The Civil War & the Great Fire

In June 1863 the war came up the valley. Union forces fortified Emmitsburg to slow the Confederate invasion of the North, and on a June night — most accounts say the night of June 23, 1863, while a local account preserved by the Historical Society dates it June 16 — fire swept the town. "The Great Fire" burned roughly half of Emmitsburg; folklore blamed a Union sympathizer firing the town to keep its supplies from the advancing Confederates, and the cause has never been settled.

Fate spared Emmitsburg the battle itself: the armies met twelve miles north, at Gettysburg, July 1–3. Retreating Confederate troops briefly held Emmitsburg on July 4. Local cavalry — Cole's Cavalry, raised in this area — served through the campaign, and the town's soldiers are remembered on the honor rolls kept by the Historical Society.

The Emmitsburg Civil War Heritage Area material — tour stops, soldiers' lists and the Cole's Cavalry story — is maintained by the Historical Society on emmitsburg.net and linked from our community page.