Tour Stop #1: The Old Lutheran Church






Photos Courtesy of John Aichele

 Look at photograph # 1; this was the Lutheran Church, photographed by Alexander Gardner a few days after the battle. What you see here is the site of the Old Lutheran Church built in 1768 after this plot of land was given by Joseph Chapline. Some of the headstones are dated to 1774. As you can see this is the highest point of town on the East Side, so it had certain tactical advantages for the Confederate Army. They used the cupola of the church as a signaling station for their signaling corps. The Federal Army, seeing this Confederate use of the church, heavily shelled it during and after the battle. After the Confederate retreat and the Union Army occupied the town, the church was used as a Fifth Corps hospital until 1863. Van S. Brashears, an 80 year old cooper testified that, “It was in pretty good condition when they took it. When they left it was pretty well tore up – nothing in there but the floor; the windows were pretty much broke and benches all gone, so was the floor and benches, floor from the gallery…” Because of this damage to the church, it was torn down in 1864. The present day Lutheran Church stands just across from you, on the North Side of the Street. 
Questions for Consideration: If you were a member of the Lutheran congregation, would you have voted to repair the church, leave as it was in memorial, or tear it down? How would feel about the war if even the sanctuary of a church could not escape its ferocity?