10 Facts Battle of Ball's Bluff-- Part 4: The Famed California Regiment Wasn't Actually from California

#5:  Ball's Bluff was the first major battle of the famed California Regiment.

Funded by Californians,  the 1st California Regiment was part of an effort to keep California in the Union by encouraging California men from across the United States to enlist in the regiment.  The regiment, however, was Californian in name only; not only was it led by  Colonel Baker, a senator from Oregon, but the regiment was raised primarily in Philadelphia, resulting in a regiment where the majority of the men were native Pennsylvanians.

After Baker's death, the regiment was renamed the  71st Pennsylvania Volunteers, and went on to see action at  Antietam, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg, where they participated in the famous repulse of Pickett's Charge at the Bloody Angle.

Old Secesh

Ten Facts Battle of Ball's Bluff-- Part 3: A Big Defeat and Loss of Col. Baker

Eventually, the Confederates under Evans forced the Union forces off the bluff and into the Potomac River.  Here again, a shortage of boats took a toll on the Union forces.  Those who did not surrender would have to swim across the river and many drowned in the attempt.

The shocking disparity of casualties made the Union defeat all the more resounding.  The Federal Army suffered over 1,000 casualties while the Confederates less than 160.

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FACT #4:  The only sitting Member of Congress to be killed in battle died at Ball's Bluff.

Senator Edward  Dickinson Baker of Oregon and a close personal friend of Abraham Lincoln, became  a colonel when he was chosen to lead the California Regiment in May 1861.  He was assigned to  Brig. Gen. Stone's division stationed on the Potomac River.

On the morning of October 21, 1861,  Baker learned of Devin's raiding party into what they thought was a rebel camp and went to Stone to be briefed.  Stone, not yet knowing about the skirmish, ordered Baker to Ball's Bluff to take command of the reconnaissance and to evaluate whether to send in more troops or withdraw.

When Baker learned about the skirmish, he ordered all available troops forward and crossed the river to Ball's Bluff himself in midafternoon.  About 4 pm, he was struck simultaneously in the heart and brain by four bullets and died instantly.

--Old Secesh

The Battle of Ball's Bluff-- Part 2: Famous People at the Battle

Presentation given to the McHenry County Civil War Round Table meeting on May 10. 

This was the first major battle of the famed California Regiment, commanded by Col. Edward D. Baker.

Future Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. survived an almost fatal wound received at this battle.

The grandsons of Paul Revere were also at the battle on the Union side and survived, but both were mortally wounded in later actions during the war.  They were Dr. Edward H. revere and Major Paul Revere.

The only sitting member of the U.S. Congress was killed at the battle, Edward D. Baker, who was born in England in 1811 and his family moved to Illinois.  In 1851, he went to California and in 1861, co-organized the California Brigade.

He was a good friend of the Lincolns who named their second son, Willie, for him.  After Baker's death, Willie wrote a poem about him.

At the time of the battle, both opposing armies were named the Army of the Potomac.  The Confederate one did not become the Army of Northern Virginia until after Lee took it over.

--Old Secesh

David Huestis Budlong, Lt.Col. 135th USCT-- Part 2

From My Heritage site.

DAVID HUESTIS BUDLONG, 1831-1912

Born 1831 in New York to Eber Cole Budlong and Anna Budlong.

He had five siblings:  Charles Rose Budlong and Eber Cole Budlong and three others.

Married Nancy Ann Budlong in 1854 at age 23.

They had six children:  Hannah Clarinda  Steele, Lois Amelia Budlong and four others.

In 1880, he lived in Missouri.

Died in 1912 at age 81 in California.

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From the Political Graveyard site.

BUDLONG, DAVID H.

Of Carthage, Jaspar County, Missouri.  Born in New York.  U.S. Collector of Internal Revenue for the 5th Missouri District, 1879.  Burial location unknown.

--Old Secesh

David H. Budlong: Lt. Col. of 135th USCT

LIEUT. COL. DAVID H. BUDLONG

Born in 1829

Married Martha Gruell

Died 1912 at age 83.

Buried Greenwood Memorial Park, San Diego, California.

