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The Littlestown Civil War Trail Marker
The Littlestown Civil War Trail Marker was dedicated on April 13, 2010. It is located near the Littlestown Welcome Center, the home of the Littlestown Chamber of Commerce and the Littlestown Historical Society. Though the clouds were dripping rain, the spirits of those who came out to be a part of this historic occasion were not dampened. A crowd of over 80 people gathered for the dedication ceremony. Pictures of the event as well as the program for the ceremony are located at the bottom of this page . Articles about the dedication can be viewed in the Gettysburg Times and the Hanover Evening Sun.
The Civil War Trails program includes maps, directional signs and wayside markers to orient travelers through Civil War sites, many of them not otherwise interpreted. On average, more than 2,000 map-guides are downloaded weekly from the program’s website.
The first two signs in Adams County were installed in Gettysburg a year ago with the help of the Gettysburg Convention & Visitors Bureau, who provided 50 percent of the funding needed to install and maintain the signs. In Littlestown, the Chamber of Commerce provided the remaining 50 percent of the funding. A donation for the marker was also made by Mr. and Mrs. Phil Peters.
Littlestown and the Civil War
June 26, 1863 – just days before the Battle of Gettysburg – a band of Confederates entered Littlestown in advance of Gen. Jubal Early’s division. Three days after that, a division of Union cavalry camped around Littlestown. Both Gen. Judson Kilpatrick and Gen. George Custer lodged at the Barker House, located along West King Street in Littlestown.
It was the word of Union cavalry in Littlestown that eventually led to the Battle of Hanover.
Leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg, nearly 30,000 union soldiers passed through Littlestown on the way to Gettysburg. After the battle, hundreds of wounded soldiers were brought to Littlestown where they were placed on railroad cars. Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, who lost his leg at Little Round Top, was among those wounded soldiers.
Trail Marker Text
“Fair ladies . . . long live in peace, prosperity and happiness”
Located a short distance south of Gettysburg and on the route of advance for elements of the Army of the Potomac as it searched for the Confederate army, Littlestown was affected by events just before and after the great battle. The advance of Union Gen. H. Judson Kilpatrick’s cavalry division, almost 4,000 strong, arrived here late on the evening of June 29, 1963. Kilpatrick and at least one brigade commander, Gen. George Armstrong Custer, likely lodged at the Union Hotel (Barker House) on the northwestern corner of the square. The Federals did not know it, but Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry corps was just six miles south of here at Union Mills, Maryland. The following day, the two forces collided in the streets of Hanover, Pennsylvania.
The advancement of the Union XII Corps camped the night of June 20 in the fields east of town, and on July 2, the VI Corps marched through. Altogether, some 20,000 Federals passed through Littlestown on their way to Gettysburg, and the 700 residents welcomed them with songs, cheers, and food. Although historians frequently mention such displays only in passing, the soldiers reported their effect on the army’s morale.
We shall all ever remember the enthusiasm of the loyal men and women of this little Pennsylvania town, and how with patriotic songs and cheers, they entertained us and fed us. . . The cheers and hurrahs of fair maidens and gray-haired patriots gave the contest a new meaning, the full effect of which was never fully known and felt until the smoke of battle lifted from the field of Gettysburg and hovered over the victorious Union army. – Soldier, 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry
About fifty young ladies had assembled at the Union Hotel and as we entered the place sweet singing greeted our ears & made glad our hearts, The “Red, White, & Blue,” “Star Spangled Banner” & etc. were sung with great enthusiasm, the chorus being joined in by hundreds of weary soldiers. May the fair ladies and good people of Littlestown long live in peace, prosperity and happiness. – Pvt. Charles H. Blinn, 1st Vermont Cavalary
