Civil War in Mercersburg Area - 10 Articles
The Civil War –Ten Articles
by Joan C. McCulloh
The Prologue – The Abolition Riot of 1837
The Underground Railroad – Events in the Mercersburg Area
Men from the Mercersburg Area Serving in the Union Armies
The Home Front – Efforts of Local Citizens
Friday, October 10, 1862 – J.E.B. Stuart’s Raid
June 1863 – Prelude to Gettysburg
Friday, July 3, 1863 – Action on the Diamond
Sunday, July 5, 1863 – Arrival of Wounded Confederates
Friday, July 29, 1864 – The Battle of Mercersburg
The Epilogue – April 1865
Bibliography
The Prologue - The Abolition Riot in 1837
Mercersburg, like other communities nationwide, experienced both anti-slavery and pro-slavery tensions in the years preceding the Civil War. On July, 27, 1837, a twenty-six year old worker in the American Anti-Slavery Society, Jonathan Blanchard, came to town. An enthusiastic worker for abolition, this young Vermont native was stationed in Harrisburg and in the preceding April had spoken on the steps of the courthouse in Chambersburg. Since on that occasion a mob had chased him across the Diamond to seek refuge in a tavern, his reputation preceded him to Mercersburg.
Therefore, upon his arrival in town he was not permitted to stay in a hotel nor was he permitted to speak in a “lecture room.” He did, however, find a place to stay in a boardinghouse run by a student at Marshall College, Daniel Kroh, and his sisters. While he was staying there, he expressed his anti-slavery views. The next evening Blanchard, Kroh, and others went to the Methodist Church to hear the new preacher at that church speak. On their way out of the service Blanchard, anticipating trouble, said to the others that he could take care of himself, that he could find his way back to Kroh’s house, and that they should stay away from him. When Blanchard walked out of the church, a mob, principally but not entirely of Marshall College students, met him with a barrage of stones, eggs, and curses. He found safety in a neighboring boardinghouse, which a Marshall College student defended against the mob of his fellow students.
Later that evening, after a veteran of the War of 1812 had gathered some arms and prepared to defend Blanchard and his sympathizers, Kroh escorted them back to his own house. Kroh, who became a minister in the German Reformed Church, later stated that after Blanchard had been made presentable, “he delivered to us a family lecture on his favorite topic.” Kroh added that a few mornings later men sympathetic to Blanchard had “one of the students, a stout young man,” accompany him out of town on the road to Greencastle “in a private conveyance.” About his departure Blanchard later wrote: “As I came out of town,…the Southern students had stationed themselves on the roadside,” but he noted that “…they confined themselves to throwing a few stones and uttering a few oaths.”
Controversy followed. Elliott T. Lane, a local merchant, a trustee of Marshall College, and brother-in-law of James Buchanan who would be elected to the Presidency in 1856, alleged in a hearing before the faculty of Marshall College that Kroh had disturbed the peace by having Blanchard in his house, that Kroh had permitted him to lecture, and that Kroh had carried a concealed weapon. The question before the faculty was “whether Mr. Kroh had invited any of the students to be present at his house and whether he had deceived them in his representation that there had only been a family conversation with Mr. Blanchard.” After much deliberation the faculty reprimanded Kroh for withholding “ a part of the facts by which they could judge whether Mr. Blanchard had lectured at his house or not….” The faculty did, however, expel at least one student for his part in the rioting.
The controversy was played out in the newspapers. Blanchard, who had written in his diary, “Came to this place July 27. Violent mob - suffered much in my person and my clothes,” wrote a long letter to the Emancipator, an abolitionist newspaper published by the American Anti-Slavery Society, in which he recounted the events of his stay in Mercersburg and in which he expressed his gratitude to those who had defended him. He wrote: “The attack was with great vigor and effect. One of my eyes was badly swollen the next day with a blow received above it; my breathing was somewhat obstructed by repeated blows received upon my side,…” He added: “I went into a door where the mob assailed me….A company of students boarded in the house who afforded me sympathy and protection while the mob without were soon dispersed by the borough authorities, who accompanied me through the town to my lodgings.” He was especially grateful to James Carson, a local merchant, and quoted Carson’s words: “ Every man is in favor of a mob who does not endeavor to put it down.”
As this controversy continued, those supporting Blanchard and anti-slavery work called their opponents “mobacrats,” and those opposing abolition called their opponents “amalgamators.” After some of the local highly respected citizens had written a long letter to the Whig, a Chambersburg newspaper, in which they denounced the rioting, one of their opponents responded as “no amalgamator.”
Blanchard, who became a minister, fought all of his life for the principles in which he believed. After the abolition of slavery he was active in the anti-Masonic movement. He became president of Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, and then became the first president of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Forty years after his experience in Mercersburg Blanchard, traveling in Illinois, met the former Marshall College student, now also a minister, who had spirited him out of Mercersburg and onto the road to Greencastle in 1837.
The Underground Railroad
Since the Mercersburg area is close to the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, it saw, especially after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, many underground railroad activities. Because of the nature of these activities most accounts are of oral tradition, not documented. In our area many of the escaping slaves walked on a path through Blairs Valley that led into Pennsylvania and were guided along their path by various means. One of these was observing on which side of the trees the moss lay. Upon entering Pennsylvania one of the first structures these people would have seen was the Old Log Church on Blairs Valley Road. Some of these fugitives settled in what became known as Little Africa just southwest of Mercersburg. Others traveled on the continuation of this path to Cove Gap, another early destination, settled there, and formed another community. The Mercersburg Journal noted in 1863 the death in Cove Gap of a hundred and three year old lady, who had been a slave in Berkeley County, Virginia, now West Virginia, of the brother-in-law of George Washington. This lady, who remembered having seen Washington and who frequently commented upon “his manly bearing,” and her husband came to Cove Gap after they had achieved their freedom in 1830. Still others continued on this path to what is now Route 30. Many of the ancestors of our present local African American families came to this area on this well-trodden path and made their homes here.
