About The Author
Linda G. Black us a graduate of Trenton State College, New Jersey.
She has written several articles about Civil War personalities for national
publications.
On the rainy Friday afternoon of June 26, 1863,
Confederate Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early and his division, some 5,000 men, were marching
toward Gettysburg. Seven or eight miles from the small Pennsylvania town, he heard rumors
that an enemy force of unknown strength awaited him there. Although Early was pressed for
time, he halted his command, and decided to proceed cautiously. He sent Lt. Col. Elijah V.
White's 35th Virginia Cavalry Battalion, and Brig. Gen. John B. Gordon's brigade, ahead on
the Chambersburg Pike, the route leading directly to town, to skirmish with the Federals.
Taking the rest of his men on a side road to Mummasburg, Early expected to cut off the
enemy's retreat.1
As he rode through the mud, the impatient Early must have uttered a
few choice words. He had only planned to stop in Gettysburg long enough to collect
supplies for the army. Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, commander of the 2nd Corps during Gen.
Robert E. Lee's great invasion of the North, had given Early some other urgent tasks.
After hurrying through Gettysburg, he was supposed to cut the Northern Central Railroad,
at York, then destroy the imposing Columbia Bridge, across the Susquehanna River, at
Wrights- ville.2 If successful, he would help to pave the way
for the capture of Harrisburg, the state capital.3
From the top of a ridge about four miles outside Gettysburg, Col.
William W. Jennings, using his field glasses, eventually spotted White's and Gordon's
approaching troops. He concluded that the Confederates must be part of Ewell's corps, said
to be in the area.4 Attempts to raise 50,000 militia for
Pennsylvania's defense had not met with much success.5
Jennings'outfit, the 26th Pennsylvania Militia (also known as the 26th Pennsylvania
Emergency Infantry Regiment), was one of the groups hastily thrown together to challenge
the Southern invaders. Among its 743 members were young men from Pennsylvania College and
the Lutheran Theological Seminary, two schools in Gettysburg.6
Mustered into Federal service "for the emergency" just a few days earlier, at
Harrisburg, the amateur soldiers had received new rifle-muskets and uniforms, but little
training.7 Jennings, who had seen combat, believed that his men
would be overwhelmed by Ewell's veterans. That morning, he had protested bitterly when a
superior officer had ordered him to march the regiment away from Gettysburg, to delay any
Confederate advance along the Chambersburg Pike.8
H. M. M. Richards, a member of the militia, made no apologies for
what happened next. "Our colonel, left to his own resources, wisely decided to make
an effort to return to Harrisburg, and immediately struck off from the pike, the
Confederates capturing many of our rear-guard after a sharp skirmish, and sending their
cavalry [Col. William H. French's] in pursuit of us," he wrote in 1886. 9 "These latter overtook us in the afternoon at Witmer's
house . . . where after an engagement they were repulsed with some loss."10 Several Confederates, and one militiaman, were wounded. As a
result of these two skirmishes, the Southerners captured 176 members of the regiment.11
Not surprisingly, the sarcastic Early ridiculed their retreat. The
militia "fled across the fields at the first sight of White's advance party without
waiting to see what was in the rear. . .," he declared in one of his postwar
accounts.12 "It was well that the regiment took to its
heels so quickly, or some of its members might have been hurt . . .," he added, for
good measure.13 But Early never seemed to realize that the
26th Pennsylvania Militia had delayed his advance, after all. It took him several hours to
deal with the novices.
