- Joined
- Jan 16, 2015
The Cumberland Valley Railroad between Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and Hagerstown, Maryland was an important link serving commercial interests in the two decades leading up to the war, at which time it became a vital supply line for Union forces operating in the Shenandoah Valley. Thus it became an important strategic military target of the Army of Northern Virginia during its invasions and raids of the North between 1862 and 1864. In mid- to late June 1863, when a portion of that army was concentrating in the vicinity of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, a number of commands were put to work damaging and destroying everything associated with the railroad. Participants collectively reported that at least seven miles of track were taken up, apparently including most of the stretch between Chambersburg and Scotland Station, which was five miles to the northeast, along with a portion of track south of Chambersburg. Railroad support facilities located in the larger towns like Chambersburg and Greencastle were likewise targeted for destruction.
The following extracts from primary sources detail this undertaking, and the attachment helps visualize the area, using the 1858 map of Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
June 16, a railroad bridge and telegraph connections were destroyed by our men [Jenkins cavalry at Scotland Station, the bridge spanning Conococheague Creek]. (Jenkin’s Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign, diary of Lt. Hermann Schuricht; 16th Virginia Cavalry, Virginia Regimental Histories Series)
June 24, three miles from Chambersburg on the road to Harrisburg. Our troops are engaged in destroying the railroad track near here. (Letter of John Lewis Cochran, Provost Marshal to Lt. Gen. Longstreet)
June 27, came to Greencastle, the Harrisburg R. R. runs down main street. The depot on the north side of town was burned and the R. R. in several places. (Diary of Private Thomas L. Ware, Company G, 15th Georgia)
June 29, near Chambersburg, our regiment and the 17th [Georgia] with others of the division sent to tear up and burn the R. R. We tore up all the ties and piled the iron on it and burnt four miles [of] the R. R. We burnt the bridge across the river at Scotland Station [located] five miles [from] Shippensburg. The bridge was first burnt by our advance cavalry [Jenkins] and rebuilt … we returned … and burnt it again. It was a very costly one, 50 feet high and 50 yards long. We did not burn the depot. (Diary of Private Thomas L. Ware, Company G, 15th Georgia)
June 29, destroyed several miles of the valley railroad. (Company D, 8th South Carolina, Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, ed. by Janet B. Hewitt, part II, vol. 64, serial no. 76, Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1998)
June 29, near Chambersburg, we have got to take up the railroad. /// June 30, 35 men detailed to take up the railroad. We took up two or three miles and burned it up. /// July 1, nearly all of our division pulling up railroads and destroying public property in Chambersburg. (Diary of George P. Clarke, Company I, 7th Virginia)
June 30, near Chambersburg, today we are tearing up the railroad. (Papers of Bishop John Cowper Granberry, Brig. Gen. Garnett’s Brigade)
June 30, Chambersburg, rebels tore up railroad track and burned crossties, have everything ready to set fire to warehouses and machine shops. (Diary of Rachel Cormany)
June 30, moved back about two miles this side of Chambersburg, occupied in destroying the Hagerstown and Chambersburg railroad. (Itinerary of Brig. Gen. Kemper’s Brigade)
July 1, Chambersburg, while waiting to be relieved the men of Pickett’s division were employed in tearing up the track of the Cumberland Valley railroad, which was thoroughly done for a mile or more, piling and firing the ties, heating the rails and bending them around trees. (The Story of a Confederate Boy in the Civil War, by David E. Johnston, 7th Virginia Infantry Regiment)
July 1, detached and marched unarmed into town to destroy railroad property, batter down public buildings and break up machinery. (Supplement to the Official Records, Companies A and G, 8th Virginia)
July 1, ordered by [Brig. Gen.] Garnett to take a detachment and destroy the railroad shops there; pierced walls with iron rails, ruined a large turntable by heating and warping it. (Lt. Col. Edmund Berkeley, 8th Virginia, Confederate Veteran magazine, vol. 19, p. 37)
The following extracts from primary sources detail this undertaking, and the attachment helps visualize the area, using the 1858 map of Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
June 16, a railroad bridge and telegraph connections were destroyed by our men [Jenkins cavalry at Scotland Station, the bridge spanning Conococheague Creek]. (Jenkin’s Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign, diary of Lt. Hermann Schuricht; 16th Virginia Cavalry, Virginia Regimental Histories Series)
June 24, three miles from Chambersburg on the road to Harrisburg. Our troops are engaged in destroying the railroad track near here. (Letter of John Lewis Cochran, Provost Marshal to Lt. Gen. Longstreet)
June 27, came to Greencastle, the Harrisburg R. R. runs down main street. The depot on the north side of town was burned and the R. R. in several places. (Diary of Private Thomas L. Ware, Company G, 15th Georgia)
June 29, near Chambersburg, our regiment and the 17th [Georgia] with others of the division sent to tear up and burn the R. R. We tore up all the ties and piled the iron on it and burnt four miles [of] the R. R. We burnt the bridge across the river at Scotland Station [located] five miles [from] Shippensburg. The bridge was first burnt by our advance cavalry [Jenkins] and rebuilt … we returned … and burnt it again. It was a very costly one, 50 feet high and 50 yards long. We did not burn the depot. (Diary of Private Thomas L. Ware, Company G, 15th Georgia)
June 29, destroyed several miles of the valley railroad. (Company D, 8th South Carolina, Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, ed. by Janet B. Hewitt, part II, vol. 64, serial no. 76, Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1998)
June 29, near Chambersburg, we have got to take up the railroad. /// June 30, 35 men detailed to take up the railroad. We took up two or three miles and burned it up. /// July 1, nearly all of our division pulling up railroads and destroying public property in Chambersburg. (Diary of George P. Clarke, Company I, 7th Virginia)
June 30, near Chambersburg, today we are tearing up the railroad. (Papers of Bishop John Cowper Granberry, Brig. Gen. Garnett’s Brigade)
June 30, Chambersburg, rebels tore up railroad track and burned crossties, have everything ready to set fire to warehouses and machine shops. (Diary of Rachel Cormany)
June 30, moved back about two miles this side of Chambersburg, occupied in destroying the Hagerstown and Chambersburg railroad. (Itinerary of Brig. Gen. Kemper’s Brigade)
July 1, Chambersburg, while waiting to be relieved the men of Pickett’s division were employed in tearing up the track of the Cumberland Valley railroad, which was thoroughly done for a mile or more, piling and firing the ties, heating the rails and bending them around trees. (The Story of a Confederate Boy in the Civil War, by David E. Johnston, 7th Virginia Infantry Regiment)
July 1, detached and marched unarmed into town to destroy railroad property, batter down public buildings and break up machinery. (Supplement to the Official Records, Companies A and G, 8th Virginia)
July 1, ordered by [Brig. Gen.] Garnett to take a detachment and destroy the railroad shops there; pierced walls with iron rails, ruined a large turntable by heating and warping it. (Lt. Col. Edmund Berkeley, 8th Virginia, Confederate Veteran magazine, vol. 19, p. 37)