Union Bridge in Carroll County, Maryland — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Union Bridge
Reynolds’ Last Journey
— Gettysburg Campaign —
Photographed By William Pfingsten, October 14, 2007
1. Union Bridge * * * Reynolds' Last Journey Marker
Inscription.
Union Bridge. Reynolds’ Last Journey. Union Gen. John F. Reynolds was killed at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863 while directing his command along the Chambersburg Turnpike in the early fighting. His body was carried to a house in town. Orderlies searched for a coffin but found only a too short marble-cutters box. One end was knocked out and the body laid in, and an ambulance carried it to Union Bridge, where the Western Maryland Railroad shops were established in 1862. At undertaker John Forney’s shop at 15 West Broadway, John Hollenberger, a pattern maker for the railroad, built a coffin. The remains were packed in ice and placed aboard a train bound through Westminster to Baltimore, then routed to Philadelphia and finally Lancaster, Reynolds' home town. , At Westminster, the main supply depot for the Union army at Gettysburg, the car carrying Reynolds’ body stalled in the heavy military traffic. Gen. Herman Haupt, a fellow Pennsylvanian and chief of U. S. military railroads, arranged for the car to pass through to Baltimore unimpeded. Reynolds was interred in Lancaster Cemetery on July 4., After the battle, thousands of wounded soldiers followed Reynolds’ route through Union Bridge to Baltimore on the Western Maryland Railroad. Railroad timetables to this day still identify the tracks just southeast of the station as the “Hospital Tracks” of July 1863.
Union Gen. John F. Reynolds was killed at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863 while directing his command along the Chambersburg Turnpike in the early fighting. His body was carried to a house in town. Orderlies searched for a coffin but found only a too short marble-cutters box. One end was knocked out and the body laid in, and an ambulance carried it to Union Bridge, where the Western Maryland Railroad shops were established in 1862. At undertaker John Forney’s shop at 15 West Broadway, John Hollenberger, a pattern maker for the railroad, built a coffin. The remains were packed in ice and placed aboard a train bound through Westminster to Baltimore, then routed to Philadelphia and finally Lancaster, Reynolds' home town.
At Westminster, the main supply depot for the Union army at Gettysburg, the car carrying Reynolds’ body stalled in the heavy military traffic. Gen. Herman Haupt, a fellow Pennsylvanian and chief of U. S. military railroads, arranged for the car to pass through to Baltimore unimpeded. Reynolds was interred in Lancaster Cemetery on July 4.
After the battle, thousands of wounded soldiers followed Reynolds’ route through Union Bridge to Baltimore on the Western Maryland Railroad. Railroad timetables to this day still identify the tracks just southeast of the station as the “Hospital Tracks” of July 1863.
Location. 39° 34.237′ N, 77° 10.622′ W. Marker is in Union Bridge, Maryland, in Carroll County. Marker is on Main Street, on the left when traveling north. Marker is at Western Maryland Railroad Museum. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Union Bridge MD 21791, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Additional commentary. 1. Gen Reynolds 1 lived at that house for most of my childhood.
Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., November 21, 2015
2. Union Bridge - Reynolds’ Last Journey Marker
Looking south along Main Street
Curiously paranormal. Note To Editor only visible by Contributor and editor
— Submitted January 14, 2024, by Susan Gray of Auburn, California.
Photographed By William Pfingsten, October 14, 2007
3. Western Maryland Railroad Station
Library of Congress
4. Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds
Photomechanical print by Max Rosenthal 1897 copyrighted and Published by H. T. Coates & Co. 1898.
Library of Congress
5. Death of Reynolds, Gettysburg
by Alfred R. Waud, July 3, 1863.
Credits. This page was last revised on March 9, 2024. It was originally submitted on October 16, 2007, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. This page has been viewed 2,569 times since then and 64 times this year. Last updated on July 8, 2022, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos:1. submitted on October 16, 2007, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. 2. submitted on December 7, 2015, by William Fischer, Jr. of Scranton, Pennsylvania. 3. submitted on October 16, 2007, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. 4, 5. submitted on November 15, 2020, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.