Gettysburg's residents, about 2,400 in number, knew that Southern
troops were not very far away. On June 21, Capt. Robert Bell's local cavalry company and
members of the Philadelphia City Troop had exchanged shots with Confederate pickets at
Monterey, less than 20 miles from Gettysburg.14 The Adams
Sentinel, one of Gettysburg's weekly newspapers, had reported on June 23 that sizable
Confederate forces had entered nearby towns, to look for supplies and horses. "It is
possible that a great battle will be fought . . .," the Sentinel had noted
somberly.15 But the townspeople had also heard false alarms
and conflicting stories. On June 24, Sallie Robbins Broadhead, a teacher who lived in
Gettysburg, had tried to convince herself that all would be well. "We are getting
used to excitement, and many think the enemy, having been so long in the vicinity.-
without visiting us, will not favor us with their presence," she had written in her
diary.16
For the people of Gettysburg, a bad dream came true on the afternoon
of June 26, when White's battalion approached the town. Some enterprising citizens met the
Southerners outside Gettysburg and offered them liquor, in the hope that it would have a
calming effect. The ploy backfired.17 Although Lee had ordered
his army to respect the persons and property of Northern civilians, many of White's
troopers became boisterously. 18 Galloping down Chambersburg
Street into town, they put on a performance that disgusted the Rev. Dr. Michael Jacobs, a
prominent citizen. "The advance guard of the enemy, consisting of 180 to 200 cavalry,
rode into Gettysburg at 31/4 P.M., shouting and yelling like so many savages from the
wilds of the Rocky Mountains; firing their pistols, not caring whether they killed or
maimed man, woman, or child; and rushing from stable to stable in search of horses . .
.," he wrote, in an account published several months later.19
A math and science professor at Pennsylvania College, the staunch Unionist sometimes found
it difficult to keep his detachment when writing about the Rebels.
Fourteen-year-old Tillie Pierce raced home from school, barely
reaching her house before the Southerners galloped down her street. Much to her dismay,
they took her family's horse. "I was very much attached to the,animal, for she was
gentle and very pretty. I had often ridden her," Tillie wrote in 1889, the painful
episode still fresh in her mind.20 Although she begged
the invaders to return the horse, they ignored her tears. She never forgot how one
"impudent and coarse Confederate" told her to go in the house and mind her own
business.21
Gordon's brigade entered Gettysburg. When rumors of an imminent
Confederate invasion had begun to circulate earlier in June, Fannie J. Buehler had
convinced her husband David to leave town if the soldiers appeared. It had been a
difficult task; he was reluctant to abandon Fannie and their six children. She had good
reason to believe, however, that the Confederates would seize Buehler, a well-known
Republican lawyer and editor who was serving as Gettysburg's postmasters22 Just the previous October, Confederate Maj. Gen. J. E. B.
Stuart had rounded up a number of public officials during his raid on nearby towns, and
taken them South, to serve as hostages for Southern citizens imprisoned by the North.23 As word spread that Confederate infantrymen were marching
toward her part of town, Fannie handed her husband a satchel, filled with govern- ment
papers and some personal valuables.24 Escaping on foot she
eventually reached safety.
Charles J. Tyson, a photographer, and his wife Maria remained inside
their house. "We had taken the precaution to lock the front door and yard gate, and
were looking out through the Venetian shutters-seeing but unseen," Tyson wrote to a
friend in 1884.25 After several Confeder- ates tried to open
the door, Tyson decided that it would be prudent to treat them as guests. Inviting the
soldiers to enter his home, he offered them water. "They came right along ... and
then they wanted bread and butter, but we told them we did not have enough to commence on,
and they were satisfied far more easily than I expected; were very polite and
gentlemanly."26
From her upstairs window, an uneasy Sallie Broadhead watched the
invaders. Her husband Joseph's job as a railroad engineer had taken him out of town. 27 She wrote in her diary, "They went along very orderly,
only asking every now and then how many Yankee soldiers we had in town. I answered one
that I did not know. He replied: 'You are a funny woman; if I lived in town I would know
that much.’"28
Fannie Buehler took down the post office sign, and buried the keys.
Gordon's brigade marched past her large home, across from the courthouse. "I never
saw a more unsightly set of men, and as I looked at them in their dirty, torn garments,
hatless, shoeless, and foot-sore, I pitied them from the depth of my heart," Fannie
wrote in her 189'a reminiscences, showing a remarkable lack of rancor.29 Instead of hiding inside her house, the imperturable young
woman de- cided to observe the drama. "I wondered what this coming meant; what they
were going to do; and how long they were going to stay, so I sat myself down on the door
step with my children, and Bruno, our faithful Newfoundland dog-to watch operations,"
she remembered.30
Searching for horses, six Confederate cavalrymen rode to the
Evergreen Cemetery, a short distance from town. Catherine Thorn, whose husband had
enlisted in the Union army the previous August, had taken over his job as superintendent
of the cemetery. She lived in the gatehouse, with her parents and three children.
