battle of Tupelo several officers and men were left behind, among them was Colonel Daniel Beltzhoover.

After suffering an illness in mid-July, Beltzhoover recovered in private quarters and was listed as sick until sometime in September, when he was moved to a hospital in Mobile, Alabama. Daniel Beltzhoover retired from the Army and on May 26th, 1865, Daniel Beltzhoover was paroled at Mobile, Alabama.

After the Civil War, Daniel continued teaching in Mobile until a Yellow Fever epidemic took his life. Daniel died on October 31, 1870 of Yellow Fever. Some reports state he died of gastritis. His body was laid out in a state of rest on November 1st, at the Cathedral in Mobile. He left behind four daughters, Mary 16, Sarah 15, Rosa 12 and Jane 10 and one son, Henry 14. The Story of the Mountain (Mount Saint Mary’s College History) claims that Beltzhoover’s daughters became nuns.

Daniel was later reinterred near Mount Saint Mary's College. Upon his death from Yellow Fever his body could not be transported right away, since Yellow Fever was such a highly contagious epidemic. His wife Elizabeth Miles, and two of his daughters would join him, as they too are buried next to him on the Catoctin Mountain, near Mount Saint Mary’s University.

John G. Devereux, who served as Lt. Colonel Beltzhoover’s Lieutenant in the 1st Louisiana Artillery, visited Mount Saint Mary's College forty years later looking for the grave of his old teacher Daniel Beltzhoover, and for three of Beltzhoover's Louisiana comrades, whose beautiful epitaph was written by another of their teachers, George Henry Miles. It is said by his pupils, that Colonel Beltzhoover stood far above General Grant at West Point.

The Fight that Never Came; Weverton Pass during the Maryland Campaign

2011-08-30T08:52:00.006-04:00

Weverton is an area that is seldom known for Civil War history. The South Mountain Pass of Weverton is a forgotten mountain pass or water gap depending on how you classify it, played an important role during the Siege of Harper’s Ferry. Today, Weverton is accessible via the Appalachian Trail and Weverton Heights has a wonderful view of the water gap as the Potomac River flows away from Harper’s Ferry. There are no interpretive signs at Weverton, but there is one itinerary marker at Crampton’s Gap that describes the Confederate movements in the southern portion of Pleasant Valley, with a small mention of Weverton.

In the 1820’s, Weverton was founded by Casper Wever, who was the Chief Construction Engineer for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He was also a specialist of masonry arch bridges, a topic that I covered in a previous blog posting. With the Potomac River that could power a mill and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal running along side of the Potomac River, Weverton had huge possibilities for profit. However, the community of Weverton was never incorporated due to collapsing land sales and being so close to the Potomac River, it was subject to flooding.

On July 15th, 1861, the Herald of Freedom & Torch Light ran a piece by Alfred Spencer about the citizens of Weverton celebrating the raising of the "Stars and Stripes" during a Union Pole Raising ceremony. Members of the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment and the brass band of the 9th New York Infantry stationed at Sandy Hook came to Weverton and held a celebration to the Union. The small community and the Union soldiers celebrated the day with patriotic music and festivities. This would suggest that the community of Weverton was loyal to the Union. During the celebration, three cheers to the Union and the Constitution were given during the Start Spangle Banner.

During the American Civil War, Weverton was vital in the protection of Harper’s Ferry. The main road that led through Weverton would take you through Pleasant Valley or into Frederick, Maryland, and then on to Washington or Baltimore. After the Battle of Gettysburg, Weverton saw movements of the Army of the Potomac after July 15th as they prepared to cross into Virginia. During the summer and fall of 1864, Weverton was close to Camp Remount that was situated one mile south of Brownsville. However it was in September of 1862 during the Maryland Campaign, that Weverton saw the most action when it witnessed a portion of General Richard Anderson’s Division encamping in the area guarding the main route into Harper’s Ferry and preventing any escape from occurring with the besiege of the garrison.

On September 4th, 1862 the first wave of the Confederate Army had forded the Potomac River crossing into Maryland. Lee would continue to ford the Potomac River for the next three days. On September 7th, 1862, acting on a rumor that a large Confederate force was making its way toward Harper’s Ferry via Weverton, Colonel Dixon Miles and his staff was ordered to go to Sandy Hook and Weverton for reconnaissance. Colonel Miles was also ordered to dispatch the 8th New York Cavalry, with a small detachment of Cole’s Cavalry, to patrol the area. Upon returning they reported that they had a brush with the Confederate Army.

On September 10th, General McLaws, carrying out his orders as prescribed in Special Orders Number 191, was to take possession of Maryland Heights. As long as the garrison at Harper’s Ferry remained active, Lee’s invasion may be threatened and his supply line into the Shenandoah Valley might be cut off. General McLaws’ Division, along with General Richard Anderson’s Division proceeded toward Burkittsville. General Anderson’s Division would not act as one unit, but rather the brigades of his division would act more independently.

As September 11th, dawned the men found the day cloudy, and foggy with a light drizzle that fell upon them. After meeting with some friendly residents of Burkittsville, McLaws decided to march over South Mountain at Brownsville Pass and traveled to Pleasant Valley. Brownsville Pass is about one mile to the south of Crampton’s Gap. Pleasant Valley is about two or three miles wide between South Mountain and Elk Ridge, an extension of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Potomac River runs through the southern tip of Pleasant Valley and the Cumberland Valley lies to the north.

On September 12th, General Joseph Kershaw and his South Carolina Brigade along with General William Barksdale and his Mississippians were to march to Soloman’s Gap on Elk Ridge, and from there take the road that led directly to Maryland Heights. Colonel William Parham, commanding General Mahone’s Brigade, was ordered to guard the rear of Kershaw’s Brigade. General Howell Cobb’s Brigade was ordered march across Pleasant Valley and keep in communication with General Kershaw, and if needed, give assistance to General Lewis Armistead’s Brigade and Featherston's Brigade under the command of Colonel Carnot Posey. General Ambrose Wright’s Brigade and two pieces of artillery were ordered to take possession of a portion of Elk Ridge that overlooked Weverton, while General Roger Pryor’s Brigade took possession of Weverton. Colonel Alfred Cumming of Wilcox’s Brigade was to march down South Mountain and take possession of the cliffs overlooking Weverton. General Paul Semmes’ Brigade, as well as other units and artillery, were positioned at Brownsville. General Semmes’ was ordered to guard the rear of McLaws in case of any Federal threat coming to the relief of troops at Harper’s Ferry. Brownsville Pass was the direct route to Maryland Heights. General Semmes’ also ordered the 10th Georgia Infantry to set up pickets, guarding Crampton’s Gap, the Rohrersville Road and other hooks leading from Harper’s Ferry. By the end of the day, Generals Armistead and Cobb were ordered to move up the valley and form a line of battle across the valley guarding Sandy Hook. A few skirmishes and engagements were fought on Elk Ridge, but the Union troops moved back toward Harper’s Ferry.

By September 13th, General Cobb’s Brigade was ordered to take possession of Sandy Hook. General Kershaw had taken possession of Elk Ridge. General McLaws had not heard anything from Generals Jackson or Walker and could only wait. McLaws heard rumors of a Union force, but that proved only to be fictitious.

On September 14th, the situation was dire for those at Harper’s Ferry. During the night of the 13th, General John Walker’s Division took Loudoun Heights, and soon School House Ridge would be occupied by General Thomas Jackson. There was thought to be a road on Maryland Heights, but that road was nowhere to be found by the Confederates so the soldiers of Kershaw’s Brigade had to cut in a road for the artillery. By 2:00 p.m., four guns opened up and the siege of Harper’s Ferry had begun.

To their east, on South Mountain, the rumbles of a battle were heard. Since General Paul Semmes felt that Brownsville Pass would be where the Union troops would come to the aide of Harper’s Ferry, he had concentrated most of his artillery, along with his infantry at Brownsville. General Semmes was able to send out his own 10th Georgia Infantry from Soloman’s Gap to assist Colonel Munford and his cavalry. Colonel William Parham, commanding Mahone’s Brigade, was also ordered to Crampton’s Gap. Semmes was taking a big chance, still believing that Brownsville was the targeted area for Franklin’s Corps, his gamble would not pay off.

By evening, the Union 6th Corps under General William Franklin pressed Crampton’s Gap with orders to occupy Rohrersville, splitting McLaws from the rest of the Confederate army, and, if practical, try to relieve the garrison at Harper’s Ferry. Franklin’s Corps smashed through Crampton’s Gap, but upon seeing a portion of McLaws’ and Anderson’s divisions deployed, decided not to press on, fearing the surrender of Harper’s Ferry was imminent. Also assisting McLaws troops was soldiers from Hampton’s Legion. General Wade Hampton was ordered by General JEB Stuart to cover McLaws’ front at Weverton. While the fight at Crampton’s Gap was dying down, Generals Wright and Pryor were kept in position, guarding Weverton Pass.

The next day, McLaws was still in possession Maryland Heights and the southern portion of Pleasant Valley. Weverton was under Confederate occupation until two in the morning. McLaws, seeing that the C&O Canal was full of water, ordered General Pryor at Weverton to cut the canal just above a culvert. Just above Lock 31 at Israel’s Creek, General Pryor cut the canal, draining all the water out. Pryor also broke the canal lock, temporarily disabling the canal.

As the day went on, Lee, fearing that McLaws might be cut off from the main army, ordered McLaws to abandon Weverton and cross the Potomac River into Virginia. But McLaws was doubtful that the river crossing was a good idea since Franklin’s Corps lay to the north and he was fearful that other Union troops lay to the east of South Mountain. McLaws prepared to do battle and drew up a defensive line.

At Brownsville, the turnpike forked. The right fork went to Soloman’s Gap and the left fork went to Weverton. At Garrett’s Mill the road again divides one mile north of Weverton. The right fork took you directly to Sandy Hook and the left fork continued to Weverton. With Anderson on the right at Weverton, and the balance of McLaws division on the left, they were ready to meet the Union threat. Without direct orders, Union General William Smith and his division moved forward toward the Confederate line in Pleasant Valley. A portion of General Winfield Hancock’s Brigade of Smith’s Division came down the Brownsville Pass skirmishing with remnants of Munford’s Cavalry.

There at Brownsville, Smith’s Division with General Winfield Hancock and General William Iverson’s Brigades came down Brownsville Road. Smith’s Division at Garrett’s Mill took the right fork, and marched upon the road that led directly to Sandy Hook. Realizing that he had advanced so far from Franklin’s main line, General Smith halted his division and marched back, giving up any ground he had gained. With the surrender of Harper’s Ferry, the threat to defend the lower passes on South Mountain via Brownsville or Weverton and those situated on Elk Ridge were eliminated.

During the morning of the 16th, as fog hovered the area, McLaws moved his wagons and troops into Harper’s Ferry. The fog masked the sounds of moving vehicles. Franklin’s Corps sat idle until the next morning, when they were ordered toward Sharpsburg. Retracing Smith’s movements down the valley, General Darius Couch’s Division moved forward to Sandy Hook. Once at Garrett’s Mill, General Albion P. Howe was ordered to Weverton while the brigades of General John Cochrane and General Charles Jr. Devens continued to Sandy Hook. After arriving, General Couch was ordered to Antietam. The soldiers moved back to Rohrersville, arriving at Antietam on the 18th of September.

The Antietam Woolen Mill of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

2011-08-26T09:35:00.002-04:00

The South Mountain range along the Mason and Dixon Line during the years leading up to the American Civil War was full of industry, from iron ore to grist mills, cobblers (shoe repairers), and cordwainers (shoemakers). One industry that played an important role in making garments was the textile and wool mills that sold fabrics to the small towns such as Emmitsburg and Waynesboro. These mills helped to make small towns be independent from outsides sources, unlike today’s world where the towns are now dependent on stores like Wal-Mart to supply goods to major cities and countries around the globe. As a living historian, I find it important to know how garments were made, and to interpret that information to the public such as explaining what went into dyeing, weaving and constructing the material that made up a uniform. Waynesboro has a wonderful history of industry. One such industry was the Antietam Woolen Mill.

The Antietam Woolen Mill has its roots established before 1800, when a group of German settlers established a place called Roadside. This was an area that was first settled in 1768, called the Homestead by John Horner. This area is located two and a half miles northeast of Waynesboro, in Washington Township along the West Branch of the Antietam Creek. In 1830, Gabriel Baer purchased twenty-two acres from John Keagey and converted the small grist mill into a woolen mill. Gabriel Baer was a cabinet maker by trade, but he soon had a profitable business of making coverlets, blankets, fabrics and carpets. Eventually the property featured five buildings powered by an 18 foot water wheel turning in the Antietam Creek. Machinery that was used in the mill was top of the line and ready for business.

In 1854, Gabriel sold the business to his son Henry Baer. By 1857, the woolen mill had a head weaver and manger by the name of John Schaller. John Schaller immigrated to America in 1854 from Bavaria and lived on a farm at the foot of Burns Hill. Gabriel, the original owner died in 1859, and in 1864, Henry sold the mill to his brother Ephraim Baer.

The Antietam Woolen Mill made several fabrics from jeans-cloth to cassimere and satinet. Jeans-cloth is a woven material made of either a cotton and wool blend, or completely made of cotton. Jeans-cloth was the working man’s cloth. Satinet is a cotton warped, woolen filled fabric, woven and finished to resemble an all wool fabric on the face. Cassimere was a smooth woolen cloth. All three types of material made at Antietam Woolen Mill and other mills throughout the United States was common material used to make uniforms during the Civil War for both the North and South.

An article found in the Waynesboro Library, author and date unknown, provides a great insight on how material was made, how it was dyed, and then sold on the market to make clothing. “A cooperative method of operation was set up by Mr. Baer. The farm wife grew the flax, “hackled” or combed it, and spun it into thread. She also raised the sheep, sheared them, picked, washed, carded and spun the wool. Then she carried her yarn to the woolen mill where it was put through the fulling process, dyed, and woven into the blankets, coverlets, or carpets.”

“Home-woven woolen cloth was uneven in texture and in some parts quite thin. The fulling process, by pounding the cloth with a large oaken mallet while it was kept thoroughly wet in a vat of warm soapy water, shrunk the fibers of the woolen cloth together so that, after drying, much better and more durable cloth was made.”

“The dyes used at the mill were made there from barks, roots and flowers. [Logwood and sumac were popular for dyes.] Only the indigo for the blues was purchased. This was brought to the mill by peddlers who got it at the indigo plantations in South Carolina. Blue was such a favorite color with the women that the “blue-pot” was kept simmering most of the time. These home-made colors were wonderfully lasting. The material of coverlets and blankets colored with them have worn out before the colors faded. Iris and goldenrod made beautiful colors, as did red oak and hickory bark.”

The Antietam Mill was most famous for its carpets and coverlets. These coverlets were decorative with influences from the Scotch-Irish women whom bought them in the area. The colors and designs were romantic while the patterns of squares, octagons, chariot wheels and quaint heraldic decorated the coverlet. Many Civil War living historians carry these at some point or another when demonstrating the average Civil War soldier, especially during an early war scenario.

“Tree and leaf forms were frequent motifs and flowers were still more common. Purely geometric patterns were built up of tiny angles because the hand loom could produce only straight lines. A woolen fringe was put on only three sides of the coverlet as the economic women did not waste fringe on the end which was to be tucked in at the foot of the bed.”

Many of the coverlets were woven on a narrow loom. While coverlets, blankets and carpets were commonly known from the Antietam Mill, fabric was also important in making garments. The most important aspect of the woolen textiles was the dyeing and finishing of the woven product. It is unknown to date, but most likely the Antietam Mill stored their wool in the form of a bale. A wool bale was compressed by a machine made from wood boards and had a wire winch mechanism.

Since the Antietam Mill is documented as making material for men’s clothing, it can be assumed it was in the textile business. The weaving process uses a loom. The lengthway threads are known as the warp, and the cross way threads are known as the weft. Based on the time Baer purchased the mill, and since it was documented as having top of the line machinery, it is assumed that it had a Jacquard loom which is a mechanical loom. The Jacquard was invented in 1801 by Joseph Marie Jacquard. This machine simplified the process of manufacturing textiles.

It is no doubt that the Antietam Mill supplied Waynesboro with top of the line products, materials which would then be sold to a general store or a tailor. In addition, since Union army officers from Waynesboro, for the most part, had to purchase their uniforms, it is no doubt that some of their uniforms featured fabric manufactured by the Antietam Mill. By the dawn of the Civil War, technological advances in the mills, and in the tailor shops, constructing garments by machine was becoming a likely occurrence.

In 1905, the Antietam Mill closed its doors. Some of its workers such as John Schaller, built a small shop by his home and began to sell the famous coverlets until his death in 1912. Today, as a living historian myself, and having a wife to make a lot of my uniforms, I can fully understand and appreciate the value of what went into making fabrics, and the steps of finishing those fabrics to make a garment.

The Famed Louisiana Tigers at Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

2011-08-23T12:11:00.008-04:00

The Pennsylvania Campaign began for General Jubal Early’s Division on June 4th, 1863, as they marched from Hamilton's Crossing, Virginia to Spotsylvania Court-House, Virginia. Early’s Division continued its line of march toward Winchester, Virginia. By June 13th, Early’s Division, part of General Richard Ewell’s Corps began their assault and flanking movements of what would become known as the Second Battle of Winchester. On June 15th, the Union soldiers under General Robert Milroy managed to escape but not before Ewell had captured 23 pieces of artillery (nearly all rifled), 4,000 prisoners, 300 loaded wagons, more than 300 horses, and quite a large amount of commissary and quartermaster's stores.

Just prior to the Pennsylvania Campaign, General Early noted that his division of more than 7,200 soldiers was lacking in supplies. More than a third of his men were without bayonets, some were barefooted, while many others were indifferently shod. Their uniforms, blankets and equipment were very limited, so the captured supplies at Winchester were a welcome necessity to Early’s men. At Winchester, the artillerists of the Charlottesville Artillery looked around the Union garrison that was captured for supplies that hopefully was not taken by the Louisiana soldiers of Hays’ Brigade. They only thing they found was a surplus of artillery sabers, in which all non-commissioned officers of the artillery were to be issued.

John Kerr of the 6th North Carolina Infantry, part of Colonel Isaac Avery’s (Hoke’s) Brigade, recalled “I have plenty of clothes we all got just anything that we wanted when we took Winchester.” Hays’ and Avery’s Brigades took clothing articles such as drawers, shoes, shirts, socks and sky-blue trousers. It was noted that General John Gordon’s men of Early’s Division were dirty and ragged, but some of their equipment consisted of Federal pattern double bag knapsacks that they had captured at Winchester from the 87th Pennsylvania Infantry.

There seems to be a misconception of the Louisiana Tigers and the topic of wearing captured Union goods pulled off of the dead, in addition to wearing their original early war Zouave uniforms. Even during the 1960’s in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania information was passed along from Stoner’s book on the history of the area that stated the Tigers were wearing blue trousers stripped off of the dead bodies of Union troops. Today, a few historians continue to make the same assumptions. If there was any documentation of blue trousers being worn by the Tigers or any other regiment in General Early’s Division, it was because of the goods captured at Winchester, not from the dead lying on the battlefield. In history, there are a few accounts of soldiers looking for clothing on the battlefield, but they also state the condition they found the trousers in. Finding a pair that were not soiled by the body was hard to come by and because of this, many soldiers left those trousers on their fallen occupant.

References to the Tigers wearing their Zouave uniforms in Waynesboro by this point of the Civil War are absolutely incorrect. As the war progressed in 1862, the Bureau of Clothing in Richmond (Richmond Depot) was already consolidating and issuing Richmond patterned clothing to the men of the Army of North Virginia. The commutation system of clothing was already prohibited by this point and the issuances of clothing to the soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia consisted of a Richmond Depot made shell jacket, trousers, headgear and other various clothing and equipment. Although several states that clothed its soldiers such as North Carolina or South Carolina were prominent, there is no evidence suggesting the Tigers were wearing flashy uniforms. This can be attested to by the citizens of Waynesboro itself, in that the residents could not tell the Tigers apart from other units of Early’s Division.

In 1862, most of the Louisiana troops received clothing from the Richmond Depot. The Tigers were among those men to receive clothing. Some of the soldiers decided to consolidate the new look, while keeping portions of their sun bleached uniforms. Taking into consideration the clothing issuances after the Maryland Campaign of 1862, the Tigers lost the Zouave appearance and looked no different than that of the average soldier in the Army of Northern Virginia.

By late morning of June 15th, the first portions of General Ewell’s Corps, under the command of General Albert Jenkins, and his cavalry brigade advanced into Maryland, marching down the Shenandoah Valley Turnpike. General Ewell had sent word to General Robert Rodes’ about General Milroy escaping into Harper’s Ferry, but there were no Confederates in that direction. General Early was sent by way of Harper’s Ferry to threaten the garrison there that had already been evacuated.

On the 22nd, with no threat of Union troops at Harper’s Ferry, General Early’s Division crossed the Potomac River at Shepherdstown, moving through the town of Sharpsburg, and passed by portions of the Antietam Battlefield to Boonsboro. Early’s soldiers encamped along the National Road, about three miles north of Boonsboro.

On the 23rd, General Early moved his division through Cavetown, Smithsburg, and Ringgold (Ridgeville) while General John Gordon moved his brigade from Smithsburg to Leitersburg. Many Maryland civilians either fled for their lives via Monterey Pass or they lined the streets and hailed the Confederate soldiers. General Early crossed the Mason Dixon Line into Pennsylvania, following along the western base of South Mountain, and occupied the town of Waynesboro. Later that evening, General Gordon would enter Waynesboro by way of Leitersburg. As word spread about the Confederate invasion with Early’s men crossing the Mason Dixon Line, the citizens of Waynesboro became panick-stricken. John Philips, who was a cashier at the First National Bank, made his escape taking with him documents and money from the bank, fleeing to Fairfield.

As noon approached, the Confederate soldiers marched into Waynesboro. Many citizens noted their raggedness and the worn appearance of their gray uniforms. General Early made his headquarters in the town hall and relieved the local law enforcement of its duties, placing Waynesboro under martial law. According to Ms. Linda Welsh Bender, the Confederate Provost Marshall with General Early issued orders to her father, Jacob Welsh, who was the town Burgess, for the people not to taunt or offer the Confederate soldiers any insult. The Burgess was also told to have any liquor be “put out of reach.” General Early requested a list of names and addresses of the wealthy in the area and ordered the town ransomed for supplies such as shoes, leather, clothing and other items. George Frick had his shop emptied of all leather.

The Louisiana Tigers bivouacked along Church Street in the yard of the Union Church, which is now the Church of the Brethren. The Union Church dated back to 1830, when the Lutherans and the Presbyterians built the Union Church to practice their faith. In 1867 the Presbyterians built their own church and a year later the Lutherans also built their own church. In July of 1871, the church was sold to the Antietam Congregation of the German Baptist Brethren, now the Church of the Brethren. The church that stands today still has the original corner stone from the Union Church, but other than that no signs of the Civil War period church can be seen.

Although General Early had ordered all liquor stills shut down, some of the Tigers managed to get a hold of liquor and caused a minor scare for the townspeople of Waynesboro. Several of the Tigers went foraging for buttermilk, bread, and other rations, and valuables. Some of the men paid for their items in Confederate script while others just took what they wanted. Some of the Tigers took clothing from people by trading something in return, while there were a few cases of Waynesboro men being forced to handover items such as shoes and hats to the Tigers. One member of the 9th Louisiana Infantry was noted as wearing a white top hat he had gotten most likely in Pennsylvania. This top hat managed to get him shot during the Battle of Gettysburg, as it was a great target for a Union sharpshooter.

