After days of hard marching to find and intercept the Army of Northern Virginia's invasion of Pennsylvania, the lead Corps of the Army of the Potomac, under its popular General John F. Reynolds, had reached within four miles of Gettysburg. Eleven and Twelve Corps were encamped just six miles further back. Confederate forces were planning to concentrate there and the next day advance elements of the two great armies made contact on the outskirts of the town and the pivotal battle began. (By John Osborne)

The 11th Pennsylvania, along with smaller detachments of Massachusetts and Illinois cavalrymen, under Colonel Samuel P. Spear, had left White House, Virginia three days before on a reconnaissance in the area around South Anna. Along the way, they raided the estate of the Wickham family at Hickory Hill and found General W.H.F. Lee, son of Robert E. Lee, and a Wickham son-in-law, recuperating from his Brandy Station wounds. He was taken and held in New York for almost eight months before being exchanged for Union General Neal Dow.  (By John Osborne)  

During the intense cavalry fighting in the streets of the Pennsylvania town of Hanover, Colonel W.H.F. Payne, commander of the Second North Carolina Cavalry, had his horse shot from under him by a trooper of the 5th New York and landed headfirst in a tanning vat in the yard of a town tannery. Pulled out covered completely in brown tanning liquid, made up largely of horse urine, Payne became a carefully handled prisoner of war.  (By John Osborne) 

The largest encounter so far in the invasion of Pennsylvania took place in and around the small York County town of Hanover. Here, Stuart's Confederate cavalry collided with the rearguard unit of General Kilpatrick's cavalry division, the 18th Pennsylvania.  Both sides brought up reinforcements and thousands of horsemen were engaged. Fighting was heavy, including in the town streets, before Stuart pulled away for York and Carlisle. (By John Osborne) 

The 35th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, colorfully known as "White's Comanches" for their distinctive war-cry and their young commander, Elijiah Veirs White, arrived in Hanover, Pennsylvania, and then moved on to Hanover Junction.  Brushing aside the raw Pennsylvania militia guarding the station in the early afternoon, White's men destroyed much of the important rail complex before moving on.  (By John Osborne)