Before the Battle of Gettysburg-Rumors

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View from Lutheran Seminary cupola, Gettysburg.

On June 12, 1863, Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtain warned citizens of his state to prepare for an attack. His warning fanned the fear of Confederates coming to Gettysburg.

Sallie Myers Stewart, who lived in Gettysburg, wrote that businesses stopped operating. Merchants sent their goods to cities like Philadelphia. Bankers sent money out of town. Folks stood on street corners in groups, talking about the danger. Any news attracted crowds.

Dread hung in the air as worry mounted among residents.

Sallie’s compassion went out to the town’s 300-400 black citizens. Many packed the possessions they could carry and fled to the north. They feared that staying meant risking capture by Confederate soldiers—and slavery in the South.

Townspeople hid their horses in the hills or near the Susquehanna River. A number of men left town, leaving their wives and daughters in Gettysburg. Fannie Buehler, whose husband was an editor and postmaster, packed a bag for him, believing him to be a marked man.

Some townsmen joined seminary and college students traveling to Harrisburg. They and others united to become the 26th Pennsylvania Emergency Infantry Regiment.

On June 20th, a Union officer came to town. He warned citizens to arm themselves.

The next day, groups of men carried axes toward South Mountain to chop down trees and block roads and passes.

Multiple rumors over the war’s duration were about to become reality.

The Rebels were coming.

-Sandra Merville Hart

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Sources

 

Creighton, Margaret S. The Colors of Courage: Gettysburg’s Forgotten History, Basic Books, 2005.

 

Sheldon, George. When the Smoke Cleared at Gettysburg: The Tragic Aftermath of the Bloodiest Battle of the Civil War, Cumberland House, 2003.

 

Thomas, Sarah Sites. The Ties of the Past: The Gettysburg Diaries of Salome Myers Stewart 1854-1922, Thomas Publications, 1996.