PENNSYLVANIA***


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THE BURNING OF CHAMBERSBURG.

by

REV. B. S. SCHNECK, D. D.

       *       *       *       *       *

NOTICE.


Since the appearance of the first edition of this work, kind friends and
strangers from abroad have been prompted to send contributions for the
sufferers of our town, sometimes specifying who shall be the recipients,
sometimes leaving it discretionary with myself, and sometimes designating
the particular denomination of Christians to whose most needy members the
gifts should be applied. In order to afford an opportunity to _all_, to
avail themselves of such methods as may be most acceptable, I will here
say, that contributions to the General Relief Committee may be sent to the
Treasurer, _G. R. Messersmith_, Esq., Cashier of the Bank of Chambersburg.

Those wishing to make the pastors of the different churches (all of which
have suffered very greatly) to be the almoners of their bounty, can send
as follows:

     First Reformed Church, Rev. P. S. Davis.

     Second   "       " (German), Rev. B. S. Schneck.

     Presbyterian, Rev. S. J. Niccolls.

     Lutheran, German (without a pastor). Money can be sent to Rev. F. W.
     Conrad.

     Methodist, Rev. Mr. Barnhart.

     United Brethren in Christ, Rev. J. Dickson.

     Roman Catholic, Rev. John Gerdeman.

     Bethel (Church of God), Mr. W. G. Mitchell.




THE BURNING OF CHAMBERSBURG.

BY REV. B. S. SCHNECK, D. D.

  Single copies sent by mail, free of postage, at the usual
    retail price,                                             40 & 60 cts.
  By the dozen, in cloth,                                            $5 40
  (If sent by express, the receiver pays charges--if by mail,
    72 cents per dozen copies added to the above price,) or           6 12
  By the dozen, in paper,                                             3 60
  Postage per dozen copies, 40c.,                                     4 00
  By the hundred, in cloth,                                          40 00
  "   "     "     in paper covers,                                   26 67

_No books given on commission._

Agents wishing to canvass particular sections or counties, can apply to
the author at Chambersburg.

_Agents wanted_ for a number of counties in the eastern and western
portion of Pennsylvania, and also for Ohio, Indiana, etc.

A _German_ edition, in a condensed form, will shortly leave the press,
which will retail at 30 cents in paper, and 50 cents in cloth.

  By the dozen, in paper,                                            $2 70
  Postage per dozen copies,                                             30
  By the dozen, in cloth,                                             4 50
  Postage,                                                              60
  By the hundred, in paper,                                          20 00
  "   "     "     in cloth,                                          33 33


OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

The following are a few of the notices given by the public press to this
work in its first edition:

"It is invaluable as the only account of the most fiendish act of the war
that is in a form to be preserved."--Colonel A. K. MCCLURE, in the
Chambersburg "_Franklin Repository_," Sept. 28, 1864.

"To readers of every class we take great pleasure in commending this
truthful narrative as a valuable contribution to the history of the
war.... The incidents of the burning are detailed by Dr. Schneck with a
vividness which makes his account of that barbarous transaction as graphic
as it is authentic."--Editor of Washington "_National Intelligencer_,"
Oct. 6.

"The source from which it proceeds carries with it sufficient authority as
to the correctness of its statements. It will be read generally with
interest and will doubtless receive a large circulation."--"_German
Reformed Messenger_," Oct. 5.

"This little book should be read by every Pennsylvanian. The scenes
therein so simply and yet so touchingly depicted, have no parallel for
horror in any war among civilized nations except our own."--Pittsburg
"_Evening Chronicle_," Oct. 14.

"I rejoice that this little book has met so rapid a sale, though I
anticipated nothing less, as it is certainly one of the most thrilling
narratives I have ever read. I shall send for a number of copies to be
distributed here."--Rev. Dr. W. B. SPRAGUE, Albany, N. Y., in a letter to
the author, Nov. 1, 1864.

       *       *       *       *       *


[Illustration: MAP OF THE PORTION OF CHAMBERSBURG

Burnt by order of General Early, July 30, 1864.]




THE BURNING OF CHAMBERSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

by

REV. B. SCHNECK., D. D.,

An Eye-Witness and a Sufferer.

With Corroborative Statements from the
Rev. J. Clark, Hon. A. K. Mcclure, J. Hoke, Esq., Rev. T. G. Apple,
Rev. B. Bausman, Rev. S. J. Niccolls, and J. K. Shryock, Esq.

In Letters to a Friend.

Second Edition, Revised and Improved,
With a Plan of the Burnt Portion of the Town.







Philadelphia:
Lindsay & Blakiston.
1864.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by
Lindsay & Blakiston,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Stereotyped by J. Fagan & Son.

