USA > Pennsylvania > Pennsylvania, colonial and federal : a history, 1608-1903, Volume Two > Part 29
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The invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania by General Lee in June, 1863, which resulted so disastrously to the confederacy and turned the general tide of victory in favor of the Union arms, contemplated in the plans of the leaders the capture of Harrisburg, the destruction of bridges across the Susquehanna river, and the transfer of the seat of war to this State. Therefore, the effective defence of Pennsylvania was also the defence of the neighboring States of New York and New Jersey.
On June 15 Lee's army crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, Md., and entered Pennsylvania territory, and on June 26 Governor Curtin issued a proclamation calling for sixty thousand men to repel the invaders and drive them from the State. In the procla- mation the Governor said: "The enemy is advancing in force into Pennsylvania. He has a strong column within twenty-three miles of Harrisburg and other columns are moving by Fulton and Adams counties, and it can no longer be doubted that a formidable invasion of our State is in actual progress." In closing his appeal for volunteers the governor says: "People of Pennsylvania! I owe to you all my faculties, my labor, my life. You owe to your country your prompt and zealous services and efforts. The time has now come when we must all stand or fall together in defence of our State and in support of our government. Let us so dis- charge our duty that posterity shall not blush for us. Come heartily and cheerfully to the rescue of our noble Commonwealth. Maintain now your honor and freedom."
In connection with the establishment of the two new military departments an emergency call was made for the services of all the
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militia strength of the State, and in response thereto there was a general and prompt compliance on the part of the freemen. They were enlisted for a period of three months, but when their services were tendered to the government the war department declined to accept enlistments for less than six months, for the purpose was not only to resist the invasion of Pennsylvania, but also to estab- lish a guard line along the Potomac. This unhappy occurrence was the occasion of some delay and gave rise to the rumor in cer- tain circles that our State was inclined to falter in its support of the government and the defence of its own people and property. This was an evident error, however, for no State in the Union was more loyal than Pennsylvania. But the situation was for a time embarrassing, as the enemy had actually entered the State and the approach of Lee's whole army was imminent. The President had made a requisition for calling out the militia of this and the neigh- boring States, and several regiments of New York and New Jersey troops were promptly sent, while our own forces were only beginning to assemble. An objection had been raised to service for six months, a part of the time outside the limits of the State, but notwithstanding that more than twelve thousand militia were mustered in for that period under the first call of the President, and when Mr. Lincoln assented to a call by Governor Curtin for men for ninety day's service in defence of the State, more than twenty-five thousand volunteers promptly entered the ranks.
Under these calls five thousand, one hundred and sixty-six men of Pennsylvania assembled in the department of the Monongahela and thirty-one thousand, four hundred and twenty-two in the department of the Susquehanna. The force thus constituted was organized by General Couch, under whom also extensive fortifica- tions were constructed opposite Harrisburg; and the assembling there of troops and the erection of the defenses had the effect to retard the advance of the enemy and enable the army of the Poto- mac to arrive in time to avert a dreadful calamity ; and when at last the battle of Gettysburg was fought Pennsylvania outnum-
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bered any other State in the aggregate of troops furnished, and the city of Philadelphia had the honor to furnish a large contin- gent of the men from the State. Under the President's call, previously mentioned, New York sent six thousand, three hundred and eighty-five men, and New Jersey sent five hundred and two
William Bradford
Born 1755; in 1780, attorney-general of Penn- sylvania; in 1794, attorney-general of United States; died 1795
men, Referring more particularly to the character of the forces and number of men furnished under the emergency calls of 1863, and to remove all question as to the loyalty of the Pennsylvania militia during that period, it may be said that in the department of the Monongahela there were raised regiments 54 to 58, one un- attached company of artillery and one of cavalry, for ninety days'
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service, a total of three thousand, seven hundred and fifty men; and in the same department for six months' service, there were raised one battalion and one company of infantry, one battalion of cavalry and one company of artillery, a total of one thousand, four hundred and sixteen men. At the same time there were formed in the department of the Susquehanna for three months' service twenty-three regiments, one independent battalion, and five unat- tached companies of infantry, one battalion and two unattached companies of cavalry, and four independent batteries of artillery, in all a total strength of 21,292 men ; and in the same department for six months' service there were raised three regiments of cav- alry, two battalions of infantry and three independent batteries of artillery, in all a strength of 3,068 officers and men.
