Woodstock and McHenry County in the Civil War: U.S. Grant and Home Town Regiments

Same source as before.

**  At the time of U.S. Grant's death, Woodstock erected arches at each of the four entrances to the park.  (Today's Woodstock Square.)

**  In the Civil War, McHenry County furnished 2,533 men.

**  One of the first companies was the Woodstock Rifles.

**  Companies A, D & F of the 15thIllinois Infantry were chiefly composed of McHenry County men.

**  Thirty-six members of Company A and nearly all of the 36th Illinois were from McHenry County.

**  The 95th Illinois had 700 men from McHenry County.

--Old Secesh

Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Woodstock

Same source as previous post.

SOLDIERS' and SAILORS' MONUMENT

Stands in the center of the City Park (now referred  to as Woodstock Square).  Erected by members of the Woodstock Woman's Relief Corps (part of the Grand Army of the Republic, GAR) in 1909.

Cost $3,000.  The money was raised over several years.  One year the Relief Corps had a restaurant at the McHenry County Fair which fed hundreds of people morning, noon and night.

The committee in charge:

Mrs. Martha Rose, Mrs. Lucy H. Renich, Mrs. Lena B. Seiler, Mrs. Nettie Judd, Mrs. Mabel Hanaford Monroe  (chairman), Mrs. Anna Ackley, Miss Emily Whitson, George Eckert, A. Sill, F.E. Hanaford, C.D. Judd and Fred Eppel.

(There was also a Hanaford in the previous post.  Wonder if they're one and the same?)

--Old Secesh

Woodstock, Illinois, in the Civil War

Taken from 80th Anniversary edition of the Woodstock Sentinel, 1937.

Page 7.

"There was a general illumination Monday evening in honor of Lee's surrender.  The square  presented a lively and animated appearance...."

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"The remnants of the 15th Illinois (many from McHenry County), so long confined in rebel prisons, had been confined in rebel prisons had been paroled and were in Vicksburg awaiting transportation home.  The men who had escaped with Hanaford and Lascelle were recaptured and one of them wounded."

Hopefully none of them were on the Sultana.

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The 15th Illinois suffered big casualties at the Battle of Shiloh, including the death of Captain Harley Wayne who I have written a lot about.

--Old Secesh

Artillery-- Part 10: Talking Whitworths and Rodmans

Col. William Lamb at Fort Fisher had a battery of long-range Whitworth guns that could fire four to four-and-a-half miles out to see.  He had them hooked up to horses and were his "Flying battalion" and would go out to keep blockaders away from stranded blockade runners.

Heavy artillery  generally manned  coastal or river  fortifications and mounted  large immobile guns like Rodmans or the larger Parrott guns.  

During the war, many Union "Heavies" served in the Washington, D.C. defenses and there were a lot of forts around that city.

Some foot batteries were equipped with medium-sized  pieces known as siege guns like 30-pounder Parrotts.  They were mounted on heavy, but relatively  mobile siege carriages which allowed them to follow in the wake of armies and be emplaced in temporary positions whenever the troops were likely to remain in one place for a while.

The Saturday, April 30th discussion group topic will be about "Spies."  It is moved to this date because if the DuPage Civil War Show,

--Old Secesh

Artillery-- Part 9: Those Brass Napoleons

These were part of the McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group meeting on March 26.

**  Batteries:  Union consisted of 6 guns, Confederate of 4 guns.

**  There were two guns in a battery section.

**  Advancement of artillery officers was very slow.

**  Henry J. Hunt organized the Union artillery.

**  During Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, Confederate artillery fire for three hours and mostly stopped firing because the gun tubes were getting too hot.

**  One of the most commonly used cannons was the12-pound brass Napoleon and was accurate to a mile.

--Old Secesh

Artillery-- Part 8: USS Princeton Explosion and Santa Anna's Wooden Leg

**  Before the war, there was an explosion of a cannon on the USS Princeton in  1844 that almost killed President Tyler.

**  The Secession Cannon was a field piece  from Charleston, South Carolina.

**  Leeds cannons were produced in New Orleans.

**  There is a Blakely cannon at Grant Park in Galena, Illinois.   It fired on Fort Sumter April 12, 1861, and was captured in 1865.

