American History Travels

   Also referred to as Saucks Covered Bridge, Union and Confederate troops marched over this span during the Gettysburg campaign in 1863. Close to its original location, the bridge crosses Marsh Creek. During my research of the 1863 campaign, I became quite interested in the movements and fighting of the Pennsylvania Bucktail Brigade which included the 143rd, 149th, and 150th Regiments and a Union commander by the name of Roy Stone. In James J. Dougherty's Stone's Brigade and the Fight for the McPherson Farm, the Bucktails approach to the battle was described as by the Millerstown Road, crossing the bridge on July 1, 1863, and proceeding to the Chambersburg Pike west of town where they entered the fight.  https://www.thegettysburgexperience.com/virtually-annihilated--colonel-roy-stone-at-gettysburg-by-diana-loski Distance from the National Civil War Museum, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: 48.8 miles. I will let stories about the bridge, after the battle, to your own imaginatio...

 

 

                                                                                    

September 17, 2025 The 163rd Anniversity of the Battle of Antietam, Sharpsburg, Maryland From the Library of Congress, Alexander Gardner's image shows the bodies of dead Confederate soldiers and a horse next to a wagon, in front of the Dunker Church after the Battle of Antietam.  During the Victorian Era, the idea of a "Good Death" involved a dignified passing surrounded by loved ones. Gardner's photos shattered this concept by showing a horrifying and anonymous end for soldiers in battle. Major General Hooker was stunned by the carnage, he described the cornfield on the D.R. Miller farm, where his I Corps fought as a place "where every stalk of corn... was cut as closely as could have been done with a knife, and the slain lay in rows precisely as they had stood in their ranks a few moments before. It was never my fortune to witness a more bloody, dismal battlefield." The National Park Service refers to the Battle of Antietam as the bloodiest day in American...

                               The road from Williamsport, Pennsylvania...traveling north to FREEDOM...            And along the way...a small cemetery containing the remains of Grand Army of the Republic veterans   Distance from the National Civil War Museum: 88.4 miles. Short starts, below, to learn more about such a significant piece of United States and Pennsylvania history...ENJOY! Mamie Sweeting Diggs | The Underground Railroad in Lycoming County, PA City was key point along Underground Railroad | News, Sports, Jobs - Williamsport Sun-Gazette https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd7fGhFeVfA Please follow us on Facebook at  American History Travels | Facebook

Upcoming trips:  https://www.nationalcivilwarmuseum.org/event/cocktails-and-cannonballs-2025/ ... Distance from the National Civil War Museum: 0.0 miles

Will learn this step by step...but I have a sincere interest in sharing American history travel experiences with others. The sites I post hopefully will generate interest regardless of their size or historical significance. As a lifelong amateur historian, I have many times seen or heard of a historical topic to start and then spent countless hours in the research desiring to learn more. I will emphasize travel to 18th & 19th century historical sites. AND whenever possible, I will try to showcase an artifact from the American Civil War. We will start each trip from the National Civil War Museum, 1 Lincoln Circle, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The selection of the starting point is simply 1 focus of this blog and certainly not intended to exclude any other piece of American history.