One Tiger of the 7th Louisiana Infantry walked toward a house and was invited into the private home for buttermilk and bread. The lady of the house asked what unit he was with, and when she received his reply she simply fainted. The soldier rushed to her, and the husband quickly entered the room and demanded to know what was going on. The soldier told the husband what had occured and her husband told the soldier that they had heard about the dreaded Tigers and the reputation they had. For the most part, the Tigers as well as others in Early’s command were very pleasant toward the Waynesboro people. This was due to Early’s orders not to molest the private property of the citizens of Waynesboro.

Early the next morning, the Tiger’s and the rest of General Early’s Division proceeded up Mechanic Street (North Church Street) where the sounds of war slowly disappeared. As they left, some of the local girls heckled and laughed in good fun with those in gray. General Early would again follow the western base of South Mountain, passing through Quincy, Mount Alto (Funkstown), and Greenwood where they would encamp for the night. The next day on the 25th, they marched east upon the Chambersburg Pike, through South Mountain at Cashtown Gap, and burning Stevens’ Caledonia Furnace. As Early’s forces marched away from Waynesboro the reputation of the Tigers remained as they received some negative press from Waynesboro during their stay.

The Tigers would return to Waynesboro following the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg. The march over South Mountain at Monterey Pass was a difficult one. The heavy rains that began late in the afternoon on July 4th, made the roads leading through the mountain a quagmire. It is not known exactly where the Tigers encamped upon their return to Waynesboro, or if they did encamp at Waynesboro at all. Many accounts state that the farms and open ground to the east and south of Waynesboro was used by thousands of Confederate soldiers. Many state that the Confederate infantry marched passed many of the Dutch farms such as Renfrew before entering Waynesboro, coming off of South Mountain and resting briefly. There are also accounts stating that a portion of the Confederate army marched upon Third Street to the Antietam (Waynesboro) and Leitersburg Turnpike, side stepping the square. For fifteen days, Waynesboro was under the occupation of the Confederate army and the people of Waynesboro eventually came to realize that for the most part the Southern soldier was an honest and polite individual after all.

Emmitsburg During the 1862 Chambersburg Raid

2011-08-16T09:13:00.003-04:00

The bloodiest signal day of the Civil War was fought near the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland on September 17, 1862 along a small creek called Antietam. Sharpsburg is approximately 29 miles west of Emmitsburg, Maryland. The Army of the Potomac, under the command of General George B. McClellan, sat quietly along the banks of the Potomac River. A cautious General McClellan felt his men were not yet prepared enough to fight another major battle with General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. However, skirmishing continued along the banks of the Potomac River near Shepherdstown, West Virginia until General Lee’s Army was in the safety of Virginia.

By October, nearly two weeks after the Battle of Antietam, General McClellan's army was still waiting to be issued orders. During this time President Lincoln repeatedly sent out messages to General McClellan asking why no attempt was made to pursue General Lee. General McClellan repeatedly sent dispatches back to President Lincoln stating his army was not ready, they needed supplies or they needed time to heal their wounds. President Lincoln himself came out to where General McClellan was encamped and to see why no further attempts to pursue General Lee were made. General McClellan's cautiousness led him to loose his command in late October.

Also in October, General JEB Stuart with 1800 troopers and Major Pelgram's Battery of two to four guns made their way to the Potomac River and on October 9th, crossed a ford near Clear Springs, Maryland. General Stuart received orders from General Lee not to harm or seize any property in Maryland. This raid into Maryland and Pennsylvania was made completely around General McClellan. This is known today as General Stuart's “Second ride around McClellan.” General Stuart's orders were to capture equipment that the Confederates needed, to disrupt communication lines, destroy parts of the C&O Canal and also take out parts of the B&O railroad at and near Chambersburg. This was also a diversion keeping the Federals from being re-enforced in the Kanawha Valley (West) Virginia in order for the Confederate Army of South Eastern Virginia to take possession of the valuable salt mines in that area.

By October 10th, General Stuart was in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania and had captured a Federal arsenal consisting of clothing such as great coats, socks, underwear, along with supplies that the Confederate army so desperately needed such as rifles, pistols and swords. General Stuart ordered the arsenals to be burned destroying excess items that they could not carry. General Stuart was also worried about crossing the Potomac River, since torrential downpours may have caused the Potomac River swell and fording the river may be a problem. Also the bridge they had been sent to destroy was made of iron, making it impossible to demolish.

Orders were given to mount up and the Confederate cavalry left Chambersburg. General Stuart ordered his troopers to head back toward Hagerstown to return to General Lee's Army. As they made their way up South Mountain, the Confederate cavalry realized that the Federal cavalry might be pursuing them, since burning the Federal arsenals at Chambersburg. Needing an escape route, General Stuart detoured traveling in an eastern direction. As his troopers made their way down Old Chambersburg Pike toward Cashtown.

Upon leaving Chambersburg, the Federal cavalry was pursuing the Confederates. Colonel Rush had his command split leaving several units in Frederick, Maryland, while his 6th Pennsylvania cavalry was scouting in the area. One of the units, under his command, was the First Potomac Home Brigade better known as Cole’s Cavalry. Company C under the command of Captain Albert M. Hunter was part of Cole's Cavalry that was stationed on stand by at Frederick, Maryland. Company C was raised in the Emmitsburg and Gettysburg areas, and was made of young and reckless farm boys who were not afraid of their counterparts. Also, these young boys did not have families of their own which meant they were not tied down. This cavalry proved to be competition against the Confederate cavalry.

The Governor of Pennsylvania wrote to General McClellan about the issues of the Confederate Cavalry. He wrote in this correspondence:

“Harrisburg, October 11, 1862-4.10 P.M.

General McClellan:

Rebels crossed Potomac near Clear Spring, and entered Pennsylvania by Blair's Valley. Latest advices say they are moving in direction of Gettysburg, thence by Emmitsburg, to destroy Government stores at or near Frederick. These statements are mere conjectures, given to you as received.

A. G. Curtin, Governor of Pennsylvania.”

General Alfred Pleasonton who was tracking for the Confederate Cavalry received false intelligence of General Stuart’s whereabouts. He thought that General Stuart was retracing his footsteps back toward the Potomac River in the direction in which he came. General Pleasanton started to pursue the Confederate cavalry at Knoxville, Maryland on October 10-11 in the direction that intelligence report stated. Soon afterwards, he was ordered to proceed toward Emmitsburg and Mechanicstown. This is the official order given to General Pleasonton from General McClellan’s Chief of Staff after examining Governor Curtin’s report:

“ Headquarters of the Army of the Potomac, October 11, 1862

Brigadier-General Pleasonton, Hagerstown:

A report from Governor Curtin this morning states the rebel cavalry force camped at Chambersburg last night, and left there at 9 this morning the direction of Gettysburg. Force about 2,000 strong, consisting of Stuart and Hampton's cavalry. It is thought, by Mr. McClure, of Chambersburg, that they intend returning by way of Frederick and Leesburg. You will at once move with your force, and all of Davis' cavalry, at Hagerstown, by Cavetown and Harmon's Gap, to Mechanicstown, where the Sixth Cavalry has been ordered to join you.

You will send scouts on the direct road from Hagerstown to Gettysburg, and also to Emmitsburg and beyond, to ascertain the movements of the enemy. It might be well to send citizens, if you can get them to go, and send any information you may get to these headquarters by telegraph from Hagerstown or Frederick, as may be most convenient.

You will take the best route to cut off the enemy, depending on the information you obtain. Pursue them vigorously, and do not spare your men or horses, if you see an opportunity of overtaking them. They should not be allowed to escape unharmed.

R. B. Marcy, Chief of Staff.”

General Pleasonton lost two hours of valuable time that allowed General Stuart and his Confederate cavalry to slip by and head directly into Emmitsburg. Since leaving Chambersburg, General Stuart had already ridden over 31 miles and was approximately 45 miles from the Potomac River. At the same time, General McClellan order General Stoneman, who was at Poolesville, Maryland to be on the lookout for General Pleasanton and try to intercept General Stuart at Emmitsburg or Mechanicstown.

That afternoon, on October 11th, General Stuart made his way into Cashtown passing by the Harding House Inn that was a tavern near the Cashtown Inn. General Stuart at this time was about seven miles away from Gettysburg. General Stuart and the five-mile long column then turn southeast taking the old Fairfield Road. At Fairfield, the Confederate cavalry traveled into Maryland where they reached Emmitsburg, Maryland at about sunset. Once his cavalry reached the Mason and Dixon Line Stuart ordered the men to close formations and stop collecting livestock.

Lt. Colonel Jacob M. Sheads, noted that during the Raid in Adams County, General Stuart took 13 prisoners. Among them were John B. Paxton, John C. Martin, Sanford Shroeder, Shields Hunter, Abraham Stockslager, Andrew Hartman, Nelson Boyd, Lewis Pittinger, Andrew Lowe, Andrew Warren, David Baer, John Hartman, and Alexander Benchoff. Sheads also stated that Warren Danner of Adams County man rode with Stuart's cavalry during the first raid on Chambersburg.

In Adams County Stuart's men confiscated over 80 horses and roughly 1,500 dollars worth of supplies. In Cashtwon, $22 worth of goods were taken from the Williams Ruff store and $10 worth of goods were taken at Captain Mark's Store. At Fairfield over $1,000 worth of hats, shoes, and clothing from the Paxton and McCreary store and $200 worth of merchandise were taken from Sullivan's store and 30 stands of arms from the Home Guard Armory.

Just one hour before the Confederate arrival in Emmitsburg, 140 men of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry known as Colonel Rush’s Lancers had passed through the town and headed toward Gettysburg. Members of General Stuart’s advance guard charged the through Emmitsburg chasing after the stragglers of the four companies of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Orders came from Stuart to rest, feed and water their horses.

The town of Emmitsburg hailed the Confederate troopers as the townsmen opened their arms to the Confederate cavalry. Many people of Emmitsburg applauded very loudly as the Confederate Cavalry entered the town. There they received fresh bread, buttermilk, and meat and the town itself was being very supportive to those dressed in gray. Emmitsburg, at the time, had never really seen a Confederate and the town was curious to hear the tales they had to tell. The Confederates were observed as being very polite to the residents of Emmitsburg. Major Henry B. McClellan observed General Stuart enjoying the hospitality among the local citizens of Emmitsburg.

Some reports claim that the Confederate cavalry was dressed in Union blue and that the citizens of Emmitsburg seem to think they were federal cavalry. After researching many first hand reports and descriptions of the Confederate cavalry entering Emmitsburg, there is a key phrase that eliminates this folklore. Major Henry McClellan wrote in his book basically stating the Confederate advance guard charged the through Emmitsburg chasing after the stragglers belonging to the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry.

The book entitle “War Years with JEB Stuart” published in 1945, written by Lieutenant Colonel W.W. Blackford who was a captain during the 1862 Chambersburg Raid and also part of the Corps of Engineers gives a description of Emmitsburg as they trotted into town:

“The success of the expedition was largely due to the excellent guides General Stuart had provided himself with; and now Logan and Harbaugh, who had lived in Pennsylvania, acted, but as we approached Maryland, Capt. B. S. White became the guide; his residence in that part of Maryland made him thoroughly acquainted with every road in it. It was very pleasant to get amongst friends once more upon crossing the line into Maryland, though we could not take their horses.

The first place we came to was the little town of Emmitsburg, which we reached about sundown, thirty-one miles from Chambersburg, and still forty-five miles from our crossing place. If we had fallen from the clouds the people could not have been more astonished than at seeing us come from the direction we followed, and their demonstrations of delight at seeing us were unbounded.

An hour before our arrival a detachment of Rush’s Lancers, a scouting party of a hundred-forty men, sent to look for us, had passed through the town, and hearing of this, General Stuart had issued orders to overtake and capture any one attempting to leave the place while we were in it. Just as the advanced guard entered the street, a young lady rode out of a yard of a house before us, and seeing, to her dismay, a body of soldiers, which she took for Federals of course, she dashed off out of town towards her home some miles in the country.

Our men called upon her to halt, but this only made her whip up her horse the more, and being reluctant to use their firearms, the only thing to do was for two of the best mounted to overtake and capture her. It was an exciting race for a mile and the poor young lady was, as she told us, scared almost to death, but finding she could not escape she pulled up and surrendered in great terror. But when she and her captors appeared leisurely riding back they were in high good humor, laughing and talking over the adventure.

The young lady returned to the house she had been visiting and was requested to remain there until we had been gone an hour. Though only a mile or two from the Pennsylvania state line, the people here seemed to be intensely Southern in their sympathies and omitted no opportunity of showing us attention during the short half hour we passed among them.”

Friendly citizens also greeted members of Stuart’s Horse Artillery, as they paused long enough to feed and water their horses. General Stuart ordered pickets to set up along the roads leading into Emmitsburg. A courier was captured as Federal cavalry was catching up to the rear of the Confederate cavalry. General Stuart learned Colonel Rush, and also General Alfred Pleasonton and some 800 members of his cavalry were pursuing him and were riding from Hagerstown toward Mechanicstown. The courier was blind folded and released to fool Colonel Rush. General JEB Stuart attended to his horse and stood up against a tree for about a half an hour before moving out.

A gentleman who entered Emmitsburg with General Stuart was Major Johann August Heinrich Heros Von Borcke, known as the “Giant dressed in gray” simply because he stood more than six feet tall. He was a Prussian Military Officer in the Second Brandenburg Regiment of Dragoons, who came to America shortly after the Civil War had began. He departed for the Confederacy, landing at Charleston, South Carolina, during May of 1862. He was then introduced to General Stuart and they quickly became good friends. The two men never left each other’s side until Major Borcke’s wounding in 1863.

With General Stuart at Emmitsburg, the alarm was sent to other communities around Frederick County, Maryland and also Adams County, Pennsylvania. Several reports stated that Stuart's men were in Gettysburg and also as far north as Carlisle, Pennsylvania. General Stuart was now in a hurry to get back to the Potomac River. Then the order was given to mount up. Fearing that General McClellan knew his location, General Stuart left Emmitsburg shortly after sun down. Only a few stragglers stayed behind in Emmitsburg. Some reports state that Colonel Rush caught a few of these stragglers.

On the road toward Frederick, General Stuart accompanied Southhall, who commanded the advance guard, before leaving him, General Stuart ordered him to keep up the fast gait and ride over any opposing parties. Soon after, a courier was captured carrying dispatches from Frederick to Colonel Rush’s Lancers. From this information General Stuart learned that even though the enemy was trying to intercept him, they still had no ideal of his location or movements. He also learned that Colonel Rush had enough men in Frederick to protect the city, even though four companies of his Lancers were headed for Gettysburg. With this information captured from the courier, the dispatches also stated 800 men under the command of General Pleasonton was hurrying to Mechanicstown just four miles from Stuart’s position and the railroad crossing of the Monocacy was occupied by two brigades of infantry, ready at a moments notice to steam the railcar engines and deploy them in either direction.

With this new found information, General Stuart ordered the column to turn east at Rocky Ridge, Maryland and travel toward the Woodsboro Road two miles away. At around 9 P.M., the advance guard reached Rocky Ridge; they met a scouting party of General Pleasonton’s Federal Cavalry, which turned immediately toward Mechanicstown. Just two hours before 9 P.M. Colonel Rush ordered two scouting companies east, the first company traveled to Johnsville, while the other company headed to Woodsboro to find the location of General Stuart.

A half past 10 P.M. a company of the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry observed the march of General Stuart’s column through Woodsboro. This information of General Stuart’s location was dispatched to Colonel Rush and to General Pleasonton only few miles away at Mechanicstown. Only though this information only had to go from Rocky Ridge to Mechanicstown, a mere three hours it took to relay. General Pleasonton receive word on General Stuart’s location past midnight. Meantime General Stuart continued his order of march toward the Potomac River.

Some reports in Frederick on October 12th stated:

“That the Confederates were encamped at Emmitsburg, Maryland and that Frederick needed to be protected. The following is an excerpt of what Frederick officials had reported. "During Saturday afternoon and evening large bodies of Union troops were ordered to the vicinity of Frederick to protect the immense stores there, it being anticipated to be the purpose of the Rebels to destroy these, as well as the railroad bridge at Monocacy Station...Other troops were sent on different roads leading from the Pennsylvania line. Intelligence was received Saturday night at 12 o’clock, that the enemy were moving toward Frederick and had reached Woodsboro...they have diverged from the direct road from Emmitsburg, so as to be able to choose a route east of Frederick on their way to the Potomac, if it should be necessary for their safety. On reaching Woodsboro, Stuart ascertained, that a large Union force was stationed to intercept him, and that McClellan had discovered his movement eastward in time to afford ample protection to the Government property at Frederick and vicinity. This made it necessary that he must move rapidly to avoid capture before reaching the Potomac. Four additional regiments had arrived during the evening by railroad from Harper's Ferry, with additional artillery, to re-enforce the force already here, which fact...was repeated to the enemy at Woodsboro. On receiving the information that the rich prize they anticipated at Frederick and Monocacy Junction was safe consisting besides the bridge of 12 heavy engines, 200 loaded cars and great quantities of hospital and army stores and wagons, they started off in an easterly direction by the Libertytown road to New Market on the Baltimore turnpike. This movement required a wide detour to reach the Potomac of 10 or 15 miles, making it necessary to push for fords below...the mouth of the Monocacy."

Another report:

“Hanover Junction, October 12, 1862-7.25 a.m.

George B. McClellan, Headquarters:

I am here with two regiments of infantry and a battery of artillery; two more regiments are expected soon, when I shall go with the whole force to Gettysburg. The following dispatch has been received from Captain Haseltine, Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry, dated Gettysburg, October 11, 8.40 p. m.

General Stuart, with about 3,000 cavalry and a battery of artillery, is now in Emmitsburg, Md. There is no force in Frederick adequate to meet them this morning in case they go that way.

John E. Wool Major-General”

“Headquarters Eighth Army Corps, Baltimore, Md., October 14, 1862

General: On Friday evening I received (about 10-o’clock) information, by telegraph from Governor Curtin, of Pennsylvania, that the 3,000 rebel cavalry and a section of artillery, under the command of General Stuart, were in possession of Chambersburg. It appears that the town had been surrendered upon the demand of the rebel general. I immediately ordered three regiments and a battery of six pieces to be got ready and proceed at once to Harrisburg; afterward I ordered a fourth regiment.

The next morning, at 6 o'clock, and as soon as I could obtain a special train, I proceeded to Harrisburg, were I arrived early in the day, and visited Governor Curtin. He appeared quite anxious about the safety of Carlisle. Although I did not agree with him on the subject, yet I proceeded to that place. On the way I received a telegram, informing me that the rebels had gone to Emmitsburg. I returned immediately to Harrisburg and saw Governor Curtin, who had received the same information. I at once preceded to Hanover Junction, where I arrived about 4 a. m., and where I met my troops ordered from Baltimore. These I immediately set in motion for Gettysburg, where they arrived about 1 p. m., and headed off the rebel cavalry, previous to which the advance of the rebels had been attacked by some of the Home Guards, when they retreated, leaving, 5 prisoners in the possession of the Home Guards.

The rebels went to Emmitsburg, and from there to Waynesborough, and were proceeding toward Boonsborough, when, on being informed of the advance of Pleasonton, they changed their course and proceeded with all haste to the Potomac, in a more easterly direction, and, as I was informed, by telegraph from Major-General McClellan, in the following language, viz:

General Pleasonton, who was in pursuit of the rebel cavalry reports that they have been driven back, into Virginia, crossing the Potomac near the mouth of the Monocacy, and having marched 90 miles in the previous twenty-four hours, while Pleasonton, in pursuit, marched 78 miles in the same time.

Colonel Cram, under whose direction I placed the troops at Gettysburg, reported to me on Sunday that the rebels had retired to Harbach's Valley.

On Monday, 2.30 p. m., he reported, by telegram, that a part of the rebels he thought, from information received, were yet in Harbach's Valley. He sent scouts to ascertain, who were to report to him last night or this morning. I think the colonel will find that all the rebel cavalry have returned into Virginia, and have probably escaped altogether the vigilance of Major-General McClellan, having, in the mean time, made nearly the whole circle of the army of the Potomac-certainly a bold and daring enterprise, in the execution of which the soldiers at Chambersburg changed the rags which covered the for the uniform clothing of the United States, and supplied themselves on their route with 1,000 fresh horses, besides destroying, at Chambersburg, the railroad depot, with all the rolling-stock. They also tore up some of the rails of the road, and destroyed several bridges.

Staff and myself were in motion from Friday evening until yesterday afternoon at 2 o'clock when we returned to Baltimore. During that time we had no rest or sleep, except what little could be taken in the cars.

From want of cavalry, we could not follow the enemy, as he, from reports made to me, kept continually on the trot, and sometimes even galloped his horses.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

John E. Wool, Major General"

While at headquarters near Frederick, Maryland, Colonel Rush wrote in his official report of what he witnessed during General Stuart’s Raid into Pennsylvania and Maryland. He mentions the Emmitsburg area in great detail.

“Headquarters Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry, Camp near Frederick, Md., October 13, 1862

General: I have the honor to report that, on Saturday morning, at 6.30 o'clock, your note, requiring me to scout the country north of Frederick, to gain intelligence of that force and movements of Stuart's cavalry, was at once executed by my sending four small companies (140 men) toward Emmitsburg and Gettysburg. they left my camp by 8 a. m. no information or rumors of the enemy could be obtained by them between this place and Emmitsburg, which point they reached at 4 p. m. They then pushed on toward Gettysburg, scouting well to their left, and had not left Emmitsburg an hour when information was brought them from the rear that the advance guard (about 400 strong) of the rebels had charged into Emmitsburg and held the place. The rebels entirely cutting off all communication between my pickets and myself. All the couriers sent to me, to apprise me of the presence of the rebels, were turned back until after midnight.

At 3 p. m. on the 11th I received a telegraphic order from General Marcy to send one squadron at once to Middletown, to picket and scout the valley northward. This was at once done, but no important report or information was received from them.

At 6.30 p. m. of the 11th was received, directing me to extend my scouts toward Gettysburg, &c., and informing me that Stuart had left Chambersburg in the morning on the Gettysburg road; also that General Pleasonton was to be at Mechanicstown, and to communicated with him, &c., and to call on the First Maine Cavalry if I wanted more force, &c.

Rumors from Frederick reaching me at about 7 p. m. that the rebels were reported to be at or near Emmitsburg, and knowing that General Pleasonton would cover the pike through Mechanicstown, I at once called on Colonel Allen, of the First Maine Cavalry, for one company, and sent my only remaining, company, these two companies to proceed one to Woodsborough and one to Johnsville, and to cover the line of country with scouts from the vicinity of Creagerstown, Woodsborough, New Windors, and toward Westminster, and to communicate any information to General Pleasonton and myself.

As my company, ordered to Woodsborough, entered the town at 10.30 p. m., they found the head of the rebel column just passing through and taking the road to Liberty. This information was communicated to me at 12 midnight, with information that it, had also been sent to General Pleasonton, at Mechanicstown. This information being soon confirmed, that the rebel column was all passing toward Liberty, I at once sent a message and dispatch to General Marcy and yourself to that effect. A large portion of the rebel column halted between Woodsborough and Liberty, to feed and get information of our forces. Their rear guard did not leave Liberty until 7 a. m. of the 12th. I had no force whatever left me to follow their rear, or in any way to harass their march.

I have no casualties to report in my regiment. I would especially commend to your notice Corpl. John Anders, of Company D, regiment of Lancers, for gallantry on scout at Woodsborough. He dismounted and entered the town on foot, in disguise, while the rebel column was passing; talked freely with their men; was suspected and detained, and escaped and rejoined me soon after daylight, bringing most valuable information; also Private Joseph Dougherty, of the same company and regiment, for gallantry in dashing; through Emmitsburg while it was occupied by the enemy, in order to carry a message to my companies near Gettysburg.

I regret very much that this second raid has been so successfully accomplished by Stuart's cavalry; but, with the small and crippled force at my disposal near this town (but seven companies, of about 275), it has been impossible for me to do more than I have done to check this unfortunate raid.

