Extracted from The Civil War Token Journal, Volume 31 Number 1.
The release in 1993 of the epic motion picture GETTYSBURG and
followed by the availability of video-tapes and the television mini-series of
the same has aroused much interest in this greatest battle of the American
Civil War.For Civil War token collector's it has the added appeal of possibly having tokens in their collections that were silent witnesses at that great event.
Certainly the Union cavalry that nervously watched in the first hours along the
Chambersburg Pike the ominous approach of the long column of dusty-gray
soldiers, interspersed with the bright red flags, could have had an assortment
of patriotic tokens in the pockets of their sky-blue pants. The horse soldiers of the 12th Illinois Cavalry would also have had some of the metal money of
Sutler F. Simmonds in their pockets. Or perhaps the soldiers of the 61st Ohio
Infantry who double-quick marched through town in an endeavor to stem the
tide of the overwhelming Confederates on that July lst also brought with them
the shiny-brass pieces marked "61st Regt. O.V. U.S.A.' as they glumly retreated through town. Or the almost abandoned 8th Ohio Volunteer Militia
troops on the left flank of the ill-fated charge made by Pickett and Pettigrew
would wait to confront the almost invincible Army of Northern Virginia. They nervously fingering the tokens of Sutler P. Merwin until the enemy were in
close range. The fate and future of the Republic was hanging in the balance.The massive Eastern armies of the Union and the Confederacy
would meet in an unplanned heroic confrontation in southern Pennsylvania
in and about the town of Gettysburg. The battle fought here from July lst
to July 3rd 1863 was, perhaps, the greatest battle of the War Between the
States. More than 172,000 men, on both sides, participated in this crucial
moment in America's history. Over 50,000 were casualties, either killed,
wounded, or captured by the enemy.Amid the over 300 Union army regiments present there were eigh-
teen regiments that had sutlers who issued metal tokens for the conveni-
ence of the soldier's in the regiment they served. When the shot and shell
were being fired where were these sutlers and their mercantile wagons?
The answer to that question has apparently not been specifically pre-
served in the infinite detailed records of this massive 1863 battle.However, it is not difficult to make intelligent guesses about the
sutler during the battle based on generalized orders issued by Army head-
quarters. The sutler and his wagons were not welcomed additions to the
miles of mule-drawn wagons accompanying the army in the field. The
sutler would be at or near the end of the wagon train, probably along with
the baggage wagons. The report of Brigadier General Rufus Ingalls, Quar-
termaster-General, Army of the Potomac, states very bluntly from Army
headquarters at Taneytown, Maryland, that no baggage or other impedi-
menta were allowed at the time of the battle to move on the roads to the
battle front in Pennsylvania. The roads were reserved for the movement of
troops, ordnance, ambulances, and essential supplies. This would pre-
vent the sutler from getting to his soldier customers in Gettysburg and, in
reality, no sutler with good sense would want to be that close to the Con-
federates. The wagon train, now that the enemy had been brought to bay
and the battle begun, was sent back to the nearest secure railhead. This
was to be Westminster, Maryland which had road and railroad connection
with Baltimore. They, along with the sutler wagons arrived at about 1 A.M.
on July 2nd, while the battle to the north was in its second day. The 87th
Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment accompanied to Westminster as guards
for the wagon train including the many sutlers and their numerous wagons.
In addition, they also had some cavalry and about twenty infantry regi-
ments to guard the parked wagons. After the first day at Gettysburg, part of
Union General Buford's weary cavalry command, who had endeavored to
blunt the initial Confederate attack, were sent back to Westminster. Thus,
the 12th Illinois Cavalry, part of Buford's command, could possibly have
spent their sutlers tokens at Westminster, provided they could have found
him in that immense parking lot.The Army of the Potomac wagon train in its march north following
Lee's army was moving with its assigned army corps and spread out over
many miles. For security purposes it was accumulated together and put at
the rear of the army when it crossed at Edward's Ferry from Virginia into
Maryland. At Frederick, Maryland the wagon train was then broken up and
returned to the rear of their assigned army corps. It is speculated that
when the total wagon train was moving together it could be spread as far
as 60 miles on a single road. Somewhere in that Interstate-type traffic
were over 300 plus wagons of civilian sutlers. The sutler wagon was always a
choice target for Johnny Reb and the train had passed through the notorious
"Mosby's Confederacy'.An eye-witness account of the scene in Westminster, Maryland while it
served as a parking lot for the mule-drawn wagons of the massive Army of the
Potomac is as follows. "The army wagons were everywhere, in the streets, in
the fields, on the various roads, and a line of them constantly traveling to the
Gettysburg turnpike ... Night and day, the noise of the army wagons, the
clanking of cavalry sabers, and the braying of the mules could be heard and
general noise and confusion prevailed everywhere."The time that General Meade's army spent at Gettysburg after the
battle may have been frustrating for the Lincoln administration in their
hopes that he would crush Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Nevertheless,
the majority of the Union Army arrived on July lst or 2nd, and immediately
participated in the grand scale battle, then moved out on July 5th or 6th in
pursuit of Lee. Large numbers of dead and wounded would not be with the
adversaries as they migrated towards the Potomac River.Thus, considering the short time interval at Gettysburg, plus the
location of the sutler wagons at Westminster and the savage fighting, prevented the sutler tokens of these eighteen regiments from being
exchanged at the sutlers.With the Confederate withdrawal from the bloody Gettysburg
battlefield the Union army began their follow-up to further punish the
Southerners. The Army of the Potomac was given the order to concentrate
on the evening of July 7th near Middletown, Maryland, a familiar location
to those who fought in the 1862 battle of South Mountain. The wagon
trains once again rejoined their assigned army corps. The impedimenta
sutler's once again would be able to resume their trade activities and the
sutler tokens achieve their useful purpose.Regiments present at Gettysburg with token-issuing sutlers:
1st Ohio Artillery
lst Pennsylvania Artillery
5th Ohio Infantry
6th Maine Infantry
7th Ohio Infantry
13th Ohio Infantry
1lth Pennsylvania Infantry
12th Illinois Cavalry
23rd Pennsylvania Infantry
28th Pennsylvania Infantry
55th Ohio Infantry
61st 0hio Infantry
66th Ohio Infantry
72nd Pennsylvania Infantry
83rd New York Infantry
145th New York Infantry
155th Pennsylvania Infantry.
Articles reprinted with permission of The Civil War Token Society.