Battle of Hanover

On June 30, 1863, the day before the three-day Battle of Gettysburg, three brigades of Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry engaged Gen. Judson Kilpatrick’s Union cavalry in and around Hanover, PA. Stuart was searching for elements of the Army of Northern Virginia. Fighting raged in the streets of Hanover and in the fields to the south and east of the town. Ultimately, Kilpatrick prevailed, and Stuart moved his troops east, away from Gettysburg. Had Kilpatrick not redirected Stuart as he did, the Battle of Gettysburg may have had a different outcome.