My scouts captured 12 prisoners, a very intelligent young man, Jonathan Scott, of the First Virginia Cavalry. He tells me that the rebel force consisted of the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and Tenth Virginia Cavalry; the First and Second North Carolina Cavalry; the Cobb Legion, and the Jeff. Davis Legion, and was between 4,000 and 5,000 strong, and that they had captured and carried off 1,500 horses from Pennsylvania. This prisoner I have turned over to Colonel Allen, at Frederick, Md. He also states that they entered at Dam Numbers 5, and were to leave at Edwards Ferry.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Richard H. Rush, Colonel Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry, Lancers.”

In his official report Major General Alfred Pleasonton recalls the Emmitsburg area while in pursuit of the Confederate Cavalry under General Stuart.

“Headquarters Cavalry Division, Camp near Knoxville, Md., October 13 1862.

General: I have the honor to report the movements of my command in pursuit of the rebels who recently made a raid to Chambersburg. Pa.

On Saturday morning [October 11], at 4 o'clock I received my orders to start with my command, and soon after I was en route to Hagerstown where I arrived at about 11 a. m. Receiving information there that the rebels were moving in the direction of Mercersburg, I started with my command toward Clear Spring, on the Hancock road, to intercept them, had proceeded some 4 miles when I was ordered to halt, by dispatch from headquarters, and await further orders.

About 1.30 P.M, I received orders to move to Mechanicstown, via Cavetown and Harman's Gap, sending patrols to Emmitsburg and Gettysburg to obtain information of the enemy. I executed these orders, and arrived at Mechanicstown about 8.30 p. m., from which point I sent out scouts in the direction of Emmitsburg, Taneytown, Middleburg, and Graceham, and picketing all the roads in that vicinity.

At 12.30 a. m. my scouts in the direction of Middleburg reported that the rebel cavalry, under Stuart had passed through a small town, called Rocky Ridge, some 5 miles to the east of Mechanicstown, one hour before that time, taking a private road to Woodsborough, to which place said they were going, and from thence to Liberty, on the road to the Monocacy. They had traveled at a trot, and were continuing to do so. As soon as I received this information I started immediately for the mouth of the Monocacy, via Frederick City, passing through the latter about 5 o'clock in the morning, and reaching the Monocacy about 8 a. m. Upon my arrival I found some 400 or 500 infantry guarding the canal aqueduct, and picketing the roads, and fords in the vicinity. They told me that they had not seen or heard anything of the enemy. I immediately crossed to Monocacy with the portion of my command that had come up, viz, a part for the Eighth Illinois Cavalry, a part of the Third Indiana Cavalry, and two guns of Pennington's battery, and sent forward a company on the Barnesville road to reconnoiter that place, while the main column should move in the direction of Poolesville, to take up a position most suitable for covering the fords in that vicinity.

A. Pleasonton, Brigadier-General, Commanding”

General Stuart wrote in his official report about the expedition into Maryland and Pennsylvania. He gives in great detail how his cavalry moved throughout the countryside in Pennsylvania and also in Maryland. He also explains the citizens and how his cavalry treated them.

“Headquarters Cavalry Division, October 14, 1862.

Colonel: I have the honor to report that, on the 9th instant, in compliance with instructions from the commanding general Army of Northern Virginia, I proceeded on an expedition into Pennsylvania with a cavalry force of 1,800 and four pieces of horse artillery, under command of Brigadier-General Hampton and Cols. W. H. F. Lee and Jones. This force rendezvoused at Darkesville at 12 m., and marched thence to the vicinity of Hedgesville, where it encamped for the night.

At daylight next morning, October 10, I crossed the Potomac at McCoy's(between Williamsport and Hancock) with some little opposition, capturing two or there horses of enemy's pickets. We were told here by citizens that a large force had encamped the night before at Clear Spring, and were supposed to be en route to Cumberland. We proceeded northward until we reached the turnpike leading from Hagerstown to Hancock (known as the National road). Here a signal station on the mountain and most of the party, with their flags and apparatus, were surprised and captured, and also 8 or 10 prisoners of war, from whom, as well as from citizens, I found that the large force alluded to had crossed but an hour ahead of me toward Cumberland, and consisted of six regiments of Ohio troops and two batteries, under General Cox, and were en route via Cumberland for the Kanawha.

I sent back this intelligence at once to the commanding general. Striking directly across the National road, I proceeded in the direction of Mercersburg, Pa., which point was reached about 12m. I was extremely anxious to reach Hagerstown, where large supplies were stored, but was satisfied, from reliable information, the notice the enemy had of my approach and the proximity of his forces would enable him to prevent my capturing it. I therefore turned toward Chambersburg. I did not reach this point until after dark, in a rain. I did not deem it safe to defer the attack until morning, nor was it proper to attack a place full of women and children without summoning it first to surrender.

I accordingly sent in a flag of truce, and found no military or civil authority in the place, but some prominent citizens who met the officer were notified that the place would be occupied, and if any resistance were made, the place would be shelled in there minutes. Brig, General Wade Hampton's command, being in advance, took possession of the place, and I appointed him military governor of the city. No incident occurred during the night, during which it rained continuously. The officials all fled the town on our approach, and no one could be found who would admit that he held office in the place. About 275 sick and wounded in hospital were paroled. During the day a large number of horses of citizens were seized and brought along. The wires were cut, and railroad obstructed, and Colonel Jones' command was sent up the railroad toward Harrisburg to destroy a trestle-work a few miles off. He, however, reported that it was constructed of iron, and he could not destroy it.

Next morning it was ascertained that a large number of small-arms and munitions of war were stored about the railroad buildings, all of which that could not be easily brought away were destroyed, consisting of about 5,000 new muskets, pistols, sabers, ammunition; also a large assortment of army clothing. The extensive machine-shops and depot buildings of the railroad and several trains of loaded cars were entirely destroyed. From Chambersburg, I decided, after mature consideration, to strike for the vicinity of Leesburg as the best route of return, particularly as Cox's command would have rendered the direction of Cumberland, full of mountain gorges, particularly hazardous. The route selected was through an open country.

Of course I left nothing undone to prevent the inhabitants from detecting my real route and object. I started directly toward Gettysburg, but, having passed the Blue Ridge, turned back toward Hagerstown for 6 or 8 miles, and then crossed to Maryland, by Emmitsburg, where, as we passed, we were hailed by the inhabitants with the most enthusiastic demonstrations of joy. A scouting party of 150 lancers had just passed toward Gettysburg, and I regretted exceedingly that my march did not admit of the delay necessary to catch them.

Taking the road toward Frederick, we intercepted dispatches from Colonel Rush (lancers) to the commander of the scout, which satisfied me that our whereabouts was still a problem to the enemy. Before reaching Frederick I crossed the Monocacy, continued the march through the night, via Liberty, New Market, Monrovia, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, where we cut the telegraph wires and obstructed the railroad. We reached, at daylight, Hyattstown, on McClellan's line of wagon communication with Washington, but we found only a few wagons to capture, and pushed on to Barnesville, which we found just vacated by a company of the enemy's cavalry. We had here corroborated what we had heard before, that Stoneman had between 4,000 and 5,000 troops about Poolesville and guarding the river fords.

I lost not a man killed on the expedition, and only a few slight wounds. The enemy's loss is not known, but Pelham's one gun compelled the enemy's battery to change it position three times. The remainder of the march was destitute of interest. The conduct of the command and their behavior toward the inhabitants is worthy of the highest praise; a few individual cases only were exceptions in this particular.

Brigadier-General Hampton and Colonels Lee, Jones, Wickham, and Butler, and the officers and men under their command, are entitled to my lasting gratitude for their coolness in danger and cheerful obedience to orders. Unoffending persons were treated with civility, and the inhabitants were generous in proffers of provisions on the march. We seized and brought over a large number of horses, the property of citizens of the United States. The valuable information obtained in this reconnaissance as to the distribution of the enemy's force communicated orally to the commanding general, and need not be here repeated. A number of public functionaries and prominent citizens were taken captives and brought over as hostages for our own unoffending citizens, whom the enemy has form from their homes and confined in dungeons in the North. One or two of my men lost their way, and are probably in the hands of the enemy.

The results of this expedition, in a moral and political point of view, can hardly be estimated, and the consternation among property holders in Pennsylvania beggars description. I am especially indebted to Captain B. S. White (C. S. Cavalry) and to Messrs. Hugh Logan and Harbaugh, whose skillful guidance was of immense service to me. My staff is entitled to my thanks for untiring energy in the discharge of their duties.

I enclose a map to appear in Atlas of the expedition, drawn by Captain William W. Blackford, to accompany this report: also a copy of orders enforced during the march. Believing that the hand of God was clearly manifested in the signal deliverance of my command from danger, and the crowning success attending it, I ascribe to Him the praise, the honor, and the glory.

I have the honor to be, most respectfully, your obedient servant, J. E. B. Stuart, Major-General, Commanding Cavalry. CSA”

At daylight of October 12, General Stuarts advance guard entered Hyattstown, over 33 miles from Emmitsburg. General Stuart along with his men and artillery had traveled an amazing 65 miles within 20 hours. By the time General Stuart reached Hyattstown on October 12th, Cole's cavalry caught up with the rear of Confederate cavalry. A skirmish developed and seven Confederate troopers were captured.

The Federal cavalry had several opportunities to attack General Stuart’s cavalry at Emmitsburg and Rocky Ridge. With false intelligence, missed opportunities, and the slowness of the Federal couriers of these intelligence dispatches had allowed General Stuart more time to get further away.

To Beloved during the Victorian Era

2011-08-07T10:08:00.000-04:00

St. Valentine’s Day during the Victorian Era was very much as romantic then as it is today, if not more so. During the time of the Civil War, soldiers and their special ladies on this day would share their Valentines. Civil War valentines were very different than the valentines we share with our wives or girlfriends; they were more personal, eloquently written and elaborately drawn. A valentine novelty from the woman to her loved one on the front lines would include a locket of her hair. While missing their loved ones, ladies would create what is called a window valentine which showed couples parting ways or a tent with the flaps wide open to reveal a soldier inside. Another popular valentine of the time was known as the paper valentine doll. This doll was made from paper and featured a printed face and feet dressed with paper or cloth for clothes.

Although I have currently have no first hand accounts of Emmitsburg soldiers participating in Valentine’s Day, that does not mean that they didn’t experience love or greatly miss their loved ones back home. As time allowed, when they were not on duty or skirmishing with their enemy, many soldiers spent Valentine’s Day writing letters home. With no newspaper in Emmitsburg during the time of the Civil War, we do not have any articles about Valentine’s Day in Emmitsburg during the Civil War.

Instead of abandoning all hopes of bringing to life how people who lived during the Victorian era and the time of the Civil War celebrated Valentine’s Day and their thoughts of love, I would like to share with you editorials from the citizens of the nearby town of Waynesboro. Using their words; one can imagine how the people of Emmitsburg lived and what their thoughts may have been when it came down to the issue of love in everyday society. Some of the editorials are very comical, yet very true to this day. The following accounts were researched through the “Valley of the Shadow” website, a research project that compares two areas within the same geography region separated by the Mason & Dixon Line.

This editorial is entitled “On the Choice of a Wife” and was first published February 20, 1863, in the Waynesboro Village Record. “’Go my son,’ said the Eastern sage to Talmore, ‘go forth to the world, be wise in the pursuit of knowledge—be wise in the accumulation of riches—be wise in the choice of friends; yet little will avail thee, if thou choosest not wisely the wife of thy bosom.’”

“A wife! what a sacred name-what a responsible office? She must be the unspotted sanctuary to which wearied man may flee from the crimes or the world, and feel that no sin dare enter there. A wife? She must be the guardian angel of his footsteps, on earth, and guide them to Heaven; so firm in virtue that should he for a moment waver, she can yield him support, and replace him upon his firm foundation: so happy in conscious innocence, that when from the perplexities of the world he turns to his home, he may never find a frown where he sought a smile. Such, my son, thou seekest in a wife--and reflect well ere thou choosest.”

“Open not thy bosom to the trifler; repose not thy head on the breast that nurseth envy and folly and vanity. Hope not for obedience where the passions are untamed; and expect not honor from her who honoreth not the God who made her.”

“Though thy place be next to the throne of princes and the countenance of loyalty, beam upon thee—though thy riches be as the pearls of Omar, and thy name honored from the East to the West, little will avail thee if darkness and disappointment, and strife be in thine own habitation. There must be passed thine hours in solitude and sickness-and there must thou die. Reflect then, my son, ere thou choosest, and look well to her ways whom thou wouldst love; for though thou be wise in other things—little will it avail thee if thou choosest not wisely the wife of thy bosom.”

Another editorial appeared in the Franklin Repository on May 4, 1864 entitled “Wisdom in Making Love” in which the piece offers advice for men about picking a wife: "one year's possession of the heart and hand of a really noble woman, is worth nine hundred and ninety-nine years' possession of a sweet creature with two ideas in her head, and nothing new to say about either of them."

On August 14, 1867, two years after the Civil War the Valley Spirit featured another column titled “Truths For Wives” that discussed the role a wife maintained: domestic happiness and safeguardeding their husbands' respectability and credit. The article states: “In domestic happiness, the wife's influence is much greater than her husband's for the one, the first cause-mutual love and confidence-being granted, the whole comfort of the household depends upon trifles more immediately under her jurisdiction. By her management of small sums, her husband's respectability and credit are created or destroyed. No fortune can stand the constant leakages of extravagance and mismanagement, and more is spent in trifles than women would easily believe. The one great expense, whatever it may be, is turned over and carefully reflected on, and the income is prepared to meet it; but it is pennies imperceptibly sliding away which do mischief; and this the wife alone can stop, for it does not come within man's province. There is often an unsuspected trifle to be saved in every household.”

“It is not in economy alone that the wife's attention is so necessary, but in those niceties which make a well regulated house. An unfurnished cruet-stand, a missing key, a buttonless shirt, a soiled table-cloth, a mustard-pot with its old, cold contents shaking down about it, are really nothings; but each can raise an angry word and cause discomfort. Depend upon it, there is a great deal of domestic happiness about a well dressed mutton chop, or a tidy breakfast table. Men grow sated of beauty, tired of music, are often too weary for conversation, however intellectual; but they can always appreciate a well kept hearth and smiling comfort.”

“A woman may love her husband devotedly—may sacrifice fortune, friends, family, country, for him-she may have the genius of a Sappho, the enchanted beauties of an Armida, but—melancholy fact—if with these she fails to make his home comfortable, his heart will inevitably escape her. And women live so entirely in the affections that without love their existence is void. Better submit, then, to household tasks, however repugnant they may be to your tastes, than doom yourself to a loveless home. Women of a higher order of mind will not run this risk; they know that the feminine, their domestic, are their first duties.”

Two weeks later in the Valley Spirit on August 28, 1867, an article was published entitled “The Wife” and contained a brief homily to men admonishing them to cherish their wives. “Only let a woman be sure that she is precious to her husband—not useful, not valuable, not convenient simply, but lovely and beloved; let her be the recipient of his polite and hearty attention, let her feel that her care and love are noticed, appreciated and returned, let her opinion be asked, her approval sought, and her judgment respected in matters of which she is cognizant; in short, let only be loved, honored and cherished, in fulfillment of the marriage vow, and she will be to her husband, her children, and society, a well-spring of pleasure. She will bear pain, and toil and anxiety, for her husband's love to her is a tower and a fortress. Shielded and sheltered therein, adversity will have lost its sting. She may suffer, but sympathy will dull the edge of sorrow. A house with love in it—and by love I mean love expressed in words, in looks, and deeds, for I have not one spark of faith in love that never crops out—is to a house without love, as a person to a machine; one is life, the other is mechanism—the unloved woman may have bread just as light, a house just as tidy as the other, but the latter has a spring of beauty about her, a joyousness, and aggressive, penetrating and pervading brightness to which the former is a stranger. The deep happiness in her heart shines out in her face. She gleams over it. It is airy, and graceful, and warm and welcoming with her presence; she is full in devices and plots, and sweet surprise for husband and family. She has never done with the romance and poetry of life. She herself is a lyric poem setting herself to all pure and gracious melodies. Humble household ways and duties have for her a golden significance. The prize makes her calling high, and the end sanctifies the means, ‘Love is Heaven, and Heaven is Love.’"

News and Other Tidbits

2011-08-01T11:01:00.002-04:00

North Carolina Monument Trail:
The South Mountain Battlefield has a new trail. The 13th North Carolina reenactors built a trail in Wise’s South Field. Although their intention was to make it safer for people to walk back to the North Carolina Monument, the trail does take you through the area where Philip’s Georgian Legion and the 3rd South Carolina Battalion were hit by a portion of Welsh’s Brigade of General Wilcox’s Division. Although there are no interpretive markers along the trail, it does make it easier for a battlefield guide to take visitors through the woods and explain what happened in Wise’s South Field. The trail was built in June of 2011. The trail can be found near the corner of the Reno Monument. For more information about the Battle of South Mountain, please use the search option of this blog.

Programming:
So far to date, our programming at South Mountain State Battlefield has been very successful. We did two major living histories at the actual Washington Monument which were attended by over a thousand visitors. The first was a Confederate infantry living history that was centered around the Confederate Invasion of 1863. The second living history focused on the 151st New York Infantry that guarded South Mountain during the Battle of Gettysburg. These two programs informed the public of the larger role that South Mountain had during the Civil War. Other programs have included, battlefield hikes, talks and various demonstrations. The Hands on History that the staff of South Mountain State Battlefield conducts through Antietam National Battlefield has also been very successful. Although the Amide of Smoke and Battle, was moved to a different location, it was a great living history program that allowed visitors to see authentic bivouac and understand South Carolina’s role during the Battle of South Mountain.

Monterey Pass:
To the north of South Mountain State Battlefield is he Monterey Pass Battlefield. Since the formation of the Friends of Monterey Pass Battlefield, over $30,000 has been donated for the preservation of the first acre of land. To date, the Monterey Pass Battlefield has $15,000 to go before the first acre is purchased. To all who donated, I would like to say thank you. Also, a gentleman donated his collection of artifacts to the Friends of Monterey Pass Battlefield. These artifacts include shoulder scales that were worn by Union troops, several dug pieces to an Enfield Rifle, a Smith and Wesson 22cal revolver with bullets still in it. Various bullets and buttons and a smoothside canteen were among the donation. We are hoping to display these items soon.

Other news tidbits include the First Year Anniversary of the Cornstalk Mess. The Cornstalk Mess is a Civil War living history group that is dedicated solely to interpreting various aspects of the Civil War locally. This year, the group has have participated in numerous programs at Antietam National Battlefield, South Mountain State Battlefield, Monterey Pass Battlefield, Chambersburg, Blue Ridge Summit Library, Thurmont Library and Gettysburg National Battlefield where they fell in with the Southern Grays for the Sharpshooters program and the Liberty Rifles sponsored Florida Brigade march. We look forward to working with other quality units that are dedicated to research, authenticity and most of all companionship. If you are interested in falling in with us or would like to actually join us, please see our website and our facebook page.

After the Battle of Gettysburg: The Movements of the Third Corps

2011-07-25T12:32:00.003-04:00

The First - The Second - The Third - The Fifth - The Sixth - The Eleventh - The Twelfth

At daylight on July 4th, after the dust had settled at Gettysburg, the horrible task facing the soldiers that remained were burying the dead and collecting arms scattered over the battlefield. The rain set in and high winds swept across the battlefield making the bivouac of soldiers miserable. With the morning of July 5th dawning, the soldiers of the Third Corps would continue caring for the wounded. While his soldiers at Gettysburg carried out the monotonous tasks that had to be done after battle, the wounded Third Corps commander General Daniel Sickles, made his way to Washington where he rested and was visited by the President.

By July 5th, General George Meade issued orders to his corps commanders for a withdraw from Gettysburg. All reports that came to General Meade stated that the Confederate army had already retreated from Gettysburg and was on the road heading in the direction of South Mountain. General David B. Birney assumed temporary command of the Third Corps, and seeing to it that General Meade’s orders were carried out, his new command pursued the Confederate army.

The following morning, the Third Corps was put into motion but halted a short way from Gettysburg, on their way to Emmitsburg. Some reports state that the Third Corps returned to their original position. The roads that carried the Third Corps to Gettysburg were blocked by the Eleventh Corps, the First Corps and the Fifth Corps. The Sixth Corps were also ordered to march from Fairfield to Emmitsburg. Emmitsburg would see two-thirds of the Army of the Potomac marching through during the night of July 6th and into the morning of July 7th.

By three o’clock in the morning on July 7th, the Third Corps began its march to Emmitsburg. Arriving at Emmitsburg, several of the brigades took pleasure in resting in the fields surrounding the town. Unfortunately for the men, the rest was a miserable one, as they had no protection from the elements of the weather, nor found any comfort in resting on the muddy ground. Shortly after 1:00 p.m. the Third Corps began its march on the Emmitsburg Road to Mechanicstown, known as Thurmont today, bivouacking there for the night at around sunset.

At six o’clock in the morning on July 8th, the Third Corps resumed their line of march toward Frederick. As the Third Corps neared Lewistown, the soldiers began marching toward Hamburg Pass, where they found the road badly tore up. The route was promptly changed, and they marched to Frederick City. The 141st Pennsylvania brought up the rear of the Corps and noted that the country side was a vast “sea of mud.” The march was a hard one, as the soldiers carried their guns with the muzzles pointed toward the ground, their blanket rolls were soaking wet and because of that, made heavier, and those who chose to carry their knapsacks found it be bulky. The march halted at 10:00 p.m. that night with the Third Corps resting on the road to Middletown, just outside of Frederick.

At 4:00 a.m. on July 9th, the Third Corps began marching toward Middletown, bringing up the rear of the Army of the Potomac. Upon reaching Middletown, the Third Corps were issued rations and continued to march to South Mountain, where they were to march over to Fox’s Gap at approximately 10:00 a.m. The men rested upon the mountainside until about 6:00 p.m. when they were ordered to resume their march. At 7:00 p.m. orders were given for the Third Corps to encamp west of Fox’s Gap, while the rear of the Corps encamped on the South Mountain Battlefield at Fox’s Gap.

The next morning, at six o’clock, the march toward the Antietam Creek began. The soldiers passed through Keedysville, and halted near General Meade's headquarters near the Devil’s Backbone. The march was again harsh and the soldiers were thankful when they were ordered to bivouac at 9:30 that night. Unfortunately for the men, again, orders were issued, and the march was resumed. Finally, at 2:00 a.m. orders were again given to bivouac for the night, this time near Poolesville.

At 6:00 a.m. on July 11th, the Third Corps began to go into position in support of the Fifth Corps. At four o’clock that evening more alignments were made and the soldiers of the Third Corps bivouacked for the night. The following morning, the Third Corps remained in the same position until about noon when portions of the Third Corps marched about one mile, went into bivouac, and massed in a woods about 1½ miles to the rear of Marsh Creek. During the day, on July 13th, not much was recorded, and it is presumed that the Third Corps was still encamped in the same area.

At dawn on July 14th, the Third Corps was ordered to support the Twelfth Corps, marching about one mile before encamping for the night. The Confederate army had already crossed the Potomac River during the night of July 13th. General Meade issued orders for a withdraw from Williamsport, and to cross the Potomac River at, or near, Sandy Point.

On July 15th, the Third Corps marched from Williamsport to Sharpsburg. After passing through Sharpsburg, the Third Corps crossed over what had become Burnside’s Bridge, marching about a half of a mile and were bivouacked at 1:00 p.m. The next day, the Third Corps began their march into Pleasant Valley at six o’clock in the morning and marched to Brownsville, near Maryland Heights, where they encamped at 2:00 p.m. Late in the day on July 17th, the Third Corps marched to Harper’s Ferry, crossing the Potomac River on pontoons, and marched another five miles before encamping for the night.

