June 28-30, 1863 - Gettysburg Campaign: Confederate Cavalry in Maryland and Occupation of Mechanicsburg

June 28, 1863

Confederate Cavalry at Summit Hall Farm

Rockville > Gaithersburg, MD

JEB Stuart and ~5,000 cavalrymen

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=1709

Gaithersburg

Summit Hall Farm

— Gettysburg Campaign —

On Sunday, June 28, 1863, Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart and an estimated 5,000 cavalrymen arrived in Rockville en route to Gettysburg. Armed with a list of Union supporters, Stuart’s men planned to arrest John T. DeSellum as he left Presbyterian services, but shopkeeper Dora Higgins warned him in time to escape. Stuart’s cavalrymen seized new mounts and supplies around Rockville, including some of Summit Hall’s horses, forage, and foodstuffs. Though a slaveholder, John T. DeSellum was an outspoken Unionist and Federal enrollment officer. He wrote: “...Sister and myself rode to church at Rockville. Ominious looks and gestures prepared me for the comeing storm. And soon [Confederate Gen. JEB] Stewart’s cavaldry rode into Rockville, aresting offesnive Union men. And pursued a splendid train of mules, and wagons, capturing them.”

In the last Confederate invasion in 1864, Gen. Jubal A. Early’s army camped here the night before attacking Ft. Stevens on July 11-12. Early commandeered the house for his headquarters, and DeSellum lost his remaining livestock, crops, and fencing. When he protested, Early left him two barrels of corn. Soldiers searching the house for weapons missed $3,000 hurriedly concealed under his sister Sarah’s voluminous skirts. DeSellum, Sarah, and their parents are buried nearby.

(sidebar) Confederate resources were limited. Cavalrymen provided their own horses and tack, receiving horseshoes, feed, a per diem of 40 cents per horse, and compensation if a mount was killed (none if injured or captured). Units became undermanned when troopers left to search for replacement mounts. As shortages increased, cavalrymen cut hooves from dead horses for horseshoes. Many men impoverished their families to stay in the prestigious cavalry.

Union quartermasters had more resources, deploying rations, horses, and equipment by rail or wagon. Still, Federals and Confederates stole livestock to supplement rations. While both sides issued reimbursement receipts for supplies requisitioned from civilians, Confederate money was soon shunned and gold demanded."

Summit Hill Farm

Summit Hall today

************************************

Meanwhile, farther north....

June 28-30, 1863

Occupation of Mechanicsburg to reconnoiter approach to Harrisburg ; Confederate approach to Harrisburg during the Gettysburg Campaign; various skirmishes and bombardments

Mechanicsburg, PA (Cumberland County)

PA Militia and NY National Guard 

VS.

Ewell's Corps: General Albert G. Jenkins' brigade 

* Ewell told by Lee to take Harrisburg if he gets the chance, and Ewell sends Jenkins

* The action in this area includes the Wrightsville bridge incident plus skirmishes at Oyster Point and Sporting Hill, and later the shelling of Carlisle, PA   

* Confederate troops withdraw on June 30th, ordered to Gettysburg by Lee

* Jenkins is briefly left hanging when the Yankees learn before he does that Ewell and his troops have turned around and aren't coming 

* One could visit Jenkins' home in West Virginia, if you're into that sorta thing. 

"By mid-June 1863, communities in Cumberland County knew the Confederate Army was approaching. Residents began to flee to relative safety across the Susquehanna River. Freight cars came from Harrisburg to help move goods out of reach of the Rebels. On June 28, two Confederate scouts on horseback arrived at the home of Burgess (Mayor) George Hummel. Threatened with bombardment, Hummel had no choice but to surrender the town.

Between 700 and 800 cavalrymen soon rode through Mechanicsburg's streets, encamping a mile east. Their commanding officer, Brigadier General Albert Jenkins, demanded that the townspeople deliver 1,500 rations to the town hall within 90 minutes. Mechanicsburg residents provided the food, for which they received Confederate scrip.

During their two-day occupation, the Confederates tore up railroad tracks and skirmished with Federals just east of town. Jenkins had captured Mechanicsburg to reconnoiter the approaches to the state capital just eight miles away. Jenkins and his superior, Lieutenant General Richard Ewell, hoped to capture Harrisburg, but before they could act on those plans General Robert E. Lee ordered his troops to concentrate near Gettysburg. Mechanicsburg, free once more, went down in history as the northernmost town to surrender formally to the Confederacy.

Downtown Mechanicsburg, and the sign that the above text was lifted from. 

Jenkins' Headquarters

Built in 1798

Here's the spot where a memorial to Jenkins' HQ stood before the private property owners asked that it be removed in order to avoid controversy. My only objection is that it didn't end up in a museum. 

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=26522