USA > Pennsylvania > York County > A Brief History of York County > Part 3
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It was General Horatio Gates, of Virginia, who won the great victory at Saratoga, and a few days later captured about 6,000 British and Hessian soldiers under Sir John Burgoyne, an officer of high rank and station in the English army, before he had come to America. It was Burgoyne's intention to move down the Hudson River and separate the New England States from the Middle and Southern States. Had this been accomplished it would have prevented the people of the New England States from communicating with Continental Con- gress, or with the armies in the field.
The victory at Saratoga made Gates the hero of the hour. He was invited, by Congress, to come to York and become President of the Board of War, which was the directing power of the army, the same as the War Department under our government at present. When Gates came here his friends in Congress and the officers of the army in York were enthusias- tic in praise of his military fame. Mrs. Gates, and her son, Robert, had come here some months before. She was a wo- man of English birth, and at the death of her father had in- herited the sum of $400,000, which made her the wealthiest woman in the United States. When General Gates came here he lived in considerable style. He was appointed to occupy a high position, and he was fawned and flattered by all his admirers. Mrs. Gates entertained all of her husband's friends. They first occupied quarters in a hotel on the south side of West Market Street, near Center Square. Later they rented a house on the north side of West Market, near Beaver Street. He remained in York about three months, occupying the position as President of the Board of War. Early in Feb- ruary General Lafayette, the youthful patriot, from France, was invited to York for the purpose of receiving the appoint- ment to command an army of invasion to Canada. Washing- ton opposed this project, but Lafayette consented to come to visit Congress and receive instructions, promising Washington
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his loyalty and patriotism. Soon after his arrival here he was invited to be the guest of General Gates and his accomplished wife. A banquet was given in his honor by the General, and after it was ended, toasts were offered to all the interests of the American army, except that of General Washington, as Commander-in-Chief. Lafayette seemed to be uncomfortable amid such strange surroundings. After the toasts had all been given, his commission to command the expedition to Canada was handed to him at the table, by General Gates. He arose from his chair and said to the banqueters: "I have listened to all of the toasts with eager interest and I appreciate the compliments showered upon me, but there was one toast entirely forgotten, and now let us all drink to the health of General Washington, the head of the American army. May he bring this war of Independence to a successful conclusion and live long, as the greatest of all Americans."
There is nothing definitely known of the effect of this toast upon the enemies of Washington, except a small refer- ence made by Lafayette in his Memoirs, published thirty- seven years later. In this he says: "After I had offered this toast I looked around the table and saw the faces of the op- ponents of Washington redden with shame. Some of them put the cup to their lips and barely tasted of the wine, while others were entirely confused."
With a shrug of the shoulders and a hasty good-bye he left the room, and thus ended the so-called Conway Cabal.
Soon afterward he left York, went to Albany, but found no army ready to move into Canada. Lafayette then returned to the army encamped at Valley Forge. Many of the oppo- nents of Washington now became his friends, even General Conway denied that there ever was a plan set afoot to remove Washington from command.
Sometime later he fought a duel with General Cadwalla- der. He was shot in his mouth, the bullet passing through his neck. For several days it was thought the wound would prove fatal. During this time he wrote a plaintive letter to Washington denying that he was ever opposed to the General as the head of the army. Conway went to England where he died in obscurity.
General Gates afterward took command of the army in the South but met with disaster in the battle with Lord Corn- wallis, and General Greene took his place as the head of the southern army.
United States Treasury Building.
