The 8th USCT: The Men of the 8th

The unit's enlistees mostly were free Northern blacks who came from Pennsylvania, some were Southern contraband as well as inhabitants of border states of Maryland and Delaware.  Some even came from Indiana and one was even from Jamaica.  Little is known of these soldiers as the overwhelming majority were illiterate and fewer still left personal recollections of their service.

Service records, however, do provide some detail of these men.  Private Richard D. Duryee was drafted in Brooklyn, NY, on 2 September 1863.  Thirty-four years old, he stood 5 feet 4-1/2 inches and had black hair, eyes and complexion.  He was born in Pennsylvania and listed his pre-war occupation as "coachman."

Promoted to corporal on 1 January 1864, and served as a non-commissioned officer in Company I.

Another member was Elijah Little, 25,  5 feet 7-1/2 inches tall, yellow complexion.  Enlisted in Philadelphia 3 December 1863 and had been a farmer.

--Old Secesh

War's Hardening Ways-- Part 3: "No Idea of the Filth and Vulgarity"

**  "I had no idea of the filth and vulgarity of men in camp until I tried this little experiment."

--Colonel William Barksdale, 13th Mississippi Infantry, reflecting on his recent decision to join the army, in a letter to his brother.

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**  "It seems to me I am quite callous to death now, and that I could see my dearest friend die without much feeling....  During the last three weeks ... I have witnessed hundreds of me shot dead, have walked and slept among them, and surely I feel it possible to die myself as calmly as any."

--  Union surgeon John Gardner Perry, in a letter home written during the Battle of North Anna.

--Old Secesh

War's Hardening Ways-- Part 2: "Waiting For This Fellow To Die"

**  "Am waiting for this fellow to die, so I can get his watch and ring."

--Confederate soldier Jim Randall after being asked by a comrade why he was sitting near a wounded Union officer after a battle.

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**  "We passed the night high up the mountain, where we moved to reach our supply wagons.  A cold rain was falling, and before we found them ... I had lunched comfortably from the haversack of a dead Federal.  It is not pleasant to think of now...."

--  Confederate General Richard Taylor on an incident that occurred during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862, in his memoirs.

--Secesh

War's Hardening Ways-- Part 1: "Cant Be Beat At Cursing, Swearing and Gambling"

From the Summer 2019 Civil War Monitor magazine  "Salvo:  Voices."

War has the way to harden-off its participants.  Here are some examples:

**  "I will be a perfect Barbarian if I Should Stay hear 3 years."

Recently enlisted Vermont soldier J.E. Hart, in a letter to his wife, June 16, 1861.

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**  "If you think soldiering cures anyone of wild habits it is a great mistake, it is like Sending a Boy in the Navy to learn him good manners.  We have Drummer Boys with us that when they came at first could hardly look you in the face for diffidence but now could stare the Devil out of contenance and cant be beat at cursing, swearing and gambling."

Alfred Davenport, 5th New York Infantry, in a letter to his parents, March 9, 1863.

--OldSeHardened

MCCWRT Meeting Tuesday April 10:

This Tuesday, April 10, the McHenry County Civil War Round Table will meet at the Woodstock, Illinois, Public Library at 414 W. Judd Street from 7 to 9 p.m..

Robert Girardi will talk about "The Organization of the Rank and File: Soldiers and Their Officers."

--Old Secesh

Confederates Are U.S. Veterans Also

Honoring Those Who Served in the Confederate Military Today.  This Memorial Day

Maybe the anti-Confederate folks don't know it, but Confederate soldiers are considered to be veterans of the United States as well.

So, today, we pay respects to Confederate States of America soldiers, sailors and Marines.

Also, we pay our respect to those soldiers, sailors and Marines who served in the Union milit

The Brave.

Frank Crawford Talks About In the Shadows of Lincoln at MCCWRT September Meeting-- Part 1

Long-time member of the McHenry County Civil War Round Table in Illinois gave the talk, somewhat revolving around his most current book "In the Shadows of Lincoln."  This book did not detail the assassination which has been covered in so many other books and research, but goes into the lives of others, generally of lesser importance and research who were involved with aspects of it.

I was sorely tempted to buy a copy as this sort of Civil War history interests me and I get into it a lot in these blogs, but I am trying to only buy books associated with the naval war.

