M.A. Kleen

On the morning of June 28, 1863, Confederate Brig. Gen. Albert Jenkins’ cavalry brigade moved out from Carlisle, Pennsylvania to scout the route to the Susquehanna River and, ultimately, the state capitol of Harrisburg. Many were clad in clothes confiscated from area civilians rather than military uniforms. Oral tradition holds that a portion of Jenkins’ command reconnoitered up Spring Road towards Sterretts Gap through the Blue Mountain Ridge. Local militia hastily assembled to block the gap, and Jenkins’ scouts, likely numbering only a few dozen, turned back without a fight. A commemorative marker erected in 1929 read, “From these hills the tide of Confederate invasion receded, destined never to return.”