The Civil War, known in the North as the War Between The States, was known in the South as the War of Northern Aggression, War for Southern Independence and the War of Secession. The cause of the Civil War was primarily the question of slavery, while states' rights has been suggested.
As 1861 dawned, there were thirty-four states in the United States of America. Abraham Lincoln had won the 1860 Presidential election resulting in him becoming the sixteenth President. Over the first three months of 1861, eleven of the deep southern states declared secession, beginning with South Carolina. The assumption was that Lincoln would push to restrict slavery with eventual abolition of it entirely. The Confederate States of America was formed on 04 February 1861.
Open warfare broke out at Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor on 12 April 1861. Despite the Union's attempt to hold the fort, the Confederate forces were victorious.
From the outset, the Union adopted an offensive policy. That policy included four campaigns: a main, 'eastern' thrust into Virginia with Richmond as the object; a 'western' campaign through Kentucky and Tennessee; a campaign south through the Mississippi River valley to control travel and shipping on that river; and a campaign through the far western territories.
The Eastern Campaign was launched immediately. The Army of the Potomac, led by Major General George B. McClellan headed southward into Virginia. Through the spring of 1862, the Army of the Potomac engaged Confederate forces throughout the Shenandoah Valley. In response, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee launched a campaign northward across the Potomac and into Maryland. A disastrous defeat at Antietam ended that campaign. It also gave President Lincoln the opportunity to issue his Emancipation Proclamation on 22 September 1862 (in preliminary form, and on 01 January 1863 in final form).
The Army of the Potomac suffered a defeat at Chancellorsville, Virginia in May 1863. That Confederate victory and a string of other smaller victories convinced the Confederates that they should make another major thrust north. General Lee decided to aim toward the center of Pennsylvania, possibly to capture the railroad repair center at Altoona, Blair County. Scouts were sent northward, being spotted in the Bedford County region and into the Morrison Cove. The movements of the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia resulted in their converging in battle on the first three days of July 1863 at Gettysburg, in Adams County, Pennsylvania. The Union victory there ended any hopes of a Confederate takeover of the north.
Kentucky and Tennessee was taken over by Union forces early in 1862 and New Orleans was captured by the Union Navy in April of that year. The entire river, with the exception of the fortifications at Vicksburg, Mississippi was controlled by the Union by mid-1863 when Major General Ulysses S. Grant, with the Army of Tennessee began a siege of the city. Considered a turning point in the War, the Union victory at Vicksburg on 04 July 1863 over Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton was the last major engagement of the Civil War.
In early 1864, General Grant was promoted to the commander of the Army of the Potomac and he embarked on a campaign to drive the Confederate army to Richmond. His plan was to pin Lee's forces there and eventually annihilate them along with the destruction of the Confederate States' economic base. To the latter's end, Major General William T. Sherman led his army from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Atlanta, Georgia. Along way, Sherman defeated Confederate armies at numerous points and laid waste to the land and all of the human settlements on the way. During that 'Sherman's March To The Sea' four Confederate battle flags were captured ~ one of which eventually found its way to the Bedford County Historical Society collection.
The rosters of soldiers from Bedford County who served in the Civil War have been transcribed and are included in the History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Co's, Pennsylvania. The muster rolls and histories of the individual companies which are included in that volume are probably as complete and accurate as possible. The 1884 book was published only nineteen years after the conclusion of the war; its details would have been fresh in the minds of the book's authors.
The 13th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, Company G, recruited in April 1861, is covered on pages 117 to 119.
The 37th Regiment, 8th Reserve Division, raised in June 1861, is detailed on pages 119 to 122.
Bedford County men made up Company F of the 8th Reserve.
The 55th Regiment, was raised in the late summer and autumn of 1861. It is described on pages 134 to 141.
Bedford County men made up Companies D, H, I and K in the 55th.
The 76th Regiment, Company E was recruited in Bedford County in August and September 1861. Its history is related in pages 141 to 143.
Companies D and G of the 101st Regiment were raised in Bedford County. The history of the 101st is narrated on pages 146 to 149.
Men residing in Morrison Cove were recruited in the summer and autumn of 1861 and formed Company C of the 110th Regiment. Its history is detailed in pages 150 to 152.
In the summer of 1862, Companies C and K of the 133rd Regiment were raised. Its history is told in pages 152 to 154.;
The 138th Regiment was raised in the summer of 1862. Companies D, E and F were composed of Bedford County men. The 138th is described in pages 154 to 157.
Company I of the 171st Regiment was raised in Bedford County in November 1862. Its history is noted in pages 160 to 162.
Company A of the 184th Regiment was recruited in Bedford County in May 1864. The company's history is related in pages 162 to 163.
Although the majority of the men recruited for the 185th Regiment, variously known as the 22nd Cavalry, came from Washington County, some Bedford County men served in its Companies C, H and I. Their history is told in pages 163 to 166.
The 194th Regiment's Company I was raised in Bedford and is given on page 166.
In September 1864, men from Bedford County were recruited to serve in Companies H and K of the 208th Regiment. Their story is told in pages 166 to 168.
And finally, there were three units in which Bedford County men served that were not identified as part of the other Pennsylvania regiments. The 2nd Pennsylvania Cavalry included Company E, raised in Bedford County in September 1861. It is detailed in page 168.
The second unit was an independent company of volunteers raised to guard the western Pennsylvania region. The company was known as Captain William M. Schrock's Company and is noted on pages 168 to 169.
The last unit was the Independent Battalion of the Militia of 1863. Three companies: D, G and H were raised in Bedford County. Their history is written on page 169.
The same information appears in History of Bedford and Somerset Counties Pennsylvania on pages 136 to 139 (13th); 139 to 143 (37th); 143 to 158 (55th); 158 to 163 (76th); 163 to 171 (101st); 171 to 174 (107th); 174 to 179 (110th); 179 to 183 (133rd); 183 to 190 (138th); 190 to 195 (171st); 195 to 200 (185th); 200 to 201 (194th); 201 to 205 (208th); 205 to 206 (2nd Cavalry); 206 to 208 (Independent Battalion).
The Civil War was brought to an end on 09 April 1865. On that date, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to U. S. General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
During the War Between The States, it is believed that there were 133,821 Confederate deaths, 74,524 of which were in battles and 59,297 as the result of wounds and accidents. There were possibly an additional 26,000 to 31,000 prison deaths. The Union forces sustained 364,511 deaths with 281,881 wounded.
