Stuart was forced to continue north and east to get around the Union cavalry, further delaying his attempt to rejoin Robert E. Lee's army, which was then concentrating at Cashtown Gap west of Gettysburg.

White's raiders had destroyed the area's telegraph wires, cutting off communications with the outside world, before sacking the nearby Hanover Junction train station.

Shortly before 10:00 a.m. on June 30, the rear guard of the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry encountered Confederate videttes about three miles (5 km) southwest of Hanover at Gitt's Mill.

As more of Chambliss's men (and General Stuart) arrived on the scene, they were met by additional Federals near the sprawling Karle Forney farm, just south of Hanover.

Nearly surrounded in the confused fighting, Stuart and a staff officer escaped cross-country through the hedges bordering the country lane, at one point leaping their horses over a 15-foot (4.6 m) wide ditch.

Hearing the unmistakable sound of distant gunfire, Judson Kilpatrick raced southward toward Hanover, with his horse dying in the town square from the severe ride.

The young general began to deploy his men in and around Hanover, barricading some streets with barrels, farm wagons, dry goods boxes, and anything else that might provide cover.

When Fitzhugh Lee's Virginia brigade arrived, Stuart moved his and Chambliss's men into a new position on a ridge extending from the Keller Farm southwest of Hanover to Mount Olivet Cemetery southeast of town.

Leaving the captured wagons two miles (3 km) south of town under heavy guard, Wade Hampton at 2 p.m. brought his brigade and Breathed's Battery into position near the Mount Olivet Cemetery on the extreme right of Stuart's line.

Fragments blasted holes in several houses and narrowly missed killing Mrs. Henry Winebrenner and her daughter, who had just left their balcony when a projectile came hurtling through the upstairs.

Disengaging slowly and protecting his captured wagons, Stuart withdrew to the northeast through Jefferson toward York, known from recent newspapers to be the location of Early's division.

Stuart changed course and headed northward through the night on winding, hilly country roads, still trying to locate Early or Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell, thinking the latter still to be toward the Susquehanna River.

The fighting at Hanover, the long march through York County with the captured wagons, and the brief encounter at Carlisle slowed Stuart considerably in his attempt to rejoin the main army and locate Lee.

Losses at Hanover were relatively light in terms of casualties, but the time required to delay Stuart from linking with Lee proved even more costly.

[5] The fighting in Hanover is commemorated by The Picket, an impressive bronze statue of a mounted cavalryman sculpted by famed Boston artist Cyrus E. Dallin.