Tag: Civil War Civilians

Widow of Gettysburg I find it quite interesting that the commanders-in-chief of the armies at Gettysburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee and Union General George Gordon Meade, chose the homes of widows as their headquarters during the battle. Lee’s Headquarters House On July 1, 1863, General Robert E. Lee established his personal headquarters at a stone house on the Chambersburg Pike, just outside of town. The house was owned by Thaddeus Stevens, a Pennsylvania congressman and statesman. Lee’s staff chose that house not only because of this close proximity to the center of the Confederate line, but also because the house’s thick walls afforded the General some physical protection from artillery shells. Lee’s headquarters tents were set up in an…

The McAllister sisters, Mary and Martha, were daughters of Daniel and Mary McCullough McAllister. Daniel’s brother James was a farmer and miller, whose anti-slavery sentiments were known in the region. In fact, McAllister’s Mills, near the dam on Rock Creek, were stations on the Underground Railroad, where escaped slaves took refuge on their way to freedom. The home of John and Martha Scott and Martha’s sister Mary McAllister on Chambersburg Street, directly across from the Lutheran Church. Mary volunteered as a nurse at the church, which was being used as a hospital. At the time of the Battle of Gettysburg, the McAllister sisters lived in the store at 41 Chambersburg Street that was run by Martha’s husband, John Scott. On…