Fort Wool in Chesapeake Bay-- Part 2: Lee to the Rescue, Not

Construction of what became Fort Wool began in 1826 and after various delays, by 1834 about half of the second tier had been completed.  But then it was discovered that the man-made island the for sits on was  settling.  It is still settling in the 21st century.

A young second lieutenant and engineer by the name of Robert E. Lee was transferred there to help Captain Andrew Talcott in its construction as well as Fort Monroe across the bay.  Lee was given the task of stabilizing the island, but found the island wouldn't hold even two tiers of gun chambers.

The fort never reached its intended size even with the addition of more base stone.

Work began on the fort again in 1858, but the coming of the Civil War brought it to a halt.  The back of the fort remained open.

--Old Secesh

Fort Wool in Chesapeake Bay-- Part 1: Because of the War of 1812

I wrote about this fort in my November 14 and 16 Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog entries.  This fort was constructed to keep an enemy fleet out of the Chesapeake Bay after the experience with the British in that war.  It and Fort Monroe to the north would provide a crossfire to stop an enemy.

From Wikipedia.

Fort Wool is a decommissioned  island fortification now known as Rip Raps Island.  originally it was named Castle Calhoun of Fort Calhoun after  Secretary of War John C. Calhoun and later renamed for  Major General John Ellis Wool (1784-1869).

The general was a veteran of three wars:  War of 1812, Mexican War and the Civil War.  He was the oldest general on either side during the Civil War.

Fort Wool was one of 40 forts constructed after the War of 1812.  This was known as the Third System of U.S. forts.  It was constructed on a shoal of  ballast stones dumped by ships entering the Chesapeake Bay and was originally constructed to have three tiers of gun chambers as well as a barbette tier at the top, altogether mounting  216 cannons.

--Old Secesh

Robert Cogdill Gilchrist's Proposal for a Confederate Flag in 1861

Since I have been writing about this man's construction of the first suspension bridge over the Hudson River in the state of New York, I also found this interesting tidbit.

From Confederate Flags.org.

The proposal of Robert C. Gilchrist of Charleston, South Carolina,  was sent by express courier to Christopher G. Memminger on 4 February 1861, the day the Montgomery Convention which created the Confederacy opened.

Retaining the idea of the Stars and Stripes, Gilchrist removed the canton and placed the stars on a blue cross which spread across the red and white stripes.

This early design by a prominent citizen who had been Commissioner of the United States District Court and the U.S. Court of Claims for the District of South Carolina received wide  publicity.

However, in a letter  to the South Carolina delegation dated 7 February 1861, signed by Charles H. Moise, the Jewish congregations of South Carolina objected to the adoption of a sectarian symbol as the flag of the new country.

Interesting flag design.  I'd never seen it before or heard of Robert C. Gilchrist before I made the blog entries about Gilchrist's bridge across the Hudson River in 1871.

--Old Secesh

A Confederate Built the First Suspension Bridge Over the Hudson River-- Part 3: A Short-Lived Bridge

Robert Gilchrist's bridge, the first suspension one over the Hudson River,  was dedicated on September 8, 1871,  with a great public celebration, complete with a steam locomotive and boxcars and a picnic. However, it turned out that there wasn't enough food, but, alas, plenty of speeches.

The bridge was described as being about 25 feet above the normal water level, 15 feet wide and with a span of 230 feet.

Plans had a railroad depot to be constructed and passenger service could detrain and  catch a stagecoach to local towns 

Sadly, however, Gilchrist's bridge was not to last for very long.  On April 1, 1873, the cables on one side of the bridge gave way after a very heavy snowstorm, causing the bridge to hang upside down on the remaining cable.  Later that spring, the bridge was removed so as not to impede the  spring logging drive on the river.

Gilchrist returned to Charleston and remained there the rest of his life other than infrequent trips back to the Adirondacks where he began selling off his inherited land.

--Old Secesh

A Confederate Built the First Suspension Bridge Over Hudson River-- Part 2: A Railroad Opportunity

When the Civil War broke out, Robert Gilchrist,  though opposed to secession,  stayed in Charleston and sided with the Confederacy.  He fought to defend the Fort Sumter and Charleston Harbor.   He was commissioned an officer and rose to the rank of major under general Beauregard, the commander in Charleston.

The city held out until 1865, when it was abandoned as Sherman marched his Union force through South Carolina.

When the war ended, Robert, his wife and young family, traveled to The Glen to inspect the property owned by his uncle (also named Robert Gilchrist) and Mother (Mary Gilchrist).

Dr. Thomas Durant  by then had the Adirondack Railroad, whose completion had been delayed because of the war and was planning to expand his railroad from Saratoga to North Creek.  Robert Gilchrist was now in the Adirondacks and had plans to expand into the  forest, tourism and resort industries and saw an opportunity with the railroad.

Robert decided to help the railroad locate and had a bridge built across the Hudson River on his property.  The project cost $8,000 and was a John A. Roebling-style bridge and hired engineer Charles McDonald to supervise it.

--Old Secesh

The First Battle of Fort Fisher Ended on Christmas Day, December 25, 1864

From the December 25, 2020, AeroTech News "Remembering Christmases past, major  military events."

For most of the Civil War, Fort Fisher, guarding the port of Wilmington, North Carolina, saw very little combat.  But that changed as Christmas 1864 approached.  The Union decided to close that last port of the Confederacy still open to the rest of the world.  The effort ended in a debacle.

First, the Union attempted to load a ship with explosives, run it in close to the sand fort and explode with the idea that the force of the explosion would knock down the fort's walls.  It didn't work, but alerted the fort's Confederate defenders that an attack was near.

The morning of December 23, the Union fleet, the largest gathering of U.S. ships until that time, moved in close to the fort and opened fire, expending some 10,000 shells in the process.

--Old Secesh

A Confederate Built First Suspension Bridge Over Hudson River-- Part 1: Robert Gilchrest

From the December 20, 2020, Adirondack Almanack "Uncovering the mysteries behind a bridge's remains" by Mike Prescott.

Robert Codgell Gilchrest was of a wealthy, well-connected Charleston, S.C., family and born kin 1829.  His father had received  a federal judgeship from President Martin Van Buren and owned an opulent home.  Each summer his family journeyed north to avoid the hot and dangerous Charleston summers.

They would stay with his mother's relatives in the Great Northern Wilderness of New York.

Hus father, Robert Budd Gilchrest had married his first cousin, Mary Gilchrest in 1827.  At the time it was not uncommon for first cousins to marry to consolidate family wealth.  She was related to the Thurman family of the southern Adirondacks, and it is through marriage and family connections that Gilchrest inherited thousands of acres in the Adirondacks upon his mother's death in 1869.

As a young man of great wealth the young Robert led a privileged life.  He graduated from the College of Charleston, studied law and took up a lucrative law practice.  He joined the city's militia group, the Washington Light Infantry.

During this time, the nation became more divided.

--Old Secesh

December 19: The President Taunts Crowd at Augusta Visit

From the August 19, 2020, Augusta (Georgia) Chronicle.

I bet you're thinking that President Trump left the White House for one more campaign rally.  But that is not the case because the December 19 in this instance is December 19, 1898, and the president is William McKinley.

DECEMBER 19, 1898

President William McKinley came to town and he brought his sense of humor with him.  On  a damp day in the week before Christmas, the republican drew one of the largest crowds ever on Broad Street.

During a lull in the activities, an ex-Confederate who was chatting with the president pointed with pride to a large marble memorial only a few yards away  and said, "That represents what sort of soldier we were."

"Yes, and what you were," replied the president who was a Union Army sergeant at the Battle of Antietam, "for I see the soldier surmounting the column has a 'U.S.' on his cartridge box."

McKinley referred to the  figure atop the memorial, according to an account in the Baltimore Sun,  and told the old Confederate that things had really worked out for the best.

Then, he wasted little time introducing a local favorite, Gen. Joseph  Wheeler.  The Augusta native and once dashing Confederate cavalryman was now a hero of the Spanish-American conflict.

Earlier this month, an Augusta task force has recommended this memorial be removed to a cemetery.  You know why.

Back Then, Not Now.  --Old Secesh

Preservation of Alabama's Fort Blakely-- Part 3: National Park Service

The result of this new land acquisition is the region's largest, best-preserved and most significant Civil War parks.

Blakeley Bluff also has a major conservation aspect as well.

Funding for the project was  supported in part by  a battlefield land acquisition grant from the National Park Service's American Battlefield  Protection Program.  The remaining portion of monies for acquisition come from private sources.

--Old Secesh

Preservation at Alabama's Fort Blakely-- Part 2: Sixty Acre Site

This newly acquired land is arguably the most important part of the whole battlefield as this is where the U.S. Colored Troops overran the Confederates.  The 60-acre site, known as Blakely Bluff is expected to contain valuable archaeological evidence related to the black experience.  The protection of this land will allow the University of South Alabama greater opportunities for field work at the site.

Writer Bill Finch who promotes Gulf Coast  conservation says:  "The involvement of black troops in critical U.S. battles like Fort Blakely  is largely untold.  Between the Revolution and the Civil War, more than 200,000 black troops fought for the U.S. prior to  being granted full citizenship.

"Today's accomplishment protects  one of the last critical pieces of  the war's most poignant battles,  prefiguring the nation's long battle for civil rights that followed.  The result is  one of the region's largest, best-preserved  and most significant Civil War parks."

This newly acquired land will reportedly restrict future development of the property as well.

Black troops also contributed to the Union victory at the Battle of Forks Road outside Wilmington, North Carolina in February 1865.

--Old Secesh

Preservation to Be Done at Alabama's Fort Blakely-- Part 1: 'The Last Stand of the Confederacy'

From the December 14, 2020, Yellowhammer  "Permanent conservation project announced for Baldwin County's Fort Blakely Battlefield" by Sean Ross.

The Conservation Fund, American Battlefield Trust and the University of South Alabama this week announced a new project for about 60 acres of the historic Fort Blakely Battlefield in Baldwin County (near Mobile).

The groups have committed to protecting this site where U.S. Colored Troops fought and won a battle in the closing days of the Civil War.

Many have called this battle "The Last Stand of the Confederacy" because it was fought as hostilities drew to a close.  On April 9, 1865, the same day Robert E. Lee was surrendering his Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House, in less than a half hour the fort was overrun by Union troops, including some 5,000 black soldiers.

This encounter marked one of the heaviest concentrations of United States Colored Troops in the war.

