 The anniversary of the most famous conflict of the American Civil War is occurring this week, the 162nd to be exact. Of course, I am referring to the Battle of Gettysburg, fought July 1st–3rd, 1863. Frederick City and County certainly played a role in the Gettysburg Campaign which featured Union and Confederate forces under Major General George Meade's Army of the Potomac and General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. The subsequent Union victory resulted in halting Lee's invasion of the North, but also produced the largest number of casualties of the entire war with some of those men eventually destined for burial in Mount Olivet. One casualty, who is not here reposing in Mount Olivet, was a man who could, and many scholars say "should," have been given Meade's assignment of leading the entirety of the Union Army at Gettysburg and beyond. This was Maj. Gen. John Fulton Reynolds. Meade, himself, thought the honor should go to Reynolds after he (Meade) was hastily aroused in the early morning hours of Sunday, June 28th, 1863 by a government messenger. The correspondence was delivered to Meade's makeshift camp along Ballenger's Creek below Frederick at Acadia (on Buckeystown Pike). This gentleman had brought word of President Lincoln's order to replace Gen. Joseph Hooker (with Meade) to command the Union's Army of the Potomac. By all accounts, Reynolds was happy that this battlefield promotion went to his friend, Meade.  Gen. John Fulton Reynolds John Fulton Reynolds, born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on September 20th, 1820, was a career United States Army officer and one of the Union's most-respected, senior commanders. Reynolds would soon play a key role in committing his men, and the entirety of the Army of the Potomac, to the Battle of Gettysburg. As a result, he would be killed at the start of the battle on July 1st, 1863. Gen. Reynolds would spend his final days in Frederick County including the nearby Middletown Valley, Frederick City and northern Frederick County. This took place as the Union Army amassed in our area in pursuit of Lee and his Confederate Army after the Rebels had crossed the Potomac near Williamsport and into Maryland in mid-June, 1863. There is a story that Reynolds visited with cousins here in Frederick before making his ill-fated journey to Gettysburg. Could any of these Reynolds relatives be buried in Mount Olivet? I was recently reminded of Gen. Reynolds and his time in Frederick as I made a Memorial Day weekend visit to Reynold's hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I stayed at a hotel called the Cork Factory, a shining example of adaptive reuse, located virtually across the street from Lancaster Cemetery, eternal resting place of Gen. John F. Reynolds and his family. While there, I certainly made a point of visiting the general's gravesite and impressive monument, decorated accordingly for Memorial Day.
 Reynolds' Family Plot in Lancaster Cemetery The Reynolds' family plot in Lancaster Cemetery contains a number of immediate family members, most importantly, his parents, John Reynolds and Lydia (Moore) Reynolds. The couple married in 1813 and went on to have 12 children, 8 of whom reached adulthood.
Of the Reynolds' grown children, four were males including our subject Maj. Gen. John Fulton Reynolds (1820-1863). All served in the American Civil War and can be found within the family burial plot with their parents. Two older brothers were Samuel Moore Reynolds (1814-1888) and William Reynolds (1815-1879). Samuel was assigned to the US Volunteers Paymaster Department at the rank of major shortly after he enlisted and mustered in federal service in 1863. William was a member of the US Navy and served as an officer during the war. A younger brother of Gen. John F. Reynolds by two years, James Lefevre Reynolds (1822-1880), served as quartermaster-general for Pennsylvania during the Civil War, having been appointed by the governor, Andrew C. Curtin.  Grave monument of Gen. John F. Reynolds  Grave of Samuel Moore Reynolds (1814-1888)
 Grave of James LeFevre Reynolds (1822-1880) This cluster of sibling names would aid me in finding both an uncle, and two great-uncles, of Gen. John F. Reynolds in Mount Olivet. I also found a few first and second cousins as well. To put things in proper context, I must give a brief genealogy lesson on Gen. Reynolds' paternal line: John's great grandfather was William Reynolds (1720-1788). This gentleman was originally from Ballymoney in County Tyrone, Ireland. He married a woman named Wilmot Jewell (1725-1809) in Cornwall England in 1744. They would have a son named William Jewell Reynolds (1744-1801), the general's grandfather. William Jewell Reynolds and at least two brothers, John "Old Jackey" Reynolds (1852-1822) and Hugh Reynolds (1754-1804), would come to America in the 1760s. They likely arrived in Philadelphia and made their way to Lancaster County. William Jewell Reynolds would marry Catharine Ferree Lefevre of Paradise, PA, granddaughter of one of the earliest pioneering settlers of the area named Isaac Lefevre, a French Huguenot. Paradise is a small village about 11 miles east of Lancaster, and both of the general's grandparents are buried here.
