The Bridger family of Virginia is notable to American history. Relevant figures include Joseph Bridger and Jim Bridger, as well as some less-known contributors to American colonial, pioneer, and Civil War history. [1]
The foremost progenitor of this family was General Joseph Bridger of Isle of Wight County, Virginia. [2] Originally from Gloucester, England, he served, according to some sources, as a co-acting Colonial Governor of Virginia in 1684 and 1685. [3]
The most well-known member of the Bridger family is Jim Bridger, mountain man, and explorer of the American Northwest (primarily Montana and Wyoming). Many places are named for him, such as the Bridger Mountains of Montana and the Bridger Mountains of Wyoming, as well as the Bridger-Teton National Forest and Bridger Wilderness, both in western Wyoming.
The Bridger family also includes several other members of historical relevance. James and John Bridger, for whom Bridger Mountain (a ridge in West Virginia) was named, were pioneer settlers of Pocahontas County, West Virginia. [4] [5]
Robert Rufus Bridgers, a member of the North Carolina legislature, represented the state in the First and Second Confederate Congress. "Bridger's Artillery" was among the Confederate companies of Hedrick's Brigade, which helped defend Fort Anderson in February 1865, as part of the Battle of Wilmington. [6] In addition, William Bridgers, of Austin, Texas, was a significant photographer of the Civil War era. [7]
Luther B. Bridgers (1884–1948), an American songwriter and Methodist minister, was noted for his evangelism.[ citation needed ]
Pocahontas County is a county located in the eastern part of the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,869. Its county seat is Marlinton. The county was established in 1821. It is named after the daughter of the Powhatan chief of the Native Americans in the United States who came from Jamestown, Virginia. She married an English settler, and their children became ancestors of many of the First Families of Virginia.
An old soldiers' home is a military veterans' retirement home, nursing home, or hospital, or sometimes an institution for the care of the widows and orphans of a nation's soldiers, sailors, and marines, etc.
The Battle of Camp Allegheny, also known as the Battle of Allegheny Mountain, took place on December 13, 1861, in Pocahontas County, Virginia, about 3 miles from the mountainous border of Highland County, Virginia, as part of the Operations in Western Virginia Campaign during the American Civil War. The battle was a small brigade-level conflict, and while the Confederates technically won with a Union withdrawal, it was considered militarily indecisive. However, it had critical implications for the future border of Virginia and West Virginia, ensuring Highland County remained in Confederate hands and would not be involved in the formation of the future state of West Virginia.
John Merin Bozeman was a pioneer and frontiersman in the American West who helped establish the Bozeman Trail through Wyoming Territory into the gold fields of southwestern Montana Territory in the early 1860s. He helped found the city of Bozeman, Montana in 1864, which is named for him.
The first USS Pocahontas, a screw steamer built at Medford, Massachusetts in 1852 as City of Boston, and purchased by the Navy at Boston, Massachusetts on 20 March 1855, was the first United States Navy ship to be named for Pocahontas, the Algonquian wife of Virginia colonist John Rolfe. She was originally commissioned as USS Despatch – the second U.S. Navy ship of that name – on 17 January 1856, with Lieutenant T. M. Crossan in command, and was recommissioned and renamed in 1860, seeing action in the American Civil War. As Pocahontas, one of her junior officers was Alfred Thayer Mahan, who would later achieve international fame as a military writer and theorist of naval power.
Cheat Mountain is an exceptionally high and rugged ridge situated in the Allegheny Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. It is about 50 miles (80 km) long and more than five miles (8 km) wide at its widest. Its highest point is at its southernmost end at Thorny Flat, which has an elevation of 4,848 feet (1,478 m). Several other knobs rise above 4,000 feet (1,200 m) along its length.
The U.S. state of West Virginia was formed out of western Virginia and added to the Union as a direct result of the American Civil War, in which it became the only modern state to have declared its independence from the Confederacy. In the summer of 1861, Union troops, which included a number of newly formed Western Virginia regiments, under General George McClellan, drove off Confederate troops under General Robert E. Lee. This essentially freed Unionists in the northwestern counties of Virginia to form a functioning government of their own as a result of the Wheeling Convention. Prior to the admission of West Virginia the government in Wheeling formally claimed jurisdiction over all of Virginia, although from its creation it was firmly committed to the formation of a separate state.
James Edwin Slaughter was an American soldier who fought in the Mexican American War, and later defected to fight in the Confederate States Army, where he rose to the rank of Brigadier General.
The Blackwater River of southeastern Virginia flows from its source near the city of Petersburg, Virginia for about 105 miles (170 km) through the Inner Coastal Plain region of Virginia. The Blackwater joins the Nottoway River to form the Chowan River, which empties into Albemarle Sound. The Blackwater-Nottoway confluence forms the boundary between Virginia and North Carolina.
The 3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment was a regiment of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, and the most celebrated unit from the state. Formed and initially commanded by Colonel Albert Rust, and later falling under the command of Colonel Van. H. Manning, the regiment was part of the Army of Northern Virginia, serving under General Robert E. Lee. The 3rd Arkansas Infantry Regiment served for the duration of the war, from the late months of 1861, through to its surrender at Appomattox Court House in 1865. It was the only regiment from the state of Arkansas to serve the entire war in the Eastern Theater, where most of the major Civil War battles were fought. It was also the only Arkansas regiment to initially sign up for the duration of the Civil War, with all other regiments from the state signing on for a one-year enlistment.
