The Aftermath & Stench of Death

The Aftermath and Stench of Death. A Heart of Hanover Trail Stop. , You are looking at the Reformed Cemetery, one of Hanover's oldest graveyards. During the Battle of Hanover on June 30, 1863, at least 39 men were killed , two Union officers, 17 enlisted men, and about 20 Confederate soldiers. The number of casualties (killed, wounded, and missing) totaled about 343. Likely, several more died from injuries in days after the battle, making the total killed over 40. , Known Union dead were reinterred at the Gettysburg National Cemetery, while Confederate dead were sent south via rail for burials. , The evening of the battle, citizens carried Union bodies to nearby J.P. Flickinger's foundry on Foundry Alley, at the current Trinity United Church of Christ, behind where you stand. The foundry served as a makeshift morgue. Next door, also behind you, was Marion Hall, which served as a field hospital during the Battles of Hanover and Gettysburg. , By 9 p.m., all dead were placed in caskets ordered by Henry Wirt, a leading town citizen. Rev. W. K. Zieber of Emmanuel Reformed Church performed ceremonies for the deceased at the Reformed Cemetery, which you face. While most were buried here, two are interred in nearby St. Matthew Lutheran Church Cemetery. , York County produced more than 6,200 soldiers in the Civil War. While no final tally is possible, the number of county men who died from war wounds and disease was as high as 900. Hanover's Mount Olivet Cemetery alone has at least 235 Union graves. , During the Civil War, although a precise figure is unknown, somewhere between 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers died. That range represents two percent of the nation's total population both North and South , of 31 million people in 1860. , In the nearby Battle of Gettysburg, the war's bloodiest battle, about 7,000 died during the battle and another 30,000-plus died as a result of injuries. Total casualties (killed, wounded and missing) climbed over 51,000 , over 23,000 for the Union and over 28,000 for the Confederacy. , Of the total number of soldiers who died in the Civil War, many more died due to disease and injuries than on fields of battle. , Lesser known is the war's massive slaughter of equines , horses, mules, and donkeys. One estimate is up to 1.5 million equines died as a result of the Civil War. , In the Battle of Gettysburg, about 1,500 equines were killed. Add in 7,000 fallen soldiers and thousands more from wounds, the stench of death and injury permeated Gettysburg and drifted for miles the days following the battle. , Hanover’s One-of-a-kind Photo , The only known image of a Gettysburg Campaign grave-raising. , Photographer Peter S. Weaver, who operated a studio on Baltimore Street, recorded this view on February 6, 1864. The man holding the notebook is Samuel Weaver, Peter's father. Father Samuel supervised the process exhuming the remains of all Union soldiers fallen during the Battles of Gettysburg and Hanover. He said that he was present for each exhumation, in which workers used long metal hooks to pull decomposed bodies from graves. Corpses, then, were reburied in Gettysburg National Cemetery. , Historians surmise that the Black man in the vest and white long-sleeved shirt near Samuel Weaver on the right-hand side is former enslaved Marylander Basil Biggs, a veterinarian, Underground Railroad conductor, and disinterment specialist. , To explore more about York County's role in the Gettysburg Campaign, visit the York History Center: https://www.yorkhistorycenter.org . This historical marker was erected in 2022 by Main Street Hanover; and Heart of Hanover Trails. It is in Hanover in York County Pennsylvania