Private George Washington Beidelman

A twenty-two-year-old native of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, George Washington Beidelman had worked for several years in the office of a Philadelphia newspaper where he gained a much greater awareness of, and interest in the politically charged climate of those years immediately preceding the bombardment of Sumter. Although his political views leaned toward those espoused by the Democratic Party, and he was less than a devoted follower of President Lincoln, George’s steadfast belief in Union compelled him to enlist in the Federal army. "The present revolution in our country has created sad havoc with the dreams of future prosperity indulged by the mass of our countrymen," Beidelman explained to his father on May 15. He believed that forces in the South were attempting "the overthrow of the best Constitution and government the world has ever produced." The young man affirmed that "the vile worm of secession and treason" was working to bring down a government that had been "ordained of God." A pious fellow, Beidelman also held that the coming war would bring "all the people of all sections to repentance for the manifold sins which have brought this deserved judgment upon us." Before he departed Philadelphia to fight "against disunion," one of George’s friends convinced the recruit to take out some life insurance, the beneficiaries of which, should "it be God’s will not to spare me," would be his father and sisters.

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