Jake Wynn | June 20, 2013
Almost as soon as the threat to Harrisburg became apparent in June 1863, preparations were made to properly defend the city from the Confederate advance. Civilian and military leaders in Washington approved the creation of a new military district that included Central Pennsylvania. Known as the Department of the Susquehanna, this new district would be […]
Jake Wynn | June 18, 2013
As yesterday’s post illustrated, the state government felt it necessary to begin evacuating the archives found within the state library in the midst of the crisis. Today, we will examine the situation in Harrisburg from a different perspective… Today’s post will allow the people who were in the city on June 16, 1863 to tell […]
Jake Wynn | June 17, 2013
While Confederate troops splashed across the Potomac River and headed towards Pennsylvania, the state capital at Harrisburg went into a full crisis mode. The state government immediately sent out notice for troops to be raised to defend the state from the perceived threat of invasion. Governor Andrew Curtin sent out a proclamation calling for aid […]
Jake Wynn | June 16, 2013
The total collapse of Union forces at Winchester on June 15 sent hundreds of stragglers careening through southern Pennsylvania en route to Harrisburg via the Cumberland Valley. Their wagon train, numbering nearly 500 fully loaded wagons, sped through the southern towns at breakneck speed, saying the Southerners were fast on their heels. As June 16, […]
Jake Wynn | June 15, 2013
As General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia began its trek up the Shenandoah Valley in early June 1863, the objective mystified many in the North. Some thought he had aims on Washington or Baltimore, while others thought he was taking his army further north, into the Union’s second most populous state. Pennsylvania looked […]
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