The following story was written by Contributor/CT. Coordinator Dan Stone . It is a story about descendants of William Stone of Guilford, CT. Four Stones at Gettysburg By Dan Stone Chapter I Colonel Roy Stone, son of  Ithiel Vernon (8), John(7), Reuben (6), Benajah III-I(5-3), William (2), Samuel (1) and his three third cousins, Captain George L. Stone, Corporal Charles Henry Stone, and Private Stanley Stone, each sons of  Lory (8), Benajah V-I (7-3), William (2), Samuel (1)  all fought in close proximity to one another, and each was wounded during - but survived - the first day’s battle at Gettysburg, 01 July 1863. Lee’s victory at Chancellorsville gave rise to the prospect of an expedition north into Pennsylvania. That effort was designed to bring strategic pressure on Washington in hope of motivating the Federal government to negotiate for peace. On a tactical level, it is often noted that the Gettysburg Campaign actually began with a foraging expedition for military supplies, especially shoes. On 30 June 1863 Lee was informed that Gettysburg was lightly defended by General John Buford’s federal cavalry. At daybreak the next day Lee dispatched Heth and Pender’s divisions of Hill’s Corps to drive Buford off and see what booty Gettysburg had to offer. One division of dismounted cavalry fighting as skirmishers could not resist two divisions of Lee’s finest infantry. One enduring image of the first day’s battle is Buford climbing to the cupola of the Lutheran Seminary - on the extreme west side of the town - to get the lay of the land and observe the approaching Confederates. After his survey he recommended to General Reynolds a “defense in depth” – a slow, hard fought eastward withdrawal to more defendable higher ground – that place now immortalized as Cemetery Ridge. He would buy time and pay for it with ground and blood until Reynolds’s Corps, later followed by Meade’s entire army, could come up and make a stronger defense. One of the regiments of cavalry defending the western approach to Gettysburg that morning was the 17th Pennsylvania. One of the troopers of Company “B” of that regiment was 25 year old Private Stanley Stone. His regiment had been assigned to the 2nd Brigade of General John Buford's 1st Cavalry Division in the previous February. They had just completed an exhausting march shadowing Lee north from Yarmouth near Chancellorsville, across the Potomac, over the Maryland panhandle and now a few miles inside Pennsylvania at Gettysburg. That morning found the 17th stationed on the John Forney farm, adjacent to the Mummasburg Road beyond Gettysburg’s far western edge. Quoting from the inscription of regiment’s monument at that site, “The regiment held this position on the morning of July 1, 1863, from 5 o'clock until the arrival of First Corps troops.  The Brigade then moved to the right, covering the roads to Carlisle and Harrisburg and holding the enemy in check until relieved by troops of the Eleventh Corps.  It then took position on the right flank of the infantry, and, later, aided in covering the retreat of the 11th Corps to Cemetery Hill, where it went into position with the Division on the left of the army." At some point in this action Stanley was wounded and was taken into Gettysburg for medical assistance. His injury probably occurred between 8:00 and 10:00 am when fighting at the Forney farm site was heaviest. He later recovered from his wound and was able to rejoin his regiment. According to 17th Cavalry records, he was promoted to Corporal on 01 November 1864 but soon after was captured by rebel guerrillas. During the winter of 1864-65 the 17th was in winter quarters at Winchester, Virginia.  The regiment was sent on occasional scouting parties and from December 19th to 28th on a reconnaissance expedition to Gordonsville. Stanley was captured the day after the main action was completed, 24 December 1864, while providing a rear guard for the main body. In his History of Susquehanna County Stocker reports that Stanley “was captured near Richmond [i.e. about 60 miles northwest of Richmond] and sent to Libby prison, where he remained until so reduced in flesh that he was unable to stand upon his feet. He was then sent to the rebel hospital where he remained until he was exchanged, just before the end of the war.” Since the Libby prison in Richmond was used for officers only, Stanley was probably held on Belle Isle, an island in the James River within eyesight of Libby prison. Still recovering from his ordeal, Stanley was honorably discharged by General Order, June 13, 1865. He returned to his home in Franklin Township, Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania where he lived a farmer’s life until his death on May 15th, 1910. The story of this particular branch of the Stone family continues, describing the role played by the brothers George and Charles Stone in the desperate defense of the western approach to Gettysburg. Their valiant service on the first day played no small role in action that kept a tactical Southern victory from being a Northern rout. You will learn the story of Roy Stone, how a road on the Gettysburg battlefield - and a species of palm tree - came to be named after him, why the US Department of Transportation honors him as their de facto first secretary, and how one of his descendants now sits in the British House of Lords. Chapter II In our previous chapter Stanley Stone’s Civil War Service with the 17th Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry was described. Stanley as not the only member of his family present on the battlefield at Gettysburg on 1 July 1863. On the same morning he was wounded, Stanley’s older