Draft:Burning of Chambersburg

Civil War events prior to 1864

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania had been formally established in 1764, a century before the occasion of the burning, but had been settled by its founder Benjamin Chambers as early as 1734. It enjoyed good trade and steady growth being situated at the intersection of key routes through southern Pennsylvania during the colonial and revolutionary period. By the time of the outset of the Civil War, its population was over 5,200, making it one of the larger towns in the Cumberland Valley.^[1][2]

In the years leading up the war, it was a hotbed of Underground Railroad activity and had played host to abolitionist John Brown in the months leading up to his unsuccessful October 1859 raid on Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. Under the alias Isaac Smith, Brown used Chambersburg as a staging and rally point for his men and their supplies.^[3] Frederick Douglass even came to town in August 1859 at Brown's invitation, meeting him in secret at an abandoned quarry, where Brown tried to recruit him for the upcoming raid. Douglass declined, viewing the attack as treason and doubtful it would succeed.^[4] After the raid failed, several of Brown's men escaped and filtered back through Chambersburg. Two were captured and taken to Charles Town, West Virginia, where they were hanged, as was Brown himself.

The town's close proximity to the Mason-Dixon line brought it well within range of the war's early campaigns, and it was used as a supply point, hospital town, and marshaling grounds during 1861 and 1862. Its first direct involvement with the conflict came in October 1862 when JEB Stuart conducted his brazen Raid on Chambersburg in the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam. This "ride around McClellan" was the first time that Confederate forces had crossed the Mason-Dixon and entered truly Northern territory, seizing over a thousand horses, as well as food, clothing, supplies, weapons, and roughly 30 African-Americans, both freeborn and the formerly enslaved, for transport back into southern states. While some storehouses and railroad facilities belonging to the Cumberland Valley Railroad were looted and burned during Stuart's raid, the rest of the town was left largely undisturbed.^[5][6]

In late June 1863, Chambersburg was the primary marshaling point for the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia as they attempted to mount a large-scale invasion of Pennsylvania. Nearly 75,000 Confederate troops passed through Chambersburg and occupied the surrounding areas in the two weeks leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg in neighboring Adams County to the east. Cannonfire from that engagement could be heard in town despite the distance of 25 miles (40km) and the barrier of South Mountain. In the aftermath of the battle, the defeated Confederates passed south of town as they retreated to the Potomac River.^[7]

The Cumberland Valley, which runs from the Pennsylvania state capital of Harrisburg on the Susquehanna River to Hagerstown, Maryland and its nearby neighbor Williamsport on the Potomac, was an important supply line and agricultural center for Union forces. After the 1863 invasion and the Battle of Gettysburg, this region was established as the Department of the Susquehanna, organizing the various town militias and garrison forces into a unified command structure. At the head of the department was General Darius N. Couch.

Reflecting Chambersburg's status and importance, Couch established his departmental headquarters on the town's square, locally called the Diamond, in a building known as the Mansion House. It sat opposite Market Street from the county courthouse. However, despite the importance of the region and the risk of another invasion, most of Couch's units were reassigned to defend Washington during the summer of 1864, leaving him with a token force of roughly 400 men with which to defend the town and surrounding area, under the field command of Captain Thomas S. McGown. An additional 45 men from the 6th U.S. Cavalry, under the command of Lieutenant Hancock T. McLean, were added to this force just days before McCausland's raid.^[8]

Having been occupied twice already, Chambersburg's residents and businessmen had often transported their goods, valuables, and funds further north and east, to cities like Harrisburg or Philadelphia. Merchants kept their stock low, and the Bank of Chambersburg had little in their reserves.^[9]

The Overland and Valley Campaigns

By June 1864, war operations had resumed in neighboring Maryland and West Virginia in the form of the Overland Campaign and the Valley Campaign, as Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee maneuvered for position around the Virginia cities of Petersburg and Lynchburg, leading to sieges against both towns. The ultimate Confederate aim was to encircle and seize the federal capital, Washington, D.C., a goal they had pursued since the war's beginning.

