One Woman's Courage: Josephine Miller at Gettysburg

by Diana Loski

Josephine Miller in 1886

(National Park Service)

When Union Brigadier General Joseph Carr deployed his troops along the Emmitsburg Road on July 2, 1863, he realized that the orders from his corps commander, Major General Daniel Sickles, resulted in the placement of his six regiments a significant distance from the main Union line, and directly in peril. His men had lost heavily at the recent Battle of Chancellorsville, where they had formed the pivotal hinge of that fight. He was concerned that at Gettysburg, history was about to repeat itself with heavy casualties.

General Carr noticed grazing cattle in the open, sloping fields. Because Confederate snipers had harassed Union soldiers earlier that morning from the nearby woods, many residents in that area had quickly vacated their homes and farms. Carr was surprised to see a woman at a house at the western edge of the Emmitsburg Road, near the Peach Orchard. Riding up to her, he implored her to leave.

The woman was the young Josephine Miller, a relative of the aged owners of the house, Peter and Susan Rogers. She replied that she had bread in the oven, and as soon as it was baked, she would go.1

Josephine was born in Adams County on October 9, 1836, making her 26 years old at the time of the battle. Although the historical record is unclear of her parentage, she was likely the granddaughter of the owners of the Rogers house. It is also unclear if Peter and Susan Rogers had already left their home that day, but one source claimed that Susan was assisting Josephine in the summer kitchen.2

Before Miss Rogers could depart, the fighting began. Solders from Carr’s Brigade, notably men of the 1st Massachusetts Infantry, took their position near the Rogers House. They were ordered to hold the line anchored between the Rogers homestead and the Klingle Farm, located northeast and across the road.  From just before noon until nightfall, the men from Massachusetts fought on the Rogers’ property. Just before her planned departure, Josephine gave them the bread she had baked that morning. They ate so voraciously that she decided to bake more for them.3

Quickly the battle progressed as General Barksdale’s Mississippi Brigade approached on one flank, and Lane’s Florida Brigade attacked from the other end. The heat of the afternoon was pierced by screaming artillery shells, some of which found their marks in the Rogers’ roof and outbuildings. Bullets whizzed by Miss Rogers, but she remained, undaunted, at her post by the oven. She soon heard pleas of the wounded.

“She was ordered to leave the house a number of times,” one soldier remembered, “and replied that she couldn’t when those wounded soldiers were crying for water.”4

Josephine continued to risk her life all afternoon as missiles and minie balls flew around her, pummeling the house. One shell hit the oven door, where she had only recently pulled out another batch of loaves. She continued to share bread and deliver water to the men of the 1st Massachusetts, giving special attention to the wounded. Soon her clothing was soaked with blood.5

Commanders and enlisted men all remembered Josephine Miller’s service that day. General Slocum recalled that, during the fighting, a weary soldier “tottered onto the yard” of the Rogers House, and “sank upon the grass.” Josephine saw him and came out of the house, where she had been hiding for protection. “Are you tired?” she asked him. “Yes,” the soldier said. “And hungry.” She hurried into the house and returned with bread. She nudged him and told him to eat. But, “the soldier answered not. She shook his shoulder, and by the motion his face was turned to her. It was that of a dead man.”6

In spite of the danger, Josephine felt that she could not leave the house as long as the battle endured. As more and more hungry soldiers appeared, she baked bread for them until she ran out of flour. Some men from the 1st Massachusetts offered to find more for her. They confiscated flour, figs, and dates from General Sickles’ commissary, bringing it all to Josephine, along with a sheep they found. She cooked a fine supper with the supplies, which the soldiers enjoyed immensely.7

With nightfall, the battle ended at last on the Union’s left flank, which included the Peach Orchard and the home of Peter and Susan Rogers. Throughout the night, Josephine did not sleep, but continued her vigil of caring for the wounded. At daylight, seventeen bodies were counted around the Rogers’ property. There were still many alive and needing care, and Josephine provided it for them. “She continued to the end of the battle,” one soldier remembered, “baking and giving bread to all who came.”8

That afternoon, Pickett’s Charge, the final assault on the Union line, took place across a mile-wide field from Seminary Ridge to Cemetery Ridge. Part of the men in gray who traversed that field between the lines passed near the Rogers House. Soldiers from General James Kemper’s Brigade remembered seeing a woman baking bread in an outdoor oven while they charged.  The woman was none other than Josephine Miller. General Slocum later wrote of her, “The great artillery duel which shook the earth for miles around did not drive her from her oven.”9

