Shippensburg's Civil War History
"June 1863: When History Was Made" In early June of 1863 rumors began to float that the Army of Northern Virginia was about to make some sort of offensive move north. Whether a cavalry raid or a more substantial force was to be used was unclear, as message traffic between Washington and the Army of the Potomac show. Whatever type of force was to be used, the reports gained enough credibility by the second week of June that a series of telegrams were sent to various officers to establish a defensive force to meet such a raid.
With these communications a series of events that would prove frustrating to many was set in motion. Having been mustered for the campaign in the fall of 1862 which culminated in the battle of Antietam, and not been paid for that work plus the harvest season being in full swing, most men were reluctant to join for what might be an indefinite term and much telegraph time was spent sorting out the problem with a final resolution not coming until it was too late for any useful force to be built until after the battle happened at Gettysburg. Meanwhile the rumors kept coming north through the valley of Virginia with increasing frequency and initial dribbles of refugees (mostly blacks) starting to appear crossing the Pennsylvania/Maryland border. Having been visited twice already by Confederate forces, a great deal of credibility was given to the reports by the residents of the Cumberland Valley which stretched from the Potomac River to the Susquehanna at Harrisburg . The valley residents started to prepare for the anticipated advance of Confederate forces by sending easily transportable items across the Susquehanna with banks transferring funds, families hiding what they considered valuables and farmers taking their horses and cattle into the mountains for what was hoped to be for safe keeping. Residents also went to great lengths to keep articles safe with trap door attics, false walls, and even burial. Finally hard information came from two locations on the 14th and 15th of June when the Federal forces at Winchester, Va., was surrounded and after a short sharp attack attempted to cut its way out with poor results and Brigadier General Albert Jenkins' Confederate cavalry crossed the Pennsylvania border and occupied Chambersburg. Remaining for two days and withdrawing when false reports of an approaching Federal force were obtained, Jenkins' men had scoured the area for useful food, clothing, horses, cattle and any black citizens that could be captured for shipment back to Virginia. On the 19th of June a small force of hurriedly assembled militia from New York along with some Pennsylvania units were transported to Shippensburg via the Cumberland Valley Railroad, where they detrained and marched toward Chambersburg. This small force was aided by a company of the 1 st New York cavalry under Capt. William Boyd, who had escorted fleeing wagons from the episode at Winchester. With confirmation of their worst fears, the citizens of Franklin and Cumberland counties expedited their efforts to secure their property against the approaching force. In Shippensburg, William McClean whose tannery sat on Branch Creek, knew that any tanned leather would be confiscated, resorted to the subterfuge of false bottoms in his tanning vats to hide the finished product. Also in Shippensburg, the owners of the Union Hotel went so far as to have their sign repainted to rename the establishment “Sherman House” so as not to offend possible Confederate “visitors.” On the 22nd of June, Jenkins again crossed the line and advanced northward, skirmishing just north of Greencastle with Boyd who lost one man killed and one wounded in the action. The next day Boyd and Knipe were forced back to Shippensburg, with Knipe's men taking a train toward Carlisle and Boyd skirmishing with Jenkins force. In the afternoon Boyd's men were chased through Shippensburg with some shooting by pursuing Confederates and the town was occupied. Scattering through the area, supplies were gathered by the Confederates and requisitions were made for medicines and medical instruments. McClean was successful in his ruse but Thomas Blair, a grain merchant lost several thousand dollars worth of grain and flour. Stories abound of details of Jenkin's men approaching various farms and requesting to be fed while hunting for the farmer's horses. Sarah Koser Martin of Mainsville was able to save her horse by dint of hiding the animal in the woods and cleaning out the stable so no trace of the animal remained, so that when she truthfully answered that she had no horse stabled there her story stood up. Some sniping by Boyd's men, who had not gone far, caused Jenkins to request infantry support and on the 25th the brigade of B. Gen. Junius Daniel arrived with over 2200 men; and then on the 26th the rest of two divisions of the Army of Northern Virginia under Generals Robert Rodes and Edward Johnson with Lt. General Richard Ewell commanding the whole marched into the area, bringing the total force to over 15,000, without counting the numerous teamsters and other support personnel, which along with the cavalry must have approached the 20,000 mark. The two divisions camped for only the night of the 26th, with Rodes men around what is now know as Dykeman Pond and Johnson's men on Timber Hill to the west and south of the spring. At any early hour on the 27th the two divisions marched out of Shippensburg on both the turnpike (Route 11) and the Walnut Bottom Road en route to Carlisle, taking the 14-mile-long wagon train of supplies and equipment and leaving only such troops in the area needed to secure communications and continue foraging. Relative quiet was then the state for three days while the Confederate force moved toward Harrisburg and felt out the defenses on the west shore of the Susquehanna River with some skirmishing in what is now Camp Hill with the various militia units assembled for the defense of the state capita. However, on the 28th of June word reached General Lee, who was headquartered at Chambersburg, that the federal Army of the Potomac was closer in pursuit than his intelligence had indicated, and orders were sent to the scattered units of his army to assemble on the east side of South Mountain an the area of Cashtown and Gettysburg. Those orders reached Carlisle in the afternoon of the 29th and Edward Johnson's division and the huge train of wagons retraced their steps as far as Stoughstown that afternoon. On the 30th the troops and wagons of Johnson's division moved through Shippensburg again in a southerly direction and the cavalry units that had been securing the communications withdrew shortly after leaving the residents to count up their losses and wonder, “What next?” Gettysburg was “next” and the magnitude of the battle has overshadowed the events in the Cumberland Valley since. ©2005 Wayne Wachsmuth. Used with permission. Lt. Col. Ret. Wayne Wachsmuth is a licensed battlefield guide at Gettysburg National Military Park. The events above are commemorated annually the last full weekend of June in Shippensburg with March to Destiny, a Civil War living history event. |