Adams County Courthouse - U.S. Civil War - Gettysburg, PA
N 39° 49.773 W 077° 13.873
18S E 309062 N 4411221
During the Battle of Gettysburg, during the Civil War, this courthouse, then only four years old was used as a hospital, as were most local buildings, albeit, this one was well documented.
Waymark Code: WMG4JG
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 01/11/2013
Views: 11
The Adams County Courthouse was occupied by the Confederates prior to the Battle of Gettysburg, and was used as a Union hospital following the battle. Every church I have visited as well as government buildings and school houses/colleges were all used to aid and assist wounded troops as they poured into the town.
In 1859 the Adams County Courthouse was constructed to replace a smaller building located a block away. During the Gettysburg Campaign, while Confederate Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell was ordered to take two of his divisions to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a third division under Maj. Gen. Jubal Early was directed to advance toward York, Pennsylvania, and to break the railroad running between Baltimore and Harrisburg. On June 26, 1863, Early occupied Gettysburg en route to York and took possession of the Adams County Courthouse from which he made requisition for supplies from the citizenry. The courthouse was occupied overnight by Confederate officers. Anxious to capture York, Early departed the following day without most of the supplies he had demanded. During the Battle of Gettysburg, the Adams County Courthouse served as a Union hospital and continued as such until about July 10, 1863. Fannie Buehler, who lived opposite the courthouse, left vivid recollections of the cries of the wounded, and of the cartloads of amputated limbs that were removed from the building. SOURCE
This place is spooky and reputed to be haunted (probably due to the soldiers who died in the hospital). According to police that work there at night when the building is closed, a gray, human-sized blob has been spotted several times floating through the rooms. This tale was told by Mark Nesbitt in Ghosts of Gettysburg IV. SOURCE
An excellent interpretive out front also tells the tale of this former field hospital:
Four years after Gettysburg became the county seat in 1800, the first Adams County Courthouse was placed in Lincoln Square (one block to your right). In 1859 this larger building was erected to serve the growing populace.
The arrival of the Union and Confederate armies in the summer of 1863 forced the courthouse into unconventional uses. On June 26th, Confederate troops temporarily held the town and according to Margaretta Kendelhart, "...Rebels...occupied the Court House during the night..."
Five days later the great battle at Gettysburg began. The carnage created a new role for the courthouse, one of an army hospital. Beginning on July 1st, the grim work of the surgeons continued well after the armies departed.
Fannie Buehler, living opposite the courthouse (at 112), vividly described the scene: "The sights and sounds at the Court House for a week after the battle are too horrible to describe... Limbs were amputated amid the cries and groans of suffering humanity... Loads of arms and legs...were carted outside of town to be burned or buried."