Jennie Wade

Mary Virginia "Jennie" Wade

National Park Service

Quick Facts

Significance:

Only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg

Place Of Birth:

Gettysburg, PA

Date Of Birth:

May 21, 1843

Place Of Death:

Gettysburg, PA

Date Of Death:

July 3, 1863

Place Of Burial:

Gettysburg, PA

Cemetery Name:

Evergreen Cemetery

Mary Virginia "Jennie" Wade lived and worked as a seamstress at her parent's home in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. On the fateful morning of July 1, 1863, Wade travelled with her mother and her two brothers from their home to her sister's house, less than one-half mile away, to help care for both her sister and her sister's newborn child. While kneading bread, Jennie was struck by an errant bullet and killed instantly, one of more than 150 bullets to strike her sister's house during the three-day Battle of Gettysburg. Wade was the only civilian to be killed directly as a result of the fighting. Poignantly, on the July 4, with the guns now silent, her mother used the very same dough Jennie had kneaded just three days earlier to bake 15 loaves of bread.