The Black Horse Tavern may have been Gettysburg’s most popular watering hole. On July 2, it saw massive troop movements and then became the temporary resting place of 33 Confederate dead.

A local newspaper called Ed McPherson a gentleman! Scholar! Orator! Of course, he owned the newspaper, which helped propel him into public office. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/04/16/e...

In 2002, Elizabeth Thorn was immortalized with a statue that paid tribute to her and those like her who suffered and sacrificed on the home front. Here is her story. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/03/24/e...

Aunt Polly Culp was a well-known and loved figure around town. In her eighties, she had to become a Civil War nurse. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/03/14/a...

David Culp was Wesley and William’s first cousin. At the Battle of Second Winchester, David was captured and brought face to face with his cousin. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/03/03/d...

When Wesley Culp joined the Stonewall Brigade, he put himself on a collision course with his friends, cousins, and brother William. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/03/01/w...

William H. Bedford died quietly in the Adams County Almshouse in his sixties. At just 18 years old, he was wounded in action in the ferocious fighting at The Battle of the Crater. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/02/23/t...

Eliza Armstrong died quietly at approximately 100 years old in the Adams County Almshouse. Who was she? gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/02/19/t...

Private William Burley is a man that history has all but erased. Sadly, there are hundreds of thousands more like him. #BlackHistoryMonth gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/02/17/t...

Joseph Craig’s short life saw extreme ups and downs: a large family, poverty, combat and a severe wound, a criminal conviction, and some moments of true heroism. #BlackHistoryMonth gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/02/10/e...

Born into slavery on the Gorsuch plantation in Baltimore, Owen Robinson was renowned in Gettysburg for his large family, fresh oysters, and ice cream. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/02/07/o...

Francis Jacobs joined the USCT at age 50. He had whip scars on his back and stiff arthritic fingers but fought anyway. Why? Allegedly, he was born free in western PA. But was he really born free? #BlackHistoryMonth gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/02/05/f...

The oldest family in Gettysburg is the Stanton family, and Harriet Ciata Stanton was their rock. #BlackHistoryMonth gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/02/04/h...

As we continue #BlackHistoryMonth, meet Lloyd Francis Asbury Watts, USCT veteran, ordained deacon, and pioneer of education in Gettysburg. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/02/03/l...

Black history in Gettysburg is often told reductively with a focus on Basil Biggs, the Underground Railroad, the National Cemetery, and the Lincoln Cemetery. We kick off Black History Month with a hero you’ve never heard of with more to follow. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/02/02/e...

For Black History Month, I will post a daily primary source about a Black resident of 18th-century Massachusetts. 1. Miss Betty Cooper, who was considered male by her enslavers, but was “well known” enough that they did not publish any physical description when she self-emancipated in 1771.

Julia Eyster Jacobs and her daughter Mary Julia were powerful women from compelling families who sacrificed greatly for their faith. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/31/j...

Fifty-one years old when he was mortally wounded on the Rose farm, Private Samuel Cox was no ordinary enlisted man. In fact, he might have been the walking embodiment of “the cause.” gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/30/t...

Like his father, Reverend Henry Jacobs was a keen observer and writer, able to contextualize the small within the giant changes of the day. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/29/m...

He was far more than a man interested in weather—Michael Jacobs was a theologian, teacher, mathematician, and author of the first book about The Battle of Gettysburg. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/28/d...

Dr. Michael Jacobs went down in history for recording the weather conditions before, during, and after The Battle of Gettysburg. Without his older brother, he probably never goes to Gettysburg in the first place. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/27/w...

They descended from patriots who fought in the Revolution and the War of 1812. Their father was active in state politics, and they grew up on a prosperous farm in Alabama. Twins James and John did everything together, including enlist. At Culp’s Hill, they parted ways forever.

Hailed later in life as a “founding” Gettysburg settler, Dr. J. Lawrence Hill was a prominent dentist, temperance supporter, and county education board member. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/23/t...

