July 1, 1863, The Beginning Of After For Gettysburg Citizens

HOLY, holy cow, you found it??? You're a genius, @LoyaltyOfDogs !!!! That is crazy good work and thank you so much!!

Now to read it and see what valuable stories are inside. She had a heckish battle, poor woman.

I appreciate your kind words, @JPK Huson 1863. It's actually thanks to the great staff at Gettysburg College's Musselman Library.
 
Yes, came across " Days of Darkness " while looking into the topic.

Unsurprisingly, there are so, so many accounts post war. One, the Bayle family, I'm expecting to see as a book any day now. Why? I cannot find the published accounts anywhere. Mother and son wrote and published ' What happened '- various papers ran these. All papers and sources have vanished- and it's a terrific story inclusive of a forlorn, very young Confederate soldier who showed up on their doorstep asking for asylum. He was just, plain tired of war- not the Confederacy, just ' war '. They took him in, gave him clothing, fed and cared for him- he even handed out food and water to passing Confederate troops in the dreadful heat later. This young boy so tired of war became a family member and Gettysburg resident- in time bought the farm next to theirs. It's a great story!

I think the son went on to become an attorney and some kind of big wig, maybe professor and politician, never forgot those days during and after the battle.

During a tour last year our group was taken to an old log home along the Old Harrisburg Road a few miles outside of town (it's the only log home there) and the guide told us the story quoted above and said that it had occurred at that old log home. According to the guide, there was a fence directly across the road from the house and the young Confederate sat on it while passing out the food and water to the passing Confederate troops on their way to battle with them never realizing he was one of their own.

It's not the only story of Confederate desertion. A good friend of mine owns an old home built in the mid 1750's out on Good Intent Road. While tracing the history of the house and it's occupants in the Adams County archives he came across a diary kept by one of the family members who lived there during the time of the battle. Prior to the actual battle she recorded that a passing Confederate soldier turned over his rifle and surrendered to her father at the home, saying that he had enough of war and had deserted his unit that was traveling through the area. He asked to be taken into town and turned over to the Federals. The family patriarch obliged and took him to the square (or at that time, the diamond) and did turn him over.

Another note of interest found in the old diary was mention that a few days later after a brief skirmish with Confederate cavalry that routed the 26th PA Emergency Militia, a Union soldier had hidden himself under a bed in an upstairs room but was discovered when the Confederates searched the house. He and the rest of his comrades who had also been captured were rounded up and taken into town (again to the square, or diamond) where the 150-200 of them were paroled after receiving a stern lecture by Jubal Early about 'you boys ought to be home with your mothers and not out in the fields where it is dangerous'.
 
During a tour last year our group was taken to an old log home along the Old Harrisburg Road a few miles outside of town (it's the only log home there) and the guide told us the story quoted above and said that it had occurred at that old log home. According to the guide, there was a fence directly across the road from the house and the young Confederate sat on it while passing out the food and water to the passing Confederate troops on their way to battle with them never realizing he was one of their own.

It's not the only story of Confederate desertion. A good friend of mine owns an old home built in the mid 1750's out on Good Intent Road. While tracing the history of the house and it's occupants in the Adams County archives he came across a diary kept by one of the family members who lived there during the time of the battle. Prior to the actual battle she recorded that a passing Confederate soldier turned over his rifle and surrendered to her father at the home, saying that he had enough of war and had deserted his unit that was traveling through the area. He asked to be taken into town and turned over to the Federals. The family patriarch obliged and took him to the square (or at that time, the diamond) and did turn him over.

Another note of interest found in the old diary was mention that a few days later after a brief skirmish with Confederate cavalry that routed the 26th PA Emergency Militia, a Union soldier had hidden himself under a bed in an upstairs room but was discovered when the Confederates searched the house. He and the rest of his comrades who had also been captured were rounded up and taken into town (again to the square, or diamond) where the 150-200 of them were paroled after receiving a stern lecture by Jubal Early about 'you boys ought to be home with your mothers and not out in the fields where it is dangerous'.

Many thanks for posting this, Warren. I've driven past that house countless times and never knew it was the Bayly farm. I'd long admired the restoration that was done about 10 years ago, or so, that exposed the log construction and preserved the barn but still had no clue about the farm's role in the battle until reading Harriet Bayly's account. For many years the house was covered in modern siding that hid its distinctive appearance and the one thing that attracted my attention and my husband's was that three Chesapeake Bay retrievers often sat on the porch there, looking into the house as if they wanted to come in.

