At 16, she fled from her home after it was set ablaze by Confederates.
In 1863, Amelia E. Harmon lived with her aunt just west of Gettysburg along Willoughby’s Run. On the afternoon of July 1, 1863, the home was taken over by Union soldiers and used as a sharpshooter’s nest. Later, as Confederate attacks drove the sharpshooters from the Harmon house, North Carolina soldiers entered the home and, determined to prevent it from being used again by Union marksmen, set the structure on fire. Amelia remembered: “They had taken down a file of newspapers for kindling, piled on books, rugs and furniture, applied matches to ignite the pile, and already a tiny flame was curling upward. We both jumped on the fire in the hope of extinguishing it, and plead with them in pity to spare our home. But there was no pity in those determined faces. They proceeded to carry out their full purpose and told us to get out or we would burn with it….”
“We fled from our burning home only to encounter worse horrors. The first Rebel line of battle had passed the house and were now engaged in a hot skirmish in the gorge of Willoughby’s Run. The second was just abreast of the barn, and at that moment were being hotly attacked by the Union troops with shot and shell! We were between the lines! To go toward town would be to walk into the jaws of death. Only one way was open – through the ranks of the whole Confederate army to safety in its rear! Bullets whistled past our ears, shells burst and scattered their deadly contents all about us. On we hurried – wounded men falling all around us, the line moving forward as they fired it seemed with deadly precision… We were objects of wonder and amazement that was certain, but few took time to listen to our story, and none believed it.”
Amelia died in New Jersey in 1923. The photograph above was shared with us by her descendants.