Keziah Kuff lived through the Battle then seemed to live almost forever … thanks to chewing tobacco, according to her! But was her story true? gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/21/t...

In the end, Ms. Short had nothing left: not even her sanity. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/20/t...

James Green was hung for murder and buried in the Alms House Cemetery. Is his body still there? Probably not. In fact, it may not have made it through the night. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/19/j...

Hard to imagine that you live a tough life, pass away quietly, and the local newspaper does you like this. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/18/t...

Basil Biggs and Edward Mathews cooperated on the Underground Railroad. Their children married and kept up the work. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/17/t...

His home is near the center of Pickett’s Charge, and NPS signs give you some of his life. But there is much more to Abraham Brian. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/16/t...

Just a friendly reminder from history: if you believe the natural consequences of what the nation voted for will change people’s minds quickly, remember that 160 years later, the candidate for Sec Def wants to change base names back to Confederate generals. Because “tradition.”

Sergeant Major David Huff might be the prototypical man fighting for the South’s—son of a cotton merchant, sibling among five in a household with three enslaved women. At war’s end, he and his two brothers were dead. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/15/t...

A human and tragicomic sidebar to the story of Mark Kerns—he was asked to speak at his college commencement in 1855, and then multiple newspapers panned his speech! He managed to become a highly competent artillerist, even so. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/14/2...

Within two weeks in the summer of 1863, childhood friends Jennie Wade, Jack Skelly, and Wesley Culp were all killed. How did they get to that point? To borrow a phrase, it was the economy, stupid. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/13/h...

If you believe her obituary, the three weeks when her farm was a field hospital were the signal moments of her life. But Sarah Plank was a widely regarded woman of Adams County, a wife, and mother of twelve children. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2025/01/12/s...

You may have heard of Mag Palm, her role in the Underground Railroad, her ferocity in fighting off slave catchers. But do you really know her?

Death in war is terrible. Death in war by accident might be worse.

In the center of an old neighborhood in west Gettysburg is a mostly bare plot of land enclosed by a chain link fence. A handful of worn headstones stand out. That plot is a legacy of Basil Biggs, the man who helped create the National Cemetery. The story of cemeteries for black soldiers is messy.

After the war, exhausted people just wanted to move on. People hoped some stories would go away forever. Here is one of those:

The most untold stories of Gettysburg are of those who were captured and sent South into slavery as well as those who escaped slavery and joined the fight. Here is one of the latter.

His unit lost 2/3 of its men on the Rose farm. The war made casualties of 2/3 of the Pittman brothers pictured together before the war. Jesse Pittman was one … and didn’t make it home.

If you are marking January 6 for obvious reasons, here’s your friendly reminder from history that Confederate General Jubal Early, who fought at Gettysburg, was the main proponent of the Lost Cause,

Stories of the missing abound at Gettysburg. It’s possible we’ve found Jacob Herndon of the Texas Brigade, and it may be that his family found him too.

What the world needs today are books, a TV series, and documentaries about Basil and Mary Biggs—leaders on the Underground Railroad, supporters of the USCT, co-founders of the Lincoln Cemetery.

James Samuel Noble was just 13 when he went with his brother, Dallas, to enlist in the 3rd Arkansas. Dallas made it home—James did not.

Somehow, James Godman makes list after list of Confederate dead at Gettysburg … despite being a black enslaved teamster. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2024/10/21/j...

Meet Blind Davey. Yeah, blinded in a railroad accident. Ran a souvenir stand near the Round Tops and sat out on his porch with his gun. You know, just in case he heard something shady. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com/2024/10/13/b...

Why did Lincoln agree to go to Gettysburg in 1863? Like today, the state was closely contested and Gettysburg was divided. Here, I post about the people and soldiers of Gettysburg—stories you’ve mostly never heard … and give insight for today. gettysburgciviliannetwork.com