On a visit to the Pennsylvania State Archives in the spring of 2023, we examined the papers of Gilliard Dock, a middle-aged businessman in Harrisburg with ties to industrial interests in Central Pennsylvania during the Civil War. Dock later became a mining superintendent in Dauphin and Schuylkill counties.
In September 1862, Dock was living in Harrisburg with his family when Confederate forces under Robert E. Lee threatened the Keystone State with invasion for the first time. Dock joined an emergency militia as corporal and marched off to defend his home with a smoothbore musket and zero training as a soldier.
Dock and his comrades spent most of their short service near the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, where they “heard distinctly the dull roar” of the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862.
A few days later, on the outskirts of Hagerstown, Maryland, Gilliard Dock had a memorable run-in with one of the most famous generals of the Civil War – General John Reynolds.
Dock described the encounter in his journal:
“This morning, when getting ready for breakfast I started from camp to fill my canteen with water at a farmhouse, but was gruffly halted at the road by a mounted officer wrapped in his cloak who inquired ‘where in hell’ I was going.
I announced my intention of going for water, and in return was sternly ordered ‘back to my company.’ I persisted, contrary to discipline – and quoting our Colonel as authority – when I was saluted with, ‘Well, I am General Reynolds, God damn you, and I order you back to your company.’
I touched my cap and respectfully asked his permission to get water, but a grunted oath was hurled at me and I retired in good order.”
Reynolds had some good reasons for his grumpiness. The Pennsylvania-native, a veteran officer with experience in several major campaigns, had missed the Battle of Antietam on orders from Governor Andrew Curtin.
The governor had requested Reynolds to lead the Pennsylvania emergency militia units defending the southern boundaries of the Keystone State. This all apparently left Reynolds in a bad mood and the thirsty corporal from Harrisburg had caught him at the wrong moment.
Dock mustered out of the emergency service a few days later, his experience at war limited to hearing the distant thunder of cannons, watching gun flashes on distant cloud banks, and being on the receiving end of a vicious tongue-lashing by General Reynolds.
John Reynolds returned to his command in the United States Army in the fall of 1862. He was killed on July 1, 1863 while leading the US Army’s I Corps onto the battlefield at Gettysburg.