Here is a detail from the 1858 Adams County map showing the property of Jos. Bayly uppermost along the road due north of Gettysburg. You can view the full map here, courtesy of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission: http://bit.ly/2e5UEzM.
 

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Thank you both, Loyalty Of Dogs & Reading48. Interestingly, the folks that currently own the log home actually live in New Jersey and had bought the house with the intention of restoring it. I happened to catch the gentleman there one day this past Spring and in talking with him he mentioned that when they bought it, it was covered with the siding you described, which they removed. He was also totally unaware of the story associated with the house and it's occupants although he knew it was historic and he was quite surprised at what had taken place there. It was really something to be able to pass the story onto him and see the look of satisfaction and pride in ownership of a property that had a recorded human element to the battle.

The friend's property I had mentioned out on Good Intent Road is not far from Bayly's Hill which is out along Tablerock Road and was the general scene of the Witmer House skirmish on June 26th 1863 that I briefly mentioned . As was common then and still so today, many common names around Gettysburg were extended families whose relatives owned houses at several different locations in the nearby areas. I suspect this was the case with Harriet Bayly in her account and seems to be so from looking at the map which shows a couple of homes with the Bayly name.
 
Thank you both, Loyalty Of Dogs & Reading48. Interestingly, the folks that currently own the log home actually live in New Jersey and had bought the house with the intention of restoring it. I happened to catch the gentleman there one day this past Spring and in talking with him he mentioned that when they bought it, it was covered with the siding you described, which they removed. He was also totally unaware of the story associated with the house and it's occupants although he knew it was historic and he was quite surprised at what had taken place there. It was really something to be able to pass the story onto him and see the look of satisfaction and pride in ownership of a property that had a recorded human element to the battle.

The friend's property I had mentioned out on Good Intent Road is not far from Bayly's Hill which is out along Tablerock Road and was the general scene of the Witmer House skirmish on June 26th 1863 that I briefly mentioned . As was common then and still so today, many common names around Gettysburg were extended families whose relatives owned houses at several different locations in the nearby areas. I suspect this was the case with Harriet Bayly in her account and seems to be so from looking at the map which shows a couple of homes with the Bayly name.

It's great that you got to talk with the owner of the Bayly house. Did he mention whether the barn is original to the Civil War? If so, that may be the barn where the Baylys hid their horses until the Confederates discovered and confiscated them. I'd also be curious to see if the barn is on the Historic Gettysburg-Adams County barn inventory and will have to look it up.

The barn isn't very visible in this Google Street View image, but it's a good picture of the house.

Bayly Farmhouse (Google).jpg
 
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As a matter of fact, the barn was a topic during our discussion. Before speaking with him I had thought that it was the original barn but he said that the current barn was NOT the original that was part of the homestead at the time of the battle.

If I remember what he told me correctly, the old barn was actually in a different location on the property (it was originally a much larger farmstead and also included the land across the street from the house) but at some time in the late 1800's it was destroyed. When it was later rebuilt it was put in it's current location because there wasn't much left of the original farmstead as it had been parceled out and sold off long before. Now, the property only includes what is located inside of the fence line.

Wouldn't it be cool to somehow find out if that young Confederate had later bought some of the land from the Baylys when they started selling it off?
 
It's great that you got to talk with the owner of the Bayly house. Did he mention whether the barn is original to the Civil War? If so, that may be the barn where the Baylys hid their horses until the Confederates discovered and confiscated them. I'd also be curious to see if the barn is on the Historic Gettysburg-Adams County barn inventory and will have to look it up.

The barn isn't very visible in this Google Street View image, but it's a good picture of the house.

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HOLY GEE WHIZ, to you and @Warren !!!! Thank you so much!!! This is crazy, seeing Baylys home after all this time! ( It would be easy enough to check land records on what property their adopted Confederate bought, we have his name? ) Thanks to Warren, the owners now know the home's history, thanks to Loyalty of Dogs, Harriet's little book is available, too. William, her son wrote one on the battle, too- think I have that somewhere. William was quite a success in life, easily traced. Gettysburg College Special Collections has his photograph as a young man.

What a great conversation- we never get to hear of a link with someone now in one of the homes.
 
@JPK Huson: If you can find the book you mentioned that was written by Bayly's son, William, it would be curious to see what he mentioned about the battle's aftermath.

