In the quiet hills of Cocolamus, Juniata County, Pennsylvania my third great-granduncle John Varner was pulled into the path of destiny.
It was December of 1863—a time when the nation’s fate hung in the balance, and the echoes of war reverberated across the land.
John, at the age of 26, found himself drafted into the Pennsylvania Infantry. He lived on a small farm with his wife, Margaret, and their three children: Five-year-old Barbara, two-year-old William; and little Levi, just two months old.
With the draft notice clutched tightly in his hand, John Varner bade farewell to his humble home and set forth toward Camp Curtin—the very heartbeat of Pennsylvania’s recruiting efforts
From Harrisburg, John’s journey took him southward to the rolling hills of Virginia. There, amidst the whispering pines, he was attached to the 49th Pennsylvania Infantry.
From thereArmy the Potomac as they embarked on the Overland Campaign with General Grant trying to put an end to the war. John would fight at some of the toughest and most horrific fights of the conflict. (See the "John Varner" map on the MAP page)
He fought through the fires and confusion of the Wilderness. At Spotsylvania Courthouse he took part in Upton’s Charge and fought in the rain, mud and the blood in terrifying hand to hand combat.
At Petersburg he took part in the WW1 style trench warfare of the Siege.
Many people pass his cemetery at Bunkertown in Juniata County where he and his wife Margeret’s headstones stand on a small rise of a hill overlooking the beautiful farmland around McAlisterville Pennsylvania, but little, if any, know his story.
Unfortunately, not only his story forgotten but his headstone is fractured and falling in disrepair.
This scene is repeated over and over across this nation. The struggle of these men is forgotten to time and apathy.
I started this project to try to keep the stories of soldiers like John alive and provide a platform for people searching for the history of their relatives.
The main function of this project is to provide information to the public about the soldiers in their local communities.
1. We are creating a database of the soldiers. Their units, and any information we find on them. As anyone doing research on their relatives knows this information is in many different sources, we are combining these sources in one database and then providing them to the organizations that maintain their resting places so that the information is readily available to those who want it. This is the important facet to this project, there are many places that have databases or portions of databases but we strive to put a copy directly in the hands of the people that matter when it comes to taking care of these fallen men.
2. We are using these databases to create a comprehensive report to the institutions that take care of these soldiers final resting places. The report includes an individual report on each of the soldiers, information on the units they served in and other interesting and relevant facts pertaining to the Civil War
3. We are using modern day platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Youtube etc) to share pictures and stories that we may find as we do our research to help share their stories.
4. We are publicly telling the stories of these men via presentations to the organizations and Historical societies of the soldiers in their communities to try to keep the names and stories of these men alive in the eyes of the public.
If you have any questions or would like to share any personal stories of your family members or contribute to the project in any way it would be much appreciated!
You can reach me at WITSCivilWar@gmail.com
Ben Varner
Founder
Walking in Their Shoes Project
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