**  One reason the Confederacy was able to capture so many U.S. cannons at the start of the war was because U.S. Secretary of War John B. Floyd (1857-1860) had started stockpiling U.A. armaments in arsenals throughout the South.  (He later became a Confederate general.  Makes you wonder.)

**  Someone said there was a Benjamin Butler play in Rockford, Illinois.

Santa Anna's wooden leg from the Mexican War is at the Illinois Military Museum in Springfield, Illinois.  Someone said that Mexico wants it back.

Not That We Ever Go Off Topic at Discussion Group.  --Old Secesh

MCCWRT Artillery-- Part 7: Naming Those Cannons

These were mentioned at the McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Round Table meeting on March 26, 2022, when the topic was Civil War Artillery.

**  The West Point Foundry, by the USMA was owned by Robert Parker Parrott.

**  The main Confederate foundry was Tredegar in Richmond.

**  The Lincoln Gun at Fort Monroe was a huge 15-inch Rodman cannon and designed to fire a huge projectile across Hampton Roads and the Chesapeake Bay to the Virginia shore. 

**  Fort Wool and Fort Monroe were across from each other in the Chesapeake Bay and so situated as to cause any enemy ship trying to pass them to come under direct fire from both forts.

**  Rodman guns were some of the Union's heaviest ordnance.

**  Whistlin' Dick was the name of cannon at Vicksburg

**  The Dictator was huge Union mortar.

--Old Secesh

The Leeds Iron Foundry in New Orleans-- Part 2: Two Confederate Ironclads

After Louisiana's secession from the Union in January 1861,  the foundry manufactured arms for the Confederate Army.  They also had the contract to build two ironclads:  the Louisiana and the Mississippi for the Confederate Navy.

The ships were not finished when New Orleans fell to Union forces in 1862.  The Mississippi had not been built and the CSS Louisiana was towed down the river and used as a floating battery during Farragut's passing the forts.

New Orleans was seized in April 1862.

The building that remains of the company was designed by James Gallier in 1852 and is typical commercial construction.  The Gothic Street elevation is  of stuccoed brick ornamented with cast iron columns and window frames.  The building is located at the head of Diamond Street neutral ground (St. Mary's Park), giving it some prominence.

It currently houses the fascinating Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans.

--Old Secesh

The Leeds Iron Foundry in New Orleans-- Part 1: Those Steel Cotton Bale Presses

From Waymarking  "Leeds Iron Foundry - New Orleans.

The Leeds Foundry produced arms for the Confederacy, manufactured two ships for the Confederate Navy, and continued as headquarters and producer of arms for ant-Federal forces after the war.  Charles Leeds, the owner, was elected mayor in 1874.

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The Leeds Foundry was the second largest foundry in the South and besides being the  world's largest maker of steel cotton bale presses.

(A cotton bale press is a building or machinery in which cotton bales are compressed into smaller bulk for shipment.  A press for baling cotton bales.  This is a very important process when it comes to shipping cotton.)

Up to 400 employees were employed in casting, forging and finishing for the manufacturing of ornamental cast iron and sugar and cotton equipment.

--Old Secesh

Leeds Iron Foundry, New Orleans-- Part 2

During the Reconstruction, the Leeds Foundry functioned as a base for operations for a subgroup called the White League, a  militant white group who were against the Blacks and Northerners.  It produced arms  for the White League, including one cannon.

An arms shipment sent from Leeds Foundry prompted New Orleans police to clash with the White League members in the city and ended with a violent takeover of the city for roughly three days.  Leeds support of this group helped lead to his election as mayor in 1874.

Today, the area that once housed the foundry is home to the Preservation Resource Center.  This particular building in the foundry complex was built to serve as storage space and showrooms, so it is ideally suited for the new center.

This organization was founded  in order to help preserve the architecture of the City of New Orleans.  It is open to the public.  The site of the Leeds  Iron Foundry is on the National register of Historic Places.