Concurrent to these engagements, Grant ordered Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel to move into the Shenandoah Valley, threaten railroads and the agricultural economy there, and distract Lee's forces while Grant fought him in eastern Virginia. Sigel did a poor job, losing immediately at the Battle of New Market to a force that included cadets from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). David Hunter replaced Sigel in command of the Army of the Shenandoah and the Department of West Virginia on May 21, 1864. Grant ordered Hunter to employ scorched earth tactics similar to those that would be used later in that year during Sherman's March to the Sea; he was to move through Staunton to Charlottesville and Lynchburg, "living off the country" and destroying the Virginia Central Railroad "beyond possibility of repair for weeks." Lee was concerned enough about Hunter that he dispatched a corps under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early to deal with him.

Hunter executed his orders with more success than Sigel, moving south through the Shenandoah and damaging critical Confederate infrastructure, as well as torching several farms, barns, storehouses, and residences to deprive Lee's armies of food resources and material support. Specific homes of high-profile Confederate supporters and politicians were targeted, including those of Alexander R. Boteler, an former member of the United States Congress and later the Confederate States Congress; Edmund I. Lee, a distant relative of General Robert E. Lee; John Letcher, former governor of Virginia; and Andrew Hunter, a member of the Virginia state senate and David Hunter's own first cousin. He also destroyed or badly damaged the buildings of the Virginia Military Institute and Washington College (later Washington and Lee College), both in Lexington, Virginia. His campaign was halted by Early at the Battle of Lynchburg on June 17-18 and fled into West Virginia.

As Early followed Hunter through the valley, he witnessed firsthand Hunter's scorched earth tactics and resolved to respond in kind:

A number of towns in the South, as well as private country houses, had been burned by the Federal troops, and the accounts had been heralded forth in some of the Northern papers in terms of exultation, and gloated over by their readers, while they were received with apathy by others. I now came to the conclusion that we had stood this mode of warfare long enough, and that it was time to open the eyes of the people of the North to its enormity, by an example in the way of retaliation.^[10]

Early's orders

After the Second Battle of Kernstown on July 24th, Early returned to his headquarters. On July 28th, he issued orders to two of his chief subordinates, Generals John McCausland and Bradley Tyler Johnson, outlining his planned raid on Chambersburg:

Cross your brigades at McCoy's Ferry or Clear Spring, and then proceed to Hagerstown, and from there to Chambersburg. At Chambersburg levy $100,000 in gold or $500,000 in northern money, to pay for the houses of Andrew Hunter, Alexander R. Boteler, and Edmund L. Lee, of Jefferson County, Virginia, which were burned by order of the Federal military authorities, and if the money is not paid burn the entire town as a retaliation for the burning of these houses and others in the State of Virginia by Federal authorities. Burn the depots at Chambersburg and proceed from there by McConnellsburg to Cumberland and destroy the bridges of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad as you go, and if you can, the tunnel at Paw Paw.^[11]

John McCausland had assumed command of Confederate forces in West Virginia after the death of Brigadier General Albert G. Jenkins following the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain on May 9th and was promoted to Jenkins' rank of Brigadier General on May 18th. He had achieved acclaim in Virginia by playing a major role in routing Hunter's attack on Lynchburg, such that the city presented him with a commemorative sword. On July 11th, he led Early's vanguard in an attack on Georgetown, Maryland, coming within sight of the landmarks of Washington and earning the distinction of being the Confederate officer to come closest to the federal capital during the war.^[12]

Bradley Johnson was a native of Frederick, Maryland and was more intimately familiar with the area. Like McCausland, he had been present with Early throughout the Overland and Valley Campaigns and accompanied him during the ransoms of both Hagerstown and his own hometown of Frederick earlier in the month. While McCausland would lead the operation into Union territory, Johnson would act as his nominal second-in-command.

Headquartered at the home of Dr. Allen Hammond in Berkeley County, West Virginia, McCausland gathered his troops: the 36th Virginia Infantry Regiment, two cavalry brigades (one each for McCausland and Johnson), two guns from the Baltimore Light Artillery, and two guns from the artillery company of Carter Moore Braxton, as well as other smaller units pulled from across Early's division. In total, the raiding force numbered approximately 2,800 men. Their mustering point at the Hammond House was less than five miles from their intended crossing point on the Potomac.