About 40% of the 2,000 acre battlefield is protected by the State of Alabama  However, probably the most significant quarter of the battlefield was not protected until now.

--Old Secesh

What Happened With the 87th New York's Officers When They Consolidated With the 40th New York?

When the 87th New York Infantry was absorbed into the 40th New York Infantry I was surprised to see that only the enlisted men became a part of the 40th.  Why were the 87th's officer not brought over as well.  I had seen somewhere else that the 87th's officers were discharged from the Army at that time.

Did something happen.  I know I've read in one place that the 87th was consolidated because of heavy losses.  Looking at their casualties, I can't see that they had that many enough to require consolidation.

So, what gives.

Just like Thomas Aumack's service and wounding/possible illness is a question, so is this.

What Happened?  --Old Secesh

40th New York Infantry-- Part 1: 'The Mozart Regiment' A Regiment of Three States

From Wikipedia.

Also known as the  "Mozart Regiment" and "Constitution Guard."

During the war, this regiment had the second highest number of casualties in the Union Army, only behind the famed 69th New York Infantry out of the Irish Brigade.

They were mustered in  to service at Yonkers, New York, on June 27, 1861, sponsored by the Union Defense Committee of New York City by special  authority of the War Department.  Originally the regiment  was to be raised as the United States Constitution Guard by Col. John S. Cocks of the 2nd New York, but that organization was not completed.

With additional sponsorship by the Mozart Hall Committee, it adopted the name Mozart Regiment.  despite being a New York regiment, only the original Constitution Guard group were New Yorkers.

The regiment was completed by taking four Massachusetts companies and two from Pennsylvania.

On September  6, 1862, the 40th New York absorbed the enlisted men of the 87th New York Infantry Regiment.  Thomas Aumack was in the 87th New York.

--Old Secesh

Thomas Aumack Most Likely Was Discharged from Service Because of Diarrhea

I came across this list of soldiers in the 87th New York Infantry at the dmna.ny.gov site.

THOMAS B. AUMACK

Age, 18 years.

Enlisted at Brooklyn to serve three years.

Mustered in as a private in Co. C, November 5, 1861.

Discharged for chronic diarrhoea, September 23, 1862, at Fort Monroe, Virginia.

This seems to be the best account of why Thomas Aumack was not with the 87th or 40th New York Infantry regiments at the Battle of Antietam.  He probably had contracted the diarrhea in August or early September which ended his Army career.

--Old Secesh

40th New York Infantry Regiment and It's Connection to Mozart Hall

No, it wasn't a dedication to any sort of classical music.

I went to several sources of information on the 40th New York Volunteer Infantry and found out it was called the Mozart Regiment because of sponsorship by the Mozart Hall Committee of New York.

Mozart Hall was what Canterbury Hall in New York City was sometimes called.  This building was home of entertainment, but it was also  a gathering place for anti-Tammany Hall forces in the city.

The building was three stories high and m 40 feet by 125 feet deep.  The concerts there were described as a bit bawdy.  Newspapers in the city described the place as having the "prettiest waiter girls in town" and "a nightly disgrace to Broadway and the adjacent streets

A suspicious fire entirely burned the  building in the early morning hours of March 24, 1861.  It began among stage scenery.  A fire marshal had an investigation and determined it was caused by an incendiary device.

Go figure.

Who did it.  Upstanding citizens alarmed by the edifice's seedy reputation or, perhaps even Tammany Hall?

What Do You Think?  --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

87th New York Infantry-- Part 6: Why the Regiment Was Consolidated with the 40th New York

The Civil War in the East site says that the regiment lost one officer and 22 men killed or mortally wounded during the war and 26 enlisted men died of disease.

Due to heavy losses, the regiment was consolidated with the 40th New York Infantry Regiment.  The officers of the 87th were mustered out.  I find this a bit strange that the officers were mustered out.  Plus, figuring the regiment might well have had 1000 men, I did not find the casualties to be that high.

Not sure what happened here.

--Old Secesh

87th New York Infantry-- Part 5: Casualties During War

From New York in the War of the Rebellion by Frederick Phisterer.

SIEGE OF YORKTOWN, VA, April 5 to May 4, 1863:  None

FAIR OAKS, VA., May 31-June 1, 1862:  11 enlisted killed, Wounded 5 officers (all recovered), 53 enlisted wounded (48 recovered), Missing: 7 enlisted.

SEVEN DAYS BATTLES, VA.  June 25-July 2, 1862:  5 enlisted killed. 33 enlisted wounded (30 recovered)

GEN. POPE'S CAMPAIGN, VA, August 26-September 2, 1862:  Killed 1 officer, 3 enlisted, Wounded 7 enlisted (6 recovered).  Missing: 7 officers and 50 enlisted.

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

TOTAL FOR THE 87TH'S SERVICE

1 officer and 19 enlisted killed, Wounded and Died  9 enlisted, Wounded and recovered:  5 officers and 84 enlisted, Missing: 7 officers and 57 enlisted.    AGGREGATE: 182

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

Was Thomas Aumack one of the wounded at Gen. Pope's Campaign.

Plus, that was quite a few missing in Pope's Campaign.  I would guess this meant that they were captured.

--Old Secesh

87th New York Infantry Regiment and Thomas Aumack-- Part 4

So, the last battle the 87th participated in was at Chantilly and that was on September 1, 1862 and Antietam wasn't until September 17.  So, not likely Thomas Aumack was wounded at Antietam, perhaps Chantilly.

Plus, the 87th ceased to exist on September 6 when it was folded into the 40th New York Infantry.

So, what about this Battle of Chantilly.  I don't think I've heard of it before.

Looked it up in good old Wikipedia, and it said it was a follow up to the Second Battle of Bull Run and was where Stonewall Jackson's Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia attempted to cut off the Union retreat.

Union losses were put at 1,300 and Confederate at 800.

Could one of those Union casualties been the wounded Thomas Aumack?

--Old Secesh

87th New York Infantry-- Part 3: A Real Fighting Two and a Half Months

Continuing with detailed service of the 87th New York:

All dates 1862

JUNE 25-JULY 1:   Seven Days before Richmond

JUNE 25:  Battle of Oak Grove

JULY 1:  Battle of Malvern Hill

UNTIL AUGUST 16:  At Harrison's Landing

AUGUST 16-26:  Movement to Fort Monroe and then to Centreville, Virginia

AUGUST 26-SEPTEMBER 2:  Pope's Campaign in Northern Virginia

AUGUST 27:  Action at Bristoe Station, or Kettle Run

AUGUST 27:  Buckland's Bridge, Broad Run

AUGUST 29:  Battle of Groveton

AUGUST 30:  Second Battle of Bull Run

SEPTEMBER 1:  Battle of Chantilly

--Old Secesh

87th New York Volunteer Infantry-- Part 2: From D.C. to the Peninsula

Detailed Service of the Unit:

DECEMBER 2, 1861:  Left New York for Washington, D.C.

DECEMBER-MARCH 1862:  Duty in the Department of Washington

MARCH 10-15, 1862:  Advance on Manassas, Virginia

MARCH 17:  Ordered to the Peninsula, Virginia

APRIL 5-MAY 4:   Siege of Yorktown

APRIL 11:  Skirmish at Yorktown

MAY 5:  Battle of Williamsburg, Virginia

MAY 32-JUNE 1:  Battle of Seven Pines or Fair Oaks

--Old Secesh

87th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

I am still trying to find out some more about the death of Thomas Bailey Aumack.  What I have found is very confusing.  Was he wounded at the Battle of Antietam or wounded somewhere else?  Did he contract dysentery and was honorably discharged from service to die at home?

I'll first take a look at the 87th New York.  

I went through the list of Union regiments at Antietam and did not find the 87th New York among them.

The 87th  New York Volunteer Infantry was also referred to as the 13th Brooklyn or the  13th New York State Militia.

It was organized at Brooklyn, New York, on November 14, 1861, and mustered in for three years service on November 20 under the command of  Colonel Stephen A. Dodge.

The regiment became part of the Army of the Potomac and ceased to exist on September 6, 1862, when it was consolidated with the 40th New York Infantry.  Company B was transferred to  the 173rd New York Infantry on September 11, 1862.

--Old Secesh

Sons of Confederate Veterans and Veterans Administration Provide Grave Stones for Unmarked Confederate Graves

From the November 24, 2020, Clay  (Clay County, Florida) Today.

Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Kirby Smith Camp #1209 installed grave stones on unmarked graves of five  Confederate veterans and one for an unmarked grave of a Spanish-American War veteran.

The headstones:

Schley H. Wilson 48th Georgia Infantry

Mathew Mosley  11th Florida Infantry

John Mosley   1st Florida Infantry in Spanish American War

These  unmarked graves were at Federal Hill Cemetery in the Oakleaf area.

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

At Peoria Cemetery in Doctors Inlet:

William J. Dickinson  1st Florida Cavalry

William Henry Shepard   7th Florida Infantry

Ivey Williamson  3rd Florida Infantry

Kirby Smith Camp, SCV is a heritage organization that focuses on the preservation and legacy of those who fought for then Confederacy during the Civil War.

The Veterans Administration (VA) provides the grave stones because Confederate soldiers are considered American veterans.

--Old Secesh

Thomas Bailey Aumack-- Part 3: Some Confusion of Where He Was Wounded or If He Ended Up Dying of Something Else

Served as a private in Company C, 87th  Regiment of New York Volunteers, under Captain  Samuel F. Knight, American Civil War.

He was wounded at the Battle of Antietam between September 14-17, 1862 and was sent home from Fort Monroe, Virginia, by reason of surgeon's certificate  of disability to die.

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

I could not find any mention of the 87th NY at the Battle of Antietam and then found out that the organization ceased to exist on September 6, 1862, when the regiment was consolidated with the 40th New York Infantry.

So, if Thomas Aumack was wounded, it would not have been at Antietam if he was in the 87th.

--Old Secesh

Thomas B. Aumack-- Part 2: Died of Dysentery

From the Find A Grave site.

THOMAS B. AUMACK

BIRTH:  May 9, 1844

DEATH:  13 October 1862 (age 18)  He must have lied about his age at enlistment.

BURIAL:  Aumack Family Burying Ground, Hazlet, Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Enlisted at Brooklyn age 19.  Mustered in as a private with Company C, 87th New York Infantry on November 5, 1861, discharged with dysentery on  September 23, 1862, at Fort Monroe, Virginia.

Thomas Baily Aumack, son of  William Hoff and  Catherine (Bailey) Aumack, born May 9, 1844, and died  October 13, 1862, aged 18 years, 5 months and 4 days.

