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Qvil War soldier, priestrctorn to find peace at ^trick Qflrchlt; Area of the church wherea ghost has been seen. ■ SEE RESTLESS - 2Ebefore he thought about it.Not that it did him much good. He was wounded as he fled. With nearly 23,000 men dead in one day and even more wounded, the nearest hospital where Gillespie could be sent was the temporary hospital in the rectory at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Cumberland.It was there Gillespie had met the pastor, Father Edward Brennan. The two men spoke often and Brennan helped Gillespie find spiritual peace, but he still had the Army to answer to for his actions on the battlefieldWhen Gillespie recovered, his commander, Lt. William Shearer, orden d his men to hang Gillespie by his thumbs. Shearer left Gillespie hanging in excruciating torture until he nearly died. Following that punishment, Gillespie swore vengeance on the lieutenant.Gillespie and Company B, 15th Regiment New York Calvary were en route from Park ersburg to Cumberland when Gillespie murdered Shearer, finally getting the revenge he desired so much.The verdict from his court martial two days later was that Gillespie would be hanged from the neck until dead.In “A Century of Growth of the Church in Western Maryland” published in 1900, the Rev. Thomas Stanton wrote, “The circumstances in the case were such as to excite sympathy for the soldier, but not sufficient to excuse or extenuate the horrible deed of which he had been guilty.”At 5 p.m., guards brought Gillespie to theMary Paugh points to locations where she has seen one of the parish ghosts in the rectory of St Patrick Church.gallows, which had been constructed near Rose Hill Cemetery.“Do you have any last words?” the officer asked.Gillespie glanced over at Brennan. GillespieJAMES RADATIMES-NEWS STAFF WRITERCUMBERLAND — Francis Gillespie stared at the noose in front of him as he calmly ascended the gallows July 11,1864.He stood on the wooden platform as the hangman lowered the noose around his neck and tightened it so that the knot was behind his ear.An army officer on the platform read off the charge and sentence from Gillespie’s court martial A frightened Gillespie had run from the battlefield at Anti-etam nearly two years ago. It had been a foolish thing to do, but so many men had been dying all around him and he was a young recruit.He had run
Newspaper Details
Cumberland Times News
Cumberland, Maryland, US
Sun, Aug 15, 2004
Page 25
Full Page
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MD, USA 19 Dec 2024
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