The Carlisle House, Carlisle, PA

War in Carlisle
The Civil War impacted Carlisle in many ways CivilWarPA.com gives you information about the Pennsylvania Civil War Discovery Trail, and will give you details of the Battle of Gettysburg. About 40 minutes from Carlisle, Gettysburg provides the Civil War buff with an interesting, but sobering experience.

Here in Carlisle, we have the U.S. Army Military Institute, one of our nation's oldest military installations.

Less than 30 minutes away is the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's State Capital.

Finally we would like to mention "Dear Folks at Home" the collected letters of Leo W. and John I. Faller edited by Milton E. Flower. Leo and John were great uncles of Mary Faller Duxbury, one of the Carlisle House Innkeepers. Leo was killed at the Battle of Antietam, and his body returned to Carlisle for burial. Their story of joining "The Carlisle Fencibles" in response to President Abraham Lincoln's call for "75,000 volunteers to serve a term of three months" is both gripping and sad. The Fencibles became "Company A, 36th Regiment, 7th Pennsylvania Reserve Corps". On May 5, 1864 the 36th regiment was surrounded in the woods just west of Fredericksburg, Virginia and 272 officers and enlisted men were taken prison. John Faller was sent to Andersonville, and then to Florence, Georgia where the horrendous conditions contrived to kill many more of the regiment. Sherman's "March to the Sea" at the end of 1864 enabled the release of the prisoners in Florence, and John Faller was able to return to Carlisle in 1865.

For those who are interested, we have a copy of "Dear Folks at Home: the Civil War Letters of Leo W. and John I. Faller". You may be able to find a copy to read through WorldCat, provided by Online Computer Library Center Inc.