--Old Secesh

Leeds Iron Foundry, New Orleans-- Part 1: Produced Supplies for Confederate Army and Navy

From the New Orleans Historical Organization by Paul Zachry & Kathryn O'Dwyer.

The Leeds Iron Foundry was  owned and operated by Charles Leeds and was located at DeLord and  Constance streets during the antebellum period of the 19th century.

The foundry was opened in 1824 and Leeds became a partner upon his father's death in 1844.  Before the Civil War, this foundry was the most prolific producer of "steel cotton bale presses" in the world and  was one of the most important foundries in the South.

It maintained several hundred employees for the production of various iron plantation equipment.  The Leeds Company was successful; enough that it actually issued its own banknotes, a common practice at the time.

The foundry produced supplies for the Confederate Army and Navy, including  two naval vessels and even an early submarine, the Pioneer 1.  In particular, the Leeds Foundry  built 3.3-inch Confederate bronze field  rifles and  6-pounder  bronze field guns.

--Old Secesh

Leeds Cannons

From Civil War Artillery.com  Federal and Confederate Manufacturers.

LEEDS & CO.

New Orleans firm which apparently made a single 8-inch Columbiad, which burst, and from then on produced bronze field calibers  until the fall of that city in April 1862.

Charles J. and Thomas L. Leeds, proprietors.

Several 3.3-inch caliber bronze cannon were manufactured.

One example is located at in the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia.

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QUESTION:  Were any heavy guns made at Leeds & Co's establishment or were any rifled or banded?

ANSSWER:  "We made a few heavy guns for the Navy and one for the Army.  We rifled quite a number of old 32 and 42 pounders for the Army, and we banded one 7-inch gun.  I do not recollect whether any more were banded...."

--Old Secesh

Artillery-- Part 6: Leeds Cannons

**  Several years ago, Frank Crawford gave a talk to the McHenry County Civil War Round Table about the Leeds cannon which is in the Boone County Museum of History in Belvidere, Illinois.  It was shipped from Rock Island Arsenal to the museum.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend it and looked for information on it, but wasn't able to find it until recently.

The Leeds cannon was made in New Orleans for the Confederacy.  The fact that New Orleans fell so soon in the war makes Leeds Confederate cannons very rare.

Leeds cannons were small bore field pieces.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Artillery-- Part 5: More Exploding Parrotts

From the March 26, 2022, McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group.

**  The cannon called the Swamp Angel at Charleston, South Carolina, was a 200-pounder Parrott and had a gun crew from the 11th Maine.  During its career, it fired 35 massive projectiles, with 10 of them containing an incendiary mixture known as Greek Fire.

Charleston was 4 1/2 miles away.

But six other incendiary shells exploded prematurely.  It exploded on its 36th shot.

**  On December 24, 1864, at Fort Fisher, the 100-pdr Parrott on board the USS Juniata exploded, killing 5 sailors and two officers and badly injured 8 more.

The autopsy of Fireman Theodore Abos:  "left leg, thigh, hip. arm and forearm fractured, soft parts extensively lacerated, killed by hemorrhage and shock."

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT: Artillery--Part 4: Parrott Rifles Exploding at Fort Fisher

On the subject of Parrott rifled guns exploding as mentioned a couple posts ago.

Captain James Alden of the USS Brooklyn moved his two 100-pounder Parrotts to the side of his ship not firing at Fort Fisher after finding out other ones on the fleet had blown up.

The two three-day bombardments of Fort Fisher were the largest naval bombardments of the war.

The December 1864 bombardments caused several 100-pounder Parrott rifles to explode, killing and wounding 45 Union sailors and officers.  Confederate fire from the fort claimed just 11 casualties in December.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Events in April-- Part 2: Lee Surrenders, Fort Sumter Fired Upon, Lincoln Assassinated

APRIL 9, 1864

**  Battle of Prairie D'Ane, Arkansas, begins.

APRIL 9, 1865

Robert E. Lee surrenders to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

APRIL 12, 1861

**  Bombardment of Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina.

APRIL  14, 1865

**  Abraham Lincoln shot at Ford's Theatre, Washington, D.C.

APRIL 15, 1865

**  Abraham Lincoln dies.  Andrew Johnson sworn in as President of the United States.

APRIL 16, 1862

District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act passes.