At this point, the Pennsylvania Campaign ended for the Third Corps. They would continue their march to Hillsborough, Virginia, where the South Mountain range begins in a series of rolling hills known as Short Hill Mountain.

After the Battle of Gettysburg: The Movements of the Twelfth Corps

2011-07-20T07:41:00.002-04:00

The First - The Second - The Third - The Fifth - The Sixth - The Eleventh - The Twelfth

For the men of the Twelfth Corp, July Fourth was spent caring for the wounded, burying the dead, and reconnaissance of the Confederate army. General Ruger’s brigade of infantry was moved forward and found that the Confederate positions were abandoned. Details of men were sent out, collecting over 2,000 arms, and burying more than 600 Confederate dead. Dark clouds came in from the west and during the late afternoon, the heavens opened. It didn’t take long for the dust to turn into mud.

The next morning, the Twelfth Corps was still dealing with the horrible task of burying the dead and collecting arms. General George Meade issued orders to his Corps commanders. The Twelfth Corps was to take up a line of march to Littlestown, march to Frederick, cross South Mountain via Middletown, and travel to Crampton’s Gap.

On July 6th, the Twelfth Corps began its line of march toward Bruceville. The leading elements arrived near Littlestown and encamped for there the night. The rains had made the roads very muddy. Many of the rear regiments had a hard time keeping up with the main column. Upon encamping at Littlestown, the soldiers quickly realized that their reception from the citizens was a cold one. Many soldiers became upset to find that the citizens were selling food and supplies at such inflated prices. The men who had thought the townspeople were providing them with a feast, came to find out that they had to pay for the items after they had eaten them.

At 4:00 a.m. on July 7th, the tired, and wet soldiers began a long trek that would take them to the banks of the Monocacy River, roughly thirty miles away. Several of the soldiers were without a good pair of shoes. General Henry Slocum wrote “Although many of the men were destitute of shoes, and all greatly fatigued by the labor and anxiety of a severely contested battle, as well as by the heavy marches which had preceded it, still, a march of 29 miles was made this day.” The roads were very difficult to march upon and the open fields were not much better. By dusk, the head of the column had made it as far as Frederick, while the rear portions of the Twelfth Corps encamped near Walkersville.

The next day, July 8th, after a drenching storm had passed by, the first rays of sunlight shone brightly through the clouds. The Twelfth Corps marched through Frederick, and on toward Middletown via Braddock’s Gap on the Catoctin Mountain. Once arriving in Middletown, the Twelfth Corps marched due south toward Jefferson and Burkettsville. General A. S. Williams, commanding a division, sent a brigade of infantry to relieve a regiment of the Third Corps who had occupied Crampton’s Gap. His division would encamp near Crampton’s Gap for the night while the rear elements would encamp in the fields near Jefferson and Burkettsville.

The next day, the Twelfth Corps crossed over South Mountain at Crampton’s Gap and began its advance toward Rohrersville, where they would encamp for the night. At day break on July 10th, the Twelfth Corps marched from Rohrersville to Bakersville via Keedysville, following the same road they had used the day before the Battle of Antietam in September of 1862.

On the 11th of July, the march resumed, taking the Twelfth Corps to Fair Play and then onto Jones’ Crossroads, where they deployed in a line of battle to the left of the Second Corps. The Twelfth Corps became the left wing of the Army of the Potomac. The following day was spent repositioning, as a Confederate force was spotted near Saint James College. Colonel Archibald L. McDougall, commanding First Brigade, First Division, recalled the movements of his brigade near Saint James College “In connection with the other brigades of the division, we advanced our line of battle upon the left of the Williamsport and Hagerstown pike about a mile, and remained in this position for awhile, when we fell back about 400 yards, and commenced building breastworks.”

The Twelfth Corps would hold the same position throughout the day on July 13th. General Henry Slocum wrote “The 12th and 13th were spent in endeavoring to ascertain the position of the enemy in our front, which we found great difficulty in accomplishing. Marsh Run extended along the position held by the enemy in our front, and at this time it was passable only at the bridges, the heavy rains having raised the water much beyond its usual depth, and caused it to overrun the marsh land in our front. During the night of the 13th, the enemy recrossed the Potomac.”

On July 14th, The Twelfth Corps moved slowly and cautiously toward Williamsport. Colonel McDougall wrote about the movements of his brigade: “The brigade was moved to the front; formed a line of battle on the left of the pike; threw out the Third Maryland Regiment as skirmishers, who soon reported that the enemy had evacuated their position in front the night before, when we commenced our march in column down the pike toward Williamsport, and, after advancing about 2 miles, turned to the left toward Falling Waters, and, after proceeding about 2 miles farther, were halted, when our skirmishers, who had preceded us, brought in 6 commissioned officers and 235 enlisted men as prisoners, being a portion of the rear guard of the enemy. It was ascertained at this time that the enemy had crossed the river, and for the time had eluded our pursuit.”

General Alpheus S. Williams commanding the First Division of the Twelfth Corps wrote: “The division was ordered to make a reconnaissance along the Williamsport road, in connection with a division of the Second Corps. Marched out at 6:00 a.m. and sent forward a regiment from each brigade as skirmishers. Found the enemy's works deserted, and advanced the skirmishers, followed by the brigades, excepting Lockwood's, down the peninsula toward Falling Waters, until information was received from the commanding officer of cavalry that the enemy had wholly crossed, when the brigades were halted. Our skirmishers had a sharp engagement with the enemy's rear guard, and sent in between 200 and 300 prisoners, a special report of which has been forwarded. At 4 o'clock recalled the skirmishers, and fell back and encamped in the vicinity of Williamsport.”

After a direct pursuit was called off, General Meade issued orders for his army to pull back to Sandy Point, and cross the Potomac River. The Twelfth Corps marched through Downsville, Bakersville, and Sharpsburg. Upon reaching the Antietam Iron Works the Twelfth Corps took River Road toward Harper’s Ferry, encamping on the high grounds in Pleasant Valley near Sandy Hook. Once near Harper’s Ferry, the soldiers were to receive clothing and other supplies. By July 19th, the Twelfth Corps began crossing the Potomac River into Virginia where they would pursue the Confederate army as far as Warrenton Junction, Virginia, where they arrive on July 26th.

Photographs of Pleasant Valley are from the 1890's - South Mountain State Battlefield Archives

After the Battle of Gettysburg: The Movements of the Second Corps

2011-07-18T13:59:00.005-04:00

The First - The Second - The Third - The Fifth - The Sixth - The Eleventh - The Twelfth

At dawn on the Fourth of July, the Second Corps was still holding the same position as it did during Pickett’s Charge. General Winfield Hancock was wounded during the Confederate assault in addition to General John Gibbon. The responsibilities to lead the Second Corps during their pursuit of the retreating Confederate army fell upon General William Hays. For the soldiers of Second Corps, July 4th and a portion of July 5th was spent burying the dead, collecting arms and accouterments from the battlefield and caring for the wounded.

On July 5th, General George Meade issued orders for their withdraw from the Gettysburg battlefield to pursue the retreating Confederates. At about 3:00 p.m. the Second Corps began leaving their hastily made breastworks, and began marching in the direction of the Baltimore Pike. Fording Marsh Creek, the Second Corps marched to Two Taverns, where they bivouacked for the night. The day had been a wet one as they traveled along the muddy roads and the soldiers were thankful when they reached Two Taverns at 8:00 p.m. that night.

The 6th of July was spent bivouacked in the fields surrounding Two Taverns. The citizens of Two Taverns were not very hospitable and did not treat the soldiers very kindly. Already in a disagreeable mood due to the foul weather, the soldiers’ presence in their town made the inhabitants even more unpleasant. The citizens of Two Taverns opened their stores to the soldiers and began to charge dramatically inflated prices for goods that the soldiers wanted to purchase. Several soldiers were very upset with the townspeople and thought that the march elsewhere could not come fast enough.

At five o’clock in the morning on July 7th, the Second Corps began their march to Taneytown, where they would encamp near the road that would take them directly to Frederick. After marching across the Mason Dixon Line, the soldiers had a warmer reception in Maryland. The Second Corps arrived at Taneytown during the later part of the morning. Here, the Second Corps would bivouac and receive rations. Along the eight mile march in the rain, they received loads of milk and other goodies. Near Taneytown, the ladies made bread to give to the soldiers.

At five o’clock in the morning on July 8th, the Second Corps took up their line of march on the road that led directly to Frederick. Before sunrise, another major storm swept through the area, making it a total of four days of severe weather. Soon the rain subsided and the first rays of sunshine broke through the clouds. The roads that the Second Corps traveled through the little towns of New Midway, Woodsboro, and Walkersville were very tore up by the recent rains. Upon reaching the banks of the Monocacy River at 5:00 p.m., the Second Corps was ordered to bivouac. They had marched about twenty miles during the day.

At 6:00 a.m. on July 9th, the Second Corps began its march toward Crampton’s Gap, upon the South Mountain range. The weather was hot and the march was slow. The soldiers passed through a small horizon of the Catoctin Mountain, passing through the small town of Jefferson and Burkettsville. During the day many soldiers, unable to keep up with the long march, were forced out of line and fell along the side of the road waiting on the ambulances to come by and pick them up. While others too sick to move were taken in by the families who occupied the farms that dotted the landscape.

Upon marching through Burkettsville, Crampton’s Gap had to be crossed. Many of the soldiers reflected upon this area with a heavy heart, as it was the scene of the battle they had heard about that took place in September of 1862. This was the area where General William Franklin’s Sixth Corps fought portions of General Lafayette McLaw’s division in the days prior to the Battle of Antietam. Once marching over South Mountain, the Second Corps entered Pleasant Valley, and proceeded toward Rohrersville. The lead elements would encamp near Rohrersville while the rear portion of the Second Corps encamped just west of Crampton’s Gap. The Second Corps had marched roughly twenty-two miles that day.

The next day, on the 10th of July, the Second Corps began their march at around six in the morning. They marched through Rohrersville taking the road that led to Keedysville. Upon fording the Anitetam Creek at Keedysville, many soldiers recalled memories of the Battle of Antietam. The Antietam Creek was running high due to the recent rains. With this, many men undressed, placing their clothes under their rubber blankets in order to keep their clothes dry, and bathed while fording the creek.

The Second Corps continued its march toward Jones’ Crossroads. The lead elements made it as far as Smoketown and Tilghmanton, covering a total distance of twelve miles. The rear of the Second Corps managed to bivouac three miles north of Keedysville. Prior to receiving orders to encamp, the leading elements formed a line of battle near Jones’ Crossroads, paralleling the Hagerstown Pike. They would encamp there for the night, sending out pickets.

The next day at 4:00 a.m. reveille was sounded, and by 6:00 a.m. the Second Corps continued its march toward Hagerstown. Many of the men marched through the wheat fields near Saint James, where a halt was made near noon. There, the Second Corps formed a line of battle to the left of the Fifth Corps, with the wing resting on the Hagerstown Road.

The soldiers found a spring where cold water was flowing. There, many of the men who did not clean up at the Antietam Creek began to wash their uniforms when orders to fall in were given. The soldiers took their uniforms and tried to dry them the best that they could. Some of the men placed their fatigue blouse on their bayonet to let the air dry them. Skirmishers were sent out and engaged a few Confederate skirmishers but no major assault was made. The Union skirmishers managed to drive them in, and overtook their positions by nightfall. By 9:00 p.m. another change in the deployment of the Second Corps was made, ordering the soldiers to be parallel with the Hagerstown Pike. On this night the soldiers would sleep with rifles in hand.

On July 12th, the Second Corps moved about three-quarters of a mile to the spot where their skirmishers from the previous day had occupied. Their position was located upon a crest in the landscape with heavy timber located nearby. Some men were positioned along a rocky ledge. General Alexander Webb noted that his brigade took position facing northwest, and was in front of Saint James College. Skirmishers moved forward, and again began engaging the Confederate pickets. As the darkness of night neared, the soldiers began to dig in and build entrenchments. Dirt and rails were abundant in the area and those resources were perfect for breastworks. That night, another rainstorm blew in.

On July 13th, the right wing of the Second Corps moved forward about a half of a mile and took position facing the west, looking toward Williamsport. While the right wing moved to its new position, the rest of the men continued to work on their entrenchments. They were expecting a Confederate attack that never came. During the night, the Confederate army withdrew from Williamsport and retreated into Virginia.

The next day, at 6:00 a.m. in the morning, portions of the Second Corps were ordered to Williamsport, where it was discovered that the Confederate army had retreated. Several Confederate soldiers were captured. As General John Brooke’s brigade continued pressing the rear of the Confederate army toward Falling Waters, skirmishes broke out. Brooke’s brigade eventually encamped near Falling Waters. Colonel H. Boyd McKeen’s brigade, who held the advance of the pursuing Second Corps, captured fifty Confederate soldiers, and gave up the pursuit near Falling Waters.

On July 15th, the Second Corps was ordered toward Sandy Hook. Many of the men marched from Williamsport, passing through Downsville to Sharpsburg, and encamped near Harper’s Ferry that night along the C&O Canal. Early the next morning, the Second Corps marched toward Sandy Hook. Many of the soldiers in Pleasant Valley had received new uniforms and rations. Several of the men took the opportunity to bath in the Potomac River. They remained at Sandy Hook and Pleasant Valley until July 18th at 6:00 a.m. when they crossed the Potomac River into Virginia.

After the Battle of Gettysburg: The Movements of the Fifth Corps

2011-07-15T10:56:00.007-04:00

The First - The Second - The Third - The Fifth - The Sixth - The Eleventh - The Twelfth

On July 4th, after the Battle of Gettysburg, the Fifth Corps remained in position upon the battlefield. Skirmishers were sent out to reconnaissance the position of the Confederate army. Once ascertained that an attack would not be made, the Fifth Corps began performing several tasks that had to be done. One task such task was the burial of the dead. Other tasks included collecting the arms lying across the battlefield, and see to the care of the wounded.

As July 5th dawned, it was certain that the Confederate army was in full retreat. General George Meade issued orders to his army to begin the pursuit of the retreating Confederate army. Meade’s plan called for an immediate march following parallel to that of the Confederate army, using the eastern side of the Catoctin Mountain, and pouring into the Middletown Valley by way of Hamburg Pass, High Knob, Shookstown Pass and Braddock’s Gap. At around 5:00 p.m. that evening, the Fifth Corps was put into motion and encamped on the road that night.

On July 6th, at 6:00 a.m. the Fifth Corps was again put into motion. Their destination was Emmitsburg, Maryland. Upon reaching Marsh Creek, three miles north of Emmitsburg at 12:00 p.m. they were forced to bivouac, having marched only three miles. The next day at 6:00 a.m. the Fifth Corps marched through Emmitsburg and took Old Frederick Road, passing through Creagerstown. They encamped near Utica, five miles north of Frederick, at around 6:00 p.m., covering a total distance of about twenty-miles. The march and encampment was a miserable one. The rain kept falling in torrents and the men were soaked to the bone. With marching orders being light, the soldiers did not have many of the conveniences such as their shelter tents. Most of that was packed in the quartermaster wagons.

At day break, the Fifth Corps broke camp and began its march to High Knob Pass. The road leading to High Knob is narrow and very steep. The Fifth Corps finally made it to Middletown at around 4:00 p.m. By nightfall, the Fifth Corps was encamped near South Mountain. Since July 5th, they had marched about fifty-five miles. The next day, the Fifth Corps crossed over South Mountain at Fox’s Gap, encamping along the old Sharpsburg Road.

On July 10th, the men broke camp early in the morning and marched toward Boonsboro. As Union cavalry and portions of the Sixth Corps were fighting it out in Funkstown, portions of the Fifth Corps formed a line of battle near Boonsboro, but no such attack came. Soon afterwards, they proceeded to Jones’ Crossroads and eventually encamped near Delaware Mills, arriving there around 3:00 p.m. The wagon train carrying the supplies of the Fifth Corps remained stationary at Turner’s Gap.

On July 11th, the Fifth Corps began marching toward Funsktown, then changing direction, began advancing toward Pleasant Valley. The following day, the Fifth Corps continued its line of march on the Hagerstown and Sharpsburg Pike and traveled toward Hagerstown. The Fifth Corps spend the day of July 13th, doing picket duty, maneuvering, and building breastworks in preparation of a Confederate attack that would never come. On July 14th, the Fifth Corps moved toward Williamsport and encamped at Roxbury Mills along the Antietam Creek for the night.

At 4:00 a.m. on July 15th, the Fifth Corps marched back toward Jones’ Crossroads and directly to Keedysville, using the Upper Bridge of the Antietam Creek. They crossed South Mountain at Fox’s Gap and marched to Burkittsville, arriving there at 5:00 p.m. where they would encamp for the night. The next day, the Fifth Corps marched to Berlin where they crossed the Potomac River on July 17th.

After the Battle of Gettysburg: The Movements of the Eleventh Corps

2011-07-14T10:36:00.008-04:00

The First - The Second - The Third - The Fifth - The Sixth - The Eleventh - The Twelfth

After the Battle of Gettysburg on July 4th, Colonel Andrew L Harris, acting commander of Second Brigade, First Division of the Eleventh Corps, was ordered to throw his brigade forward into Gettysburg. Upon reaching the town, he found out that very few Confederates were in charge of the town, and they were quickly captured. Colonel Harris and Second Brigade were among the first to reenter Gettysburg since the Union withdraw from the town. While in Gettysburg, Colonel Noble assumed command of the brigade and Colonel Harris returned to his regiment, the 75th Ohio Volunteers.

The next day, General George Meade issued orders to his army. The Eleventh Corps was to take up march from Rock Creek to Emmitsburg, where it was ordered to bivouac. Major Fredrick C. Winkler recalled “Our corps remained until Sunday night, when we started on a horribly muddy road, marched till twelve o'clock at night, when we found ourselves five or six miles from Cemetery Hill; that was a beautiful cemetery when we entered it, but it has been terribly disfigured.”

When the Eleventh Corps left Gettysburg they, along with the Fifth Corps, took a portion of the Taneytown Road. Lieutenant Colonel Adolphus Dobke, commanding the 45th Regiment New York Volunteers also recalls the road conditions. He wrote: “After the battle (Gettysburg), the regiment remained on the battlefield on Cemetery Hill until 6:00 p.m. July 5, when it marched off toward Emmitsburg. At midnight the march was stopped, owing to the complete darkness and the horrible condition of the roads, which were nearly impassable from the heavy rain of the last two days.”

At 8:30 in the morning on the 6th, General Oliver O. Howard received an order from General Meade about the layout of the Union army as it withdrew from Gettysburg. It stated “I should like to have one of your corps at Emmitsburg, and the other in position on a road leading to Fairfield, from whence it could be thrown either to Fairfield or Emmitsburg. Not knowing General Sykes' position, I must leave to you the selection of the corps to occupy Emmitsburg.” General Howard was also commanding the Fifth Corps which was under the command of General George Sykes. While preparations were still being made, General Meade also sent a message at around 9:00 a.m. to General John Sedgwick, commander of the Sixth Corps. This message stated that “I have also directed General Howard (who commands the Fifth and Eleventh Corps) to post one of his corps at Emmitsburg, and the other on the same road leading to Fairfield, from whence it can be thrown up there.”

During the afternoon Lieutenant Colonel Dobke noted that his unit arrived at Emmitsburg at 4:00 p.m. The men bivouacked at Emmitsburg and mingled with members of the Sisters of Charity. At 3:30 a.m. on July 7th, the Eleventh Corps would press ahead of the Union army. Their destination was the town of Middletown. Marching for several hours from Emmitsburg, the Eleventh Corps marched down Old Frederick Road to Creagerstown and then to Utica, where they would turn westward and march to the Catoctin Mountain, crossing over at High Knob Pass. High Knob was a steep, rocky and narrow road which the artillery and wagons found it difficult to move upon. The horses as well as the men were completely exhausted. The advance of General Carl Schurz’s Third Division reached Middletown at around 8:00 p.m. that evening.

Lieutenant Colonel Dobke was among Schurz’s Division and recalled: “The heaviest march of the campaign was executed, marching 32 miles from Emmitsburg, and arrived at 10 p. m. at Middletown, a distance of 34 miles, through the open fields, taking a narrow pass road over the mountains in a circuit. Toward night the rain descended in torrents, amid which men and beasts sank down, tired to death, most of the soldiers without any shoes, barefooted, or shoes so ragged or torn that they did not deserve the name.”

The roads were so badly tore up from the heavy rains, that the Second and First Divisions were forced to take Old Frederick Road almost to Frederick and march westward, passing through Shookstown Pass on the Catoctin Mountain. As midnight passed, the First and Second Divisions would take the National Road from the Catoctin Mountain and continue their march to Middletown. The Eleventh Corps covered more ground than any other army corps in the Army of the Potomac. The rear of the Eleventh Corps arrived at Middletown before 11:00 a.m. on the 8th of July. Upon entering Middletown, General Howard received a dispatch ordering him to move his corps to Boonsboro where Generals John Buford and Judson Kilpatrick were engaging Confederate cavalry under the command of JEB Stuart.

General Howard, put his army corps in motion once again and began to march quickly to Turner’s Gap. At about 5:00 p.m., General Schurz's Third Division had executed this march. While positioned at Turner’s Gap, General Schurz received a request for additional support from infantry to march to Boonsboro. General Schurz was sent forward to aid Buford. The Eleventh Corps was positioned upon the western slope of South Mountain at Turner’s Gap. The First and Second Divisions and artillery were placed in position to the left of the National Road, while the First Corps was located on the right side of the National Road. At 7:00 p.m. Schurz’s Third Division took position on the National Road northwest of Boosnboro. Seeing Union infantry in Boonsboro and on South Mountain, Stuart’s cavalry withdrew from Boonsboro.

On July 9th, the Eleventh Corps remained fairly stationary, not marching except for a few miles from Turner’s Gap to Boonsboro. General Schurz’s Division, who had advanced through Boonsboro was relieved. Many of the men foraged for food. The next day, the members of the Eleventh Corps would see the First and Six Corps march past them as they moved to Beaver Creek. At Boonsboro, Howard had addressed his men and thanked them for their dedication, the overwhelming march they had made, and the fight they endured at Gettysburg.

Shortly afterwards, General John Sedgwick, commander of the Sixth Corps and also a wing commander, ordered General Howard to press toward Beaver Creek. Arriving at Beaver Creek at around 4:30 p.m., Howard moved the Eleventh Corps into position, coming up along the right of the Sixth Corps. A portion of the Sixth Corps would move out and attack the Confederate forces at Funkstown. The Eleventh Corps would not go into battle that day and would remain, for the most part, in the same position as they were in on the 10th.

The Eleventh Corps moved from Beaver Creek, passed in front of the First Corps, and forced their way over the Antietam Creek at Funkstown. By days’ end, the Union army was officially over the Antietam Creek. During a council of war it was to be decided if a reconnaissance of Lee’s entrenched army at Williamsport was feasible. Meade’s corps commanders declined such an opportunity, except for two men, Generals James Wadsworth and Oliver O. Howard. But the opportunity for this to happen never came.

On July 13th, at 11:30 a.m., seeing the Confederates that were left in the area busy constructing their entrenchments, Howard ordered General Schimmelfennig and his brigade of infantry to further reconnoiter at Hagerstown. A few shots rang out, but nothing more happened that day to Howard’s Corps. During the night, the Confederate army had crossed the Potomac River, cutting the ropes that were holding the temporary pontoon bridges. By the morning of the 14th, the trenches were empty and Meade then issued orders to his corps commanders to route out the roads where they would cross the Potomac River. The Eleventh Corps moved from Williamsport and marched toward Funkstown.

On the 15th, the Eleventh Corps was ordered to move to Funkstown, cross Turner’s Gap, and march to Middletown where they would encamp. From there they were to march to Jefferson and then onto Berlin, Maryland encamping there on July 16th. The Eleventh Corps crossed the Potomac River into Virginia on July 19th.

