Journey to Gettysburg

"Horses," she whispered. And with that one word five-year-old Ruth Scott set in motion a family saga that would test the measure of a son's courage, a mother's conflict between love of family and love of country, a father's commitment to keep a promise, and a daughter's extraordinary gift. In the early morning hours of October 10, 1862, Confederate Major General J.E.B. "Jeb" Stuart and 1800 of his cavalry splashed across the Potomac River and rode toward Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Rebel army, had given the order for a raid in the hope that it would arouse the Union army to action. Along the way, the gray troopers passed through the quiet town of Mercersburg. The people in and around the town could do nothing to stop them. Tom Scott and his boy militia, the "Mercersburg Invincibles," were the only ones to offer any resistance, but in the end, they stood as prisoners before none other than Stuart himself. The Rebels finally rode on, leaving the town in turmoil and the Scott family forever changed. Tragically, this would not be the last time that the Rebels invaded Pennsylvania. In the following year, Tom and his family received terrible news that sent them on a journey to the embattled town of Gettysburg.