History of Greene County, Pennsylvania, During the Civil War

Located on the extreme southwest corner of Pennsylvania, bordered on the south and the west by Virginia, Greene County, during the Civil War era, presented "a house divided." In 1860, the majority of county residents voted for southern Democrat, John C Breckenridge, for President; and, in 1864, "little Greene" was one of twelve Pennsylvania counties that voted against Abraham Lincoln's reelection. Dominated by peace Democrats during the war, the population displayed apathy over the slavery issue and political divisiveness common to border regions during the conflict. The Republican Party never represented more than a third of the voters, and after the war, many myths arose about Greene County's loyalty to the Union and the region's Southern sympathies. This work dissipates these myths and provides a more complete picture of the County's history in this turbulent era. Despite the region's rural nature, however, that picture is far from idyllic. Differences over the definition of "loyalty" to the Union erupted at times into scathing personal attacks in the local newspapers, physical assaults, homicide, and intervention by Federal troops. One Township, experiencing an early oil boom, was referred to by authorities as a "hotbed of copperheadism." Throughout it all, nevertheless, Greene County provided over 1800 men for Mr. Lincoln's Army, and at least six of these men were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Published on September 20, 2012, the book is available for purchase through Amazon.com and Kindle. In addition, it may be obtained at a 15% discount through an e-store located at https://www.createspace.com/3944771. Use the password (greene1861) to enter the e-store. The code for the 15% discount is PJQPR43Y.  Pages from the book may be previewed at the Kindle Store on Amazon.com.

Sources for Pennsylvania Civil War History

I have been doing more research lately, preparing a book on Greene County, Pennsylvania, during the Civil War era.  I thought that I would like to share some research sources on Pennsylvania Civil War politics and antiwar sentiment.  The following are good places to start on politics in Pennsylvania during the Civil War period:

Rebecca Gifford Albright, "The Civil War Career of Andrew Gregg Curtin, Governor of Pennsylvania," Western Pennsylvania Historical Society Magazine, Vol. 47, No. 4 (October 1964).

Erwin S. Bradley, Triumph of Militant Republicanism:  A Study of Pennsylvania and Presidential Politics, 1860-1872 (Philadelphia:  University of Pennsylvania Press, 1964).

Fawn M. Brodie, Thaddeus Stevens:  Scourge of the South (New York:  W. W. Norton & Company, 1959).

Stanton L. Davis, Pennsylvania Politics, 1860-1863 (Cleveland, Ohio:  Western Reserve University, 1935).

Michael Fitzbibbon Holt, Forging a Majority:  The Formation of the Republican Party in Pittsburgh, 1848-1860 (Pittsburgh, PA:  University of Pittsburgh Press, 1990).

Alexander Kelly McClure, Old Time Notes of Pennsylvania, 2 vols. (Philadelphia:  The John C. Winston Company, 1905).

Jonathon W. White, "A Pennsylvania Judge Views the Rebellion:  The Civil War Letters of George Washington Woodward," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 129, No. 2 (April 2005).

Robert M. Sandow, "Deserter Country: Civil War Opposition in the Pennsylvania Appalachians" (New York: Fordham University Press, 2009).

I recently obtained a copy of Robert Sandow's "Deserter Country." This is a wonderful addition to my growing library on Pennsylvania "copperheadism" during the Civil War. Sandow concentrates on homefront opposition in the lumbering region of north and north-central Pennsylvania. Fantastic bibliography and a great "Introduction" outlining the state of scholarly research on this topic from the Civil War era to date. Excellent chapters on the history of the lumber industry in Pennsylvania in the 19th century, and I like the way Sandow relates war resistance in the lumbering regions to the pre-war changes in the industry in Pennsylvania and the "patterans of protest" evident in the 1850s in the "Raftsmen's Rebellion" of 1857. A lot of great material on Federal occupation of Clearfield County and the "expedition" against draft resistors and deserters in Fishing Creek Township in Columbia County. Apendix contains graphs and material demonstrating the resistance to volunteering for military service in the lumbering counties. Particularly interesting map of Pennsylvania showing geographical origins of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps. Also information on the "Democratic Castle" movement in Clearfield County is worth perusing. This book is being added to the reading list!