APRIL 18, 1865

**  USA General William T. Sherman and CSA General Joseph E. Johnston sign armistice memorandum at Durham Station, North Carolina.

APRIL 26, 1865

**  John Wilkes Booth captured and killed in the Garrett Barn, Port Royal, Virginia.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group-- Artillery-- Part 3: Parrott Rifles Were Cheap to Make

March 26, 2022

**  A gun meant to fire a 10-pound projectile could weigh over a half  a ton.

**  Cannonballs were used against fortifications and other artillery

**  Case Shot was anti-personnel projectiles.  Mainly a hollow shell filled with shrapnel designed to explode in mid air.

**  Some Confederate artillery was made in country, but this was a very small number compared to what Northern foundries could turn out.

**  Parrott rifles were cheap.  It only cost $187 for the West Point Foundry to produce a 10-pounder Parrott rifle.

**  The West Point Foundry operated around the clock.

**  The heaviest naval bombardment during the war occurred at Fort Fisher, North Carolina.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group: Artillery-- Part 2: Who Had the Advantage in Artillery?

Preliminary Questions, continued:

5.  Civil War artillery could fire just one type of ammunition or multiple types.

6.  Accidents and misfires were common or rare.

7.  What was the knock on Parrott rifles?

8.  Which side held the advantage in artillery?  Union or Confederate

9.  What was the largest use of field artillery in a battle?

10.  What was a cannon's barrel called?

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ANSWERS:

5.  multiple types  (solid shot, case shot, cannister and grape shot

6.  Common

7.  Parrots tended to explode  (made of cast iron and cheap to make)

8.  Union

9.  Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg

10.  Tube

--Old Secesh

McHenry County CW Round Table Meeting This Tuesday: The Actual Causes of the Rebellion

The McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Round Table will be having its monthly meeting at the Woodstock Library (414 West Judd Street) in Woodstock, Illinois at 7 pm.  It will be an in person and Zoom meeting.

This month's talk will be given by Steve Alban and will be "The Actual Causes of the Rebellion According to Joshua Gibbons and Abraham Lincoln."

Should be interesting. 

All invited, not just members.

Stop on by.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group March 26, 2022: Civil War Artillery

This was held at the Panera Bread Co. store on US-14 (Northwest Highway) in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

These from American Battlefield Trust

Questions.  Answers below.

1.  How many men were in a team to fire a cannon?

2.  Which was the lightest:  siege guns, naval guns or field artillery?

3.  How many horses were needed to move a field artillery piece?

4.  Howe many to move a caisson?

5.  What is a caisson?

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1.  Ten ideally, but two in a pinch

2.  Field artillery

3.  Six or more.

4.  6 or 8 horses

5.  Carried powder and ammunition

--Old Secesh

Forrest's '64 Railroad Raid-- Part 4: Sherman, Forrest, Hood and the SS Sultana

Atlanta had fallen on September 2, and Forrest was hoping to draw Sherman away from that city to go after him.  It didn't work.  Sherman was getting ready for his March to the Sea and Savannah.

Forrest hated Sherman and Sherman hated him.  

The Confederate general in charge of the Army of Tennessee, John Bell Hood, and Forrest did not get along at all.  At one time Forrest supposedly threatened Hood, saying that if he were any more of a man, he'd take him.  That was referring to Hood's loss of the use of one hand and loss of a leg in battle.  

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The Blacks captured at the Battle of Athens were made up mostly of ex-slaves from around that town.

Forrest burned the Freedman's Camp at the John Brown plantation.  John Brown, not the abolitionist at Harper's Ferry was a general in the Confederate Army and later Tennessee governor.

Blockhouses were made of wood.

Gene Salecker got interested in Forrest's1864 raid because many of the captured Union soldiers were aboard the ill-fated SS Sultana when it blew up and sank.  He has written a book about the Sultana titled "Destruction of the Sultana:  The Worst Maritime Disaster in American History."