After the Battle of Gettysburg: The Movements of the First Corps

2011-07-11T15:26:00.008-04:00

The First - The Second - The Third - The Fifth - The Sixth - The Eleventh - The Twelfth

Earlier during the day of July 3rd after Pickett's Charge, Colonel Francis Randall’s Vermont Brigade was on picket duty and was finally relieved by General David Birney’s Division of Sickles’ Corps. The next day on July 4th, soldier details were hard at work caring for the wounded and dying. The Union army waited for another attack, but no such attack came, and by the evening of July 4th, as the sun was setting behind black clouds, the advance of the Confederate army was in retreat. By nightfall, in the midst of a rain storm, the camp fires of the Confederate infantry were burning, but the Confederate infantry would begin to fall back to Fairfield for their retreat.

After spending a whole day on the battlefield on July 4th, the First Corps were ordered to move back several hundred yards to obtain better ground for an encampment. Throughout the day of July 5th, the First Corps were ordered to perform the tasks of collecting of arms, caring for the wounded as well as burying the dead. Colonel Charles Wainwright commanding the artillery reserve recalled the conditions of the dead. “The bodies presented a ghastly sight being swollen almost to the bursting of their clothes and the faces perfectly black.” Late in the day, orders were given to all corps in the Army of the Potomac, to begin moving out the following day.

The next day on the 6th, the First Corps began carrying out his orders from General George Meade for the pursuit of the Confederate army that was moving through South Mountain on their march to Williamsport. The First Corps was to march in reverse order on the same roads that they had taken to Gettysburg during the last days of June. The First Corps were to take up a line of march to Emmitsburg, Maryland, bivouacking near Marsh Creek. It was at this time that General Abner Doubleday was ordered directly to Washington for administrative duties and General John Newton was left in charge of the First Corps.

On July 7th, the First Corps marched into Emmitsburg, where they were met by the Sisters of Charity who shared their contents of food, that was contained in several wagons, with the men in blue. Many of the men were dirty, not having bathed in several days. The cold rain during the evening would not change that feeling and some of the officers even dismounted, washing their feet in the streams with a dirty handkerchief, as such was the case of Colonel Charles Wainwright. After spending a few hours bivouacked at Emmitsburg, the First Corps marched onward to modern day Thurmont, called Mechanicstown during the Civil War, and onward to Hamburg upon the Catoctin Mountain.

Upon marching through Lewistown, many young girls sang out “Battle Cry for Freedom” where members of the 13th Massachusetts complemented them. At Lewistown, as the Union troops marched toward the Catoctin Mountain, the heavy rains and muggy weather became hard on the men. Many Union troops were forced to march without shoes, leaving their feet bruised and blistered. The road conditions gradually improved and quartermaster wagons were able to get through. The roadway to Hamburg was congested and the march was going at a slow pace. Henry Kieffer noted that the Catoctin Mountain got “steeper and steeper, while the darkness was deeper and deeper.”

Colonel Wainwright was alerted about the road conditions leading to Hamburg and he diverted his artillery reserve toward Frederick, taking Shookstown Road and crossing over the Catoctin Mountain at Shookstown Pass. His artillery horses were doubled up in order to pull the cannon up the steep mountain.

By morning of July 8th, the First Corps had penetrated into the Middletown Valley, passing through the small towns of Bellsville and Harmony. The sunshine was a bright and welcomed site to the men. The artillery reserve managed to get in a bath near Middletown, and clean some of the cannon carriages off before being ordered to Turner’s Gap. Following up with the rear of the Eleventh Corps during the evening, the portions of the First Corps moved onward to Turner’s Gap, taking position on the left side of the National Road, with two divisions of the Eleventh Corps stationed on the right with the artillery.

On July 9th, the soldiers of the First Corps encamped at Turner’s Gap where they were placed on reserve due to a pitched cavalry fight outside of Boonsboro. The next day on the 10th, the First Corps marched toward Beaver Creek and Wagner’s Crossroads. On July 11th, the First Corps remained stationary. First Lieutenant James Thomas, Adjutant of the 107th Pennsylvania Infantry wrote to his father “Our march from Gettysburg to this place has been a rapid and severe one. One day we made 28 miles, 12 of it in the mountains.”

The following day, on July 12th, the First Corps moved onto the heights of Funkstown, where it deployed a line of battle to the left of the Confederate battle line. Crossing over the Antietam Creek, and amidst another rainstorm, they marched onward along the National Road. Colonel Edmund Dana commanding Third Division’s Second Brigade noted that preparations were made for an attack. “My brigade being in the front line, skirmishers were thrown out, and a brisk fire opened. Night came on, and the enemy withdrew.” Some of the men such as the Iron Brigade threw up breastworks. Many of the soldiers were tearing down fences in preparations of the battle.

Holding there throughout the day of the 13th, the First Corps moved into Williamsport on the 14th of July. By July 15th, with no Confederate army to engage in battle, the First Corps was ordered toward Crampton’s Gap, encamping at Rohersville in Pleasant Valley for the night. The next day they were ordered to Berlin, Maryland, crossing the Potomac River on July 18th, and pursued Lee as far as Warrenton Junction where it encamped on July 25th.

After the Battle of Gettysburg: The Movements of the Sixth Corps

2011-07-08T14:55:00.007-04:00

The First - The Second - The Third - The Fifth - The Sixth - The Eleventh - The Twelfth

On July 4th, 1863, after the Battle of Gettysburg, the Confederate army withdrew from the battlefield. The Confederate army would march over South Mountain using two main mountain gaps. Cashtown Gap was the gap that General John Imboden used to get the wagon trains of wounded, and the supply wagons of General James Longstreet and General A.P. Hill out of Pennsylvania. To the south of Cashtown Gap, General Richard Ewell’s wagon train, and the infantry corps of Generals Hill and Ewell would march through Fairfield Gap onto Monterey Pass. General Longstreet’s corps would march directly to Fountain Dale from Fairfield, climbing South Mountain straight to Monterey Pass, avoiding Fairfield Gap altogether. The last Confederate soldier would march over South Mountain at Monterey Pass early in the morning on July 6th as the Confederate army marched toward Williamsport.

Early in the morning of July 5th, Union General George Meade had ascertained that the Confederate army was in full retreat, slipping out of Gettysburg under the cover of darkness on July 4th. While the main portion of the Army of the Potomac would sit idle at Gettysburg, many of its soldiers were tasked with burial detail. Meade ordered the Sixth Corps under General John Sedgwick to pursue the rear of the Confederate army, and also directed cavalry detachments to cover the roads leading to Cashtown and Emmitsburg.

General Sedgwick’s corps began assembling at 5:00 a.m. in the morning, reaching the Fairfield Road by 8:00 a.m., marching toward Fairfield with General Horatio Wright's division in the lead, and General John Newton’s division bringing up the rear. Near Fairfield, the rear of the Confederate army was spotted. Skirmishing and artillery duels took place as the rear of General Ewell’s corps was halted near Fairfield. Sedgwick even writes in his official report that 250 Confederate soldiers were taken prisoner during the day.

The next day, on July 6th, it was determined that the rear of Confederate army had fortified Fairfield Gap with artillery supporting their position. Being ordered to Emmitsburg, Sedgwick detached General Thomas Neill and his brigade of infantry to harass the rear of the retreating Confederate army. Working with General Neill was Colonel John McIntosh’s cavalry brigade of General David Gregg’s Second Cavalry Division. Colonel McIntosh had six regiments of cavalry and two pieces of artillery Battery Section H, and the Third Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery. General Neill also had six parrot rifles from the 5th United States Battery F, under the command of Lieutenant Leonard Martin. During the afternoon, Neill led his brigade into South Mountain and skirmished with the Confederates. After an exchange of artillery and small arms fire, the Confederates withdrew and Neill occupied Fairfield, where he encamped for the night.

During the evening, around six o’clock, the Sixth Corps was ordered to rest before carrying out Meade’s orders to concentrate at Middletown, Maryland. Many of the men received mail and rations. At approximately ten o’clock that evening the Sixth Corps began its march to Emmitsburg, covering eight miles. The lead elements bivouacked two miles beyond the town limits at 1:00 a.m. while the remaining elements reported that they bivouacked shortly before day break.

Before day light on the morning of July 7th, the soldiers of the Sixth Corps rested in the rain in Emmitsburg. The Eleventh Corps had been marching since 3:30 a.m. and the First Corps were also on its way to Emmitsburg. As the First Corps were marching through Emmitsburg, they saw the divisions of the Sixth Corps there. The lead elements of the Sixth Corps began marching again early in the morning, while the rear of the Sixth Corps started off at 11:00 a.m. The divisions of Sedgwick’s corps marched all day, passing through Franklin Mills, Mechanicstown (modern day Thurmont), and following the road directly to the Catoctin Furnace. Upon reaching Lewistown the Sixth Corps took the fork in the road that led to the right, which would take them toward Hamburg on the Catoctin Mountain. As darkness approached road conditions began to deteriorate, as the wind and rain picked up in intensity. The climb up the Catoctin Mountain on narrow road, which was nothing more than a path, was a tough one. Upon reaching the top many of the men renamed the pass as “Sedgwick’s Pass” while others called it “Mount Misery.”

Nelson Hutchinson noted that “The darkness was intense…nothing could be seen. Mounted officers could not see the men in the ranks. You could not see who was beside you, if anyone was there. We had to make way for the artillery. They got stuck, while we ended up scattered in the woods.” General Wright noted “In consequence of the severe storm and extreme darkness, which rendered farther progress impossible.” The artillery was eventually forced to turn around, unhitching the horses and unlimbering the cannon from its limber, and head back down the mountain. The lead elements of the Sixth Corps ended up covering a total distance of about 15 miles.

While, the remainder of Sedgwick’s corps was marching to Hamburg Pass, General Neill was still following the rear of the Confederate army, as it marched from Fairfield Pass to Monterey Pass. The roads were in a horrible state due to all of the wagons, cannon, and thousands of Confederate infantrymen that had just traveled over them a few days prior. Upon reaching Monterey Pass, Neill sent word that the Waynesboro Road was clear of Confederate soldiers. Neill continued his march to Waynesboro, arriving there at around ten o’clock in the morning, narrowly missing the rear of the Confederate army. General Neill received word that a small force of Confederate soldiers only escaped capture by burning the bridge at the Antietam Creek, two and a half miles from Waynesboro, on the Hagerstown Road. Neill noted “felt the enemy's pickets along the Antietam and Marsh Run, and found Ewell's corps in our front.” Neill would encamp at Waynesboro for the night and bivouac the next day.

On July 8th, the Sixth Corps would continue its line of march at 5:00 a.m. Many of the men still had to march over the Catoctin Mountain, but the weather that morning would brighten up the men, as rays of sunshine broke through the clouds. This allowed the uniforms and blankets to dry. The soldiers even found a mountain creek and quickly began cleaning themselves as well as their uniforms. General Joseph Bartlett’s brigade was the first of the Sixth Corps to arrive at Middletown around nine o’clock that morning, covering eight miles. Following behind him was the rest of Wright’s Division. Portions of the Eleventh Corps, who had made some of the longest marches in the Army of the Potomac, sometimes covering up to thirty miles, were already at Middletown; the First Corps were not too far behind them.

During the day, the Eleventh Corps was ordered to Turner’s Gap to relieve pressure off of the cavalry already engaged at Boonsboro. Following behind them was the First Corps. The Sixth Corps, having completed their march to Middletown, would spend the day bivouacked there. Before sunrise on the 9th, the Sixth Corps was put into motion once again, this time moving eight miles, passing through Turner’s Gap, going into a defensive position in the woods west of Boonsboro near the National Road facing Funkstown.

While the Sixth Corps was marching toward Boonsboro, in Waynesboro, at 7:00 a.m. on July 9th, General Neill ordered Colonel Mcintosh, his cavalry brigade, and four pieces of artillery to reconnaissance. This order was carried out to determine the strength of the Confederate army at the fords and bridges near Funkstown. Arriving near Funkstown at 1:00 p.m., Colonel Mcintosh drew fire from the Confederates at Antietam Creek. Colonel Mcintosh formed a battle line and dismounted his skirmishers, who were supported by artillery, and succeeded in driving the Confederate pickets across the Antietam and silencing their battery. Completing his orders, Colonel McIntosh retired back toward Waynesboro.

At 6:00 a.m. in the morning on July 10th, the Sixth Corps marched toward Funkstown, taking position beyond Beaver Creek, about four miles west of Boonsboro and three miles south of Hagerstown. The Sixth Corps formed their battle lines on the right of the National Road. General John Buford and General Judson Kilpatrick were fighting General JEB Stuart’s Cavalry at Funkstown, and the Vermont Brigade under the command of Colonel Lewis Grant was ordered to assist the Union cavalry. Colonel Grant deployed skirmishers and began attacking the Confederate defensive positions. Confederate infantry under the command of General George B. Anderson arrived and after three attacks that were made on them, the Vermonters kept the Confederate infantry at bay. The Battle of Funkstown was the first action since the Battle of Gettysburg where the infantry had clashed with one another. During the Battle of Funkstown, McIntosh’s cavalry patrolled the Waynesboro area from Smithsburg and Leitersburg, to Old Antietam Forge, and re-entered Waynesboro.

The Sixth Corps did not march at all on the 11th. Neill’s brigade, McIntosh’s cavalry, and the Eleventh Brigade of the New York State National Guard under the command of General Jesse Smith began their march to Leitersburg. Colonel McIntosh’s cavalry was ordered to screen toward Smithsburg. Upon reaching Leitersburg they ran into a body of Confederate cavalry, forcing McIntosh to retire to Waynesboro, remaining there for the night.

On July 12th, after sunrise, Wright’s Division, as well as Colonel Henry Eustis' brigade of General John Newton’s Division were ordered to take Funkstown, cross the Antietam Creek, and take control of the high ground beyond the town. Skirmishing took place along the Union lines across from another ridge where the Confederates were strongly positioned. General Alfred T. A. Torbert recalled at about two o’clock in the afternoon, he was ordered to change his position and move toward the left. This brought the rest of the division in line. Skirmishers scoured the ground and finally took possession of the ridge with very light casualties. One company of Confederate soldiers was taken prisoner in the action. During the day, General Neill made a flanking march along the Antietam Creek and rejoined the Sixth Corps, in line of battle, west of Funkstown.

During the day on July 13th, the Sixth Corps held the same position that they had occupied from the day before. During the evening hours, a small reconnaissance was made by the Sixth Corps to see Confederate entrenchments at Williamsport. On the 14th, after receiving information that the Confederate army had retreated into Virginia, the Sixth Corps immediately sent out skirmishers and scouts. Around noon, the advance units arrived in Williamsport only to find that the Confederate army had indeed slipped away during the night of July 13th. Sending this information back to corps headquarters, the men in Williamsport would encamp there for the night.

On July 15th, the Sixth Corps was ordered back to Boonsboro where they would encamp for the night, a distance of sixteen miles. The following day, on the 16th, they marched through Turner’s Gap to Middletown, and then turned southward toward Berlin, Maryland, covering a distance of twenty miles. On the 17th, the Sixth Corps remained idle. On July 18th, they moved a total of two miles, taking position closer to the Potomac River. On July 19th, the Sixth Corps crossed the Potomac River on a pontoon bridge arriving in Warrenton, Virginia on July 25th.

The Battle of Boonsboro, Maryland

2011-07-01T15:23:00.001-04:00

On the morning of July 6th, the last of the Confederate infantry had crossed over South Mountain at Monterey Pass and were marching toward the Mason Dixon Line in the Cumberland Valley. Following a series of pitched battles and skirmishes, the Confederate wagon trains were resting safely near Williamsport. However, the Confederate army was still spread out, and by July 8th, Confederate General Robert E. Lee needed to buy some time for his army to fully concentrate around Williamsport.

Lee’s wagon train had already been harassed by Kilpatrick's Union cavalry at Monterey Pass, Lietersburg, as well as Hagerstown since the Fourth of July. After the defeat of a portion of Union General Judson Kilpatrick’s cavalry at Hagerstown on July 6th, 1863, and the Union cavalry withdraw from Williamsport by Union General John Buford’s cavalry on July 7th, the Union cavalry fell back to Boonsboro, resting in the fields surrounding the town. Fearing a Confederate attack, the Union troopers stayed awake while they were bivouacked. The Union cavalry was ordered to hold Boonsboro and keep the South Mountain gaps open for the advance of Meade’s Army of the Potomac. Union General Alfred Pleasanton felt that Turner’s Gap would become a target of attack by Stuart’s cavalry in order to keep the main infantry of Meade’s Army from crossing South Mountain.

Many cavalrymen stated that it had rained since their arrival in Maryland and were surprised when the morning of July 8th, dawned with rays of sunshine breaking through the clouds. Portions of the Union army were closing in on South Mountain, and would soon be occupying the gaps of the where they had fought the Battle of South Mountain. While the Union army was beginning to close in, Lee still needing his avenue of retreat protected. Anticipating the movement of the Union army, Lee tasked General JEB Stuart to locate the Union cavalry and keep them occupied while the rear of the Confederate army at Hagerstown caught up with the main column in their defensive positions along the Potomac River.

While the Union cavalry rested during the early morning hours, the rain from the previous night made the fertile fields miserable and full of mud. General Buford had his cavalry brigades deployed along the National Road. Colonel Thomas Devin was deployed on the left, while General Wesley Merritt was deployed in the center. To Merritt’s right was Colonel William Gamble’s Brigade. Colonel Gamble was ordered by General Buford to take position about a mile and a half from Boonsboro and deploy to the right of the National Road, on the crest of a ridge.

Gamble deployed dismounted skirmishers in a strip of woods to the front, who were supported by a battery holding the center of the line. Gamble also had several men still mounted. Supporting Buford on the extreme left was General George Custer’s Brigade of General Judson Kilpatrick’s Cavalry Division. Held in reserve, and more toward the center of the line was Colonel Nathaniel Richmond’s Brigade of Kilpatrick’s Division.

General JEB Stuart ordered his command forward from Funkstown. He had with him four brigades of cavalry, Fitzhugh, Jones, Chambliss and Ferguson all trotting along the two main roads that led directly toward Boonsboro. General Fitz Lee’s Brigade was left behind at Williamsport while portions of General Beverly Robertson’s North Carolina Brigade were left on picket duty guarding the approaches to Hagerstown. Colonel Milton Ferguson’s Brigade was ordered to take the Williamsport Road and follow that into Boonsboro, while the rest of Stuart’s cavalry traveled upon the National Road. Leading the advance of Stuart’s cavalry was General William “Grumble” Jones, whose brigade ran into resistance at Beaver Creek. The 6th Virginia Cavalry was the lead element for Jones' Brigade. The 11th Virginia Cavalry supported the 6th Virginia Cavalry during the opening fight.

As Stuart approached Boonsboro, he ordered Captain William McGregor’s Battery, near the Williamsport Road, to fire upon the dismounted cavalry troops guarding the approach to Boonsboro. Union Lieutenant John Calef’s Battery A, 2nd U.S. Artillery quickly returned fire as he was positioned to the right on the National Road. Gunner George Neese of Chew’s Battery recalled “[The Union] promptly opened on us and returned our fire with a business like energy.” Counter battery fire commenced for several minutes reverberating off of South Mountain. The artillery blasted shell upon Colonel Gamble’s men. Just as Gamble’s men were pulling back along with Calef’s guns, Captain Roger Chew who deployed to the west and north of the National Road began to rain shell upon Gamble’s men, who now seemed to be in a crossfire position.

While the artillery was booming, Stuart sent out skirmishers to attack Buford’s command, and Colonel Ferguson came down the Williamsport Road and hit Buford’s left flank. Colonel Devin, seeing Ferguson’s approach, sent out skirmishers to confront the Confederate troopers. Realizing that he may be outflanked, Buford sent for Kilpatrick to bring his division into the fight. General Custer’s skirmishers were sent out to support Colonel Devin. The 6th Michigan had deployed to the left of the National Road, and a portion of the 7th Michigan sent out skirmishers. The 6th New York under Major Beardsley was in the lead to the left of the Williamsport Road, where they were met with heavy, concentrated artillery fire and were forced to take cover in the woods, unable to make it up the hill where the artillery was posted.

Captain William M. Graham of Battery K, 1st U.S. Artillery deployed his battery on the Williamsport Road. As the battle ensued, the wet and muddy fields caused mounted troopers to fight dismounted, making the cavalry fight as if they were infantry. The artillery was also in a bad situation. Members of the 1st U.S. Battery K recalled that the conditions of the field they were in caused the cannon to sink six inches into the ground, leaving the axles under enormous pressure, causing them to crack. Five of the six guns were taken out of the battle. Fuller’s Battery was completely exhausted and low on ammunition.

On the extreme left was the 6th Michigan Cavalry from Custer’s Brigade. Captain James Kidd recalled, “We had here a good opportunity to test the qualities of the Spencer carbines and, armed as we were, we proved more than a match for any force that was encountered. The firing was very sharp at times, and took on the character of skirmishing, the men taking advantage of every cover that presented itself. The confederates were behind a stone fence, we in a piece of woods along a rail fence, which ran along the edge of the timber. Between was an open field. Several times they attempted to come over the stone wall, and advance on our position, but each time were driven back. Once an officer jumped up on the fence and tried to wave his men forward. A shot from a Spencer brought him headlong to the ground, and after that no one had the temerity to expose himself in that way.”

At approximately 8:00 am in the morning, Captain Ernst A. Denicke and Lieutenant C.F.M. Denicke of the signal corps occupied the ruin of the Washington Monument. And after spending a few hours clearing trees they began to communicate with Buford. Signal flags were wig wagging down to Boonsboro assisting Buford in keeping Stuart’s movements in check. The Washington Monument communicated with Boonsboro through a line of communication that went to a hill in front of Turner’s Gap, and then to Boonsboro itself. The open vista seen from atop Washington Monument gave the signalists an advantage.

By early afternoon, after the Confederate cavalry was reinforced, Colonel Devin was forced to fight a delay action, and the skirmishers, already being engaged for several hours, were running low on ammunition. Back on the National Road, Gamble’s and Merritt’s Brigades had been holding Chambliss' and Jones' Brigades for several hours and were in the same position as Devin, running low on ammunition. Merritt was, during this time, being pushed further east toward the edge of Boonsboro as Chambliss' Brigade continued their advance.

Colonel Nathaniel Richmond’s Brigade received their orders to move upon the National Road and hold a defensive position in the center of the line behind Merritt’s cavalry. Once Richmond arrived, he found that the enemy was posted under the cover of woods and large rocks. Colonel Richmond dismounted and deployed the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry to advance as quickly as they could, and skirmish with the Confederate cavalry. Colonel Richmond also ordered two guns of Lieutenant Samuel Elder’s Battery E of the 4th US Artillery to deploy and shell the woods. During Elder’s deployment Lieutenant Robert Clarke brought up one gun from Pennington’s Battery, and also deployed, and fired into the woods to drive the Confederate skirmishers out.

The 8th Illinois Cavalry was barely holding on to the extreme right of Buford’s line as they were running out of ammunition, and because of this they were forced to retire into Boonsboro for ammunition. General Kilpatrick, realizing the problem reported to General Alfred Pleasanton, told him that Buford may not have a choice but to retire back toward South Mountain. Kilpatrick also told Pleasanton that they will hold on as long as they can.

While the fighting in Boonsboro continued, Union General Oliver O. Howard, commanding the Eleventh Corps, received an order to march quickly to Turner’s Gap. At about 5:00 pm, General Schurz's Third Division had executed this march. While positioned at Turner’s Gap, General Schurz received a request for additional support from infantry to march to Boonsboro. General Schurz was sent forward to aid Buford. The Eleventh Corps was positioned upon the western slope South Mountain at Turner’s Gap. The First and Second Divisions and artillery were placed in position to the left of the National Road while the First Corps was located on the right side of the National Road.

