"? for Scott Mingus" Topic

Scott,

Can you tell me where Newman's Gap is/was? It is/was a pass in South Mountain, somewhere near Gettysburg, but I can't find it on any map. Baldy Smith's militia camped there on the night of 6-7 July. It's not the same as Cashtown Gap, is it?

Don

It's described as on the turnpike from Gettysburg to Chambersburg, the modern US Highway 30. Nowadays there's a Newman Road that leaves US 30 heading south to South Mountain Road.

link

The "History of the Twenty-Second Regiment of the National Guard of the State of New York" (page 280) says: "To-night Gen. Smith will probably be at Newman's Cut, three miles west of Cashtown, on the Emmetsburg road." That puts it just about at the northern end of the modern Newman Road, on US 30.

link

The "A" marks the midpoint of the road; just head north to meet US 30. That should be Newman's Gap or Newman's Cut.

Allen

You mean where Mr. Ed's Elephant Museum is?

Thanks, Allen! Would "Caledonia Park" be where Caledonia Furnace iron works were?

Yep:

link

Apparently there are still visible remnants of the iron works that can be seen from the walking trails in the state park, along with the reconstructed bits.

link

link

Allen

Newman's Gap is on the OLD Cashtown Road, not on the new US 30. It's the site of a bushwhacking during the Gettysburg Campaign that mortally wounded a Virginia cavalrymen from Albert Jenkins' brigade. Newman's Tavern served as a vidette post for the First City Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry the last week of June as they scouted the mountain pass and watched the road for signs of Jubal Early's advance, departing the gap in the morning of June 26 as the Rebel infantry marched toward Gettysburg.

The old farm where Smith camped is still evident; the farmer filed a damage claim after the war IIRC listing what Smith's boys took in the way of firewood/fences, and the damage to his fields from their campsite.

The 17th Virginia Cavalry under Col. William Harrison French was ordered by Jubal Early to torch the buildings of the Caledonia Furnace. Early was angry that the complex's owner, Congressman Thaddeus Stevens (R-PA), was a Radical Republican who openly condoned and encouraged harsh treatment of the occupied sections of the South, so Early ordered the furnace and outbuilding burned.

The overseer / supervisor, William Sweeney, pleaded with Early not to destroy the barracks and housing for the workers. Early complied and only burned the actual factory buildings. However, some 200 employees were left without jobs, and the housing eventually fell into disrepair and was torn down.

I cover this in detail in my recent book, Flames Beyond Gettysburg: The Gordon Expedition June 1863: A History and Tour Guide (Columbus, Ohio: Ironclad Publishing, 2009).

SPRING SPECIAL: On sale now to TMPers at the discount price of $20 USD plus postage. That's 20% off the MSRP.

"Newman's Gap is on the OLD Cashtown Road, not on the new US 30."

From overhead, I don't see much difference at the point where the gap would be or at Caledonia. Don't they pretty much run together at Newman's Tavern?

gettysburgdaily.com/?p=6207

Allen

Yes, the gap itself does run through both. The campsite is along the old road. I didn't make myself clear enough…

No worries; all easy enough to find these days without too much tromping through the weeds, it looks like.

I remember one afternoon at the Wilderness where I almost got misoriented, as the woods were so close. No problems understanding that battle once you've been among the trees!

Allen

So, would Imboden's wagons full of wounded have come thru there?

Yes, a large portion of the wounded came through Cashtown and Newman's gaps; some took other passes.

A supply wagon train was destroyed on South Mountain near Monterrey Pass on land owned for many years by the paper company that I work for here in southern PA. The old-times tell me that when they were kids, remnants of the burned Rebel wagons (destroyed by Custer and Kilpatrick) were still evident in the woods along the old road, which became a logging road for Glatfelter when the new highway was put in. The company sold the land a couple of years ago; I had been working to get permission from my boss (the VP) to do a little metal detecting on the site of the wagon train raid. No dice.

That was a different train of wagons from Imboden's, though. That was Major Harmon's "Reserve" train, belonging to Ewell's 2nd Corps, including wagons of various divisions. It went through Fairfield. Imboden's went through Cashtown before turning south. So, back to my original question, is Newman's Gap the same as Cashtown Gap? (I'm currently writing about the retreat from Gettysburg, so I want to get this right.)

Sorry. I missed the original question, Don. Technically they are different. Newman's Gap is a couple miles west of the actual Cashtown Pass, with Black Gap a little farther west (the latter was the site of Early's LA Tigers' campsite on June 25).

Good luck with the writing project!

I thought about including material on Early's train in my LA Tigers book as I cover the retreat of the brigade in some depth, but I needed to shorten it down. Elijah White's battalion (the subject of my recent article in Gettysburg Magazine) was among the Rebel cavalry covering the rear of Ewell's train.

Don,

By the way, if you check out this link and slowly scroll west on the map northeast from Gettysburg along Route 30 / old Cashtown Road past McKnightstown, you will see Cashtown Gap (immediately west of Cashtown at Rock Top) and Newman's Gap off to the west near where the old road and Route 30 meet.

link

Scott,

The map is too small for me to tell where I am on it, and I soon lose my way.

So is Newman's Gap part of the same "hole" in the ridge as Cashtown Gap, just farther west along the mountain? Or is it a whole different gap, farther south?

Yes, it is part of the same hole, farther to the west.

OK, thanks!