George W. Sandoe, the first Union soldier killed at Gettysburg, was a
member of Company B Independent 21st Pennsylvania Cavalry. Upon arriving
at Gettysburg, June 26th, 1863, General Gordon sent out a picket line on
the Baltimore Pike. As these pickets reached the Nathaniel Lightner
property, George W. Sandoe and William Lightner, also a member of
Company B, approached the pike, coming across the McAllister field from
the direction of Rock Creek. Owing to a growth of bushes and trees along
the fence, they did not discover the Confederate pickets until they were
ordered to halt. Lightner at once jumped his horse across the fence and
escaped by riding rapidly down the pike. Sandoe’s horse fell in making
the leap, and in attempting to escape by riding back in the direction
from which he came, Sandoe was shot. He lies buried at Mount Joy Church,
in Mount Joy, Adams County.