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From Wisconsin Geneaology Trails, 33rd Wisconsin

DAVID HUESTIS BUDLONG  Co. C,   Enlisted 10/9/1862

Commissioned   Date Out of Regt.  3/28/65  Discharged due to promotion.

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There was another Budlong in Co. C, 33rd Wisconsin.

EBER BUDLONG

Enlisted 8/21/62   Mustered out 8/9/1865

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From Idaho Civil War veterans

BUDLONG, DAVID H.  Born 1831.  Lived in Kootenai County, Idaho.  Served in Co. C, 33rd Wisconsin Infantry.

--Old Secesh

The Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors on the 79th Anniversary of the Attack

Every December 7 I devote all eight blogs to the story of Pearl Harbor.  I also put up my U.S. flags.  Right now I am thinking of ordering a 48-star flag for future use because that is the flag that flew at Pearl Harbor and during World War II.

The original Pearl Harbor Survivors organization is no more.  Age and deaths are taking its toll on those members of the Greatest Generation.  I am glad to see an active group of their children involved in carrying on their story, the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors.

Kathleen Farley, California Chairwoman of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors said that many of the actual survivors ate already talking about going to Pearl Harbor for the 80th anniversary if it's safe by then.

Farley, whose father, now deceased, was on the USS California and spent three days after the attack picking up bodies, has attended the Pearl Harbor ceremonies for the past twenty years.

"I know deep down in my heart that one of these days, we're not going to have any survivors left," she said.  "I honor them while we still have them and I can thank them in person."

--Pearl Harbor

More Comments On 'Beast' Butler-- Part 5: About Butler's 'Powder Ship' and the Trent Affair

We had one person there who was very knowledgeable about Benjamin Butler and  said he had at one time been gathering information to write a book about said person.

**  Lincoln did not speak with his first vice president, Hannibal Hamlin.

**  Butler's "powder ship" experiment was worth the shot.  The Navy had a ship it was no longer using, plus lots and lots of gunpowder.  It was worth a shot.

**  Of interest, Admiral Porter was sure a backer of this plan until it didn't work.  Then he said he knew it wouldn't work.

**  Butler defended Sutter at Sutter's Mill in California for ownership of the gold found there that sparked all that 49-er rush.

**  In the Trent Affair, former President Millard Fillmore played a huge role in keeping Britain out of the war.  He wrote a letter to Lincoln and Queen Victoria.  The Union paid $50,000 in gold and released the Confederate commissioners.

**  Butler also defended the people arrested in Chicago's Haymarket Square Riot.

--Old Secesh

William Loring's Life-- Part 2: Fought in the Mexican War

**   Loring became captain of the U.S. Army's Regiment of Mountain Riflemen in 1846 where he  initially protected Oregon during the California  Gold Rush.  He then fought in the Mexican War, rising in rank several times from major to lieutenant colonel and then to colonel.

**  Loring had his army amputated after a bullet shattered it storming the Chapuletepec Castle during that war.

**  After the war in 1859, Loring spent  time in Europe and then came back to  command the Department of New Mexico in 1861.

**  Upon the beginning of the Civil War, Loring cast his lot with the new Confederacy and resigned from the U.S. Army.  

**  He later accepted the position of brigadier general in the Confederate Army on May 20, 1861.

--Old Secesh

Berdan's Sharpshooters-- Part 5: Joe's Eye Problems

Along about August 1862, Joe began to complain about eye problems he believed to be caused by his frequent use of the telescopic scope attached to his rifle.

He determined, as was his style, to take his complaint to the highest authority in the land, President Lincoln.  So he sent Lincoln a letter saying:  Mr.Lincoln:  -- I have done some service to the country, and my eyesight is ruined doing duty.  I would like to be discharged.  California Joe."

Shortly after that, he received his discharge.

Returning to California, he took the duty of  customs inspector for the port of San Francisco.  he died on November 24, 1875, and was buried  in the GAR plot  at Mountain View Cemetery with full military honors.  He was reinterred at the San Francisco National Cemetery at the Presidio on January 31, 1933.

--My Eye.  --Old Secesh

Berdan's Sharpshooters-- Part 3: California Joe (Truman Head)

From Wikipedia under Truman Head, his real name.

Since I was writing about him in my last post, I decided to write some more about him.

