Yank mortally wounded on ninth day of service and buried in York
This scene, in a York County Heritage Trust photo, shows the gazebo that was part of the U.S. Army General Hospital in York. About 200 military patients died at the hospital, and many are buried at Soldiers Circle, commemorated by a monument.
Intrepid researcher Scott Mingus has put a face on one of those who died at York’s Civil War military hospital.
Mingus shared a regimental history entry about Frank Rollins, serving with the First Minnesota in first day fighting at Gettysburg.
Simply put, Rollins ran into a Confederate buzzsaw.
The 22-year-old had had been a soldier for only nine days… .
He was one of the 14,000 treated at the U.S. Army General Hospital at York’s Penn Park and one of about 200 men in uniform who died.
The regimental history referred to his burial in Catholic Cemetery, also known as Prospect Hill.
That might be mashing together several things. Prospect Hill Cemetery grew out of the German Reformed Church, although Catholics were buried there. Or perhaps he was laid to rest in a Catholic cemetery and others in his unit were buried in Prospect Hill at Soldiers Circle.
When I’m asked what part of York’s history is most understudied, I immediately say: “The military hospital.” It’s a master’s thesis waiting to happen.
A ward at the military hospital at Penn Park.
*Photos courtesy York County Heritage Trust
