When tourist dollars from Civil War buffs are in play, no battle is bigger than Gettysburg.
The epic battle, which cost 51,000 lives in 1863, brings about 2 million people annually to a rural Pennsylvania town.
Now, Westminster officials are trying to get their slice of those tourist dollars ? by associating the skirmish of Corbit?s Charge that took place in Westminster with the Civil War?s bloodiest battle.
“Each year, 2 million people visit Gettysburg,” said Thomas LeGore, a local historian and one of the organizers of Westminster?s commemorative Corbit?s Charge celebrations during the weekend. “They come on roads through Carroll County. We want to give them a reason to stop here.”
With that philosophy in mind, Westminster tourism officials for four years have attempted to build up the fame of Corbit?s Charge, dedicating a memorial to the battle this year and bringing in about 400 visitors to the event.
Much of that buildup is based on the idea that the short battle along Westminster?s Main Street affected the Battle of Gettysburg, by holding up the Confederate cavalry of Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, who was late to Gettysburg.
About 100 union soldiers were present, taking on a few hundred front-runners of Stuart?s 5,400 men. And only two soldiers from each side died in the skirmish ? which LeGore called a “bloody street fight.”
“Everybody wants a piece of Gettysburg,” said Gary Gallagher, a professor of Civil War military history at the University of Virginia.
“I guess it?s possible this battle played some small factor, but that?s a little far-fetched. I think there?s some hyperbole at play,” he said.
Bruce Venter, a Civil War lecturer and historian from Alexandria, Va., concurred.
“There were a number of reasons why Jeb Stuart was late at Gettysburg,” Venter said. “Probably the biggest reason is [Union Gen. Hugh Judson] Kilpatrick?s cavalry at Hanover caused Stuart to lose a whole day. Did Corbit?s Charge affect Gettysburg significantly? I don?t think so.”
But LeGore said he thinks it could have.
“If Stuart hadn?t camped that night in Westminster, he could have made it to Gettysburg earlier,” he said.
“If he gets to Gettysburg earlier, the South might win the battle and possibly the war.”
