Credit: Courtesy of Richard H. Shryock.
Confederates raided Chambersburg three times during the Civil War; and each successive occupation the raiders were decidedly less civil. On the morning of July 30, 1864, Chambersburg residents were not overly concerned when they learned that Confederates once again were drawing near. This time, however, the 2,800 Confederate raiders came to avenge the destruction in the Shenandoah Valley caused by Union troops under General David Hunter. When residents failed to pay $100,000 in gold, or $500,000 in Yankee greenbacks, General John McCausland set the town on fire.
