Harrisburg and the Civil War: Defending the Keystone of the Union

AnsweringLincoln’s call for volunteers, men swarmed into the Pennsylvania capital tofight for the Union. The cityscape was transformed as soldiers camped on thelawn of the capitol, schools and churches were turned into hospitals and thelocal fairgrounds became the training facility of Camp Curtin. For four years,Harrisburg and its railroad hub served as a continuous facilitation site forthousands of Northern soldiers on their way to the front lines. This vital roleto the Union war efforts twice placed the capital in the sights of theConfederates-most famously during the Gettysburg Campaign when Southern forcesneared the city’s outskirts. Though civilianskept an anxious eye to the opposite bank of the Susquehanna River, Harrisburg'sdefenses were never breached. Author Cooper H. Wingert crafts a portrait of acapital at war, from the political climate to the interactions among thecitizens and the troops.