Whether by Early's orders or their own discretion, McCausland and Johnson did not immediately divulge the full nature of the ransom demand, or their ultimate destination, to their junior officers. Along with the orders to ransom Chambersburg, Early had also instructed them to proceed westward to Cumberland, Maryland and largely repeat the same demand there, despite that city's divided sympathies.

Occupation and the ransom demand

McCausland established temporary headquarters one mile west of town at the intersection of the Pittsburgh Road and Warm Springs Road, on a hilltop now known as Radio Hill. He occupied the home of Henry Greenawalt, still standing today, and here revealed the details of Early's ransom orders to his junior officers for the first time. The four artillery pieces were moved to a level spot halfway down the hill, and at 5:30am fired a half-dozen rounds over the town to declare their presence on the high ground.

Gilmor's fast-moving patrols circled the town and set up pickets on all approaches while the 21st Virginia Cavalry, under the command of Colonel William Elisha Peters, moved in to occupy the town. Several units followed while the remainder of McCausland's men, just under half his force, held position on the heights with the artillery. McCausland, Johnson, Gilmor, and other officers entered the town shortly thereafter and were seen breakfasting at the Franklin Hotel, located on the southwestern corner of the Diamond.^[15]

While they ate, McCausland arranged for his officers to move throughout town, gathering what citizens they could to convene on the Diamond. Word of the impending ransom quickly spread, but according to most accounts was not taken seriously. This was Chambersburg's third occupation by Confederate forces, and many believed their town would not be subjected to any worse treatment than they had already received in 1862 or 1863. Preliminary looting on the outskirts of the town occurred at this time, and most citizens assumed that such behavior would be the worst of it.

Accounts differ as to exactly when McCausland addressed the crowd gathered on the Diamond, but it was likely around 7:00am, after his breakfast had allowed his men enough time to canvas the town. Unimpressed with the turnout, McCausland ordered the courthouse bell to be rung and more citizens were gathered. At this time, the bank (which sat next door to the Franklin Hotel) was searched and was found to be largely empty. McCausland mounted the courthouse steps and read (or had a subordinate read) Early's ransom order to the gathered townsfolk, demanding the proscribed $100,000 in gold or $500,000 in cash. This was exorbitantly higher than the civilians had expected; in the last month, Hagerstown had been ransomed for $20,000 and Frederick for $200,000. Chambersburg was unable to raise the requested amount in either gold or cash, its citizens having sent the bulk of their savings to more secure banks in the northeast. When the reality of the demand set in, town leaders appealed to McCausland to accept less, or even payment in horses, food, and silage, but the general was unyielding.

Burning commences

Again, accounts differ as to how long McCausland waited after issuing his demands before he ordered the town burned. By his own recollection made after the war, he waited as long as six hours; however, this was refuted by multiple eyewitness sources and was likely an attempt to exaggerate his leniency towards the town. Local businessman and historian Jacob Hoke was present for the occupation and in his 1884 work Historical Reminiscences of the War in and About Chambersburg claims that McCausland waited no more than an hour. General Bradley Johnson, McCausland's second, was critical of his commanding officer in his reports and later memoirs, but even he credits McCausland for waiting three hours after reading the order before ordering the firing.

One of General Couch's soldiers, Sergeant William S. Kochersperger of the 20th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment, was on duty at the Mansion House headquarters when he was, in his words, "unavoidably detained" during the evacuation of the 440-man Union force and was subsequently left behind. Reporting back to Harrisburg after the events of the raid, Kochersperger claims he disguised himself in civilian clothing and was present for the reading of the ultimatum. Kochersperger reported that the General first issued his demands around 6:00am, then went for breakfast at the Franklin Hotel while townspeople were gathered and storehouses located, before returning some time later to give one final warning before ordering the town's destruction. His account suggests at least two hours passed between McCausland's first demand and his last.^[16]

Other reports from civilians later claimed that regardless of what was happening on the courthouse steps and what orders had been given, the scattered Rebel soldiers were already robbing homes and businesses elsewhere. Pocketwatches, purses, jewelry, and clothing such as hats, boots, and gloves were demanded of townspeople on side streets, sometimes at gunpoint, while looting parties broke into shops to search for merchandise or money. This added confusion throughout town later led to several conflicting reports as to when McCausland actually issued the explicit order to burn the town, as the breakdown of Confederate discipline had no relation to whether or not the order had been given. Apothecaries were robbed of their medicines and bandages, bakeries of their bread, and even the brewery in town, Ludwig's, was raided.^[17]

