HistoricSiteMarkers
Civil War

Gettysburg Campaign

Straban Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania

Marker Inscription

A major cavalry engagement took place July 3, 1863, about one mile southeast of here. A succession of mounted charges by Gen. David McM. Gregg's Union force prevented Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry from reaching the Union rear and drove the Confederates from the field.

Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

The Story

On July 3, 1863, as the great battle raged at Gettysburg, a major cavalry fight unfolded about a mile southeast of here. Union horsemen under Gen. David McM. Gregg met Confederate cavalry led by Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, whose aim was to strike the Union rear at the decisive moment. Through a series of mounted charges Gregg's troopers drove Stuart from the field, blunting the threat.

Why it matters

This clash helped secure the Union position on the climactic day of the war's turning-point battle, showing that Gettysburg was decided by cavalry on its flanks as much as by the famous infantry assault at its center.

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 people

  • · David McM. Gregg
  • · J.E.B. Stuart

Related events

  • · Battle of Gettysburg

Themes & tags

Civil WarBattlefield

Nearby & related markers

Army of the Potomac Medical Department

Straban Township, PA

In the first days of July 1863, the fields and farmhouses south and east of Gettysburg were transformed into a vast open-air hospital as the Army of the Potomac's Medical Department fought to save thousands of wounded men. Under the reforms of medical director Jonathan Letterman, the army had built a system of forward field hospitals, ambulance corps, and triage that was tested here at an unprecedented scale. This ground in Straban Township marks where surgeons worked around the clock amid the aftermath of the war's bloodiest battle.

Civil War

Camp Letterman

Straban Township, PA

In the sweltering weeks after the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, the fields east of town became Camp Letterman, the largest field hospital of the Civil War, where thousands of wounded soldiers from both armies were treated in orderly rows of tents. Named for Dr. Jonathan Letterman, the Army of the Potomac's medical director whose battlefield-evacuation system revolutionized military medicine, the camp combined surgery, convalescence, and an adjoining cemetery. The fragment quoted here — a grim bedside note that a soldier's recovery 'is yet doubtful' — captures the daily uncertainty that hung over the men who lay here through the summer and fall.

Civil War

MI 1st, 5th, 6th & 7th MI Vol Cavalry Regs Custer

Mount Pleasant Township, PA

Erected by the State of Michigan, this monument honors the men of the 1st, 5th, 6th, and 7th Michigan Cavalry — the Michigan Cavalry Brigade led by the young Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer — who fought on the fields east of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. There, Union horsemen turned back a Confederate mounted attack intended to strike the rear of the Union line as Pickett's Charge went forward to the west.

Civil War

10th NY Cavalry “Porter Guard” Avery

Straban Township, PA

East of Gettysburg this marker notes where the 10th New York Cavalry — nicknamed the "Porter Guard" — was engaged on the afternoon and evening of July 2nd, 1863. As part of the Cavalry Corps' Second Division, the regiment operated on the army's flank, the kind of screening and skirmishing that kept commanders informed and protected the infantry's vulnerable edges. The fighting around Gettysburg raged for three days before Lee's army withdrew back toward Virginia.

Civil War