HistoricSiteMarkers
Civil War

Gettysburg Campaign

Penn Township, York County, Pennsylvania

Marker Inscription

On June 30, 1863, General J. Kilpatrick's Union Cavalry, hunting Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry, were attacked here by Stuart. Repulsed, Stuart tried to join Early; finding him gone, he marched to Carlisle, failing to reach Gettysburg until July 2.

Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

The Story

As the Gettysburg Campaign reached its crisis, Union cavalry under General Judson Kilpatrick scoured the countryside hunting for J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate horsemen. On June 30, 1863, Stuart struck here, but was repulsed. Cut off from Early's departed column, Stuart rode north to Carlisle and did not reach the Gettysburg battlefield until July 2 — a delay that left Lee blind to Union movements at a critical hour.

Why it matters

This cavalry clash near Hanover helped keep Stuart's troopers away from Gettysburg during the campaign's opening days, shaping the intelligence Lee lacked in the war's most famous battle.

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Related people

  • · Judson Kilpatrick
  • · J.E.B. Stuart
  • · Jubal Early

Related events

  • · Battle of Hanover, 1863
  • · Gettysburg Campaign, 1863

Themes & tags

Civil WarLandmark

Nearby & related markers

Kilpatrick Headquarters

Hanover, PA · est. 1954

On June 30, 1863, as Confederate cavalry struck the Union rear southeast of town, Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick set up the headquarters of his Third Cavalry Division in this Hanover building. From here he directed the Union response during the fighting that briefly gave Stuart's troopers the town. The episode came just days before the armies met at Gettysburg.

Civil War

Battle of Hanover

Hanover, PA · est. 1954

On the morning of June 30, 1863, days before the armies collided at Gettysburg, Confederate horsemen under J.E.B. Stuart clashed with Union cavalry in the streets of Hanover. Stuart's troopers briefly seized the town before the Union counterattack drove them off, and by evening the Confederates withdrew. The running fight helped delay Stuart's raiders and kept them from rejoining Lee's army before the great battle to come.

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Abraham Lincoln

Hanover, PA · est. 1954

On November 18, 1863, a half block east of here, Abraham Lincoln paused during his journey to Gettysburg and spoke briefly to a gathered crowd from his special train. He was on his way to dedicate the National Cemetery there — the occasion for which, the next day, he would deliver the Gettysburg Address. This small trackside moment placed the wartime president, if only for a few minutes, among the ordinary townspeople of Hanover.

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Gettysburg Campaign

Penn Township, PA · est. 1947

In late June 1863, Robert E. Lee's Confederate army swept deep into Pennsylvania, and General Jubal Early's division ranged across York County ahead of the main force. On June 27, men detached by General John B. Gordon passed through Hanover by this route to destroy a railroad bridge at Hanover Junction, cutting Union communications. Their work done, the raiders rejoined Gordon as the armies drew toward a collision at Gettysburg.

Civil War