Following the war, she was interviewed several times about the turbulent summer of 1863.
During one session, which was carefully transcribed, Catherine recalled how George Sandoe,
a member of Captain Bell's cavalry, was killed:
They said we should not be afraid of them, they were not going to hurt us like the
Yankees did their ladies. They rode around the house on the pavement to the window and
asked for bread and butter, and buttermilk.... My mother went and got them all she had and
just then a Rebel rode up the [Baltimore] pike and had another horse besides his. The ones
who were eating said to him: "Oh, you have another one." And the one who came up
the pike said "Yes, the - - shot at me, but he did not hit me, and I shot at him and
blowed him down like nothing, and here I got his horse and he lays down the pike. "31
The Southerners quickly took charge of Gettysburg. Guards were
posted around the public buildings and some stores.32
"They, assured the citizens that they would not harm them, and fears should be
quieted," the Compiler, another one of Gettysburg's weekly newspapers, noted
on June 29.33 Jacobs maintained that the air around the
Confederates had a distinctive aroma, because they were "wet from the rain which had
fallen during most of the day, and considerably heated by a long march...>34 Tillie Pierce was appalled when a few soldiers sat down in
front of her house to have a snack. "Their manner of eating was shocking in the
extreme. As I stood in a doorway ... they threw the apple butter in all directions while
spreading their bread. I was heartily glad when they left, for they were a rude set,"
she wrote.35
Early soon rode into Gettysburg, leaving the rest of his division
encamped outside town.36 While watering his horse at a pump,
he wrote a requisition for supplies.37 As part of his policy
of restraint, Lee had directed the army to collect goods in an orderly fashion, giving
Confederate money to those who wanted payments.38 General
Early ... demanded of the authorities of our borough 1,200 pounds of sugar, 600 pounds of
coffee, 60 barrels of flour, 1,000 pounds of salt, 7,000 pounds of bacon, 10 barrels of
whisky, 10 barrels of onions, 1,000 pairs of shoes, and 500 hats ... or, in lieu thereof,
$5,000 cash," Jacobs reported.39 According to one source,
Early ordered the elderly town constable John Burns (who would take up arms against the
Confederate army on July 1) to deliver this formidable shopping list to the proper
officials.40
But Gettysburg's shrewd citizens had taken steps to protect their
property. The constant rumors of a Confederate invasion had prompted many bankers,
merchants, and individuals to send away their valuables, weeks earlier.41 Following a brief conference with some fellow members,
borough council president David Kendlehart composed his reply, and sent it back with
Burns. 42 "The quantities required are far beyond that in
our possession," Kendlehart wrote, without bothering to explain the reasons for
Gettysburg's apparent poverty.43 "In compliance, however,
to the demands we will request the stores to be opened and the citizens to furnish
whatever they can of such provisions.... Further we can not promise." 44
For some reason, the bad-tempered Early stayed calm when he read
this rather audacious message. Although he might have heard that Gettysburg, like many
other Northern towns, had its share of Southern sympathizers, he was not inclined to show
leniency toward any Yankees.45 His men searched Gettysburg's
stores, but found little. "They secured a number of hundred dollars' worth, generally
paying for them, but in their own kind of money, which is not regarded as of much value
here," the Compiler of June 29 stated 46 After
taking 2,000 army rations, intended for the 26th Pennsylvania Militia, from a train, the
Confederates burned a railroad bridge and some cars. "The day was rainy and the roads
very muddy, and as it was late when I reached the place, and having to move upon York
early next day, I had no opportunity of compelling a compliance with my demands in this
town, or ascertaining its resources, which I think, however, were very limited,"
Early explained in his official report. 47 At some point, he
spotted what he believed to be a shoe factory.48
Another search took place in Gettysburg. During the march through
Maryland and Pennsylvania, some Confed- erates seized Blacks whenever possible, and sent
them into slavery, in the South. They ignored the legal standing of their victims; some
Blacks who had never been slaves were captured.49 Whether or
