History: Civil War era

History: Civil War era

By 1859, Chambersburg was a stop on the Underground Railroad. John Brown stayed in an upstairs room at Mary Ritner’s boarding house between June and October, 1859 while preparing for his raid on Harpers Ferry.[35] Several of his fellow raiders stayed in the house as well, and four of them escaped capture and briefly visited the house after the raid. The house still stands at 225 East King Street. While in Chambersburg Brown posed as Dr. Isaac Smith, an iron mine developer, and bought and stored weapons under the guise of mining equipment.[36]

Brown (using the name John Smith) and John Henry Kagi met with Frederick Douglass and Shields Green at an abandoned quarry outside of town to discuss the raid on August 19.[37] According to Douglass’s account, Brown described the planned raid in detail and Douglass advised him against it. Douglass also provided $10 from a supporter, and had helped Green – a future raider – locate Brown.

During the American Civil War on October 10, 1862, Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, with 1800 cavalrymen, raided Chambersburg, destroying $250,000 of railroad property and taking 500 guns, hundreds of horses, and at least “eight young colored men and boys.”[38] They failed, however, to accomplish one of the main targets of the raid: to burn the railroad bridge across the Conococheague Creek at Scotland, five miles (8 km) north of town.[39]

During the early days of the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, a Virginia cavalry brigade under Brig. Gen. Albert G. Jenkins occupied the town and burned several warehouses and Cumberland Valley Railroad structures and the bridge at Scotland. From June 24–28, 1863, much of the Army of Northern Virginia passed through Chambersburg[40][41] en route to Carlisle and Gettysburg, and Robert E. Lee established his headquarters at a nearby farm.

The following year, Chambersburg was invaded for a third time, as cavalry dispatched from the Shenandoah Valley by Jubal Early arrived.[5] On July 30, 1864, a large portion of the town was burned down under orders from Brig. Gen. John McCausland for failing to provide a ransom of $500,000 in US currency, or $100,000 in gold.[42][43] Among the few buildings left standing was the Masonic Temple, which had been guarded under orders by a Confederate mason.[44] Norland, the home of Republican politician and editor Alexander McClure, was burned even though it was well north of the main fire.

“Remember Chambersburg” soon became a Union battle cry.

from wikipedia