As for William Jewell Reynolds, Jr.'s brothers, John Reynolds and Hugh Reynolds, these gentlemen made their way to Frederick and were members of the local Presbyterian Church congregation. Their deaths precede the opening of Mount Olivet in 1854, but they would be brought to our cemetery in 1887 as part of a mass removal project of the old Presbyterian burial ground, once located on the southwest corner of North Bentz Street and Dill Avenue. The bodies from that graveyard can be found on the northwest end of Area NN in Mount Olivet. Today, you can find the large ledger stone of Hugh Reynolds in the center of the grave cluster, and the slate gravestone of John Reynolds positioned against the back row and against the chain-link fence.  Mount Olivet's Area NN contains bodies moved here from Frederick's original Presbyterian Burial Ground on the northwest part of town
 Closeup view of Hugh Reynolds' grave in Area NN
I could not find a wife or children connecting to John Reynolds, but I did find financial and debt problems. As for Hugh Reynolds, he married Alice "Alley" H. Fleming. The couple's sons, John (1787-1851) and Samuel (1785-1735), can be found buried side by side against the fence as well.  Gravestones of Hugh Reynolds' sons John and Samuel in Area NN against the back fence These decedents represent great uncles and second cousins of Gettysburg's fallen hero Gen. John F. Reynolds. I did not find much info on any of these gentlemen. However, there is another family plot in Mount Olivet that has Reynolds' relatives that Gen. John F. Reynolds would have been more familiar with during his abbreviated lifetime. It is in Area D/Lot 16 towards the front of Mount Olivet, not far from the Key Memorial Chapel. This is the family plot of Gen. Reynolds' paternal uncle, Samuel Lefevre Reynolds (1779-1814). Samuel was the son of William Jewel Reynolds and brother of the general's father, John Reynolds, owner of the family plot in Lancaster.  A single, four-sided, monument marks the final resting place of Samuel Lefevre Reynolds and wife Eleanor Reynolds (1781-1855), married in Lancaster in 1804. Four unmarried daughters are buried here as well and include: Mary Catharine Reynolds (b. @1807-1870); Sarah Jane Reynolds (1810-1862); Margaret Lefevre Reynolds (d. 1839) and Lydia Eleanor Reynolds (death date unknown).