At the northeast corner of Centre Square on the present site of the Spahr building, for nearly a century there stood an historic building. During the Revolution, this house was
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owned and occupied by Archibald McLean, who had been one of the most prominent citizens west of the Susquehanna in colonial days. He was a land surveyor for the Penns in his early manhood and also held several county offices. He as- sisted Mason and Dixon, the English surveyors who were sent to this country to run a line between the provinces of Penn- sylvania, Delaware and Maryland. As McLean was a skilled mathematician and a practical surveyor of large experience, in 1767-8, with the assistance of four of his brothers, he surveyed most of the land from the Susquehanna River west to the Al- legheny Mountains. where their work was stopped by hostile Indians. During the war for Independence, Archibald Mc- Lean was, an ardent supporter of the patriot cause. When
United States Treasury Building 1777-1778
Congress removed to York, in the latter part of September, 1777, and during the entire nine months of the session held here, the home of Archibald McLean was occupied by the Board of Treasury. In a vault in the cellar of the McLean building the money belonging to the United States Treasury was kept. It did not only contain the depreciated Continental currency, but a considerable amount of silver. This valuable treasure, amounting to about $600,000, was brought to York in the spring of 1778. The money had been sent to America from France as a loan to the United States Government, then struggling for independence. The vessel which brought this
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money from the French government landed at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Captain James B. Frye, who had been a member of the Boston Tea Party, was entrusted with the care of the money to convey it to Congress at York, with the com- pliments of Louis XVI, who had already entered into a treaty of friendship and alliance with the United States government, through the influence of Benjamin Franklin, the United States commissioner at Paris. The four horse wagon that conveyed this money from Portsmouth through Boston, Al- bany and Reading, to York was guarded by a full company of Continental troops. The money arrived here in safety and was put in charge of Michael Hillegas, who had been treas- urer of the United States since 1776. This building was also the temporary depository for a large amount of Continental money printed at York under act of Congress passed April II, 1778. After the Revolution the home of Archibald McLean became the property of Jacob Barnitz, who had been wounded at Fort Washington, and afterward served for thirty years or more as register and recorder, and clerk of the courts for York County. Jacob Barnitz was the son-in-law of Archibald Mc- Lean. The picture of this historic building was reproduced from a drawing made by Miss Catherine Barnitz, great- granddaughter of Archibald McLean.
Important Transactions of Congress.
Congress had passed while in session at York the Articles of Confederation which, when adopted by the sufficient num- ber of states, made the Declaration of Independence a reality ; received the news of the great and decisive battle of Saratoga ; commissioned Lafayette a major-general in the army ; received Baron Steuben, the military chieftain from the Court of Fred- erick the Great, made him a major-general and sent him to the headquarters of the army to drill the American troops in the improved tactics of that day; received the news from Benja- min Franklin at Paris that the King of France and his coun- try had agreed to help us in our struggle for Independence ; received the first of several contributions of money from the French Government to carry on the war and received the news of the arrival of the first French troops and fleet that came to our assistance. These are a few, but not all, of the import- ant transactions of Congress while in session at York.
At no other place during the Revolution, except Philadel- phia, was there any legislation by Congress in any way com- parable to that transacted while in session at York. It is a fact, however, that sessions of this body were held for one day in Lancaster, Pa .; a short time at Princeton, N. J. ; about two months in Baltimore and a brief period at Annapolis, Md. At none of these places do the journals of Congress record the
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passage of any legislation or the transaction of any business for the prosecution of the war in any degree commensurate with that done at York during the winter of 1777 and 1778.
War of 1812.
The war of ,1812, which brought so much honor and glory to the American arms on sea and land, aroused the patriotism of York county and soon after the opening of hostilities there were numerous enlistments in the county for the defense of the coast and the northern frontier. But when the British, under General Ross, landed on the shores of the Chesapeake, and August 25, 1814. captured Washington city and destroyed the public buildings, President Madison issued a proclamation for more troops. Governor Snyder, of Pennsylvania, re- sponded at once, and notified the organized military companies of the state to prepare for marching orders. The Pennsyl- vania militia from the counties of Chester, Lancaster, York, Lebanon, Berks, Dauphin. Cumberland and Schuylkill, in all 5,000 men, were sworn into the service and rendezvoused at York under the command of Major General Watson. Some of these soldiers remained in the service from September I, 1814, to March I, 1815. and during that time were stationed at York and at points between York and Baltimore. Most of the time they were in camp on the York Common. In the meantime the York Volunteers, a noted military company un- der command of Captain Michael H. Spangler, 100 men, marched to Baltimore, starting August 29, 1814, when the news came that General Ross was on his way to Baltimore. When Captain Spangler's company arrived at Baltimore it was attached to the Fifth Maryland regiment and took part in the famous battle of North Point, near Baltimore, where two of the company were captured and several wounded. They won high honors for their courage and bravery. A company from the lower end of York County, under command of Captain. Colvin, and two companies from Hanover, one under com- mand of Captain Frederick Metzgar, and one under Captain John Bair, also marched to Baltimore and took part in the en- gagement. The death of General Ross and the retreat of the British caused the alarm to subside, and the war soon after- ward ended with the famous victory of Jackson at New Or- leans.
