George Shrivers Last Christmas

In 1860, Gettysburg native George Washington Shriver and his wife, the former Henrietta Weikert, moved into their newly built home on Baltimore Street. As Gettysburg was a bustling crossroads town, George, a true entrepreneur, opened a saloon and ten-pen alley in his cellar. He had inherited his father’s farm just south of Gettysburg, and used the funds from his inheritance to finance his new business venture. He had a family to support – he and his wife had two young daughters, Sadie and Mollie.

When war erupted the following spring, George did not enlist right away. The war was believed by some to be of short duration. By the summer, however, Lincoln had called for more volunteers, and George answered the call.

He enlisted, as did many Gettysburg men, in Coles' Cavalry – a pro-Union Maryland unit. He enlisted as a private in Company C, in August 1861 in Frederick. He was later promoted to the rank of corporal. Two of his wife’s relatives, William and George Weikert, also joined Coles Cavalry. As a farm boy, George Shriver grew up around horses, so the cavalry seemed a good fit for him.

Coles' Cavalry acted independently in the war, originally not as part of any official corps. They guarded the Potomac River and Washington, D.C. during the winter of 1861-62. During the majority of the year 1862, they fought with General Nathaniel Banks against General Jackson’s troops in the Shenandoah Valley, including the fight at Harpers Ferry. After the Battle of Antietam, Coles' Cavalry, with Major Coles in command, was assigned to aid the Army of the Potomac.

During the Battle of Gettysburg in the summer of 1863, George found himself close to home, but could not leave to see the family he had left nearly two years before. His regiment was spread between Frederick and the town of Gettysburg, guarding the wagons, rails, and flanks of the army. They played an essential role in keeping the roads open, and apprising General Meade of the condition of the roads south of Gettysburg. Since General Meade’s wagons and supplies were near the Maryland town of Westminster, guarding the roads proved a significant task. Shriver and his compatriots destroyed the bridge at Harpers Ferry, forcing Lee to Hagerstown when he and his army vacated Gettysburg after the battle.

While he was so close and yet so far from home, Shriver did not know that Confederate troops occupied his house, and used his garret as a sharpshooter’s den. His wife and daughters had fled to Henrietta’s father’s home behind Little Round Top, and endured terrible trials there.

In the fall of 1863, Lee and Meade encircled one another in Northern Virginia, hoping to bring on another battle in the Mine Run Campaign. While a major battle between the two armies did not take place, other fights on a smaller, but still deadly, scale did occur. Coles' Cavalry did what cavalry often does: they guarded roads, telegraph lines, and scouted for the presence of the enemy forces.  As skirmishes took place, some of Coles’ men were captured and taken to the notorious Belle Isle prison camp in Richmond. George managed to escape capture, and soon after the campaign closed, asked for leave. He had not seen his family in over two years.

A Christmas furlough was granted to George Shriver for three days. He made the journey back to Gettysburg in time to greet his wife and daughters for Christmas Day. It was undoubtedly a joyous reunion.

Shriver’s holiday was a short one, typical during war time. He returned to his unit on December 29, in northern Virginia.

On New Year’s Day in 1864, Coles' Cavalry skirmished with the famous Confederate cavalry leader Colonel John Singleton Mosby and his troops near Leesburg, Virginia. As Mosby’s troops retreated to the town, Major Coles and his men followed. The Union cavalry had been baited and fell into the trap waiting for them at the crossroads near Rectortown. A larger fight ensued, and many were killed or captured. One of the prisoners was George Shriver.

As Belle Isle had grown too crowded, even as a tent prison on the island near Richmond, a newer, larger prisoner of war camp was being constructed in southwestern Georgia. In the spring the gates to the notorious Andersonville Prison opened, and the unfortunate George Shriver, along with many other Union cavalry and infantry, were taken there. George was one of the first prisoners to pass through the gates.

Within weeks, the camp was severely overcrowded and the prisoners were not only left to the elements, they were grievously malnourished. Disease and starvation ate away at any hope of survival for many.

In 1864 Ulysses S. Grant was promoted as commander of all Union armies. He worked with the Army of the Potomac and George Meade to follow and harass Robert E. Lee. Realizing that Lee’s army had fewer men, Grant hoped to defeat the Confederates by attrition. He decided that there would be no exchanging of prisoners.

With that decree, the despairing Union prisoners of war could only hope for a hasty end to the war. It did not come quickly enough for George Shriver.

In the torturously hot days of the Georgia summer, George Shriver fell ill and died on August 25, 1864. 

Henrietta did not know of her husband’s death until 1866, hoping against hope that he would return home. She was eventually forced to sell their Gettysburg home due to lack of funds.

George could not return home, even in death. His grave remains at Andersonville, a small white marker, indicating grave number 6816.

How many times did the Shriver family cling to the memories of their father’s brief Christmas visit? And how many families from that terrible war had to endure much of the same?

The fate of George Shriver, leaving a bereft young family, is just one of many thousands that occurred during those tumultuous years of Civil War.

Sources: Atwater, Dorence. Prisoners Who Died at Andersonville Prison. New York: 1865. Reprinted 1981. Newcomb, C. Armour. Coles Cavalry. New York, 1895, reprinted 1970. Copy, Gettysburg National Military Park. George W. Shriver Military Records and Pension Records, National Archives, Washington, D.C. Additional information taken from the Shriver House, Gettysburg, PA.

The Shriver House will be open for tours during Five Christmases at the Shriver House, Fridays and Saturdays through December 21. Visit shriverhouse.org for details.