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

What Happened to Captain Wayne's Sword?

The sword that Capt. Harley Wayne wore at the Battle of Shiloh along with his tunic (uniform top) were both returned to Ellen Wayne (his wife)

The tunic has disappeared, but the buttons have survived to this day.

His sword was later donated to the Harley Wayne Grand Army of the Republic Post 169 in nearby Marengo.  The sword "disappeared" at the same time the last post member died.

"That was probably in the 1950s," said Nancy Fike, curator of the McHenry County Historical Society museum in Union.

"The last of all those Civil War veterans died out about then and when they did, so did the Grand Army of the republic since that is what they were.

"We're lucky if we can scare up a World War I veteran now to talk to.  They're getting scarce."(This newspaper article came out in 1987.  Frank Buckles, the last-known WW I veteran died at age 110 on February 27, 2011.)

One Harley Wayne historical item has been found.  It came as it should, from an attic in Marengo.  "It's a quilt square," said Connie Parenti of Union.  "Calvin Spencer founded Marengo in 1835 and his daughter quilted."

--Old Secesh

135th USCT-- Part 2: Marched in the Grand Review and Mustered Out in Louisville

Once the 135th USCT enlisted in Goldsboro, N.C., the men were issued the blue Union Army uniforms with the famous brass buttons with the freedom eagle on them.

Research on their pension records reveals that the regiment's men felt very proud to be fighting for their freedom.

Upon leaving Goldsboro, the 135th marched as part of Sherman's army and left their picks and shovels behind.  They were now soldiers.  They marched to Raleigh, the state's capital.  Then it was into Virginia to Petersburg, Richmond, Fredericksburg and Alexandria.

Then came one of the regiment's proudest moments as the 135th marched with Sherman's army in the Grand Review in Washington, D.C., on May  24, 1865.  In their pension records, they proudly say that they marched past the president of the United States under their own regimental flag.  (I was surprised to see that they participated in the Grand Review as I thought that no USCT were allowed in it.)

Following a brief time in D.C. and performing guard duty  at Fort Kearny, on of the capital's defenses, the 135th was transported by train then boat to Louisville, Kentucky, where they performed more guard duty until mustering out on October 23, 1865.

--Old Secesh

Why General Lee Wore a Colonel's Rank During the Civil War?-- Part 1

Well, this was a new one on me.

From the October 18, 2019, We Are the Mighty by  Blake Stilwell.

When Robert E. Lee left the Union Army for the Confederacy, he was a colonel in his former vocation.  Despite his promotion in the Confederate cause and eventual command of its main army, the Army of Northern Virginia,technically he still wore the rank of his former country.

That is, the rank of colonel.

He wore that rank even as he negotiated the surrender of his army at Appomattox.

When the Confederacy broke away from the Union, they didn't adopt every single  military custom and design.  They took on the color gray and did keep many of the customs, but they completely revamped officer ranking symbols.

Find Out Why in the Next Post.  --Old Secesh

Plinny Perkins of Burlington, Wis.-- Part 1: A Saw Mill and Woolen Mill

From Find-A-Grave and other sources.

On April 24, 2018, I mentioned the woolen mill in Burlington, Wisconsin, which supplied wool cloth for Union uniforms during the Civil War.  The mill was owned by Plinny (also spelled Pliny) Merrick Perkins.

He was born in Oneida County, New York on January 24, 1812.  At age 22 he rode a horse from there to Joliet, Illinois, in 1834.  He moved from there to Burlington, Wisconsin, where he bought a half section of Government land from Moses Smith and built a saw mill..

In 1843, he expanded to include a woolen mill, the first in Racine County, if not the whole state.  This is the one that provided the cloth for the uniforms.

--Old Secesh

Burlington, Wisconsin, in the Civil War

From the April 2018 Spirit of Geneva Lakes  "Historic Downtown Burlington."

Located in southeast Wisconsin near the Illinois border.  First settlers arrived in mid to late 1830s seeking fertile farmlands and water power for mills at the junction of the White and Fox rivers.

A grist mill supplied flour locally as well as to Milwaukee, Kenosha and Racine.

A woolen mill made the first roll of cloth produced in Wisconsin.  During the Civil War is supplied cloth for Union soldier uniforms.

Wheat was the leading farm product through the Civil War but much effort turned to livestock and dairying after that.

--Old Secesh

The "Real" Thing: Robert Lee Hodge in Confederate Uniform

As I mentioned in the previous post, Robert Lee Hodge is shown in a Confederate enlisted man's re-enactment uniform. And, he definitely looks authentic. None of that new "sutler store-bought" or officer stuff for Hodge. A sidebar points to four items he is wearing and gives you more information.

SLOUCH HAT-- The broad-brimmed sluch hat was often more suitable to endure the rain and sun. This slouch hat is made of wool felt and has seen, according to Hodge, some "hard campaigning."

COAT-- The cloth is a jean-weave of 85% wool and 15% cotton. North Carolina was the leading domestic manufacturer of uniforms. A whole army of principally women and slave labor was heavily involved in the production of Confederate uniforms.

BUTTONS-- The non-matching buttons are a combination of domestic North Carolina manufacture and federal officer and enlisted buttons. Brass buttons were the most common, but there were also those made of pewter, tin, glass and wood.

SHIRT-- The shirt is a reproduction of a Confederate-issue cotton shirt.

--A Properly-Dressed Sesh. --Old Secesh