The Battles of McConnellsburg and Cumberland
 

When you take a drive to Cumberland, Maryland on Route 220 South some day and take the exit ramp for Route 68 west, stop midway on the exit/entrance ramp and pull off the roadway to the right side. You are now sitting in the middle of a civil war battle that occurred there on August 1, 1864.

The battle was called Folck's Mills, and was named after the John Folck's Family that was living in the area. The family mill, farm, and out buildings were located in the center of the main battle area. Today you can still see the remains of the mill foundation that exists in the grassy, wooded area, of the ( on ramp ) to Route 68. In this area towards Evitt's Ceek, you can also see the remains of the Folck's barn building that was burned during the battle. The Barn foundation is a few yards northeast of the large mill's foundation.

Other buildings in the immediate area are Folck's grist mill, saw mill, cooper shop, the Folck's home, and a few other out buildings. The Folck's home and cooper shop now reside under the current Route 68 Highway. Looking across Rt. 68 to the south you see the motel and restaurant now called Puccini's. The old building was the Civil War era home of George Hinkle who was a farmer. Across from the Hinkle home was the toll booth of the Baltimore Pike. Just a few feet to the east of the Hinkle home, was the covered bridge over Evitt's Creek. To the west of the Hinkle farm, on the top of the hillside that Rt. 68 now cuts thru, was the area where the main Union army was entrenched and waited for the confederates to arrive, for a surprise attack.

Now, lets look to what almost brought the Confederates here to invade Bedford County, and possibly burn the town of Bedford, and the Bedford Springs, if a large ransom was not met by the citizens of the area. General Lee's army was facing off with General Grant's army in Petersburg, Va. Lee had to find a way to divert Union troops away from Petersburg if he had any chance of surviving, so he devised a plan to attack Washington, D.C., and his plan temporarily worked. The Confederates attacked the area near Washington and got within the city limits when the Union army was finally reinforced with 24,000 men, and fought off the Confederates. The Confederates fought a few more battles afterwards, including a successful battle near Winchester, Va. ( 2nd battle of Kernstown ) which launched them northward into Pennsylvania.

Once in Pennsylvania, they arrived at Chambersburg and burned the town because the townspeople wouldn't raise enough money for the ransom. Many felt the town would have been burned anyway in retaliation for the Union army burning of the Virginia Military Institute earlier in the year. After the Confederates pillaged and burned the town, they headed towards McConnellsburg with the intention of doing the same thing there. It was at McConnellsburg that the Union army caught up with them and dispersed them at that point. If this had not happened, the Confederates would have headed for Bedford and who knows what the fate of the town would have been? Instead they headed towards Hancock, Md. to elude the Union forces. It was so hot at this time in July that the Union army was slow in pursuing. They had lost 100 horses to heat stroke, between Chambersburg and Hancock, Md.

The Confederates also asked for a ransom in Hancock but trouble within the ranks was looming. There were Maryland Confederate troops in the ranks and they would not stand for a ransom on their hallowed home state. Just as things were getting out of hand between the Confederates themselves, the Union army arrived and fought them through town to the west, on the Baltimore pike. A military train equipped with artillery to the south of Hancock, kept the Confederates in Maryland, and forced them west as they headed towards Cumberland, Md.

On August 1, 1864 the Confederates approached Cumberland on the Baltimore pike. They were slowed up at Flintstone, Md. by a small detachment of Union troops They quickly brushed them aside and headed on to Cumberland. General Kelly's son Tappan Kelly was in charge of the small detachment of Union troops at Flintstone. The Union leader at Cumberland was General Benjamin F. Kelly who was stationed at Keyser, W.V. during the battle. Kelly received a telegraph from the Union forces located at McConnellsburg and elsewhere, that the Confederates were heading for Cumberland. Kelly devised a battle plan, and ordered a large force 2 1/2 miles east on the Baltimore pike to meet the enemy which they knew were headed west. The problem was that Kelly's men had never been tested in a battle and McClausland's Confederates were all veterans.