I learned from a daughter's obituary that Samuel L. Reynolds was an esquire. The family originally lived in Lancaster but had moved to Frederick sometime before Samuel's death at age 34 in February, 1813, although his gravestone says 1814. Mennonite Church records from Lancaster County show that at least three daughters were born in Pennsylvania.  Lancaster Intelligencer (Feb 11, 1813)  Lancaster Intelligencer (July 9, 1813)  Widow Eleanor Reynolds remained in Frederick and is listed as head of household in the 1830, 1840 and 1850 census records. From an article found in an 1831 edition of the Frederick Town Herald, I surmise that Mrs. Reynolds' daughter, Mary Catharine, was an educator with ties to one of the earliest schooling opportunities for girls in Frederick's history. She is listed as a member of the endeavor's managerial board. This venture began in 1829 and was known as the Protestant Female Free School. Nine years later, another newspaper article would praise Miss Reynolds' efforts, along with those of a woman named Mrs. Elizabeth H. Bayley (1807-1863) of Frederick, whose endeavors would lead to success in partnership with Hiram Winchester's Frederick Female Seminary.  1830 US Census showing Eleanor Reynolds living in Frederick.   Frederick Town Herald (Jan 2, 1831)  1860 US Census showing Eleanor and daughters Mary Catharine and Sarah Jane in Frederick John Fulton Reynolds Now that the family is introduced, the stage is set for me to relay that story involving Gen. John F. Reynolds visiting a surviving member of the Samuel L. Reynolds' family. This was the soldier's first cousin, Mary Catharine Reynolds, more commonly referred to as Catharine Reynolds. She lived in the first block of Frederick's West Second Street and the event in question occurred just three days prior to Gen. Reynolds' untimely death. However, I think I owe you a biography on Gen. Reynolds, himself first to give proper context. This one comes from a website entitled CivilWarTalk.com: "The son of John and Lydia Reynolds, John Fulton Reynolds was born at Lancaster, PA on September 20, 1820. Initially educated in nearby Lititz, he later attended the Lancaster County Academy. Electing to pursue a military career like his older brother William who had entered the US Navy, Reynolds sought an appointment to West Point. Working with family a family friend, Senator James Buchanan, he was able to obtain admission and reported to the academy in 1837. An average student, Reynolds graduated in 1841 ranked twenty-sixth in a class of fifty.  Assigned to the 3rd US Artillery at Fort McHenry, his time in Baltimore proved brief as he received orders for Fort Augustine, FL the following year. Arriving at the end of the Second Seminole War, Reynolds spent the next three years at Fort Augustine and Fort Moultrie, SC. With the outbreak of the Mexican-American War in 1846 following Brigadier General Zachary Taylor's victories at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Reynolds was instructed to travel to Texas. Joining Taylor's army at Corpus Christi, he took part in the campaign against Monterrey that fall. For his role in the city's fall, he received a brevet promotion to captain. Following the victory, the bulk of Taylor's army was transferred for Major General Winfield Scott's operation against Veracruz. Remaining with Taylor, Reynolds' artillery battery played a key role in holding the American left at the Battle of Buena Vista in February 1847. In recognition of his efforts, Reynolds was brevetted to major. Returning north after the war, Reynolds spent the next several years in garrison duty in Maine, New York, and New Orleans. Ordered west to Oregon in 1855, he took part in the Rogue River Wars a year later as well as the Utah War of 1857-1858.  Reynolds was secretly engaged to Catherine “Kate” Hewitt, who he’d met while sailing from San Francisco to New York in the summer of 1860. They spent less than a month together on the ship but fell in love and exchanged keepsakes. Reynolds went to war in spring 1861 and died two years later, and there’s no record of the two exchanging letters or meeting during that time. However, after Reynolds’ death, Hewitt told Reynolds’ sisters that she’d pledged she would join a convent if he died. True to her word, she joined the Daughters of Charity in Emmitsburg, Maryland, in 1864. Eventually she left the nunnery and married a florist in New York. In September 1860, Reynolds returned to West Point to serve as Commandant of Cadets and an instructor. Remaining for the academic year, he was at the academy during the election of President Abraham Lincoln and the resulting Secession Crisis. With the beginning of the Civil War, Reynolds initially was offered a post as an aide-de-camp to Scott, the general-in-chief of the US Army. Declining this offer, he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the US 14th