Unfortunately, 'senioritis' has set into my memory and I can't be positive, but I THINK that part of the guide's narrative when she pointed out the Bayly house was a story about the how two sons of the home's occupants naturally weren't allowed by their parents to leave the farm while the battle raged. I'm almost sure it was the Bayly boys she was talking about but COULD have been about a family just down the road from the Baylys whose home served as a temporary hospital site that she also pointed out during the tour. This is what the guide said:

Right after the armies had left and the immediate danger was over both boys, being naturally curious and finally turned loose by their parents, walked into town and out to the scene of the 2nd and 3rd day's struggle. One of the boys-I don't know which one-was so overcome and horrified at the carnage he witnessed and was shaken so badly at the gore, that for the remainder of his life he NEVER went out of town to that location ever again.

If you find that book maybe you can see if there is a similar story written by William about either himself or his brother. If it was the Bayly boys like she was describing, I would think that William would mention that it was either himself or his brother this happened to.

I'm also kind of curious if that young Confederate accompanied them on that trip since the guide never mentioned that, and nobody in the group asked. I'm thinking maybe not, as he probably had seen enough of that by that time...
 
@JPK Huson: If you can find the book you mentioned that was written by Bayly's son, William, it would be curious to see what he mentioned about the battle's aftermath.

Unfortunately, 'senioritis' has set into my memory and I can't be positive, but I THINK that part of the guide's narrative when she pointed out the Bayly house was a story about the how two sons of the home's occupants naturally weren't allowed by their parents to leave the farm while the battle raged. I'm almost sure it was the Bayly boys she was talking about but COULD have been about a family just down the road from the Baylys whose home served as a temporary hospital site that she also pointed out during the tour. This is what the guide said:

Right after the armies had left and the immediate danger was over both boys, being naturally curious and finally turned loose by their parents, walked into town and out to the scene of the 2nd and 3rd day's struggle. One of the boys-I don't know which one-was so overcome and horrified at the carnage he witnessed and was shaken so badly at the gore, that for the remainder of his life he NEVER went out of town to that location ever again.

If you find that book maybe you can see if there is a similar story written by William about either himself or his brother. If it was the Bayly boys like she was describing, I would think that William would mention that it was either himself or his brother this happened to.

I'm also kind of curious if that young Confederate accompanied them on that trip since the guide never mentioned that, and nobody in the group asked. I'm thinking maybe not, as he probably had seen enough of that by that time...


So sorry I did not see this! The ' @ " sign did not become blue hence did not turn into a notice. Yes, I will look for the book and make sure you have a link? For some reason there's been a heckish time finding Harriet and William's narratives but I'm pretty sure I have both now? All the citizen narratives are crazy good- as you said, seeing the battlefield through a child's eyes, some would never be the same again. There's a portion of nurse narrative where she goes out to the battlefield and witnesses where a man must have been literally shot into a boulder- she said he was nearly melted into it, like drawn on it by charcoal and paint. Shook her up dreadfully. Well, gee whiz, how could it not?

The young Confederate, as a guess, may have wished to not appear far from the house for awhile? Even after Lee's army left there could have been any number of Confederates in the area as wounded or officers caring for them or prisoners- he surely would not run the risk of being recognized? He did hand out water and food to departing Confederate along with The Baylys so have no idea why he felt this to be safe?
 
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/sophronia-bucklins-gettysburg-a-chance-to-meet-her.126508/

Sophronia Bucklin, another nurse, another woman with dozens of encounters with Gettysburg citizens.

A little history on the two Acting Assistant Surgeons who wrote letters of recommendation for Sophronia:

(Acting) Assistant Surgeon James A. Newcombe
- Attended Pvt John L. Fore, H/14 VA
- Attended Sgt D. K. Brinson, H/13 GA, Camp Letterman, 30 Jul - 15 Sep
- Attended Pvt Joseph S. Haden, E/13 GA, Camp Letterman, 2-30 August
- Attended Pvt David P. Morris, 30 NC, Camp Letterman, after 25 July

(Acting) Assistant Surgeon William B. Jones
- Attended Sgt W. G. Alleger, G/142 PA, Camp Letterman, 24 July
- Attended Pvt T. B. Ballon, C/24 MICH, Camp Letterman, 7 Aug-12 Oct
- Attended Pvt Benjamin F. Hayner, H/125 NY, Camp Letterman, 22 Oct
 
Yes JPK, I've wondered if that young man was ever concerned about being recognized. When you think about it, that's pretty bold to hand out food and water to your compadres and running the risk of someone recognizing you. Maybe he just didn't care at that point-guess we may never know.
 