From the time when General Lee turned his forces to the northward until after the battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was in a state of commotion, and all personal concerns were for the time put aside in the general desire to protect the Commonwealth and the people against the designs of the invaders. It was known that the enemy was approaching, but at what point he might first strike was wholly in doubt, except that Harrisburg, the capital, naturally would be laid under siege; but the activity of General Couch and his hastily organized army of militiamen in construct- ing defenses and opposing the progress of the confederates had the effect to turn Lee from his original purpose and cause him to move in another direction. And of course the crafty confederate com- mander was too discreet an officer to enter a new region without knowing a safe means of escape in case disaster should follow his invasion, so he held closely to the country within easy reach of the Potomac valley.
On June 15 Lee's army crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, Md., and entered Pennsylvania, encamping near Chambersburg, while small detachments were sent to occupy Carlisle, York, Wrightsville and Gettysburg. York and Carlisle were occupied on the 27th, and Wrightsville was seized on the 28th. Then the
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invaders turned to the destruction of bridges and railroads for the purpose of cutting off communication and transportation from points farther north. On the 30th the main army under Lee broke camp and marched eastward from Chambersburg through South Mountain on the Cashtown gap road. At the same time the detachments were called in and the entire confederate force was ordered to concentrate at Gettysburg.
These preliminary movements on the part of General Lee's forces were not made without some show of opposition, for he was beset on all sides by the loyal Pennsylvanians, although his de- tachments were not attacked. In the towns occupied the invaders seized all the stock and other property they could use, and they also committed many petty acts of destruction and wanton insult. The occupation of Chambersburg was graphically described at the time in the "Franklin Repository," and what was done there was but a repetition of the acts committed in other localities, varied only by the temper of the perpetrators in each place.
"On Monday morning, June 15th, the flood of rumors from the Potomac fully confirmed the advance of the rebels, and the citizens of Chambersburg and vicinity, feeling unable to resist the rebel columns, commenced to make prompt preparation for the movement of all stealable property. Nearly every horse, good, bad, and indifferent, was started for the mountains as early on Monday as possible, and the negroes darkened the different roads for hours, loaded with household effects, .... and horses and wagons and cattle crowded every avenue to places of safety. About nine o'clock in the morning the advance of Milroy's retreat- ing wagon train dashed into town, attended by a few cavalry and several affrighted wagon masters, all of whom declared that the rebels were in hot pursuit; that a large portion of the train was captured, and that the enemy was about to enter Chambersburg.
"On Monday morning, the rebel General Jenkins, with about 1,800 mounted infantry, entered Green Castle, Franklin county, a town five miles north of the Maryland line, and ten miles south of
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Chambersburg, in the direct route of the rebels. After a careful reconnoissance this town, being defenceless, was occupied and rapidly divested of everything movable, contraband and other- wise, which struck the fancy of the freebooting visitors. Evi- dently under the impression that forces would be thrown in their way at an early hour, the rebels pushed forward for Chambers- burg. About eleven o'clock on Monday night they arrived at the southern end of the town, and again the streets of Chambersburg resounded to the clatter of rebel cavalry, and a second time the town fell their easy prey. This visit continued three days and was marked by a general plundering of the town and vicinity. Horses seemed to be considered contraband of war and were taken without pretense of compensation ; but other articles were deemed legitimate subjects of commerce, even between enemies, and were generally paid for after a fashion ..... The route of Jenkins was through the most densely populated and wealthy portion of the country. From this point, on the 18th of June, he fell back to Green Castle and south of it ; thence he proceeded to Mercersburg, from where a detachment crossed the Cove Mountain to McCon- nellsburg, and down the valley from there. The main body, however, was divided into plundering parties and scoured the whole southern portion of the country, spending several days in and about Green Castle and Waynesboro', and giving Welsh Run a pretty intimate visit.