After 5:30 pm, Devin’s whole line began to fall back using revolvers in order to keep the Confederates back. As Devin’s men retired some of Kilpatrick’s command entered the fight again. Gamble and Merritt also began to fall back in order to re-supply their cartridge boxes. The Confederate troops were pushing closer to the National Road, but were held in check by artillery posted there.

Around 6:00 pm, Devin “was ordered to advance to the extreme front and right, and support the First Brigade, then rapidly driving the enemy up the turnpike.” Devin formed his line behind the First Brigade in the open fields. Union artillery posted at Turner’s Gap, supported the Union cavalry below when they joined the fight.

Shortly afterwards, Gamble and Merritt reformed their line of battle as Kilpatrick’s Division started to give way. Captain Kidd recalled a special incident that occurred when Kilpatrick’s line gave way. “An officer, dressed in blue, with the regulation cavalry hat, riding a bay horse which had the look of a thoroughbred, rode along in rear of our line with an air of authority, and with perfect coolness said, as he passed from right to left, "General Kilpatrick orders that the line fall back rapidly." The order was obeyed promptly, though it struck us as strange that such a strong position should be given up without a struggle. We had not been under Kilpatrick long enough to recognize all the members of his staff on sight, and it did not occur to any one at the time to question the fellow's authority or make him show his credentials. The line left the woods and retreated to a good defensive position on a ridge of high ground facing the woods, the enemy meantime advancing with a yell to the timber we had abandoned. Then it was learned that Kilpatrick had given no such order, but the "staff officer" had disappeared and, when we came to think about it, nobody could describe him very closely. He had seemed to flit along the line, giving the order but stopping nowhere, and leaving no very clear idea as to how he looked. There is but little doubt that he was an audacious confederate, probably one of Stuart's scouts clothed in federal uniform, who made a thorough tour of inspection of our line, and then, after seeing us fall back, very likely led his own line to the position which he secured by this daring stratagem. The confederates were up to such tricks, and occasionally the yankees were smart enough to give them a Roland for their Oliver.”

After giving way to the Confederates, portions of Custer’s Brigade felt it necessary to regain the loss of ground. Captain Kidd recalled “It was presently necessary to advance and drive the enemy out of the woods, which was done in gallant style, the whole line joining. This time there was no stopping, but the pursuit was kept up for several miles. I can hear gallant Weber's voice now, as he shouted, "Forward, my men," and leaping to the front led them in the charge. The Fifth Michigan was to our right, and Colonel Alger who was in command was wounded in the leg and had to leave the field.”

While General Carl Schurz's Third Infantry Division marched down from Turner’s Gap, the battle continued to rage on in the outskirts of Boonsboro. Buford dismounted Gamble’s Brigade to repulse another Confederate attack. Gamble’s men attempted to retake a hill where two Confederate batteries awaited and hid in silence. To make matters worse, Confederate cavalrymen slipped into a stone barn and proceeded to go to work as sharpshooters. Gamble’s men received additional support by portions of Kilpatrick’s cavalry. The Union cavalry then counterattacked, driving the Confederates back.

This forced the Confederate troops from a series of woods while under the attack of artillery fire. Colonel Gamble later wrote in his after action report: “Kilpatrick's division was relieved on the left and placed on the right but being unable to dislodge the enemy from the woods I formerly occupied, my brigade was again ordered forward; the battery placed in position under a heavy fire; three-fourths of the brigade dismounted and ordered to drive the enemy out of the woods in front, which was accomplished rapidly under a heavy fire of shell and musketry.”

Lieutenant Alexander C. M. Pennington’s Battery M, 2nd U.S. Artillery was moved and deployed in the Boonsboro Cemetery, its last position during the battle. Hart’s and McGregor’s batteries of Stuart’s Horse Artillery Battalion were receiving heavy fire from Pennington’s new deployment. Returning fire, the cannoneers were throwing shells every which way possible. Then, without any notice, Pennington’s guns were withdrawn from that position. Lieutenant Carle Woodruff of Pennington’s Battery later stated that “Every shot fired that missed something in my battery, hit a marble tombstone in that graveyard, and broken fragments of marble came like hail upon my men.”

Realizing that Devin’s Brigade was about out of ammunition, the 1st Vermont Cavalry of Kilpatrick’s Division was ordered to charge down the pike. They were kept in reserve as the battle entered into the evening phase. Earlier that day Kilpatrick became very upset with the 1st Vermont upon discovering that they carried only forty rounds of ammunition instead of the sixty rounds as ordered. Richmond also deployed the 5th New York Cavalry and the 1st West Virginia Cavalry to pursue the retreating Confederates on the left side of the National Road.

By seven o’clock in the evening, Stuart began to fall back due to his supply of ammunition running low, and seeing the Union infantry take position. At 7:00 pm, the Third Division of Eleventh Corps took position on the National Road northwest of Boosnboro. Leaving Ferguson on the Williamsport Road, Stuart withdrew to Beaver Creek.

Buford chased Stuart to Beaver Creek where the fighting would soon come to an end. As Stuart crossed the bridge, a portion of the 1st North Carolina Cavalry would try to hit Gamble’s men once more. As the Union troopers approached, one Blakely gun of Chew’s Battery fired upon them. As Chew’s Battery fired upon the Union troopers, Stuart mentioned that “Each shot seemed drawn to the flying target with fatal accuracy, until the enemy, driven by the shots of the Blakely and followed by shouts of derision of our cavalry, escaped at full speed over the plain.” Buford gave up the fight and Stuart, along with his brigades, moved toward Funkstown where they encamped for the night. Buford and Kilpatrick moved their division back toward Turner’s Gap and Boonsboro where they encamped for the night, bringing the Battle of Boonsboro to a close.

Valor in the Streets: The Battle of Hagerstown, Maryland

2011-06-28T09:47:00.002-04:00

During the fall of 2010, I was asked by the Tom Rifford, President of the Hagerstown - Washington County Convention & Visitors Bureau to participate in a documentary about the Battle of Hagerstown. In December, I sat down with the City of Hagerstown, Steve Bockmiller and gave him an overall picture of the Battle of Hagerstown as well as the events leading up to the battle. One of the stories, I recited was about the apron given to a member of the 11th Virginia Cavalry as well as the importance of the artillery during the battle. The City of Hagerstown is holding a special premier on July 6th entitled Valor in the Streets: The Battle of Hagerstown, Maryland and I wanted to share with my viewers a 30 second trailer(Click the link).

The Events Leading Up To the Battle of Hagerstown

2011-06-28T09:16:00.003-04:00

The twenty-four hour period from the start of the Battle of Monterey Pass on July 4th, 1863 to the finish of the skirmish at Smithsburg on the evening of July 5th, proved to be a very important period for the Confederate Retreat from Gettysburg. Kilpatrick even though was unable to get in front the retreating wagon trains that were moving to Hagerstown, or block Monterey Pass, an important mountain gap upon South Mountain, or hold Smithsburg once Stuart’s cavalry appeared from Raven Rock Pass on South Mountain did capture a great quantity of Confederate prisoners and many wagons. As Kilpatrick left the battlefield at Smithsburg, he took to the roads that followed along the western base of South Mountain and managed to enter Boonsboro around midnight.

Early in the morning of July 6th, General Kilpatrick sent his spoils that his cavalry division had captured at Monterey Pass through Turner’s Gap to Frederick, Maryland where General William French had his headquarter. During the three-day Battle of Gettysburg, the old South Mountain battlefield was occupied by the Middle Department. During the morning General Kilpatrick had learned of the Confederate wagon train that was passing through Hagerstown and he wanted to add to the spoils of what he had already captured.

Around nine in the morning, Kilpatrick had set off toward Hagerstown. As Kilpatrick was pulling out of Boonsboro, he learned of the approach of General John Buford’s Cavalry Division who was at Middletown. Kilpatrick who wanted the support of Buford held off any attacks once his cavalry was closing in on Funkstown. Buford had sent a courier to Kilpatrick telling him about his plan to attack the Confederate wagons that were moving from Hagerstown to Williamsport. Kilpatrick went back to personally talk to him about the situation that was unfolding. While Kilpatrick was heading back to Boonsboro, Buford was already notified of Kilpatrick’s where about. Kilpatrick had sent couriers out and General William French’s command at South Mountain told the general about Kilpatrick’s plan.

During their meeting in the afternoon, Buford and Kilpatrick came up with their battle plans. The plan now called for Buford’s cavalry division to be supported by General George Custer’s cavalry brigade that attack Williamsport as well as protect Richmond’s left flank as he went to Hagerstown. Kilpatrick would personally ride with Buford’s cavalry. Colonel Pennock Huey’s Brigade would travel on a parallel road west of the National Pike and be held in reserve since his brigade was worn out. Colonel Nathaniel Richmond and his cavalry brigade would attack the Confederates in Hagerstown. Leading Colonel Richmond’s brigade was a squadron of the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry with Lieutenant Colonel William Brinton leading and Captains William Lindsey and Ulrich Dahlgren. Supporting Richmond’s brigade was Elder’s Battery.

After the close of the Battles of Monterey Pass and Smithsburg, he Confederate cavalry was General JEB Stuart’s Cavalry Division was starting to concentrate around Lietersburg. Stuart had under his immediate command two brigades of cavalry, Colonel Milton Ferguson who was now commanding Jenkins’ Brigade due to the wounding of General Albert Jenkins at Gettysburg and the other brigade was under the command of Colonel John Chambliss. As Stuart approached Leitersburg, he was united with portions of General William Jones’ Brigade and General Beverly Robertson’s Brigade that had survived the Battle of Monterey Pass. Stuart also learned of General John Imboden and his brigade that was positioned at Williamsport guarding the wagon train of wounded and supplies. Receiving conformation of Kilpatrick’s retreat from Smithsburg to Boonsboro, General Stuart realized that he needed to keep his cavalry between Lee’s quartermaster wagons and the Union cavalry and to keep Hagerstown and Williamsport secured for the remainder of Lee’s army that was still in Pennsylvania.

Stuart rode to Cavetown via Smithsburg where he issued orders to his brigade commanders as to where they will be picketing and what roads they will be protecting. General Jones was to take his brigade toward Boonsboro and then occupy Funkstown. Colonel Chambliss and Robertson’s brigades were to proceed from Leitersburg to Hagerstown with Chambliss in the lead. As Stuart and Ferguson rode with Jones’ column, Stuart with Ferguson diverted and rode toward Chewsville.

An interesting story that deals with Company D of the 11th Virginia Cavalry takes place prior to the Battle of Hagerstown that is worthy to mention. Nearing Hagerstown, Captain Edward McDonald heard cheering coming from the men. As he rode ahead, he saw the men cheering a 14 year old girl who was wearing an apron that resembled a Confederate flag. Captain McDonald thanked the little girl for cheering his men and asked if he could have a piece of apron for a souvenir. She took of the apron and handed it to Captain McDonald. He then told the girl that as long as his company was on Maryland soil, he would honor her by using it as his company colors. Private James Watkins’ volunteered to carry the honorable flag and returned to his company.

As Colonel Chambliss’ brigade was put in motion, the 9th Virginia Cavalry under the command of Colonel Richard Beale was ordered ahead of the columns to Hagerstown. Upon arrival the 9th Virginia Cavalry did not see any Union cavalry in possession of Hagerstown. Picket’s were thrown south of Hagerstown and still no site of the enemy. That information was sent back to Colonel Chambliss. As the 9th Virginia Cavalry was securing Hagerstown by throwing out pickets, it was seen in the distance that an enemy force was coming. Couriers were again sent back to Colonel Chambliss with the updated status. All roads leading from Hagerstown to Boonsboro, Funkstown, Sharpsburg and Williamsport were guarded. Many of Beale’s men took refuge behind stonewalls and buildings commanding the hill near the Female Seminary and south of the Hager’s Mill. By this time portions of Chambliss’ brigade came into Hagerstown and placed barricades in the streets for the pending attack.

As the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry approached the Hager Mill, the National Road intersects with Baltimore Street and becomes Mulberry Street. As Chambliss’ brigade was being placed into position, Colonel Beale was instructed “To tole the enemy in.” As the Union cavalry approached, portions of Company A, 18th Pennsylvania cavalry along with one squadron of Major Charles Capehart’s 1st West Virginia cavalry was ordered down one block to Potomac Street. The 9th Virginia Cavalry picketing the road leading to the seminary was quickly overrun and Beale began to loose ground.

Among the Confederate cavalry units was that of the 1st Maryland, Company A under the command of Captain Frank A. Bond. Many of the Marylanders took time to try and locate food not only for themselves, but their horses as well. Captain Bond before he could even finish his meal learned of the Union cavalry threat coming in from the south. Captain Bond managed to get about half of his company mounted and headed back into Hagerstown where he met the advance of Ewell’s wagon train that was under guard of the 10th Virginia Cavalry under the command of Colonel James L. Davis. Colonel Davis had just sat down when the alarm was sounded. The wagons were ordered to halt as the battle was about to take place.

As the Union troopers approached Davis’ barricades, Beale’s men were intermixed with the blue columns. As Davis’ troops prepared for the onslaught their line ran north to south along the main street that Beale’s men were retreating on. Captain Bond had scouted the Union cavalry and reported that information to Colonel Davis. Captain Bond wanted to charge the enemy, but Davis disagreed. Colonel Davis had already established a makeshift barricade on Potomac Street near Saint Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church. Seeing the mass columns charging, Colonel Davis had a change of heart and ordered a charge, he spurred his horse forward when it was shot down and according to Colonel Beale, Davis was seen defending himself with his saber and was captured. Behind Davis’ 10th Virginia Cavalry was that of Captain Bond’s company of the 1st Maryland Cavalry.

Sabers were used rather freely and the Union cavalrymen within minutes pushed further and further up Potomac Street. As the 9th and 10th Virginia Cavalry regiments fled, Captain Bond Marylanders would pull back and quickly come out and hit the charging Union cavalry. During the fight Captain Lindsey was hit and later Captain Dahlgren was hit in the foot. As the Union cavalrymen kept up their rate of speed, Robertson’s Brigade and Chambliss’ Brigade formed up and upon seeing the Union troopers, fired on them.

As the battle was in full swing, couriers had been sent out to General Stuart. Stuart hurried with Ferguson’s Brigade to Hagerstown coming in on the Smithsburg Road and General Jones’ was sent orders to come up to Hagerstown by way of Funsktown. While Richmond’s leading cavalry units were charging up Potomac Street, further north of Hagerstown, pushing Chambliss’ brigade toward Robertson’s brigade, Elder’s Battery went into position near the Female Seminary. Once Colonel Ferguson’s Brigade entered from the east, Elder’s Battery fired. Stuart had with him two guns from Jackson’s Kanawha Artillery.

The fighting was occurring in the streets, in church yards, cemeteries and Sergeant William Wilkin of the 1st West Virginia Cavalry recalled; “In one place, forty were sent to make a charge-not one ever returned.” Soon Jones’ Brigade came up with Chew’s Battery. Stuart’s cavalry already had artillery engaged; one of the guns of Mooreman’s Battery came close to being captured before it had the chance to be unlimbered, while a section of two guns from McGregor’s Battery were brought into action. These batteries eventually took position near the Reform Church and counter fired on Elder’s guns.

Upon arriving on the field, Stuart ordered Chew’s Battery to deploy. Private Charles McVicar recalled: “The enemy is here and opened. We replied with two guns.” While the fighting was occurring from the east and north, toward evening, General Alfred Iverson’s Brigade arrived on the field. Many of his North Carolinians took refuge behind stonewalls and filing into the streets. As the Union cavalry charge stalled, and without any additional reinforcements, Richmond’s command was being pushed back. Chew’s Battery moved several times and finally was able to get behind Richmond’s command.

As Buford was attacking Williamsport with Kilpatrick and a portion of Custer’s brigade, the Union attack on Hagerstown was doomed. In the streets of Hagerstown, the momentum had changed in favor of the Confederate cavalrymen and infantry that were engaged. Sergeant Wilkin recalled: “Till dark a running fire was kept up, the Rebels are pursuing us with great vigor.” Chew’s Battery doing damaged to Elder’s Gun made them change position a few times to the point their guns were in danger of being captured. There was a point during the Battle of Hagerstown that Chew’s two guns were thought to be finished. The soft ground beneath the cannon and due to the recoil and weight, the guns began to sink. The cannoneers saw a rail fence and tore the railing down. They soon started to pry the cannon from the ground and moved them and Chew’s guns were back in action.

The 11th Virginia Cavalry under the command of Colonel Lomax was situated in a field when the Battle of Hagerstown began. They saw two Union regiments drawn up along the road and protected by a stone wall and they had artillery posted upon the hill. As Colonel Lomax moved to the top of the ridge the enemy was hidden behind the stone wall. They soon charged and made contact but were forced to pull back. After Chew’s Battery began pounding the landscape, the 11th Virginia charged again. This time they sent the enemy fleeing. The apron flag bearer Watkins was wounded during the action. He hid the flag inside his jacket until he saw Captain McDonald and handed it over to him.

As the Union cavalrymen were falling back, Lieutenant St. Clair of the 1st West Virginia Cavalry was order to command the rear and to protect the artillery. Sergeant Wilkin was among those ordered to render Elder’s guns service. Sergeant Wilkin recalled: “In minutes the cannoneers were so thinned out that there were not enough left to man the gun; seeing which, I dismounted, and rendered what assistance I could in manning the cannon. It was hard work. Once I though we were almost gone, but a few more grape and canister sent them howling back and the gun was saved.” Joseph Lesage of Company G was placed in command in the extreme rear of the cavalry as it began to fall back.

As the Union cavalry was falling back, they were fighting every inch of the way. The Confederate cavalry finally gave up the pursuit after darkness had fallen upon the battlefield south of Hagerstown. Kilpatrick’s command as well as Buford’s command fell back to Jone’s Crossroads where it would rest and the following day they would fall back to Boonsboro. By July 8th, the two Union cavalry divisions would engage Stuart’s Confederate cavalry during the Battle of Boonsboro.

Local Historians Recreate PA Monterey Pass Battle

2011-06-27T08:42:00.001-04:00

Local Historians Recreate PA Monterey Pass Battle

This is a news broadcast of our living history program at Monterey Pass. This aired on June 26th during the 11 o'clock news on Hagerstown Channel 25. Any publicity for Monterey Pass is always a good thing.

Hands on History and Live and Learn Experience at South Mountain State Battlefield

2011-06-24T09:03:00.001-04:00

This past year, I have launched several new programs at South Mountain State Battlefield in which more than 6,000 people, mainly children, took part in from April to June. These programs took place at South Mountain State Battlefield, Antietam National Battlefield, Skycroft, Waynesboro Area School District, and the Frederick County Library system in Thurmont. Since school is out, I wanted to keep the momentum going as I am seeing the fruits of my labor bare fruit. Mark Dudrow, who also works with me, has done a tremendous job having over 3,000 people attend his programs. After much discussion and brain storming sessions, it was time for Mark and I to combine our knowledge and living history experiences to create some new programs, both on site as well as off site.

Mark and I are now launching two new living history programs to educate the public about the importance of the Battle of South Mountain. The Battle of South Mountain was the first major battle to occur in the state of Maryland and preceded Antietam by three days. South Mountain had about 5,000 to 7,000 casualties where many Confederate units such as Cobb’s Legion and Drayton’s Brigade were almost destroyed. But the history of South Mountain doesn’t end there. South Mountain was important because of communications, and in 1863 as well as 1864, South Mountain had several battles and skirmishes occur as well as troop encampments.

The first newly developed program is a living history program called the “Live and Learn Experience” which will be conducted every second Friday of the month from July to October. These living history programs are based upon forgotten aspects of South Mountain history. The first program is being launched on July 8th, and will focus solely on the 148th Anniversary of the Battle of Boonsboro and the role Washington Monument had during this forgotten battle. The next program on August 12th, will be based upon the Confederate 1864 Maryland Campaign as well as the Raid on Chambersburg. On September 9th, the Live and Learn Experience will focus on the 1862 Maryland Campaign leading into the 149th Anniversary of the Maryland Campaign. The last Live and Learn Experience program will be on October 7th and will focus solely on Confederate General JEB Stuart’s Raid on Chambersburg. You may find yourself saying "But this is South Mountain, why include Pennsylvania?" The answer is simple. Even though these events may have occured in and around Pennsylvania they still had a great impact on the South Mountain region.

The second program that the South Mountain State Battlefield’s Educational Department and Antietam National Battlefield are partnering up for is “Hands on History.” Every Thursday from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm Mark and I will educate visitors to the Dunker Church about the events that led to and from South Mountain to Antietam. Although I am sure many adults will come out to talk to us, we are focusing our attention on the youngsters. Our programs will feature many hands on items that children and adults can see and touch relating to several aspects of the Civil War. “Cannoneer’s Post” will allow children to simulate how to load a cannon explaining the drills to them, and then allowing the groups to actually do it themselves using the tools of an artillerist. Other programs will include “Flags that Talk” where children and adults will learn how the armies communicated and “Leadership During the Civil War, the Role of an Officer.” “The Tools of a Civil War Soldier” will show park visitors many things that a Civil War soldier carried on a daily basis from the contents of his haversack to the spare clothing in his knapsack.

I did a program at Dunker Church for Montgomery County Schools back in May and between groups, I had many adults coming up to me that were eager to learn about what it was that I was showing and demonstrating. This is a great outreach program that will surely benefit both South Mountain State Battlefield and Antietam National Battlefield. Some of the impressions that I will do at the Dunker Church will relate to Hood’s Texans since they held Fox’s Gap during the late evening hours of September 14th as well as other Confederate units that were located near the Dunker Church such as the 2nd South Carolina Infantry. Explaining the Union soldiers who marched through the West Woods, the main Union impression will be the 3rd Maryland Infantry and the 102nd New York Infantry. Mark on the other hand will be explaining the role of cavalry during the Maryland Campaign, showing visitors the equipment a cavalryman, and if possible bringing his horse with him.

If time can be arranged for Alicia, Chair of the Friends of Monterey Pass Battlefield and staff volunteer at South Mountain State Battlefield, may be able to come down and do her exhibit “The Red Cross of their Time” and “Packages from Home” both programs highlight the role that the Ladies Aid Societies had during the Civil War. This program is becoming very popular with adults and children alike. Many people can relate to the Ladies Aid Societies of the Civil War as it is similar to what friends and relatives currently do for our service men and women overseas.

Some other programs that we are doing include an authentic mustering in of Cole’s Cavalry in a program called “Protecting Maryland.” This event is to take place at the Hessian Barracks on August 13th from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. "War Returns to South Mountain; the 151st New York Experience" will take place on July 4th. “Amid the Smoke of Battle, South Carolina’s Role at South Mountain” will take place at Fox’s Gap in late July. Another big program is “Behind the Battle Line”, which will educate visitors on things that you normally don’t read about such as the pioneers, signal corps and pickets. This program will take place in September.

Women Soldiers at South Mountain

2011-06-15T15:05:00.004-04:00

One subject that is seldom discussed is the role that women had during the Civil War, including those few cases where a woman would enlist as a man. During my research of the Battle of South Mountain that occurred on September 14th, 1862, I have come across five women soldiers that were disguised as men. Adding to that there were a few other women, although not engaged at South Mountain, who would fight at Antietam. According to the book “They Fought Like Demons” by Deanne Blanton and Lauren Cook, there were a total of eight known cases of women soldiers at Antietam.

Mary Galloway joined up with the rear of the Army of the Potomac just days before Antietam and would be later cared for by Clara Barton when a bullet struck her neck. Another woman who traveled through South Mountain was Sarah Edmonds, acting as a currier. Sarah Edmonds wrote the book “Nurse and Spy in the Union Army” which was published in 1865, and it focused on her adventures in the army and describe the Maryland Campaign simply as “The brilliant and triumphant victories at South Mountain and Antietam, which more than counterbalanced the disastrous campaign of Pope, and which sent a thrill of joy throughout the North.” If Elvira Ibecker, known as Charles Fuller of Company D of the 46th Pennsylvania wasn’t discovered a month after enlistment in 1861 she might have fought at South Mountain.