The 1st Arkansas Infantry (1861–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. The regiment was raised in April 1861 by Colonel Thompson B. Flournoy. It moved first to Virginia, but transferred back to Tennessee and served the rest of the war in the western theater, seeing action in the Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia campaigns. Following its depletion in numbers, the regiment was consolidated several times with other Arkansas regiments, finally merging in 1865 into the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment. There were three regiments known as "1st Arkansas" during the war. The second unit with the designation of "1st Arkansas" was the 1st Infantry, Arkansas State Troops, which was mustered into Confederate service at Pitman's Ferry, Arkansas, on 23 July 1861, under the command of Colonel Patrick Cleburne; this unit was eventually redesignated as the 15th Arkansas Volunteer Infantry. The third unit bearing the title "1st Arkansas" was the 1st Arkansas Volunteer Infantry, which served with the Union Army.
The 5th Arkansas Infantry, also called the Fighting Fifth (1861–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment organized in Arkansas to serve for the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. It served throughout the war in the western theater, seeing action in the Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia campaigns. Following its depletion in numbers the regiment was consolidated several times with other Arkansas regiments, finally merging in 1865 into the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment. Another Arkansas unit also had the designation 5th Arkansas, the 5th Regiment, Arkansas State Troops which participated in the Battle of Wilson's Creek, but was never transferred to Confederate Service. There is no connection between the two units.
The 31st Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly as part of the Army of Northern Virginia.
The 2nd Arkansas Infantry was an army regiment of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was raised in May 1861 under Colonel Thomas C. Hindman. It served throughout the war in the western theater, in the Confederate Army of Tennessee, seeing action in the Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia campaigns. Following its depletion in numbers, the regiment was consolidated several times with other Arkansas regiments, finally merging in 1865 into the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment. The regiment has no connection with the 2nd Regiment, Arkansas State Troops, which participated in the Battle of Wilson's Creek, and is also separate from the 2nd Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment, which was formed in 1864 from remnants of regiments surrendered at Vicksburg and Port Hudson.
The 19th Arkansas Infantry Regiment or Dockery's Arkansas Infantry Regiment was an infantry formation of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. There were two other regiments which were designated as the 19th Arkansas. Dawson's 19th Arkansas Infantry was organized at Nashville, Arkansas, on November 21, 1861. Hardy's Arkansas Infantry, which is also occasionally referred to as the 19th Arkansas was organized in 1863 from those parts of Dawson's 19th Infantry Regiment, the 24th Arkansas Infantry Regiment and Crawford's Arkansas Infantry Battalion, which escaped capture at the Battle of Arkansas Post.
The 14th (McCarver's) Arkansas Infantry (1861–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. Almost as soon as the regiment was formed, it was divided into two separate units. The first five companies were organized into the 9th Arkansas Infantry Battalion, while the remainder of the companies would become the 18th Arkansas Infantry Battalion. The 9th Arkansas Infantry Battalion was later merged with the 8th Arkansas Infantry and served for the rest of the war as part of that regiment, While the 18th Arkansas Infantry Battalion was consolidated with the remnants of the 17th Arkansas Infantry Regiment (Lemoyne's); the combined unit was then designated the 21st Arkansas Infantry Regiment (Craven's). A tenth company was added in December, 1862. The companies were from Izard, Lawrence, and Randolph counties.
The 21st Arkansas Infantry (1862–1865) was a Confederate Army infantry regiment during the American Civil War. The unit was organized from the consolidation of two understrength Arkansas units in May 1862. The unit participated in the Iuka-Corinth Campaign before becoming part of the garrison of Vicksburg Mississippi. After the capitulation of Confederate forces at Vicksburg, the 21st was paroled and exchanged back to Arkansas where it was combined with the remnants of several there Arkansas regiments to become the 1st Arkansas Consolidated Infantry Regiment (Trans-Mississippi). Another Arkansas Confederate infantry regiment, commanded by Colonel Dandridge McRae was also labeled the "21st Arkansas". To avoid confusion between two 21st Arkansas Regiments, McRae's regiment was later redesignated as the 15th (Northwest) Arkansas Infantry Regiment.
The 9th Arkansas Infantry Battalion (1861–1862) was a Confederate Army infantry battalion during the American Civil War. The battalion was formed from four companies of McCarver's 14th Arkansas Infantry Regiment. After the Battale of Shiloh, the battalion was consolidated with the 8th Arkansas Infantry Regiment.
The 45th Virginia Infantry Battalion was formed in detachments throughout southern West Virginia, Logan, Wayne, Wyoming, and Boone counties, from April to December 1863 until it reached six companies with 287 men. Most men who joined the newly formed infantry unit had previously served with Lieutenant Colonel Henry M. Beckley in the 1st Regiment of the Virginia State Line, a unit that had disbanded that January.
Joseph Bridger emigrated to the Virginia colony from England where he became wealthy and known for supporting Governor William Berkeley and his successors. As would his namesake grandson and several other descendants, Bridger served in the House of Burgesses representing Isle of Wight County. Bridger also served in the legislature's upper house, the Virginia Governor's Council, and led troops against the rebels during Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 as well as in 1682, when he helped suppress the tobacco cutters.
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