"On Tuesday, the 23d of June, Chambersburg was again occupied by the rebels under General Rodes, and the national troops under the command of General Joseph Knipe, fell back toward Harrisburg. The forces of General Rodes were the van- guard of Lee's whole army ..... On Friday Lee came. Up to that time we knew not which way his army would turn-toward Gettysburg or Harrisburg ..... He stopped in the Diamond, where the two roads fork .. . . . He tarried a day or two near Cham- bersburg. The best regulated armies are encumbered with plun- dering stragglers. Such hung on to Lee's army and took all they
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could lay their hands upon. Hats were snatched from dignified heads, and boots were pulled from feet unused to walking home unbooted.
"Such was Lee's army on the way to Gettysburg, but how different was the return. Where they demanded before, they
Joseph Horsfield First postmaster of Bethlehem; appointed by Washington in 1792. Reproduced especially for this work from an original miniature in possession of Dr. W. J. Holland
begged now. Franklin county saw little of the invading host on its retreat, and Chambersburg was not again visited when the retreating and defeated forces made their escape into Maryland."
While General Lee and his army were occupying the towns on the southern border of our State, the military authorities of Penn- sylvania and of the general government were not idle. Every
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move of the rebels was watched with much care and occasionally some show of opposition was made by the people, although their chief attention was given to the protection of their property. The assembling of large bodies of militia and the construction of defences in the vicinity of Harrisburg undoubtedly caused the confederate commander to turn eastward from the State capital and concentrate his entire force in some more convenient locality, and thus it was that he chose Gettysburg as a point of operations.
On June 28, the army of the Potomac lay in camp at Frederick, Maryland, and on that day President Lincoln appointed General George G. Meade to its chief command, with instructions to pur- sue Lee and drive him from his position in this State. Acting under these orders, Meade at once informed himself of the enemy's location and then put his whole army in motion, marching toward Harrisburg, the capture of which city then was supposed to be the object of Lee's invasion. However, on the morning of July I Meade was told that the enemy had fallen back from the Susque- hanna and was concentrating his forces in the vicinity of Gettys- burg. Orders were thereupon given to General John F. Rey- nolds to proceed with the Ist and IIth corps and occupy and hold Gettysburg.
According to accepted authority the army of the Potomac at the time General Meade assumed its chief command numbered about 95,000 effective men, and comprised seven army corps of infantry and one of cavalry, viz: The Ist corps, commanded by General Reynolds; the 2d corps, by General Winfield S. Han- cock ; the 3d corps by General Daniel E. Sickles ; the 5th corps by General George Sykes; the 6th corps by General John Sedgwick ; the I Ith corps by General Oliver O. Howard; and the 12th corps by General Henry W. Slocum. The cavalry corps was under the command of General Alfred Pleasonton.
The numerical strength of General Lee's army has been var- iously estimated by historians of Gettysburg, but nearly all authorities agree that the opposing forces of the two armies were
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about equal. The bravest generals of the Union and of the con- federate armies were arrayed against each other in one of the most sanguinary battles of modern times, and in the same manner among the subordinate officers and in the ranks the proud chivalry of the South was pitted in deadly conflict against the flower and the youth of the North. Indeed, the battle of Gettys- burg was a veritable battle of giants of intellectual fighting strength, and in its results the fortunes of the confederacy were doomed, while on the other hand, the permanency of our national government was assured. Although the territory of our State was thrice invaded by confederate forces during the war, Gettys- burg was the scene of the only heavy battle on Pennsylvania soil, lience some allusion to its events is proper in this place.
On the morning of July Ist, General Reynolds marched his forces out on the Baltimore turnpike and arrived near Gettysburg at about eleven o'clock. About two miles farther west he found Buford's division of cavalry engaged in a sharp skirmish with the enemy and at once moved forward to his support. Then followed a general engagement, opening with artillery fire, followed by closer work on the part of the infantry, on the hill where stood Pennsylvania college. Early in the fight as he rode to the front to order a change in the position of his troops, General Reynolds was struck in the neck by a shot and died on the field; and thus fell one of the bravest and noblest officers of the Union army.