Most historians agree that the general waited no longer than 10:00am, closely following Bradley Johnson's three-hour claim. Kerosene barrels had been located in storehouses and railroad shops and were distributed to Confederate detachments at several intersections downtown, including the central Diamond. When the final order was given, Confederate troops began their destruction by breaking into the buildings immediately at these intersections, maximizing the effect by firing several block corners almost simultaneously. One soldier later recalled:

The most usual method of burning was to break the furniture into splinters, pile it in the middle of the floor, and then fire it. This was done in the beginning, but as the fire became general, it was no longer necessary as one house would set fire to its neighbors.

When necessary, the kerosene barrels were opened and their contents used to accelerate the flames. Initial assessments of the damage afterwards led some observers to conclude that the Confederates used mild explosives to destroy more substantial buildings such as the courthouse and bank, but this is unproven.

Special attention was given to specific targets, usually those related to Union or Republican individuals or organizations. In town, the Mansion House that had served as Darius Couch's headquarters was located on the Diamond and was immediately torched. The Cumberland Valley rail yard and engine works on Third Street were razed, the engines and rolling stock destroyed, and rails torn up on either end of town. One mile to the north was Norland Estate, the residence of nationally-syndicated newspaperman and Republican politician Alexander McClure, who was personally acquainted with President Abraham Lincoln. While McClure was away at the time, his wife and children were present and were harassed by the Rebels sent with the express purpose of burning their home. The home of Franklin County's Superintendent of Schools, Andrew J. McElwain, was located on the edge of town but singled out and burned because the county allowed the education of African-American children.^[18]

Despite the widespread vandalism and destruction, one building, the Masonic Temple on Second Street, was specifically spared on the orders of a Confederate officer who belonged to that Order. This was one of several cases of decorum and fraternization between Masons on opposing sides of the war. Both the Temple and the buildings on either side were put under guard to prevent their burning.^[19]

Fire intensifies

Once the fires had been set, order and discipline in the Confederate ranks all but vanished. Many homes were burglarized before they were burned, with soldiers stuffing money, jewelry, and other valuables into their pockets. In some cases, residents were extorted into paying individual ransoms for their homes, only to have the building be burned anyway either intentionally or by other fires spreading nearby. Second-in-command Bradley Johnson patrolled the town while the conflagration spread and witnessed such scenes firsthand:

In at least one instance while the town was in flames, a quartermaster, aided and directed by a field officer, exacted ransom of individuals for their houses, holding the torch in terror over the house until it was paid. These ransoms varied from $750 to $150, according to the size of the habitation. Thus the grand spectacle of our national retaliation was reduced to a miserable huckstering for greenbacks.

What precious little that residents were able to carry from their burning homes was often seized anyways, leaving many with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. Several citizens lost their entire life savings either to the flames or the hands of the Rebel forces. Father McCullum, the local Catholic priest at Corpus Christi, had been robbed of his pocket watch the previous summer during the Gettysburg campaign, and likewise lost its replacement as well to the raiders. Despite this, the church and parsonage was not burned.

Hard liquors were stolen from many homes and several soldiers were soon drunk, a claim substantiated by numerous eyewitness accounts. Hoke observed, "the streets were filled with drunken and infuriated soldiers". Disguised Union straggler Kochersperger reported that "when they left, nearly two-thirds of their cavalry were in a state of intoxication, hardly capable of sitting up on their horses." Johnson wrote, "drunken soldiers paraded the streets in every possible disguise and paraphernalia, pillaging and plundering and drunk." Higher-ranking officers told several townsmen to "get the women out of town as soon as possible, as many soldiers were intoxicated and they feared the worst consequences". Despite this concern, no cases of sexual assault were reported in the aftermath.

Residents fled in all directions as the inferno spread, engulfing entire city blocks. Many took refuge in the Cedar Grove Cemetery, just opposite the Conococheague Creek from the downtown area. While fires were set even on that side of town, the open space of the cemetery afforded some security from the flames. Later accounts from those who had taken refuge in the cemetery claimed that one pregnant young woman was overwhelmed by the chaos and gave birth a few weeks early, delivering a healthy firstborn among the tombstones while the town was still burning.