One of the men who assisted many runaway slaves, it has been asserted, was Acheson Ritchey, who lived on a farm outside of Mercersburg and who gave the fugitives food if he deemed it wise to keep them or sent them to the next station, if he deemed they were in danger. The Ritchey family took into its home a local eleven year old African American girl who had the task of caring for the babies and young children of the people coming through on the underground railroad. It has also been asserted that when John Brown, the noted abolitionist, was in Chambersburg, he sent an emissary to Acheson Ritchey to obtain the latter’s opinion about a proposed raid upon the arsenal at Harpers Ferry but that Mr. Ritchey discouraged the plan.
Another person who aided slaves in their search for freedom was Jacob Bezan, an African American who lived on West California Street. Bezan was a small man in stature, but his son, George, was large. When fugitives were approaching, Jacob kept watch for them while George guarded the house. Upon one occasion, when the father and son exchanged responsibilities, the slaves seeking sanctuary were fearful because they had anticipated seeing a small man.
Tragically, other fugitive slaves fell into the hands of slave-catchers, who had a profitable business of selling the fugitives back into slavery. Some slaves, however, managed to hide. At times slaves hid in a cave near Cove Gap. Upon one occasion a child hid in a tree near what is now Mountain Road. Sometimes, though, the slave-catchers and those who helped them were caught off-guard and died as a result of their actions. In October 1837 three slaves who had run away from their masters in Virginia arrived in Mercersburg. After they had been taken to what they thought was a safe house somewhere near the town, the owner called the local constables. When the constables arrived and went up the stairs to the attic in which the slaves were hidden, one of the slaves with a scythe killed one of the constables and wounded another. In another incident those sympathetic to runaway slaves had a young man pose as a runaway slave and let himself be decoyed into the presence of a slave-catcher who always required slaves to walk behind him. The young man, assuming the life of a slave, followed the slave-catcher and struck him with a rifle.
Long after the abolition of slavery, people, both African American and white, were well aware of it. Well into the twentieth century frequently the death records of those who had been born into slavery noted their occupation with the word slave.
Men from the Mercersburg Area Serving in the Union Armies
Men and boys from the Mercersburg area, like those in many other communities throughout both the Confederacy and the Union in the service of their countries, went to and saw action in many places of which they had never before heard. Not long after President Lincoln’s first call for troops in April 1861 Andrew McAllister was the first man in town to enlist and rendered a long service to his country. Others soon followed in his footsteps so that from the time of McAllister’s enlistment until the formation of Company C of the 126th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in August 1862 about two hundred men from the Mercersburg area had gone off to serve in the war.
Company C of the 126th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, almost always written as Co. C, was formed in August 1862 after President Lincoln had called for more recruits. At this time communities throughout the state were forming companies of men who enlisted for service of nine months and then were taken to Camp Curtin at Harrisburg for training. In Franklin County eight companies were formed with Co. C being the company of Mercersburg area recruits. To raise this company of Mercersburg area men, local ministers, aided by martial music, held mass meetings on the Diamond at which they encouraged the young men to enlist and succeeded in raising more than the ninety-seven men required. The men who enlisted chose Robert Smith Brownson, a local physician whom his men would learn to respect highly for his care of them, as their captain and Samuel Hornbaker as their first lieutenant.
On August 6 in the evening the recruits assembled on the Diamond at a mass patriotic meeting. They received a company flag, a silk flag with Mercersburg in gold letters, purchased for fifty dollars by the local citizens, and listened to speeches and a prayer. Dr. Thomas Creigh, minister of the Presbyterian Church, whose twenty-two year old son was one of the volunteers to serve in Co. C, wrote in his diary: “A company has been organized in this place and neighborhood numbering 126 men.” That evening he was the officiating minister in a wedding for one of the volunteers. The next morning, August 7, the new soldiers, according to Dr. Creigh, in “conveyances waiting for them in the Diamond” traveled to Greencastle where they boarded a train to take them to Harrisburg for their training at Camp Curtin. Subsequently, the company was sent to Antietam, and arrived there the day after the battle. However, Co. C saw more intense action in the Battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. During their nine months’ service four men of Co. C died of disease in camp, three were killed in battle, two at Fredericksburg and one at Chancellorsville, and one was imprisoned.
Ten days after the Battle of Chancellorsville the men of Co. C arrived back in Harrisburg to be mustered out and on May 20, 1863, received their discharge. After their arrival home at a mass meeting on the Diamond on Saturday, May 23, local people welcomed them enthusiastically with prayer by the Reverend John Buckley, minister of the Methodist Church, and an address by Dr. Creigh, who wrote: “Great excitement this evening on the return of our company from their nine months of service. An immense concourse of people to receive them. Religious services on the Diamond. The choirs of the different churches met together on Col. Murphy’s porch and sang an introductory and closing piece….Most solemn and impressive service.” Later some of these men enlisted in other regiments. They, however, were not the only local area men to serve in the Union Army. Many other men served in other regiments of the Union Army, and several of the men of Co. C of the 126th re-enlisted in other regiments.
These were not the only men from our community to serve. In addition, at least eighty-eight African American men from the Mercersburg area volunteered to serve in the Union Army. In 1863 the 54th Regiment of the Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, a regiment of African American soldiers, was formed in Boston under the leadership of Robert Gould Shaw, son of a prominent anti-slavery family in Boston. In April of that year when a recruiter visited Franklin County, many men from the Mercersburg area joined. The recruiting officer promised each man a sum of fifty dollars and pay of thirteen dollars a month for himself and eight dollars a month for his family. In Pennsylvania Mercersburg was second only to Philadelphia in the number of volunteers for this regiment. The 55th Regiment was formed when more men than had been initially sought enlisted. From the Mercersburg area forty-four men served in the Massachusetts 54th, and fifteen served in the Massachusetts 55th. After the recruits had been taken to Boston for training, they boarded steamships and were taken to the islands off the coast of South Carolina and had encampments off Hilton Head.
