Gettysburg Campaign
West Manchester Township, York County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
June 28, 1863, Confederate Gen. Gordon's brigade of Early's division followed this route through York to Wrightsville. Early's main force remained here until June 30, when it left to rejoin Lee's army.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
On June 28, 1863, General John B. Gordon's brigade of Early's division marched through York along this route on its way to Wrightsville and the Susquehanna. Early's main force lingered here in York until June 30, when it turned west to reunite with Lee's army. Within days those same soldiers would be fighting at Gettysburg, the greatest battle of the war.
Why it matters
York briefly became the largest Northern town occupied by Confederate forces during the war, a vivid reminder that the Gettysburg Campaign brought the conflict onto Pennsylvania's home ground.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- Hanover Fire Museum14.7 mi away
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Related people
- · John B. Gordon
- · Jubal Early
Related events
- · Gettysburg Campaign, 1863
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Gettysburg Campaign
Dover Township, PA · est. 1947
In the last days of June 1863, part of General Jubal Early's Confederate division advanced on York along this road, spreading Lee's army across southern Pennsylvania. From here Early sent Colonel French toward York Haven to burn the Susquehanna bridges, hoping to sever the region's rail links. Then, ordered to concentrate with Lee, most of Early's men marched back over this same road on June 30 toward the fields at Gettysburg.
Hanover Junction
North Codorus Township, PA · est. 1953
In November 1863, this rural railroad junction in York County was where Abraham Lincoln's train changed lines on his way to dedicate the national cemetery at Gettysburg. Months earlier the same junction had funneled wounded men from the battlefield onward to distant hospitals, and it served as a key relay on the military telegraph network that carried war news north and east. What looks like an ordinary spot where two rail lines met was, for a season, a nerve center of the war in Pennsylvania.
Gettysburg Campaign - Raid on Jefferson
Jefferson, PA · est. 2009
In the tense weeks before the Battle of Gettysburg in the summer of 1863, the war came to the doorsteps of ordinary York County families. As thousands of Confederate and Union troops marched through Jefferson, both armies seized horses, livestock, and food, and Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry occupied the town at the end of June. Days later those same roads funneled the armies toward the fields of Gettysburg, where the war's turning point would unfold.
Simon Cameron
East Donegal Township, PA · est. 1951
Simon Cameron was born in 1799 in a log house that once stood on this site, rising from modest beginnings to become one of the most powerful figures in Pennsylvania and national politics. A U.S. Senator and shrewd party organizer, he served briefly as Abraham Lincoln's first Secretary of War at the outbreak of the Civil War before a diplomatic posting to Russia. He died in 1889 at nearby Donegal Springs, having shaped his state's political machine for a generation.