Mr. Crawford also has another book "Proud To Say I Am a Union Soldier: The Last Letters Home From federal Soldiers Written During the War" where he writes about the lives of twenty-one different Union soldiers.

He spent some of the time talking about the many problems getting books published, including finding a publisher, reviews by critics and problems arising when the publisher wants changes in the manuscript.

--Old Secesh

Soldiering During the War

The last several blog entries on the 3rd Tennessee gave several insights on being a soldier during the war.

Imagine soldiers today electing their officers?

Regiments generally had around a 1000 men with ten companies of 100 men each. Companies were commanded by a captain. Regiments were commanded by a colonel.

However, regiments and companies were generally not at full strength due to sickness and death. As the war continued, regimental strengths dropped accordingly.

In some cases, new recruits were used to fill the ranks, but often regiments were folded or consolidated with other regiments.

If you were captured, you might get lucky and get paroled at which time you returned to your side, but legally could not soldier again until you were exchanged. Things got rough on Confederate prisons in the last year of the war when the Union stopped exchanging prisoners, one reason Southern prisons gained such a bad reputation.

Off to be a Soldier. --Old B-Runner

Civil War Relics and Their History-- Part 3

I always enjoy seeing any historical relics, but also like to know their histories along with how they came to be in the museum. This article was of particular interest and it DIDN'T take me three months to follow up on part 2 like the last time. Items in the Clayton-Blair History Museum in North Carolina.


PRIVATE CRAWFORD'S HANDMADE DRINKING CUP FROM PRISON-- Made from a powder horn with his name and regiment carved into it: "William Crawford, Co. G 25th SCV, Elmira, NY 1865."

Private Crawford made it while a POW at the Union Elmira Prison after his capture at Fort Fisher Jan. 15, 1865. He arrived at "Hellmira" Jan. 30th and died of pneumonia March 7. He is buried at the prison's cemetery.

Elmira was not opened until may 1864, but had the highest death rate of any Union prison, 25%.


OTHER MUSEUM ARTIFACTS--

DOG TAGS from a 2nd Michigan and a 12th New Hampshire volunteer, one of whom became a deserter.

PALMETTO REGIMENT SILVER MEDAL of a Mexican War veteran who also served in the 6th SC Cavalry.

FEDERAL CARBINE CARTRIDGE BOX with penciled soldier's name, Jacob Rey, that appears to be from a southern unit. Probably captured at some point.

CSA BRASS BELT BUCKLE with the name Bill or Billie scratched on the back.

Of Definite Interest. --Old B-R'er

Civil War Relics and Their History-- Part 2

Part 1 was all the way back to Sept. 28, 2010. I was writing about relics and their histories at the Historical Crafts and Farm Skills Festival in Aberdeen, NC, on Sept. 24, 2010 from the Southern Pines (NC) Pilot. Hit the labels below to see the first entry.

EVANS' GOLD MEDALS-- One of only two or three known bronze copies of the gold medal given to South Carolina Brigadier General Nathan G. "Shanks" Evans by the state legislature for his gallantry at the Battle of Ball's Bluff near Leesburg, Virginia, Oct. 21, 1861. The original is in the Confederate Museum in Richmond.

LEATHER SWORD BELT-- belonged to slain Confederate militia officer 1st Lt. James T. Weir (23rd SC Volunteers) captured in 1862 at the battle of Kinston, North Carolina. Taken by Gary Voorhees, 9th NJ Volunteers. It has a string tag attached to it marked, "Taken from the body of a dead C.S.A. captain." Voorhees mistook the double-bar shoulder strap worn by officers in both Confederate and Union armies. Confederate commander at Kinston was Nathan Evans.

MODEL 1861 COLT NAVY PISTOL-- engraved G.E. Manigault on butt strap. Gabriel Manigault was from the noted and wealthy Manigault family from Charles, SC, and a member of the Charleston Dragoons. He was captured at the Battle of Trevilian Station, Va., in June 1864. he survived the war and was a professor at the College of Charleston until his death in 1899.

More to Come (And I Promise Not Another Three Months). --Old B-Runner

Civil War Relics and Their History-- Part 1

From the Pilot article I entered earlier today.

Other items on display at the Clayton-Blair History Museum near Fayetteville, NC.

MODEL 1855 HARPERS FERRY ARSENAL RIFLE

It was the first standard issue military weapon with a rifled barrel for better range and accuracy with the newly created minie ball. It also used the new Maynard tape primer caps that replaced metal percussion caps.