In July 1863 the men in both regiments, the 54th and the 55th, including many from the Mercersburg area, saw action in the siege of Charleston, South Carolina. In the attack upon Fort Wagner on Morris Island the 54th Massachusetts led the charge. In that battle, for which the men have been highly lauded, the regiment lost twenty-five per cent of its members, including their leader from the outset, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. These regiments also were stationed in eastern Georgia, and in 1864 both the Massachusetts 54th and 55th saw action at the Battle of Olustee in Florida. In addition, many other African American men from this local area served in other regiments.
The bodies of thirty-eight African American veterans of the Civil War, including thirteen members of the Massachusetts 54th and 55th are interred in Zion Union Cemetery on Bennett Avenue in Mercersburg. Two other veterans are buried in the Stoner Cemetery near what was Little Africa, and two others are interred in the African American cemetery off North Park Street beside the town’s first African American church that no longer stands.
In a ceremony in Zion Union Cemetery on November 7, 2009, a Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission marker was dedicated to the memory of these brave citizens who served the Union.
The Home Front – Efforts of Local Citizens
Just as many men volunteered to serve in the Union armies, many people on the home front, often filled with foreboding, wished to serve.
On Thanksgiving Day in 1860 at a community worship service in the German Reformed Church the Reverend Isaac Brown, minister of the church, preached on a text from Ezekiel 14: 13-14 that begins “Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly….” On January 4, 1861, a national fast day by proclamation of President James Buchanan, all of the churches had services and in the evening came together for worship.
Sometime that summer local women formed an aid society, supported financially by public lectures and festivals, and continued their work throughout the war. These women knitted socks and sent food, blankets, and other articles to the troops including a New Testament to each man in Co. C of the 126th. The women in the Ladies’ Aid Society worked tirelessly throughout the war. As the intensity of the war accelerated, more and more wounded needed to be cared for. Therefore, the women stepped up their efforts and sent an increasing number of boxes. In one box among many sent in 1862 the ladies had packed “43 glasses of jelly, 26 cans of fruit, 18 sacks of dried fruit, 3 beef rounds, 18 jars of preserves, 29 oil cloth cushions, 11 pillows, 15 pairs of drawers, 10 sheets, 11 towels, 116 pillow cases, 10 hospital wrappers, 19 shirts, 1 jar of pickles, 7 bottles of wine, 3 bottles of catsup, 29 wedges of soap, and scraped lint and bandages.” By January 1863 the Society had sent eighteen boxes valued at $400. In March 1863, after the ladies had sent “box 20,” Co. C thanked the ladies for “their benevolent and patriotic efforts.” These ladies also assembled what were called housewives, small sewing kits, to be sent to the troops. Following the enlistment of African American men into the Massachusetts 54th and 55th Regiments local African American ladies formed a similar Ladies’ Aid Society and sent supplies to the men in the camps and those in the fighting. In addition, after the burning of Chambersburg on July 30, 1864, the ladies sent provisions to help the people there.
Defense also was on the minds of local people. To support the Union cause this community sold necessary supplies to the government. In December 1862 agents of the federal government came to town and purchased 1,200 bushels of oats. Bonds were given to the commissioners of Franklin County for sixty-six muskets and other gear for equipping that number of men. In August 1862 after the Second Battle of Bull Run that proved that the war would be long and difficult and after local citizens realized that the war was coming closer to home, local men gathered on what is now the site of Borough Hall, formed a Home Guard, and elected G. G. Rupley as captain. On September 7, 1862, the ministers of the town churches announced that there would be a meeting on the next day on the Diamond in order to organize the people for the defense of the town. But on that same Sunday evening the men met in the Presbyterian Church, appointed a committee of safety, and chose William D. McKinstry as chairman. On Monday at a mass meeting on the Diamond the men appointed a permanent committee whose headquarters would be the McKinstry building on the Diamond. Having learned that the Confederates were within fifteen miles of Hagerstown, people were understandingly frightened. On the evening of that day local citizens again met on the Diamond and listened to addresses by local ministers. As a result of these meetings two cavalry units and three infantry units were formed in Mercersburg and Montgomery and Peters Townships. The committee also posted pickets on the road leading to Greencastle, the road through Shimpstown to Hagerstown, and the road through the Corner so that no one without a pass authorized by the committee could either leave or enter town. Sometimes, however, local citizens did not understand why the pickets were stopping them.
After the Battle of Antietam on September 17, during which it was said that people immediately south of town could hear the guns, all of the ministers of the town and several other men boarded Solomon Divilbiss’s omnibus, a multi-seated wagon, and traveled to Boonsboro. Some then went to the battlefield on horseback, and others, on foot. There they attempted to aid the wounded and helped to bury the dead. In doing so they came across two wounded soldiers from Mercersburg. Having come across a dead Confederate soldier, after they had dug a grave for him, Dr. Philip Schaff of the local German Reformed Seminary conducted a Christian burial service. Dr. Thomas Creigh, minister of the Presbyterian Church, wrote after his return: “We returned to Boonsboro after one of the most eventful days of my life. In looking back over it, it seems as if in that one day I had lived a thousand days, so crowded had it been with incidents.” One of the local men had brought along bread, butter, ham, and whiskey, and when he discovered that they were missing, he was philosophical about his loss and said simply that the men needed them. Later that month ladies also went in Solomon Divilbiss’s omnibus and took provisions to the men of Co. C of the 126th Regiment, the company of local area men.
