Dillsburg Invaded!

Dillsburg Invaded!. Confederates Came Calling in 1863. Baltimore Street, just behind you, saw frequent Confederate cavalry traffic during four days at the end of June and beginning of July 1863. At that time, Dillsburg sat in the path of an invading army. On June 28 a Confederate cavalry patrol under Maj. James Nounnan peeled off from Gen. Richard Ewell's Second Corp advance on Harrisburg and road through Dillsburg. The patrol relieved area inhabitants of horses and provisions. Nounnan's troopers camped in Dillsburg for the night before they rode off to rejoin the Second Corps., The townspeople had little time to celebrate Nounnan's departure., On July 1, Gen. Jeb Stuart's Confederate cavalry brigades commanded by Fitzhugh Lee, John Chambliss, and Wade Hampton, made their way through Dillsburg on Baltimore Street during Stuart's controversial Pennsylvania Campaign raid. The horsesmen stopped here at Dills Tavern to refresh their mounts., Two of those brigades continued towards Carlisle, but Hampton's brigade camped in an apple orchard just north of town. In the ensuing hours, a courier alerted Stuart that his men were needed in Gettysburg, where a pivotal battle had already begun., (captions) , Downtown Dillsburg as it appeared when Southern cavalry passed through the town. Jeb Stuart's troopers ransacked the post office. All images courtesy Northern York County Historical and Preservation Society, Dills Tavern in the 19th century. During the Civil War, Frederick Welty and his son, Levi, occupied the building as a private resident. Local legend has it that Levi met Maj. Nounnan's patrol outside of town on June 28, and slowed the Confederate advance by convincing them Union forces were nearby, allowing some residents to flee. The Northern York County Historical and Preservation Society has restored the tavern.