Resistance and refusals

As the scale of the destruction became larger and more devastating, even some officers began expressing doubts and concerns about their actions. An article submitted to a local newspaper some years after by a Confederate veteran claimed that the captain responsible for burning the southeastern portion of the town refused the orders, and instead "employed his men in aiding people out of their burning houses with their goods, and did not apply the torch at all".

The most notable dissenter within the Confederate ranks was Colonel William Elisha Peters, who had led the 21st Virginia into town that morning as the advance force. Apparently unaware of Early's orders to burn the town, Peters protested when McCausland gave the order, even going so far to threaten to resign his command and break his sword. Johnson defused the situation by ordering Peters to collect his men and withdraw back to the western heights. When McCausland later rejoined them at the Greenawalt house, he placed Peters under arrest for insubordination, but he suspended his own charges that same day and tasked Peters with covering their retreat. Those charges were later dropped entirely when Peters made a direct appeal to Robert E. Lee.

There were some cases where citizens refused or defied the Rebel orders and made attempts to defend their homes and businesses, with varying degrees of success. One local woman was 28-year-old Louisa Brand, who lived near the intersection of Queen and Second streets. Brand took an American flag (believed to have been the one that hung at the Mansion House before it had been lowered earlier that day), wrapped it around herself, and warded off approaching Confederates by brandishing a revolver and daring the men to attempt to fire the house or take the flag. The Brand house survived the burning, as did the flag, which is now on display in the Franklin County Historical Society. In other parts, quick-thinking residents doused what flames they could as soon as the Confederates had moved on, saving some buildings from total destruction.

In another anecdote, an elderly woman attacked a soldier with a broom when he attempted to fire her home, giving him "a sound drubbing" and much to the amusement of his comrades. On Main Street, two Confederates broke into the drug store of Doctor Andrew J. Miller, just north of the Diamond, and in their haste inadvertently locked themselves inside. While fires were set next door, Miller had heard the commotion on the streets and retreated into his apartments above to grab his double-barreled shotgun. He emerged from the hall behind his counter and fired at both soldiers, either killing them outright or wounding them to such a degree they were unable to escape before the fires in the adjacent building spread and burned the drugstore to the ground. Miller fled through the back door and survived.

McCausland's departure and Union arrival

While Chambersburg still burned, McCausland began collecting his men and withdrawing from the town, considering Early's orders satisfied. Scouts returned from their patrols to the south near Greencastle and reported that William Averell's cavalry had finally broken camp and was moving north. While McCausland had successfully faced Averell before and had a slight numerical advantage, he did not wish to engage in a skirmish between his own tired (and in many cases intoxicated) men and Averell's fresher, well-rested unit this far from any supporting Confederate forces. The final Confederate units left town by noon.

For his part, Averell had been waiting for orders to advance on Chambersburg, but as a column of smoke became visible on the horizon, he ordered his men to mount up and ride north. Believing that McCausland was attempting to replicate JEB Stuart's 1862 raid, Averell did not ride straight for Chambersburg but instead charted an intercept course northeast towards Fayetteville, anticipating that McCausland, like Stuart, would continue eastward and attempt to cross South Mountain. While en route, his scouts reported that the Confederate force had withdrawn from the town and were instead moving westward, retracing their steps towards Saint Thomas. Averell turned his column to the west before reaching Fayetteville and ordered them to speed towards town.

The column arrived in town around 2:00pm, at least two hours after McCausland had left, and found a large swath of Chambersburg in ruins while fires still raged in the heart of town. One rider later wrote:

Those of us who were in the advance went through the burning town, bending forward upon our horses' necks, as fast as our faithful steeds could carry us. We had no knowledge of the great destruction and devastation that we should witness, and when we had once started, it was necessary to continue through the burning streets. Houses on fire on both sides, it was no time to turn back, and to stop was to be burned up; our poor horses were mad with fright. Each and every one of us felt relieved when we got to the other edge of town. The atmosphere was stifling, with the smoke that settled over the earth like a pall. The citizens were gathered in groups; strong men with bowed heads, women wringing their hands and the little children clinging to their mothers' dresses and crying. Desolation on all sides! It was a sad picture, long to be remembered.^[20]

