Retreat into Maryland
"Asleep and at the same time walking"
Gettysburg Campaign
It was a miserable night, and an even more miserable journey. As 3 a.m. neared on July 5, 1863, the van of the Confederate retreat from Gettysburg arrived here at Leitersburg. The men had marched nonstop for nearly twelve hours, but heavy rain and thickening mud had slowed their race to Williamsport and the Potomac River - and safety.
Suddenly, the 1st Vermont Cavalry dashed onto the Leitersburg Pike and captured more than 100 men, as well as horses, mules, cattle, and wagons. The Federals then sped toward Hagerstown and Boonsboro in search of more Confederates, but they failed to strike the column again. Meanwhile the Leitersburg train, after its initial shock, continued unmolested toward the Potomac.
"Never had the men and horses been so jaded, and stove up. One of our men who dropped at the foot of a tree in a sort of hollow, went to sleep, and continued sleeping until the waster rose to his waist. ...Battery horses would drop down dead. So important was our movement that no halt for bivouac, though we marched scarcely two miles an hour, was made during the route from Gettysburg to Williamsport - a march of over 40 miles. ...The men and officers on horseback would go to sleep without knowing it, and at one time there was a halt occasioned by all the drivers ... being asleep in their saddles. In fact the whole of the army was dozing while marching and moved as if under enchantment or a spell - were asleep and at the same time walking."
Marker is at the intersection of Ringold Street and Ringold Pike (County Route 418), on the right when traveling south on Ringold Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
