The Ohio Harness' on the Union side. The WVA Harness' were supporters of the Confederacy

The Harness' of Ohio, descendants of old Michael's son Peter, and the Harness' who remained living in Virginia (WVA), descendants of old Michael's son, John, parted company when it came to which side they would support in the Civil War. Gideon Harness was an active supporter of the Union side during the Civil War. He must have been pretty gung ho about it, because he even dressed his young son, Marion up in a Union soldier's outfit and had his picture taken.

Marion Harness Dressed as a Union Soldier

A cousin of Gideon's, (John Harness' son, Phillip) enlisted in the Union army and died in battle near Nashville, Tennessee on December 15, 1862.

As far as is known, that was the involvement of the Harness' of Ohio in the Civil War...all on the Union side.

The Harness' who remained in the Hardy County, WVA area, on the other hand, were all supporters of the Confederate side. Here is a pretty good account of the situation in Hardy County as the war approached.

Hardy County as the Civil War began (1860)

The following is excerpted from The McNeill Rangers: A Study in Confederate Guerilla Warfare by Simeon Miller Bright.

The County of Hardy, located in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, was formed in 1786 from Hampshire County. With an area of 700 square miles and a population in 1860 of 9,864, Hardy County was one of the constantly disputed sections of western Virginia during the Civil War.

Through this county flows the South Branch of the Potomac River with its surrounding magnificent valley.On either side of the Valley are high mountains with rough terrain and heavy timber. The South Branch is a clear stream, quite wide, and of considerable depth in many places.

In the very center of the South Branch Valley, surrounded by high mountains, and located on the east side of the junction of the Moorefield River and the South Branch of the Potomac, is Moorefield, the county seat of Hardy County. A quiet farming center in 1860, the population of the Moorefield area at that time was about 1,500. At this period there were no bridges at Moorefield, and the South Branch had to be forded some three miles up the Valley, or the ferryboat, which was usually busy, had to be used. The main towns that communicated with Moorefield were Petersburg, Romney, and New Creek, the latter having a stage line between the two points.

In 1860, the socially dominant element in the Valley was a class of small and large slave-owning, grain-producing farmers whose outlook on life and politics was that of the typical Southern planter. The proslavery views of this class were reinforced by the fact that many of the leading families came from the Shenandoah Valley, and were "Old Dominion Democrats." The geography of the Valley also tended to strengthen proslavery tendencies, since the rich soil lent itself handily to the establishment of large farms or plantations which depended on cheap labor for successful operation. In the Valley there were certain farms, each having thousands of acres and employing scores of slaves. Slavery was thus not only socially congenial to a large element of the population, but economically expedient as well.

On the other hand, some of the leading inhabitants came from the western areas of Maryland and Pennsylvania, while a few of the most prosperous families were immigrants from New Jersey and New England. This segment of the governing class of the Valley was definitely antislavery, although some owned slaves, but it was clearly a minority in numbers and influence. Some of this group were former Northern Democrats or had been affiliated with the old Whig group. Many were now disciples of the new Republican Party.

The majority of the settlers in the Valley in 1860 were small farmers owning a few, or no slaves. This group was either proslavery or maintained an air of indifference toward the slavery issue. This indifference seldom extended to the holding of abolition principles, however. In numbers this class exceeded greatly the large farm owners. Vigorous and independent, the settler of 1860 in the Valley possessed the intrinsic qualities of individualism.

In 1860, it may be said in conclusion, the agricultural South Branch Valley was a thriving proslavery section, peopled by a sturdy race of individualistic qualities. Economic, political, and social standards mostly favored slavery, but an embryo abolitionist element was present. Soon the South Branch Valley was to be torn by strife father against son, brother against brother, in many instances, as the Civil War burst upon the nation.

The descendants of old Michael Ernst's son John were pretty involved in the war on the Confederate side. John's son George had two sons. One of them, George Casey Harness married Sallie McNeill. She was a half-sister of John Hanson McNeill, the founder and leader of a partisan group of men, primarily from Hardy County, WVA, who staged very effective guerrilla warfare against the Union forces in the Virginia, WVA and Maryland area. They were called the McNeill Rangers. They generally disrupted Union troop movements and supply lines, and in the process caused severe damage to the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, a major supply route for the Union forces.

George Casey Harness' brother, Captain John George Harness, married a cousin of John Hanson McNeil, Ann McNeill. Two of Captain John and Ann's sons, George S. And William Wirt Harness, were members of McNeill's rangers.

One of George Casey Harness (and Sallie McNeill's) sons, William Henry Harness was a Confederate field officer. Here is his story:

William Henry Harness was a Confederate field officer at the Battle of Gettysburg

NOTE: The following information is based on "A History of Grant and Hardy County, West Virginia, by E.L. Judy of Petersburg, WVa, in 1951. Gerald Harness provided the information to us.

William Henry Harness (born: April 7, 1851; died: July 7, 1924), the son of George C. Harness and Sallie McNeil, served in the Confederate army as a field officer (with rank of Captain) in the Army of Northern Virginia, Company B, 11th Cavalry Regiment, Laurel Brigade.

His company, known as the Hardy Rangers, was organized at Winchester, VA on March 10, 1862 and was initially assigned as Co. B to Ashby's Cavalry. The company was made up of men mostly from Hardy County and many of them had served in the 14th VA. Militia. The Hardy Rangers fought in numerous Civil War battles, including the Battle of Gettysburg (June 1-3, 1863). Captain Harness' unit surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865, following the battle at that location.

There were other people with the surname Harness involved in the Civil War, particularly on the Union side. They were from Ohio and Indiana and Illinois, but so far we have been unable to attach them to any of the ancestors of the Harness family that is the focus of this website.