Isolated fires continued to burn throughout the town, but a brief summer rain shower helped extinguish them later in the evening. With the Confederates gone and the firestorm passed, people retuned to town to observe the ruins and pick through the remains of their homes. Displaced residents gathered in what buildings had escaped the destruction for shelter. Those with relatives elsewhere in the county traveled there, while others camped out in the countryside or tried their luck in neighboring towns. The streets were lined with blackened trees, piles of bricks where front walls had collapsed forward into the road, and charred collections of belongings that had been confiscated and burned.^[21] West of town, the Confederates had left a trail of stolen goods dropped during their withdrawal. According to Newcomer:

Merchandise of every description was strewn about the road; boots, clothing, window curtains, even infants' shoes, little slips, and women's dresses that had been stolen from the houses in Chambersburg and along the route there, were now all thrown away by the raiders.

Chambersburg citizens

A survey of the damage in the following days determined that between 500 and 550 buildings had been destroyed, with 278 of them being houses and businesses and the remainder being private stables, barns, carriage houses, and other outbuildings commonly kept behind the home or store. Between 2,000 and 2,500 citizens had lost their homes; in a town of over 5,500 people (5,255 as of the 1860 census), this amounted to roughly 40% homelessness. Insurance claims made over the following months and years, some of which were paid out by the federal government, totaled $713,294.34 in real estate and $915,137.24 in personal property, for a total of $1,628,431.58 (equivalent to $34,250,272.44 in 2026).^[22]

Miraculously, despite the widespread devastation, only one resident died as a result of the fire. Daniel Parker was a former slave who had traveled to Chambersburg through the Underground Railroad in his youth and spent the majority of his life in town. Either overcome with smoke inhalation, injured by the flames, or overstressed by the presence of the Confederates and the loss of his home, Parker, who was already "enfeebled by his age and infirmities", died that evening.

News of McCausland's raid spread up the Cumberland Valley and excited nearby communities with fears of similar acts. His superior Jubal Early crossed the Potomac into Maryland again just days later on August 5th, and frightened citizens from Hagerstown to Carlisle began fleeing further north to Harrisburg and points beyond. The Cumberland Valley Railroad, whose main shops had been burned in Chambersburg, offered free services along their route, but in some ways this only exacerbated the situation. Soon the state capital was reportedly overrun with refugees fleeing the perceived Rebel threat, and many did not return home until later in the fall.

Confederate stragglers

While the vast majority of McCausland's force formed ranks and left Chambersburg, a handful of soldiers were either accidentally left in town or fell behind during their journey west. These stranded and solitary soldiers were left to fend for themselves and subjected to the mercy of the Pennsylvanians.

Three Confederates are known to have been killed during the burning or shortly thereafter. Two were shot by Doctor Andrew J. Miller as they attempted to loot his apothecary on Main Street (as detailed above). A third was Captain Calder A. Bailey, adjutant of the 8th Virginia Cavalry. Local history claims that Bailey broke into a house downtown and discovered a store of liquors in the basement. He apparently helped himself to the alcohol and passed out. When he came to, the Confederates were long gone. He was discovered and captured, but attempted to escape; he was shot and wounded in the process and took refuge in a burning building in the vicinity of the Masonic Temple on Second Street. When the flames became too intense, he attempted to flee again, but was shot and killed by the townspeople waiting outside. He was first hastily buried in the garden of the house next to the Masonic Temple, both of which had been spared, but was reinterred in the Methodist cemetery. By chance, Bailey had been a Mason in his hometown of Charleston, West Virginia, and after the war's end in 1865, his widow was able to contact the Masons in Chambersburg through her husband's lodge, unaware that he had briefly been buried just next door. The two lodges coordinated a discreet and respectful transfer of Bailey's remains from Chambersburg to Charleston.

A fourth Confederate is sometimes said to have been killed in town on north Main Street in the vicinity of the Rosedale Seminary (present-day Fort Chambers Park), but no record exists to corroborate this.