The numbers don't match up.

--Old Secesh

Thomas B. Aumack, Wounded at Antietam, Died Soon Afterwards

I have been writing about a cemetery in Hazlet, New Jersey, in my Not So Forgotten: The War of 1812 blog, where two War of 1812, one American Revolution and this soldier from the Civil War are buried.  The cemetery, a small family one, had fallen into disrepair until recently.  The article was "Desecrated cemetery, lost grave of  18-year-old war hero getting restored in Hazlet."

The Civil War soldier buried there was Thomas B. Aumack.  This is what the article said about him:

"Thomas Bailey Aumack was 17 years old when he enlisted to fight for the Union in the Civil War.    The Bayshore native  was mustered into the 87th New York Infantry in November of 1861.  Less than a  year later, he was dead, one of 620,000  lives lost in America's bloodiest conflict."

He is buried in the Aumack Family Cemetery in Hazlet, New Jersey, with quite a few other Aumacks.  However, many more of the Aumack family are buried at Cedarwood Cemetery in Hazlet.

--Old Secesh

Sgt. Ivy Ritchie-- Part 6: Changing the Gravestone at Petersburg

Frank sure started something with this man's name.  Thanks a lot Frank.

Back in March 1996, Jim Harwood requested to have Ivy Ritchie's homeplace  designated with a N.C. Highway Historical Marker.  That was denied by the state.

Efforts to have Ritchie's headstone  replaced and to show that he was from North Carolina, not New York, have been a long, arduous  task.   But with the help of Anthony Way of Indian Trail, who solicited the aide of Sen. Elizabeth Dole in February 2006, the ten-year effort recently  received a long-awaited news

In a letter  to Sen. Dole dated May 9, 2006,  Bob Kirby,  superintendent of Petersburg National Cemetery, wrote:  "We were advised by the National Parks Service (NPS) has recently received funding for a major  renovation project for FY 2010, which will involve the replacement of several  headstones.  NPS has agreed to replace the headstone for Sgt. Ritchie once the renovations project begins."

Harwood was especially  appreciative of the efforts of Debbie King in Sen. Dole's Raleigh office for her tireless efforts.

Harwood says that when the tombstone is finally  changed, he and other members of the Ivy Ritchie Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans will travel to Petersburg for a memorial and to sprinkle Surry County red clay on the grave of this American hero.

--Old Secesh

Sgt. Ivy Ritchie- Part 5: About That Grave

Ivy's  body was later exhumed and reinterred  in Poplar Grove National Cemetery near Petersburg.  His tombstone read:  "J. Richie, Sgt. Co. H 14th N.Y. Inf. Died April  9, 1865."  Well, they got the sergeant part right, the 14th and the date of death right, but that was it

Close, but no cigar.  Someone made a mistake somewhere.

Since he first learned about Ivy Ritchie's life ten years ago, Albemarle businessman Jim Harwood, a Wake Forest history major and self-proclaimed history buff, has led  efforts to form the Ivy Ritchie Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

He says:  "Our unit is interested in the history of the Civil War.  We put Southern Crosses of Honor on the graves of those who served in that war.  We started with seven members and have grown to over  180 members today."

Oops.  --Old Secesh

Sgt. Ivy Ritchie-- Part 4: His Death and Grave Found By His Brother

Sgt. Ivy Ritchie was killed on early April 9, 1865, in one of the final offensive moves by what was left of the vaunted Army of Northern Virginia.  Later that day, Robert E. Lee surrendered.  Imagine participation in most of the major battles of the war with ANV and then being killed on the last day?

As the sun set on Appomattox that April 9, Stanly County native Ivy Ritchie, a member of the 14th N.C. Regiment,  became the last of about 40,000 North Carolinians  to give their lives to this horrific war.

Days later, the 14th N.C.'s chaplain and two soldiers from the unit told Ivy's younger brother, Marvel, a member of the 28th N.C. Infantry Regiment, that Ivy had been killed.

In 1923, Marvel wrote in  a letter about we he did when he found out the news:  "We went to the freshly dug grave, opened the grave, and found it was Ivy....  It has been 58 years since and no one has ever disputed this statement."

--Old Secesh

Sgt. Ivy Ritchie-- Part 3: That Fatal Day

Local residents found just how hard it is to  straighten things out in regards to who is buried at the a grave in the National Cemetery at Poplar Grove National Cemetery near Petersburg, Virginia.

It is not easy to get a correction.  

Stanly County, North Carolina, resident Ivy Ritchie is considered to be the last Confederate soldier to die in the Civil War.  James Lawson Wyatt is considered the first North Carolinian to die in the war.

Here's what happened on April 9, 1865, the day that General Robert E. Lee surrendered.

During the early morning hours of that day,  Confederates charged an artillery position at Appomattox in an effort to open a way for Lee to find a way to retreat out of his predicament.  As they moved forward, General William Cox's brigade encountered deadly Union artillery fire.

One member of Cox's brigade wrote:  "The enemy from our left, opened  a battery of artillery upon us, firing right up our line, as we went across the open field ....shells burst  about 12-15 feet to my left, killing  Sgt. Ivy Ritchie and wounding five others."

--Old Secesh

Sgt. Ivy Ritchie-- Part 2: Battles, Captured, Wounded, Promotions, Death and Burials

**  Captured at Sharpsburg, Maryland, September  17, 1862.  (Battle of Antietam)  Confined at Fort Delaware until exchanged at Aiken's Landing, Virginia, Nov. 10, 1862.

**  Married Clara Sophia Christina Ridenhour in Stanly County while on leave December  14, 1862.

**  Wounded at Chancellorsville, May 10, 1863, and promoted to corporal  two days later.

**  Rejoined Company H, 14th N.C. in August 1863.

**  Participated in every major battle of the Army of Northern Virginia in 1864, including the Battles of Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Cold Harbor.

**  Promoted to sergeant in July 1, 1864.

**  Killed at Appomattox on April 9, 1865.

**  Buried at Appomattox Station.

**  Body moved to Poplar Grove National Cemetery and interred in Grave 4824 as Ivy Ritchie from New York state.

Oops.  --Old Secesh

Tell Me Some More About Sgt. Ivy Ritchie-- Part 1: Killed On Last Day of the Army of Northern Virginia, April 9, 1865

From Military History Online 14th North Carolina Infantry.

See what Frank started.

Sgt. Ivy Ritchie has  the distinction of being the last Confederate soldier killed on the day of Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865.  Imagine fighting the entire war and being killed on the last day of it for your unit.  That is hard to take.

About the sergeant:

**  Born 1839 to Charles and Margaret Ritchie in Montgomery County, N.C., (now Stanly County) and was a framer prior to 1861.

**  Enlisted as a private in the Stanly Marksmen, the first unit from Stanly County,  on May 5, 1861.  Marched out of Albemarle as young women stood on the second floor hotel balcony singing the state song, "The Old North State."

**  Assigned to the 14th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, Company H and remained in that unit for the duration of the war.

--Old Secesh

About That 'First at Bethel, Farthest to the Front at Gettysburg, Last at Appomattox' Slogan-- Part 1

In the last post, I wrote about Sgt. Ivey Ritchie of the 14th North Carolina Infantry Regiment being the last member of the Army of Northern Virginia to lose his life and that happened on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox.  That was the day Robert E. Lee surrendered his vaunted army.

Imagine fighting the whole war and then getting killed on the last day of your fighting in it?  That's hard to take.

Then I remembered an oft-repeated honor that I've heard many times growing up in North Carolina and since, a tribute to the soldiers from North Carolina who fought for the Confederacy:  "First at Bethel, Farthest to the Front at Gettysburg, and Last at Appomattox."  Only, I'd always heard it as "First at Bethel, Farthest at Gettysburg and Last at Appomattox."

I had to wonder if that Last at Appomattox might have referred to Sgt. Ritchie.

--Old Secesh

About That 'First at Bethel, Farthest to the Front at Gettysburg and Last At Appomattox' Slogan-- Part 2: A Great Honor

According to the NCpedia this is a traditional  saying honoring the role of  North Carolina soldiers in the Civil War  Editor  Walter Clark, later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, encouraged its use as early as 1901

The initial three words "First at Bethel," holds double meaning.  The first regiment of North Carolina  Volunteers was instrumental in winning a Confederate victory at the Battle of Bethel, Virginia, on  10 June 1861, the first land battle of the war.  In this engagement,  Tarboro resident  Henry Lawson Wyatt, became the first Confederate soldier to die in the war.

During the Battle of Gettysburg, North Carolina soldiers advanced the  the greatest distance under the withering Union gunfire on July 3, 1863, in what became known as Pickett's Charge.  Some also credit the 58th North Carolina Regiment had the deepest penetration of enemy lines on Snodgrass Hill at the Battle of Chickamauga on  20 September 1863, although at least one historian contends that battle conditions made the claim impossible to substantiate.

Finally, the men of Company  D, 30th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, fired he last shots at Union forces at Appomattox on 9 April 1865, the day that Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to  Union General Ulysses S. Grant.

I might add now that this was also the death of Ivy (Ivey) Ritchie.

--Old Secesh

Answers to the 'Frank' Questions-- Part 3: Who was Sgt. Ivy Ritchie?

And I should have known this because I had written about him back in 2008.  My excuse?  That was a real long time ago.

He was a member of the 14th North Carolina Infantry Regiment and is considered the last member of the Army of Northern Virginia to be killed at Appomattox.

That would have to be rough to go through most of the war and then get killed on the very last day for your army.

Is he the one the North Carolina traditional saying that honors the state's Confederate soldiers with the words "First at Bethel, Farthest at Gettysburg and Last at Appomattox" was referring to?

Can't Remember Much and Forgot the Rest.  --Old Secesh

And a Big Thank You to All American Veterans: A WW II Sailor on the USS Oklahoma Laid to Rest Under His Own Name

Today marks a day that we give our thanks to those who put their lives on the line to keep us living as we do.

As such, all my blogs are devoted to thanks today.

From the Channel 10 Tampa Bay News  "Navy sailor from Florida killed in Pearl Harbor comes home nearly 80 years later."

Petty Officer 2nd Class James  M. Flanagan was killed  on board the USS Oklahoma on December 7, 1941, during the Japanese attack on the base.  He was 22 years old at the time.

The ship turned over after being hit with several torpedoes and many of the crew trapped.  It took the Navy until 1944 to upright the ship and recover the remains, which by that time were fairly disintegrated.  His body was one of those and he was buried on Oahu as an Oklahoma Unknown until recent DNA testing found his remains.

