Gettysburg Campaign
Antrim Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Over this route Confederate General R.S. Ewell's 2d Army Corps led Lee's invading forces on June 22, 1863. Next day Gen. Jubal Early, under Ewell's command, entered the state to the east, near Waynesboro.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In the tense weeks before the guns opened at Gettysburg, Confederate columns poured north through the Cumberland Valley on their way to the largest battle ever fought on American soil. General Richard S. Ewell's Second Corps used this route in June 1863 to spearhead Lee's second invasion of the North, with Jubal Early's division peeling off toward Waynesboro. Within days these same forces would converge on a small crossroads town to the east, where three days of fighting decided the campaign.
Why it matters
The roads of southern Pennsylvania carried the high-water mark of the Confederacy, making quiet farm country a stage for the Union's turning-point victory.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- Monterey Pass Battlefield Museum13.0 mi away
- Washington County Rural Heritage Museum15.0 mi away
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Related people
- · Robert E. Lee
- · Richard S. Ewell
- · Jubal Early
Related events
- · Gettysburg Campaign
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Captain Ulric Dahlgren
Greencastle, PA · est. 1954
On July 2, 1863, as the armies clashed just miles away at Gettysburg, young Union cavalry officer Ulric Dahlgren led a bold raid into the square at Greencastle and struck a larger body of Confederate horsemen. His troopers captured couriers carrying dispatches intended for General Lee, seizing papers that offered a glimpse into enemy movements at a decisive moment of the campaign.
Gettysburg Campaign
Antrim Township, PA · est. 1964
On June 22, 1863, the 1st New York Cavalry clashed here with the Confederate advance guard under General Albert G. Jenkins, one of the first armed encounters as Lee's army entered Pennsylvania. In the fighting Corporal William H. Rihl of Philadelphia fell—the first Union soldier killed in action on Pennsylvania soil. He was buried near where he died, and this ground became his memorial.
Gettysburg Campaign
Waynesboro, PA · est. 1964
On June 23, 1863, Confederate troops under General Jubal Early occupied Waynesboro as Lee's army swept into Pennsylvania. The next day they marched by Mont Alto toward Greenwood, and on June 25 received General Ewell's order to press on to York. These movements were part of the wide Confederate sweep across south-central Pennsylvania in the days before the armies converged at Gettysburg.
Burning of Chambersburg
Montgomery Township, PA · est. 1947
Along this road on July 29, 1864, Gen. John McCausland's Confederate cavalry rode north through Franklin County. Passing by way of Mercersburg, they reached Chambersburg the next morning and burned it, then pressed on to McConnellsburg by that night. The raid traced a swift, punishing arc across south-central Pennsylvania in the war's final year.