As McCausland's men continued west to Fort Loudon, one rider's horse threw a shoe and he approached a local stable-and-tack for assistance. The villagers had heard what had happened in Chambersburg and were aware of the destruction. As the soldier dismounted and was speaking to the stabler, a second man approached from behind with a gun, told the soldier to kneel and pray, and shot him. He was buried in an unmarked plot in Stenger Hill Cemetery east of Fort Loudon.

Union response and pursuit

Although McCausland's raid could rightfully be considered a success in that he fulfilled his stated orders in Chambersburg, his presence had exposed how unprotected Pennsylvania had become while the war raged in neighboring Maryland. Recruitment rose across the state as "Remember Chambersburg" became a rallying cry throughout the late summer and early fall of 1864. Existing defensive positions were reinforced and new ones created as far west as Pittsburgh. This, combined with the reversal of Confederate fortunes in the ongoing Overland Campaign, greatly reduced the chances of any repeat invasions or ransoms in Pennsylvania.

In the immediate aftermath, Averell's 2,500-man cavalry pursued McCausland westward, following them through Fort Loudon, over the Tuscarora Mountain, and into McConnellsburg in neighboring Fulton County. McCausland was able to shake Averell's troops and make camp south of McConnellsburg for the night of July 30th.

The following day, July 31st, the Confederates continued south and crossed back over the Mason-Dixon line into Maryland north of Hancock. McCausland paused here and resupplied his troops with provisions taken from warehouses along the Cumberland & Ohio Canal, and attempted to issue another set of ransom demands, this time asking $30,000 and 5,000 cooked rations from the town's 700 citizens. General Johnson had steadily grown weary of McCausland's tactics and finally argued with him publicly in Hancock's square, telling him that the smaller town couldn't possibly pay a ransom, and furthermore most Marylanders in this part of the state held some sympathy for the Confederate cause. The debate grew heated until Major Gilmor rode in from the east, where his rear guard had come under fire. Averell's forces had found them again and were in pursuit.

The engagement quickly swept through the hills east of town and along Hancock's streets and McCausland's men were pushed further west, where they regrouped and began riding for Cumberland. By this point his forces were demoralized, undisciplined, and feeling the wear of five days of hard riding and intermittent fighting. 300 of the raiders' horses had collapsed from exhaustion and many soldiers were consigned to travel on foot through the mountain passes of the Appalachian Mountains of Western Maryland. While the Confederates retreated, Averell contented himself with having driven the Rebels from Hancock and held position there for the next few days.

McCausland may still have intended to carry out the second half of Early's orders and ransom Cumberland for the same amount he had levied against Chambersburg - $100,000 in gold or $500,000 in cash - while destroying its railroad and canal operations. They arrived in town the next day, August 1st, but were soon under fire by artillery commanded by Union General Benjamin Franklin Kelley and were unable to fulfill any of Early's orders there. McCausland crossed the Potomac with considerable difficulty and camped overnight near Springfield, West Virginia. The following day, August 2nd, he moved south to Romney, staying there until the 4th and attempting an abortive raid on New Creek (now Keyser), which Kelley also repelled.

On the 5th, the Confederates moved further south to Moorefield. Believing himself far from any Union threat, McCausland made camp for the next few days in open fields near a stream, allowing his men and their horses room to rest and regain their strength, at the cost of their position being much more difficult to defend. Unbeknownst to him, Averell had resumed the pursuit, using Kelley's information to ascertain McCausland's position near Moorefield. On the evening of August 6th, Averell took advantage of the Confederates' fatigue and poor defensive position and defeated them in the Battle of Moorefield, inflicting at least 500 casualties. McCausland and his officers escaped, but their force was badly reduced; as a result, Jubal Early's campaigns in West Virginia were hampered and ultimately failed, beginning a string of defeats that would lead to his dismissal from the Confederate Army in March 1865, before the war's end. 



Through the entirety of the raid, from July 28th to August 6th, McCausland had sustained roughly 600 casualties to his 2,800-man force, the majority from the final battle at Moorefield. They had travelled 200 miles in eight days.