He was reburied under his name at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

His family in Jacksonville was unable to attend because of the virus, but will receive the flag that covered his casket.

Again, a Big Thank You to All American Veterans.

The Answers to the 'Frank' Questions-- Part 2: Andrew Jackson Riddle

Who was Andrew Jackson Riddle?

He was a Civil War photographer probably best known for his pictures of Andersonville Prison in Georgia.

In the early 1850s, he moved to Columbus, Georgia, and opened a photography studio and  enlisted in the Confederate Army when the war began.   He served three years and was captured three times and even spent eight months at Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C..

Two of the three times he was captured, he was carrying photographic supplies from New York to Virginia through enemy lines.

--Old Secesh

The Answers to the 'Frank' Questions-- Part 1: Cmdr. Maxwell Woodhull

As I said in the last post, McHenry County Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT) member Frank Crawford always has, or sends in if he is not there, some VERY difficult questions for us discussion group members to ponder and finally, most of the time anyway, give up and ask for the answer.  They almost always are about some person from the war.

1.  Who was Cmdr. Maxwell Woodhull, USN?

Killed by accident in Baltimore while inspecting defenses of that city when a 32-pdr. cannon fired a 32-pdr. right as he drove by and he took the full brunt of the impact.  Died instantly.

And, I should have known about him, but didn't.  I have written about him in my Running the Blockade :  Civil War Navy blog in the past.  Like they say, the first thing to go as you get older.  Go to the Running the Blockade blog, click on the Woodhull label and find out more about him and his accidental death.

Talk About Being In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time.  --Old B-Runner

And Now for the 'Frank' Questions

Most every discussion group receives several fairly impossible to answer questions from good buddy Frank Crawford.  We refer to them as  The Frank Questions and they are, as I said, fairly impossible to answer.  We believe he looks them up.  Nobody could know all those people he asks about.

But, once in a great while, one of us actually has heard of the person.

These were the "Frank" questions for August 2020:

1.  Who was Commander Maxwell Woodhull?

2.  Who was Andrew  Jackson Riddle?

3.  Who was Sgt. Ivey Ritchie?

See you next post.

--Old Secesh

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

More Comments on 'Beast Butler'-- Part 4: Hatteras Inlet, Cotton and Lincoln's Secret Visits

The ship Greyhound was owned by Benjamin Butler.  It was a captured blockade runner and very fast.  However, it was blown up in a mysterious explosion believed to be from a coat torpedo in an attempt to assassinate Butler.

**  Union Admiral David D. Porter and Benjamin Butler had worked together earlier in the war at Hatteras Inlet.  A hurricane had made Confederate gunpowder wet and ineffective.  

After the victory, Butler rushed to Washington, D.C. with the glorious news of victory and then went on to New York City to spread the news and take credit there as well.

**  Butler was definitely into getting as much cotton as he could, either legally or under questionable practice.

**  The Red River Campaign in 1864 was all about cotton acquisition for the Union.

**  While he was at Fortress Monroe, Butler reported to no one but Lincoln.  Not even the head of the Union Army, Winfield Scott.

**  Lincoln visited Fortress Monroe and Butler 12 times.  Butler kept those visits secret.

More.  --Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group on Benjamin Butler-- Part 3: About W.B. Mumford and Butler's Illicit Cotton Deals

**  W.B. Mumford of New Orleans tore down the U.S. flag after the city's surrender and was hanged by order of Benjamin Butler (BB).  However, BB took care of Mumford's family after the war.

**  The Confederates offered a $10,000 reward for anyone shooting and killing Butler.

**  BB and Confederate spy Belle Boyd.  Grilled her at Fortress Monroe but let her go.  Forced her to leave New York City and go to England.

**  Lincoln would repurpose generals like in the case of Gen. John Pope who he sent to Minnesota to clear out the Indians to clear land for soldiers.

**  Butler was very wealthy.

**  BB was very well known in New Orleans before the war.

**  Andrew Jackson Butler, BB's brother, made the deals for them.  BB's textile factories needed cotton and BB certainly got a lot of cotton in areas he had military command.  Lincoln knew about this illicit cotton trade, but didn't do anything.

--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

Civil War Monument at Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 3: The Civil War 18 Smola to Waska

Schultz, Frank

Smola, Frank

Stejskal, Frank

Talafous, John

Tomer, John

Uher, Alois

Vranek, Martin

Waska, Albert

Kristufek,Jakub

Definitely Not easy to Type These Names.  --Old Secesh

The Civil War Monument at Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 2: The Civil War 18

The plaque listing the Civil War 18 has the GAR insignia on it, which stands for the Grand Army of the Republic, which was the postwar organization of those who served in the Union military.

It has, of course, 18 names on it:

Fishman, John

Hejduk, Michael

Hlavin, James

Hrdlicka, Frank

Hudek, Prokop

Kakuska, Jacob

Kaspar, William

Macal, Anton

Mitchell, M.

--Old Secesh

The Civil War Monument at Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery-- Part 1

From the Czech and Slovak American Genealogy Society of Illinois "Bohemian National Cemetery: The Civil War 18."

On December 5, 1888, a committee representing many Bohemian organizations, met to begin discussions to authorize the building of a monument to commemorate Czechs who served in the military.

On July 28, 1889, thousands gathered for the laying of of the cornerstone of that monument.  One of the names used to describe it was "Bohemian Soldiers and Sailors Monument."

The sculptor of the monument was Joseph Klir.

Om May 29, 1892, thousands again gathered and paraded to celebrate the  unveiling of the new monument.

Cost of the monument  was $5,035.

There is a commemorative plaque on it that was added in 1940 listing the names of 18 veterans who are buried in the cemetery.  But, there are more Civil War veterans buried there as well.

--Old Secesh

The Civil War Veterans Monument at Chicago's Bohemian National Cemetery: 'Pro Nouvou Vlast'

I have been writing about this cemetery in my Cooter's History Thing blog.  Click on that blog to the right of this under My Blogs.  You can find out about Cubs fans, a Spanish-American War monument, Wanda Stropa, Anton Cermak and the SS Eastland Disaster.

From the October 11, 2020, Chicago Tribune "Inside Bohemian National Cemetery with 'Cemetery Lady' Helen Sclair" by Kori Rumore.

This 124-acre cemetery was set up to bury people from Bohemia in the present day Czech Republic.  Today the Chicago cemetery has over 120,000 burials.

One of the places in the cemetery is the Civil War Veterans Monument.

It features a bronze statue of a private soldier in fatigues holding a color staff in one hand and a bayoneted musket in the other and represents Czech immigrants who fought for their adopted country during the Civil War.

The inscription underfoot reads, "Pro nouvou vlast," meaning "For our new country."

A plaque at ground level includes the names of 18 Bohemian veterans of the Civil War buried u=in the cemetery.

An estimated 5,000 people turned out for the commemoration of the monument -- said to be the first Bohemian soldiers' monument in America -- on May 29, 1892, which was the first Memorial Day observed at the Bohemian cemetery.

--Old Secesh

Sherman Explains Why He Didn't Attack Augusta on His March to the Sea: "But, If You Feel Neglected..."

From the October 21, 2020, Athens (Ga) Banner-Herald "October 21, 1888:  General Sherman writes a letter to the Augusta Chronicle editor" by Boll Kirby.

He left Atlanta and Columbia in flames.  Well, why didn't he do the same to Augusta?

For years after the Civil War, Augustans argued about why feared Union General Sherman had not attacked  their city.  They had a variety of reasons and some were even silly.

Finally, Pleasant  Stovall, editor of the Augusta Chronicle, and asked the famous old general nd he answered in what might be one of the most famous-ever letters to the editor.

It was published on October 21, 1888, and, basically the old war horse said he didn't attack Augusta because he didn't have to.  He wanted to get to Savannah where the Union Navy could bring him supplies.

However, he offered to correct the oversight if Augusta felt  neglected, writing: "I can send a detachment of 100,000 or so of Sherman's bummers and their descendants  who will finish up the job without charging Uncle Sam a cent."

Send In the Bummers!!  --Old Secesh

Six Medical Myths That Just Won't Die-- Part 5: Just Whiskey and the Tent

MYTH   #5 

There Were No Effective Drugs/Pharmaceuticals During the Civil War and Whiskey Was the Only Painkiller Available.

Morphine, opiates and other pain relieving  medicines were available.   

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

MYTH   #6

The First Tent Hospital Was  Established By Jonathan Letterman After the Battle of Antietam (Also Reported As After the Battle of Gettysburg).

Actually, a fairly large  tent hospital was established  after the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862.

All Sorts of Interesting Stuff in This Civil War talk post.

--Old Secesh

Six Civil War Medical Myths That Just Won't Die-- Part 4: Glowing Wounds at Shiloh?

MYTH  #4

At Shiloh, wounds were reported to glow -- which was supposedly cause by bacteria Photorhabdus luminescens.

There are many google search results relating to this story "discovered" by high school students.  They claim to have visited Shiloh National Military Park where they heard a story about glowing wounds.  They, in turn, claim that they have discovered the bacteria responsible for those glowing wounds.

According to a NPS Ranger there:  "The only problem with this story is that there is no historical documentation of the event [glowing wounds] ever occurring, at Shiloh or anywhere else.  Not a single letter, diary entry, newspaper account, soldier's journal, , official report... nothing."

So, no known contemporary primary or secondary source accounts of glowing wounds -- and, the bacteria requires a temperature below 93.4 degrees.  That's well below  the normal temperature of a living human body.

--Old SeceshGlow

Six Civil War Medical Myths That Just Won't Die-- Part 3: 'Bite the Bullet?'

MYTH 3

INSTEAD OF ANESTHESIA, WOUNDED SOLDIERS WERE GIVEN A LEAD BULLET TO CHEW ON --  HENCE THE TERM 'BITE THE BULLET.'

As noted earlier,  the percentage of amputations performed without the benefit of general anesthesia was incredibly small.  Still, if a man was  in incredible pain, perhaps something to chew on would have been considered.  maybe a leather strap of belt.  Most likely something that wasn't small with the possibility of accidental swallowing.  The idea of gnawing on something as small and hard as a bullet just doesn't fit the bill.

The idea of biting the bullet probably comes from relic hunters who found them on the battlefield.  Lead bullets found on a battlefield with teeth marks on them are called pain or hospital bullets. Actually these bullets with teeth marks are most likely from rooting hogs or squirrels who thought the bullet was a nut or something else to eat.