Friday, October 10, 1862 - J.E.B. Stuart’s Raid
After the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, life in our area seemed more settled so that farmers could work in their fields, merchants could tend to their shops and stores, and people could begin to live their accustomed lives. On Friday, October 10, people south of Mercersburg were pleased to see blue-clad troops, who they thought were Union troops, come from the direction of Blairs Valley. One lady gave some of the soldiers dressed in blue some brandy she had been saving for Union troops. But their pleasure soon turned to chagrin as the blue-clad troops were followed by many, many more men dressed in the gray of the Confederacy. The local people were being invaded by the cavalry of thirty-one year old General J.E.B. (James Ewell Brown) Stuart. Stuart and his men had crossed the Potomac at McCoy’s Ferry near Williamsport, Maryland, and in a ride around General McClellan’s troops had as one of their missions the disruption of the Cumberland Valley Railroad as well as that of other Union supply routes.
On their way into Mercersburg some Confederates who were coming through Claylick took a prisoner there, Joseph Winger, known to be a staunch supporter of the Union. About 12:30 p.m. the vanguard of the Confederates in blue uniforms reached Mercersburg, but to the dismay of local citizens the troops dressed in blue soon gave way to troops dressed in gray. Stuart himself set up his headquarters on the side porch of Bridgeside, a stone house that was the family home of Mr. and Mrs. George Steiger and their children. Subsequently, he asked for a meal for his officers and himself. After Mrs. Steiger had explained to him that her children indoors had measles, he indicated that he would eat on the porch. While he was accepting the hospitality of Mrs. Steiger, his men were busy. Dr. Thomas Creigh wrote: “They surrounded the town with guards and pickets. Went to the Post Office and took or destroyed everything of value. Entered the stores of Messrs. Brewer, Fitzgerald, McKinstry, Grove, Smith and Bradley and took what they wanted. They took horses, 2,3,5, [from] Adam Hoke 18.”
While they were raiding the town, they arrested the town officials. In addition, they took with them John McDowell, an older man; George Rupley, the burgess; James Grove, who had come from Baltimore to visit his sister, the postmistress; Perry Rice, editor of the local newspaper; and Cornelius Louderbaugh. As some Confederates turned into East Seminary Street, they heard a shot. Not kindly accepting the explanation of Daniel Shaffer, who lived on North Fayette Street, that he was shooting a chicken for his dinner and asserting also that he had insulted the Palmetto flag of South Carolina, they took Shaffer with them.
As the Confederates left Mercersburg, the constable, George Wolfe, on a horse belonging to James O. Carson, as his own horses had been taken, rode to Greencastle and there telegraphed a warning to Alexander McClure in Chambersburg that the enemy were coming to that town. McClure, editor of the Franklin Repository, attorney, politician in the Republican Party, and staunch supporter of the Union, unfortunately ignored it and put it into his pocket. Then Wolfe through inclement weather rode to Williamsport and Hagerstown to alert and to report to authorities there.
After having left Mercersburg about 2:30 in the afternoon, the Confederates on their way to Chambersburg near Bridgeport, now Markes, took George Steiger who was returning home in his butcher wagon. After the enemy had ordered two of the new citizen prisoners into his wagon, Steiger realized that he also was a prisoner. However, later that day with the statement that he needed to feed his horses Steiger managed to escape.
Others, however, were less fortunate as the events of October 10 did not end for them on that day. Now citizen prisoners, they were taken to Libby Prison, a former tobacco warehouse, in Richmond, Virginia. On their way to Chambersburg Daniel Shaffer, a “bright and cheerful tailor,” was ordered to ride the horse of an injured Confederate and, therefore, was concerned that the local citizens would think him to be a rebel. Shaffer, along with the others except for Perry Rice who died on February 20, 1863, was eventually released. When Shaffer arrived home, he reported that one hundred and thirty-one men had lived in a room of approximately 125 x 50 feet with the windows boarded and without fire, beds, tables, and chairs and with four half-candles to provide light in the evenings. The men, who arrived in Libby Prison with only the clothing in which they had been captured, slept on rough army blankets or, if none were available, on the floor. Since George Rupley had had some money with him when he was captured, he could buy blankets. The first one he bought he cut into two pieces and gave one-half to Joseph Winger. The second one he cut in half and gave the pieces to Perry Rice and Daniel Shaffer. The food consisted of meat and bread, both seasoned with saltpeter. When smallpox struck the prison, the men were transferred for a time to Castle Thunder nearby but were later returned to Libby Prison. In Castle Thunder the situation was worse, as at Libby Prison the men could have food brought in from the outside. Living in fear that they would be sent farther south, the men spent long days in doing little except reading, gambling, and making objects out of bone. Since Daniel Shaffer, who carved a pipe from a small tree limb, knew how to sew, he made clothing for the men out of army blankets. When Shaffer returned to Mercersburg, he brought with him in addition to his carved pipe a rat-eaten Bible he had found in the prison and was wearing a suit he had made from an army blanket.
Local citizens attempted to help. On Christmas Eve in 1862 the townspeople presented a petition to Town Council asking that it raise money to “defray in part the expense of those five unfortunate men who thus suffer not only separation from home, but also the horrors of Libby Prison, Richmond.” People were pleased when the town received a receipt for this money signed by Perry Rice but were later dismayed to learn that the receipt was a forgery and that the men had not received the money. For these men October 10 was a long, torturous day that led to months of fear and deprivation.
June 1863 - Prelude to Gettysburg
In June 1863 local people endured several raids by Confederates, some by regular troops and some by guerilla bands, all of whom frightened the local people, especially African Americans, both free people and fugitive slaves. These recurring raids, some preceded by warnings and some by rumors, left the local community feeling vulnerable. Frequently citizens were commanded to give up possessions so that almost everyone knew someone or had heard of someone from whom goods, money, watches, animals or in the case of some African Americans their freedom had been taken. Likewise, the local people felt alone and isolated. Dr. Thomas Creigh noted in his diary on June 16: “No mails and all means of communication with Greencastle, Chambersburg, and Hagerstown closed. We seem to be entirely isolated from the world around us.”
