Mechanicsburg: Our One Horse Town

Reenactor Ron Hawkins portrays General Jenkins in Mechanicsburg Saturday
photo: Maizie Ober

Yesterday I learned that one horse is sometimes more powerful than an entire cavalry.

Saturday morning our town, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, formally recognized and reenacted the 150th Anniversary of the occupation of confederate forces led by Brig. General Albert G. Jenkins. In June of 1863 confederate soldiers occupied Mechanicsburg on their way from Carlisle to Harrisburg. For three days the rebels demanded food rations, required the surrender of our flag, and destroyed the Cumberland Valley Railroad by pulling up the tracks. 

poster: Juliette Ober

The war-weary confederate soldiers were described by our townspeople as unkempt with faded uniforms. They were basically kind to the residents, but reportedly loved to trot by on horseback and steal the hats from the male citizens in town. Apparently, at this late date in the war, the soldiers were mostly hatless. 

Some historians posit that the confederate soldiers were worn out and tired when they got to Gettysburg precisely because of riding so far east to our town and back to Gettysburg. Therefore, it is entirely possible that this three day junket to Mechanicsburg altered the outcome of the battle at Gettysburg and ultimately the war.

Mayor Jack Ritter hands over the flag outside Union Church
photo: Maizie Ober

Our family friend and life-long resident of Mechanicsburg, attorney Andrew C. Sheely, single-handedly conceived and organized a three day historical celebration of the occupation that as I type is still going on with closing ceremonies all day Sunday. Andy's passion is history, but more than that he has a vision for the future of Mechanicsburg, the town he loves. In the last ten years he has worked to educate local people about the importance of our small family farms and at the same time he has helped to bring culture and business to our tiny, oft-forgotten downtown district.

Andy Sheely spent the last year tirelessly coordinating the events to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of General Jenkin's occupation. Yet when I saw him yesterday morning on the square right before the reenactment of the requisition, he looked defeated and discouraged.

poster: Juliette Ober

Early this past winter Andy secured a large number of Civil War reenactors to ride into our town on horseback. My family was assigned the happy task of helping with the horsekeeping duties at a nearby park. But as the event date drew near, Andy would tell us that there were less and less horses and riders coming to the Mechanicsburg affair.

Civil War buffs and historians were being drawn to the glitz and hype surrounding the 150th Anniversary at Gettysburg. Even Carlisle was pulling in more press than our little burg. Reenactors naturally go where the crowds are, and Mechanicsburg was low man on the totem pole.

When we arrived yesterday morning with our truck full of hay and water buckets and all our horse first aid gear, Andy met us to dejectedly say there would be only one horse.

His disappointment was palpable. 

The irony is that Andy wasn't working furiously to compete with Gettysburg for Civil War fame. No, his goal was much more pure. He simply wanted to educate our residents about the history of our town. The streets we walk each day had been the location of a scary, tenuous three day occupation 150 years ago.

General Jenkins demands food rations from Mechanicsburg townspeople
photo: Maizie Ober

So at 10 o'clock Saturday morning one lone horse made its way down the street carrying "Brigadier General Albert G. Jenkins" followed by a rag-tag group of soldiers and a drummer. 

And, something truly magical happened. History came alive. 

As our real mayor, Jack Ritter, assumed the role of Mechanicsburg's 1863 Burgher Hummel and handed over our flag, I felt a tingle go up my spine. The neighbors and visitors who came to watch, small in number, but actually almost identical to the number of townsfolk who would have been present in 1863, listened to Jenkins bark out his demands. Recreating the tension of that day would have been impossible in a large ceremony with oodles of horses and vendors and crowds.

My mom whispered, "I'm crying" just as I felt my own eyes flood. My husband, Brian, told me later he felt chills. I held on to my Maizie-girl, so grateful for our safety, our security, our happy town, free of fear. 

The small, intimate nature of yesterday morning's gathering around one horse made it all very real. No cavalry could have brought the history of Mechanicsburg to life any better.