ccumberland ounty History Winter 1992 Volume 9 Number 2 Editor Dr. Robert G. Crist Board of Directors Tom H. Bietsch Contributions Solicited Richard W. Dutrey The editor invites the submission of Tita Eberly articles or notes on the history of )ames D. Flower Cumberland County and on its peo­ Dr. Paul E. Gill ple. Such writing can investigate new Rosalie George, Secretary areas of research or may reflect past Ann Kramer Hoffer, President scholarship. Manuscripts should con­ )on F. LaFaver form to Kate Turabian's Manual for David W Maclvor, Treasurer Writers, 5th edition. Running copy, as Fred D. Oyler well as citations, should be typed and Merri Lou Schaumann doubled spaced. Notes may be gath­ Paul L. Strickler ered together and will be placed at Col. Ralph T Tierno the end of the article. Press times are Hon. Patricia Vance 15 April and 15 November. Please send manuscripts to 1915 Walnut Publications Committee Street. Camp Hill 17011. Dr. William Cornell Membership and Subscription Dr. Robert G. Crist Cumberland County History is )ames Flower, Jr. published semi-annually. All Dr. Warren ). Gates members of the Cumberland County Dr. Paul Gill Historical Society receive a copy of Judge Kevin Hess the journal as part of regular Ann Kramer Hoffer membership. The regular member­ Jon LaFaver ship fee is $25.00 annually. Members Mary Rosenbaum receive other benefits, including a Merri Lou Schaumann quarterly newsletter, special invitations to programs and exhibits, and the satisfaction of joining with Directors Emeritus others to preserve county history. Correspondence regarding member­ Dr. Milton E. Flower ship should be addressed to the Dr. Warren ). Gates Executive Director, Cumberland Pierson K. Miller County Historical Society, 21 North Jonas E. Warrell Pitt Street, P.O. Box 626, Carlisle, PA 17013. Executive Director Linda Franklin Witmer Copyright 1992 by the Cumberland Counrv Historical Society. All rights r~serve cl. Cumberland County History Cumberland County History Winter 1992 Volume IX, No. 2 Published by the Cumberl and County Historica l Society and Hamilton Library Association 21 North Pitt Street Ca rlisle, Pe nnsylva nia 170 13 I n T h i s I s s u e Washington: Revolutionary 53 War Arsenal at Carlisle by } oh n B. B. Trussell The Smeads 60 hy Raphael Smead Hays 11 Va nce McCormick's Relationship with 69 Woodrow Wilson : A View Through Their Correspondence by LeRoy \\'( 7()(/des 92 Resistance to the Wa r in Vie tnam : A Central Pe nnsylvania Perspective hy ] o n Penning ton 98 What's in a Name? New Kingstown Book Review 101 Dri ve th e Road . Bridge the run/ COVE R: The cover sketch o f New Kings t m\~ l is by Ted Mannino, o f Mechanicsburg. The structures, left to right, are Trinity United Methodist Church, "Kanaga," and St. Stephens Lutheran Church. Contribut o r s Raphael Smead Hays II, bom in Ca rlisle, was graduated from Dickinson College in 1956 and later ea rn ed a master's degree at Rutgers Unive rsity. He teaches American Histmy at Gill St. Barn abas School,. Gladstone, NJ. Ted M annino, w ho ea rn ed baccalaurea te and master's degrees in art educa tion from Penn State, is an supetv isor at Cumberl and Va l­ ley H igh School, w here he has taught since 1975. He is an ad junct pro fessor at H arrisburg Area Community College. Jon Pennington is a student at Brown University majoring in English and America n literature. His paper was drafted for National His­ tmy Day Competition w hen he was a student in th e gifted pro­ gram at Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School. LeRoy W. "Skip" Toddes, born and reared in New Cumberl and, worked thitty yea rs for IBM. In 1957 he ea rned a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering, in 1992 a M.A. in Am erican Studies , both from Penn State. John B. B. Trussell, a retired regular army colonel, is a fo rmer mem ­ ber of th e Army Wa r College t~tc ulry and retired Chief o f th e Division o f Histo ry at PH &MC. His latest book, .')o Loud Y( )ll Bugles Blmv, on Pe nn S)~va ni a ' s Civil \Xtar Hegiments is scheduled t(lr early publica tio n. Washington: Revolutiona1y War Arsenal at Carlisle j ohn B. B. Trussell s a source of manpower, leadership, and vital supplies, Carlisle and its A vicinity played a significant role in the Revolutionaty War effon. Nevenhe­ less, and notwithstanding th e fact that much of its present population has roots reaching well into the era of America 's struggle for independence, th e eastern reg ion of Cumberland County has not until recently had its own chapter of the