On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, June 16, 17, and 18, rumors that the Confederates were coming terrified the local people. Dr Philip Schaff of the Theological Seminary of the German Reformed Church, located in Mercersburg, noted: “Removal of goods by the merchants, of the horses by the farmers; hiding and burying of valuables, packing of books; flight of the poor contraband negroes to the mountains for fear of being captured by the Rebels and dragged to the South.” On Friday, June 19, General Albert G. Jenkins’ troops of cavalry came through town with cattle, horses, and two or three boys they had taken in the McConnellsburg area. Dr. Schaff, a native of Switzerland who was steadfast in his support of the Union, stated: “The Rebels were very poorly and miscellaneously dressed, and equipped with pistols, rifles, and sabers, hard-looking and full of fight….”
On Monday and Tuesday, June 22 and 23, the Confederates again came to town and took cattle and horses. Dr. Schaff wrote about these two days: “No forces of any account this side of Harrisburg, and the Rebels pouring into the State with infantry and artillery. The government seems paralyzed at the moment.” Dr. Creigh wrote: “Persons passing through town, flying with their horses from the enemy. Groups of persons, men, women, and children in all directions, discussing public affairs. Packed a trunk with records of church and sermons and private papers.”
The raid by about 2,500 men in General Ewell’s corps commanded by General “Maryland” Steuart, not to be confused with General Jeb Stuart, with its subsequent occupation on Wednesday, June 24, was terrifying. General Steuart called together some of the citizens of the town and read General Robert E. Lee’s proclamation that his forces would respect private property and would pay in Confederate money for goods received. Despite this proclamation these regular troops demanded that the stores be opened for them to plunder. From Fitzgerald’s store on the Diamond they took sugar, molasses, and hams, and from Shannon’s store, also on the Diamond, they took bacon, molasses, sugar, nuts and cigars. Leaving the town, they left a guard here.
Then, from Thursday, June 25, through Saturday, June 27, a guerilla band streamed into town. This time the captain of the band in a statement from Colonel Murphy’s Hotel, later known as the Mansion House, threatened to burn the town if anyone in the town fired a shot. Dr. Schaff said that they looked “brave, defiant, and bold” as they went throughout the town looking for contraband people and again threatened to burn the house of anyone harboring a runaway slave. Unfortunately, they captured several contrabands. Dr Schaff wrote: “They proclaimed, first, that they would burn down every house which harbored a fugitive slave, and did not deliver him up within twenty minutes. And then commenced the search upon all the houses on which suspicion rested. It was a rainy afternoon. They succeeded in capturing several contrabands, among them a woman with two small children. A most pitiable sight, sufficient to settle the slavery question for every humane mind.” However, they did not find all of the slaves. Mrs. George Wolfe, wife of the constable, had hidden eleven people who remained safe in the attic of her wash house on North Park Street just as others were hidden in town.
By this time local people were suffering for lack of necessities as meat, flour, and groceries were scarce. Although it was harvest time, the men who could work in the fields were at war.
On Tuesday, June 30, General John Imboden and about one thousand of his mounted infantry rode into town. On the previous days his brigade had come through the Great Cove and McConnellsburg and had camped between Cove Gap and Mercersburg. Imboden in anger reminded local people of the depredations the Union army had caused in the South. General Imboden demanded 5,000 pounds of bacon, 30 barrels of flour. 2 barrels of molasses, 2 barrels of sugar, 2 sacks of salt, and 150 pairs of shoes to be delivered by eleven o’clock that morning. He stated that, if the residents did not provide the required articles, he would quarter his troops in their houses. The town was divided into four quarters through which an officer accompanied by two local citizens went from house to house to requisition the goods which were then laid out along the sides of the streets. Unfortunately, the people could not gather the amounts demanded; they had garnered only 1,000 pounds of bacon, 15 barrels of flour, 2 barrels of molasses, 2 barrels of sugar, 2 sacks of salt, and 30 pairs of shoes. Since those supplies were deemed to be inadequate, the Confederates demanded that another search be made.
Fortunately, for the local people Imboden and his troops left hurriedly as a messenger from General Robert E. Lee brought him word that he was to go to Chambersburg in order to relieve General George Pickett who had been ordered to go to Gettysburg. The troops left so quickly that they did not take the food and shoes that the people had been compelled to place along the sides of the streets. Local people did not know the reason for the swift departure but were relieved to see the men leave.
Their relief , however, was short-lived. The next day, Wednesday, July 1, McNeill’s Rangers whom Dr. Schaff called “a lawless band of guerillas” came into town, took African Americans, and, like their predecessors, broke into Fitzgerald’s and Shannon’s stores on the Diamond and took what they wanted. Although the merchants had hidden many of their goods in the Little Cove, Rich Haller, a young visitor in town from Independence, Missouri, who was staying here with his mother and sister, reported the hiding place to the Confederates, who unfortunately found the goods. Haller then rode off with his new southern companions. The events of June 1863 seared themselves into the minds of the local people. Little could they know what would come next.
Friday, July 3, 1863 - Action on the Diamond
Although local people in the weeks before the Battle of Gettysburg experienced fear because of the presence of Confederates in this area, they could not have anticipated the events that occurred in Mercersburg on the third day of the battle, July 3. On that morning a union prayer service was held in the Methodist Church. The minister, the Reverend John Buckley, wrote: “About this period of excitement at the instance of James O. Carson a union prayer-meeting was inaugurated which was composed of the various churches of the town and was held in our house [church]. The exercises consisted of reading the scriptures and prayers.” Reverend Buckley added: “These meetings were well attended and I think did good.” The Mercersburg Journal reported on July 17 the following about the service: “At eight A.M. a prayer meeting was held in the M. E. Church with tolerable attendance, and a solemn session was enjoyed by those present.” The text was “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:7) A union worship service was held on the next day also. This community in the month of June had suffered many raids. Reverend Buckley wrote: “…in the month of June when the Rebel army made an incursion into this valley a portion of which under Genl Imboden and McNeils [sic] guerrillas menaced this town and adjacent neighborhood doing much harm during a period of three weeks in the way of plundering….it too was equally destructive of religion.” These raids understandably terrified the local African American residents as the Confederates had no compunction about taking free black people as well as fugitive slaves.
