Civil War Technology-- Part 5: About Dem Shoes and Shoddy Uniforms, Ben Butler's Nest and Railroads

**  Left and right shoes.

**  Shoddy uniforms  (where the term shoddy came from  in the Civil War)

**  Lincoln had his own private telegraph.

He went to Fortress Monroe 14 times during the war and had private meetings there.  It was away from the prying eyes of Washington, D.C..  Plus, the commander there, Benjamin Butler had his iwn private netwodk of spies and informants.

**  Repeating rifles, but the knock against them was that they used too much ammunition.

**  Railroads had a boom in the 1840s and 1850s.  In 1850, there were 9,000 miles of rails, by 1860 there were 30,000.

However, of that, 21,000 miles were in the Union and 9,000 in the Confederacy.

--Old Secesh

Some More Comments on Union General Benjamin Butler-- Part 2: Lincoln's Man?

Continued from September 21, 2020.  To see the first post on this, click on the General Benjamin Butler label below.

These were comments made during the McHenry County Civil War Round Table's August discussion group meeting at Panera Bread in Algonquin, Illinois.

**  Benjamin Butler (BB) had seniority among all other major generals except Grant when he became lieutenant general.

**  BB was not a good field general.

**  Saved Lincoln in the early days of the war at Baltimore.

**  Had free access to the White House

**  Lincoln needed to know if Blacks could be good soldiers.  BB gave him an answer when he started two regiments of them while commanding at New Orleans.  (These were the the Louisiana Native Guard regiments.

**  While at Fortress Monroe, BB had almost all prisoner exchanges going through there.

**  BB built a major spy network (on both Union and Confederates) while at Fortress Monroe.  His Confederate spying went all the way to that country's White House.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group Meets This Saturday: Civil War Special Forces

The discussion group of the McHenry County Civil War Round Table will meet this Saturday at Panera Bread at 6000 Northwest Highway in Crystal Lake, Illinois.  We'll meet at 10 a.m. to noon.

The topic this month is Civil War Special Forces like scouts, spies and sharpshooters.

I plan on talking about John Yates Beall and James Duke as I have written a lot about the first one in this blog and my Civil War Navy blog.

Everyone is welcome, even non-members.  All you need is an interest in history.  (We do not always stay on topic and often get side-tracked.)

Come On Down!!  --Old Secesh

Beall Was First Spy Execution in Area Since Major Andre in the Revolution

From the February 25, 1865, New York Times.

On the execution of John Yates Beall.

"As far as we recall, this is the first execution of a spy in this department since the hanging of Maj. ANDRE, of the British Army, by order of GEORGE WASHINGTON."

Major Andre of the British Army was involved with the Benedict Arnold traitor situation.

John Andre was not hanged at Fort Columbus, though, but in Tappan, New York.

--Old Secesh

The Charges Against Beall

From the February 25, 1865, New York Times.

CHARGE 1--    "VIOLATION OF THE LAWS OF WAR"

Specification 1:  Seizure of steamboat Philo Parsons near Kelley's Island, Lake Erie. September 19, 1854.

Spec. 2--  Seized and sank  steamboat Ocean Queen near Middle Bass Island, Sep. 19, 1864.

Spec. 3--  Found acting as a spy near Kelley's Island, Sep. 19, 1863.

Spec. 4--  Found acting as a spy near Middle Bass Island, Sep. 19, 1863.

Spec. 5--  Found acting as a spy near the Suspension Bridge, New York, Dec. 10, 1864.

Spec. 6--  Undertook "to carry on irregular and unlawful warfare, as a guerrilla, and in the execution of said undertaking, attempted to destroy the lives and property of peaceable  and unoffending inhabitants of said State and of persons therein traveling, by throwing a train of cars and passengers in said cars from the railroad track, on the railroad between Dunkirk and Buffalo, by placing obstructions across said track" on December 15, 1864.

--Old Secesh

The New York Times Reports Beall's Execution-- Part 1

From the February 25, 1865, New York Times.