The Civil War.
The bombardment of Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861, was followed three days later by the proclamation of President Lincoln, calling for 75,000 troops. This aroused the patriotic ardor of the people all over the North. When Governor Cur- tin made a requisition for the organized military of the state,
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two companies from York, the Worth Infantry, under com- mand of Captain Thomas A. Ziegle, and the York Rifles, un- der Captain George Hay, immediately responded. On Satur- day evening, April 20, they received orders, and at II o'clock at night left on a special train toward Baltimore. They were at first stationed in squads at various bridges along the rail- road as far south as Cockeysville, Maryland. In the mean- time the First, Second and Third Regiments of Pennsylvania volunteers for the three months' service from various cities and towns of the state passed through York and encamped at Cockeysville. On April 26, two Pittsburg regiments arrived in York, and Camp Scott was organized, which by May 7 had nearly 6,000 men. The York Rifles became Company K of the Second regiment, which was organized April 21. Worth Infantry became Company A of the Sixteenth Pennsylvania Regiment. Three other York County companies were as- signed to this regiment. They were the Marion Rifles, of Hanover, Captain H. G. Myers; the Hanover Infantry, Cap- tain Cyrus Diller, and the York Voltiguers, Captain Theodore D. Cochran. When the regiment was organized, May 3, Thomas A. Ziegle was chosen colonel. The Sixteenth Regi- ment afterward went to the front as part of Colonel Miles' Brigade of the Second Division of Patterson's army in Shen- andoah Valley.
Thus, it will be seen, that York County promptly re- sponded to her country's call in time of peril with the same patriotic ardor she had shown in the Revolution and in the War of 1812. The gallant Eighty-seventh Regiment in the, three years' service was composed almost entirely of York County men. Numerous other regiments had a large repre- sentation in their ranks, including the First and Twelfth Penn- sylvania Reserves, the Seventy-sixth, Ninety-first, Ninety- third, One Hundred and Seventh, One Hundred and Third, One Hundred and Thirtieth, One Hundred and Sixty-sixth, One Hundred and Eighty-seventh, One Hundred and Ninety- fourth, Two Hundredth, Two Hundred and Seventh, Two Hundred and Ninth Regiments and the Eleventh and Twelfth Pennsylvania Cavalry. These regiments all took an active part in the war and served gallantly in many hard-fought battles.
The great battle of Gettysburg, which decided the destiny of the Republic and the perpetuation of the Union, was fought on soil for half a century part of York County, and the rumble and the roar of the cannonading were heard by the citizens of York. The extreme right of Lee's army, a division of Ewell's corps, under command of General Early, entered the present limits of this county June 27, 1863, and encamped for the night in the beautiful Paradise Valley, ten miles northwest of York.
