HistoricSiteMarkers
Civil War

Field Hospital

Fairfield, Adams County, Pennsylvania

Marker Inscription

Wounded of the Sixth U.S. Cavalry and Sixth Virginia Cavalry C.S.A. were cared for in this church building after a severe engagement that took place two miles north of here on July 3, 1863.

Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

The Story

On July 3, 1863—the climactic day of the Gettysburg campaign—Union and Confederate cavalry clashed just two miles north of here in the sharp fight at Fairfield. Afterward this church building became a field hospital, its pews and floor given over to the wounded of both the 6th U.S. Cavalry and the 6th Virginia Cavalry, C.S.A. In the aftermath of battle, sanctuaries like this one became places where the war's cost was measured in shattered bodies from both sides.

Why it matters

It marks how the vast bloodshed around Gettysburg spilled into surrounding towns and churches, which were pressed into service caring for the wounded blue and gray alike.

Plan your visit

Nearby

Make a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.

Museums & culture

Attractions

Food & drink

Places to stay

Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.

Own a business near here? Add it to the map.

Related events

  • · Battle of Fairfield
  • · Gettysburg Campaign

Themes & tags

Civil WarChurch

Nearby & related markers

6th US Cavalry Regiment hospital marker

Hamiltonban Township, PA

In the fighting around Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, the regular-army 6th U.S. Cavalry pressed two local farmhouses — the Marshall and Culberson homes — into service as temporary field hospitals for its wounded. Regiments like the 6th bore hard duty in the campaign, and this marker in Hamiltonban Township remembers the grim work of caring for the injured once the guns fell silent.

Civil War

Sachs Covered Bridge

Freedom Township, PA · est. 1997

David S. Stoner raised Sachs Covered Bridge across Marsh Creek in 1852, using the elegant lattice-truss design patented by Connecticut architect Ithiel Town to span 100 feet of water. Little more than a decade later, both Union and Confederate soldiers crossed its planks during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, giving the quiet farm bridge a place in one of the war's most famous chapters. Retired from traffic after 1968 and battered by a 1996 flood, it was lovingly restored by Adams County as a scenic landmark.

TransportationCivil War

Gettysburg Campaign

Cumberland Township, PA · est. 1947

After three days of savage fighting at Gettysburg, Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia gave up the field and began withdrawing on July 4, 1863, taking the Fairfield Road toward the mountain passes and the Potomac. The retreat was a grueling ordeal, and swollen river waters trapped the army on the northern bank for days before it could finally cross on the night of July 13. Those anxious days offered the Union a chance to destroy Lee's battered force before it escaped south.

Civil War

Gettysburg Campaign

Freedom Township, PA · est. 1947

In the final days of June 1863, tens of thousands of Union soldiers were converging on the Pennsylvania crossroads town of Gettysburg. The 1st Corps camped on this ground on June 30 before marching at dawn to support John Buford's cavalry, which was already skirmishing with Confederate forces west of town. That collision opened the three-day battle that became the war's great turning point.

Civil War