In the meantime a messenger had carried to General Meade the information that the enemy was in force near Gettysburg, and General Howard was at the same time ordered to move forward with the IIth corps. Howard ordered General von Steinwehr to post the reserve artillery of the corps on Cemetery hill and to dispose of his force so as to hold that position, and then rode for- ward to find General Doubleday, who had succeeded General Reynolds in command of the Ist corps, hard pressed and fighting fiercely against superior numbers. They were soon outflanked on both right and left and were sorely pressed in the center of
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their line of battle. Soon afterward the Union line was broken and retreated in haste, finding protection behind von Steinwehr's men.
When General Meade learned that the battle was in progress he advanced rapidly with his entire force, concentrated his men in front of the enemy and formed a line of battle. Says Sypher : "General Meade formed his line in the hills in the shape of a horseshoe, with the toe nearest the enemy. The IIth corps was in the center ; part of the Ist ( Reynolds's) and the whole of the 12th (Slocum's) corps were on the right; the 2d (Hancock's) and 3d (Sickles') were on the left. The 5th (Sykes') and 6th (Sedgwick's) and part of the 3d corps were held in reserve." Continuing, the same writer says that "a line of battle was formed during the night on the hills, to the right and left of the cemetery, on the Baltimore pike, and, when the morning of the 2d of July dawned, the national troops were strongly posted and ready for the terrible work of the day. At four o'clock in the afternoon the enemy's batteries opened a furious fire on the 3d corps, which held the left of the line; the rebels emerged from the woods and advanced against the front and right flank of this corps. General Sickles, who commanded these troops, was, at that moment, in the rear, consulting with General Meade; at the first sound of the rebel batteries he galloped forward to his men, and exerted himself with conspicuous gallantry to preserve his lines and steady his troops as they fell back across the ravine; but early in the outset he was severely wounded in the thigh, and was carried from the field. General Humphries, who commanded the advance division, made heroic efforts to retire the troops, overwhelmed by superior numbers, in good order ; every staff officer, even to his last orderly, had been shot down at his side; his own horse fell under him; but still, at the head of his command, he encouraged his troops, and withdrew steadily to the line of the 5th corps."
When General Sickles fell the command of the 3d corps de- volved upon General Birney, and as his line was forced back the
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William White Elected first Protestant Episcopal bishop of Pennsylvania, 1786; chaplain to Congress, 1787- 1801; writer mainly on religious subjects
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advancing confederate columns came directly under Hancock's terrible artillery fire of shell and cannister, which carried fearful slaughter through the ranks as the rebels steadily advanced up the hill; but under this terrific artillery shower the attacking col- umns did not waver, but forced their way to the very muzzle of the guns, driving off the artillerymen at the point of the bayonet. But just as victory seemed certain General Warren's reserve bat- teries opened on the confederates with an enfilading fire, and with such effect that their ranks were opened in great gaps. At the same time Hancock's infantry nobly supported the artillery attack and poured death-dealing volleys of musketry into the now terror-stricken masses of the enemy, driving them back with heavy loss and recapturing the guns. The right of the rebel line was now broken, and the men fell back beyond the range of the artillery. The attack was well planned, splendidly executed, and for a time promised complete success, but the determined resist- ance of Hancock's artillery, with Warren's reserve batteries, together with the infantry support, changed almost certain defeat into glorious victory and turned the tide of the battle in that locality in favor of the national arms.