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General Early and his staff slept at a house in Paradise Town- ship, afterwards owned by George W. Trimmer, about three and one-half miles east of East Berlin. General John B. Gor- don, of Georgia, commanding a brigade which led the advance, encamped about four miles south of Early at Farmer's post- office, along the Gettysburg turnpike. He slept at the house of Jacob S. Altland. At this place he was visited by Chief Burgess David Small, A. B. Farquhar, W. L. Small, Colonel George Hay and Thomas White, who were authorized by the Committee of Safety to enter into terms for the Confederate occupation of York. There were then only about 300 Federal troops in the town, and as they could make no defense were ordered to retreat to Wrightsville. An agreement was en- tered into by which no private property was to be destroyed. General Early called at Gordon's headquarters later in the evening, confirmed the agreement made by his subordinate and gave Gordon orders how to enter York. It was Sunday morning, June 28, at 10 o'clock, just as the church bells were ringing that Gordon's brigade of 2,500 men came up West Market Street, and took down the American flag floating in Center Square and passed on through town toward Wrights- ville. The entire Confederate forces comprising the brigades under Generals Gordon, Hayes, Smith and Avery, numbered about 9,000 men. General Early took up his headquarters in the Sheriff's office in the Court House and on the following day, June 29, he made a requisition for provisions and articles of clothing and one hundred thousand dollars. Prominent business men got their heads together, raised $28,000 and turned it over to the Confederate chieftain. It was not easy to raise the entire amount at once, as the bank deposits had been taken to Philadelphia some days before. Early then threatened to burn the car shops and the depot buildings un- less the balance of the money was forthcoming. The local railroads were then in the hands of the government, and some of the car shops were making cars for transportation of troops and munitions of war. General Early, therefore sent a squad of North Carolina troops to apply the torch to them. Early and the chief burgess, who was importuning him not to de- stroy the buildings, went to the depot. They were followed by a delegation of prominent citizens. Upon arriving there Philip A. Small stepped up to the Confederate chieftain and said : "General, if you will not burn these shops and this depot, I will give you my draft on New York, tomorrow, for $50,000." "I will give you my answer presently," he responded. "At this juncture," said General Early to the writer at his home in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1891, "I looked up the street and saw a Confederate courier galloping toward me. I walked away from the crowd and received the message which was
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Livingstone's Monument
Soldiers' Monument
Smith's Monument
from my corps commander, General Ewell, then at Carlisle. It ordered me to retreat to Gettysburg, as the Potomac Army was moving toward that town. I then returned to the depot, told the delegation of citizens that I would consider Mr. Small's proposition till tomorrow morning, well knowing that we would be out of town early the next day. I then returned to my headquarters and issued the following proclamation :
"York, Pa., June 30, 1863.
To the Citizens of York :-
I have abstained from burning the railroad buildings and car shops of your town because after examination I am satis- fied the safety of the town would be endangered ; and, acting in the spirit of humanity, which has ever characterized my government and its military authorities, I do not desire to in- volve the innocent in the same punishment with the guilty. Had I applied the torch without regard to consequences I would have been fully vindicated as an act of just retaliation for the many authorized acts of barbarity perpetratel by your own army upon our soil. But we do not war upon women and children, and I trust the treatment you have met with at the hands of my soldiers will open your eyes to the monstrous in- iquity of the war waged by your government upon the people of the Confederate States, and that you will make an effort to shake off the revolting tyranny under which it is apparent to all you are yourselves groaning.
J. A. EARLY. Major-General, C. S. A."
The nearest approach to New York and Philadelphia that any part of the Southern army reached was on the evening of June 28, 1863, when Gordon's brigade arrived at Wrightsville and exchanged a few shots with the Pennsylvania militia, and the famous City Troop of Philadelphia. under Hon. Samuel J. Randall. Gordon was sent there to seize the railroad bridge, which was set on fire by the Union troops, so it would not fall into the hands of the enemy. Wrightsville was the high water mark of the Southern Confederacy.
On the morning of June 30, while Early with his division was marching out the Paradise valley toward Gettysburg, there was a fierce cavalry engagement on the streets of Han- over, between 6,000 Confederate troops under General J. E. B. Stuart, and 5,000 cavalrymen under General Kilpatrick. The former was thirty-one years old, and the latter only twenty-six. The famous Generals Custer and Farnsworth, on the Union side, Fitzhugh Lee and Wade Hampton on the Con- federate side, were subordinates in command in this memor- able cavalry fight. Stuart's advance surprised and attacked the rear of Kilpatrick's forces while they were dismounted in
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the Centre Square of the town receiving refreshments from the hands of patriotic citizens. A striking coincidence of this engagement, is that it took place on the one hundredth anni- versary of the founding of the town by Colonel Richard Mc- Allister, a patriot of the Revolution, near whose tomb in Mount Olivet cemetery, the Confederates planted their bat- teries.
