Gettysburg to restore house occupied by African American family to its 1863 appearance; it was heavily damaged during battle

(Courtesy of Gettysburg National Military Park)

A farmhouse that belonged to an African American blacksmith and was heavily damaged and pillaged during the Battle of Gettysburg will be restored soon to its 1863 appearance.

Gettysburg National Military Park has long wanted to remove postwar additions to the home and funding finally has come through.

“The home that James Warfield and his family lived in at the time of the battle in 1863 is barely recognizable now due to subsequent owners making changes and additions to the original footprint,” park spokesman Jason Martz told the Picket on Thursday.

(NPS map, click to enlarge)

The first phase of work, slated to begin Dec. 2, will focus on demolition of the modern 2^nd and 3^rd floors and a breezeway between the stone house and garage.

Warfield, one of many free African Americans in Adams County, and his family fled as Confederates neared Gettysburg. They were afraid they could be sent south and enslaved.

Confederate troops occupied the Warfield property on the afternoon of July 2, 1863, and launched attacks against Union troops occupying Sherfy peach orchard.

“The Warfield farm was very close to the fighting on July 2 and 3. Kershaw’s South Carolinians formed there for the attack, and artillery was posted just to the east of the house, drawing Federal counterbattery fire,” reads an article on the website Battle of Gettysburg Stone Sentinels. “Longstreet’s staff may have used the house as his headquarters for a time. Although some wounded were treated there, the buildings were never formally designated as a hospital, possibly because they were so close to the fighting.”

The Warfield family returned to find their property heavily damaged and their belongings taken by the two armies. James Warfield calculated his losses at $516. The orchards, gardens and buildings were all badly damaged. Fourteen Confederates were buried in his garden, according to Stone Sentinels. 

Warfield received partial compensation, but moved to Cashtown when he was unable to sell the property. He died in 1875. The park acquired the property in the 1970s.

Drawings show what the house may have looked like during the battle (NPS)

During its restoration, the height of the two-room Warfield home essentially will be chopped in half to 1.5 floors, while retaining the original stone walls. “Restoration work will include re-establishing the original roof line and roof height; stabilizing and reconstructing sections of masonry walls; and recreating missing window and door components,” the park said in a press release.

Martz said the restored home will help the park better tell the story of Gettysburg’s African American community. Warfield had operated two hearths on his 13 acres and “ran one of the best blacksmith stands in the county,” according to the book “African Americans and the Gettysburg Campaign.”

D. Scott Hartwig, author and retired supervisory historian at Gettysburg, said: "I find the lives of these individuals to be particularly interesting, since they lived only about five miles from the border of a slave state. The little I have been able to glean from the records about how they got along with their neighbors is, they got on well."