Later, on July 3, the constable, George Wolfe, who had ridden out of town and had seen some Confederate soldiers, returned to town with the Confederates in pursuit. He had little time to warn the people as three Confederate soldiers, members of the 12th Virginia cavalry, appeared on the Diamond. At that time one of the two Union soldiers, who had ridden into town earlier in the day and of whom local people had earlier been wary as they remembered the blue-coated Confederates of September 1862, fired his gun at the Confederates. Standing behind a tree by the side of Colonel Murphy’s Hotel on West Seminary Street, he was a skilled marksman whose bullet killed Private James Alban on his horse on the Diamond between the hotel and the site of the present [2026] M & T Bank. That same bullet went into the horse of Lieutenant William Cane. As his horse slumped, Cane ran down the alley next to James O. Carson’s, the alley adjacent to what is now [2026] Stoner’s on the Square. When local people, bent upon his destruction, ran up the alley, cooler heads prevailed, and they captured him. The third Confederate escaped on horseback. Although an old gentleman, a veteran of the War of 1812, fired his gun at him, the soldier, followed by Constable Wolfe, who came back with only the cap of the fleeing Confederate, rode fast and was able to reach safety in Confederate lines at Cunningham‘s Crossroads, now called Cearfoss. Local citizens buried Alban, who according to a certificate in his pocket was soon to be discharged, in a brickyard on West Seminary Street.
Later that month J. M. Bradley, publisher of the local newspaper, the Mercersburg Journal, in its issue of July 31 stated: “Quite a change has taken place in our neighborhood. A few weeks ago all good citizens walked; to see a man ride was generally plain truth that he was a rebel. Now, however, horses are seen on the streets plenty as before the raid, though not as good and handsome. Great many blind and bony horses about. Also free American citizens of African descent are allowed public appearance. Quite a change after rebel rule.”
Although Mr. Bradley stated that life had changed for the better, he also wrote an article in that same issue reminding local people to prepare for defense of the community. He ended the article with words of passion: “Is it possible that Franklin county cannot defend itself against light attacks? Is it possible that Franklin county will not make the effort to do this? For shame sake and for justice sake let us not place ourselves under the disgraceful and inexcusable reproach of insensitivity in times and dangers like these. Awake! Up! Arm!”
The war was not over.
In 1889 the bodies of the three Confederate soldiers who had died in Mercersburg were re-interred in Fairview Cemetery at the behest of the James P. McCullough Post of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), which also had the three tombstones installed. The body of Alban was moved from the Presbyterian cemetery, the body of Joseph W. Quaintance was moved from the Methodist cemetery, and the body of James (or George) Laughlin, a Confederate prisoner who died in Mercersburg on July 9, 1863, was interred there also.
Note: The names of Quaintance and Laughlin are misspelled on the stones the Grand Army of the Republic placed at their graves. Instead of Joseph W. Quaintance W. H. Quaintance is inscribed on the stone, and M. B. Locklin is inscribed rather than James (or George) Laughlin. However, this error is far outweighed by the respect and the re-interment of these men that the local
G.A.R. afforded them, their former enemies. The men of the G.A.R. who showed this compassion and magnanimity deserve much credit for their actions in 1889.
Sunday, July 5, 1863 – Arrival of Wounded Confederates
Sunday, July 5, 1863, was a momentous day for local citizens as it was on that day that wounded Confederate prisoners were brought to town. Having learned of Lee’s seventeen mile-long wagon train retreating across the Potomac after the Battle of Gettysburg, James O. Carson, a local highly respected merchant, and others feared Confederate stragglers. Therefore, Carson requested that some Union troops be brought to Mercersburg from McConnellsburg.
That morning messengers interrupted church services with the news that Captain Jones and his troops from McConnellsburg would be coming into town and that they and their horses needed to be provided for. The quiet of the day was broken by the arrival of the Union troops and then later that evening was even more disturbed by the arrival of the Confederate prisoners including, according to Dr. Philip Schaff, seven hundred and forty-seven prisoners, most of whom had been wounded. These prisoners, along with, according to Dr. Schaff, “ three pieces of artillery, about one hundred wagons and three buggies, with four hundred mules, and one hundred horses” had been captured near Cunningham’s Crossroads, now called Cearfoss. Dr. Schaff wrote: “The whole town turned out to see the sight….After dark they began to arrive and pass through the town….An exciting spectacle never to be forgotten!....The wounded Rebels brought the tale of the terrible battles fought around Gettysburg on Wed., Thurs., and Friday last (July 3d)….They left the battlefield on Saturday, the 4th of July, when the battle was still going on, though with less violence….”
The Mercersburg Journal noted: “…and the work of unloading was begun. This lasted all night, even long after daylight. The scene was painful in the extreme. The poor sufferers had been without food or water for many hours, many of them dangerously and painfully wounded, hauled in a long, long distance crowded in uncomfortable wagons and terribly jarred and jolted by rapid driving over rough roads….It was a sad, sore sight for many a poor mortal.”
Despite the Confederate raids during the weeks preceding the Battle of Gettysburg and the action on the Diamond on July 3, local people immediately began to care for the wounded of the enemy. The Theological Seminary, the basement of the Methodist Church, the porch of the German Reformed Church, and Dr. King’s barn were at once opened as hospitals. Dr. Schaff wrote about those days: “…charity and curiosity were busy in providing for the prisoners an abundance of food and attention, which seemed to fill them with delight and gratitude….This speaks well for this place, which has suffered such heavy losses during the last few weeks from Rebel guerrillas, and now turns round without a murmur to nurse their sick and wounded.” The local newspaper, however, noted angrily that a very few citizens had robbed the prisoners.