Infantry but received a commission as a brigadier general of volunteers (August 20, 1861) before he could assume this post. Directed to Cape Hatteras Inlet, NC, Reynolds was en route when Major General George B. McClellan instead requested that he join the newly-formed Army of the Potomac. Reporting for duty, he first served on a board that assessed volunteer officers before receiving command of a brigade in the Pennsylvania Reserves. Commanding the 1st Brigade of Brigadier General George McCall's Second Division (Pennsylvania Reserves), I Corps, Reynolds first moved south into Virginia and captured Fredericksburg. On June 14, the division was transferred to Major General Fitz John Porter's V Corps which was taking part in McClellan's Peninsula Campaign against Richmond. Joining Porter, the division played a key role in the successful Union defense at the Battle of Beaver Dam Creek on June 26. As the Seven Days Battles continued, Reynolds and his men were assaulted by General Robert E. Lee's forces again the next day at the Battle of Gaines' Mill. Having not slept in two days, an exhausted Reynolds was captured after the battle while resting in Boatswain's Swamp. Taken to Richmond, he was briefly held at Libby Prison before being exchanged on August 15 for Brigadier General Lloyd Tilghman.  Richmond's Libby Prison during the Civil War  Returning to the Army of the Potomac, Reynolds assumed command of the Pennsylvania Reserves as McCall had also been captured. In this role, he took part in the Second Battle of Manassas at the end of the month. Late in the battle, he aided in making a stand on Henry House Hill which assisted in covering the army's retreat from the battlefield. As Lee moved north to invade Maryland, Reynolds was detached from the army at the request of Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtain. Ordered to his home state, the governor tasked him with organizing and leading the state militia should Lee cross the Mason-Dixon Line. Reynolds' assignment proved unpopular with McClellan and other senior Union leaders as it deprived the army of one of its best field commanders. As a result, he missed the Battles of South Mountain and Antietam where the division was led by fellow Pennsylvanian Brigadier General George G. Meade. Returning to the army in late September, Reynolds received command of I Corps as its leader, Major General Joseph Hooker, had been wounded at Antietam. That December, he led the corps at the Battle of Fredericksburg where his men achieved the only Union success of the day. Penetrating the Confederate lines, troops, led by Meade, opened a gap but a confusion of orders prevented the opportunity from being exploited.  For his actions at Fredericksburg, Reynolds was promoted to major general with a date of November 29, 1862. In the wake of the defeat, he was one of several officers who called for the removal of army commander Major General Ambrose Burnside. In doing so, Reynolds expressed his frustration at the political influence that Washington exerted on the army's activities. These efforts were successful, and Hooker replaced Burnside on January 26, 1863. That May, Hooker sought to swing around Fredericksburg to the west. To hold Lee in place, Reynolds' corps and Major General John Sedgwick's VI Corps were to remain opposite the city. As the Battle of Chancellorsville commenced, Hooker summoned I Corps on May 2 and directed Reynolds to hold the Union right. With the battle going poorly, Reynolds and the other corps commanders urged offensive action but were overruled by Hooker who decided to retreat. As in the past, Reynolds joined his compatriots in calling for a new commander who could operate decisively and free from political constraints. Well-respected by Lincoln, who referred to him as “our gallant and brave friend," Reynolds met with the president on June 2. During their conversation, it is believed that Reynolds was offered command of the Army of the Potomac. Insisting that he be free to lead independent of political influence, Reynolds declined when Lincoln could not make such an assurance. With Lee again moving north, Lincoln instead turned to Meade who accepted command and replaced Hooker on June 28. Riding north with his men, Reynolds was given operational control of I, III, and XI Corps as well as Brigadier General John Buford's cavalry division."  