Sons of th e Am eri can Revolution. Instead , interested and eligible res idents affili­ ated w ith groups centered on Harrisburg, York, Gettysburg or Shippensburg. To fill this gap, on Januaty 22, 1992, the Pe nnsylva nia Society of the Sons of the Ameri can Revolution offi cially chattered a new chapter, centered on Ca rlisle. To commemorate a major Revolutionaty War activity of th e area, the members chose the designation, "Washingtonburg. " Although it may not be familiar, it is an ancient name of Ca rlisle Barracks, which except for West Point is th e oldest active militaty post of the nited States Army. 1 Longevity is not the only characteri stic shared by these two posts. In fact, it co uld be argued that in their respective ways, Wes t Po int and Washingtonburg were the Continental Army's two most vital militaty install ations. West Po int, by dominating th e Hudson Ri ve r, blocked any junction between the British forces in Canada and those on Manhattan, and thereby provided a barrier to perh aps the grea test threa t of America n defea t; Washingtonburg, by se tv ing as the Continen­ tal Army's predominant source of munitions, made possible an eventual Ameri­ can victory. The British ce rtainly saw the imponance of both West Point and Washingtonburg. Neither could be taken by direct attack, but plots were devel­ oped to take each of th em by stealth. The record of Benedict Arnold's treason at West Point is well known, but the st01y o f the plot aga inst Washingtonburg may be less familiar. For the sa ke of perspec tive , the account must begin w ith the original establish­ ment of the militaty post at Ca rlisle in 1757 during the French and Indian War, only six yea rs after the town itself w as laid out. As the only British outpost w est of th e Susquehanna, it was a m ajor center o f defense against Indian attacks, which had struck as close as eight miles.2 As British and Provincial strength built up,3 it developed into the chief supply depot and then the jump-off point for the1758 offensive under Brigadier General John Forbes that forced the French to abandon rort D uques ne, w here the Allegheny and Mononga hela meet to form the Ohio Ri ve r. In order to cany o ut th at offensive , th e soldiers built the first road west to what wouid become Pittsburgh 4 In 1764, after the French had been defea ted and Pontiac's War had ended, the soldiers were moved away. But the road remained, m aking Carlisle a m ajor way-station bet\\reen Philadelphia and th e west. As the focus o f an expanding roadnet, Carlisle developed as a center for the Cumber­ land Valley's products of grain, horses and ca ttle. \'\!h en the Revolution got under w ay, Ca rlisle naturally became an imponant collection point for quanerm aster supplies of tood, forage and livestock to support the Continental Army. 5 TI1is was impottant, but is a subject for a staty in its own right. Ordnance activities- that is, th e manufacture and repair of w eapons and the production o f gunpowder-were a separate matter. Once the Continental Army developed some structure, these functions were concentrated in Philadelphia, but in th e autumn o f 1776, after General George Washington's army was defeated in New York and began to retrea t through New Jersey, the fall of Phila­ delphia to the British seemed imminent. In December, therefore, Congress directed the establishment of two weapons storage magazines, along with what it ca lled "elaboratories " to m anufacture cannon, muskets and ammunition. One was to be at Springfi eld, Massachuse tts, considered to be too far inland to be vul­ nerable to British attack Fo r th e other, General Washington suggested York, w hich also enjoyed security from its remo teness. However, Congress decided in favor o f th e old British camp outside Ca rlisle-it w as equally secure, it had good road connections and, perh aps above all, the availability of buildings erected by the former British garri son would reduce construction costs6 Congress specified that this installation, w hich was to be called Washingtonburg, would have the capacity to store ten thousand stand of arms (that is, muskets w ith bayonets) and rwo hundred tons o f gunpowder. The so­ ca lled " elaborataty"-not actually an experimental establishment, as the term may suggest to a modern ear, but a factmy-was to manufacture ca nnon balls, cannon o f various calibers and th eir gun-carriages, na ils, and barrels to hold gun­ powder. It also w as to function as a school for artille1y o ffi ce rs, teaching weapons maintenance and repair.