Gen. Grant Speaks at Hainesville: What About 'Piss Poor?' Now We Know

After talking some with Bob, I got a bite to eat , a cheeseburger hit off the grill provided by the good folks at the Grayslake Rising Sun Masonic Lodge #2.

Then I went to the big barn and sat on some straw bales along with a full house, standing room only and then some to hear General Ulysses S. Grant (presented by Wayne Issleb) who definitely resembled the good general to a great degree.

He talked about his life prewar and said that above all else, he did not want to be a soldier under any circumstances.  

But his father was a tanner  and he hated that even worse.  He hated the smell and he hated the sight of blood.  Even worse, there was a need for human urine to get the hair off the hide.  There would be no tanning in his future if he could help it.

Then, he related the story of where a once common saying came from.  People would sell their urine to tanners.  If they didn't have enough, they would be called "piss poor."  I've heard that one before.

He was put to work collecting the stuff and got the nickname "Urine Boy."

No "Urine Boy" Here.  --Old Secesh

Old Abe and Friends-- Part 1: Eating Mexican Where Bill Murray Tred in Woodstock, Illinois

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table opened its speaker series for 2020 this past Tuesday, March 10 at the Woodstock, Illinois Public Library.

I got to Woodstock early and ate at the Taqueria La Placita Mexican restaurant on the famous Woodstock Square dating to the 1840s.  Tuesdays they have $1 tacos and I sure enjoyed those buck tacos.  Plus, this place is the site of the Tip Top Cafe from the movie "Groundhog Day."  This is where Bill Murray stuffed his face and where he stepped into that puddle was right outside it.  I sat in the very spot Bill was sitting in while stuffing.

"Groundhog Day" is my third all-time favorite movie and a whole lot of that movie was filmed in Woodstock.  They even have a walking tour of sites.  Bill Murray returned to Woodstock this past fall to film the Jeep commercial that showed during Super Bowl.

In case you're wondering about my top two movies, they are "Animal House" #1 and "Blues Brothers" #2.

Eating, A Movie And History.  Three of My Favorite Things.  --Old Groundhog

Lyrics to "Goober Peas" "Wearing Out Your Grinders Eating Goober Peas"

As sung by Burl Ives.

Sittin' by the roadside on a summer's day
Chattin' with my mess-mates, passing time away
Laying in the shadows underneath the trees
Goodness how delicious eating goober peas.


REFRAIN

Peas, peas, peas, peas
Eating goober peas
Goodness how delicious
Eating goober peas.
*****************


When a horse-man passes, the soldiers have a rule
To cry out their loudest, "Mr., here's your mule"?
But another pleasure enchanting-er than these
Is wearing out your grinders, eating goober peas.

REFRAIN


Just before the battle, the General hears a row
He said, "The Yanks are coming, I hear their rifles now"
He turns around in wonder and what do you think he sees?
The Georgia Militia eating goober peas.

REFRAIN


I think my song has lasted almost long enough
The subject's interesting but the rhymes are mighty tough
I wish this war was over and free from rags and fleas
We'd kiss our wives and sweethearts, and gobble goober peas.


REFRAIN

I may be from the South, but I find boiled peanuts disgusting.

--Old BoiledPeanutsHater

Satterlee General Hospital, Philadelphia-- Part 5: Food Consumed in One Year

Food consumed at Satterlee, September 1862 to September 1863

804,418--  pounds of bread

540,519--  pounds of beef and mutton

41,052--  pounds of pork

37,420--  pounds of chicken

95,250--  pounds of fish

490,388--  pounds of potatoes

283,123--  pounds of mixed vegetables

23,635--  pounds of coffee

4,425--  pounds of tea

74,325--  pounds of sugar

334,222--  quarts of milk

27,272--  dozens of eggs

Keepin' 'Em Fed.  --Old SeceshEat

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.

********************


**  "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

MCCWRT Trivia-- Part 3: What Were Hub Wafers?

**  Give the names of four Civil War leaders who have had their picture on U.S. current or past currency.  (The first two are easy, but man those last two.)

**   How many Confederate generals were killed and wounded at the Battle of Franklin?

**   Hub Wafers were eaten by Union soldiers.  What are they known as now?

**  Name the four Lincoln conspirators who were hanged.

ANSWERS

**  Lincoln on the $5 bill, Grant on the $50 bill, McKinley on the $500 and Salmon Chase on the $10,000 bill.   In case you're wondering, the biggest bill, $100,000 had the face of Woodrow Wilson on it.

**  6 died, 7 wounded

**  Necco Wafers   In case you're wondering, Neeco stands for the New England Confectionary Company.

**  Lewis Powell, Mary Surratt, David Herold and George Atzerodt.

Just All Sorts of Learning Going On.  --Old Secesh