Chambersburg in Ruins
Within hours, 559 buildings (mostly homes and businesses) were destroyed.[1] Fortunately, none of Chambersburg’s citizens were killed, but of the roughly 6000 residents, between 2000 and 3000 were left homeless. Property damages were estimated at around $3,000,000, or 6 times greater than the ransom demanded by the raiders.[2]
McCausland Withdraws
The raiders, many of them drunk with their pockets full of loot, left that afternoon and McCausland withdrew his cavalry across the Potomac River the following day.[3] Although all the townsfolk had survived, not all the Confederates made it out of Chambersburg. A Major Bowen of the 8th Virginia cavalry got separated from the rest of the raiders and was ambushed by several of Chambersburg’s civilians. He was hit by a bullet and fled into the cellar of a burning house where he was caught and executed. In another instance, a man named Thomas Doyle followed the retreating Confederates and managed to ambush a lone Confederate officer named Captain Cochran. Cochran begged for his
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life, but Doyle told him, “the foe who burns and robs must die,” before executing him with a pistol. Doyle looted the Confederate Captain of his belongings (including money stolen from Chambersburg residents) and returned to the burnt town.[4] Despite being outnumbered and his men and horses exhausted, General Averell took up the pursuit the following day, defeating McCausland’s cavalry in a small skirmish and following them until they crossed back over the Potomac River.[5]
Union Response
Following the burning of Chambersburg, Grant decided to take action over the Union failures in the Shenandoah by appointing General Philip Sheridan to command Federal forces there. Having proven himself an excellent cavalry commander during the Overland Campaign, Sheridan would take Grant’s orders to subdue Early and “reduce the valley to a ‘barren waste’” seriously.[6] For the next several months, Sheridan repeatedly defeated General Early’s forces and, in September, began a scorched-earth campaign that would later become known as “the Burning,” putting vast Confederate
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stockpiles of crops to the torch, slaughtering livestock, and requisitioning horses for military use. In the spiraling series reprisals caused by both side’s hard war policies, Sheridan would have the last laugh in the Shenandoah.[7]
Citations
Cover Image: The ruins of Chambersburg, 1864 (Courtesy of Wikipedia)
[1] Patchan 283; “The Burning of Chambersburg,” German Reformed Messenger, Sept. 7, 1864. [link]; Unknown, “The Burning of Chambersburg,” Full Valley Archive. [link]
[2] Patchan 283; “Chambersburg War Damage Claims, 1866 and Photograph of Ruins of Chambersburg, 1864,” Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. [link]
[3] Patchan, 283; Sailerd, “Burning of Chambersburg, PA (July 1864), Blog Divided, House Divided Project. [link]
[4] Schneck, 29-30.
[5] Message from General WM. W. Averell to Captain P. G. Bier, August 3, 1864, OR, ser. 1, vol. 47, pt. 1, 329-330.
[6] Varon, 361.
[7] Varon, 359-362.
[1] Patchan 283; “The Burning of Chambersburg,” German Reformed Messenger, Sept. 7, 1864. [link]; Unknown, “The Burning of Chambersburg,” Full Valley Archive. [link]
[2] Patchan 283; “Chambersburg War Damage Claims, 1866 and Photograph of Ruins of Chambersburg, 1864,” Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. [link]
[3] Patchan, 283; Sailerd, “Burning of Chambersburg, PA (July 1864), Blog Divided, House Divided Project. [link]
[4] Schneck, 29-30.
[5] Message from General WM. W. Averell to Captain P. G. Bier, August 3, 1864, OR, ser. 1, vol. 47, pt. 1, 329-330.
[6] Varon, 361.
[7] Varon, 359-362.