On July 9 all those wounded prisoners able to be moved were taken from town. One of those too ill to be removed was Joseph W. Quaintance, a twenty-three year old member of the Sharpshooters of Culpepper Courthouse in Virginia who had been moved to the home of the Leonard Leidy family on July 6 as the two daughters in that family who had been caring for him in the Methodist Church asked permission to take him into their family home at the intersection of South Main and South Fayette Streets for care. He remained in their home until his death on August 28. Three days earlier he had become a member of the local Methodist Church. In writing to the father of Quaintance to apprise him of the young man‘s death, Leidy noted that he had been in the ambulance, Hancock, captured on the way to the Potomac, that he had been in the Leidy home since July 6, that the Leidys had preserved for the young man’s family a lock of hair and a gold ring belonging to Quaintance, and that “all of the physicians of our village had frequently visited him and my wife and daughters gave him all the care and attention that could have been to one of our own sons had he been in the same condition.” The body of this young man, who left a wife to whom he had written from camp on June 5, “Give my love to all my inquiring friends and keep a large portion for yourself,” and a daughter, was interred in the local Methodist cemetery but now lies in Fairview Cemetery.
Friday, July 29, 1864 - The Battle of Mercersburg
In June and July in 1864 rumors swirled through the area that the Confederates would again invade. When men who went to the Corner southwest of Mercersburg to look over possible roadwork heard rumors that the Confederates were coming toward town, they returned to town. Then Constable George Wolfe and Robert S. Brownson, who had been chosen as captain of Co. C when it was formed in 1862 and who after his return home had resumed his practice of medicine, went to investigate. They soon spied the approach of General John McCausland and what they soon recognized as about 2,900 men of the enemy.
At that time Lt. H. T. McLean of the United States Sixth Cavalry and about twenty-two men were in Mercersburg as scouts. As the Confederates entered town by what is now South Park Street, McLean’s men fired at them from a limekiln just west of the present Mercersburg Elementary School and about two hundred yards south of the Presbyterian Church. As the Confederates returned fire, both sides exchanged volleys with the Union men emerging from and returning to the limekiln. Dr. Thomas Creigh, who as minister of the Presbyterian Church was particularly interested in the battle, noted “the rapid fire on both sides.” Although the Union troops were outnumbered, they moved toward the corner of South Park and West Seminary Streets with the Confederates in pursuit. Again the sides exchanged volleys. Then on the Diamond both sides fired shots at each other again, and Dr. Creigh reported that “one [bullet] struck near our house,” located north of the Diamond. More of this running battle occurred at the bridge on what is now North Main Street and again at Fort Loudon Road.
McCausland’s occupation of the town was characterized by looting of the stores, as Dr. Creigh observed: “They broke into the stores and did all the damage they could altho [sic] most of the merchants had removed their best goods.” McCausland’s men also accosted local citizens and demanded money and watches. The Reverend John Buckley of the Methodist Church recalled: “On the 3rd of July it was rumored by telegraph that the rebels were coming again and they did enter Maryland. The whole country was kept in commotion by this until July 29 when some 3,000 men commanded by Genl McCausland a man of neither principle or character entered this place and ransacked every store, shop and horse-stable in this place, but the public had generally put their effects out of their way so that they could get but little.”
As some of McCausland’s men stayed in town all day, they filled the people with terror as they rode their horses up and down the streets boisterously and at times insulted bystanders. That night many of them camped north of town and the next morning, July 30, 1864, left for Chambersburg. On that day McCausland’s troops burned the central part of Chambersburg. Reverend Buckley stated: “They went into camp till 10 or 11 then proceeded to Chambersburg where the next morning by 9 A.M. they enveloped the town in flames destroying about 260 dwellings.”
On Sunday, July 31, church services were brief as local residents heard that sixty of McCausland’s men were to return to Mercersburg in order to burn it also. Dr. Creigh wrote: “At five p.m. the excitement is intense.” Since the people were understandably frightened as they knew what had happened in Chambersburg, they formed a guard, and the men armed themselves for resistance. Reverend Buckley reflected further: “After this terrible excitement the tide of war turned against the rebels in almost every engagement and the people became more settled. But a woeful declension in religion prevailed….” On August 1 Dr. Creigh wrote: “August 1, 1864, was a more quiet day. The soldiers coming to burn our town did not arrive.”
The Epilogue - April 1865
April 1865 brought both joy and sorrow to Mercersburg as it did to many other towns, farms, and cities throughout the North. When the townspeople learned of Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, they were ecstatic with joy. Dr. Henry Harbaugh of the Theological Seminary of the German Reformed Church wrote in his diary on April 10: “Today at half-past eleven the dispatch was brought to my study giving notice of the surrender of Lee, and that Sheridan had again whipped Johnson. The bells were rung an hour from 12:30 o’clock on. The flag was raised on the seminary and the students sang ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ on the cupola [of Main Hall].” Dr. Thomas Creigh also noted: “Considerable excitement….church bells ringing, stores closed, and guns being fired off. May the news be true…and may this rebellion have received its death blow.”
Their joy quickly turned to sorrow when they learned that Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated on April 14. Dr. Creigh was incredulous when he first heard the news and wrote: “Rumor says that President Lincoln has been assassinated, also Sec’y Seward - so the telegram says but cannot believe it…can see no motive for perpetrating such a deed. Much excitement in town.” When the news was confirmed, the local churches planned a community service of prayer. Dr. Creigh wrote: “Sunday was a solemn day in the churches and the following Wednesday a union service was conducted in the Methodist church for the Martyred President. The church was draped in mourning, and all the church bells tolled, and stores and shops closed - a large assemblage and solemn!”
