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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
** 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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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
** 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
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