After the battle, Josephine collapsed from exhaustion. She fell ill with typhoid fever. Coming close to death’s door yet again, Josephine managed to rally, and recovered after weeks of convalescence.10

In October 1863, Josephine married William Slyder, a Gettysburg man who had fought with the local militia. He was the son of John and Catherine Slyder, who owned the Slyder Farm at the base of Big Round Top. He was a widower with a young son, also named William. The couple, eager for a new beginning, moved to Missouri and then Ohio. Three children joined the family: daughers Ida and Rosa, and a son, Melvin.11

In 1886, the 1st Massachusetts Infantry planned to hold a reunion at Gettysburg. Coinciding with their reunion, a monument had been commissioned as a memorial to the men of their regiment who had fallen at Gettysburg. On July 2, 1886, the 23rd anniversary of the battle, their monument was dedicated, and they requested that Josephine be there with them for the occasion. They learned that she was married and living in Troy, Ohio – a town situated just north of Dayton. They paid her fare to travel back to Gettysburg.12

Josephine returned for the dedication, renewing the friendships she had made during those terrible days of battle. The veterans of the 1st Massachusetts presented her with a gift: a gold badge that made her an honorary member of the United States Third Corps. She was deeply honored by the gesture, and wore it proudly.13

That summer, Josephine was approaching fifty years of age, and suffered from rheumatism. The progressive disease soon crippled her. For the remaining twelve years of her life, Mrs. Josephine Slyder was unable to accomplish the regular chores she had done for her entire life. Her husband, William, remained by her side. Their daughter, Ida, who remained unmarried, took care of her mother until her own death in 1910.14

Josephine passed away a few months later, on January 9, 1911. Her obituary states that she was a “heroine of the battle.” The soldiers to whom she had given life-saving help sent their condolences, as they were men who “revered her as one of the bravest women of the great battle.”15

The last surviving member of the family, Melvin Slyder, lived until 1962.16

The Rogers House no longer stands.  Only a field remains, along with a monument to the 1st Massachusetts, which is located on the Emmitsburg Road near the Klingle Farm. These landmarks provide mere vestiges of what happened on July 2 and 3, 1863. They are reminders, to passersby, of one woman who risked her life to help those in need – and was fortunate to survive the place called Gettysburg.

Sources: Blake, Henry N. Three Years in the Army of the Potomac. Boston, MA: 1865. Copy, Gettysburg National Military Park (hereafter GNMP). The Boston Sunday Globe, 27 September, 1896. The Gettysburg Compiler, January 25, 1911. The Gettysburg Star & Sentinel, September 29, 1891. The New York Times, June 30, 1913. Official Report: Colonel Baldwin Account, August, 1863, copy GNMP. The Philadelphia Press, July 4, 1888. Pfanz, Harry W. Gettysburg: The Second Day. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1987. Rogers House File, GNMP. Josephine Miller Slyder Family Tree, Ancestry.com. William James Slyder Registration Record, 16th District, Chambersburg, PA, June 1863. Storrick, W.C. Gettysburg: The Place, the Battle, the Outcome. Harrisburg, PA: 1932. Copy, GNMP. The Troy Daily Record, January 9, 1911. U.S. Census, Cumberland Township, PA, 1880, 1890, 1910. Historical newspapers accessed through newspapers.com.

End Notes: 

1. Star & Sentinel, Sept. 29, 1891. Blake, p. 206. 

2. The New York Times, June 30, 1913. Josephine Miller Slyder Family Tree, Ancestry.com. Storrick,      p. 59. 

3. Pfanz, p. 146. OR, Colonel Baldwin Account, GNMP. 

4. Blake, p. 207. 

5. The Gettysburg Compiler, Jan 25, 1911. 

6. The Philadelphia Press, July 4, 1888. 

7. The Boston Sunday Globe, 27 Sept. 1896. 

8. Star & Sentinel, Sept. 29,  1891. 

9. The Rogers House File, GNMP. 

10. The Gettysburg Compiler, Jan. 25, 1911. 

11. William Slyder Draft Registration, June 1863. U.S. Census 1880, 1890. Josephine Miller Slyder          Family Tree, Ancestry.com. 

12. The Rogers House File,  GNMP. 

13. The Boston Sunday Globe, 27 Sept. 1896. 

14. U.S. Census 1910. Josephine Miller Slyder Family Tree, Ancestry.com. 

15. The Troy Daily Record, Jan. 9, 1911. 

16. Josephine Miller Slyder Family Tree, Ancestry.com.