Existing comment:
Before The Battle Of Gettysburg
Events Along The Emmitsburg & Waynesboro Turnpike
On June 22, 1863, a skirmish erupted at Monterey Pass when Company D of the 4th Virginia Cavalry attacked portions of Union cavalry under the command of Captain Robert Bell, Captain Samuel Randall, and several members of the Gettysburg Home Guard. The Confederate skirmishers scoured the woods on foot along the Emmitsburg and Waynesboro Turnpike, forging the militia to retreat towards Fairfield, using the Maria Furnace Road, where the chase ended at dusk.
On June 28, a skirmish occurred at Fountaindale, where a 25-man detail of Cole's Maryland Cavalry under the command of Lieutenant William Horner, coming from the direction of Monterey Pass, came in contact with a Confederate foraging party under Lieutenant J.H. Chamberlayne, near Jacks Mountain Road. Chamberlayne was collecting supplies and horses when he saw Horner's men and ordered six men with revolvers to charge, while the other 20 unarmed men in the foraging party hurried towards Fairfield with the stolen goods. After being chased by Union soldiers, most of Chamberlayne's men were captured and taken to Emmitsburg, Maryland.
On June 29, Union General John Buford's Cavalry Division left Middletown, Maryland for Pennsylvania. At Monterey Pass, he observed Confederate troops marching in the distance at Greencastle. After a patriotic welcome by local residents, Buford's cavalry moved towards Fountaindale and bivouacked for a few hours before moving towards Fairfield.
"An old man stood beside the road at Monterey Springs, with his hat off and tears streaming down his face. As the column passed, the men cheered him heartily."
-- First Lieutenant Newel Cheney, 9th New York Cavalry, Buford's Cavalry Division |