Farthest North of Confederates - PLAQUE
Middlesex Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The farthest north attained by any organized body of the Confederate Army of General Robert E. Lee was reached here at the farm of Joseph Miller on the morning of June 28, 1863. Hearing that Sterrett's Gap was occupied by Union troops these outposts returned to their command at Carlisle. From these hills the tide of Confederate invasion receded destined never to return.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
On the morning of June 28, 1863, Confederate cavalry probing the Cumberland Valley reached this farm — the farthest north any organized body of Robert E. Lee's army would advance. Learning that Union troops held nearby Sterrett's Gap, the outpost turned back toward the main force at Carlisle. Within days Lee concentrated his army eastward, and the campaign turned toward the fields of Gettysburg.
Why it matters
It marks the literal high-water mark of the Confederacy's deepest invasion of the North, a quiet farm where the tide of the Gettysburg Campaign reached its northern limit and began to recede.
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Related people
- · Robert E. Lee
- · Joseph Miller
Related events
- · Gettysburg Campaign
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Gettysburg Campaign
South Middleton Township, PA · est. 1947
On July 1, 1863, Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry rode into the Carlisle area by way of Dover and Dillsburg, only to find that Gen. Ewell's troops had already moved on the day before. Stuart put the U.S. Cavalry Barracks to the torch and then turned toward Gettysburg, where the battle that would decide the campaign had just begun. The moment captures the confusion and hard riding that shaped the Gettysburg Campaign's opening.
Gettysburg Campaign
Carlisle, PA · est. 1947
On June 27, 1863, Gen. Ewell's Confederate corps marched along this road into Carlisle as part of Lee's bold invasion aimed at Harrisburg, sending Jenkins' cavalry ahead to scout the way. Two days later, Lee recalled Ewell to concentrate the army near Cashtown, drawing the Confederates back toward the ground where the Battle of Gettysburg would unfold. This road traced the high-water line of the Southern thrust into Pennsylvania.
Gettysburg Campaign
Carlisle, PA · est. 1949
By late June 1863, Confederate General Richard Ewell's corps had pushed as far north as Carlisle, the high-water reach of Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania. On June 28 Ewell received Robert E. Lee's orders to concentrate the army, and over the next day his divisions marched south from Carlisle over this road through Mount Holly Springs, York Springs, and Heidlersburg toward a small crossroads town called Gettysburg. Those movements set the stage for the war's most consequential battle.
Gettysburg Campaign
Hampden Township, PA · est. 1997
As Robert E. Lee's army pushed deep into Pennsylvania in the summer of 1863, its advance reached almost to the state capital before turning back toward a small town called Gettysburg. Here at Sporting Hill on June 30, hastily mustered New York militia and a Philadelphia battery clashed with Confederate cavalry probing the defenses of Harrisburg. It was the northernmost fighting of the entire campaign, and the graycoats soon withdrew toward Carlisle, leaving their dead behind.