Philadelphia in the Civil War
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During the American Civil War, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was one of the most important and influential cities in the North, providing an important source of troops, money, weapons, medical care, and supplies for the Union Army
In antebellum days, Philadelphia, the United States' second largest city, had strong economic ties with the South. Once the Civil War began in 1861, Philadelphia's southern leanings changed, and hostility moved from abolitionists to southern sympathizers. Mobs threatened a secessionist newspaper and the homes of suspected sympathizers and were only turned away by the police and Mayor Alexander Henry.[1]
Philadelphia supported the war with soldiers, ammunition and war ships, and was a main source of army uniforms. Philadelphia was also a major receiving place of the wounded, with more than 157,000 soldiers and sailors treated within the city. Among the U.S. Army hospitals was the sprawling Satterlee Hospital and the Mower Hospital. Camp William Penn, located in nearby Cheltenham was a major training center for United States Colored Troops. The Frankford Arsenal was a significant source of arms and munitions to the Federal army, as well as to the state militia.
Philadelphia began preparing for invasion in 1863, but the southern army was repelled at Gettysburg.[2] Workers had spent weeks erecting extensive earthworks and a series of small forts around Philadelphia in anticipation that Robert E. Lee might attack the city during the Gettysburg Campaign, but the most immediate threat, the brigade of John B. Gordon was turned away at the Susquehanna River when the only passageway towards Philadelphia was burned by retreating Pennsylvania state militia.
Several leading Union generals, including George Gordon Meade, were residents of Philadelphia. Among the troops from the city that served in the war effort was the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, an organization of the social elite which traced its roots to the American Revolutionary War as the bodyguard for George Washington. The Philadelphia Brigade was prominent in several battles of the Army of the Potomac, including defending against Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg.
Among Philadelphia's modern-day Civil War attractions is the Civil War and Underground Railroad Museum of Philadelphia. Not far from the city is historic Fort Delaware, used as a prisoner of war camp to house captured Confederate soldiers.
[edit] References
- Weigley, Russell F., Philadelphia: A 300-Year History, New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1982, ISBN 0-393-01610-2.
- Philadelphia in the Civil War website
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
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