The idea of giving a man a bullet to chew on, is not only a dentist's nightmare, it's plain dangerous as a choking hazard.

So, then, what about the old phrase "bite the bullet?"  Who knows?  But there is no evidence that soldiers had to "bite the bullet" during the Civil War.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group Meeting at Stucky's This Saturday, Oct. 24: Topic 'Civil War Fun and Games'

The McHenry County (Illinois)  Civil War Round Table discussion group will be meeting at Stucky's Bar and Grille  in Johnsburg, Illinois, this Saturday, October 24.

They have both outside and inside seating in case of bad weather.  It is located at 4000 N. Johnsburg Road in the Angelo's Supermarket shopping center.

Open to members and anyone with an interest in the Civil War.  The topic is "Civil War Fun and Games" this month.

Masks and social distancing required.

See You There.  --Old Secesh

Six Civil War Medical Myths That Just Won't Die-- Part 2: There Was Adequate Anesthesia on Both Sides

MYTH 2:  There was no anesthesia so amputations were always performed with the men conscious.

Case studies show that some 95% of amputations done by Union surgeons were performed under anesthesia.  When chloroform or ether were not available, amputations  were sometimes postponed rather than cause unnecessary suffering by the victim.

As for Confederate surgeons, Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire reported "...that in the corps to which I was attached (2nd Corps ANV), chloroform was given 28,000 times..."

In a piece titled "Confederate Medical Service", Dr. Deering J. Roberts expanded:  "Many Confederate surgeons reported that at no time did they fail to have an adequate supply of the three most important drugs, quinine, morphia and  chloroform."

--Old Secesh

Six Civil War Medical Myths That Just Won't Die-- Part 1: About Those Surgeons and Amputations

From Civil War Talk by lelliott19.

MYTH 1:  Civil War Surgeons Were Uneducated, inhumane "butchers" who amputated limbs  arbitrarily and unnecessarily.

Most had at least some medical training.  Very few had performed amputations or surgery in the numbers they were soon faced with, especially after battles.  Most lacked experience with gunshot wounds.  Most had received experience through attendance at medical lectures, apprenticing under an experienced  physician and/or practiced  medicine before the war.

As far as  amputations, minie balls shattered bones and shattered bones do not heal on their own. There were no orthopedic plates or pins like we have today.  Limbs were amputated as the most effective ways to save lives.

I always have a problem with all the sources I've read, however, mentioning piles of legs and arms in operating rooms after battles.  A bit on the gross side for me.

--Old Secesh

Gen. Junius Daniel-- Part 5: Mortally Wounded at Battle of Spotsylvania

During the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse on May 12, 1864,  Daniel led his brigade in a fierce counterattack on the  "Muleshoe" (also known as the "Bloody Angle"), trying to recapture that important position from the Army of the Potomac, which had captured it at dawn.  He was struck in the abdomen by a Minie ball, inflicting a mortal wound.

He died in a field hospital the next day and his body was taken to Halifax and buried in the Old Colonial Cemetery.

Unknown to Daniel, Robert E. Lee had recommended his promotion to major general just prior to his death.

Fellow North Carolinian and close friend, Brigadier General Bryan Grimes later wrote, "He was decidedly the best general officer from our state.  Though in all possibility I gained a brigadier at his death, I would for the sake of the country always remained in the status quo than the country should have lost his services."

General Grimes named one of his sons Junius Daniel Grimes (who would become a well-known Washington, D.C. attorney in the late 19th century).

The Junius Daniel Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy  in Weldon, North Carolina , was named in Daniel's honor.

--Old Secesh

Gen. Junius Daniel-- Part 4: Action at Gettysburg

Junius Daniel was commissioned a brigadier general on September 1, 1862, making him one of the five men from Halifax County to attain that rank in the Confederate Army.  (I am unable to find out who the other four brigadier generals are from Halifax County, N.C.)

He spent the fall of 1862 with his brigade at Drewry's Bluff in Virginia and then served in North Carolina.  During this time, his unit saw very limited combat action.

Shortly after the Battle of Chancellorsville, his unit was transferred to Major General Robert E. Rodes' division of Richard S. Ewell's 2nd Corps, where he served with distinction during the Gettysburg Campaign  Daniel's largest brigade, trusted to carry the Corps Flag, consisted of the 32nd, 43rd, 45th and 53rd North Carolina along with the 2nd North Carolina Battalion.

On July 1, 1863, the first day of the battle, Daniel's brigade repeatedly attacked Union forces on McPherson's Ridge, eventually driving off  the Union brigade of Colonel Roy Stone.  As his first attack on that position failed, and his men began retreating, Daniel heroically galloped after his men, rallied them and  launched another assault.

Daniel's men suffered the  greatest loss of any brigade in the 2nd Corps on the first day at Gettysburg.

--Old Secesh

Gen. Junius Daniel-- Part 3: Service on the Frontier, Louisiana and Back to North Carolina

Continued from October 11, 2020.

In 1852, he was assigned to Fort Albuquerque in New Mexico Territory and remained stationed on the frontier for five years.  Temporarily under the command of Richard S. Ewell of the 3rd Dragoons, Lieutenant Daniel saw action  in a series of skirmishes with Apache Indians in 1855.

In 1858, Daniel resigned his commission and became a planter in Louisiana, joining his father who had moved there in 1851 after his last term in Congress.  In October 1860, he married Ellen Long.

CIVIL WAR SERVICE

The state of Louisiana offered Daniel a commission after Lincoln's call for volunteers, but he returned to Halifax, North Carolina, where he offered his services to his native state.  he was chosen colonel of the  4th (later 14th N.C. Infantry).  When the period of enlistment ended, he was offered command of several regiments before accepting that of the 45th Infantry Regiment.

Junius Daniel led four regiments from Raleigh to Goldsboro where he organized them into a brigade.  Afterwards, he organized two other brigades.  In June 1862, his brigade was ordered to Petersburg, Virginia, where his brigade joined the Army of Northern Virginia just before the Seven Days Battles, though it took no part in them.

--Old Secesh

 

So, Who was Confederate General Alfred Mouton?

 I wrote about this man in my Civil War II blog as he has a statue in front of the Lafayette Parish courthouse in Louisiana that certain people want removed.  I have heard about him, but that is about all.  The article had this to say about him.

Alfred Mouton was the son of the 9th governor of Louisiana, attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and later returned to Lafayette where he became a landowner and, of course, slaveowner.  He supported the parish's laws limiting the assembly of Blacks and their ability to move around.

He was killed at the Battle of Mansfield in 1864.

The Alfred Mouton charter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy donated the statue to the city in 1922

--Old Secesh

What the War Was Really About

From Civil War Talk

April 9, 1862 diary entry by James Hannegan of the 5th Ohio  Cavalry after the Battle of Shiloh.

"Went over the battleground again today & saw some of the most shocking sights I ever beheld.    Men were lying dead in every possible position.  Some with their heads torn off, limbs scattered around & the dead horses were in heaps all over the field & today it was quite cool which is very favorable, otherwise this stench would be almost intolerable.

"Most of the dead  bodies have been robbed by our own men.  The faces of the dead were perfectly black.  Our men have been busy ever since the battly burying the dead, but hundreds still unburied.

"Every house in the neighborhood is filled with wounded rebels.  Some have been brought in today who have been lying in the woods since Monday."

--Old Secesh

Lee Button Found in Unearthed Time Capsule

From the July 2, 2020, Central Maine  "Lee button found  in time capsule  under Confederate monument."

A button that experts believe  was from Confederate General Robert E. Lee's dress coat and a strand of hair  from his horse are among the items found in the time capsule that was removed from the Confederate monument that stood on the grounds of the North Carolina State Capitol recently.  The monument had stood there for 125 years.

The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources said the metal box of the time capsule had been seriously damaged over the years by the elements and had rust on it.

Also found in the capsule:  Confederate money, song books and flags and a stone believed to be from the Gettysburg Battlefield.  There were also 1895 newspapers from across the state.

North Carolina's governor ordered this statue and others on the state capitol grounds removed for "public safety" after BLMers and their white minions attacked the statues and even lynched one of the Confederate soldiers in the statue.

Well, at least one good thing about all this Confederadication.

And You Figured BLMers Would be Against Lynching.  --Old Secesh

Confederate General Junius Daniel-- Part 2: From North Carolina, Attended West Point

From Wikipedia.

JUNIUS DANIEL

June 27, 1828-May 13, 1864

Planter and career military officer, serving in the U.S. and then the C.S. armies.  His troops were instrumental in the Confederate success at the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg.  He was killed in action at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.

He was born in Halifax, North Carolina,  the son of a wealthy political family.  His father, John Reeves Jones Daniel served as attorney general for North Carolina and member of the U.S. Congress.  His mother,  Mary Stith, came from a family of prominent Virginians that descended from John Stith and William Randolph.

Education for Daniel came at local school in Halifax and then another school in Raleigh.  President James K. Polk appointed him to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1846 and graduated from there with the Class of 1851, ranking 33rd out of 41 one in that group.

Appointed brevet 2nd lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Infantry, he was sent to Newport, Kentucky, as assistant quartermaster.

Further Service in U.S. Army.  --Old Secesh

Confederate Gen. Junius Daniel-- Part 1

 Today, I was writing about the Confederate statue at the Halifax County Courthouse in North Carolina being removed and a picture accompanying the article was a plaque in honor of this man, but actually wasn't the monument in question.

Junius Daniel was born and grew up in Halifax County and is buried there.

The plaque reads:

JUNIUS DANIEL

1828-1864

West Point graduate in 1851.  Officer in the U.S. Army until 1858.  Brigadier-General in  the C.S. Army  Mortally wounded in the Battle of Spottsylvania Court House.  Born and Buried in Halifax.

Erected 1929 by The North Carolina Historical Commission and the Halifax Chapter, U.D.C.

It is located on the grounds of the Halifax Court House.

Of course, now there is someone wanting to remove it.  Confederate, you know.

--Old Secesh

"Up the Street Came the Rebel Tread" and Winston Churchill

A little later today, I will write about Winston Churchill and FDR riding through Frederick, Maryland, in 1943 on their way to Shangri-La (now called Camp David).  Churchill was a huge fan of American history, of course, and wanted to see the home of Barbara Frietchie, because of that famous poem.

It is an interesting story, so check it out in my Tattooed On Your Soul: World War II blog.

