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Home Town Washington County, Maryland
Last Address Los Angeles, California
Date of Passing Feb 01, 1905
Location of Interment Angelus Rosedale Cemetery - Los Angeles, California
Wall/Plot Coordinates Section N, Lot 110, Grave 2NE
Birth name: Welford Chapman Bridwell (also spelled Wellford or Willford)
Census records state that he was born in Virginia (Bridwell), but military records state Maryland (Beauford).
Indian Campaigns Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient.
On 18 Feb 1862, at the age of 15 years 4 months, he enlisted as a Private in the Confederate States Army for a period of 3 years. He served with B-Company, 30th Virginia Infantry, Corse's Brigade, Pickett's Division, First Corps commanded by General James Longstreet. He was wounded in battle at Sharpsburg. He was mustered out of the C.S.A. on April 27, 1865.
According to the Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Virginia found on Fold3.com, he was taken as a Prisoner of War in Virginia on 23 Apr 1865 and commited to the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC on 24 Apr 1865 and was released on 27 Apr 1865 in Alexandria, Virginia. https://www.fold3.com/image/11373067 https://www.fold3.com/image/11373066
He eventually joined the United States Army under the name Clay Beauford and served bravely in the Indian Campaigns in the West.
He is buried at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles, California
Description The American Indian Wars, or Indian Wars, were the multiple armed conflicts between European governments and colonists, and later American settlers or the United States government, and the native peoples of North America. These conflicts occurred across the North American continent from the time of earliest colonial settlements until 1924. In many cases, wars resulted from competition for resources and land ownership as Europeans and later Americans encroached onto territory which had been inhabited by Native Americans for the previous centuries. There was population pressure as settlers expanded their territory, generally pushing indigenous people northward and westward. Warfare and raiding also took place as a result of wars between European powers; in North America, these enlisted their Native American allies to help them conduct warfare against each other's settlements.
Many conflicts were local, involving disputes over land use, and some entailed cycles of reprisal. Particularly in later years, conflicts were spurred by ideologies such as Manifest Destiny, which held that the United States was destined to expand from coast to coast on the North American continent. In the 1830s, the United States had a policy of Indian removal east of the Mississippi River, which was a planned, large-scale removal of indigenous peoples from the areas where Americans were settling. Particularly in the years leading up to Congressional passage of the related act, there was armed conflict between settlers and Native Americans; some removal was achieved through sale or exchange of territory through treaties.
