Side Trips While In Gettysburg

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​Cashtown (@ 9 miles west of Gettysburg along Old Route 30) – While the town is extremely small, the Cashtown Inn, which functioned as Confederate General A. P. Hill's headquarters from June 29 through the morning of July 1, is worth visiting if only to have a delicious lunch or dinner. The inn is also a Bed & Breakfast. For more information, visit http://www.cashtowninn.com.
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​Located roughly 100 yards east of the Cashtown Inn, on the north side of Old Route 30, is the store (shown in the photo below) where the hat was "requisitioned" for General Henry Heth which ironically helped save his life during the fighting on July 1. It is now part of the Rock Top Book Shop and Bindery.


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Fairfield (@ 8 miles west of Gettysburg on Rt 116) – Another minor cavalry action which occurred during the Battle of Gettysburg was the skirmish early on the afternoon of July 3 near Fairfield approximately 2.5 miles north on the Fairfield-Orrtanna Road. While the Rebel cavalry was successful in driving off Union cavalry, this did not affect the overall outcome of the battle, but it did allow the Confederates to secure control of the Hagerstown Road, a potential route of retreat that soon would be needed for that very purpose. A trip to Fairfield may be worthwhile, if only to have lunch or dinner at the Fairfield Inn, reported to be one of only five inns in the country that has been in continuous operation since the 1700's.

(marker along the Fairfield-Orrtanna Road looking north toward the Benjamin Marshall house)
(marker at the Benjamin Marshall House on the west side of the Fairfield-Orrtanna Road)

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Frederick, like Emmitsburg and Union Mills, is another location in Maryland worth visiting. Located about 37 miles south of Gettysburg along Route 15 (the Baltimore Pike), Frederick is where General George Meade was ordered (not asked) to take command of the Army of the Potomac at roughly 4:00 A.M. on the morning of June 28, 1863. In addition to the two wayside markers and the plaques on the large boulder, it is interesting to note that the large boulder was taken from the area around Devil’s Den.

The boulder and two wayside markers are located on the west side of Frederick on the northeast corner of the intersection of Himes Avenue and Mansion Drive off of Route 15 and Route 180. For more detailed information on this location and how General Meade took command of the Army of the Potomac, go to https://www.gettysburgdaily.com/meade-receives-command-of-the-army-of-the-potomac-gettysburg-lbg-jim-hueting.

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Hanover (@ 17 miles east of Gettysburg) – The skirmish on June 30, 1863 in Hanover between Union cavalry under the command of General Judson Kilpatrick and Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry resulted in a stand-off, and forced Stuart to head to the east instead of west, which caused a further delay in his efforts to link up with the main body of the Confederate forces. There is a self-guided tour (with 33 wayside markers).


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Hanover Junction (@ 32 miles east of Gettysburg in the heart of southern York County PA) – Hanover Junction played a strategic role during the Civil War as a vital railroad junction of the Northern Central Railroad and the Hanover Branch Railroad and as an important telegraph station for communications between Washington, D.C. and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Colonel Elijah V. White’s 35th Battalion Virginia Cavalry (known as "White’s Comanches") occupied Hanover Junction on June 27, 1863 while burning railroad equipment and many nearby bridges. After the Battle of Gettysburg, many of the wounded came through Hanover Junction on trains taking them to hospitals in larger cities such as York, Pennsylvania and Baltimore,  Maryland.       


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Hunterstown (@ 6 miles northeast of Gettysburg) – The relatively minor cavalry action here on the afternoon of July 2 nevertheless had serious ramifications involving the Confederate attack on Culp's Hill later that day. On July 2, 2008, there was a monument dedication ceremony by the Hunterstown Historical Society honoring the Union cavalry and General Custer's involvement during the action. The monument is located on the southeast corner of the "T" intersection of Hunterstown Road and Shrivers Corner Road (Route 394) and approximately 200 yards west of the square in Hunterstown.


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Union Mills, like Emmitsburg, is another location in Maryland worth visiting. Located about 17 miles south of Gettysburg along Route 97 (the Baltimore Pike), the Shriver family homestead was the location where General J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry camped on July 29, and after they left the next morning, General James Barnes’ First Division of the Union V Corps bivouacked there. The house, which was used as a headquarters, contains 12 rooms of original antiques and there is also a working grist mill that was built in 1797. Reenactments and other “Living History” events are also held. For more information, go to www.unionmills.org.

For more information and other interesting side-trips, go to https://battleofgettysburgbuff.com/Side_Trips.htm.