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Aerial Photograph of the historically significant property of Widow Mary Thompson (2014)
Courtesy: Garry Adelman and The Civil War Trust |
Daniel
Skelly climbed a tree for a better view of the events taking place to the west
of his hometown of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Skelly, along with other townspeople made their way to Seminary Ridge on
the western edge of town. On the
morning of July 1st, 1863 this group witnessed the beginning
engagements of what would become the most deadly battle during the American
Civil War. Much like the First Battle of
Bull Run, where citizens populated surrounding hills to witness the fighting,
the spectators at Gettysburg had a short-lived experience. Skelly, enjoying his “good view of the ridge
west,” scattered with the others once confederate artillery opened; one shot particularly
sent Skelly into retreat when it skimmed the top of his tree. Just a few yards south of Skelly stood a one
and a half story stone building. The
building was the home of Mary Thompson.
Exactly one hundred and one years later, on July 1st, 2014,
President of the Civil War Trust, Jim Lighthizer, standing near the same
location as Skelly, described this stone house as being a site of “indisputable
[historical] significance.”
The
Mary Thompson House and the property surrounding it have a diverse and exciting
history, yet only one book has been published on its story. Evidence exists which both support and
contradict whether Confederate General Robert E. Lee took this house as his
headquarters during the Battle of Gettysburg.
The misunderstandings came to light and the debate thickened as The
Civil War Trust planned to preserve the property. Based on a new interpretation of primary
sources, the latest secondary literature, personal examination of the property,
and meeting with the author of the only publication on the topic, we see that
the property where the Mary Thompson House stands was the headquarters of
General Lee during all three days of the Battle of Gettysburg.
Formed
out of the western portion of York County and named after President John Adams,
Adams County, Pennsylvania was established in 1800. Fifteen years before the formation of Adams
County, James Getty, a Revolutionary War veteran, purchased a plot of land at a
sheriff’s auction that encompassed 116 acres that surrounded an intersection of
roads. Getty laid out 210 lots on this property
and in January of 1786, established the town of Gettysburg. Upon the founding of Adams County, Gettysburg
became the county seat, necessitating expansion and an increase in roads which
provided access to all parts of the county.
Today and during the Battle of Gettysburg, ten major road systems
intersect at the town. One of these
roadways served as a toll road by the Gettysburg and Petersburg Turnpike
Company in 1812. The road, stretching
west out of Gettysburg ran through the property of Reverend David McConaughy. This roadway would be the approaching route
of the Confederate Army in 1863.
McConaughy
transferred this property to three men; David Zeigler, Michael C. Clarkson, and
John Fuller in 1827. In 1832, Clarkson
became the sole proprietor when he bought out Fuller and Zeigler. It was under Clarkson, a well-to-do
businessman and political ally to Thaddeus Stevens, that the property had a one
and a half story stone building constructed.
The inscription “1779” is etched into a brick in the foundation of the
building, yet no evidence suggests that 1779 is the year of its
construction. Rather, construction of
the house took place in 1834. Tax records from 1834 include a notation in that
year stated that “one new house has been constructed” on the property of
Clarkson.
Mary
Thompson was a tenant of Clarkson.
Clarkson became the victim of financial hardship, defaulting on an
almost $2,000 note in 1840. The following years saw no improvement on his
finances, culminating in a notice served by Sheriff Francis Bream on August 14th,
1844. According to court
documents, the Court of Common Pleas ordered Bream to seize all “goods and
chattels, lands and tenements of Michael C. Clarkson.” A sheriff’s auction followed the seizure of
the property. The result was the
purchase of what was called “Tract 3”, the stone house and three acres of land,
“by Thaddeus Stevens as a trustee of Mary Thompson” for $16 (Figure 1). The transaction took place in this manner
because it was illegal for a married woman to hold a property title in Pennsylvania
in 1846; Thompson had an estranged husband and fear of his return may have led
Stevens to buy the property. Mary
Thompson would own this property in trust until her death in 1873.
On
July 1st, 1863, Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia
encamped a few miles west of Gettysburg, in Cashtown. In the early hours of the same day,
Confederate forces moved east, engaging with cavalry units of the Army of the
Potomac a short distance outside of Gettysburg.
One misconception of the battle is that the Confederates were heading to
Gettysburg for shoes. However, this is
incorrect; the major intersection of roads led to the two armies into a collision
at Gettysburg.