Printed by Sherman & Co.




PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

The first edition of this work having been exhausted in a single month, my
worthy and enterprising publishers have encouraged the preparation of a
second without delay.

It is hardly necessary to say, that the first edition was prepared under
exceedingly unfavorable circumstances. Mind and body were in a state of
exhaustion. For a month, and longer, the hours of each day were so much
taken up with new and exciting cares and duties, as to unfit one in great
measure for either mental or physical effort. Hence the unpretending
little book was ushered into existence with a felt sense of its
deficiencies.

An honest effort at improvement has been made in the present edition. No
small portion of redundant matter has been left out, thus affording room
for various statements which were not at hand before. I may here direct
special attention to the masterly "Vindication of the Border" by Mr.
Apple, the spirited contribution from the facile pen of Mr. Bausman, and
the excellent article by Mr. Shryock. I have with forethought chosen to
introduce other witnesses, besides myself, to testify in regard to the
matter in hand, rather than to have the public rely upon my testimony
only.

The list of names, with the amount of losses by those who owned houses,
were to have been omitted in this edition; but so numerous were the
protests from valued friends against such a course, that it has been
allowed to remain. The space occupied by these details has, however, been
reduced nearly one half, partly by employing smaller type, and partly by
condensing the matter.

The engraving prefixed to the present edition, representing the burnt
portion of the town, will, it is hoped, be acceptable to the reader. A
steel plate engraving of the ruins of the town would have been given, if
any satisfactory representation in so small a compass could have been
furnished. But the judgment of the artist decided against its feasibility,
and in favor of that herewith presented.[1]

B. S. S.

CHAMBERSBURG, Oct. 31st, 1864.




THE BURNING OF CHAMBERSBURG.

LETTER I.


MY DEAR FRIEND:

Your request to give you a succinct and, as far as may be, detailed
account of the terrible calamity with which our town was visited on the
30th day of July, is received. You are pleased to say, that not only my
long residence in the place, but the fact that I had, as on former
occasions, so also during the present one, remained at home, gives me a
right to speak on the subject, without fear of cavil or sneer from those
who are ready, either from ignorance or something worse, to misrepresent
the facts in the case, or apply the ill-timed weapons of ridicule and
sarcasm against statements which have appeared in print.[2] Passing by
your other remarks, which I may be permitted to set down as emanating from
personal partiality, I shall proceed to give you, as perfectly as I can,
and as briefly as the subject will allow, a somewhat detailed account of
the terrible disaster, with an honest endeavor to avoid all special
pleading and overdrawn statements, dealing only in simple matters of fact,
as far as I have been able to gather them, either from personal knowledge
or unquestionable authority.


The Military Situation on the Border.

Before proceeding directly to the narration of the terrible catastrophe,
it may be well to glance at the military situation on our border. This
seems the more necessary from the fact, that a very large portion of the
public prints have been misled into the belief, and consequently have
unwittingly led their readers to believe that, "if the citizens of
Chambersburg had turned out to resist the enemy, the burning and pillage
of the town could have been averted," inasmuch as the rebel force,
according to some statements, was very trifling, "scarcely numbering two
hundred men." You, my dear friend, are laboring under this erroneous
belief yourself. Allow me, therefore, to turn your attention to the
following facts, which are well established, and which can be corroborated
by any amount of evidence.

General Couch, the commander of this military division, had under his
control a company of about one hundred men at Mercersburg, sixteen miles
southwest from here, and a section of a battery of artillery in this
place. This was the entire military force in the Cumberland Valley, under
the control of our military commander, at the time. Several Pennsylvania
regiments which had previously been organized for the defence of the
border, through the efforts of our vigilant Governor, had been summoned
by the General Government to Washington and the Potomac Army. One hundred
men and two small cannon--that was all.

But you ask: "Was not General Averill near enough to have prevented the
rebels from executing their nefarious design upon your town? and, if so,
why did not General Couch inform him of the situation of affairs, and urge
him forward?" The answer is at hand. General Couch _did_ attempt to inform
General Averill in time of the fact that the enemy, with a force about
three thousand strong, had crossed the Potomac west of Williamsport, and
was moving by way of Mercersburg and St. Thomas directly on Chambersburg.
Averill was encamped one mile from Greencastle (ten from Chambersburg) on
Friday night, July 29. The first two messengers with despatches from
General Couch, could not find him. The third messenger succeeded
accidentally in finding him after midnight in a field. Averill only now
discovered that he had been flanked by the enemy, and expressed himself
greatly surprised and chagrined to the messenger at this state of things.
Whether he was to blame, it is not for me to say. It is sufficient for my
purpose just now to know that, beyond two small cannon and one hundred
men, we were _without any military protection_. And could the few hundred
citizens of the place, most of them without firearms, be expected to make
a resistance against such a force, and with six cannon planted on the
hills overlooking the town? To ask the question is to answer it.

