Barricades Built: Residents Fortify Cove for War

As the devastating Civil War continued to tear apart this massively large, newly formed country, leaders believed that the tail end of the next battle would determine which side would dictate the terms of peace.

But farmers and tradesmen kept their eyes on the locations of the soldiers — especially the southern fighters ­­— as they aggressively pushed into the prosperous industrial areas of the north.

Local educator Ben Van Horn wrote in his book “Bible, Axe and Plow” that while central Pennsylvania in mid-1863 was mostly rural with a little urban development in the Altoona area, military leaders and everyday citizens had been busy through the spring building entrenchments to prevent entry to key access points to Morrisons Cove and the bustling Altoona rail shops.

“The Confederate invasion with calvary in front and flank swept north through Chambersburg and Carlisle, and for a time Harrisburg was threatened,” the late Van Horn wrote.

The advance was so aggressive that Confederate troops got as far as McConnellsburg, Fulton County and were advancing toward Bedford and Mount Union.

In the nick of time, the New York calvary moved in and defeated a southern force in Fulton County. To the credit of the fast acting Morrisons Cove men as well as those from elsewhere in Bedford and Blair counties, the gaps into this region were closed and manned by riflemen, according to Van Horn.

David M. Adams who wrote about past and present Cove life said the confederates kept the local boys on their toes by advancing then pulling back.

“In 1863, at the time the Civil War was in full swing, border counties were terrorized by marauding bands of Confederate cavalry who would suddenly appear and pillage the community,” Adams wrote 80 years ago.

“They confiscated many horses and drove away cattle by the score,” he wrote.

We talked in the past of fortifications at McKees Gap.

Barricades were built in Loysburg Gap, should the confederates move along the southern border from the Carlisle Chambersburg area.

They were built of log cribbing and rocks under the direction of Martinsburg’s own Major Alexander Bobb.

The Union men also had concerns about the Snake Spring entrance into the Cove (and maybe the most well known thanks to a Pennsylvania historical marker along the roadside at the top of the mountain).

Fortifications were also built in the Ravers Run area and on the high ground south of St. Clairsville on the main road from Bedford, Van Horn wrote.

The trenches in Snake Spring Gap were dug by Hollidaysburg area soldiers.

They can still be seen from the Highway and many motorists stop for a closer look after spotting the historical marker placed through the efforts of the Cove Lions Club on June 29, 1963, a century after their completion.