Former Civil War Trail marker featuring text regarding Gen. John Reynolds visit with cousin Catharine Reynolds in late June, 1863 Now it's finally time for that story I've been promising, a meeting between cousins. We used to have a Civil War Trails interpretive marker on Market Street that mentioned the incident on June 28th, 1863. It has since been replaced by another marker nearby. Civil War researcher, historian and author Rev. John W. Schildt includes this story in his 1978 book Roads to Gettysburg, revised and republished in 2003. I struggled to find a "Catharine Reynolds" in Mount Olivet, but pieced it all together with Reynolds family genealogical work and the discovery of Mary C. Reynolds in our cemetery records with the "C" standing for "Catharine." All I can tell you about her is that she was an unmarried woman of about 56 years old at the time Union troops poured into Frederick in late June, 1863. Catharine appears to be head of household and was in the process of selling her home and adjoining lot at auction from advertisements in the local newspaper that I found. For one reason or another, the sale did not go through at this time, or was seriously delayed.  Frederick Examiner (March 4, 1863)  The 1860 US Census shows Catharine as head of household As mentioned, Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds commanded the I Corps of the Army of the Potomac, and would have added leadership duties in the Gettysburg Campaign. His First Corps had been serving in the Middletown Valley as the left flank of the Union Army on June 27th. Reynolds would rendezvous with his new commander (Gen. Meade) in Frederick on Sunday, June 28th at Prospect Hall. This would not be the only person he would have a special meeting with on this particular day. His cousin, Catharine Reynolds, would be the other. Late in the afternoon, a distinguished-looking man rode from Prospect Hall through the streets of Frederick, dismounting near the intersection of Second and North Market streets. Cousin Catherine Reynolds lived at what is today 7 West Second Street. Her home was a two-story L-shaped structure. She had been expecting him to make a visit. The following narrative comes from a letter written by Ms. Reynolds (to one of the general's sisters) talking of the visit made by her famous cousin. "I have been thinking of writing to you for the past three days to tell you how much I enjoyed Cousin John's brief visit. Judging of your feelings by my own, the most trivial circumstance of so dearly beloved a brother will be of interest to you. We have been in such a state of excitement and confusion since our capture and recapture that I do not remember what I wrote Ellie but I think I gave her particulars of the street skirmishes, etc. When we heard the Army of the Potomac was really coming my first and constant thought was, Now I shall see Cousin J. All day Saturday the Cavalry was passing up Market St. and I enquired of several of the soldiers who stopped to eat the bread and butter the ladies were sending out to them...if General Reynolds would be through. All who seemed to know anything about him said that he had gone with the infantry by way of Jefferson...so I gave up hope of seeing him for the time, although I had really been so confident that he was coming as to prepare a nice dinner. Saturday night we were kept awake by the noisy wagon trains and such a Sunday I never spent. There was scarcely any possibility of crossing the street for the countless multitudes who were pouring through. Quite unable to read for the noise and wearied after with looking, about 3 P.M. I undressed to try to get a nap. A few minutes after Clara came up and said General Reynolds was downstairs. It really seemed in my hurry as if I never should get ready to go down. I told Ann to set a table for lunch. Cousin looked very well, said he had returned from Jefferson the night before and would have come around then but thought it was too late (but I had a room ready for him and wish so much he had come). He seemed to enjoy the...meal of cold roast beef, yellow pickle and cherry pie, said he had eaten nothing that morning being engaged in finding an encampment for his men...promised to return to late tea after he had been to see his new Commander in Chief for orders and spoke as though they expected to be here for some time...We waited for him until 1/2 past 9 o'clock. Meanwhile Ann and I gave supper to 17 soldiers who came in at different times asking to buy bread as all the shops had sold out and they had nothing all day. It was truly a pleasure to supply their wants. One very intelligent old man said he had not eaten a meal at a table for 15 months...and would not forget how kind the ladies of Frederick were to them, so different from the Virginia ladies who used to throw stones at them. Another heard the church bells ringing and said, that sounded like home, we've had no Sunday for a year. Ann's gallon of coffee seemed quite to rest and relieve them. I forgot to mention that three members of Cousin's staff who accompanied him, remained mounted while he stayed and I sent them a plate of sandwiches which no doubt amused our Secesh neighbors, but no matter. Cousin did not return to supper, not have I seen him since. Early next morning he left with his corps..."  