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| Road Map of Gettysburg. Chambersburg Pike highlighted in red, Thompson property in yellow. |
Mary
Thompson’s property played witness to all three days of fighting during the battle. On July 1st, 1863, the property
was the location of both the biggest success and failure for the Army of the
Potomac. The unfinished railroad cut
that line the northern edge of the property was where the 6th
Wisconsin of the Iron Brigade, under Lt. Col. Rufus Dawes, seized the railroad
cut in well-documented and successful charge in which almost 200 soldiers died. After the
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Levi Mumper's sketch facing west of charge of 6th Wisconsin
from Thompson property.
Courtesy: William Frassanito and Allen Guelzo |
Confederates outflanked the Union,
a disorganized retreat began through the town of Gettysburg. As the sun lowered, so too did the
Confederate lines on remaining Union forces west of Gettysburg. Just a few yards north of the Thompson House
in a deep railroad cut, Union troops ran the gauntlet in an attempt to
retreat. Surrounded on both sides, one
Union officer remarked that “every man who did his duty was either killed,
wounded, or captured.” This mass capture of Union troops is what Tim
Smith “ranks as one of the most productive days in the history of the Army of
Northern Virginia.” The Thompson House then served as “a
fortress, a field hospital, and the nerve center” for Confederate operations
for the remainder of the battle. Union artillery placed on the property on the
first day was replaced with Confederate artillery for the remaining two days of
the battle. Couriers transported messages
to and from Lee at the Thompson property and where he would make historically
significant decisions, such as “Pickett’s Charge.”
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Looking west from the Thompson Property.
Courtesy: Kyle Martin (November, 2016) |
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Photograph of the Thompson Property in 1903, after the restoration
following the fire in comparison to the preservation .
Courtesy: Kyle Martin (November, 2016) |
After the battle, Mary Thompson lived
the remainder of her life in the stone house.
She died on May 25th, 1873.
In another auction of the property on December 15th, 1888,
Philip Hennig bought the property for $740. Hennig never actually lived in the house,
instead rented it out to tenants. It was
under Hennig’s ownership, however, when the house caught fire in 1896. According to an article in the Gettysburg Compiler, the fire did little
damage to the structure of the building, leaving the “walls… in good
condition,” and the furniture on the first story saved. Neither tenants were present at the onset of
the fire, nor was the cause of the fire known. The house was insured under Hennig and
completely restored.
Hennig died in 1918, the property
then passed to his widow who sold the property to Clyde F. Daley on July 13th,
1921. It is at this time when commercialization of
property takes place. Daley created “Lee
Campground” which provided rooms, a bath shop, souvenir shop, and museum. Upon his retirement in 1845, Daley sold the
property to Eric F. Larson, a licensed battlefield guide. It remained under private ownership until
2014.
After the fire, a movement to
challenge the credibility of the Thompson House being Lee’s Headquarters began
to come to the forefront and would continue into the 21st
Century. The Gettysburg Compiler, covering the fire, stated that “popular
tradition has… this building” as Lee’s headquarters, but “there seems to be considerable
doubt as to the fact.” Tim Smith is critical of these article as
well as the sources used by the article, which consist of multiple guides of
the park and civilians using second-hand information. Smith assesses that “many writers and
historians have put more credence in these secondary sources than in the first
hand accounts written during and shortly after the Civil War.”
One account that comes under
scrutiny is Henry S. Moyer’s, “General Lee’s Headquarters at Gettysburg,
Penna,” that the Gettysburg Compiler published on March 30th, 1910. Moyer published the article as a pamphlet in
1911. Moyer concluded “that the facts
are against this house or any other house or houses upon this field being
designated as General Lee’s Headquarters at Gettysburg.” He based his conclusion on primarily two
controversial pieces of evidence. Moyer
cited an interaction between Government Historian, John B. Bachelder, and
General Robert E. Lee. Moyer stated that
“a good friend” of his spoke with Bachelder, who reported that Lee stated, “My
headquarters were in tents, in an apple orchard, back of the seminary along
Chambersburg pike.” Smith points out that this conversation
between Bachelder and Lee took place thirty years prior and his friend who
reported this to Moyer went unnamed.
Further, Smith explains that Bachelder did compile accounts from
participants of the war, yet nothing exists that would suggest he interviewed
Robert E. Lee. Moyer also used a controversial interview he
conducted with an unnamed “old lady” when he visited the Thompson House. Leading the reader to believe that this “old
lady” was Mary Thompson, Moyer stated that this woman “had occupied the house
during the whole of the three days battle and that General Lee had never been
in the house.” There is one glaring problem with this
statement; Moyer identified 1874 as the date he visited the Thompson House,
Mary Thompson died in 1873. This, on top
of the fact that Moyer admitted, by force, that he did not know the name of
this old lady shortly after his pamphlet’s publication, dismantles his argument
that Lee did not take the Thompson House as his property.
