Chambersburg played a role in many important chapters of American history, from the French and Indian War to the Whiskey Rebellion to the Underground Railroad. Chambersburg also holds the distinction of being the only northern city that was burned down by Confederate forces; the order given by Gen. John McCausland on July 30, 1864, reduced much of the community to ashes and smoldering rubble.
History records only one casualty resulting from the series of raids on the borough-- a black resident who was trapped inside a burning building because the rebels refused to let him out. A few hundred Union soldiers were captured as prisoners, and two Confederate soldiers were reported as missing-- and therein lies Chambersburg's most captivating unsolved Civil War mystery. So how did these Confederate soldiers disappear, and why?