not the Confederate government officially condoned this cruel practice remains uncleared. 50 Hearing about the danger, most of Gettysburg's Black resi-
dents had already fled. Among those who had left were the free Blacks, Abram Bryan, his
wife, and two teen-aged sons; his restored house still stands on the battlefields.51 Her maid, Fannie Buehler wrote, had "left early in June,
from fear of being captured . . . ..."52 Some of the
white townspeople provided biding places for their unfortunate neighbors that night, but
the Confederates still managed to take a number of captives .53
Despite the potential for trouble, the evening of June 26 was
relatively quiet. A Confederate band played Southern tunes, including "Dixie,"
at the town square, annoying many residents.54 Early kept the
captured militiamen at the courthouses. 55 "Some horses
were stolen, some cellars were broken open and robbed, but so far as could be done, the
officers controlled their men, and all those in and around the streets behaved well,"
Fannie Buehler wrote.56 Although Jacobs pointed out that
Confederates "divested the taverns and liquor stores of their liquors," he
admitted that the soldiers "did not do much damage in the town.".57 Tillie Pierce, however, criticized their behavior. "They
wanted ... anything and almost everything they could conveniently carry away. Nor were
they particular about asking. What- ever suited them they took."58
Most of Gettysburg's residents had little to say to their overnight
guests. "Our citizens, with a few exceptions, kept at a respectful distance from them
. . . avoiding as much as possible communicating any information which might prove
advantageous to them . . .," Jacobs wrote.59 Several
Confederates who camped near the courthouse initiated a conversation with Fannie Pierce.
Surprised to find such prosperity in the North, they could not understand why they saw so
many male civilians. It would be better for the South, she calmly pointed out, if it
realized that the North had the advantage in men and material.60
The hours passed slowly for Sallie Broadhead that night. "I was
left entirely alone, surrounded by thousands of ugly, rude, hostile soldiers, from whom
violence might be expected. Even if the neighbors were at hand, it was not pleasant, and I
feared my husband would be taken prisoner before he could return, or whilst trying to
reach me," she confided to her diary. 61
Before starting his march to York the next morning, Early paroled
the hapless, members of the 26th Pennsylvania Militia. Aware of the army's acute need for
shoes, he also made sure that the militiamen surrendered their footwear.62 He had apparently not had enough time to investi- gate the
so-called shoe factory's possibilities. Despite his statement about Gettysburg's probable
lack of goods in his official report, Early must have believed that he had not squeezed
the town dry. Making his departure, he sent word to Confederate Lt. Gen. A. P. Hill's 3rd
Corps, at Cham- bersburg, that Gettysburg probably contained some sup- plies, especially
shoes.63<
As Gettysburg's citizens would soon discover, Early's raid had been
a mild preview of war. Whatever his motivation, finding shoes or the enemy, Hill let one
of his divisions march toward Gettysburg on the morning of July 1; when the advance guard
of infantry met Union cavalry a few miles west of town, the epic 6ttle began. During the
struggle, and its aftermath, Gettysburg's residents faced almost incomprehensible
situations. On July 14, Sallie Broadhead made a diary entry that probably reflected the
feelings of all the townspeople: "Little did I think ... that I would have to record
such terrible scenes as I have done. Had anyone suggested any such sights as within the
bound of possibility, I would have thought it madness."64
1. Early, jubal A., ed. Frank E. Vandiver, War Memoirs: Aut
biographical Sketch and Narrative of the War Between the States, 1969, New York, p.
256.
2. Ibid., p. 255.
3. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records
of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1880-1901, Washington, D.C., Ser. 1, Vol. xxvii,
Pt. 2, P. 316. (Cited hereafter as O.R. and unless otherwise noted, Ser. 1).
4. Nye, Wilbur Sturtevant, Here Come The Rebels!, 1988, Dayton,
Ohio, pp. 272-3.
5. Ibid., pp. 216, 218.
6. Frassanito, William A., The Gettysburg Bicentennial
Album, 1987, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, p. 20; O.R., Vol. xxvii, Pt. 2, p. 215.
7. Nye, op. cit., p. 272.
8. Ibid.
9. Johnson, R. U. and C. C. Buel, eds., Battles and Leaders of the
Civil War, Vol. III, 1956, New York, p. 289.
