This Month's Headlines:
Spring has arrived in Gettysburg, and we are pleased to bring you another issue of historic articles, old-fashioned recipes, and our recently updated Calendar of Events, all beginning on page 11.
We offer The Henry Spangler Farm: A Most Historic Field, beginning on page 21. It was a home purchased by a young husband for his love for his wife. Their marriage, and their home, endured through the terrible battle, and their farm still adorns the pastoral field where Pickett’s men began their fateful charge. A look at the integral months From Gettysburg to Appomattox begins on page 31. And, a worthy commander is remembered in Thomas A. Smyth: The Forgotten General, beginning on page 39.
The Henry Spangler Farm: A Most Historic Field
The Spangler family is one of the most prolific in Gettysburg. A large majority of Adams County families most likely have a Spangler in their genealogical lineage.
The name Spangler derives from the German word Spengler – which means “a metal worker. The earliest ancestor known of the Spangler clan was George Spengler, living in 1150 A.D. who was the “cup bearer of the Bishop of Wurzberg”. The family lived in the Rhine Valley of Germany for many centuries, until religious persecution drove them into Switzerland and The Netherlands. Until they were driven from their homeland, they were considered “well-to-do, thrifty and intelligent ” and “were descendants of noble and honorable stock.”
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When the guns grew silent at Gettysburg, a definite and pivotal change had occurred favoring the Union, but the war still had nearly two more years to go.
General Robert E. Lee, who realized that a defensive war would only end in attrition for the defenders, had taken a gamble on taking the fight into the North, and lost heavily in Pennsylvania. His men, however, refused to be beaten; it would take much more to lead them to that eventual surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. That future surrender had begun at the crossroads town of Gettysburg in the summer of 1863, though the combatants had not yet realized it. >Read More
Thomas A. Smyth: The Forgotten General
April 9, 1865 proved a momentous day in the annals of American history. At Appomattox Court House, a white flag was seen, signaling the end of the four-year fratricidal war. It was a day that hostilities ceased, that starvation was stayed, and the survivors looked forward to life at home. At a house in nearby Farmville, located about 25 miles east of the surrender site, a Union general gave his last breath, unable to take part in the finality of the war he worked so long to achieve. He was the last Union general killed in the war, dying at almost the precise moment that Generals Grant and Lee negotiated terms for a peace he would not live to see. His name was Thomas Alfred Smyth, a forgotten commander in the annals of Civil War history.
Thomas Smyth was one of many Irish immigrants who fought in the American Civil War. He was born in County Cork, Ireland on Christmas Day in 1832. His parents, David and Margaret Kennedy Smyth, were farmers. At age 18, he served for a brief stint in the 65th Infantry Regiment in Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s Service, in 1851. He returned to his parents’ farm, but after two years, he discovered that he preferred the military life to farming. Thomas left his father’s farm and journeyed to America, disembarking in Philadelphia, in 1854, at age 21. Drawing on his newly found military prowess, he joined an expedition to Nicaragua shortly after his arrival. Once he returned to the United States, he settled in Wilmington, Delaware and was engaged in work as a coach maker. Like most of the young men at that time, he joined the local militia. He made many >Read More
Editor's Corner: More Rarely Used Words
There are countless words in any language. We daily employ just a small fraction of them when speaking or writing. It’s always a good exercise to increase our vocabulary.
Here are a few interesting, and exceptional, words that we rarely use. >Read More
The Books
A Gettysburg Collection,
A Biographical Treasury
By Diana Loski
Diana Loski is the editor of The Gettysburg Experience magazine. For the Civil War enthusiasts, for the visitor passing through, or for the long-time Gettysburg resident, this book will capture the essence of this unique and wonderful, and sometimes tragic, place known to the world as the Borough of Gettysburg.
$12.00 plus $4.50 S&H
Books are available for purchase
by calling (717)359-0776.
About Us
The Gettysburg Experience magazine, a publication exploring the Gettysburg of yesterday and today. We offer an array of interesting articles – most of which have a direct relation to historic Gettysburg from the Colonial era through the turn of the 21st century, often with an emphasis on the famous battle that occurred in the summer of 1863.
The Gettysburg Experience also offers a comprehensive Events Calendar (for those who want to know what special happenings to attend when they visit – any time of the year), delicious recipes, Gettysburg trivia, profiles of people and area businesses.
Having served the Gettysburg area since 1997, The Gettysburg Experience extends our magazine to a wider circulation of readers, offering a glimpse into one of America’s most fascinating towns.
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