;

Civil War Blog

A project of PA Historian

Henry Keiser: After Gettysburg

| July 4, 2013

For the Army of the Potomac, Gettysburg didn’t mean the end of campaigning in the summer of ’63. Henry Keiser and the rest of the 96th PA waited on the battlefield until Lee’s army left the area. Then the long pursuit began which required tough marching in the infamously muddy conditions from Gettysburg. Here is […]

Constructing Harrisburg’s Defenses

| 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 […]

“The Panic:” Unprecedented Chaos in Harrisburg

| 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 […]

“A Prelude to the Unutterable Horrors of War”

| 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 […]

“Our News is Cut Off and We Are Under Rebel Rule”

| 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, […]