10. Ibid.
11. Nye, op. cit., pp. 276-77.
12. Early, op. cit., p. 257.
13. Ibid.
14. Jacobs, Michael, Notes on The Rebel Invasion of Maryland and
Pennsylvania and the Battle of Gettysburg, 1864, Philadelphia, P. II.
15. "Rebels Move North Toward Gettysburg," Adams
Sentinel, June 23, 1863, The Gettysburg Times Centennial Edition, June 29,
1963, Section A, p. 2.
16. Miers, Earl Schenck and Brown, Richard A., eds., Gettysburg,
1948, New Brunswick, New Jersey, p.10.
17. Nye, op. cit., p. 274.
18. Stackpole, Edward J., They Met at Gettysburg, 1956, New
York, pp. 27-8.
19. Jacobs, op. cit., P. 15.
20. Alleman, Tillie Pierce, At Gettysburg: Or, What a Girt Saw and
Heard of The Battle, 1889, New York, p. 24.
21. Ibid., p. 25.
22. Buehler, Fannie J., Recollections of the Rebel Invasion and One
Woman's Experience During The Battle of Gettysburg, 1900, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, p.
5.
23. O.R., Vol. xix, Pt. 2, p. 54.
24. Buehler, op. cit., P. 10
25. Preston, Noble D., History of the Teiitb Regiment of Cavalry,
New York State Volunteers, August, 1861, to August, 1865, 1892, New York, p. 126.
26. Ibid.
27. Miers and Brown, op. cit., pp. 7, 41.
28. Ibid., pp. 40-41.
29. Buehler, op. cit., p. 10.
30. Ibid.
31. "Wife of Cemetery Caretaker Relates Horrors of Battle of
Gettysburg," The Gettysburg Times Centennial Edition, June 28, 1963, Section
D, p. 10.
32. Bradsby, H. C., History of Cumberland and Adams Counties,
Pennsylvania, Part III, 1886, Chicago, p. 153.
33. "Rebels Seize 40 Prisoners Before Fight," the Compiler,
June 29, 1863, The Gettysburg Times Centennial Edition, June 28, 1963, Section
B, p. 8.
34. Jacobs, op. cit., p. 16.
35. Alleman, op. cit., pp. 25-26.
36. Early, op. cit., p. 257.
37. Frassanito, The Gettysburg Bicentennial Album, op. cit., p.
7.
38. Stackpole, op. cit., pp. 28-29.
39. Jacobs, op. cit., pp. 16-17.
40. "Early Takes Gettysburg," The Gettysburg Times
Cepilepipiial Edition, June 28, 1963, p. 1.
41. Buehler, op. cit., p. 7; Jacobs, op. cit., p. 18.
42. Preston, op. cit., p. 124.
43. Hoke, Jacob. The Great Invasion of 1863, 1913, Dayton,
Ohio, p. 17 1.
44. Ibid., pp. 171-72.
45. Alleman, op. cit., p. 17.
46. "Rebels Seize 40 Prisoners Before Fight," op. cit., p.
R.
47. O.R., Vol. xxvii, Pt. 2, p. 465.
48. Nye, op. cit., p. 275.
49. Bloom, Robert L., "'We Never Expected a Battle': The Civil-
ians at Gettysburg, 1863," Pennsylvania History, Vol. 55, No. 4, October 1988,
p. 168; Hoke, op. cit., p. IOR; Nye, op. cit., p. 144.
50. Nye, op. cit., p. 145.
51. Frassanito, William A., Gettysburg. A Journey in Time, 1975,
New York, p. 147.
52. Buehler, op. cit., p. II.
53. Bloom, op. cit., pp. 168-69.
54. Ibid.
55. "Early Takes Gettysburg," op. cit., p. 1.
56. Buehler, op. cit., p. 11.
57. Jacobs, op. cit., p. 17.
58. Alleman, op. cit., p. 22.
59. Jacobs, op. cit., p. 18.
60. Buehler, op. cit., p. 12.
61. Miers and Brown, op. cit., p. 41.
62. Nye, op. cit., p. 277.
63. Tucker, Glenn, High Tide at Gettysburg, 1982, Dayton, Ohio,
p. 56; Nye, op. cit., p. 275.
64. Miers and Brown, op. cit., pp. 281-82.
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