Rain and gunfire swept over the mountains here on the evening of July 4, 1863, as Union cavalrymen of the Army of the Potomac clashed with retreating Confederates of the Army of Northern Virginia after the Battle of Gettysburg and tried to destroy wagon trains. On the road ahead, approaching Union cavalrymen were led by 17-year-old Henrietta "Hetty" Zeilinger, the youngest of three daughters of a widow who lived on a nearby farm. Earlier that evening, Hetty had met neighbor Charles Buhrman guiding Gen Judson Kilpatrick's Union cavalry and warned Buhrman and Kilpatrick not to continue up the turnpike because Confederate artillery commanded the road. Wanting to block Confederate wagons from reaching Monterey Pass, Kilpatrick ordered Lt. Col. Peter Stagg's squadron of 1st Michigan Cavalry to Fairfield Gap. A trooper lifted Hetty onto his saddle, and she led Stagg's column up the road to the left and then along a farm lane toward Fairfield Gap to attack the rear of the wagon train. Hetty married Jacob Fitz in 1865, spent her entire life on South Mountain, and died at age 87.

Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania · USA