Tag: Pennsylvania College (Gettysburg PA)

Wikipedia says: Gettysburg College was founded in 1832, as a sister institution for the Lutheran Theological Seminary. Both owe their inception to Thaddeus Stevens, a Radical Republican and abolitionist from Gettysburg. The college’s original name was Pennsylvania College; it was founded by Samuel Simon Schmucker. In 1839, seven years after Gettysburg College was first founded, Drs. George McClellan (founder of Jefferson Medical College), Samuel George Morton, and others, founded a medical school, Pennsylvania Medical College, which was located in Philadelphia. The school had money troubles within four years, forcing all founding members to leave their posts. After a failed agreement to combine with the Philadelphia College of Medicine in 1858 (closed in 1859, with the faculty being rolled into Pennsylvania Medical College), the college was forced to close the medical school in 1861. Students from the seceding southern states had withdrawn to return home, leaving it without adequate revenue.

Battle of Gettysburg

In June 1863, southern Pennsylvania was invaded by Confederate forces during the Gettysburg Campaign. Many local militia forces were formed around the area between Chambersburg and Philadelphia to face the oncoming foe.

Among these units was Gettysburg’s 26th Pennsylvania Emergency Militia Regiment (PEMR). Composed mostly of students from the College and Seminary, the 26th PEMR was mustered into service on June 22, 1863. Four days later, the students saw combat just north of town, skirmishing with advanced units of Confederate division commander Jubal A. Early. Casualties were light on both sides, but about 100 of the militiamen were captured and paroled.

During the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Hall, or Old Dorm, was used as both a signal corps station and field hospital. Due to the geographic position it held, it was used by both Confederate and Union troops during the battle for signal work and surgery.

On November 19, 1863, College President Henry Louis Baugher gave the benediction at the ceremony opening the National Soldiers’ Cemetery at Gettysburg; speaking after Abraham Lincoln. Classes were cancelled at the college, as students and faculty walked with the parade to the cemetery to hear the now famous Gettysburg Address. This walk was later recreated for the now annual tradition of the “First Year Walk.” Henry Baugher was the president of Gettysburg College from 1850 until his death in 1868.