"Shoot If You Must...."  --Old Secesh

Wallace-Dickey Cemetery, Ottawa, Illinois

From August 28, 2017, WCMY 1430 AM.  "Wallace-Dickey Cemetery plans include making it public eventually."

Money raise at the Civil War reenactments near Seneca over the weekend will help pay for restoration at the Wallace-Dickey Cemetery in Ottawa.  Not many people know where it is, because it is landlocked and there aren't any  public roads to it.

Ottawa Avenue Cemetery Association President  Chuck Sanders says he'd like the public to be able to visit the site someday.  It's where two prominent Ottawa residents of the 1800s, Judge T. Lyle Dickey and General W.H.L. Wallace, are buried.

--Old Secesh

Death and Funeral of Theophilus Lyle Dickey

From Find-A-Grave site.

JUDGE T. LYLE DICKEY LAID TO REST

Ottawa, Ill., July 28, 1885.

The funeral of the late Judge T. Lyle Dickey took the place at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. W.H. Wallace, at three o'clock yesterday afternoon.  Although the heat was excessive at that hour the attendance was very large, nearly all the business houses in town having closed from two until five o'clock.

A special train from Chicago, having on board the State officers and many Chicago friends, arrived at twelve o'clock, the procession, consisting of Company D,  G.A.R.,  the City Council and the Judges of the Supreme Court, formed at  the Supreme Court, formed at the Supreme Courthouse, where the remains had been lying in state, and moved through town to "Two Oaks," where services were held.

After the service the procession moved to the beautiful little private burial ground on the edge of the bluff and consigned  to the final resting place, the remains of T. Lyle Dickey.

--Old secesh

Civil War People Buried at Chicago's Rosehill Cemetery-- Part 5

Continued from July 2019.  To see the rest of these entries, click on the Rosehill Cemetery label below.

Alexander Miller Stout   Union brevet brig. general

Benjamin Jeffrey Sweet   Union brevet brig. general

Matthew Mark Trumbull   Union brevet brig. general

Martin Reuben Merritt Wallace  Union brevet brig. general

Nathan Halbert Walworth   Union officer

James C. Watson    Served in 183rd Pennsylvania in Civil War and received Medal of Honor during Indian Wars.

Joseph Dana Webster   Union brigadier general

John "Long John" Wentworth   Mayor Chicago 1860-1861

Julius White    Union brig. general

--Old Secesh

The Family of Col. Benjamin Lewis Blackford

I wrote about him a lot in my Running the Blockade blog back in November and December 2013.  I am having to go back to that time and redo my entries as I was unable to use paragraphs for seven months.  I was redoing an entry on him (he was not impressed with the Wilmington, N.C., area when posted there during the war.

So I looked him up on Find-A-Grave.  He was there, but there was no information about him, but I did find some history about him in 29 September 2010, Virginia Memory Out of the Box "A Surveyor's View of Wartime Virginia."

He was born in 1835 in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to William Matthews Blackford (1801-1864) and Mary Berkeley  Minor Blackford (1802-1898) who was an anti-slavery activist.  At age ten, Lewis and his family moved to Lynchburg, Va..

When the war began, Lewis and his four brothers joined the Confederate Army, despite their mother's strong pro-Union sympathies.  Lewis enlisted in Co. G, 11th Virginia in April 1861, but left in May to join the Confederate Engineering Corps and spent the war making maps in Virginia and North Carolina.

Lewis had the reputation in his family of being a little too easy-going.  Although two wartime romances ended badly for him (one of them was in Wilmington, N.C.), nether seemed to keep him down for long.

--Old Secesh

George W. Bell, 40th USCT-- Part 3: Met President Lincoln and Moved to Waukegan, Illinois

It was reported that while serving with the 40th USCT, he met Abraham Lincoln and prepared a meal for him.  On occasion, while in camp, Lincoln would always greet George.

After the war, he came first to Fairbury, Illinois, and then moved to Waukegan.

His home in Waukegan was on Clarke Avenue and he worked as a bricklayer.

His wife was Emily Bell, born 1848, died 24 October 1908 (aged 59-60) and she is also buried in Oakwood Cemetery.

--Old Secesh

George W. Bell-- Part 2: Former Slave, 40th USCT and Waukegan Resident

From Find A Grave.

GEORGE WASHINGTON BELL

Birth   16 October 1816, Tennessee

Death:  6 December 1910, Waukegan, Illinois

Burial:  Oakwood Cemetery, Waukegan, Illinois

Has a Union veteran headstone.

George W. Bell was born a slave in Tennessee.  He was out with his master during the Civil War and both captured by Union troops.  Given a chance to fight for the North, he joined Company B of the 40th  United States Colored Troops.

--Old Secesh

George W. Bell (Former Slave, Served with Union Army and Settled in Waukegan)-- Part 1

One of the people buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Waukegan is George W. Bell and has been featured in the well-known annual Cemetery Walk.

He was born into slavery in Tennessee and captured by the Union Army during the Civil War and served with the army.  In the 1880s he and his family moved to Waukegan, becoming one of the first permanent black families to live there.

He is buried on Oakwood Cemetery.  Born 16 October 1816  Died 6 December 1910.

--Old Secesh

About Those VCU Confederate-Named Objects-- Part 4

Continued from September 24, 2020.

 From the September 19, 2020, Commonwealth Times "VCU approves removal of on-campus Confederate names, symbols" by Eduardo Acevedo.

These are among the names that will be victims of Confederadication on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University:

McGUIRE HALL--   Named after Hunter H. McGuire, surgeon in the Confederate Army.  Not only will the name be removed, but also all associated mentions  and references to McGuire Hall.

GINTER HOUSE--  All mentions and commemorations of Lewis Ginter will be removed on Monroe Park and  MCV  campuses.

JEFFERSON DAVIS MEMORIAL CHAPEL--  on the 17th floor of West Hospital on MCV campus.  It honors the Confederate president and Kathryn Wittichen, former president of the UDC.  The chapel will be permanently de-commemorated, permanently closed and four plaques honoring Davis and Wittichen will be removed from the chapel and West Hospital.

TOMPKINS-McCAW LIBRARY--  Named for five members of the Tomkins and McCaw families.  James McCaw and Sally Tompkins operated Confederate hospitals in Richmond during the war.  The board voted to remove the name and all associated mentions of the Tompkins-McCaw from the library.  they also voted for the removal of Confederate plaques and a portrait of John Syng Dorsey Cullen, a  surgeon in the Confederacy, from the library.

WOOD MEMORIAL BUILDING--  Houses VCU's School, of Dentistry.    Named after Judson B. Wood, a dentist and private in the Confederate Army.  His name will be removed from the building , and all associated mentions and references will be removed from VCU's campuses.

--O;d Secesh

76 Iowans Joined the Confederacy

From the Oct. 28,2019, Iowa Public Radio  "New Research shoes that at least 76 Iowans joined the Confederacy during the Civil War" by Ben Kieffer, Rick Brewer and Julia Digiacomo.

Despite Iowa's status as a Union state during the war, at least 76 Iowans threw in their lot with the Confederacy.  This number is the result of research done by David Connon who has just written the book "Iowa Confederates in the Civil War."

He delves into the reasons why these men did what they did.  According to Cannon, they became active in all branches of the Confederate military, even the Confederate Navy.  Some even achieved honors for their service.

David Connon was on the Iowa NPR show "River to River" with a 44-minute talk on his book where he gives their stories and also delves into the political and historical trends in Iowa during this time.  The 1840 Iowa Territorial Census showed 17 slaves listed with their owners.

The only people to say they had slaves in Iowa in that census were from Dubuque County.

The article was accompanied by a photograph of one of the Iowa Confederates named Albert H. Newall who was captured and died at the Fort Delaware prison camp.  The town fathers of Danville, Iowa, didn't want him buried in the local cemetery.

--Old Secesh

George Clarke Rogers-- Part 6: Service Record

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

COMPLEXION:  Light

MARITAL STATUS:  Single

OCCUPATION:  Lawyer

NATIVITY:  Piermont,  Grafton County, New Hampshire

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

SERVICE RECORD

JOINED WHEN:  May 24, 1861

JOINED WHERE:  Freeport, Illinois

JOINED BY WHOM:  Captain Jones

PERIOD:  Three years

MUSTER IN:   May 24, 1861

MUSTER IN WHERE:   Freeport, Illinois

REMARKS:   Promoted to captain

--Old Secesh

George Clarke Rogers-- Part 5: A Description of Him

Continued from November 9, 2019.

From the Illinois State Archives

NAME:  Rogers, George Clarke

RANK  1st Lieutenant

COMPANY:  I

UNIT:  15th Illinois U.S. Infantry

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

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

AGE:  23

HEIGHT:   5'8"

HAIR:  Brown

EYES:  Gray

More to Come.  --Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group to Meet Saturday, Sept. 26: Topic Is Braxton Bragg

 The McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT) will be meeting this Saturday, September 26, 2020, at the Panera Bread Co in Algonquin, Illinois from 10 am to noon.  Panera is located at 451 S. Randall Road.

We will meet outside and masks must be worn except while eating or drinking.  Then, mask up again.  Weather permitting, of course.

This month's topic is Confederate General Braxton Bragg.  His very name always draws a lot of comment.  So should be interesting.

So, if you need that shot of Civil War history that you've been missing thanks to you-know-what, come on by, everybody's welcome.

So, What's Your Take On the Good general?  --Old Secesh

About Those Confederate-Related Names Removed By VCU-- Part 3

 These folks have been very busy with their Confederadication, indeed.

And, the VCU board voted to name an unfinished art building on campus after Murry DiPillars, a former VCU art dean who died in 2008.  He is also a black man.

The city of Richmond has already taken down two memorials in Monroe Park that VCU wanted removed.  This summer, city workers took down the statue of Joseph Bryan, a Richmond businessman  who was a member of Mosby's Rangers during the Civil War and whose statue was constructed in 1911.

They also took down a stone cross dedicated to Fitzhugh Lee, a Confederate general during the war who later served a s governor of Virginia.

The committee had also recommended the removal of a statue  honoring Confederate General Williams Carter Wickham, which had stood since 1891, until it was pulled down by BLMers this past summer.

Where the artifacts will go has not been determined as of yet.

