The Buehler House, Gettysburg

(Author photo)

Ever since Benjamin Franklin was appointed Postmaster General by the Continental Congress in 1775, the post office was an integral part of what would become the United States of America. Even during the Civil War, the mail continued to reach most of the vast populace. In Gettysburg in 1863, the postmaster was a Pennsylvania native named David Buehler. His assistant was Joseph Miller.¹

In those days, the officer of postmaster was a Federal appointment. Much was entrusted to him – including government papers, state documents, and other official items, in addition to delivering mail to individuals.²

David Buehler was born in Gettysburg in 1821. Before becoming Gettysburg’s postmaster, he earned his living as a printer of a local newspaper. His wife was the former Frances Jane Guyon, a New Jersey native, whom he married in Essex, New Jersey in 1849. The couple set up housekeeping in Gettysburg, and David became the editor and printer of the Star & Sentinel, a well-received publication of the time. The couple lived on Baltimore Street in Gettysburg, across the street from the Courthouse. They raised several children, seven in all. Catherine (Kate), Martha (Mattie), Almira (Myra), Guyon, and Alexander (Allie) were all in the Buehler home on Baltimore Street in 1863. Two more sons joined the family after the Battle of Gettysburg: Herbert in 1864 and David Jr., born in 1868.³

The rumors that the Army of Northern Virginia had entered Pennsylvania alarmed the citizens of Gettysburg. Since Fannie Buehler still had family in New Jersey, she sent her children, except for Kate, the eldest, and Allie, only two years old and in ill health, with her mother, who took them to Jersey City by train. Fannie felt that she could not leave town for the sake of her husband, and for her little son, Allie, whose illness proved fatal later that year.⁴

When the Confederates closed in on Gettysburg on June 26, 1863, the Buehlers knew that David, as Postmaster, was in danger of being captured. After working that morning, the Postmaster walked two blocks to the Diamond in the center of town to investigate the rumors of the approaching Southern troops. He saw an acquaintance there, who told him, “Run for your life!” David hurried home, where his wife agreed that he should leave or be captured. “He…took his satchel [of official government papers]…and left.” Fannie then took down the post office sign that hung in front of their home, “buried the keys and locked the door.” David’s assistant, Joseph Miller, also left with him. The men reached the town of Hanover, fourteen miles east of Gettysburg, and remained there to avoid capture.⁵

Within hours, the men from Jubal Early’s Confederate Division reached Gettysburg. General Early quickly made demands on the town counselors, including several thousand dollars in gold and shoes that the Southerners mistakenly thought were in ample supply in town. As the town had already sent the monies to Philadelphia for safekeeping and had no shoes (the shoe factory was in Hanover), they told Early that they could not comply.⁶

“I never saw a more unsightly set of men,” Fannie Buehler remembered, “and as I looked at them in their dirty, torn garments, hatless, shoeless and foot-sore, I pitied them from the depth of my heart.”⁷ 

As darkness approached on June 26^th, Fannie sat on the steps of her front porch and noticed a few Confederates across the street near the Courthouse. They noticed her and “came across the street, and asked permission to sit down, which I granted,” she said. “They were not as ragged and dirty as some of the men I had seen earlier…and were very civil and well-behaved. We had a long, pleasant talk, no bitterness expressed by them or by me. They spoke of their surprise at the condition of things as they saw at the North, and thought it was high time they left their impoverished country to find a land of plenty.”⁸

General Lee had many reasons for invading the North. One reason was to feed and outfit his ragged and severely malnourished men. The South had been the core of the fighting for the first two years of war, and the land had been practically decimated. Lee hoped to give a respite to his beloved war-torn Virginia. He also hoped to take the battle to the North, and decisively end the war.

Lee realized, and rightly, that without going on the offensive, the South would eventually lose the war by attrition.

Once the Confederates arrived in Gettysburg, they noticed, with some concern, a plethora of civilian men in town. They called them “idle men”. “Why,” they said to Fannie, “our men and boys are all in the army, why aren’t these?” She told them that “We have all the men in the army who are needed, and thousands stand ready to fill up the ranks.”⁹

General Early’s Division left the next day, but both Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and Meade’s Army of the Potomac came the following Wednesday, on July 1, 1863. Mrs. Buehler took her daughter, Kate, and her son, Allie, into the cellar as “the slaughter went on.” She also had a Newfoundland dog, named Bruno, at home. Soon Fannie’s three sisters-in-law came to the Buehler home and joined her in the basement. By the end of the first day’s fight, wounded men came pouring up Baltimore Street. Fannie and her husband’s sisters stayed busy dressing their wounds and sending them to the safety of the cellar.¹⁰

Surprisingly, none of the soldiers who sought refuge at the Postmaster’s house were taken prisoner. In addition to the wounded, hungry and exhausted soldiers also found their way to Fannie Buehler. “Among them was a German and an Irishman, both of whom made themselves very useful to me,” Fannie remembered.¹¹

