By mid-June 1863, communities in Cumberland County knew the Confederate Army was approaching, and residents began fleeing across the Susquehanna River while freight cars came from Harrisburg to move goods out of reach. On June 28, two Confederate scouts on horseback arrived at the home of Burgess George Hummel, and under threat of bombardment he surrendered Mechanicsburg. Between 700 and 800 cavalrymen then rode through the town's streets and encamped a mile east, while their commanding officer, Brigadier General Albert Jenkins, demanded that townspeople deliver 1,500 rations to the town hall within 90 minutes. Residents provided the food and received Confederate scrip in return. During the two-day occupation, Confederates tore up railroad tracks and skirmished with Federals just east of town. Jenkins had taken Mechanicsburg to reconnoiter approaches to the state capital eight miles away, and he and Lieutenant General Richard Ewell hoped to capture Harrisburg, but before those plans could be carried out General Robert E. Lee ordered his troops to concentrate near Gettysburg. Mechanicsburg thus became the northernmost town to surrender formally to the Confederacy.