What would you think about taking food out to your pigs during the Battle of Gettysburg only to find someone hiding? Well, that’s what happened to this family, the Garlach’s. Their family, just like many that were living along Baltimore Street, witness the Union and Confederate soldiers marching up and down the street outside their front doors. However, prior to the Civil War, they had a rich history as well within the town of Gettysburg.
John and Catherine were both immigrants from Germany. They married at the St. James Lutheran Church in 1840 and lived in Gettysburg their entire life. John was a cabinet maker and owned a carpentry business that was within their homestead between 319 and 323 Baltimore Street. This location in the near future will open as a small local bakery shop in the Summer of 2026. Prior to the Civil War, John and Catherine had six children.
Prior to the Battle of Gettysburg, Anna Louisa Garlach was singing to the Union Cavalry with Tillie Pierce as they arrived into town on June 30th. They sang on the corner of West High Street and South Washington Street as they were allowed to leave the Female Institute. Like her, she kept records and wrote a book about her experiences with the battle. However, there is a difference. Tillie was sent to the Jacob Weikert Farm because she was younger and her parents wants her far from town. Anna stayed in town and help her mother help with the children within their house and documented her experiences of the battle up close and person.
On July 1st, Anna witnessed the Union soldiers marching towards battle in the morning and early afternoon, only to see the same soldiers rush towards Cemetery Hill during the retreat from the Confederates. Union soldiers rushing by told Anna, her mother, and the children to move into the basement to take cover. However, there was a problem with their basement. Recent thunderstorms made their cellar have about a foot of water inside. Anna and her brothers George and John helped bring wood from the carpentry business down to the basement so they wouldn’t get wet. Anna’s father John went to Cemetery Hill prior to the retreat to witness the battle, but was unable to return home until July 4th. Minus Anna, her mother Catherine, and the other four children, there were five other people that would take shelter inside the basement. At the moment, I’m unsure of what family these other five citizens would be.
A few soldiers were captured and taken behind enemy lines. One soldier by the name of Brigadier General Alexander Schimmelfennig was not as lucky as the rest that made it to Cemetery Hill and fight the Confederates. What ever happened to the soldier Schimmelfennig?