Introduction

I am in the process of researching various topics dealing with Pennsylvania's role in the American Civil War. Although sometimes overlooked by some researchers, Pennsylvania has a more varied history in this matter than one might realize. The Commonwealth sent thousands of her young men to serve in the Union armies, both east and west. Politically, however, the state was divided in its loyalties with some segments of the population strongly supporting Lincoln and the Republican party's war policies. The Democrats in the state were divided into two main camps: war Democrats who supported the war effort, although not necessarily the republican war policies, and peace Democrats, who opposed the war effort and sought various negotiated settlements with the South. Inevitably, the peace wing of the Democratic party became associated in the minds of the Republicans with the copperhead movements found in other states of the North, particularly the states of the old northwest. I became interested in this topic when I was younger and heard stories of an ancestor in my father's family who hid her fiance in a sheep shed on our family farm in Greene County, Pennsylvania, rather than allow him to be drafted into the army. At any rate, I have a broad interest in the subject of the impact of the war on the state. From time to time, I will be posting bibliographical material and open thoughts on my research.