The Confederate Approach on Harrisburg by Mr. Cooper H. Wingert

The Confederate Approach on Harrisburg: The Gettysburg Campaign’s Northernmost Reaches

The Gettysburg Campaign and the resulting battle is among the most studied topics in military history. As General Robert E. Lee’s army coalesced around the tiny crossroads town, a significant yet lesser-known skirmish, 38 miles to northeast, had a distinct impact on the larger battle: the June 1863 Battle of Sporting Hill, Harrisburg. The fight resulted from Lee’s larger goal for an invasion of Pennsylvania, a takeover of the capital, and a forcing of the state, and possibly the Union, to capitulate. Lee sent Brigadier General Albert Jenkins to Harrisburg to confirm the city’s vulnerability and to increase the number of rebel troops in the area. A Harrisburg militia out on a reconnaissance mission met and forced Jenkins’ cavalry back at Sporting Hill into Carlisle. This lead to a fight, which left the area ablaze as another of Lee’s cavalry brigades shelled Carlisle and the Union general defending the city refused repeated demands for surrender. The Confederates set the entirety of the U.S. Army’s Carlisle Barracks aflame before moving, resigned, towards Gettysburg, leaving Harrisburg and the surrounding country under Union control. An overview of this interval, as well as its role in the Gettysburg Campaign, is presented in detail in Mr. Cooper H. Wingert’s 2012 book, The Confederate Approach on Harrisburg: The Gettysburg Campaign’s Northernmost Reaches. Wingert lectured about his book and the extensive research that informed it, some of which he conducted at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center.

Lecture Date: June 17, 2015
Length: 62 Minutes

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