So who were the women that fought at South Mountain? Well, I was able to find the names of five women who are confirmed to have been combatants during the “Bloody Prelude” to Antietam. The Battle of South Mountain nowadays has been summed up by three mountain gaps, even though there were five gaps that were fought over. You have Brownsville and Crampton’s Gaps to the south near Harper’s Ferry, and Fox’s Gap, Turner’s Gap and Frostown Gaps to the north. All five mountain gaps cover a ridge stretching about 10 miles.

The Battle of South Mountain erupted during the morning when Union forces of Colonel Eliakim Scammon’s 1st Brigade attacked a brigade of Confederate infantry under the command of General Samuel Garland at Fox’s Gap. After a few hours of hard fighting, some of which was hand to hand, a portion of General George Crook’s 2nd Brigade arrived with the 30th Ohio, making the advance in Wise’s Southfield. Held in reserve was that of the 28th Ohio which would later fight against Drayton’s Brigade.

In the 28th Ohio was Catherine Davidson who was disguised as a man. The 28th Ohio was positioned behind the 30th Ohio in southeast corner of Wise’s Southfield. As Drayton’s men positioned themselves, members of the 30th and the 28th Ohio would face off with portions of the 15th South Carolina during the late afternoon in what would be the total destruction of Drayton’s Brigade. Catherine survived the Battle of South Mountain only to be wounded three days later at Antietam.

Several resources state that Ida Remington fought at South Mountain. Apparently South Mountain was Ida Remington’s first major battle of the Civil War and she later fought at Antietam. Ida spent most of her career as a soldier serving as an officer’s servant until September of 1863, when she was detected as a female and was jailed.

During the afternoon hours of September 14th, General Joseph Hooker’s First Corps took Mount Tabor Road at the base of South Mountain, at Bolivar, side stepping Turner’s Gap. During Hooker’s march north toward Frostown, General John Gibbon’s Brigade was ordered back to Bolivar. At Bolivar, Gibbon’s men were to attack Confederate positions at Turner’s Gap. Confederate Colonel Alfred Colquitt had his brigade of Alabamians and Georgians positioned at the base of South Mountain.

As Gibbon’s (Iron) Brigade marched westward through the fields along the National Pike, they were hit with shells from Cutt’s Artillery Battalion that was positioned on the heights north of Turner’s Gap. Rebecca Peterman was serving in the 7th Wisconsin Infantry during the Battle of South Mountain. The 7th Wisconsin Infantry formed a line of battle on the north side of the National Road. Their skirmishers were thrown out and then a fight quickly ensued. After a heavy skirmish, the 7th Wisconsin Infantry reformed their line of battle with their left flank touching the National Road and their right touching the wood line. The fight was brutal, but the Iron Brigade never broke through the main Confederate battle line, as Colquitt’s men held their position behind a stonewall.

Rebecca Peterman’s role during the Battle of South Mountain is unknown. Besides being a drummer boy, she is credited as having participated in the Battle of Antietam. So who is Rebecca Peterman? Rebecca “Georgianna” Peterman enlisted in the 7th Wisconsin Infantry in the fall of 1862, at the age of sixteen. Once, when asked why she enlisted, she stated that she wanted to see what war was really about. She enlisted for two reasons. The first was because she wanted to be near her brother and cousin. Her cousin is credited with having given Rebecca the idea of enlisting. It took about two weeks for her own brother to realize that she was in uniform. Rebecca was known to be an adventurous country girl who lived in Ellenboro, Wisconsin and the sound of war was exciting to her, thus creating her second reason. Even after her brother died in late 1862, she stayed in the ranks for another two years.

So how did Rebecca manage to keep from being detected? She had a small, boyish, build, with some masculine features. From a distance she could pass as a young boy of sixteen. Some resources even stated she was better looking as a soldier than a young girl. Rebecca not only participated in battles and camped with her company, she also scouted and picketed. During battle she was known to be one of the most gallant soldiers and Frances Clayton who served with Peterman even stated “she was a good fellow.” Rebecca was eventually wounded above the temple but survived.

While Rebecca’s 7th Wisconsin was advancing on Turner’s Gap, there was another woman soldier who fought with Hooker’s First Corps. Private Sallie Ann Jarret enlisted in the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry, which was part of Rickett’s Division. Rickett’s Division was kept on reserve while Meade’s and Hatch’s divisions assaulted South Mountain, north of Turner’s Gap at a place called Frostown Gap. Although there isn’t much on Private Sallie Anne Jarret, she is given credit as serving all through the war until she was killed during the Battle at Hatcher’s Run in early 1865.

Though there is a discrepancy with service records, Elizabeth Niles also passed through South Mountain in some capacity. Some records state that Elizabeth served with the 4th New Jersey Infantry, which fought at Crampton’s Gap. While other records show that she fought alongside her husband Martin, who served with the 14th Vermont Infantry. Most resources state that Elizabeth and Martin Niles were on their honeymoon when the war broke out. Elizabeth cut her hair and served beside her husband in 1862 through the war. The records for her husband point in the direction that both served in the 14th Vermont, which means that she would have come through South Mountain during the Army of the Potomac’s pursuit Lee's army in July of 1863.

Another name that appears to have marched through South Mountain during the Maryland Campaign is that of Nellie K., who served with the 102nd New York Infantry, part of General Mansfield’s Twelve Corps.

Although not a common topic among Civil War buffs, the fact of the matter is that one can not deny that female soldiers came through South Mountain and in some cases fought at South Mountain. Research is on-going to find more names to add to those who fought at South Mountain that are women. As I find those names, this blog posting will be updated. Unfortunately, the armies kept no “official” records of women in the ranks, so this makes researching the topic very slow. Nevertheless, these women risked certain punishment if they were found in the ranks from both the army as well as the community in which they came from, and they deserve to be recognized for their service to their country.

Photographs LOC

Peace Democrats Who Opposed the Civil War

2011-06-10T12:46:00.003-04:00

For years, I have heard stories about a group of people who lived along the Mason Dixon Line that were opposed to the Civil War. This topic is a forgotten aspect that played a major role in politics in several Maryland and Pennsylvania towns in this region. Maryland is known as a border state and it is common knowledge that the state was split in their loyalties. However, did you know that Pennsylvania was just the same? There were several men who took up arms for the Confederacy from Pennsylvania. Some sources state that almost 2,000 men fought in the Confederate army. As the Civil War progressed, many Pennsylvania Democrats were split, and as a result their party became split as well. Some men supported the war while others did not, those that did not became known as a Copperhead.

In 1862, once it became known that the Civil War would give way to freedom for African Americans, a race war was inevitable. On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln announced a formal emancipation of all slaves within the Confederate States that did not return to Union control by January 1, 1863. Many white citizens as well as immigrants in Maryland and Pennsylvania feared that their employer would replace them with the freed African Americans, paying them at a lower pay rate. The war was unpopular, and as a result many people rose up against the drafts. Most citizens just wanted peace with the southern states. They felt that a war wasn’t worth the lives that would be expended and they did not want new laws being enforced to pay for the war debt. By the Spring of 1863, many Franklin County, Pennsylvania papers gave birth to the Anti-war men known as the Copperheads.

Most Civil War buffs have heard the term “Copperhead,” but do they really understand who these men were? Looking up the definition of a Copperhead during the time of the American Civil War, the term was dubbed as a vocal group of Democrats in the Northern United States who opposed the Civil War, wanting an immediate peace settlement with the Confederate States of America. Copperheads were sometimes identified by a copper cent with the Goddess of Liberty cut out and displayed as a badge upon their coat lapel.

Most of the newspaper accounts cited in this article are from Franklin County, Pennsylvania, which borders Northern Maryland cities such as Hagerstown, and within 15 miles of Emmitsburg. Even though these sources are directly related to Pennsylvania, the same sentiments were expressed in the bordering Maryland towns.

The term Copperhead was first reported in Waynesboro in the Waynesboro Village Record on March 13, 1863. The Waynesboro Village Record ran an article comparing the 1863 Copperhead to that of the 1814 Copperhead. “Comparing them to the Federalists who convened the infamous Hartford Convention, the article declares that copperheadism of today is the offshoot of copperheadism of 1812-14." But, it adds, “Just as the Federalists were dealt a stunning blow as a consequence of their actions following the U. S. victory over the British, a similar result will befall the latest generation, which will be visited with the scorn and damnation of not only all American freemen, but by the lovers of freedom throughout the world as well.”

Another story from March 13th was reported about the distribution of a pamphlet that was reported as a “Treasonable Document.” This article read: “It is reported that several local, prominent copperheads are involved in a scheme to distribute pamphlets containing a speech recently delivered by "the Ohio traitor, Vallandigam." Despite the fact that Vallandigam was threatened with violence in his own state for his pro-southern views, the piece sardonically notes, for some reason, parties in Franklin County applaud the villain and seek to give him notoriety by disseminating his treasonable documents among the people."

In March of 1863, the Copperheads were victorious during the township elections. The Valley Spirit on March 25th, 1863 reported that “During the Spring elections Franklin county is now largely Democratic beyond the peradventure of a doubt. It is an old saying, that the first thunder of the season awakes the snakes, and it must have been the late storm that stirred out the "copperheads" on Friday last. For out they came, though the day was scarcely warm enough for them, and like the Serpent that Aaron cast down before Pharaoh, they very quietly went to work and devoured all the little poisonous snakes that were hissing out their venom around them. Stand firm, Democrats, be moderate, patient, long-suffering, stick together, and the story of Aaron's big snake won't be a circumstance to the way the "blacksnakes" and "blowers" will disappear before next fall.”

In another article entitled “Union or Loyal League" excerpts from the article reveal "They'll keep the damned copperheads in their places, so this is the object of the organization, is it? They alone are to decide who are "copperheads," and "copperheads" are to be "kept in their places" that is, in other words, to be prevented from expressing their opinions by voice or through the ballot box. Well, let the issue come; the sooner it is met the better. Such is the movement now being inaugurated in Pennsylvania.”

On March 27th, 1863, the Copperheads made the Waynesboro Village Record. It was reported that on two occasions rebel sympathizers met on the streets after dark and celebrated to honor Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, and the Southern Cause, however the Copperheads were growing bolder. Another article in the paper stated that the Copperheads did not speak out against the use of African Americans in the Confederate army where blacks and whites would fight/work side by side even though they were opposed to African American men enlisting in segregated regiments of the Union army.

On April 1st, 1863, the Valley Spirit reported that the Democratic majority outweighed the Republicans in victories across the Commonwealth. However, when it came to the Democratic Copperhead and the radical Republication known as a Blacksnake, it was stated that a “copperhead is fearless, independent, and brave, while black snakes are cowardly, hissing, and thieving.”

Soon politics in the local papers began a political war with words. On April 3rd, 1863, the Waynesboro Village Record reported: “The focus of the piece is on the newspaper's claim to political impartiality, which, they admit, has been called into question lately by local copperheads. It is a high crime in their estimation for a paper neutral in politics to denounce traitors of the Vallandigham stripe North, and thus advocate the cause of the Union and true democracy. They call this partiality, abuse of the democratic party, etc. It will be impossible for us to contend with present prices successfully, with the lying "copperheads" resorting to every means in their power.”

As the war with words stormed throughout the papers, the Waynesboro Village Record on April 14, 1863 reported that “The editors denounce the mounting criticism of Union Leagues made by copperhead newspapers, which contend that the organization is extremely partisan. Copperhead papers every where (says the Hanover Spectator) are making bitter and malignant attacks upon the Union Leagues and charge among other things that they are secret oath bound associations intended to suppress public sentiment by the sword and bayonet."

On April 17th, 1863, the Waynesboro Village Record ran an article: “A Copperhead Corns Pinched.” It was a rebuttal to an article that appeared in the Chambersburg Valley Spirit, assailing one of the Record's correspondents. The controversy was sparked by the views that disloyal northerners should be "strung up to the telegraph poles along the railroad."

As the Copperheads’ reputation grew, so did the editorials in the papers. During the Union Loyal League Meeting held in May it was reported by the Waynesboro Village Record that “the organizational meeting for local chapter of the Union League went off smoothly with the exception of the expected interruptions of several copperheads who, like "slimy reptiles," milled about the hall "bellowing" throughout the evening. The man who asserts that nobody is disloyal in the loyal states must be one of two things, a fool or full-fledged traitor. Who tore down under cover of darkness, in Waynesboro, months ago, the American flag? Were they loyal hands?”

Franklin County Copperheads would soon be at unease as their leader was arrested. Ohio Representative Clement Laird Vallandigham was the Copperhead faction of anti-war Democrats and was a vigorous supporter of constitutional states' rights. He did not believe in supporting a war to end slavery, which he felt would lead to the enfranchisement of the African American people. He was arrested by the Union Provost because he had violated an army order against the public expression of sympathy for the Confederate States. He was ordered to be confined for the duration of the Civil War. However, on the order of President Lincoln, Vallandigham “the Copperhead traitor" was instead sent to the enemy lines.”

On May 22nd, it was reported “The arrest of Vallandigham has sparked considerable unrest among copperheads, even in Waynesboro. Some of his supporters proposed having a rally in town to voice their displeasure with the arrest, but opted not to because it was deemed inexpedient at this time." A week later the Waynesboro Village Record on May 29, 1863, reported “The Original Copperhead, Utilizing an extract from an address given by Benedict Arnold to validate its claim, the piece casts copperheads as the heirs to his legacy of shame.”

Upon returning to Pennsylvania, Company B of the 126th Pennsylvania had their flag inscribed “Copperheads Beware.” Unknown to the soldiers at the time, the flag was soon adopted by the Fulton Union League.

While, disarray was all surrounding the arrest of Vallandigham, the Waynesboro Village Record on June 05, 1863, reported that another demonstration was made by the Copperheads at the Waynesboro Square voicing their support to Jefferson Davis and Vallandigham “who, it appears, has become their "pet."

On June 12th, 1863, just days before the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania, the Waynesboro Village Record reported that close to 2,000 clergymen in France and England have united to condemn the "Slave Aristocracy." The religious leaders assert that the Confederacy, based as it is on slavery, "is at war with Christianity." In fact, proclaims the piece, outside of the South, with the exception of northern copperheads, this sentiment "is the view of the Christian world."

Another article in the same edition read “it is quite easy to determine the motives underlying copperheads' support for the Confederacy: naked self-interest. Proponents of the southern cause in New York advocate "peace at any cost" because they "lost the Southern trade" as a consequence of the war. Similarly, supporters of the rebel cause in Illinois are spurred primarily by the drop in the price of corn occasioned by the onset of the conflict.” These malcontents, the article declares, would rather "break up the nation" than sacrifice their own personal economic interests.

With the introduction of new publications in Philadelphia, the Copperheads were given the opportunity to reach a broader audience with their political statement. However, several anti-Copperhead supporters stated that the new publications “Expresses sentiments so treasonable, that a man would have to be a bold, bonified traitor to endorse such opinions.” In New York, an elderly gentleman was heckled and dragged from the stage at a copperhead meeting because he asserted that South Carolina started the war.

Soon the Copperheads would be tested in Waynesboro and the surrounding areas as Confederate soldiers would embark upon their town. Many Copperheads had long anticipated this moment, thinking that their support of the Confederate cause would be warmly received by the soldiers. This turned out to be the exact opposite; in fact many Copperheads were shunned by the Confederate soldiers. Many area newspapers headlined the “Rebels Snub the Copperheads”. Pennsylvania residents were treated poorly by the Confederate soldiers such as one case where a Confederate soldier threatened harm to a woman if she did not cut down a Liberty pole. This was according to reporters "one of the most 'malignant copperheads' in town."

As Confederate Albert Jenkins and his cavalry brigade made their way northward into Pennsylvania, several Copperheads were surprised to see that the Confederate general refused to shake their hands. In one case Jenkins was reported as saying "Lincoln ought to have hung you and the rest of the Copperheads long ago. We would not tolerate such men in the Southern Confederacy. We respect those who are against us in the North much more than the Copperheads." Many Confederate soldiers voiced their opinions to the Copperheads telling them that if they truly supported the South, they should pick up a musket and join the fight. This stunned the Copperheads to their core.

Soon, in July, violence began in New York by the Copperheads when they resisted the draft. The Copperheads were blamed for hanging men from lamp posts as well as trying to start another riot. Many papers criticized the inconstancy of the Copperheads. “To opponents of black enlistment, Copperheads declare a "white man's war." To government calls for white enlistments, Copperheads cry "black man’s war." To opponents of black enlistment, Copperheads charge racial inequality.”

In Kentucky, it was reported that “contempt for the Copperheads who have little respect for the Union soldiers who fight to preserve the Union. The author sees little difference between the rebels and the Copperheads.” In Tennessee, the Knoxville Register states that “consideration of those Germans here and elsewhere, who have been led, against their better judgment and the tradition of their Faderland, by copperhead demagogues, to sympathize with the rebels, or at least to place themselves in an attitude of opposition to the administration of the United States Government. We think that with this knowledge of what the rebels think of the Germans and how they purpose to treat them, any German who still blindly follows their Copperhead leaders, is utterly destitute of self-respect and of brotherly feeling for the gallant Germans in our army"

In the Franklin Repository published on August 5, 1863 "The Fulton Democrat, edited by the member of the Democratic State Committee for this district, seems exceedingly ambitious to get up a small draft riot in Fulton County. In a late issue an editorial review of the conscription bill thus apologizes for the copperhead thieves and murderers of New York."

As the Copperheads’ reputation grows they will soon be attacked by their words, actions and political stand regarding several key issues of the day. Many articles in the local Franklin County papers state that African Americans are superior to the Copperheads. Other headlines state that the Copperheads were whispering into the ears of people stating the Government is neglecting the people. Eventually other Democrats began leaving the party.

The Union ticket even tried to influence women. On September 30th, 1863, the Franklin Repository stated “To the young women we would say, that if after trying all their persuasive eloquence on their suitors they prove to be incorrigible Copperheads, give them the mitten at once. Don't waste a smile on a fellow who refuses either by bullet or ballot to help put down the rebellion. Make these bucks face the Union music square, or go under!”

President Lincoln issued a proclamation that was published in the New York Tribune, “How good a work the President has done for the army and the nation, by his timely interposition between the Copperheads and their cherished object, of defeating the draft and so preventing the reinforcement of the army, when he issued his recent proclamation suspending the privileges of the writ of habeas corpus in certain cases. The schemes of the conspirators of copperheadism have been brought to naught.”

In Waynesboro, Major B. M. Morrow of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Cavalry responded to accusations that he and his soldiers disrupted a Union meeting previously reported in the Franklin Repository. Major Morrow stated “As for the term of Copperhead applied to me. I care not, as my attachment to the army for more than two years will give the lie to that.”

While the papers kept fueling the intense political fire regarding Copperheads, this one article is, at the very least, comical. On October 7, 1863, the Franklin Repository wrote “John M. Cooper, formerly of the Spirit, is a Copperhead working as a clerk in Harrisburg and assessing mortgages for the county.” The Repository jokes that in order for the county to avoid paying its taxes, Cooper should recommend inviting the rebels to come and visit in order to destroy their property, thus eliminating the need to pay taxes.

In late October it was reported that the rebel invasion brought an increased influence to Copperheads who encouraged local citizens to vote against Governor Curtin because the state government was slow in its compensation to the invaded areas. The Copperheads wanted Democrat George Woodward to gain control of Pennsylvania. By the elections of 1863, it was reported that the Copperheads unsuccessfully attempted to prevent the representatives from several states from voting. To make matters worse, all the Pennsylvania Copperheads voted against offering any encouragement for the enlistment of African Americans. During this period many Pennsylvania news editors wanted a “conscription bill that will "gobble up" a due share of the whining, cowardly, copperheads.” Even the papers stated that many Union soldiers who deserted from the ranks of the army were aided by the Copperheads.

As the Spring of 1864 was winding down, the papers continued to wage war against the Copperheads and “their decisive discomfiture in November" by running several columns in the papers for the Lincoln and Johnson ticket. With this new ad campaign, “A sardonic celebration of the new "marriage" between Copperheads and radicals, joined together by their mutual hatred of Lincoln.” The Copperheads would loose that cause when Lincoln was reelected as the President of the United States.

Until the close of the war and even during reconstruction, the Copperheads were still viewed as traitors to the Union, and as a result the Republicans held the public’s support up to the Great Depression. The term Copperhead would soon fade away as a footnote in history as the nation was coming together as one.

The Long Road Home

2011-06-08T07:40:00.002-04:00

Shortly after dark on July 4th, the Confederate Infantry began to move from Gettysburg to Fairfield. For many weary soldiers it was a case of hurry up and wait. The order of retreat went as follows: General Hill's men traveled through Fairfield to Monterey Gap followed by General Ewell's Corps in Fairfield. General Longstreet's Corps marched on the eastern side of Jacks Mountain and took the lead as it marched down the mountain to Waynesboro. But the retreat was not so simple. Weather conditions, roadways, and the battle of Monterey had almost stalled the Confederate Army as it tried to clear Fairfield. During the mid morning on July 5th, General Ewell's, General Longstreet's and General Hill's Corps of Infantry still had not moved. The Union Cavalry kept up it’s operations to destroy the valued supplies in the wagons. With all these problems, General Lee some how managed to avoid another major battle in Southern Pennsylvania and Maryland.

The troops of General A. P. Hill's Corps resumed their former positions of July 3rd, and remained there until the night of the 4th. When the order to march was given the men of A. P. Hill's Corps would travel toward Hagerstown, by way of Fairfield and Waynesboro. During the afternoon, General Hill's Corps began marching out of Fairfield taking the same route that General Ewell's wagon supply trains took a day earlier. The road was badly torn up which made the march grind to a slow pace. It was almost 1 a.m. on July 6th, when General Hill's men approached the mountain pass near Monterey. Sergeant Gochenour recorded the march from Gettysburg. On July 4th the Danville Artillery was ordered to retreat moving roughly 5 miles within twenty-four hours. They moved up to Monterey during the night of the 5th and was ordered to deploy on a hill two and half miles from Maryland overlooking Waynesboro. They were stationed there until late July 6th and then ordered to march to Waynesboro. The Danville Artillery entered Waynesboro near 8 P.M. that evening.

On the night of July 4th, General Longstreet's Corps was ordered to march to Hagerstown following behind the troops of A. P. Hill's Corps. During the day of July 5th, General Longstreet's First Corp were struggling to cross over Jack's Mountain. Longstreet's Corps was en route on the Waynesboro Pike traveling from Fairfield. They passed through the little village of Fountain Dale reaching the summit of the mountain and succeeded in reaching the top of the mountain early that night. Longstreet's Corp had passed by Monterey Springs, on the summit of the mountain where it crossed over to Waynesboro. Shortly before midnight the first parts of Longstreet's Corps began marching toward Waterloo (modern day Rouzerville) taking the lead as it traveled to Hagerstown. His men encamped near Monterey along the Waynesboro and Emmitsburg Pike for the night.

During the afternoon, British observer Colonel Fremantle rejoined General Longstreet on the road to the top of the South Mountain. At 4:00 p.m., they stopped on the western slope of the mountain where the road forked, one heading to Emmitsburg, the other to Hagerstown. Near the intersection, they noticed an old farmhouse. Colonel Fremantle and Major Moses entered the farmhouse where they found several wounded Yankees, and one who had died. They had been wounded in the action of Monterey. The women in this house were great abolitionists. When Major Fairfax rode up, he asked whether the corpse was that of a Confederate or Yankee. The body was in the veranda, covered with a white sheet. The woman replied shaking her foot saying, "If there was a Confederate in here he wouldn’t be here long."

