Our campaign around Gettysburg: Being a memorial of what was endured, suffered and accomplished by the Twenty-third regiment (N. Y. S. N. G.) and other regiments associated with them, in their Pennsylvania and Maryland campaign, during the second rebel invasion of the loyal states in June-July, 1863

In Short

This narrative recounts the thirty-day emergency deployment of the Twenty-Third Regiment of the New York State National Guard during Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania in the summer of 1863. Called from their civilian lives, these citizen-soldiers build earthworks at Harrisburg, endure brutal mud marches through Maryland, and merge with the Army of the Potomac in the wake of Gettysburg. Though kept on the fringes of the main slaughter, they face extreme exhaustion, hunger, and dangerous storms. The book endures as an intimate, unvarnished portrait of ordinary volunteers grappling with the physical realities and anxieties of Civil War campaigning.

The Story

In June 1863, emergency calls from President Lincoln and the governors of Pennsylvania and New York summon the Twenty-Third Regiment of the New York State National Guard to depart Brooklyn for the border. Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee are advancing into free territory, threatening Harrisburg and surrounding regions. Upon arriving in Pennsylvania, the newly minted soldiers are stationed at Fort Washington near Harrisburg. There they pitch tents, adapt to camp routines, improvise domestic comforts, and construct defensive breastworks out of slaty clay, all while enduring a tense atmosphere filled with wild rumors and the distant thunder of artillery.

As Lee’s forces probe the defenses, small detachments engage in light skirmishing at advance posts like Oyster Point. Soon, the regiment receives orders to move south toward the ongoing struggle at Gettysburg. What follows is a grueling, circuitous march through mountainous terrain and heavy summer rainstorms. The men trudge along muddy turnpikes, cross swollen streams carrying away abandoned knapsacks, and subsist on scarce hardtack, green cherries, and whatever provisions company foragers pick up from local farmhouses. Along the way, they meet paroled Union prisoners coming off the battlefield, who bring the first direct news of the ferocious fighting nearby.

Though the Twenty-Third does not participate directly in the main slaughter at Gettysburg, they are attached to Major-General Sedgwick’s Sixth Corps in the aftermath. Incorporated into the veteran Army of the Potomac, the militia officers and men learn to navigate the stern realities of field service alongside hardened combat units. The regiment pursues the retreating Confederate forces across southern Pennsylvania and Maryland toward Hagerstown and Beaver Creek, witnessing the grim debris of war—destroyed caissons, dead horses, and heavily trampled fields of ripe grain.

When Lee successfully recrosses the Potomac, the urgent necessity for militia in the field expires, replaced by a new crisis back home: the outbreak of the draft riots in New York City. The regiment is ordered to countermarch toward Frederick, Maryland, completing a desperate twenty-two-mile forced march under full equipment that drives several men to fatal physical collapse. At Monocacy Junction, they board crammed, seatless troop trains to Baltimore and Harrisburg, eventually traveling by rail and steamboat back to New York. Returning to their armory in July, the men step out of the ranks and back into civilian life, forever altered by thirty days of military service.

How It Unfolds

The call to arms News of Lee’s northward invasion prompts an emergency mobilization, driving the New York National Guard to leave families behind and hurry south to protect the border.

Fortifying the heights Encamped at Fort Washington across the river from Harrisburg, the men adjust to the cramped realities of tent life while throwing up earthen defenses made of loose shale.

First contact at the front A three-company picket detachment deploys to Oyster Point, where they skirmish in a cornfield under artillery fire to hold back the enemy's advance elements.

The mountain deluge Marching toward the main theatre of conflict, the regiment gets caught in a violent mountain thunderstorm that turns quiet brooks into raging torrents carrying away baggage.

Meeting the veterans Reaching Waynesboro, the green militia unit merges with the Sixth Corps of the Army of the Potomac, receiving practical advice from battle-tested soldiers who warn them about their gray uniforms.

Shadowing the retreat The regiment presses past Cashtown and Altodale along roads strewn with unexploded shells and ruined caissons, tracking the movements of Lee’s army toward the Potomac River.

The march to Monocacy Ordered home to face new emergencies, the men execute a brutal twenty-five-mile march to Frederick, carrying thirty pounds of gear until exhausted soldiers collapse on arrival.

Homeward bound Packed into rough cattle cars and steamboats, the regiment travels back through Baltimore to New York, landing at the Battery to disband after two weeks of nonstop campaigning.

The People

Colonel William Everdell, Jr. The commander of the Twenty-Third Regiment, Colonel Everdell maintains a watchful, protective eye over his men. He demonstrates constant solicitude on the march, carrying extra burdens for exhausted soldiers, securing rest for the sick, and sharing every discomfort of the open bivouac.

The Militia Volunteer Represented collectively through the author's observations, the individual volunteer is a civilian pitch-forked into military discipline. He alternates between home-sickness—singing plaintive ballads around campfires—and good-humored resilience when cooking raw flapjacks or trudging through waist-deep mud.

The Army of the Potomac Veteran The seasoned combat soldiers of the Sixth Corps meet the incoming militia with a mixture of curiosity and practical guidance. They warn the newcomers that their gray state uniforms will cause them to be mistaken for Confederates and shot by their own side.

Mrs. Bailey of Harrisburg A patriotic resident of Harrisburg, Mrs. Bailey keeps the Union flag flying from her home throughout the crisis. She solicits the privilege of nursing severely ill soldiers, offering a gentle refuge that allows at least one dying militia member to spend his final hours in home-like care.

In Its Own Voice

"A ball striking the parapet near the top would have scattered a shower of stones into the faces of the men standing behind it, thus acting with almost as fatal effect as a shell bursting in the very midst of them."

The author notes how the rough earthworks at Harrisburg posed immediate danger to the defenders.

"The rain fell, if possible, in increased torrents. The stream continued to rise rapidly. Other knapsacks came floating down."

During a fierce mountain storm, the rising creek sweeps away the regiment's heavy baggage.

"What kept us up was the near prospect of home which loomed glittering before our eyes, the knowledge that this was to be our last march..."

Exhausted soldiers press forward on their final forced march toward the railhead at Frederick.

What It's Really About

The book explores the unromantic work of soldiering that sits just outside the grand history books. While popular accounts focus on historic bayonet charges and high-level generalship, this memorial focuses on the physical tax of war: the weight of thirty-pound packs, blistered feet, bad water, and sleep deprivation. It addresses the vital role played by reserve forces who hold lines of communication, build fortifications, and stand ready in reserve without ever firing a shot in a famous engagement. Beneath the daily humor and camaraderie lies an exploration of civic duty, examining how ordinary citizens step up during a national crisis, bear severe physical hardship without complaint, and quiet their anxieties through communal song and shared sacrifice.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in Civil War history will appreciate this account for its rare, ground-level focus on the support troops who filled the background of the Gettysburg Campaign. Rather than analyzing grand strategy, the prose captures the immediate sensory details of military life—the smell of burning flapjacks, the panic of sudden thunderbolts, and the physical torment of marching twenty-two miles over hard turnpikes in drenched clothing.

The narrative is written with a calm, conversational clarity that avoids grandstanding or excessive military romanticism. It remains remarkably honest about the shortcomings of the militia: their wretched initial discipline, their anxiety when hearing false rumors of capture, and their susceptibility to sheer physical breakdown. While modern readers may occasionally find the nineteenth-century sentence structures detailed and unhurried, the book moves forward with steady momentum. It offers a authentic glimpse into how regular people experienced one of the most pivotal months in American history, making it a compelling read for anyone who wants to know what campaigning actually felt like to the common soldier.