Other evidence exists that suggest
the same conclusion that Mary Thompson’s house was not Lee’s Headquarters
during the battle. In 1886, Confederate
General Armistead L. Long published a memoir of his experiences during the
war. Long, a member of Lee’s staff at
Gettysburg, identified “trees of an apple orchard” as the “bivouac.” In a response to Moyer’s article, Vina C.
Weirick strongly argued that the location of Lee’s Headquarters was not close
to the Thompson property. In her article
in the Gettysburg Compiler, Weirick
placed Lee in “tents pitched… [in] apple orchards” between Seminary Ridge and
Oak Hill. She further identified the house of an old
lady named Mrs. Marshall in the same “space”. There is some confusion to Weirick’s
description. The Thompson House is
located on the land between Seminary Ridge and Oak Hill. Also, the Thompson property had an orchard at
the time of the battle. It is feasible
to surmise that Weirick did not realize she was referring to the Mary Thompson
property. In 1932, W.C. Storrick
established that Lee’s “Army Headquarters [were] in some tents in an apple
orchard between the Seminary building and the Chambersburg Pike.” This would place the headquarters on the
opposite side of Chambersburg Pike than the Thompson House.
The reputation of General Robert E.
Lee must be taken into context with much of the secondary evidence provided to
this point. Colonel Walter H. Taylor
provided just one example of how historical misconceptions stemmed from Lee’s
reputation. In 1877, Taylor published, Four Years with General Lee. Taylor served as an adjutant general
throughout most of the war with Lee. His
publication cited various situations in which Lee used tents as his
headquarters rather than the comforts of a home. The reputation that Lee practiced
“self-denial and abnegation,” taking the same risks and hardships of war as his
soldiers lends credence to the argument that Lee did not use the Mary Thompson
House as his headquarters. It is fair to attribute this concept to the
reputation of Lee, but it does not stand on an evidentiary sound footing. Allen Guelzo, historian at Gettysburg
College, quotes Mary Thompson as complaining that “All night long ossifers
[sic] was comin’ and going,’ getting ready to fight in the mornin’.” This suggests a presence of Lee and his
officers at the Thompson House.
The evidence supporting Lee making his
headquarters at the Thompson property is overwhelming. For the first several decades following the
battle, it was a common understanding that the Mary Thompson House was Lee’s
Headquarters during the battle. In
September of 1863, a correspondent with the Lutheran
and Missionary newspaper interviewed Mary Thompson who stated that Lee
“occupied her house from Wednesday evening, July 1st, until Friday
night;” all three days of the battle. Famed Civil War Photographer, Matthew Brady,
labeled a picture of the Mary Thompson House as “Lee’s Headquarters” in a photo
taken just days after the battle. On April 20th,
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Matthew Brady Photograph, "Lee's Headquarters",
taken July, 1863.
Courtesy: Library of Congress |
1920, an article
recalls the return of Union General Herman Haupt accompanied by his daughter
and their visit to see Mary Thompson. In
the exchange, Thompson “told them how well she remembered and would never
forget General Lee sitting on a chair at a window she pointed to reading his
Bible.” Lee’s gentlemanly demeanor is also documented
in the interview with Thompson, who stated she “never heard any profane or
improper language from him.” Fifty-four years after the battle, one of
Lee’s servants returned to Gettysburg.
While visiting the Thompson property, the unnamed servant stated that is
was “possible” that Lee occupied the stone house. At the 50th
Anniversary of the battle, a former courier and scout of Lee, M.T. Bender,
wrote that four soldiers stood guard the stone house in which he “delivired
[sic] messages” to Lee.
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Brady Photograph Comparison.
Photography assisted the Civil War Trust in ensuring the structure
of the house stood as it did in 1863.
Courtesy: Kyle Martin (November, 2016) |
The evidence that suggests Lee did
not take the Thompson House or property as his headquarters ignore the writing
of Michael Jacobs, a soldier who was at Gettysburg during the battle. Jacobs provided an account that supports Lee
using the Thompson House as his headquarters in his publication in October of
1863. Jacobs described the house as “on
the crest of the Seminary Ridge, where the Chambersburg Pike crosses it.” He continued that after the retreat of the
Union troops to the south of Gettysburg, Lee selected this house as his
headquarters as it held “an elevated position… and being at a safe distance
from our guns.” According to Jacobs, Lee took his meals and
“lodged all night” when not inspecting the Confederate lines. This publication also shed light on Lee being
in the house and interacting with Thompson.
Jacobs stated that “Mrs. Thompson testifies to the gentlemanly
deportment of Lee… but complains bitterly of robbery and general destruction.”