Born 1808 in New York.  Died November 24, 1875 in San Francisco, California.

He left home after falling in love with a young lady but being rejected by her father.  Supported himself as a hunter and trapper for several years before heading to California after gold was discovered in 1849.

When the Civil war broke out, he headed wast to fight even though he was 52.  he originally wanted to join Colonel Baker's California regiment but didn't particularly like the drill and decided to join Hiram Berdan's Sharpshooters and easily passed the trials and enlisted in Company C of the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters on September 14, 1861.

While the regiment was at a camp of instruction in Washington, D.C., he purchased a Sharps Rifle during the winter of 1861-1862.  This became the main killing instrument of his regiment.  Since he had no family, he left his $50,000 gold mining fortune in a trust for his fellow soldiers in case he was killed.

--Old Secesh

Berdan's Sharpshooters-- Part 2: California Joe

While the sharpshooters were training at Fort Corcoran in Washington, D.C., Truman Head, a former gold miner and hunter joined their ranks.Since he was from that western state, the men quickly started calling him "California Joe."

"There is a new man here in my company that is all attention," one sharpshooter wrote in his diary.  "He is a craggy old monument from California, and can shoot better than many as he was a bear hunter.  He favors...an old Sharps and has told all that will hear that he will obtain a newer edition to fight the rebels shortly."

An outstanding marksman, Joe was disgusted with the guns the regiments were using.  True to his word, he bought a M-1859 Sharps and showed it to Hiram Berdan who was impressed and immediately ordered a thousand for his men.  But, the Sharps factory was backlogged and until they got that rifle, they received a consignment of M-1855 Colt revolving rifles which were not much-liked by the men.

--Old SeceshJoe

Truman Murray, 48th Illinois-- Part 2: Drum Major

Truman Murray enlisted in Co. F, 48th Illinois on September 1, 1861, as principal musician private. This was after the death of his wife Cordelia in 1861.  He was drum major and took part in the battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and Shiloh.

After that he was discharged early because of his age and then went to Aurora, Illinois, where he met and married his third wife.  Late in 1865, they moved to a farm near Lawton, Michigan, where they resided before going to Santa Barbara, California, in 1970 where they lived the remainder of their lives.

This Man Sure Moved A Lot.  --Old Secesh

How Did a Small Piece of the Ellsworth Flag Get to California?-- Part 4: "Piece of the First Rebel Flag Captured"

The San Bernardino County Museum has no specific details on how they got the piece of the flag.  It had been buried deep in their collection and they only found it when looking for items to put in their exhibit.

There was a tag on it, however, reading:  "Piece of the First Rebel Flag Captured."

It is possible that the piece came from Ellsworth's father, Ephraim Daniel Ellsworth, who cut off some pieces of the flag and gave them to friends and family.  Ephraim was later commissioned a captain by Lincoln and served throughout the war.

--Old Secesh

How Did a Small Piece of the Ellsworth Flag End Up in California?-- Part 1

From the October 31, 2016, Inland Valley (California) Daily Bulletin "Just how did a piece of an early Confederate Flag get to the Inland Empire?"  by Joe Blackstein.

There is a five-inch square piece of blue and white cloth on display at the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands.  It is in the exhibit "Over here, Over There:  In Time of War."

In May 1861, two men died because of that piece of cloth, each becoming a martyr to their side.

It is believed to have been cut from the Marshall House flag, a huge Confederate flag raised over a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, by its owner, James Jackson.  It was huge, measuring 14 X 24 feet and featured three horizontal stripes and a circle of seven stars.  The Confederacy's First National Flag.

--Old Secesh

Heritage Attacks

Attacks on the Heritage.

Back on Jan. 2, 2014, the LA Times reported that the Bar Association of Orange County was seeking the removal of the State of Mississppi banner from the Santa Ana Civic Center which displays the flags of all 50 states as it symbolizes hatred and racism.  It is the last flag remaining with a Confederate flag on it.  (I don't know, the State of Georgia flag sure is a Confederate flag but they wouldn't know that.)

In 1997, Laguna Hills removed the flags of Georgia and Mississippi.  In 2001 there was an attempt to remove the flag in Mississippi, but it failed.