Kilpatrick defeated Stuart and drove him out of Hanover. The latter not knowing of Early's retreat toward Gettysburg; proceeded to Jefferson and from thence to Dover, Dillsburg and Carlisle, and did not arrive at Gettysburg till the after- noon of the second day of the battle. "The engagement at Hanover," said General Pleasanton, who commanded all the cavalry of Meade's army in the campaign of 1863, "discon- certed the plans of Stuart, and saved the day at Gettysburg, for Lee did not have his cavalry when he needed it most on the first and second days of the battle." The battle of Han- over was the beginning of the great conflict at Gettysburg which took place the following three days.
Spanish-American War.
.The battleship Maine, belonging to the American navy, was blown up in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, February 15, 1898. By this explosion nearly 200 American sailors lost their lives. The government of Spain refused to make reparation for this calamity and war was declared by the United States against Spain. Congress recognized the independence of Cuba, and three days later President Mckinley issued a call for 125,000 troops to serve for two years or during the war. In response to this call Company A, of York, commanded by Captain Adam Garber, and Company I, of Wrightsville, com- manded by Captain J. H. Drenning, enlisted in the United States army. Both these companies belonged to the National Guard of Pennsylvania.
Immediately after enlisting in the United States service, these companies went into camp at Mt. Gretna, near Lebanon. From there they were sent to Camp Meade, below Harrisburg, and in August, 1898, to Camp Alger, in Virginia, opposite Washington. Both the York County companies were later transferred to Augusta, Georgia, where they remained until they were mustered out. The war with Spain ended before they were called into active service in the field. General John W. Schall, who led the 87th Regiment of York County troops in many a hard fought battle during the Rebellion, commanded the brigade in which the two York County companies served in the Spanish-American war. There were at least 100 sol- diers from York County who served in different commands of the army. A few York County soldiers served in the Fourth
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Pennsylvania Regiment, which was sent to the island of Porto Rico. A number of York County men also served in the United States navy during this war.
Visits From Distinguished Persons.
It was during the dark days of the Revolution that Baron Steuben, a Prussian nobleman, and an aide on the staff of Frederick the Great in the Seven Years' War, came to York while Congress was in session here. He was induced by St. Germain, the French Minister of War at Paris, to unite with
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General Wayne's Headquarters
the Americans in fighting for independence. Steuben arrived at Portsmouth, N. H., in December, 1777, proceeded at once to Boston, where he received a letter from Washington, hand- ed him by John Hancock, who had lately arrived from York. After an enthusiastic reception by the citizens of Portsmouth and Boston, accompanied by Duponceau, a learned French- man, and two aides, Steuben started for York, arriving here in February, the day after Lafayette had left York for Valley Forge. He stopped at the house of Eva, wife of Colonel Swope, who was then a prisoner of war in New York City. John Hancock occupied the same building when he was Presi-
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dent of Congress. Steuben was met the day after his arrival by a committee of Congress, of which Doctor Witherspoon, of New Jersey, was chairman. He appeared before Congress and proposed to serve in the American army without pay, if the colonies failed to establish their independence. He was then made a major-general in the American Army and sent to the encampment at Valley Forge, where he began his success- ful experience in training the American soldiers in the mili- tary tactics used in European armies.
Thomas Paine, the noted patriot, who wrote many po- litical documents which commanded the greatest attention during the Revolution, spent a short time in York as secretary to the Congressional Committee on Foreign Relations. While here he wrote a part of the "Fifth Crisis," which he published at Lancaster.
During the winter of 1777-8, Martha Washington passed through York. She was met here by one of Washington's aides and with other attendants proceeded to the headquar- ters of the army at Valley Forge, where she remained for sev- eral months. Mrs. Washington also passed through York on her way from the army to Virginia in the year 1779.
General Washington never came here during the nine months that York was the seat of government of the United States. He remained during this whole period with his army near Philadelphia and at the military encampment at Valley Forge. He visited York during his early manhood when he was a surveyor, on his way to the land office at Philadelphia. In 1791, shortly after the session of Congress had closed at Philadelphia, Washington began his tour of the Southern States, going as far south as Charleston. Upon his return, after spending several weeks at Mt. Vernon, he started for Philadelphia, passing through Frederick and Hanover, arriv- ing in York at 2 P. M., of July 2.
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