Evidence suggests that General
Robert E. Lee used the Thompson House and the surrounding tract of land as his
headquarters throughout the battle of Gettysburg. On the Gettysburg National Military Park
property just across Chambersburg Pike from the Thompson House is a vertical
artillery cannon barrel. This is a
marker for officer headquarters during the battle. On the base, an inscription reads, “MY HEAD
QUARTERS WERE IN TENTS IN AN APPLE ORCHARD BACK OF THE SEMINARY ALONG THE
CHAMBERSBURG PIKE.” The inscription is the same seen in
Moyer’s questionable article.
The Thompson property holds
historical value, yet is not a part of the Gettysburg National Military
Park. Several reasons exist for this
failure. First, during the early 1900’s
when the park was taking shape, the park was overwhelmed with the undertaking. In 1907, during the time of expanding the
park, the local sheriff charged and arrested tenant Emaline Feister and for
“keeping a bawdy house… for the practice of fornication… and disturbance of the
neighborhood.” Basically, Feister operated a brothel. Smith attributes this bad press to the
property being “looked over” and remaining in private hands. The Gettysburg National Military Park
Commission in 1905 opined that “the acquisition of any further extensive tracts
of land… would be a waste of public funds.” The official Gettysburg Auto Tour Map oddly
avoids the Thompson property, instead crossing the railroad cut further to the
West, the location of the 6th Wisconsin’s success. Also
adding to the controversy, Gettysburg is a northern battlefield in a northern
state. The National Park Service
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Official Auto Tour Map of Gettysburg National
Military Park.
Edited by: Kyle Martin |
tends to avoid
negative the failures of the Union.
Instead of interpreting the largest mass capture of Union troops on the
property, a drive by of the property lends only an opportunity to point out the
location of Lee’s Headquarters (Figure 10).
Lastly, as modern newspaper reports present, the property remaining in
private hands provided economic benefits to the area. The property, as of 2013 tax year, generated
$11,691 to Gettysburg Borough, $12,395 to Adams County, and $34,228 to the
Gettysburg Area School District in property tax. Gettysburg Borough Council Finance Chairman
John Butterfield lamented the loss of revenue, stating it would “be very
difficult to recoup” the loss tax revenue.
The
town of Gettysburg thrives off tourism and the economic benefits that the battlefield
provides. This is evident in major
anniversaries of the battle. During the
50th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, Philip Hennig searched
for veterans to find validation to support Lee making his headquarters at the
Thompson property. During the 100th
Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, the town searched for tourists. The highest population of Gettysburg was in
the decade of the 100th anniversary. Hotel growth blossomed, employment increased,
and the commercialization of Gettysburg boosted. One thing remained consistent, the story of
history that moved and continues to move people to the fields of Gettysburg.
Out
of the ten major roadways that enter Gettysburg, only one does not touch the
protected National Military Park, York Pike. This roadway features businesses,
restaurants, and other commercial ventures on both sides. Chambersburg Pike, where Lee and the Army of
Northern Virginia made their initial approach into Gettysburg touches National
Military Park land on both sides. On
January 7th, 2015 the Civil War Trust purchased the Thompson
property. Although still in the hands of
an entity, the Trust “is the largest and most effective nonprofit organization
devoted to preservation of America’s hallowed battlegrounds.” The
Civil War Trust purchased and preserved the property for around six million
dollars, a far cry from the cost in 1848.
Jim Lighthizer and the Civil War Trust’s objective is “to make it so
that if Robert E. Lee rode up Chambersburg Pike on his horse, he’d know exactly
where he was.” After 151 years of private ownership, the
Thompson property has finally been preserved for future generations as a place
of historical significance.
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Digital image of completed Thompson/Dustman property.
Edited by: Kyle Martin
Courtesy: Garry Adelman and the Civil War Trust |
From
a private resident, to a brothel, to a major hotel, restaurant, and brewery,
this property has a diverse and interesting history. Mary Thompson’s property was the headquarters
of General Robert E. Lee during the Battle of Gettysburg. The question is not whether the stone house
served as his actual headquarters, but was this area the location or what the
Civil War Trust calls “the nerve center” for Confederate operations? Evidence that exists defends the
affirmative. The contradicting evidence
has one constant theme; Lee and his staff populated and operated in and around
the area of Mary Thompson’s house during all three days of the battle. Primary sources provide evidence that Lee
took his meals and slept in the Thompson House, but also had meetings and gave
and received orders in or around the Apple Orchard where members of his staff
pitched tents. A fresh analysis of
existing evidence leads to the conclusion that Lee set his headquarters for the
bloodiest battle of the Civil War at the property purchased by Thaddeus Stevens
in trust of Mary Thompson.