Surviving structures

Although over 500 buildings were destroyed, several historic structures escaped the flames due to either deliberate sparing, civilian intervention, luck, or falling beyond the scope of the conflagration. Some notable examples include:

• a log cabin on King Street, built by the town founder Benjamin Chambers in 1756, which had been incorporated into a newer structure; it was rediscovered in the 1970s and restored
• Falling Spring Presbyterian church, two stone buildings that date to 1734 and 1803 respectively
• the Colhoun House, built 1782 north of the Presbyterian church on Philadelphia Avenue (North Main Street)
• Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church, built 1812 between Philadelphia Avenue and Second Street
• the first Cumberland Valley railroad station in Chambersburg, built 1839 on Second Street
• the Franklin County Jail, colloquially known as "The Old Jail", built 1818 at the intersection of Second and King Streets; it now houses the Franklin County Historical Society and contains several artifacts from the burning
• the Mary Ritner Boarding House, also known as the John Brown House after its most famous tenant, built before 1859 on King Street
• the Market House, a mercantile building later incorporated into the town hall, built 1831 at the intersection of Second and Queen Streets and fell just beyond the edge of the fire
• the Masonic Temple, deliberately spared by Confederates, built 1823 on Second Street
• First Lutheran Church, the third such building on the site, built 1854 on Washington Street; it sustained smoke damage but was spared while others beside it were razed
• Zion Reformed Church, built 1813 on South Main Street, which fell one block beyond the fire's southern edge

Confederate participants after the war

Initial reaction across the Union condemned Early's orders and McCausland's strict adherence to them as war crimes. Both men survived the war, but rather than submit to federal courts, they fled the country. Early went first to join the French as they attempted to establish a monarchy in Mexico, then to Europe and Canada before he was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson in 1869 and returned to Virginia. He became an early proponent of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy for the rest of his life, dying in Lynchburg in 1894.^[23]

McCausland fought until the end of the war, refusing to surrender at Appomattox. He instead withdrew to Lynchburg and was later paroled out when the Confederate Army disbanded. In leaving the country, he headed first to Michigan, then Canada, and then Europe, where he joined the French Army as a military advisor. In this capacity he too went to Mexico and was briefly employed in the service of Maximilian I before the French abandoned Mexico and Maximilian was killed. McCausland then returned to America, secured a pardon from now-President Ulysses S. Grant (whom he had known personally during his childhood in St. Louis, Missouri), and retired to Point Pleasant, West Virginia to live with relatives. He married into a plantation family and eventually owned nearly 4,000 acres along the western bank of the Kanawha River south of Point Pleasant, a homestead he called Grape Hill. Only 28 years old when he burned Chambersburg, McCausland lived until January 1927 and died at the age of 90, the second-to-last surviving Confederate General. On the occasion of his death, public opinion in Northern states was still vitriolic enough that his obituaries referred to him as "the Hun of Chambersburg".

Bradley Johnson, who had been second-in-command during the raid, faced no formal charges. Privately critical of McCausland and the conduct of his soldiers throughout the operation, his discontent had flared up in Hancock when McCausland attempted to ransom that town, which had no means to pay any sum. After Moorefield, McCausland's report on the battle pinned the bulk of the defeat on Johnson's forces being surprised by Averell and unable to hold the line; in return, Johnson blamed McCausland for selecting a strategically poor position. The two did not work together again after the conclsion of the Valley Campaign. After the war, he returned to politics, joining the Virginia state senate, and practiced law until 1879. His 1881 memoirs have provided an invaluable, realistic insight to the events of the raid through the eyes of an relatively unbiased commander. He died in 1903 and was buried in Baltimore, Maryland.

Major Harry Gilmor, McCausland's primary scouting and skirmishing officer, initially moved to New Orleans, married, and had three children. A Baltimore native, he returned to his hometown in 1867 and joined the Maryland National Guard. He later served as Commissioner for the Baltimore Police Department. He died in 1883 of complications from one of many injuries he sustained during the war. Both he and Johnson are buried in the same section of Baltimore's Loudon Park Cemetery.

Colonel William Elisha Peters, who had threatened to resign in the midst of the burning, had taught at private schools in Lynchburg and at Emory and Henry University prior to the war. After surrendering his forces along with Lee and several others at Appomattox, he returned to education, serving as Professor of Latin and Greek at the University of Virginia from 1866 until his death in 1906.