That night, Gen. Reynolds would pitch his headquarters about a mile north of downtown Frederick. Historians such as Rev. Schildt believe this to have been at the location of Rose Hill Manor where my alma mater of Gov. Thomas Johnson High School is located today. Reynolds' orders were to leave Frederick with the I Corps at 4:00am on the 29th, and head north using the Old Frederick-Emmitsburg Road. The general and his men would pass through Lewistown, Mechanicstown (today's Thurmont) and eventually Emmitsburg before crossing into his native state of Pennsylvania.  Map by Robert Knox Sneden showing routes taken to Gettysburg by the Union Army from Frederick in June 1863. The route of Gen. Reynolds and the I Corps (guarding the left flank of the Army of the Potomac) is to the left.  "The Death of Reynolds-Gettysburg" by artist Bradley Schmehl "Riding into Gettysburg on June 30th, Brigadier General John Buford realized that the high ground south of the town would be key in a battle fought in the area. Aware that any combat involving his division would be a delaying action, he dismounted and posted his cavalry troopers on the low ridges north and northwest of town with the goal of buying time for the army to come up and occupy the heights. Attacked the next morning by Confederate forces in the opening phases of the Battle of Gettysburg, he alerted Gen. Reynolds and asked him to bring up support. Moving towards Gettysburg with I and XI Corps, Reynolds informed Meade that he would defend "inch by inch, and if driven into the town I will barricade the streets and hold him back as long as possible." Arriving on the battlefield, Reynolds met with Buford and advanced his lead brigade to relieve the hard-pressed cavalry. As he directed troops into the fighting near Herbst Woods, Reynolds was shot in the neck or head. Falling from his horse, he was killed instantly. With Reynolds' death, command of I Corps passed to Major General Abner Doubleday. Though overwhelmed later in the day, I and XI Corps succeeded in buying time for Meade to arrive with the bulk of the army. As the fighting raged, Reynolds' body was taken from the field, first to Taneytown, MD and then back to Lancaster where he was buried on July 4th. A blow to the Army of the Potomac, Reynolds' death cost Meade one of the army's best commanders. Adored by his men, one of the general aides commented, "I do not think the love of any commander was ever felt more deeply or sincerely than his." Reynolds was also described by another officer as “a superb looking man…and sat on his horse like a Centaur, tall, straight and graceful, the ideal soldier.”  Peter Frederick Rothermel's "The Death of Gen. Reynolds" in the collection of the State Museum of Pennsylvania John Fulton Reynolds is remembered at the Gettysburg National Military Park by an impressive equestrian statue near the spot he fell 162 years ago. Other reminders can be found here and back in his hometown of Lancaster where he was laid to rest in the Reynolds family plot at Lancaster Cemetery.  1922 image of Reynolds statue on the Gettysburg Battlefield at Herbst Woods near McPherson Ridge
 Gen. Reynold's grave monument in Lancaster Cemetery  The Battle of Gettysburg raged for three days. Gen. Meade pursued Gen. Robert E. Lee's retreat through Maryland as he was delayed crossing the Potomac River for days due to impressive rain showers making it impossible to cross. In the end, the majority of Frederick's Union supporting citizens were thankful to Gen. Meade and the Northern soldiers. However, President Lincoln was upset that he had lost one of his brightest military leaders in Reynolds, and was severely disappointed that Meade had allowed Gen. Lee to eventually escape back into Virginia to fight another day...more like 21 months.
We have no idea exactly when, or how, Catharine received the news of Gen. Reynolds' death. She would eventually sell her home, and many belongings at auction the following year before taking up residence with Mr. William Dean and family. It appears that she soon went back into teaching, opening a select school for girls in 1865.
 Frederick Examiner (Aug 16, 1865)  Frederick Examiner (Sept 5, 1866) Mary Catharine Reynolds would die February 17th, 1870. She was the last of her immediate family to be buried in the small lot in Mount Olivet's Area D with its single monument. I'm sure she thought of "Cousin J" each of the last six years of her own life on July 1st, the anniversary of his death. I'm sure she appreciated the fact that she saw him one last time on June 28th, 1863, but longed for the opportunity for more time and the chance to feed him dessert and tea as she had planned later that day, or the next.  Maryland Union (Feb 17, 1870)   Perhaps the cousins met once again, far from Frederick, but more importantly, further from the ugly scenes of battle. 
1 Comment
Rob Markey
7/1/2025 05:16:17 pm
As always, great read Chris, hope all is good with you Leave a Reply. |
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