--Old Secesh

Marking the Civil War Veteran Gravesites

From the May 5th Fresno (Ca) Bee (not sure what year, probably 2008)

Bill Melton of Porterville, California, has been identifying, gathering and collecting personal and family histories of Civil War veterans since 2003 when he saw a re-enactment in Fresno and got bitten by the bug.

He is part of the ongoing National Civil War Burial Survey.

When new markers are needed, the Veterans Administration pay for the marker and the local veterans organization pays to set up the stone. So far, Melton has identified 206 Civil War graves, 166 Union and 40 Confederate.

The grave site of Harrison White of New York is located in old Porterville Cemetery. He joined the Union Army in 1861 at the age of 23 as a private. He rose through the ranks to captain and commanded an all-black infantry unit in Mississippi. Only white men were able to be officers in black units.

Many of the black soldiers went on to become the famous Buffalo Soldiers.

He came to California in 1870.

From the March 27th Historic Happenings: A Visalia History blog.

Bill Melton had by then located 216 Confederate and Union veteran gravesites in Visalia, Three Rivers, Exeter, Farmersville, Porterville, Lindsay and Strathmore.

An Admirable Calling. --Old B-Runner

The Russians Are Coming

During the Civil War, the Russian Czar sent both his Pacific Fleet and Atlantic Fleet to visit United States ports on the east and west coasts to show his support of the Union's war effort and to let France and England know exactly where Russia stood in the conflict.

While the Pacific Fleet was at San Francisco in 1863, a fire broke out in the city and only the help given by Russian sailors contained it. However, six of them died.

In June, the first Russian surface ship since the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, the Crusier Varyag, visited San Francisco in part to honor those sailors.

I made three blog entries on it in my Cooter's History Thing Blog http://cootershistorything.blogspot.com on July 22nd, July 24th and July 27th.

The Russian Bear Visits. --Old B-Runner

The Strange Story of a Monitor-- Sunk Before Commissioning-- Part 2

There was the big fear that a Confederate ship might slip into the bay past the forts guarding it under the cover of darkness or fog. Once past the forts on Alcatraz Island and Fort Point and out of their range, the city would be at the Confederate's mercy unless an ironclad were there to challenge it.

Around 200 cannons were installed around the entrance of the bay at Fort Point, Alcatraz and Angel island.

The now-sunken Aguila had 25 feet of stern above water and the bow under 38 feet at high tide. And, the Camanche was still inside.

It took a year and a half to get the monitor out, reassemble it, and test its seaworthiness before it was commissioned after the Civil war was over and the threat no longer existed.

It remained on station for a year before decommissioning. After that, it spent most of its time anchored in the Napa River near the Navy Yard until it was sold in 1899 to J. P. Bereovich & Livingston for $6,581.25 and converted to a coal barge.

A sad end for a war ship.

I also found that the double-turreted monitor USS Monadnock, which participated in the attacks on Fort Fisher, made the perilous voyage around the tip of South America after the war to become the second ironclad available for San Francisco's protection.

An Interesting Story. --Old B-R

The Strange Story of a Monitor-- Sunk Before Commissioning-- Part 1

A very interesting story I was not familiar with in Nilda Rego's days Gone By column in the January 3, 2010, Contra Costa (Ca) Times. It concerns a Union monitor that was built in New Jersey, shipped to San Francisco in pieces and sunk in the ship carrying it.

I also messed up on the spelling of the USS Camanche, spelling it like the Indian tribe, Comanche, and not finding anything in the searches as a result.

On November 3, 1863, the people of San Francisco were overjoyed as the ship Aguila entered the bay carrying the pieces of the second-generation monitor USS Camanche in its hold, the first ironclad on the Pacific Coast.

Always fearing an attack by Confederate raiders or privateers, the citizens had constantly petitioned Washington, DC, for one. Now it was here. Instead of the two 12-inch guns on the USS Monitor, the Passaic-class Camanche mounted two 15-inch cannons.

It had been built in New Jersey, dismantles, and on May 30, 1863, had begun its five and a half month voyage to California.

Six days after arrival, a severe gale blew in and sank the Aguila, with the Camanche still in its hold.

And the Story Continues. --Old B-Runner