Billy Bayly Pt. 2

I've been doing some additional reading up on Billy Bayly. One thing that I do much of the time is find a civilian or whoever and go through my books to see what I can learn about them. In this case, I learned so much that I don't think I could put it all into 2 or 3 posts.

I remember being introduced to Billy about 5 years or so ago. I know that it was definitely before I moved here that I first laid eyes on his name. Something about this boy intrigued me. Here was this thirteen year old boy who watched the battle firsthand while trying to stay hidden away. Firsthand accounts are fascinating.

Billy's whole name was William Hamilton Bayly. His uncle was William Hamilton and his cousin was John Hamilton. Now, John plays a role in what happened to Billy while he was trying to see just what war was all about.

Some of this information that I'm about to impart I got from the late Greg Coco's book "A Vast Sea of Misery" (which, if you do not have in your Gettysburg library, is a MUST have). Greg did much legwork on this topic so I am very thankful to him for all his work in this area.

Billy and his brother and cousin left the Seminary Ridge area and started to head home after the first cannons were fired. Some of the cannonballs were getting a little too close to them. The three boys headed up the Newville Road (Biglerville Road today) until they reached a blacksmith shop. According to Greg, this blacksmith shop was actually owned by his cousin John Hamilton. One of the things that I was going crazy trying to figure out...searching the Warren map....searching books, etc....was where exactly was this blacksmith shop. Once I figured this out, everything else just fell into place. The blacksmith shop was on the Newville Road at Keckler's Hill. For those not familiar with Keckler's Hill, its the hill at the intersection of Biglerville Road and Herr's Ridge Road.

Billy talks about how from the blacksmith's shop they watched the dust and then finally the emergence of Confederates from a hill. Well, after thinking about this, I figured that the troops who were coming from that direction had to be Rodes' Division. Rodes took his men down modern day Rt 34 and when they heard the sound of battle, they turned and followed the ridge to the fighting. The ridge that they followed was Herr's Ridge....which means that they turned down this road and advanced under the cover of the trees from the ridge. They kept advancing until they got to Oak Hill and this is where they set up for the fight. The troops he saw advancing up the hill HAD to be Rodes. Cool!

Billy also talks about a young Confederate soldier who came to stay with them for a while. This young soldier had had enough of the war and just left. He showed up at the Bayly's door in the middle of the night and asked for help. This young soldier was just a few years older than Billy and Billy says that he wasn't much taller than he was. They put him to bed and then gave him civilian clothes so that he would blend in. Funny thing, the boys were handing out branches from the cherry trees they had and giving them to the Confederates as they walked past. This young soldier helped them do this....and the Confederates never knew that he was one of them. I wish I knew who this boy was. The only thing that Billy says about him was that he was from North Carolina. I wonder what ever happened to him. Did he get home? Was he considered a coward by his friends and family? Did he have to leave home because of the stigma of desertion? Oh the questions I have and the answers I don't have!

I've been going through Billy's account word by word trying to determined the who's, what's, when's and where's of what Billy did. This is turning into a delightful journey into the life of a thirteen year old boy (something that I have never been....well, I was 13 once....but never a boy). While reading this, I've been wondering what I would have done if I had been Billy. I'm not sure, but I'm positive I would never have gone looking for the war.