The "Death Along The Susquehanna" Story

The Accomac Inn on the west bank of the Susquehanna River.

It was an ordinary day.  Just left the Accomac Inn along the west bank of the Susque- hanna River to search for the grave of the Confederate soldier who died in June of 1863, a few days before the battle of Gettysburg.  Seems his body may have washed ashore about a mile from the Accomac Inn.  He was allegedly part of a Confederate scouting party that was looking for a suitable site to cross the river in case the Union Army would burn the Wrightsville Bridge which connected the York County side of the river with the Lancaster County side.  The Confederate Army wanted to cross the river and head toward Philadelphia.  It was thought that he was caught in a storm on the river, drowned and was washed ashore where his body was found and buried by a friend.  

The memorial stone erected for the Confederate
soldier whose name is not known.

Another theory is he became sick and died near the site of his grave and was buried by neighbors.  It was known that Confed- erate cavalry units were operating in the area and horse soldiers were searching for a suitable crossing.  Two local newspapers reported that a Confederate soldier was shot trying to cross the river near Bainbridge, PA, upstream from where the gravesite is located on the western bank of the river.  No matter which theory is accurate, the site is close to the Accomac Inn.  Carol and I traveled about a mile along the narrow river road and finally came upon the site.  In the past the site was marked by an iron post, an old oil barrel and a previous marble stone.  The memorial that we found stated on the east side of it that it was placed there by the Sons of Union Veterans Camp 33, Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 1961, Civil War Heritage Foundation and Voices of the Confederacy.  The CSA (Confederate Soldier of America) Memorial was donated by Silbaugh Memorials.  Standing on either side of the stone were flags; one, the United States of America Flag and the other the Confederate States of America Flag.  

The rear side of the stone detailing those who
cared enough to erect and pay for the stone.

Sitting on the west side of the stone, in front of it at the base, was a very small plastic blue flag that might have been a Bonnie Blue Flag that was a sign of the Confed- eracy.  No matter what flags fly at the site, it is the resting place of a human begin who believed at the time was doing what he considered to be just.  I happen to believe that his idea of slavery was wrong, but we all have our own justifications for what we believe.  With the recent surge in removing confederate flags from just about everywhere, I was surprised to see the two small confederate flags and the plastic blue flag.  I didn't disturb the gravesite or touch the flags, but can imagine that at sometime someone passing the site will remove the Confederate flags.  Another death associated with the Accomac Inn occurred in 1882 when owner John Coyle's son, 29 year old Johnny, shot to death a hired girl who was milking cows in the nearby barn.  Johnny had asked the girl, Emily Myers, for her hand in marriage and had been rejected.  His temper led him to pull his pistol and shoot Emily to death.  There was no sympathy for Johnny, even though he was said to have a "weak mind."  He was found after ten days in the hills behind the Inn and given a trial where he was proven guilty of murder.  Later that year he appealed the verdict to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court with the same verdict rendered.  Johnny was hanged in nearby Gettysburg, his body returned to the Accomac Inn and buried about 50 feet south of the Inn in a grave with a stone marker.  Carol and I searched for that gravesite but came up empty-handed.  A sad time period in the history of the Accomac Inn.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.