The posted coordinates will bring you to one edge of Wrightsville's Mount Pisgah Cemetery. To fully understand the significance of this spot we must step back in time to the summer of 1863 during the U.S. Civil War.
In the river to the east, next to the current Rt. 462 bridge, are stone pilings from a series of earlier bridges. Wrightsville’s intersection of road, railroad, canal, and river made it a very important location. Road and rail crossed on what was at the time the world’s longest covered bridge. The stone pilings mark the main spot to cross the river for many miles up or down stream at the time.
After capturing York with little resistance, southern troops advanced to take the bridge at Wrightsville. The small Union force of no more than 1,400 men consisted of inexperienced militia and local volunteers and had almost no artillery. Although they were dug in, with barricades throughout the streets of the town, the small Union force was no match for the experienced southern infantry and cavalry.
The southern forces had another advantage. As the southern troops passed through York a young girl, probably around 12 years old, ran out and gave General Gordon a bouquet of flowers. The general discovered that it hid a note,
“in delicate handwriting, purporting to give the numbers and describe the position of the Union forces of Wrightsville. It bore no signature, and contained no assurance of sympathy for the Southern cause, but it was so terse and explicit in its terms as to compel my confidence.”
When the troops arrived in Wrightsville, they learned the note from an unknown Copperhead was accurate.
The small Union force fought well but was forced back by attacks and artillery fire, only retreating across the bridge at the last possible moment. A reporter at the time noted,
“Colonel Frick passed quietly and exposed to the fire of the Confederate sharpshooters from the left to the right of our lines and whispered. . . an order to fall back to the bridge. This movement was affected in excellent order by the command, although exposed during the movement to a heavy fire of shell and to a galling one of sharpshooters. The shells exploded over us and in close proximity to our ranks and there were many narrow escapes. I am glad to say that the 27th Regiment had no men killed and but three or four slightly wounded. Had we moved from our pits five minutes later, my belief is that our retreat would have been cut off.”
Falling back across the bridge to Columbia, the Union forces sawed and drilled the bridge’s timbers and detonated charges to destroy the bridge. The charges failed to drop the span, and Union troops set fires that finally destroyed the bridge.
While the 27th PA escaped without casualties, the other militia forces were not so lucky. Part of the force was made of non-uniformed civilians who volunteered to help strengthen the defensive works. When the attack began they put down their shovels, got some instruction on muskets, and stood with the Union forces to defend the town. Many of these volunteers were African-American men. Historian Scott Mingus described the events of the day.
“When the shooting started, these brave civilians did not flinch. All 53 men are reported as staying at their posts. One man fell, never to rise again, when an artillery shell fragment smashed into his skull and effectively decapitated him. His comrades, unphased, retreated in good order with the 27th Militia across the bridge back to Columbia where they dressed their lines and presumably finally had a chance to mourn their lost friend.”
Four of the five men who fired the bridge during the retreat were honored with memorials in a cemetery across the river in Columbia. An unknown Confederate soldier found dead in the river has a monument along the river to the north. The identity and burial location of the Union volunteer killed in the battle remains unknown to this day, but on June 28, 2014, exactly 151 years from the event, a monument was dedicated to honor this man, “and all Black veterans who honorably served in the armed forces.”
To claim this find please submit a photo of yourself and the monument.
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.