On June 29, 1863, Mechanicstown filled with the noise of an army on the move as Union Gen. John F. Reynolds marched I Corps to Emmitsburg, confirming rumors of advancing Confederates that had already sent nervous farmers hurrying horses and personal belongings through town. To guard the Federal rear, Gen. John Buford posted his reserve brigade of the First Cavalry Division under Gen. Wesley Merritt in Mechanicstown. After the Battle of Gettysburg, Federals passed through again while pursuing the Army of Northern Virginia. On July 5, Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart rested his cavalrymen for an hour outside Mechanicstown near Graceham to feed and water their tired horses at a grain mill, then, after learning that Union cavalry guarded the pass over the mountain to Cavetown on present-day Rte. 77, rode around Mechanicstown on paths through Harbaugh Valley. Amid the confused troop movements, stories spread that Confederates had actually occupied the town, but although the time was stressful, most local residents kept their courage, as shown when a little girl crying while helping water horses told one of Stuart’s cavalrymen that she was not frightened, only suffering from a painful toothache. Life soon returned to normal.