Tour of Falling Waters - Sunday, March 30, 2025
Join us on Sunday March 30, 2025, for our first Beyond Gettysburg event of 2025!
FALLING WATERS
We will tour the historic Donnelly property near Falling Waters and discuss the end of the Gettysburg campaign with property owner George Franks.
On July 13, 1863, Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia was gathering on the banks of the swollen Potomac River south of Williamsport. Confederate Major General Henry Heth’s army received orders to withdraw from its position near Hagerstown at dark and move toward Falling Waters.
Acting as rear guard while Lee’s main body escaped across the Potomac, Heth’s division camped on the high ground behind the Donnelly house. Exhausted troops found the army’s engineers had constructed earthwork lunettes along the ridge.
Heth’s men rested on the morning of July 14. Union Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick’s cavalry came upon Heth’s troops about 7:30 a.m. Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer’s Michigan Wolverines charged Heth’s position. Among the men mortally wounded in the ensuing fight on this property was Confederate Brigadier General J. Johnston Pettigrew, who died several days later.
The Battle of Falling Waters was the last action of the Gettysburg Campaign on this side of the Potomac River.
WHEN: Sunday March 30,2025. Carpool to the Donnelly house, south of Williamsport, MD. Tour starts 10:00 a.m.
**Note: we are currently trying to obtain additional site access through the fish and game club.
WHERE: Donnelly house, Falling Waters Road, Williamsport MD. Address to be provided.
COST: $25.00.