A little history on the two Acting Assistant Surgeons who wrote letters of recommendation for Sophronia:

(Acting) Assistant Surgeon James A. Newcombe
- Attended Pvt John L. Fore, H/14 VA
- Attended Sgt D. K. Brinson, H/13 GA, Camp Letterman, 30 Jul - 15 Sep
- Attended Pvt Joseph S. Haden, E/13 GA, Camp Letterman, 2-30 August
- Attended Pvt David P. Morris, 30 NC, Camp Letterman, after 25 July

(Acting) Assistant Surgeon William B. Jones
- Attended Sgt W. G. Alleger, G/142 PA, Camp Letterman, 24 July
- Attended Pvt T. B. Ballon, C/24 MICH, Camp Letterman, 7 Aug-12 Oct
- Attended Pvt Benjamin F. Hayner, H/125 NY, Camp Letterman, 22 Oct


OH good grief, that's pretty incredible, thank you! From what I've read, and believe me, I'm an inexpert researcher, it was difficult for nurses to get pensions exactly because of this- tracking down doctors to write letters. Oh, or did Sophronia request them at the time? You could see her doing this, maybe. She comes across as a ' no stone unturned ' kind of woman.
 
Yes JPK, I've wondered if that young man was ever concerned about being recognized. When you think about it, that's pretty bold to hand out food and water to your compadres and running the risk of someone recognizing you. Maybe he just didn't care at that point-guess we may never know.


Right? I know there's a work of fiction on Billy and the young man, but if the topic came up, the author probably had to guess, too. Best guess would be that he recognized which part of Lee's army was marching past the Bayly farm, apparently not his?



' The Confederate boy ', so funny, I do have his name and it isn't hard to find. Rats, will repost on his history! ( edit ) Private Mias or Milas ( grave in Evergreen says Milus ) Wilson, Buncombe County, North Carolina.
 
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There were more than a few of these awful accidents. Can you imagine a town trying to function in the midst of battle debris? It's tough enough in 2016 telling children ' Do not run with scissors, please do not drink anything labeled ' Drano ' and there's a reason streets are not called ' playgrounds '. Live rounds littering Gettysburg were a terrible hazard- the population suffered dreadfully.

kulp death sept 15 4.jpg

From a September article in Gettysburg's paper. Some time post-battle.
 
" Bliss however, was never compensated for his losses. He, like the rest of the Gettysburg civilians, misunderstood and maligned for the past 130 years, remain among the true "unsung heroes of the battle."

I'm making such a big fuss over this small paragraph because it encompasses several hugely important points pertaining to Gettysburg citizens. It's the final paragraph of a paper I can't recommend strongly enough. Having read copious newspaper articles of the era, I recognize most used as sources here.

http://npshistory.com/series/symposia/gettysburg_seminars/5/essay6.htm

Bliss, along with most farmers was never to receive compensation for the massive losses sustained, all the churches together in Gettysburg, having opened their doors to wounded, blood soaked, shot riddled, begrimed and stripped, received 500 dollars, to be split among all. Crazy stuff.

Most of the article concerns how maligned Gettysburg civilians had been, ludicrous considering their nearly unanimous, volunteer efforts on behalf of suffering men post battle- and what happened and why. That there remains some vestige of this attitude in 2016 is certainly shameful but I'm personally seeing more and more professionals researching the stories we've been posting. Thankfully. These. I'm fairly certain it is through the efforts of historians like members here, professionals we are fortunate to have, authors recording these days so faithfully and papers like this, ( the carefully researched paper, linked ) Gettysburg citizens correct place in History has finally been recorded.

clippin gb july 21  cits.JPG


clip cit homes hosp aug4.JPG

 
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/our-ladies-of-gettysburg-validated-defended-and-dues-paid.128785/

A newspaper article thread, refuting ( strongly ) again, Crouse's ridiculous assertions on how Gettysburg was a mean spirited little town with cowards for men and witches for women. Since nothing could be further from the truth, professionals whose business it was to deal with these citizens daily, while taking care of the battle's aftermath, spoke up. Quite, quite good.

While looking into the story, discovered these photos have troops marching past the Rupp house! Who knew??

rupp house.JPG


rupp watching troops new.jpg
 
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