--Old Secesh

About Those Confederate-Related Items to Be Removed by VCU-- Part 2:

 **  Removal of four plaques that reference  Jefferson Davis and Kathryn Wittichen near the West Hospital on campus.  Kathryn Wittichen was the president of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

**  Removal of the name and plaque outside Baruch Hall.

**  Removal of the name McGuire Hall, named for Hunter Holmes McGuire.

**  Removal of the Alexander Stephens plaque and bust  of McGuire from McGuire Hall.

**  Removal of a plaque commemorating the work of Matthew Fontaine Maury from the MCV Alumni House and the removal of a plaque  bearing the building's old name, Maupin-Maury House.

**  Removal of the name Tompkins-McCaw Library, named in part for Sally Tompkinsm removal of a plaque bearing the library's name and a portrait of John Syng Dorsey Cullen inside the library.

**  Removal of the name of the Wood Memorial Building.

The board also voted to change the name of Harrison House, where the Department of African-American Studies is located.  It was named after Fort Harrison, a Confederate fort.  The department will get to choose a new name.  Do you think it will be named for a black person?

--Old Secesh

About Those Confederate-Named Items To Be Removed from VCU-- Part 1: More Confederadication

 From the September Richmond.com "VCU board of visitors votes to remove names of Confederate supporters from its campus" by Eric Kolenich.

Virgina Commonwealth University will be removing  16 building names, plaques and other Confederate symbols.  Big surprise, the school is in that Richmond city.

This move will erase the names of Ginter Hall and Dooley Hospital from a spot where a Dooley Hospital once existed. 

James Dooley left his home and surrounding grounds to the city of Richmond, served in the Virginia General Assembly and  helped oversee railroad construction across the country.  His crime was that he was a Confederate soldier.

Lewis Ginter owned part of the land that is now Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and hired the architects who built the Jefferson Hotel.  When he died, he left substantial gifts to  charities and public  institutions.  His crime?   He was an officer in the Confederate Army.

--Old Secesh

'Beast' Butler Discussion-- Part 1: Lincoln's 'Right Hand' Man?

On Saturday August 22, 2020, the McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT) discussion group had our second outdoor, social distanced and masked meeting since this virus thing hit. This was held outside at Panera Bread in Algonquin, Illinois.  We haven't had a regular meeting since early March as they are in the Woodstock Library and that has been closed and now closed to meetings.

But, it sure is good to get back with like-minded folk, so I have enjoyed these two meetings immensely.

Our topic on August 22 was Union General Benjamin Butler.  We had one guy there who had done a lot of research on the good (or was it bad) general and knew a whole lot of stuff.

These are some of the things we talked about to the best of my ability to write them down:

**  Butler (BB) was always under the direct command of Abraham Lincoln.

**  BB was a political general, not from West Point.

**  New Orleans had the U.S. mint there which made coins.  Lincoln wanted it which was why he sent BB there.

**  There were chamber pots and spittoons with BB's face at the bottom for folks who didn't like him.

**  Lincoln would try out things he wanted to do with BB before he himself would try it.

**  Lincoln was looking into sending freed slaves back to Africa.

**  Henry Clay was the founder of a movement to return freed slaves to Africa.

Enough Civil War Stuff for You?  --Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group Aug. 22, 2020-- Part 2: Answers to Yesterday's Questions

 These were the answers to the questions about Union General Benjamin Butler that I posted yesterday.

1.   Franklin

2.  Massachusetts

3.  Democrat

4.  Baltimore, Maryland

5.  Battle of Big Bethel

6.  Hatteras

7.  Contraband of War

8.  New Orleans

The discussion group did very well.  Lots of "A"s.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group Meeting Aug. 22 ,2020-- Part 1: How Much Do You Know About Benjamin Butler?

 This past Saturday, August 22, 2020, the McHenry County Civil War Round Table met outside at the Panera Bread Co. in Algonquin, Illinois, to discuss one of the more interesting characters to come out of the Civil War, Major General  Benjamin Butler.  Mr. "beast" Butler if you will.

As often, we kicked the session off with a quiz on the man.

1.  What was his middle name?

2.  He hailed from what state?

3.  What was is political party?

4.  What was his first military action.

5.  What was his first military battle.

6.  Then, he commanded an army at what North Carolina inlet?

7.  While commanding at Fortress Monroe, he declines to send fugitive slaves back to their owners, declaring them to be what?

8.  Then he commanded at what major Southern city?  (Where he got his reputation and hatred.)

Answers in next post.

--Old Secesh

The University of Georgia Also Has the Great Seal of the Confederacy

The Hargrett  Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the Univ. of Georgia also has the Great Seal of the Confederacy.

The site shows a photo of it and  the inscription by it.  I am not sure if this is the original or a copy of it.  The site doesn't say.

The inscription reads:

Presented to the University of Georgia
Memorial Day April 26, 1945
in memory of
JAMES EVERARD BLACKSHEAR
Youth Soldier in the Army of
CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA

--Old Secesh

Murder of Col. Edward P. Jones, CSA While Prisoner at Fort Delaware

I was going back through my November 2013 posts in this blog and came across a prisoners diary where he recounted  this man's "murder" at the hands of a prison guard at Fort Delaware for not moving fast enough.

The Virginia Military Institute has a page listing alumni from that institution who were killed or died while serving the Confederacy.

It reads:

"JONES, EDWARD POPE, M.D., from Middlesex County, Virginia.  Colonel of Virginia Militia.  Captured and imprisoned  at Fort Delaware, and while a prisoner was murdered by his guard."

--Old Secesh

Custer During the McClellan's Peninsular Campaign

From the August 12, 2013, Hampton Roads (Va.) Daily Press  "Custer finds a Confederate classmate among Williamsburg's  Civil War wounded" by Mark St. John Erickson.

Second Lt. George Armstrong Custer was not the famous person he would be as he moved with the Army of the Potomac up the Virginia Peninsula in the spring of 1862 during McClellan's Peninsular Campaign.

He was just age 22, but already had a way of putting himself in the spotlight.  He had become one of the first Union officers to ascend in a balloon and he also played a stand-out role in the May 5, 1862, Battle of Williamsburg when he guided Brigadier General  Winfield Scott Hancock's brigade across a narrow dam and into a position to threaten the rear of the Confederate Army.

--Old Secesh

Lawson Botts, Col. of 2nd Virginia Infantry Regiment

From Civil War Scholars.com.  2nd Va. Inf. Regt..

Born 7/25/25 at Fredericksburg.

Attended V.M.I. 1841.  Lawyer in Charles Town.  Married Sarah Elizabeth Bibb Ranson, 1851.

Defense attorney for John Brown during the early stages of Brown's trial.Commissioned captain of Bott's Greys, prewar militia Co. from Charles Town, 11/4/1859.

Captain Co. G. 2nd Virginia Volunteer Infantry 5/31/1861. (This was William Beall's company.)

To Major 6/12/1861.  To Lt.Col. 9/11/61.  To Colonel 6/27/1862.

Provost Marshall at Winchester, Nov.-Dec. 1861.

Mortally Wounded In Action (MSIA) at 2nd Manassas 8/28/1862.  William Beall also captured here.

Died 9/16/62 at Middleburg.

Buried Zion Episcopal  Cemetery, Charles Town, West Virginia.

--Old Secesh

About That Confederate Woman's Home-- Part 5: Serving Widows and Wives of Honorably Discharged Confederate Soldiers

From the Texas State Historical Association.

Opened in 1908 to take care of the wives and widows of former Confederate soldiers who had been honorably discharged.  Many of these women were related to men who were in the Texas Confederate Home in Austin.

Residents were required to be at least 60 years of age and have no means of support.

At its opening on June 3, 1908, three women were admitted to it, by 1909, 16 women called it home.  But by 1911, the expenses were too much for the UDC and it was deeded to the state.  At the time, residents numbered 18.

In 1913, a two-story addition was added which included 24 new bedrooms. and then a brick hospital was constructed to care for the increasing number of ailing residents.  From 1920 to 1935, the place housed between eighty and 110 residents any given year.

By the late 1930s, new admissions to the home were decreasing and most of the surviving residents were in poor health.  From 1938 to 1945, the population fell from eighty-seven to just fifty-five.  In 1949, the building fell under the control of the State Hospitals and Special Schools.

During the late 1950s, the nine remaining residents were housed in one wing and in 1963, the three remains women were moved into private nursing homes at state expense and the facility closed.  The state sold the property in 1986.

During the course of its run to take care of Confederate wives and widows, the home cared for 3,400 indigent women.  It was popular with the Austin community and many events took place there.

--Old Secesh

About That Confederate Woman's Home in Austin, Texas-- Part 4: And Another Sign

 Another handwritten sign has also been placed on the black plastic shrouding the Woman's Home marker.  It reads:

"History Matters.  Then the letters KKK crossed out inside a circle.

"This plaque glorifies the UDC, a group the SLPC lists as a hate group + a group w/well documented ties to the KKK.  History is important and the glorification of a white  supremacist group is an insult to our BIPOL neighbors.

We demand that this plaque be updated to reflect the true history of the YDC until then leave this or anoter notice up."

--Old Secesh

About That Confederate Woman's Home in Texas-- Part 3: But Now, AGE Has It, And...

 There is a black plastic bag over the sign now, however, with two more messages on it.

One is from the organization who now owns the building, AGE (Austin Groups for the Elderly) of Central Texas who bought it in 1986.  It is a nonprofit organization that supplies  services for older adults and their caregivers.  Back in 2012, they were proud enough of their buildings past history as a home for Confederate widows and wives, that they requested a Texas Historical Commission marker.

This was co-sponsored by the Descendants of Confederate Veterans and the Texas Division of  the Children of the Confederacy.

But now, AGE has asked the commission to remove the marker. And, in the meantime, they have covered it up with the plastic bag and they have a sign on it reading:

"Change is overdue and we are committed to being a part of the solution.  Our aging community in Central Texas, and those caring for older adults, span every socioeconomic background, race, ethnic group, age and gender.

Older adults represent  the most diverse cohort  in our country, and should have the right to age with grace and dignity that every human life deserves, no matter the color of their skin."

--Old Secesh

Remembering 9-11

 I put up no flags today because of the rain off and on all day.  We are surely having an Asian monsoon after many days of drought.

But, I would have had it been dryer.

This is a date I will always remember and will write about it in all my blogs but one..

--Old Secesh

About That Confederate Woman's Home in Texas-- Part 2: Too Take Care of Indigent Confederate Widows and Wives

 "The Confederate Men's Home began in Austin  in 1884 and the Albert Sidney Johnston Chapter #105 of the Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) made visits, brought gifts, food and clothing to the veterans .  Under the leadership of President Katie  Daffan, the Texas UDC began coordination and fundraising to  secure a home for needy Confederate wives and widows through dinners, events, concerts and individual donations.

