Another account of a relic from the Battle of Hanover
The Battle of Hanover, Pennsylvania, was fought on June 30, 1863 between Confederate cavalry under JEB Stuart and Union troopers from H. Judson Kilpatrick’s division. Occasionally for the ensuing 40-50 years, relics and artifacts surfaced, usually when a farmer was plowing fields once used as a battleground.
Here’s one such account, taken from the Hanover Herald of Saturday, June 13, 1912.
“John A. Orndorff, of near Silver Run, Carroll County, Md., found an interesting
relic, July 4th between Hanover and Pennville, along the Hanover and Littlestown
turnpike. It was a belt plate of a cavalryman, which was evidently lost by a
Union cavalryman during the Battle of Hanover, between Kilpatrick’s and Stuart’s
troopers, June 30, 1863. Although forty-nine years have intervened since then,
the plate is in good condition.
Mr. Orndorff served in the union army during the Civil War, being a member of
Company I, 205th Pennsylvania Regiment. He gave the belt plate to his daughter,
Mrs. Jacob Harpel, 821 Franklin street.”
I wonder if this old belt plate is still in the family?