""MILITARY EXECUTION:  Execution of John Y. Beall, the Lake Erie  Pirate and Rebel Spy.

Details of the Crime, the Trial, and the Punishment of the Culprit.

His Conduct During His Last Hours.

The Antecedents of Beall.

His Arrest and Trial.  His Trial.  A Temporary Respite.

MILITARY EXECUTION.

His Last Hours.    The Morning of the Execution.  The Gallows.

--Old Secesh

Ten Fascinating War Artifacts From Tennessee-- Part 2:Button and a Spy Map

3.  UNION BUTTON--  Tony Guin holds a collection of Union buttons discovered at a construction site off the Charlotte Pike.  Almost 200 buttons found in what had been a Civil War burn pile which was part of a field hospital for small pox victims.  No doubt they were from burned uniforms,

4.  SPY MAP OF NASHVILLE--  A hand-drawn Confederate map made in pencil showing downtown Nashville, gun positions along the Cumberland River, fortifications around the State Capitol building, a military graveyard and Fort Negley.

It also recommends approaches to the city.  A lot of spying going on around Middle Tennessee.

--Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil War Round Table Meeting Tonight: "Blackhawk War Veterans in the Civil War"

Tonight at 7 p.m., the McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Round Table will meet at the Woodstock Public Library and have a presentation by Jerry Allen on "Black Hawk War Veterans in the Civil War."    The Black Hawk War was a short one, fought in 1832.

Abraham Lincoln was in it.  Others who fought 29 years later were also in it.  

I would much have liked to have been at it, but there is something about a game being played this afternoon which will keep me away from it.

Also, the Discussion Group meets at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake from 10 to noon.  The topic will be "Spying and Espionage During the Civil War."

--Old Secesh

Clara Gunby, Confederate Spy-- Part 2

Clara Gunby was found guilty of treason for refusing to walk  under a Union flag and refusing to take the Oath of Allegiance and sentenced to prison at Fortress Monroe.  While she was there, she became a Confederate spy.  While at Fortress Monroe, she obtained intelligence and passed it on to authorities.

She is also said to have served as a nurse for Confederate troops after her release and spent the duration of the war with friends in Richmond.

She didn't return to Salisbury until shortly before her death in 1879 and is buried at Parsons Cemetery.

--Old Secesh

Clara Gunby, Confederate Spy-- Part 1: "Death Before Submission"

From the September 14, 2013, Eastern (Maryland) Shore "Civil War Series: Meet Clara Gunby, a spy for the Confederacy" by Brice Stump.

"She was everything a woman of the Victorian era shouldn't have been: opinionated, independent, political and outspoken," said Aleta Davis.

Clara Gunby was also an activist.  When the Civil war came, she refused to show any respect for the Union and even went so far as to refuse to walk under any Union flags which were stretched out across Bridge (Main) Street in Salisbury, Maryland.

When Union soldiers spotted her doing this, they arrested her and sent her to Baltimore for a military trial.  Once there, she was told she would be released if she took the  Oath of Allegiance to the federal government as was required of so many others in Maryland's Shore Region.

She refused, saying, "Not I.  Death before submission."

--Old Secesh

Old Capitol Prison-- Part 3

During the war, the Old Capitol prison as it was now called, was expanded to include the adjoining row of houses called Duff Green's Row.  Famous inmates included spies Rose Greenhow, Belle Boyd, John Mosby and Henry Wirz, commander of Andersonville, who was hanged in the yard of the prison.  There were many hangings at the Old Capitol Prison.

The Lincoln Conspirators were held there, including Dr. Samuel Mudd, Mary Surratt, Louis Weichmann and John T. Ford, owner of Ford's Theater.

It was sold in 1867 to George T. Brown, then sergeant-at-arms of the U.S. senate.  he modified it into three row houses that became known as Trumbull's Row.  In the 20th century, it was used as the headquarters of the National Woman's party.

In 1929, the site was obtained by eminent domain and razed in order to build the U.S. Supreme Court Building.

--Old Secesh