Colonel Fremantle the British observer speaks about the beginning phase of the march:

"The night was very bad thunder and lightning, torrents of rain the road knee deep in mud and water, and often blocked up with wagons "come to grief." I pitied the wretched plight of the unfortunate soldiers who were to follow us. Our progress was naturally very slow indeed, and we took eight hours to go as many miles. At 8 am. we halted a little beyond the village of Fairfield, near the entrance to a mountain pass. No sooner had we done so and lit a fire, than an alarm was spread that Yankee cavalry were upon us. Several shots flew over our heads, but we never could discover from whence they came. News also arrived of the capture of the whole of Ewell's beautiful wagons. These reports created a regular stampede amongst the wagoners, and Longstreet's drivers started off as fast as they could go. Our medical trio, however, firmly declined to budge, and came to this wise conclusion, partly urged by the pangs of hunger, and partly from the consideration that, if the Yankee cavalry did come, the crowded state of the road in our rear would prevent our escape. Soon afterwards, some Confederate cavalry were pushed to the front, who cleared the pass after a slight skirmish."

It was almost noon when General Ewell's Second Corps began moving on the Fairfield Road and reached Fairfield by 4 P.M. The march was six to eight miles from Gettysburg to Fairfield. The Lee Battery, part of Johnson's Division followed the long road home leaving many of it's wounded men behind. The 50th Virginia Infantry had heard the news of the battle at Monterey and upon seeing the conditions around them as they camped at Fairfield for the night made them wonder if the battle of Gettysburg was worth the fight. Adding to the problems, a band of Union Cavalry kept attacking the Confederate rear like a wolf after its prey.

General Jubal Early's Division of Ewell's Corps arose at 2:00 a.m. on the 5th and began their march toward Virginia. Their main objective was to act as the rear guard for General Ewell's Second Corps, followed by General John Gordon's Infantry Brigade and Colonel E. V. White's Cavalry. Upon entering Fairfield, General Early found a traffic jam caused by too many wagons. General Early who was not a very patient man and threatened to use blank ammunition in an artillery piece in order to sort out the wagon mess and get the teams of horses underway.

While General Early was attending the wagon situation, a dispatch from Colonel White arrived stating Union soldiers was coming. Wilbur Davis of the Charlottesville Artillery remembered the incident. He later wrote that General Early had ordered Colonel Pendleton to place a blank charge in one of his cannon and fire it over the wagon train. Just about that time Union Cavalrymen arrived near Early's Division. A soldier warned General Early about the movements and General Early turned in his saddle and looked toward the hill and saw nothing. Then a puff of smoke was seen and a cannon shell landed near the Charlottesville Artillery. It was followed by a few more shots, but did no damage.

As the Union troops approached General Gordon's flank, they were met with artillery and small arms fire. General Ewell later wrote in his report about this brief skirmish. He stated that the enemy had been threatening the rear of his Corps and they had been occasionally attacked by Union Artillery. The Federal unit eventually deployed a line of skirmishers. The Union soldiers then retreated as they were out manned. General Early reported during this small affair, the Twenty-sixth Georgia regiment sustained a loss of 11 wounded and missing.

Because of the situation with the wagons near Fairfield, Early's Division was forced to encamp that night by order of General Ewell. Early's Division was ordered to protect the trains, which was parked a little farther west of Fairfield. After repulsing Federal troops during the evening, General Gordon's men spent the night at Fairfield.

The Amherst Artillery was forced to spend the night of the 4th in the middle of the Fairfield Road in the pouring rain. By evening they encamped near Fairfield making a 10 mile march from Gettysburg as the rain and mud slowed traveling almost to a halt. By the evening of the 6th, the starving men made their camp on a farm near Waterloo where it obtained permission to feed on the farmer's livestock. During the morning of the 7th, they passed the wreckage of their supply wagons near Waterloo.

General Ewell's Corps marched into the mountain on Maria Furnace Road following Hill's Corps. When Ewell's Corps cleared Fairfield, they left behind severely wounded soldiers who were too critical to be placed in Imboden's wagon train that had already moved out of Cashtown. The rain and the dampness added to the misery. The soldiers marched through water and mud that was knee to ankle deep.

General Ewell recalled "We encamped for the night on a hill 1½ miles west of Fairfield, and next day, July 6, the Third Corps moving by another road, we were still in the rear, Rodes' division acting as rearguard, and repelling another attack of the enemy." General Ewell then continues "Attacked the troops making the summons, and drove them out of a wood in which they were posted. The enemy did not follow much beyond Fairfield. The road was again blocked till noon. That night we encamped near Waynesboro, and reached Hagerstown about noon of July 7."

At dawn, General Early moved to the front of the Ewell's Corps passing Monterey Springs where his Division crossed over to Waynesboro and encamped for the night. By early next morning on the 7th, Early's Division then moved on toward Hagerstown, by way of Leitersburg.

General Meade wrote to General Couch with concerns of the Confederate Retreat. General Meade needed reliable intelligence of the Confederate Armies movements. A captured rebel cavalry officer stated General Longstreet was moving through Jack's Mountain, and ordered him to picket roads to Emmitsburg.

Instead of the Majority of the Union Army moving behind to catch up to the Confederate Army, General Meade followed parallel on the Eastern side of the mountains in attempt to cut the Confederate Army off near Hagerstown or Williamsport, Maryland. General Oliver O. Howard was encamped at the Horner's Farm near Gettysburg. His two Corps, the Fifth and the Eleventh was getting ready to pursue the Confederate Army when he was ordered to stand down by General Meade. He wrote to General Meade with concerns that the Confederate Army might pass through Jack's Mountain to Mechanicstown and then onward to Frederick, or that the Confederate Army would travel toward Hagerstown. Because of this, General Howard wanted to move his Corps to Emmitsburg as quickly as possible to prevent any break through.

By 8:30 A.M. on July 6th, General Meade ordered General Howard to move one of his Corps to Emmitsburg and the other Corps to be posted on a road leading to Fairfield. According to General Meade early on July 6th, after receiving information on the Confederate Army's retreat route, all evidence showed that the principal force was between Fairfield and Hagerstown moving toward the Potomac River.

By 9 a.m. the Confederate Infantry numbering about 80,000 men was reported to have passed the Fairfield Road. General Meade learned the Waynesboro road was empty when parts of his army arrived. General Meade advised his Corps Commanders that he would continue his flanking movement once the main Confederate Army had retired from the mountain. With this plan he also directed General Couch to move down the Cumberland Valley to threaten the Confederate rear.

General Pleasanton ordered a brigade of Cavalry, under Colonel McIntosh, to communicate the Confederate troop’s movements as his Cavalry traveled toward Waynesboro. General George Sykes commanding the Fifth Corps wrote to General Howard during the evening, explaining his position. He was located near the junction of the Emmitsburg pike and the Fairfield road. He had not heard word from General Sedgwick on troop movements and had not received orders from General Meade or from his Wing Commander, General Howard. A sign of frustration along with the lack of communication was taking it's toll on the Union Army.

The Union Army was slow moving and several of it's officers thought that they had passed up the opportunity to end this war by destroying what was left of General Lee's Army. The unanswered question still remains. Could General Meade have destroyed what remained of General Lee's Army?

General Meade gave his report on the retreat from Gettysburg on October 1, 1863. He stated:

"On the morning of the 5th, it was ascertained the enemy was in full retreat by the Fairfield and Cashtown roads. The Sixth Corps was immediately sent in pursuit on the Fairfield road, and the cavalry on the Cashtown road and by the Emmitsburg and Monterey Passes. July 5 and 6 were employed in succoring the wounded and burying the dead. Major General Sedgwick, commanding the Sixth Corps, having pushed the pursuit of the enemy as far as the Fairfield Pass, in the mountains, and reporting that the pass was a very strong one, in which a small force of the enemy could hold in check and delay for a considerable time any pursuing force, I determined to follow the enemy by a flank movement, and, accordingly, leaving McIntosh's brigade of cavalry and Neill's brigade of infantry to continue harassing the enemy, put the army in motion for Middletown, Md."

The July 5th, 1863 Emmitsburg Skirmish Site

2011-05-30T12:31:00.003-04:00

During the morning hours of July 4th, General Robert E. Lee's mangled army began its withdrawal from Gettysburg. The main portion of the Confederate Army would march to Fairfield where it would cross over the mountain at Monterey Pass traveling toward Waynesboro and then onto Hagerstown and Williamsport. There it would meet up with General Imboden who was to lead a wagon train of wounded men through Cashtown.

Being detached from Jenkins’ Cavalry Brigade, the 36th Virginia Cavalry would go through Monterey Pass and guard General Ewell’s wagon trains near Waterloo, Pennsylvania. The rest of the Jenkins’ Brigade would patrol around the wagon train that was in Fairfield or ride with General Stuart’s Division, as the 14th Virginia Cavalry followed General Imboden’s column of wounded. Sometime during the morning a portion of Jenkins' Cavalry came into Emmitsburg. While watering their horses, Emmitsburg residents, who were curious about the outcome of the battle of Gettysburg asked the troopers who won, their reply was that the Confederates had won.

On the morning of July 5th, General JEB Stuart made his way from the fields of Gettysburg to Emmitsburg. General Stuart came to the town of Emmitsburg during the dawn hours with the 34th Virginia Cavalry under Lt. Colonel Vincent Witcher leading the advance into Emmitsburg. There was a sharp skirmish fought near the town's square as seventy Union men and their captain were taken prisoner.

Among the prisoners was a photographer from Mathew Brady’s Photography Firm. Three photographers named, Alexander Gardner, Timothy O'Sullivan, and James Gibson all were traveling to Gettysburg when they came to Emmitsburg on the night of July 4th. Gardner himself stayed at the Hoffman Inn (Emmit House). Which one of the three photographers that Stuart captured is not known however, evidence may suggest it could have been Gardner himself. Gardner's fifteen year old son Lawrence was attending a boarding school just outside of Emmitsburg and his father may have been assuring his son’s safety while he was held in captivity. Once the photographer was released the three men headed on to Gettysburg.

On July 7th, Gardner and his crew came back into Emmitsburg on their way to Washington. While in Emmitsburg, the photography crew produced seven negatives of different scenes in Emmitsburg. One is a picture of the Hoffman Inn taken sometime in the afternoon on July 7th. Their works on the Gettysburg battlefield and also those taken in Emmitsburg would become some of the most famous photographs that future generations would marvel upon.

At Samuel McNair's funeral, Major Oliver Horner recalled this story about his comrade, McNair and their time in Cole's Cavalry. "After rendering General Buford valuable service during the battle, McNair and some of his companions on Saturday night, July 4th found their way back into Emmitsburg. Stuart’s cavalry dashing into the place on Sunday morning captured them with others at Hoffman’s hotel. McNair and Gwinn were taken over the mountain but during the first night, when about Boonsboro, they made their escape and came back to Emmitsburg finding their horses had been saved to them by Harry Hoffman."

Emmitsburg became a landmark for those in blue since other roads in poor condition could not handle the huge army. Poor conditions and detours caused the armies to split up their columns in pursuit of General Lee. A drummer boy named Bardeen purchased a fair amount of green peas at a price of ten cents at Emmitsburg’s General Store that was located across the street from the Hoffman Inn.

Custer’s Brigade at the Emmitsburg Tollgate

2011-05-19T08:27:00.002-04:00

During the afternoon of June 27th, a part of General George Armstrong Custer’s Brigade of Michigan Cavalry was encamped just south of Emmitsburg on the old tollgate, before heading toward Hanover on the following Monday. George Custer was only 24 years old when he was promoted to Brigadier General in Frederick. He had replaced General Joseph T. Copeland as commander. General Custer had scouted the Emmitsburg area and hired a local resident by the name of Jim McCullough to guide Custer around the Emmitsburg area.

An article originally published in the Emmitsburg Chronicle on August 31, 1951, stated that “On Saturday the 27th day of June, two regiments of Michigan cavalry camped a mile south of Emmitsburg on the Tollgate held the advance of Kilpatrick's division. They were armed with the deadly Spencer repeating carbines and looked like they could fight. They stayed until Monday, when the division arrived and they all marched to Hanover, Pa. They were guided by Jim McCullough, an Emmitsburg soldier boy, who was counted as one of the best scouts in the army.”

Dr. Thomas C. Moore of Mount Saint Mary’s later recalled: “The first large body that passed near the College was the 6th Michigan Cavalry. They jogged along, four abreast, many of the weary riders leaning forward, sound asleep on the necks of their horses. Many of us sat on the fences along the road watching and listening to their sayings. We naturally looked upon the men as sheep led to the slaughter, and we were not a little surprised when we overheard two of them closing a bargain on horseback with the remark: 'Well, I will settle with you for this after the battle. Will that suit you?' The other party readily assented. The whole period of life is treated as a certainty, even by men going into battle.”

General Custer’s men had made their camps on the grounds of the St. Joseph’s House. Joseph Brawner, the field manager had the cutting machine ready to cut down the clover that covered the fields to store in the barn loft. He would carry out the task of cutting down the clover in the meadows that surrounded St. Joseph’s. As the 5th Michigan Cavalry made their quarters for the night, they let their horses graze in the fields. Once sunrise came on Sunday morning of June 28th, the fields were barren and nothing was left of the clover. William O. North of the 5th Michigan Cavalry gave the Sisters of Charity a memo that stated: “Joseph Brawner was entitled to pay, for 16,000 pounds of hay being the amount consumed and destroyed by the 5th Michigan Cavalry while quartered on the grounds of the Saint Joseph’s House on the night of June 27, 1863.

Photo of the Toll House from the Emmitsburg Historical Society

Signal Operations of Emmitsburg During the Civil War

2011-05-18T09:33:00.002-04:00

Emmitsburg was not only important to the cavalry operations of the Union Army, but it also served as an important role in communications and observing battle maneuvers in Gettysburg. Indian Lookout was a very important landmark during the battle of Gettysburg for the Union Army. It served Union officers who could see the positions of the armies on the battlefield. It also served as a communication center via dispatches and telegraph for the Union Army.

Using the highest point in the Emmitsburg area, Indian Lookout became a land mark. This area situated near Mount Saint Mary's College held the most spectacular view of the battle of Gettysburg. A letter reprinted on March 25, 1976 from the Emmitsburg Chronicle a gentlemen only known as A.J.B. wrote about the Battle of Gettysburg as seen from Indian Lookout directly behind Emmitsburg. There he writes about the battle as he saw it.

“I should spare some of that talk for describing the battle of Gettysburg as seen by us from Indian Lookout. Truly we are at that place (Indian Lookout) almost the whole time during the three days battle. We had plenty of glasses viz telescopes, spy, and opera glasses. We had a clear view of the field and could see so as to make the men in their lines, attending cannon, the cannon themselves, making charges, officers riding along about their lines, and in a word the whole scene was spread out to our view.

We could distinctly observe the changes in the position of the armies: sometimes one army would slowly give way, but seeming to dispute every inch of ground with as much energy and determination as if the fate of the Nation depended on its holding or yielding its position again rallying and driving the foe headlong before it for some distance. When the retreating body either reinforced some fresh troops or perhaps reinforced with courage, the battle would become terrific.”

The Union Army had several ways of communicating and delivering orders. Situated on the highest point they would translate or send out messages. The Signal Corp had two flags that were squared and colored red and white. One flag would be red with a smaller white square in the center, while the second was all white and a smaller red square in the center. Each movement of the signal flags represented a letter. The signalmen would wave these flags while the intended party who was observing these flags would look through a telescope calling out the letters and another man would write the letters down. The second way of communicating was by telegraph. The armies had what was called a Flying Telegraph battalion or company. They would set up near the signal corps or where they would best serve the commanders.

An article reprinted in 1951 from the Emmitsburg Chronicle gave a sharp description of the Union cavalry and Signal Corps that was stationed at Emmitsburg during the time of the battle of Gettysburg:

“Small flags waved and dipped from the tower of the old Lutheran Church, used as a signal station by the army. Bearers of dispatches and squads of cavalry dashed madly through the town. The long roll of drums and the blood-stirring bugle calls filled the air; the fields were alive with soldiers. To the untrained eye it looked like a great mob, but it was not a mob in any sense, for in a very short time the men fell into orderly lines and in full marching swing, pressed forward across the fields toward Gettysburg, towards victory and also many of them toward death."

As the battle of Gettysburg commenced, Signal man Aaron Jerome, turned his telescope toward Emmitsburg. Around quarter after nine in the morning, he saw movements of troops approaching Gettysburg. From his location on the Lutheran Seminary steeple he could see the company colors waving in the wind. As the wind shifted the flags he recognized the emblems of Reynolds Corps. He knew help was on the way.

During the battle of Gettysburg, Indian Lookout and Round Top served as one of many lines the Federal Army had. These are the official reports written by the men stationed at Indian Lookout during the battle of Gettysburg, and how the signal stations were organized during the Union occupation of Emmitsburg along with communication difficulties:

"Signal Station, July 2, 1863

Major-General Butterfield:

Communication with Emmitsburg is still open, but no communication yet with Gettysburg.

L. B. Norton, Captain, and Chief Signal Officer

MARYLAND HEIGHTS SIGNAL STATION, June 24-July 10, 1863

General Slocum

A message confirming the above was received, via Washington, late in the afternoon by the commanding general from General Tyler, at Maryland Heights. On the 25th, all signal communication was discontinued upon the removal of the army corps, and the signal telegraph line withdrawn. Two officers made separate reconnaissance for General W. S. Hancock, while two others performed the same duties for General J. F. Reynolds.

On the 26th, general headquarters moved to Poolesville. By direction of the general commanding, three signal officers were ordered to report for duty to Major General A. Pleasonton, commanding Cavalry Corps.

On the 27th, the headquarters of this army moved to Frederick, and an attempt was made to open communication between this point and the station on Sugar Loaf Mountain, which proved unsuccessful, on account of the unfavorable condition of the atmosphere. A station of observation was established at Middletown, and communication opened from that place to another point of observation at South Mountain Pass, and the results reported to Generals J. F. Reynolds and O. O. Howard.

On the 28th and 29th, no signal operations were found necessary. On the 30th, general headquarters removed to Taneytown. A signal station was placed in the church steeple at that place, and a party sent to Emmitsburg for the purpose of opening a line between General J. F. Reynolds and headquarters. Communication was not opened this day on account of the haziness of the atmosphere. The signal officer with General John Buford, who occupied the town of Gettysburg, took position in the steeple of the college, and reported to General Buford the whereabouts and movements of the enemy. The officers attached to the First Corps, from a station of observation on the mountain (Indian Lookout) back of Emmitsburg, made a telescopic reconnaissance toward Gettysburg, reporting the results to the general commanding that corps.

In order that these instructions might be promptly and successfully fulfilled, signal telegraph trains were sent to Frizellburg, and everything held in readiness to extend the wire at a moment's notice to the points desired by the commanding general. During the whole of this day, endeavors were made to open the signal line between general headquarters, Emmitsburg, and Round Top Mountain, but on account of the smokiness of the atmosphere, the desired result was not obtained until 11 p. m., when the first message was received. These lines were kept open during the subsequent battle.

On July 6, the lines between Round Top and Taneytown and Emmitsburg and Taneytown were discontinued. The two officers attached to the First Corps made a telescopic reconnaissance from the hill back of Emmitsburg, and sent the information obtained to Major General John Newton. The same officers subsequently occupied signal stations at Turner's Gap and Washington Monument, and reported the result of their observations of Hagerstown and vicinity to Generals Sedgwick and Newton.

July 7, the headquarters of the army moved to Frederick. The signal officer who had been previously assigned to duty with the detached command under General Neill made a reconnaissance near Waynesborough, Pa., discovering the whereabouts and movements of the enemy.

On July 8, in the afternoon, general headquarters moved to Middletown. A party of signal officers, under charge of Captain W. J. L. Nicodemus, arrived from Washington, for the purpose of working in conjunction with the signal corps of this army. Captain Nicodemus opened a line of communication between Frederick and South Mountain Pass.

On July 9, headquarters of the army moved to Turner's Gap. A station was occupied near this place, communicating, through others at Middletown and Crampton's Pass, with Maryland Heights. This line, appearing of little importance on account of telegraphic facilities, was abandoned the same day, and its officers ordered to more active duty in the front. A station of observation was established on Washington Monument, near South Mountain Pass, from which Hagerstown and the whole valley could be seen. On July 10, the general commanding and his staff removed to a bivouac near Beaver Creek crossing, west of Boonsborough.

On July 30 and 31, the communication opened on the 29th remained intact. In summing up the operations of the signal corps of this army for the month and a half herein recorded, I find that sixty-seven signal stations of observation and communication were occupied, eight signal telegraph lines established, and seventeen extra reconnaissance’s made. I have stated as concisely as possible the amount and character of the work performed. When it failed in a signal point of view it has been noted; but of the real value of the information obtained by the corps and the importance of other services rendered, the commanding general and the corps commanders are best able to judge. A map is herewith enclosed, *indicating by the signal flags placed upon it the majority of the points at which stations were occupied; by dotted red lines where communication by flag signals was established, and by plain red lines where the signal telegraph was used. "

On the morning of July 5th, General JEB Stuart made his way from the fields of Gettysburg to Emmitsburg. There was a sharp skirmish fought at the Farmer's Inn as seventy Union men and their Captain were taken prisoners. Some of the Union prisoners taken at Emmitsburg by General Stuart’s Cavalry on July 5th were those belonging to the Signal Corps. In this report to General Slocum, it tells of the small ordeal:

“MARYLAND HEIGHTS SIGNAL STATION, June 24-July 10, 1863

General Slocum:

During the late movements of the army, 3 signal officers and 6 flagmen were captured by the enemy. The only reported injuries were those of 2 flagmen slightly wounded at the battle of Gettysburg. The capture of Captain B. F. Fisher, chief acting signal officer, has been previously mentioned. Captain C. S. Kendall and Lieutenant L. R. Fortescue, acting signal officers, were taken at Emmitsburg, where they had been on station, by Stuart's cavalry upon their retreat from Gettysburg, July 5.

The following officers are entitled to mention for the active part taken by them in the late operations of the corps, and for the prompt and efficient manner in which they discharged every duty, both under the fire of the enemy and on the march: Captains James S. Hall and P. A. Taylor, serving with Second Army Corps; Captains P. Babcock, jr., and T. R. Clark, serving with Eleventh Army Corps; Captains Joseph Gloskoski and Richard Dinsmore, serving with Cavalry Corps; Captain F. E. Beardslee, in charge signal telegraph train; First Lieutenants J. C. Wiggins and N. H. Camp, serving with First Army Corps; First Lieutenant George J. Clarke, serving with Sixth Army Corps; First Lieutenant J. E. Holland, serving with Twelfth Army Corps. First Lieutenants William S. Stryker, adjutant, and A. B. Capron, acting assistant quartermaster and acting ordnance officer of Signal Corps, have discharged the duties of their respective positions throughout the campaign with a care and faithfulness which entitles them to commendation. I take pleasure in still further mentioning Captain D. E. Castle, of this corps, for distinguished gallantry and close attention to duty under most trying circumstances.”

Washington Monument Project

2011-05-10T12:29:00.010-04:00

Today, I decided to do a few projects at Washington Monument State Park. The weather is so nice and sitting behind a computer researching, just didn't make sense when it is so beautiful outside. So, I had some projects that I decided to do instead in preparations of our living history programs that are being conducted over Memorial Day Weekend and for the 149th Anniversary of Battle of South Mountain.

The first major project I had on my agenda was the removal of a mesh fence that was set up by the actual Washington Monument. This old mesh fence was placed near the entrance of an old path that is no longer able to accept foot traffic. This fence was not appealing to the eye at all. Instead I decided to take down the old mesh fence down and replace it with a split rail fence. I only did two sections which should serve the purpose to help lower foot traffic and to make it look more appealing to our visitors at the park.