brothers, Captain George L. Stone and Corporal Charles Henry Stone were encamped with their unit, the 151st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, about ten miles south of Gettysburg. They too, had been a part of the union forces shadowing Lee northward, always maintaining a force majeure between Lee and the federal capital. George had been elected captain of Company “A” of the 151st, a company which had been formed in Susquehanna County the previous fall. The 151st had been raised as a nine month militia type unit in late October and early November 1862, and as such, was about to complete its term of service. The regimental battle flag of the 151st still exists and has the names of only two battles stitched upon it, but what names they are: Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. For a full treatment of the story of the 151st PVI, I recommend Michael A. Dreese’s “The 151st Pennsylvania Volunteers at Gettysburg–Like Ripe Apples in a Storm”. (If you are a Stone, interested in military history this book should be in your library.) George had been ill on the march northward and it speaks highly of George’s commander, Lt. Col. George F. McFarland that he loaned his horse to George so that he might keep up with the main body. That gallant act also indicates the value Col. McFarland placed on George’s service. Another segment of the march was planned for the next morning to take them up to the town of Gettysburg. Most soldiers expected a relaxed afternoon once a new camp had been set up. After a hot sweaty march of a half dozen miles a courier with an urgent message and the sound of gunfire to the north and west changed all that. The 151st was ordered to quick march to a place later called McPherson’s Ridge, a slight rise that spanned the roads which provided access to Gettysburg from the west, and offered a natural north-south line of defense. These two roads merged at the Lutheran Seminary on the next rise, called Seminary Ridge. General Reynolds planned a strong defense in depth from this location. But very early in the battle, perhaps shortly after 10:00 a.m. Reynolds was fatally wounded while commanding his forces in the action at Herbst’s Woods. The loss of Reynolds had a profound effect on the events of that day. Command unexpectedly devolved on General Abner Doubleday, who did well, despite not having the continuity, superior experience, and tactical grasp of Reynolds. In the face of superior Southern numbers, and because of the determined initiative on the Rebels part, fighting west of the Seminary was possibly the bloodiest of the first day. The 151st regiment was placed in reserve near the Theological Seminary that morning, where it remained past the noon hour. The Union line held through the early afternoon and Confederate General Archer was captured along with some eight hundred of his men. The armies disengaged and the battlefield was quiet for about an hour. The rebels used that time wisely, assembling an assault force perhaps three times the strength of the Union defenders. With the next wave, the 151st was ordered to advance a fill a dangerous gap in the line. Volley fire at 20 paces decimated both armies. The History of the 151st relates, “The 26th North Carolina was the Confederate regiment facing the 151st and suffered losses of 584 men of the 800 who marched upon the field. Their 73% casualties was the greatest loss of any regiment during the three days battle. The 151st loss was 69% casualties, the third greatest loss during the battle.” Weakened to the point of ineffectiveness, and having given what Lincoln described five months later as “the last full measure of devotion” the 151st was ordered to retreat though the town, all while covering the redeployment of the Iron Brigade, and to reassemble at the strong defensive position of Cemetery Ridge. Of the entire regiment only ninety-one men, commanded by a Captain, remained to answer evening muster. They slept between the tombstones that night. The survivors were deployed near “the copse of trees” and assisted in repulsing Picket’s Charge on the final day’s battle. The last word of the contribution of the 151st Pennsylvania is found in General Doubleday’s official report of the battle: “I can never forget the services rendered me by this regiment, directed by the gallant [ry] and genius of McFarland. I believe they saved the First Corps, and were among the chief instruments to save the Army of the Potomac, and the country from unimaginable disaster.” Neither George nor Charles was present for that role call or the final action. George had been wounded in the foot by a Minie ball in the retreat. He fell somewhere east of the seminary and was carried to one of the churches in Gettysburg for care. Charles was also wounded at approximately the same time. He also was carried from the battlefield and avoided capture. Although George suffered lifelong paralysis of his foot, he and his brother had recovered sufficiently to be mustered out with the other survivors of their unit at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg on 29 Jul 1863, just 28 days later, the same place their adventure began the previous November. George applied for and was granted a lifetime disability pension of $12.50 per month. He served a postmaster of Montrose, Pennsylvania from 1871 to 1875 and as the charter Royal High Priest of Warren Chapter, Royal Arch Masons in Montrose. He then moved to New Milford, Pennsylvania where he operated a livery business until his death on 12 March 1896 at age 71. Charles Henry Stone “went west”, and operated a farm in Nebraska until his death in 1891 at age 57. Chapter III [Work in Progress]