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In December of 2017, I had an idea and an urge to do an event in Wrightsville Pennsylvania. It has always been the closest significant civil war location to me, and I’ve always had an interest in the subject, especially after reading Scott Mingus “Flames Beyond Gettysburg” book.
Wrightsville was a very significant location during the Gettysburg campaign. The 1+ mile covered bridge (the longest in the country at the time) separated York and Lancaster county over the Susquehanna River. It also separated General Lee and the ANV from Harrisburg and Lancaster, two locations of interest for the army. On June 28th, after capturing York, General Gordon’s Brigade moves towards Wrightsville to seize and cross this bridge. They engaged emergency militia units, and some remnants of the York County hospital, on the lands of the Mifflin House, and surrounding areas. After a brief skirmish, and shelling of the town, the militias quickly withdrew from Wrightsville, burning the covered bridge behind them. This left Gordon, and the ANV, without any chance of crossing the river. Two days later they would be engaged at Gettysburg, taking 25-30 percent casualties on the first day battle.
In December of 2017, I went to one of Scott Minguss talks about his book in Columbia, PA. There, I introduced myself, and explained to him my want of doing an event in Wrightsville. He gave me some contact information including the riverfest folks, and a city councilman Don Bair. My initial intent, was have 5-10 guys go to Wrightsville and do a small living history. Things quickly Escalated as I learned more about the Mifflin House and the danger it was in of being torn down by a construction company. At this time, I realized I needed to do more. The Mifflin House was a very successful Underground Railroad stop, as well as a position for Gordon’s artillery on the evening of June 28, 1863.
My initial plan was to raise some money to help any lawyer fees in helping it be saved. My friend and CEO of the SVBF, Keven Walker, gave me an idea of possibly raising money to have wayside markers placed, to insure the history never gets lost, no matter what happens to the house and property. I quickly acted on that by contacting the Civil war Trails. Drew Gruber was all about it, and also has been working on getting the program into PA. It was the perfect time for this project to happen.
The funds of $3,040 was raised by participants of the small event I organized last summer, and every penny of the registration fees went into the Civil war Trails and of the production of the markers themselves.
The event itself, was highly successful, even considering the monsoon that hit us in the middle of the night Friday. We marched about 5 miles in the footsteps of Gordon’s Brigade, and recreated the actions of the infantry and artillery, on the original ground, for the first time since the original cast. It was a very humbling experience for all who were involved.
Since the event, we’ve been working on getting the waysides installed, which as of today, are installed and ready for future generations to see and learn from.
There’s a long list of people to thank, from guys who helped organize the event, participants of the event, the city of Wrightsville, civil war trails, SVBF, and many many more.
What started as a small idea, turned into something much bigger than myself, and I am absolutely humbled and honored to have been apart of keeping this part of history alive. The house and property are still very much in danger, but hopefully, the markers and publicity of this location will now help it in getting preserved, and saved forever. Preservation is number one for many of us. And the fight continues until all of our historic sites and properties are saved from modern development. Thanks to everyone who helped with this project, and updates on further preservation of the property will come as I get them.
Ryan Topper
Liberty Rifles.
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