Dan Sickles at Gettysburg

I have been reading a book on northern generals by Wilmer Jones ("Generals in Blue and Gray: Lincoln's Generals," Vol. I, Stackpole Books, 2004). In the chapter on Dan Sickles, Jones talks about two things I found particularly interesting. First, after the war, Sickles was instrumental in the creation of the Gettysburg National Park. One observer noted that there were no monuments for Sickles in the Park, and Sickles replied, "Hell, the whole damn battlefield is my monument." Second, Jones notes that Sickles always believed his actions at the Peach Orchard, etc., saved the Union from defeat by blunting Longstreet's attack on the second day. Moreover, after the war, Longstreet sent Sickles a letter, published in several newspapers, crediting Sickles with slowing his attack on July 2, 1863, allowing Northern troops time to occupy Little Round Top.

Regimental Flag of the 8th Pennsylvania Reserves

A picture of the regimental flag of the 8th Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry. For more information on the 8th Pennsylvania Reserves, see some of the earlier posts.

The Bloody 85th: The Letters of Milton McJunkin, a Western Pennsylvania Soldier in the Civil War, compiled and edited by Ronn Palm, Dr. Richard Sauers, and Patrick A. Schroeder. Schroeder Publications: Lynchburg, VA, 2002 (201pp.)

This is an outstanding collection of letters by a member of Company D of the 85th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. A 24-year-old farmer from Pike Run Township near Bentleyville in Washington County, Pennsylvania, McJunkin was a prolific letter writer and astute observer of the incidents and events that encompassed his service as a soldier in the 85th Pennsylvania. The regiment was recruited in 1861 from volunteers coming from Washington, Fayette, Greene, and Somerset counties in southwestern Pennsylvania. McJunkin's letters are unique in Civil War literature in that the 85th Pennsylvania served in both the Army of the Potomac and the Army of the James. In McJunkin's correspondence we are given a picture of life in the Union army during the Peninsular Campaign in Virginia, but also a personal story of the regiment's campaigns in North Carolina and South Carolina. His experiences included serving in the same brigade on Morris Island in South Carolina as the famed 54th Massachusetts Infantry, a Black volunteer unit. In addition to McJunkin's letters, the book contains over sixty illustrations of officers and soldiers in the 85th. Many of these illustrations are accompanied by thumbnail sketches of the service records of these men. There is also a short history of the regiment's battleflags, including information about a court battle after the war to determine ownership of the remnants of the 85th's surviving colors. All in all, the book is a great addition to the regimental history
It should be noted that a history of the 85th Pennsylvania was originally published by regimental historian Luther S. Dickey in 1915 (History of the Eighty-fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865: Comprising an Authentic Narrative of Casey's Division at the Battle of Seven Pines).

Regimental History of the 8th Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry

Silas Baily, Colonel and later Brigadier General,
Commander of the 8th Pennsylvania Reserves




Robert E. Eberly, Jr. Bouquets from the Cannon’s Mouth: Soldiering with the Eighth Regiment of the Pennsylvania Reserves. White Mane Books: Shippensburg, PA, 2005, 372 pp. (ISBN 1-57249-373-9)

The 8th Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry was one of the regiments attached to the Pennsylvania Reserves Division, commanded at the Battle of Fredericksburg by Major General George Gordon Meade, which served as part of the Army of the Potomac. From the Seven Days Battles in 1862 through Grant’s Overland Campaign in 1864, the 8th Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Reserves Division fought in nearly every major campaign in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The regiment, along with the division, suffered heavy losses at Gaines Mill, Antietam, and Fredericksburg, where the Pennsylvania Reserves achieved one of the only Union successes by establishing a breach in a portion of the Confederate right flank. The reserves were unsupported in this effort, however, and the division was driven back with severe losses, including the capture of William Silveus, whose letters home to his wife, Mary, are included in an earlier post. The author of this book, drawing on letters, diaries, and other personal accounts, does a very creditable job of bringing the history of this regiment to life. Composed of infantry companies recruited in western Pennsylvania, the battle record of the 8th Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry has received little scholarly attention in the past. Focusing on the letters and diaries of five western Pennsylvanians who served with the 8th Pennsylvania Reserves, Eberly has done much to rectify this matter. Of particular interest are the two prisoner of war diaries incorporated by Eberly in the third part of the book. These two accounts of life in rebel prisons have never been published before. Containing ten maps, six appendices, several photographs, extensive notes, and a complete bibliography, this is a wonderful scholarly work. Eberly sheds a great deal of light on the service of the Pennsylvania Reserves, and this book, as Civil War historian Edwin C. Bearss states in his foreword, is for those “who savor the soldier’s story.”