Spangler Farm

June 2, 2020 Ron Kirkwood presented his book “Too Much for Human Endurance” the story of the role of the Spangler farm in the Battle of Gettysburg.. He is retired from a 40-year career in journalism, having worked as a writer and editor for publications such as USA Today, the Baltimore Sun and the York Daily Record. He was also a copy desk manager and production and news editor for The Patriot-News for 24 years.

The Spangler family of Gettysburg were fairly well off financially. George Spangler was a well-respected man in the community, according to Kirkwood, a member of local township organizations and a leader in his church.

As the battle lines were drawn, the Spangler farm was commandeered by Union forces. It location near the center of the Union line made it an ideal hub for communication, and it served as a command center, artillery reserve and field hospital.

The Spangler’s farm served as Meade’s headquarters the night of July 3 and the morning of July 4. The barn had as many as 500 injured men, laying shoulder to shoulder, and at one point the entire hospital needed to be evacuated on July 3.

Kirkwood’s research led him from libraries and archives from the National Park Service and the War College in Carlisle to records kept in Washington, D.C., Cornell University, the property of a Spangler descendant in Kansas and the University of Texas.