Milesburg Museum & Historical Society

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The official page for the Milesburg Museum & Historical Society — dedicated to preserving

10/30/2026

Thomas Ammerman 1838-1893 buried Soldiers Circle Bellefonte Union Cemetery is the son of Rachael Eckert (1814-1864) and William Ammerman (born 1808). His brother John Ewing Ammerman perished during the War and is buried at Camp Nelson National Cemetery in Kentucky. Sister Catherine married William Jackson Summers 1st Cav who also died from wounds received in service and is buried Milesburg Cemetery. His brother William Ammerman served in PVI 49th Co A. and is buried at the Advent Cemetery. Brother Henry went in the Emergency Muster Militia and is buried Columbia County, PA Pine Grove Cemetery.

Soldiers Circle is a plot purchased by the Gregg GAR Post 95. Plenty is written about the Gregg's and the post in plenty of places. The post itself was integrated and was the post for most of the US Colored Troops interred Bellefonte Union Cemetery however none of our USCT veterans are buried at Soldiers Circle they all have private plots which is true for the majority of our Civil War Veterans.

Thomas Ammerman is one of the Veterans buried in the plot purchased by the GAR Gregg Post 95. Thomas Ammermena served Company H of the 56th Pennsylvania Voluntary Infantry as a corporal. His wife Eliza Wolfe Ammerman is buried in one of the single graves in Derr Addition. Eliza and Thomas Ammerman have five children born before and after the Civil War.

The picture of Soldiers Circle posted here was taken by Storres Meyers and is a great picture of Soldiers Circle. The circle itself is in need on maintenance. His stone is starting to deteriorate. Efforts to save it are important these next few years. Future cleaning with anything is stalled until we see if the deterioration stops.

10/24/2026

Miles Riflemen and others.

Friday: What happened to the British prisoners after the Battle of Cowpens?

Following the American victory at Cowpens on January 17, 1781, General Daniel Morgan feared that British forces under General Lord Charles Cornwallis could move quickly, overtake his smaller army and rescue the British prisoners-of-war ( POWs). General Morgan wasted no time and moved both his army and the prisoners across the Broad River by sunset on the day of the battle.

In what became known as “The Race to the Dan,” General Morgan stayed two steps ahead of the determined General Cornwallis. Morgan marched north to Gilbert Town, crossed the Catawba River and pushed deeper into North Carolina. General Morgan rejoined the main southern army and General Nathanael Greene near Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina and put the POWs out of Cornwallis’s reach. Most of the British POWs were sent to camps in Virginia with some detained in other locations further north.

Roughly 600 men were captured at Cowpens and most of them never returned to the field in the Southern Campaign of 1780-1781. They were seasoned experienced soldiers and their absence from the ranks of the British army greatly impacted General Cornwallis as he pushed into North Carolina and later into Virginia.

Image: Harpers Ferry Collection image of a British soldier helping a wounded comrade.

Discover Cowpens National Battlefield: https://www.nps.gov/cowp/index.htm

10/24/2026

A powerful new introductory film is coming to Washington Crossing 🎥

Created in partnership with award-winning Wide Awake Films, the production draws on current historical scholarship and cinematic storytelling to place audiences amid the dramatic events of December 1776. Once complete, it will be shown daily in the Visitor Center theater and provide visitors with essential context before they explore the grounds where history unfolded 🎬

Filmed during a snowy January weekend at the park, the production features reenactors, horses, encampment scenes, and locations throughout the Historic Village and Thompson-Neely Farmstead. The new film marks the first major update to the park’s introductory film since 2000 and will become a cornerstone of the visitor experience during America’s 250th anniversary and beyond 🇺🇸

The film is one of several transformative projects supported by the Friends’ $2.5 million 2026 capital campaign. Don’t miss the boat, help us advance historic preservation, educational programming, accessibility, and immersive visitor experiences. With the campaign nearing its goal, your support can help bring these lasting improvements across the finish line 🎞️

Learn more: https://tinyurl.com/35j93xjj 🔗

Photo taken by Brian Wagner of BWags Photography 📸

#1776

10/17/2026

Just for your information.

Here’s a handy chart to possibly help sort out your DNA matches. How do the estimates line up with your identified matches? Edit: I added the chart for removed cousins in the comments 👇

10/13/2026

In the summer of 1776, George Washington issued an unusual order about clothing.

He didn’t want more coats. He didn’t want brass buttons or matching regimental colors.

He wanted hunting shirts: rough linen frontier shirts with fringe at the shoulders, the kind worn by the backcountry r***emen who had marched hundreds of miles to join him at Boston the year before.

Those r***emen had made a name for themselves. They could hit targets at distances that seemed impossible to men trained on smoothbore muskets. Word spread through the British ranks, and the long r***e and the fringed shirt became something to fear.

Washington noticed.

On July 24, 1776, in General Orders from New York, he urged every soldier still in need of clothing to wear the hunting shirt. It was cheap and practical, he wrote, but there was another reason. The enemy believed that any man wearing one was a “complete marksman.”

Washington’s thinking was simple: if the British feared the r***emen, make every man look like one.

A shirt, turned into a weapon.

We come from people who aimed from the trees. 🇺🇸 We made a shirt for them. Link in the first comment.

#1776

Address

Milesburg, PA
16853

Telephone

+18148833200

Website

https://www.milesburg.org/

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