In May 1757 Colonel‑Commandant John Stanwix led five companies of his first battalion of the Royal American Regiment to Carlisle. He also took over command of the colonial forces of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, all of whom were hard‑pressed by attacks of pro‑French Indians. His senior subordinates were colonels George Washington of Virginia and John Armstrong of Pennsylvania.
In July 1855, six companies from the 2nd Infantry rook possession of an old fur trading post on the banks of the Upper Missouri River and transformed it into a base of operations against the Sioux. But before setting out on this assignment, the officers and men of this regiment spent almost a year and a half at Carlisle Barracks filling their ranks, drilling, and preparing for service on the prairie. Among the officers in this contingent was 34-year-old Lieutenant Thomas William Sweeny.
William Denning made a significant contribution to the American cause during the Revolutionary War, by creating desperately needed artillery using an unusual welding process.
Carlisle Herald, July 11, 1872. “The colored citizens of Carlisle and vicinity, contemplate holding a grand National celebration, in commemoration of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln in this place on Thursday, August 1, 1872.
John Cantilion was a tall, handsome soldier when he stepped into Ordnance Sergeant Lewis Leffman's office at Fort Niagara. The old sergeant was somewhat of a legend in the Niagara area. He had fought with Wellington's Hanovian forces at Waterloo in 1815. Shortly after he joined the British army and shipped to Canada. His next assignment was to have been the disease-plagued islands in the south, so he arranged an early departure to Hancock Barracks, Sackets Harbor, New York, where he enlisted at twenty seven in the United States Army, 30 August 1829.
Northeast of Carlisle borough near the intersection of Cavalry Road and Route 11 sits a distinguished, white-washed, brick home known as the Wilson House. That impressive structure bore witness to a part of the compelling story of Revolutionary War officer Major James Armstrong Wilson. He has frequently been confused with another James Wilson (1742-1798) who signed the Declaration of Independence and was a resident of Carlisle for a time.
Interview of Chad Johnson for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library. Johnson discusses his work at the Carlisle Barracks and how sports connects those stationed at the base with the greater Carlisle community. Johnson also discusses how he created a local AAU Basketball team, the Carlisle Rocks, and how basketball can change lives.
From a likely fictional confession written a day before his death, Pennsylvania’s Robin Hood tells the story of David Lewis, better known as Lewis the Robber from his birth on Hanover Street in Carlisle on March 4, 1790 to his capture and eventual death in jail in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania on July
Clarence I. Lewis, a decorating painter, was born in St. Clair, Pennsylvania. He left high school his sophomore year to apprentice as decorating painter. In 1917 he joined the military as an insignia painter where he would later he paint equipment.
Isabel Carpenter Masland discusses growing up in the Two Mile House outside of Carlisle, Pennsylvania during World War II.