York Town Square

Workers dig trenches near Wrightsville to provide defenders leverage against an anticipated Confederate offense to capture the bridge spanning the Susquehanna River between York and Lancaster counties. But the ditches did little good as the outmanned soldiers in blue folded to the Confederate assault of Wrightsville in late June 1863. Scott Mingus, author of a soon-to-be-published book on the Confederate raid, has begun blogging on Civil War topics at https://yorkblog.com/cannonball/ .
Yorkblog.com’s newest blog, Cannonball, will feature posts from Scott Mingus on the Civil War.
Scott has written two books on the Civil War already, and he has written a soon-to-be published major work on Gordon’s Expedition through Chambersburg, Gettysburg and York on to the Wrightsville bridge in late June 1863.
His day job is in research and development for Glatfelter paper, and he brings those investigative skills and a lively writing style to his history work.
As an example of his thoroughness and precision, this was his response to my query about the strength of John B. Gordon’s force as it fronted Wrightsville and its coveted bridge on June 28, 1863:

I use the Georgia Brigade’s muster rolls of the night of June 30 at Heidlersburg (regimental returns) which are referenced in Busey & Martin’s Regimental Strengths and Losses of the Gettysburg Campaign. It adds up to 1,813 for the infantry regiments themselves. Gordon probably had a few more with stragglers, deserters, etc.
Add in the fact that Tanner had 90 men in the Courtney Artillery, White had 276 in the 35th Btln, and Waldo had 40 in the scout company (Company C, 17th VA).
Hence, 2,209 in his total force. This does NOT include teamsters, cooks, servants, slaves, and other hangers-on that are not in the official roster, nor does it include Gordon’s small staff and escort. The 2,500 figure might be accurate for the whole column, although I would guess it to be closer to 2,350 or so with the typical number of noncombatants. Remember that Early had left a large part of the wagon train in Chambersburg, including those wagons (and teamsters and escorts) normally assigned to Gordon’s Brigade.
Here is what I used for the book…
CONFEDERATE
Elements of the Army of Northern Virginia, Ewell’s Second Corps
Elements of Early’s Division – Major General Jubal Anderson Early
(Near York at the start of Gordon’s advance, arrived in Wrightsville around dusk)
Gordon’s Brigade (1,813 men) – Brigadier General John Brown Gordon
13th Georgia – Colonel James Milton Smith (312 men)
26th Georgia – Colonel Edmund Nathan Atkinson (315 men)
31st Georgia – Colonel Clement Anselm Evans (252 men)
38th Georgia – Captain William L. McLeod (341 men)
60th Georgia – Captain Waters Burras Jones (299 men)
61st Georgia – Colonel John Hill Lamar (288 men)
Elements of Division Artillery
Courtney (VA) Artillery – Captain William A. Tanner (four 3-inch Ordnance Rifles, 90 men)
Cavalry escort
35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry – Lieutenant Colonel Elijah Viers White (276 men)*
17th Virginia Cavalry, Company C – Captain Thaddeus P. Waldo (40 men)
* Duty roster. Only a portion was at Wrightsville. The rest were scouting, destroying the railroad, or camping two miles east of York.