page_title: 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment
section_title: Battle of Williamsport
hierarchical_section_title: 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment / Gettysburg Campaign / Battle of Williamsport
caption_attribution_description: English: The map shows the area around Gettysburg and Williamsport during the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee's army escaped from Gettysburg and crossed the Potomac River at Williamsport during July 1863.
context_page_description: The 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was present for 50 battles, beginning with the Battle of Hanover on June 30, 1863, and ending with a skirmish at Rude's Hill in March 1865. A majority of its fighting was in Virginia, although its first major battle was in Pennsylvania's Gettysburg campaign. It was consolidated with the 22nd Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment on June 24, 1865, to form the 3rd Provisional Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment.
  The regiment was organized at Pittsburgh and Harrisburg between October and December 1862. Green County was the source of recruits for three companies, while additional recruits came from elsewhere in the state. Companies L and M were late additions to the regiment, and were originally meant to be part of a 19th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment. Recruits for these two companies were mostly from the Philadelphia area.
  The regiment served in the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the Shenandoah. Among major battles where it saw action were the Battle of the Wilderness, the Third Battle of Winchester, and the Battle of Cedar Creek.
context_section_description: After the Battle of Gettysburg, Lee's army retreated toward Williamsport, Maryland, where it planned to cross the Potomac River to the relative safety of Virginia. In this retreat, Lee sent a wagon train of wounded men on a longer and more northerly route to Virginia. The healthy part of Lee's army used a southwestern route to Williamsport that went through mountainous terrain. Kilpatrick's division, after receiving reinforcements at Emmitsburg, Maryland, was part of the Union pursuit. As Meade's army pursued Lee, several battles and skirmishes occurred—including a fight by Kilpatrick's division in the mountains at Monterey Pass where a rebel wagon train was captured. Both portions of Lee's army, the wagon train of wounded men and the healthy soldiers, needed to pass through Hagerstown, Maryland, on their separate routes to Williamsport. The Battle of Williamsport, also known as Battle of Hagerstown, was part of Meade's attempt to prevent Lee's escape. 
  Most of the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry's fighting took place in Hagerstown, which is located on the National Road six miles (9.7 km) from the Potomac River. On the morning of July 6, Kilpatrick attacked rebel-occupied Hagerstown. Four companies from the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry made charges into town. Captain William C. Lindsay led Companies A and B with Captain Ulric Dahlgren, who was not part of the regiment but was an Acting Volunteer Aid to the division's commanding general. Lindsay, Sergeant Joseph Brown (Company B), and others were killed in close fighting in the streets of the town. Dahlgren took command and was wounded in the leg, which eventually required an amputation. Companies L and M, led by Captain Enos J. Pennypacker, also made charges into town. Pennypacker's horse was killed and he was severely wounded, and Lieutenants William L. Laws and Henry C. Potter were among the men captured. Laws later died at Libby Prison. Losses for the regiment were eight killed, 19 wounded, and 71 missing. Captain Charles J. Snyder of the 1st Michigan Cavalry Regiment, who was temporarily leading a group from the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry, was also killed. Over the next few days, the regiment skirmished at Boonesboro, Funkstown, and Hagerstown (again)—and suffered no casualties. At Falling Waters on July 14, they were not engaged. Lee's army crossed the Potomac at Williamsport and Falling Waters on July 14. The Army of the Potomac eventually crossed back to Virginia, and the headquarters of the 3rd Division was established near Warrenton.
caption: Lee's Army fled from Gettysburg southwest through Hagerstown to Williamsport
exif: {}