On July 30, 1865, Dr. Creigh entered into his diary this statement and desire: “Most of the young men are returning from the army. God has preserved them in the midst of danger. May they give their hearts unfeignedl [sic] to Him.”
Bibliography
Appel, Theodore, Recollections of College Life, Reading: Daniel Miller,1886
Ayers, Edward L, In the Presence of Mine Enemies, New York: W. W. Norton, 2003
Buckley, the Reverend John, Notes in record books of First United Methodist Church, Mercersburg
Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861 - 1934
Emancipator the, Vol. II, number 15, August 10, 1837: Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, New York
Finafrock, John L., “The Under-Ground Railroad,” Franklin County School Annual, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 1927
Finafrock, John L., History of the Cumberland Valley Vol. II, Donehoo, George, ed., Harrisburg: Susquehanna History Association, 1930
Good Intent the, J. M. Bradley and Company, publisher, 1862
Harbaugh, Linn, Articles published in the Mercersburg Journal June 20, 1902, to April 2, 1903; Steiger, Henry, compiler, with Rockwell, Tim, Mercersburg in Wartime, 2002
Kieffer, Elizabeth Clarke, “Henry Harbaugh,” - Journal of the Pennsylvania German Society Vol. LI, Norristown, 1943
Kilby, Clyde S., Minority of One, Grand Rapids: Erdmans, 1959
Kittochtinny Historical Society Vol. VIII, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 1915
Klein, H.M.J., A Century of Education at Mercersburg, Lancaster: Lancaster Press, 1936
Mercersburg Journal the, J. M. Bradley and Company, publisher, 1863
Schaff, the Reverend Philip, “The Gettysburg Week” Diary of Dr. Schaff originally published in Scribner’s Magazine Vol. 16, issue 1, July 1894
Stoner, Maryann, Interview, May 7, 2012
Turner, J .D. Edmiston, “Civil War Days in Mercersburg as Related in Diary of the Rev. Thomas Creigh, August 1, 1862 - July 20, 1865”
Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois: Special Collections
Woman’s Club of Mercersburg, Old Mercersburg, Williamsport: Grit Publishing Company, 1949
Zion Union Cemetery, Mercersburg and the 54th PHMC Marker Dedication Ceremony, November 7, 2009
Photographs for Civil War Articles (in Printed Version - Cost is $5)
Note: I have printed in bold the captions for the photographs and have italicized the title of the chapter to which the photograph belongs.
Jonathan Blanchard About the Time He Visited Mercersburg - Blanchard’s 1837 Diary - His Diary Entry for Mercersburg - The Prologue Abolition Riot - 1837 - Courtesy of Special Collections, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois – (The three captions above are for the three photographs.)
Dr. Thomas Creigh, Minister of the Presbyterian Church of the Upper West Conococheague - Men from the Mercersburg Area Who Served in the Union Armies - Courtesy of the Women ‘s Club of Mercersburg
Pen and Ink Drawing of the McKinstry Building – The Home Front – Courtesy of Ron Martin-Minnich
Items Used by Seth Dickey, a Member of Co. C of the 126th - Men from the Mercersburg Area Who Served in the Union Armies - Courtesy of Mercersburg Historical Society
The January Draft! ...List of All Persons…Liable to Military Duty in Peters Township including Part of the Borough of Mercersburg – November 1863- Men from the Mercersburg Area Who Served in the Union Armies – Courtesy of Ty Snider
Zion Union Cemetery – The 54th Massachusetts Regiment Marker PHMC Men from the Mercersburg Area Who Served in the Union Armies - Courtesy of Mercersburg Historical Society
Bridgeside with a View of Its Side Porch- October 10, 1862 - Jeb Stuart‘s Raid - Courtesy of Ty Snider
Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia - October 10, 1862 - Jeb Stuart‘s Raid - Courtesy of the Lee Steiger Collection, Fendrick Library
Daniel Shaffer as an Older Man - October 10, 1862 - Jeb Stuart‘s Raid - - Courtesy of John Thompson
Theological Seminary of the German Reformed Church - June 1863 Prelude to Gettysburg - Courtesy of Mercersburg Historical Society (This is the image that has the carriages and the people.)
D. M. B. Shannon’s Store on the Southeast Corner of the Diamond - June 1863 Prelude to Gettysburg - Courtesy of the Lee Steiger Collection, Fendrick Library
Note Indicating that Confederate Soldiers Paid to D. M. B. Shannon in Confederate Currency $68.52 for 571 Pounds of Bacon at 12 Cents a Pound, $40.00 for 80 Barrels of Molasses at 50 Cents a Barrel, and $87.84 for 732 Pounds of Sugar at 12 Cents a Pound – Courtesy of Ty Snider
Colonel Murphy’s Hotel in 1853 - June 1863 - Prelude to Gettysburg - Courtesy of Fendrick Library
Tombstones of Three Confederate Soldiers Buried in Fairview Cemetery - Friday, July 3, 1863 - Courtesy of Mercersburg Historical Society
James O. Carson, Local Merchant and Associate Judge - Friday, July 3, 1863 - Courtesy of Fendrick Library
The G.A.R. at Corner of North Main and Oregon Streets in 1872 - Sunday, July 5, 1863 - Courtesy of the Lee Steiger Collection, Fendrick Library
Pen and Ink Drawing of the Home of the Leidy Family at the Intersection of South Fayette and South Main Streets – Sunday, July 5, 1863 – Courtesy of Susan Parker
Home of Dr. Thomas Creigh and Family on North Main Street - July 29, 1864 - The Battle of Mercersburg - Courtesy of Mercersburg Historical Society
Old Main Hall with Its Cupola - The Epilogue April 1865 - Courtesy of the Lee Steiger Collection, Fendrick Library
Dr. Henry Harbaugh of the Seminary of the German Reformed Church – The Epilogue April 1865 – Courtesy of the Women’s Club of Mercersburg
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