Cumberland Township near Gettysburg in Adams County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
A Farm Transformed by War
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, July 17, 2014
1. A Farm Transformed by War Marker
The barnyard and fields in front of you filled with wounded men and medical supplies in the days and weeks after the battle. Pvt. Justus Silliman, 17th Connecticut Infantry, wrote “All the hospital tents have been put up and are filled, the barn is also crowded and hundreds of shelter tents occupied, yet the wounded are so numerous that some have yet to lie out in the open air.” At the center of the hospital was the Spangler’s barn, with the operating tables under the eaves of the barn to your left. Arriving at the hospital after the battle, Maj. Gen. Carl Schurz of the Eleventh Corps saw firsthand the true cost of war.
“ … the surgeons, their sleeves rolled up … their bare arms as well as their linen aprons smeared with blood … around them pools of blood and amputated arms or legs in heaps.”
Maj. Gen. Carl Schurz
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Science & Medicine • War, US Civil. A significant historical month for this entry is July 1863.
Location. 39° 48.088′ N, 77° 13.26′ W. Marker is near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in Adams County. It is in Cumberland Township. Marker can be reached from Blacksmith Shop Road, on the right when traveling
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. The Trademark of Craftsmen (a few steps from this marker); A Hospital Under Fire (a few steps from this marker); Well, Look What We Found! (within shouting distance of this marker); Armistead Death Site (within shouting distance of this marker); A Temporary Resting Place (within shouting distance of this marker); A Family Who Would Not Leave Their Home (within shouting distance of this marker); Food Preservation of the Past (within shouting distance of this marker); The George Spangler Farm Civil War Hospital Site (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Gettysburg.
More about this marker. Portraits of Maj. Gen. Carl Schurz and Pvt. Justus Silliman appear on the marker.
Also see . . .
1. Civil War Journal - The George Spangler Farm. Gettysburg Magazine. (Submitted on November 14, 2014, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.)
2. George Spangler Farm. . Gettysburg Foundation website. (Submitted on November 14, 2014, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.)
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, July 17, 2014
2. A Farm Transformed by War Marker
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, July 17, 2014
3. Marker at the George Spangler Farm
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, July 17, 2014
4. George Spangler Barn
The marker can be seen at the left end of the barn.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, July 17, 2014
5. Inside the Spangler Barn
Doctors tended to patients in this barn on tables such as this one.
Photographed By Bill Coughlin, June 7, 2013
6. Civil War Doctor at the Spangler Farm
Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on November 14, 2014, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey. This page has been viewed 523 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on November 14, 2014, by Bill Coughlin of Woodland Park, New Jersey.