Only 7,300 were produced from 1857 to early 1961 and only at the Harpers Ferry Armory.

CONFEDERATE FAYETTEVILLE ARSENAL RIFLE

The Harpers Ferry Rifle became the model for the famous Fayetteville Arsenal Rifle. Some 8,700 were made from 1862 to 1864. Am 1863 rifle is also on display.


CONFEDERATE-MADE CARTRIDGE BOX

A soldier-marked, Confederate-made cartridge box and shoulder sling of Jeremiah L. Moore, 7th NC State Troops. He was from Iredell County and wounded in the leg and captured July 3rd, the final day of the Battle of Gettysburg. He died of the wound in 1864. The box and sling were taken on the battlefield and after 105 years of storage and display at a Massachusetts museum, given to the Clayton-Blair Museum in 2006. (I imagine an individual had it before the other museum got it.)

More to Come. --B-R'er

Civil War Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Home Residents 1887-1911

I came across and interesting Illinois database: Soldiers and Sailors' Home Residents 1887-1911. AFTER THEIR NAME IS THEIR COUNTY-- DATE ADMITTED--NUMBER-- COMPANY-- UNIT

HATCH, JOSIAH H.-- Cook, Feb. 11, 1904, 6638, F, 51st Illinois

HATCH, LAMINA-- Adams, Oct. 14, 1915, 812
HATCH, MELLVILLE-- Adams, Oct. 14, 1915, 10730, 9th Mass Battery

HATCH, THEODORE H.-- Tazewell, July 27, 1911, 9533, E and D, 47th Illinois
HATCH, WILLIAM P.-- Dekalb, March 28, 1888, 728, C, 4th Illinois Cavalry

HATCHER, PAWHATTON, E.-- May 7, 1895, 3078, I, 99th Illinois
HATCHER, WILLIAM P.-- Pike, Jan. 17, 1906, 7373, E, 28th Illinois

HATCHET, ANNA-- Christian, July 7, 1911, 428
HATCHET, ARCHIBALD-- Christian, July 7, 1911, 9502, H, 14th Illinois

HATCHET, BERRY B.-- Morgan, June 8, 1901, 5574, I, 20th Illinois
HATCHETT, WILLIAM-- Macon, August 29, 1903, 6447, A, 8th Illinois


These were just the letters Hat and covered the whole state in various Old Soldiers Homes.

Evidently, they allowed husband and wife both to be allowed into the homes. See Lamina and Mellville Hatch and Anna and Archibald Hatchet. Women had three digit identifying numbers while veterans had the four digit.

An Overlooked Civil War Veteran Aspect. --B-R'er

Last Civil War Survivor Dies 50 Years Ago.

The December 26th Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner had an article about the last Civil War veteran, Walt Williams dying December 19, 1959. He was a Confederate and the last of 4 million Blue and Gray veterans, dying at age 117.

This is especially interesting as we are now down to the last two World War I survivors and there are still possibly some Confederate widows out there.

He was cited by the President, Army and Congress cited the old gentleman who had become the last survivor when "General" John Salling died March 16, 1959 at age 112.

Toward the end, Williams was blind and deaf and unconscious of what was happening around him. He approached his end with dignity. He had once commented on the death of another Civil War survivor, "That's one road we're all going to have to travel."

He was born November b14, 1842 in Mississippi, but had moved to Texas after the war.

The Last of the Gray. --Old B-Runner

Great Civil War Veterans Site

While looking to see what war the Battle of Sugar Loaf was in, it was in WWII at Okinawa and called the "Killing Ground," I came across a site from Hartford, Michigan. They have done extensive research on veterans from the town and county who have served in every war since the Revolution (they have two veterans from that war).

In some cases, there are pictures of the soldier, their grave, and all have some or all of their service record.

The Civil War section is divided into four areas alphabetically. And there are a lot of them.

You can find the site at:
hartfordmi.com/.../CivilWar/Civil War Soldiers M-R htm

There was also a Sugar Loaf located several miles north of Fort Fisher where Confederate soldiers were held by General Bragg instead of coming to the aide of the fort. It is still there and has some of the best-preserved Confederate fortifications in the area.

I didn't think that url would work. You can search it at Hartford, Mi Civil War Soldiers