Berkeley County was the northern gateway to the Shenandoah Valley, an area of vital importance to the Confederacy. The Valley was the “breadbasket” of the Confederacy, and the Federal military strategists knew this. Any plan to defeat the Rebels would include possession of the Valley or the destruction of its agricultural capabilities.

By the time of John Brown’s capture of the Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, the division in Berkeley County was so strong, that even fathers and sons and brothers were pitted against each other in their political convictions. No less than five companies were raised in Berkeley County that would eventually fight on the side of the Confederacy and at least two companies from Berkeley County would fight for the Federal Cause.

In the spring of 1861, the residents of Berkeley County became familiar with the problems of being on the border between the two warring factions. Thousands of troops were encamped within the county, sometimes from both armies. There were many small skirmishes in little communities such as Bunker Hill, Darkesville, Falling Waters and Hedgesville.

With so many family members fighting on both sides, news of the battles was eagerly anticipated. The first great battle of the war, Manassas, was fought July 21, 1861. As almost all the Berkeley County companies participated in the battle, there was much sorrow in Berkeley that night. Many families had lost loved ones. A particularly tragic event was the death of two brothers, Holmes and Tucker Conrad, along with their cousin, Captain Peyton R. Harrison. They were brought home in a spring wagon covered with oak boughs and buried in one tomb.

In early 1862, the clerks of the courts of Berkeley County moved all their records and papers to Winchester then to Lexington, Virginia. The clerks and their deputies accompanied the documents to assure their preservation. Some documents were lost, but in 1865, those surviving were returned. On March 1, 1862 when Federal forces took possession of Martinsburg, they found the courthouse and the County clerk’s office abandoned. They immediately occupied all the city’s public buildings. During this time, these buildings were used as barracks. On other occasions the cavalry of both armies used the basement of the Catholic Church as stables for their horses. Other buildings and homes were used as hospitals.

Even when the focus of military attention wasn't in Berkeley County, it was often a launching point for the armies. J.E.B. Stuart's raid on Chambersburg, Pennsylvania was launched from Berkeley. The Battle of Antietam was fought just a few miles from Berkeley County's borders. Any movement of troops into or out of the northern Shenandoah Valley almost certainly included Berkeley in its route.

Berkeley County, with its staunch supporters of both armies, became a “no man’s land”. No matter which side occupied the county, it was considered the enemy’s territory. Fighting inundated the towns of the county. The lives and property of all citizens were threatened. Berkeley County’s residents became survivors, with their day to day survival out of their control. At times, neither side occupied the area, but both sides relentlessly patrolled it. It was at these times that the county was in a state of near-anarchy, harassed by bands of armed guerillas.

The city of Martinsburg, being a railroad center, was a major target of the Rebels. The railroad roundhouses and bridges were destroyed. The rails were pulled off the ties and the ties themselves were burned. Railroad cars were burned where they stood, often with their cargo still in them. If that cargo happened to be coal, the car could burn for days or even weeks, spewing thick, black smoke into the sky. The citizens of Martinsburg were often afraid to leave their homes for fear of their lives.

After countless hostile occupations by both sides, the people of Berkeley County became veterans of the war themselves. The local government and economy had completely collapsed. Flourmills throughout the county were destroyed or deserted. Banks, schools, shops and factories stood empty. The county’s only railroad, the B&O, had been virtually destroyed. At one place, a rail had been heated in the middle and wrapped several times around a tree where it remained a symbol of destruction for a number of years. There was no one to work the area’s farms, so they were neglected. There were many fatherless children, and many sons who had gone to war only to return in a pine box. Children and the elderly died from disease and were sometimes wounded in the battles that took place in their communities. Southern sympathizers were the worst off, as they not only faced defeat, but also were considered enemies by their neighbors. Confederate money was worthless and those who had sold their possessions for this money not only lost their possessions but had nothing to show for their loss. The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves, thus increasing the loss of their former owners. Regardless of who was in possession of the county, known sympathizers for the other side were harassed and had their property vandalized or stolen, and many times family members were arrested and taken to jail, or even killed.

The Civil War was a necessary tragedy for this country. Now, in theory, if not in practice, all people are created equal, regardless of “race, color or previous condition of servitude”. The causes and effects of the Civil War are still felt today. In the eyes of the laws of this country, we are all free and equal. Today we are all Americans. We may be Americans of Irish, African or German descent, but we are all Americans. Let us hope that freedom and equality for all is something we can live with.