Battle of Gettysburg

When Union forces beat back concerted attacks by the Confederate Army at Gettysburg, PA, on July 1-4, 1863, a turning point in the Civil War was attained. Much of the battle took place on the farm of Jacob Sherfy, a member of the Brethren.

Areas now prominent in military history - Little Round Top, Devil's Den, the Wheat Field, Plumb Run, the Peach Orchard - all lay on Sherfy's land. The family of his son Joseph Sherfy, a minister in the Marsh Creek congregation, was driven from its part of the farm which contained the Peach Orchard.

Members of the Marsh Creek congregation distributed funds to Gettysburg residents who sustained losses from the fighting.

Source: Donald Durnbaugh writing in the Brethren Encyclopedia