Although the confederates had suffered serious loss in the fighting thus far, there was no apparent sign of defeat in the action of their commanding general. The subsequent events of the day are thus described in Sypher's narrative: "At dark, a division of the enemy advanced to attack Slocum's line on the right, which had been weakened to reinforce the left, and at the same time another force made an assault on Cemetery hill, held by Howard's corps. The troops received the attack with firmness, and from their secure positions behind intrenchments and a stone wall, easily repelled the enemy; but suddenly, the brigade of 'Louisiana Tigers' sprang from its concealment in a deep ravine, and charged Howard's right. These desperate fighters rushed upon the bat- teries, drove the artillerymen from their guns and the infantry from their rifle-pits, and were in the act of turning the batteries
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upon the Union line, when a brigade of German troops fell upon the victorious Tigers, and in a hand to hand encounter, in which the bayonet was freely used on both sides and crushing blows from clubbed muskets were given and taken, hurled the enemy
Thayendanegea-Joseph Brant
Great Captain of the Six Nations Indians; born 1742; died 1807. Reproduced for this work from a print in possession of Mrs. William M. Darlington
from the crest ; and the artillery men, with murderous rounds of grape and cannister, swept the broken regiments from the hill- side. On the extreme right the enemy had forced Slocum's men from their intrenchments, and when the battle closed, at ten o'clock in the night, the rebels held the breastworks of the 12th corps, but elsewhere the line was intact. Though Sickles had lost
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a large number of prisoners, Sykes and Hancock had captured about an equal number from the enemy."
Thus closed the second day of the battle without decided ad- vantage to either contestant. At first the tide of victory seemed to turn toward the confederates, but the advantage was only tem- porary and as frequently, with one exception, the forces of Gen- eral Meade regained all their lost ground. But the commander of the Union forces was not fully satisfied with the results of the day, and at night he directed General Slocum to retake from the enemy the intrenchments he had been compelled to yield.
On Friday, at daylight, the battle was renewed with unabated vigor, when General Geary, commanding the left division of the 12th corps, opened his batteries on the enemy, which was responded to with a determined charge upon his line. Almost immediately Slocum's line became engaged, followed by the Ist and a part of the IIth corps, on Cemetery hill. In response to Slocum's fire the enemy charged him, but without material effect, other than than serious loss to themselves. "During six hours," says Sypher, "the rebels hurled their solid masses against well- defended lines. Nothing during the war had surpassed this scene of carnage. In front of Geary's position there were more rebel dead than there were killed and wounded in the whole line of the 12th corps. The slain were laying in heaps, wounded and mangled in every conceivable manner, from a single shot through the head to bodies torn to pieces by exploding shells."
At ten o'clock General Slocum had driven the rebels from their positions and re-occupied the intrenchments he had lost the day before. In less than an hour afterward the battle had ceased, and for nearly three hours more almost perfect quiet pre- vailed along the lines of both armies. This, however, was only the calm that precedes the greater storm, and was employed by General Lee in massing his artillery of one hundred and fifteen guns on an elevation about a mile in front of Cemetery hill, while beyond the woods Generals Longstreet and Hill formed their
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men in heavy columns and held them in readiness to charge Gen- eral Meade's left center. Lee's purpose was to sweep the hill where Meade's strength was concentrated, silence his artillery and then with his solid columns of infantry drive the Union forces from their position. But on his own side Meade was not idle and was busy with preparations to meet the attack which was so evi- dent to him. He massed his own artillery of seventy guns, and so disposed of his men as to afford them the best possible protection against the enemy's fire and the desperate infantry charge which was expected to follow. He also ordered his officers to respond vigorously for a time with their artillery, and then to gradually lessen their fire, and save their ammunition for an event which he hoped would and which did take place.
At about two o'clock in the afternoon the report of a single gun on the confederate side gave the signal to open fire, and im- mediately the thunder of Lee's artillery announced that the battle was resumed. Meade responded with his own guns and for the next two hours was waged one of the fiercest artillery duels that history records. Then Meade's guns slackened their fire, giving evidence of having been silenced, and his strategem was successful in its results, for Lee's guns ceased firing and his infantry, three columns strong,-Pickett in the center, Wilcox on the right and Pettigrew on the left-quickly came out of the woods on Semi- nary ridge, descended into the valley and marched straight toward the Union lines. Fiften thousand strong and supported by Lee's entire force, the confederates advanced rapidly, without firing a gun until the line of skirmishers engaged and drove back the out- posts in front of Hancock's 2d corps. Elated with the prospect of easy victory, the rebel columns dashed forward in double-quick time, in their anxiety to charge the Union forces in their earth- works on the hill ; but as the advance columns came within range of the seventy guns which were supposed to be silenced, a terrible fire, both direct and enfilading, was opened upon them, inflicting fearful loss of life, strewing the hillside with dead and wounded,
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