Civil War Figure. Born Mary Virginia Wade, she was known by her family and contemporaries as merely "Jennie." Arguably the "greatest battle ever fought on American soil" commenced in the environs of her native Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1863. The three-day Civil War battle of Gettysburg began on July 1, and fearing the effects of it, she sought haven at the home of a relative. The "Jennie Wade House" as it is now known in the borough of Gettysburg, was the home of her married sister, Georgia Wade McClellan, and it was there that she found refuge from the rapidly escalating battle. In a short time, the locality of the McClellan home became a battlefield with Union and Confederate forces frequently dueling within site of it. Throughout this ordeal, Jennie repeatedly offered comfort in the way of foodstuffs and water to the Union soldiers who were combating the Confederates outside the home. Keystone Tombstones, vol. 1, by Farrell and Farley, states that her last words to her sister were: "If there is anyone in this house that is to be killed today, I hope it is me." (Her sister had a baby.) The twenty-year old fell dead after a rifle ball penetrated the home's doors on the morning of July 3 and struck her while purportedly at the chore of preparing bread dough. With the cessation of the battle, she was buried in her sister's garden on the 4th of July. In January, 1864, her remains were re-located to a cemetery "near the German Reform Church" in Gettysburg. A later re-interment in the Evergreen Cemetery occurred in November, 1865. Within this burial ground is another tragic story which has always been intertwined with her own - the one of Corporal Johnston Hastings Skelly, Jr. He was a friend, beau, and presumed fiancé of Jennie's. He died on July 12, 1863, of wounds received in a Virginia battle and is now buried in close proximity of her plot. The two died without knowing the other's fate. For several years, her grave was marked with a non-descript gravestone, however, through the tireless efforts of her sister Georgia, an elaborate marker stands today in the remembrance of Jennie, "the only civilian killed in the battle of Gettysburg."

Civil War Figure. Born Mary Virginia Wade, she was known by her family and contemporaries as merely "Jennie." Arguably the "greatest battle ever fought on American soil" commenced in the environs of her native Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1863. The three-day Civil War battle of Gettysburg began on July 1, and fearing the effects of it, she sought haven at the home of a relative. The "Jennie Wade House" as it is now known in the borough of Gettysburg, was the home of her married sister, Georgia Wade McClellan, and it was there that she found refuge from the rapidly escalating battle. In a short time, the locality of the McClellan home became a battlefield with Union and Confederate forces frequently dueling within site of it. Throughout this ordeal, Jennie repeatedly offered comfort in the way of foodstuffs and water to the Union soldiers who were combating the Confederates outside the home. Keystone Tombstones, vol. 1, by Farrell and Farley, states that her last words to her sister were: "If there is anyone in this house that is to be killed today, I hope it is me." (Her sister had a baby.) The twenty-year old fell dead after a rifle ball penetrated the home's doors on the morning of July 3 and struck her while purportedly at the chore of preparing bread dough. With the cessation of the battle, she was buried in her sister's garden on the 4th of July. In January, 1864, her remains were re-located to a cemetery "near the German Reform Church" in Gettysburg. A later re-interment in the Evergreen Cemetery occurred in November, 1865. Within this burial ground is another tragic story which has always been intertwined with her own - the one of Corporal Johnston Hastings Skelly, Jr. He was a friend, beau, and presumed fiancé of Jennie's. He died on July 12, 1863, of wounds received in a Virginia battle and is now buried in close proximity of her plot. The two died without knowing the other's fate. For several years, her grave was marked with a non-descript gravestone, however, through the tireless efforts of her sister Georgia, an elaborate marker stands today in the remembrance of Jennie, "the only civilian killed in the battle of Gettysburg."

Bio by: Stonewall