In reading over the two preceding paragraphs it occurred to me that the
impression might have been made on your mind, that I wished to find fault
with the General Government for removing from us all military protection
on our border. I have no wish to do so in this letter. I am no military
man, and hence am not so positive in my opinions as many other men, who
are doubtless far more capable of forming a judgment in such matters. I
merely mention the simple facts as they are patent to all who had the best
opportunities of knowing the true state of things. So, too, in regard to
both the Generals named. There is, since the burning of our town, a very
strong feeling of disapprobation in our community and elsewhere against
both, especially against General Couch. I cannot as yet share this
feeling. I know how apt we are, especially when smarting under severe
personal losses or grievances, to look around for some object upon which,
or some person on whom, to lay the blame. For my part, I would rather err
on the side of charity than on the side of unjust fault-finding and
denunciation. I prefer, until better advised, to endorse the views of my
friend Colonel A. K. McClure, himself one of the sufferers, and well
posted in such matters. He says:

"General Averill possibly might have saved Chambersburg, and I know that
General Couch exhausted himself to get Averill to fall back from
Greencastle to this point. I do not say that General Averill is to blame,
for he was under orders from General Hunter, and not subject to General
Couch. He had a large force of the enemy in his front, and until it is
clearly proved to the contrary, I must believe that he did his whole
duty."

These two sentences are guardedly worded. "General Averill _possibly_
might have saved Chambersburg." The enemy, under McCausland, Bradley
Johnson, and Gilmore, let it be recollected, had at least three thousand
cavalry, with artillery at command, eight hundred of the latter being in
town, the rest within supporting distance. Johnson's command occupied the
high eminence one mile west of the town with a battery. No better position
could have been desired. They were flushed at the prospect of plunder and
pillage; their horses were fresh and sleek; their men resolute and
defiant. On the other hand, Averill and his men had been worn out and
jaded by long and heavy marches in Western Virginia for a number of
consecutive weeks. Their horses were run down, and many of them ready to
die, so that two hundred and fifty of these last could not be taken any
farther, but were left here to recruit. It is therefore only _possible_,
scarcely probable, that, even if Averill's force of less than two thousand
five hundred men had been here, a successful resistance could have been
made under these circumstances. But Averill and his men were not here
until several hours after the work of destruction was accomplished, and
the enemy, gloating over his vengeful deeds, was miles away on the Western
Turnpike, towards McConnellsburg.

Judge then, dear sir, how keenly we must feel the unjust reproaches heaped
upon us by professed friends, after our houses are in ruins, our goods
despoiled, and our hearts saddened at every step we take in beholding
continuous squares of desolation in our once beautiful town. And
reproaches _for what_? Because a picket guard of one hundred soldiers and
a small number of citizens did not successfully resist more than three
thousand[3] veteran cavalrymen, with cannon eligibly planted to lay waste
the town without even coming into it. That commanding position once
gained by the enemy, and the town was at his mercy, no matter what force
of cavalry or infantry might have been in Chambersburg.

Reproaches--and from _whom_ and _whence_? From certain newspaper editors
of New York; that same New York, which, with its population of half a
million, could not quell its rabble mob last year, without having a part
of the Potomac Army brought thither to guard some of the very newspaper
offices from which those reproaches upon a helpless town in a neighboring
State are now so unjustly heaped; those identical newspapers which have
ever and anon sent forth paragraphs of bitter invective against
Pennsylvania in general, and Chambersburg in particular, for the "ill
treatment of the New York militia" at the hands of our citizens.[4] New
York is a great State, and counts its noble and good men by hundreds of
thousands; but like every large State with large towns and cities, she
also counts her thousands of depraved creatures in human shape. And I
speak from personal knowledge, for they were quartered for weeks near my
late residence, when I say that of all the soldiers who were in this
community since the commencement of this war, none have left behind them
such a bad moral odor as have many of these men. Drunkenness, wanton
destruction of property, thieving, fighting and stabbing each other, (in
some cases to death outright,) were frequent occurrences. And yet such men
are not only allowed to vilify and abuse the people whom their misconduct
has outraged, but certain New York sheets take up their cause and pour
forth wormwood and gall upon the town, the community, and the State. Let a
virtuous public pronounce its verdict.

Let me illustrate what kind of "defenders" these two regiments of New York
militia were. On their arrival in the town, and whilst marching through it
on their way