By June of 1864, the people of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania were used to living the Civil War. They had watched as their sons, fathers, and brothers left home to serve in the army. Women had stepped in to fill the roles these men left behind. Residents of Chambersburg had weathered two occupations by Confederate troops. They had seen men from both sides trudge through their town square, wounded from battle. From the time that the Civil War began up until the summer of 1864, Chambersburg, like many other border towns, witnessed the events of the Civil War from the vantage point of the Home Front. It supported the war effort and it felt the impact of the struggle, but for the most part it was a home, not a battlefield.

History has typically delineated clearly the boundaries between this Home Front and the battlefront. In July 1864 these lines melted away as Chambersburg burned to the ground. Confederate General John McCausland's torch, whether lit in retaliation, anger, or duty, followed the pattern of the larger Civil War. All over the country in the summer of 1864 the lines between home front and battlefront were disappearing, at the hands of Sherman, Hunter, Grant, and others. Chambersburg was unique; it was the only Northern town reduced to ashes. However, like many other towns, North and South, it felt the power of the war's progression towards "total war." Like other Civil War home fronts, Chambersburg's Home Front became a battlefield as well.

August of 1864 saw the people of Chambersburg attempt to rebuild their lives out of McCausland's ashes, and out of the entire war. What they lost in the burning illuminates who they were in the past, and points towards an understanding about how they constructed their future. The Summer of 1864 represents the larger time frame of the Civil War and the way it shaped one town. Chambersburg's story stands out as an exception in the course of the history of the Civil War. At the same time, its distinctiveness allows it to step into the story of the entire Civil War, of home front, battlefield, and the lives in between the two.