York’s chief burgess, Democrat David Small, endorsed famed Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin as a possible candidate for PA governor in 1863. It was not to be.
Lincoln Archives
Only a handful of outdoor photographs taken during the Civil War in York County, PA, still exist. Many more may have been taken. Here are a few examples.
Pennsylvania’s heated gubernatorial election of 1863 led to sharp words, acts of vandalism, and gunfire on the streets of York.
Scott E. Rosenau will speak on Nov. 14, 2018, at the York Civil War Round Table. His topic is “Lincoln and the Founders: Completing the Unfinished Work.”
The Hanover Branch Railroad provided freight and passenger service connecting Gettysburg and Littlestown to the Northern Central Railway at Hanover Junction.
Convalescing soldiers in York’s army hospitals marched through the streets to the train station to martial music carrying an anti-copperhead banner.
David Small, the Democratic chief burgess of York PA, had to call for the local constables to protect him from angry Union soldiers.
Pro-Lincoln newspapers across the North pilloried York’s “copperhead” citizens and their chief burgess, David Small, for surrendering York to the Rebels in 1863. It remains a controversial decision to this day.
On July 18, 2018, please join the York Civil War Round Table as they welcome author Joe Mieczkowski as their featured guest speaker.
York County was a Democratic stronghold in the 1800s. After the Gettysburg Campaign, a wave of anti-Lincoln sentiment swept through the county.