Tillie Pierce and her classmates were sent home on Friday, June 26th from school due to the approaching Confederates from the West. The school, which was named the Gettysburg Female Institute, is located at the intersection of West High Street and South Washington Street. The town of Gettysburg was on edge for many reasons. The Civil War was coming to them, and they read about it in local papers. They heard that the Union and the Confederate armies were approaching southern Pennsylvania but unsure of where the next battle may occur. The weekend came with warm weather and scattered thunderstorms. They went to school on Monday with no problems, just with news that the Union army was riding north into northern Maryland. Citizens around town may have sensed something, since word and news spread that the Army of the Potomac was within one day ride of town, in local towns like Emmitsburg, Taneytown, and Frederick, Maryland.
On Tuesday, June 30th, Tillie and her classmates were in class again. Word was spreading around town that the Union Cavalry was approaching from the South. Around Noon, two brigades of Buford’s Cavalry and the commander himself entered the town. They arrived by the Emmitsburg Road, and turned onto Washington Street. As they passed the school at the intersection of West High Street and Washington Street, Tillie and a few young ladies hurried to the corner with food, water, and sang songs.
Lyrics to “Battle Cry of Freedom” …
We will rally round the flag, boys We’ll rally once again, Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom We will rally from the hillside We’ll gather from the plains, Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom! The Union forever! Hurrah boys hurrah! Down with the traitor, and up with the star, And we’ll fill the vacant ranks With a million freemen more, Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom! The Union forever! Hurrah boys hurrah! Down with the traitor, up with the star, And we’re marching for the flag, boys, We will rally once again Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom! The Union forever! Hurrah boys hurrah! Down with the traitor, up with the star, While we rally round the flag, boys Rally once again Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom!
Other songs like Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, and John Brown’s Body were sung to the soldiers as they passed by. Buford and his cavalry men would then turn onto Chambersburg Street and head west to the Lutheran Seminary and await what July 1st would bring.
Of course, as the soldiers left Washington Street, the children that were attending school that day were sent home to their families, so they could prepare for what was coming to them on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday: July 1st to July 3rd, 1863: The Battle of Gettysburg.