After providing aid to the wounded, Fannie decided that they all needed nourishment. “There was no lack of provisions in our home, thanks to the prudent forethought of my very thoughtful husband,” Fannie wrote. They feasted on ham, potatoes, onions, peas, beans, coffee, tea, and “biscuits, which they were glad to get – instead of the hardtack. They had not eaten light bread for months…I can never forget how grateful these poor men were.”¹²

The German and Irish soldiers brought in wood, started a fire for cooking, and peeled the potatoes, making pleasant and often humorous conversation. Then, the next day, they were ordered away, and Fannie never saw them again.¹³

As the battle ensued for the next two days, the Buehlers remained in the cellar, with young Allie calling the hissing shells “birdies”. When all grew silent on July 4, Fannie went to the garret to look out the window. She saw the Confederate wagons leaving, winding their way westward into the hills. “All around us were evidences of the great battle, the wounded, the dead and dying, all heaped together; horses that had fallen beneath their riders with limbs shattered and torn – dead, wounded, and bleeding – broken down artillery wagons, guns and knapsacks, cartridge boxes, capes, coats, and shoes, all belongings of a soldier, and the soldier himself all lying in the streets, so far as we could see.” Such was the view of the Postmaster’s wife as she stood in front of her house on Baltimore Street.¹⁴

David Buehler returned, relieved to find his house and family unharmed. Fannie, her sisters-in-law and her daughter Kate continued to give their aid to the many wounded left behind. As the limbs were amputated and the groans and shrieks of the wounded filled the air, Fannie stopped her ears so she could bear it.

On September 4, Allie died from his illness. He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery.¹⁵

After the war, David Buehler became the Vice-President of the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association. Under his direction, many of the monuments that still stand on the field were dedicated and roads for touring the battlefield were constructed. He also maintained his position as publisher and editor of the Star & Sentinel. The Buehlers’ son, Guyon, took over the paper upon his father’s retirement. The three daughters, Kate, Mattie, and Myra, all married Presbyterian ministers. Kate moved to Philadelphia, Mattie to Iowa, and Myra remained in Gettysburg.¹⁶

Herbert, born in 1864, moved to Connecticut and also became a newspaper editor. David, the youngest, born in 1868, practiced medicine in Harrisburg.¹⁷

David Buehler, the postmaster, attorney, publisher, and Vice-President of the Memorial Association, passed away in 1887 at the age of 66. He was considered “a man of unimpeachable integrity.”¹⁸

Fannie Buehler lived in her Baltimore Street home until her death on July 1, 1908. – the 45^th anniversary of the first day of the battle. She “had been ill for many weeks, suffering from angina pectoris.” She was 82. Both are buried near their son Allie, in Evergreen Cemetery.¹⁹

Like so many women who were left to fend for themselves during the Battle of Gettysburg, Fannie’s courage, compassion for human suffering, and her gratitude, kept her going through those difficult days. Her writings about that unforgettable summer of 1863 were made for the sake of her children, who had asked her repeatedly to document her story. And we are ever grateful that she did so.

Sources: Ancestry.com: David A. and Frances J. Buehler Family Records. Buehler, Fannie. “Recollections of the Rebel Invasion and One Woman’s Experience during the Battle of Gettysburg.” 1896. Fannie Buehler Civilian Accounts File, Adams County Historical Society (hereafter ACHS). The Democratic Advocate: “Fannie Buehler Obituary”, Friday, July 3, 1908. Evergreen Cemetery Burial Records, Gettysburg, PA. Gettysburg Post Office Historical Marker, Gettysburg, PA. The Harrisburg Morning Call, Jan. 29, 1887. Penn State Archives, The U.S. Postal Service Records, 1789-1875, cse.psu.edu. Historical newspapers accessed through newspapers.com.

End Notes: 

1. The Gettysburg Post Office Historical Marker, Gettysburg, PA. 

2. U.S. Postal Service Records, 1789-1875,cse.psu.edu. 

3. David A. & Frances J. Buehler Family    Records, ancestry.com. 

4. Buehler, p. 8. Buehler Family Records, ancestry.com. 

5. Buehler, p. 9. 

6. Ibid., pp. 10-11. 

7. Ibid., p. 10. 

8. Ibid., p. 12. 

9. Ibid. 

10. Ibid., p. 17. 

11. Ibid., p. 19. 

12. Recollections, p. 24. 

13. Ibid. 

14. Ibid., pp. 24-25. 

15. Evergreen Cemetery Records, Gettysburg. 

16. The Democratic Advocate, July 4, 1908. 

17. Ibid. 

18. The Harrisburg Morning Call, Jan. 29, 1887. 

19. The Democratic Advocate, July 4, 1908.  Evergreen Cemetery  Records, Gettysburg.