Local townsmen took up arms and headed out of town as the "Potomac Home Brigade Home Militia" under the command of Charles Mynn Thruston of Washington Street. Charles' grandfather had been a Colonel in the Revolutionary war. The 156th Ohio headed out to meet the Confederates also, but they were untried, 100 day troops ready to muster out of service. The only veterans present were three artillery crews of the 1st Illinois Battery L who  also headed out of town and placed their guns on top the hill just west of Puccini's Restaurant ( The George Hinkle House ). The rest of the untested troops deployed on both sides of the cannons and dug in for the fight that they knew was coming. Hundreds of townspeople headed out behind the troops and took a spot on top of the surrounding hillsides to catch a glimpse of the battle. Suddenly the moment of truth had come, it was 3 o'clock and the Confederates were marching west. The first few hundred Confederates had crossed the covered bridge at Evitt's Creek when the Union forces opened fire on them at point blank range. The Confederates scrambled for cover behind the bridge and at the home of George Hinkle as well as several buildings around John Folck's Mill, just north of Hinkle's place. They began to return fire and, after a long period of fighting, almost captured the left ( northern ) side of the posted union troops with their sharpshooters deploying ever closer on the ridge ( above the cemetery north of Interstate 68 at the Cumberland Motel building).

The Confederates had four cannon posted near to where the Rt.220 bridge crosses over Interstate 68. They were commanded by a Texan named John McClanahan. The rebel artillery was very good, but the Union soldiers were entrenched on high enough ground which rendered the Confederate fire almost ineffective. After six hours of fighting back and forth, darkness stopped the battle.

The battle report of the 156th Ohio states "The regiment was ordered to Cumberland, Maryland to resist the rebel invasion. The unit reached Cumberland on July 31st 1864 and encamped southeast of the city on the hill. On the fist of August at 1:00 p.m. the unit moved on the double quick thru the town and out the Baltimore Pike about 3 miles nearer to Folck's Mills, where it met the enemy under McClausland and Bradley Johnson. The one hundred and fifty sixth, although exposed to a severe fire of artillery and infantry, maintained itself well, and sustained but slight loss. The regiment layed on its arms at nite, but daylight showed that the enemy had retreated." General Kelly in a letter to Colonel Marker, complemented the regiment upon the steadiness of its line, and on the accuracy in which it returned the fire of the enemy's sharpshooters.

A soldier wrote home after the battle " I began to think you wasn't going to write. Well I have seen what they call the elephant, we had a fight
last Monday. I guess there wasn't anyone killed in our regt. as I know of but there may be. We have seen a little harder times than we had in Kentucky. There was two thousand rebbles. That is the report but there is so many reports that I can't tell shure how many there was and don't know how many there was of us. There was 850 of us that I am sure of, 200 local men, and three pieces of artillery but we whipped them out. The fight
commenced about three o'clock P.M. and lasted until 8 o'clock. The confederates fell back and left in the night some time. But I can't give any account how large a loss was on the other side. I tell you what, the shells came pretty close to us for a while. Our company was close to our artillery and the confederates were throwing shells at them, trying to whip them out or spike there cannon. I will try to give you a better account of the battle later."

After the battle the Confederates retreated south towards Flintstone Creek, crossing into West Virginia south of Oldtown, Md. Confederate casualties were 38 total, they left 30 wounded and killed on the field before retreating. They also left several wagons, ammunition wagons and cannon carriages, and other pillaged items from Chambersburg on the field and along the roads while heading south. The home of George Hinkle ( currently Pucinni's Restaurant ) is said to have been a hospital for the wounded soldiers on both sides. The Union army had very few casualties, although one soldier was seriously wounded. He was hit in the face near the eye with a piece of shell fired from the enemy artillery. The fragment entered his face and traveled downward into his throat. He was able to cough out the metal piece hours later but had no vision in his one eye. He eventually recovered from his wound.

A traveler through the area in 1911 wrote this about Folck's Mill "During the Civil War a battle took place at this point, and several Confederates were killed. The old brick and stone mill just north of this bridge still shows the holes made by Union cannon balls fired from one of the hilltops nearer Cumberland; and the large brick dwelling, still to be seen a short distance farther on, at the junction of the Baltimore Pike and the cross-over to the Bedford Road, was also struck and is considerably damaged." The Confederates fought a few more battles as they made their way down into the Valley of Virginia. Robert E. Lee had partially succeeded in his objective to clear Petersburg of Union troops, but at a severe loss of his men and material.
 

 

Joseph Topinka resides in Bedford, PA. He is a Civil War and French and Indian War reenactor and living historian. He is well known for his portrayal of Gen. George Armstrong Custer.

 

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