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Hanover in York County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

Search and Destroy, Hide and Seek

A Heart of Hanover Trail Stop

— Heart of Hanover Trails —

 
 
Search and Destroy, Hide and Seek Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 2, 2022
1. Search and Destroy, Hide and Seek Marker
Inscription.
On June 27, 1863, three days before the Battle of Hanover, Confederate Lt. Col. Elijah White's 35th Virginia Battalion of about 260 men was on a mission: search for and destroy Pennsylvania railroad bridges and telegraph lines.

In the 1860s, rail was the fastest form of transportation, and telegraphs were the fastest form of communication. Wreaking havoc on both would severely hurt the Union's ability to communicate and transport supplies.

To your right, 233 Frederick Street was the residence of Daniel Trone (died in 1882), who had served as telegraph operator of the Hanover Railroad since 1860. In many towns like Hanover, rail depots also were telegraph headquarters. Hanover's was on present-day Railroad Street behind the present location of the Abraham Lincoln plaque.

As White's men rumbled into town on June 27 to create chaos and re-supply, Trone, peering out a rail depot window, played hide and seek. Trone detached his telegraph instruments, carried them upstairs to an attic, and hid them under the floor.

As Confederates raided the depot, Trone and a fellow employee escaped. Trone then fled to Baltimore where, on June 30, the day of the Battle of Hanover, he wrote his boss, A.W. Eichelberger, President of the Hanover Branch Railroad:
"...I saw about a dozen rebels
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after Abdiel Gitt and another man who I did not recognize coming as hard as they could ride up the alley… The Rebels were about 40 yards behind and they shot at least a dozen times after them while going across the commons in the rear of the warehouse and up towards the Abbottstown Pike… As soon as I saw them coming I pulled up my instruments and ran up in the garret of the [railroad] warehouse and hid them under the floor."


Days later, after Trone returned to town, he telegraphed news of the Battle of Gettysburg to major northern cities. Among other newspapers, The New York Tribune and The New York Herald relied on Trone to tell the world the decisive results.

Union Exploits on Frederick Street
During the Battle of Hanover on June 30, fragments of several Union and Confederate cavalry regiments fought a running battle as they thundered on horseback past this point. Other Confederate bands retreated down intersecting alleys and streets, weakening the Confederate defense.

Besides Major John Hammond, other officers of the Union 5th New York Cavalry Regiment demonstrated bravery. Major Amos White and Adjutant Alexander Gall galloped into the thick of the fighting as the New Yorkers gave chase to the Confederates past these houses.

Near here, a bullet pierced Gall's left eye. He fell from
Marker detail: Hanover Branch Railroad Depot image. Click for full size.
2. Marker detail: Hanover Branch Railroad Depot
Hanover Branch Railroad depot and telegraph headquarters where Daniel Trone worked (1863). This photo also shows engine, tender and car on main track. From Prelude to Gettysburg: Encounter at Hanover (1962).
his horse, instantly killed. Continuing the charge, Major White received a severe bullet wound from which he eventually recovered.

(sidebar)
What is a Telegraph?
A telegraph is an apparatus, system, or process for transmitting messages or signals to a distant place, especially by means of an electric device consisting of a sending instrument and a distant receiving instrument connected by a conducting wire.

Telegraph key that Daniel E. Trone used during the Civil War to tap out the first messages concerning the battle of Gettysburg from his office in Hanover, Pennsylvania. The old key is now in the collection of the Guthrie Memorial Library in Hanover.
 
Erected by Main Street Hanover.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: CommunicationsPatriots & PatriotismRailroads & StreetcarsWar, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Pennsylvania, Battle of Hanover Walking Tour series list. A significant historical date for this entry is June 27, 1863.
 
Location. 39° 47.907′ N, 76° 59.196′ W. Marker is in Hanover, Pennsylvania, in York County. Marker is on Frederick Street (Pennsylvania Route 194) just east of Stoner Avenue, on the left when traveling east. Marker is located along the sidewalk,
Marker detail: Hanover citizen and telegraph operator Daniel Trone image. Click for full size.
Courtesy Guthrie Memorial Library
3. Marker detail: Hanover citizen and telegraph operator Daniel Trone
directly in front of the Daniel Trone residence. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 233 Frederick Street, Hanover PA 17331, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. The Winebrenner House (within shouting distance of this marker); Fisher Place (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); George Nace (Neas) House (about 700 feet away); Hospitality Before Hostility (about 700 feet away); The Hanover Spectator Covers the Battle (about 800 feet away); Trailblazing Writers Leader, Long, and Prowell (approx. 0.2 miles away); Birthplace of John Luther Long (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Hanover Theater (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Hanover.
 
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. Heart of Hanover Trail
 
Also see . . .
1. The telegraph comes to Hanover, Pa.
The photo shows the key to the original telegraph instrument used by Hanover resident Daniel Trone to send the first report of the Battle of Gettysburg to the outside world. Newspaper correspondent Homer Byington wrote the message and Trone tapped it out and sent it to New York City.
(Submitted on May 3, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 

2. Battle of Hanover.
The town had been raided three days before
Marker detail: Captain A.W. Eichelberger, (1819-1901), President of the Hanover Branch Railroad image. Click for full size.
4. Marker detail: Captain A.W. Eichelberger, (1819-1901), President of the Hanover Branch Railroad
by Confederate Lt. Col. Elijah V. White's cavalry, attached to Maj. Gen. Jubal Early's division that had occupied York County. White's Virginians and Marylanders had followed the railroad to Hanover from nearby Gettysburg, and taken horses, food, supplies, clothing, shoes, and other desired items from the townspeople, often paying with valueless Confederate money or drafts on the Confederate government. White's raiders had destroyed the area's telegraph wires, cutting off communications with the outside world, before sacking the nearby Hanover Junction train station.
(Submitted on May 3, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 

3. Main Street Hanover. (Submitted on May 7, 2022.)
4. Explore York. (Submitted on May 7, 2022.)
 
Marker detail: Confederate Lt. Col. Elijah V. White image. Click for full size.
5. Marker detail: Confederate Lt. Col. Elijah V. White
Marker detail: Union Major Amos H. White image. Click for full size.
Courtesy New York State Library
6. Marker detail: Union Major Amos H. White
Search and Destroy, Hide and Seek Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, May 2, 2022
7. Search and Destroy, Hide and Seek Marker
(Daniel Trone residence on right)
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on May 26, 2022. It was originally submitted on May 2, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 330 times since then and 11 times this year. Last updated on May 7, 2022, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos:   1. submitted on May 2, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.   2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on May 3, 2022, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 29, 2024