Where are They? South Closes in

Fortifications were being built and monitored in key locations to keep Confederate troops out of Morrisons Cove and ultimately the Altoona railroad shops along with the iron furnaces dotted across southern Blair and northern Bedford counties.

Men were stepping forward to man the fortifications and the rumors of impending southern troops attacking kept the volunteers worn out.

It was summer 1863 and Confederate soldiers were eager to advance into central Pennsylvania and strike a devastating blow to the northern initiative to end slavery and keep the newly formed United States as a single union...