An account of the Second Battle of Bull Run written by a veteran of the 48th Pennsylvania

Posted on by Jake Wynn

Shot in the foot at Bull Run — and too stubborn to stop moving When a Confederate bullet hit Josiah Wildermuth in the foot during the Second Battle of Bull Run, he got up, fell down, got up again, and kept going. What followed was a days-long ordeal on improvised fence-rail crutches that took him from a field hospital to Centreville, Virginia to Washington. He told the story 38 years later at a veterans' reunion in Pottsville, PA. Read the story.

Schuylkill County Soldiers Write Home From New Mexico | 1916

Posted on by Jake Wynn

Walking in the footsteps of Schuylkill County soldiers in Albuquerque | 1916 While in Albuquerque for work, I kept walking past the same adobe church that Coal Region soldiers wrote home about in 1916, on their way to the Mexican border during the Pancho Villa raids. Their letters home are full of curiosity and surprises.

Schuylkill County airmen win War Bonds for bombing Berlin | 1944

Posted on by Jake Wynn

The first Schuylkill County men to bomb Berlin - honored with war bonds | 1944 In August 1944, four Schuylkill County airmen gathered at the Pottsville Republican office to collect $50 war bonds for being the first county sons to fly over Berlin. One mother accepted on her son's behalf. Read more.

John Ryan captured at Gettysburg with the 69th Pennsylvania | 1863

Posted on by Jake Wynn

Lieutenant John Ryan of Pottsville was captured during Pickett's Charge and spent nine months in Libby Prison. He came home with scurvy, dysentery, blackened teeth, and an ulcer eating through his leg. Explore more of his story of survival during the Civil War.

Letters from War: 1861 | “A curiosity to see” – The 6th Pennsylvania wades across the Potomac River into Virginia

Posted on by Jake Wynn

In a letter to the "Miners' Journal," Private James K. Helms of the 6th Pennsylvania describes the scenes as the US Army crossed the Potomac River at Williamsport, MD in June 1861. The young soldier's account vividly describes their first march toward the enemy in Virginia. Read the full letter.

Coal Region soldiers’ Civil War letters featured by WVIA News | Interview

Posted on by Jake Wynn

Letters from War: 1861 was featured by WVIA News this week. Roger DuPuis and I talked about the project, the chaotic opening months of the Civil War, and what these Coal Region soldiers' letters still reveal 165 years later. Read more and find the full interview.

Captain John Dougherty of Pottsville, PA | Killed at the Battle of South Mountain in 1862

Posted on by Jake Wynn

“There was no better or braver soldier than... John Dougherty.” At the Battle of South Mountain in September 1862, a Pottsville railroad worker turned US Army officer fell leading his men into battle. I recently visited the grave of this Irish-born Civil War hero in Pottsville, PA. Read the full story.

Poster advertising Civil War sword ceremony in Pottsville, PA | May 7, 1863

Posted on by Jake Wynn
Sword presentation poster as advertised for Colonel George C. Wynkoop in Pottsville, PA Civil War 1863

Check out Pottsville’s proud tribute to Col. George C. Wynkoop: a rare 1863 broadside from the PA State Archives invites citizens to Town Hall for a ceremonial sword presentation honoring his leadership of the 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Learn how this celebration reflected Civil War–era community spirit, wartime pride, and military valor. Read the full story.

Letters from War: 1861 | A Minersville soldier writes from Washington, DC

Posted on by Jake Wynn

The coal miners of the Ringgold Infantry had been in Washington less than a week — sleeping on bare floors, waiting on uniforms, short on food in the Civil War's early weeks. One of them picked up a pen and wrote home. His letter captures the chaos, the humor, and the strange excitement of the Civil War's earliest days. Read the letter.

Irish immigrants attend Mass in Pottsville, PA before marching off to fight in the Civil War | 1861

Posted on by Jake Wynn

Before they marched off to fight in the Civil War in April 1861, Irish immigrant soldiers in Pottsville, PA gathered inside St. Patrick’s Church for Mass. Father Patrick Nugent spoke to them, "urging their stalwart defense and maintenance of our national Government..." Read the Full Story.