Bedford County, Pennsylvania, felt the effects of the American Revolutionary War, from 1775 through 1780, in a somewhat second-hand manner. Other than Tory activities in this frontier region, there were no direct interactions between the Bedford County settlers and the British between those years.
See The Tory Expedition To Kittanning by clicking on the following link:
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or the Massacre Of Philips Rangers by clicking on the following link:
Of course, during those first years of the conflict, the residents of this region enlisted in the Militia and the Continental Line. Those who joined the Pennsylvania Regiments of the Continental Line would have seen actual warfare, but in places outside of this region. Those who served in the Bedford County Militia primarily garrisoned the various regional fortified structures. They spent their time on duty roaming (hence the name "Rangers") through the vast forests that covered this region looking for incursions by the Indians whom they had displaced or for their Tory neighbors who had remained loyal to the British government.
The years 1778 through 1780 saw a number of incidents in which the local Bedford County Militia and the displaced Indian tribes came into contact, usually in a violent manner. The Euro-Americans, with their views on private property, and the native Indians, with their views on the common sharing of property, oftentimes clashed. The residents of Bedford County, Pennsylvania were, no doubt, aware of the news of the distant battles in which the Patriots and British were engaged. But of more immediate importance to the residents of Bedford County was the news of local incidents of contact between their fellow Euro-American settlers and the Indians.
The American Revolutionary War on a national scale, for all intents and purposes, came to a cessation at Yorktown, Virginia on 17 October, 1781. The American Revolutionary War, for the residents of the frontier that included Bedford County and the lands westward to the Ohio Valley, continued into the following year. The Bedford County Militia remained on the defensive throughout that time.
Even on the national scale, there was no indication, during the first half of the year 1781, that the American Revolutionary War would end soon. For all the Patriots in the field and the Continental Congress knew, the war would be continuing indefinitely. Therefore, the militia system remained in effect and male participation through enlistment was encouraged.
Click on the following link to access the Class Tax Of 1782.
The Bedford County Militia was reorganized in the spring of 1781. In April, 1781 returns for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Bedford County Militia were submitted to George Ashman (who had received his commission to the position of Bedford County Lieutenant on 21 November, 1780.)
The size of the rosters available for the year 1781 do not permit them to be included on a single webpage. Individual pages will be provided for the 1st Battalion, the 2nd Battalion and the 3rd Battalion.