The Texas UDC  purchased property and constructed a Richardson  Romanesque revival style structure.  In addition to several bedrooms and bathrooms, the home featured a parlor, a dining area and a hospital.  UDC chapters from all over the state donated furnishings for the home.

Due to the cost to maintain the home, the UDC transferred the home to the State of Texas on Dec. 23, 1911.  An annex was built that doubled the size and increased the capacity and a hospital was erected in 1916.  The state legislature established the Board of Control to operate the home in 1920.

And then in 19, responsibility transferred to the Board for Texas State Hospitals and Special Schools.

This home provided  for more than 3,400 indigent wives and widows of Confederate veterans and operated  until 1963 when the last residents were transferred to private nursing homes."

So, Does This Historical Marker Sound A Lot Like White Supremacist To You?  But, WAIT!!  --Old Secesh

About That Confederate Woman's Home in Texas-- Part 1: Confederadication Again

 From the September 3, 2020, Austin (Texas) Statesman "Herman:  Battle brewing over  marker at former Confederate Woman's Home, Opinion" by Ken Herman.

These days nothing having to do with the former Confederacy is safe from efforts of Confederadication.  And that even stretches to homes built to aide Confederate widows in need.  One such home was built in Austin, Texas.  A historical marker was erected at the site which gave its history.  But now that marker has been covered up and the owners want it changed to reflect how bad the Confederacy was or removed altogether.

The marker was put up by the Texas Historical Commission at the request of the owners at the former Confederate Woman's Home at 3710 Cedar Street in Austin.

This is what the offending sign said:

"TEXAS CONFEDERATE WOMAN'S HOME

 The Texas Confederate Woman's Home opened  in 1908 and provided  a home for over 3,000 wives and widows of former Confederate veterans.  Potential  residents were wives,  or widows of honorably discharged Confederate soldiers, women  who could prove active participation  in the Confederate war effort, and women over 60 years of age or older without a means of support.

More.  --Old Secesh

William Loring's History-- Part 3: A Long and Varied Career 'Old Blizzards'

 **  IN 1862 he was promoted to major general in the Confederate Army.

**  Loring earned the nickname of "Old Blizzards" at the Battle of Fort Pemberton when he cheered on his men yelling, "Give them blizzards, boys!"

**  He was at the Confederate General Johnston's surrender in North Carolina in 1865.

**  After the Civil War, he went to Egypt where he served nine years  in the Army of Isma'il Pasha, the Khedeve of Egypt.

**  He returned to Florida, ran for  Senate, but lost.

**  He then moved to New York where he died  in 1896 from pneumonia.

**  Loring was cremated in New York.  His ashes were later exhumed and moved to a cemetery in St. Augustine.  In 1920, his remains were then taken to his memorial in downtown St. Augustine.

**  Now, 100 years later, his remains are once again on the move.  This time to a cemetery in St. Augustine.  His monument is going to go to Trout Creek Fish Camp near St. Augustine.

And, remember, in addition to his remains and monument being moved, the last hurricane that came through Wilmington, North Carolina, knocked down the marker showing where he was born.

That's Four Moves His Remains Have Made Since His Death.  --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

William Loring's History-- Part 1: First and Second Seminole Wars, Texas War of Independence

From the previous post source.

William W. Loring has certainly been in the news lately with the removal of his monument and remains from St. Augustine, Florida.  Here is some more of his history.

**  Loring was born in 1818 in Wilmington, North Carolina.  At the age of 4, his family relocated to St. Augustine, Florida.

**  His military career began at a young age; at the age of 14 he joined the Florida militia fighting in the Seminole Wars.

** It is believed he was 17 when he ran away to Texas after the fall of the Alamo where he fought in the Texas War of Independence.  His father reportedly forced him to return to Florida.

**  Back in Florida, Loring fought in the Second Seminole War  At around the age of 19, he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant.

**  He studied at Georgetown University from 1839 to 1840 in Washington, D.C., but returned to study law in Florida.  he was admitted to the Florida  bar in 1842.

**  Loring was elected to the Florida House of Representatives from 1843 to 1845 before Florida became a state on March 3, 1845.

Quite a Busy Life at This Young of an Age, 27.  --Old Secesh

Maj. General Loring's Remains Found Under His Monument in St. Augustine

From the August 26, 2020, First Coast ABC News "100 years later:  Confederate major general's remains exhumed  in St. Augustine  beneath removed memorial:  Who was William Loring?" by Melissa Guz.

On Wednesday, August 26, archaeologists believe they have found Gen. William Loring's remains  within a container that was buried  underneath his memorial in downtown St. Augustine.  That memorial, an obelisk, was removed on Monday as part of a relocation process and is heading to  Trout Creek Fish Camp.

His descendants had asked the University of Florida, who manages the property it is on, to remove Loring's memorial and ashes to another place.

Archaeologist Kathleen Deegan carefully worked the exposed soil under the monument and found a name plate with the words "General William...Re-enterred"  written in cursive.  Part of a sword and its scabbard, believed to be his, were also found.

Other items were also found in the dirt, however, it is difficult to determine exactly what they were because of water intrusion.

All of the items will be reburied with Loring's remains in its new location at a cemetery.

All of the items found were respectfully placed in a hearse  on Wednesday afternoon.

--Old Secesh

William Loring Monument Removed in St. Augustine By Descendants' Request: First Hurricane Isaias, Now This. A Bad Month for the General.

From the August 24, 2020, News 4 Jax (Jacksonville, Fl.)  "UF  has Confederate statue removed from St. Augustine before dawn" by Zachery Lashway.

St. Augustine, Florida.

The University of Florida had it removed as it is on land leased by them.  The monument stood there since 1920.  His remains are under the monument and will also be removed and re-interred along with his monument on private land with "respect and dignity."

Loring was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, (see the previous blog entry), but grew up in St. Augustine.  According to Wikipedia, he joined the Florida militia as a teenager and fought in the  early skirmishes of the Second Seminole War.

He became a lawyer and served  in the Florida legislature before joining the U.S. Army.  When the Civil War started, he resigned and joined the Confederacy where he rose to the rank of general.  After the war, he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate from Florida, then lived in New York until his death.

A Bad Time for William Loring Stuff.   --Old Secesh

Civil War-Era Wilmington Historic Markers In Need of Repair or Replacement

From the August 20, 2020, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Photos:  Wilmington-area historic markers  in need of repair."

**  The Thalian Hall / City Hall  highway historic marker on Third Street was blown over and damaged during Hurricane Florence in 2018.  It has been rewritten and  and is waiting to be replaced  when the marker program gets money from the N.C. Department of Transportation.

It read:  "D 49 / THALIAN HALL  CITY HALL  /  Built 1855-58 as city hall and theatre for the Thalian Association (amateur), formed c. 1788."

This was operating during the Civil War.

**  The William W. Loring highway historical marker at Orange and Third streets before it broke off recently, possibly during Hurricane Isaias.

It read:  "D 48 /  WILLIAM W. LORING / Major general in  the Confederate Army, lieut. colonel in the Mexican War, general in the Egyptian Army , 1870-79.  His birthplace was 1 bl. W."

Quite an interesting story about this man.

--Old Secesh

Stephen A. Douglas After the 1860 Election

From Wikipedia.

After the election defeat, Douglas returned to the U.S. Senate, where he sought to prevent the break-up of the United States.  He joined a special committee of 13 senators led by John J. Crittenden which sought a legislative solution  to the increasing sectional divide between the North and the South.

He supported the Crittenden  Compromise, which called for a series of Constitutional amendments that would make the Missouri Compromise a part of that document, but this was defeated in committee.

As late as Christmas 1860, he wrote  Alexander H. Stephens and offered support to the idea of making Mexico as a slave territory to prevent secession.

But, South Carolina voted to secede on December 20, 1860, and by mid-January 1861 another five Southern states had done likewise.  In February, Jefferson Davis took the office of President of the Confederate States of America.

--Old Secesh

Okay, So Actually My Big COVID-19 Road Trip Was a Little Longer Than I Thought

I had mentioned back in July that my drive to Algonquin, Illinois, from Spring Grove, Illinois, was 20.4 miles.  I looked it up on the internet and that number was evidently from town limits and not for driving to a specific spot.  Saturday, I set the trip odometer at zero and drove it again for our second MCCWRT discussion meeting, this time on "Beast" Butler.

It turns out that the drive from home to the Panera Bread in Algonquin was 22.4 miles.

Still the longest I've driven anywhere since March 17, Year of the Coronavirus.

By the way, this Saturday, August 29, is going to be the first of three Record Store Days, rescheduled from April because of you-know-what.  And, this year, it will be held on three days instead of one to hopefully prevent the big crowds that usually attend.

Also, next month's McHenry County Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT) discussion group's topic will be on another much-maligned Civil War personage, none other than Braxton Bragg.

Now I Am, Going to Have to Put Gas in the Tank.  --Old Secesh

A Stephen Douglas Major Date Today, August 21, 1858

Can you guess what happened this date 162 years ago?

It involved another man.

It had to do with politics.

It had to do with who was going to be the next Illinois U.S. senator.

This was the first of seven.

Okay, it was a debate.

Got it yet?

Today in 1858 the Illinois senatorial contenders Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas held the  first of their seven debates.

It was held in Ottawa, Illinois.  Lincoln said that popular sovereignty would nationalize and perpetuate slavery.

Douglas went on to win the election in November where the voting was done in the state legislature even though overall Lincoln received 3,000 more popular votes in the general election.

--Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT): The State of Our Speakers

It seems like quite a long time ago in March that we had our last meeting thanks to the virus.  That was in March 10, right before all this broke.

We meet every second Tuesday of the month March to November at the Woodstock Public Library in Woodstock, Illinois.  Needless to say, every meeting since March has been cancelled, including the upcoming September one.  I sure miss everybody and all those interesting talks.

In July we we were to hear Steve Acker speak on "Petersburg."

In August we had "The Fisher Family" by Dave Oberg.

This September we were to have "Fort Sumter and Other Civil War Forts" by Scott Larimer.

Hopefully, we can have the October meeting "Confederates from Iowa" by Dave Cannon.

Then, the season finale, as it were, in October, Don Hatch will speak on "Road Trippin' Thru History:  The Great Wyoming and 'Howling Wilderness--  The Rest of the Story."

I sure miss my monthly doses of the Civil War.

Here's Hoping We Get At Least the Last Two Talks In.  --Old Secesh