The genesis of this paper lies in a chance remark by an acquaintance of Confederate antecedents. General Lee went to Gettysburg and he often said he had never dreamed there were such big barns and big horses as they had around Chambersburg. He came from Southside Virginia, where the farm buildings were mostly tobacco sheds and pole stables and the universal draft animal was the mule. This caused me to wonder just what impression our country made on the invading host and I began to search the ample store of literature dealing with the War between the States for references to Franklin County.
References abound, and no wonder.
From Stuart's October raid in '62 through the Gettysburg campaign, to the burning of thc county seat by McCausland in July of 1864, no bit of Northern soil was invaded oftener or occupied longer by the enemy than Franklin County. Yet it is amazing how little this fact seems to be appreciated. References abound, yes, but the great bulk of them are descriptive of troop movements and the action of commanders, or of incidents that, while interesting in themseves, are not truly impressions of the country and its inhabitants. It is worth noting here perhaps, how many writers these days who treat of Gettysburg rely on Jacob Hoke . He is well on the way to becoming Franklin County's most quoted citizen if, indeed, he is not that already.