--Old Secesh

Forrest's 1864 Railroad Raid-- Part 3: A Success on Paper Anyway

Forrest next crossed into Tennessee and went toward Pulaski, where he ran into an ambush from General John Converse Starkwater's brigade of 6,000 Union troops.  Forced to withdraw, Forrest headed to Fayetteville and with a view of destroying railroad tracks by Tullahoma.

Then, he headed to Spring Hill, Tennessee and, with 2,500 men put plenty of false information on the telegraph lines.  He headed back to Florence.

The total road covered 500 miles in 15 days in which he captured 3,500 prisoners, artillery, 800 horses, 900 cattle, 2,000 small arms.

His losses came to 47 killed and 293 wounded.

Technically, the raid was a success, but he didn't stop Sherman or make Sherman follow him.

--Old Secesh

Forrest's 1864 Railroad Raid-- Part 2: On to Sulfur Creek Trestle

Battle of Sulfur Creek Trestle.

After Forrest defeated Union forces at Athens and Fort Henderson, he  moved north along the railroad with the intent to destroy the strategic trestle at Sulphur Creek, six miles north of Athens.

There, Union forces had erected to blockhouses and fortifications.  There were 928 Union troops defending it including the 111th USCT and the 9th Indiana Cavalry under Col. Ely Lilly.  Rifle pits connected the various defenses.

Forrest surrounded the fort and had 8 pieces of artillery against the Federals 2 cannons.  Outnumbered and outgunned, Lilly surrendered..  Forrest burned the fortification and Union losses were 200 killed and 720 captured.

Union prisoners were transferred to Confederate prisons and many of them died on April 27, 1865, when they were returning home and on board the tragic SS Sultana.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT March Meeting: Nathan Bedford Forrest's Sept. 1864 Railroad Raid-- Part 1

March 8, 2022 meeting of the McHenry County Civil War Round Table.

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This was both an in person and a Zoom meeting with presentation given by Gene Salecker.

After Sherman captured Atlanta he had long supply lines back to Nashville, Tennessee.

September 24, 1864, Nathan Forrest had 3,600 cavalry troops at Cherokee Station.  He was hoping to break the railroad link and draw Sherman's army after him.

Fort Henderson was at Athens, Alabama, and Forrest and 4,000 of his men surrounded it and made the fort's commander, Colonel Campbell believe he had 13,000 to 15,000 men and scared Campbell into surrendering the 900 men under his command.  Most of the Union troops surrendered were of the 110th USCT.  (Black soldiers surrendering to Confederates, never a good thing.)

There were 13,000 Union troops at Decatur, Alabama, and they sent a force of 378 to Fort Henderson's relief.  They were from the 102nd Ohio and under the command of Lt. Col. Elliott.  Forrest attacked them and after hard fighting, forced them to surrender as well.  Elliott was mortally wounded.  These men were sent to Cahaba Prison.

The Blacks captured at Fort Henderson were sent to Mobile, Alabama, to work on the fortifications there.  While doing this, they came under fire of Union ships.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Events in April: Siege of Fort Blakely Begins, Richmond Occupied, Battle of Shiloh

From the April 2022 American Battlefield Trust calendar.

APRIL 2, 1865

**  Battle of Fort Blakely, Alabama begins.

APRIL 2, 1865

**  Union Breakthrough at Petersburg, Virginia

APRIL 3, 1865

**  Union forces occupy Richmond, Virginia

APRIL 5, 1862

**  Siege of Yorktown, Virginia, begins and lasts 28 days

APRIL 6, 1862

**  The Battle of Shiloh begins

APRIL 8, 1864

**  Battle of Mansfield, Louisiana (Red River Expedition)

APRIL 8, 1864

**  The U.S. Senate passes the 13th Amendment.  Abolishes slavery.

--Old Secesh

American Battlefield Trust & Fort Blakely, Alabama

From the American Battlefield Trust April 2022 calendar.

FORT BLAKELY, ALABAMA

126 acres saved

The battlefield at Fort Blakely (located east of Mobile) is a history-laden landscape in which 16,00 Federals, composed of nearly one-third U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) overran Confederate defense in a raging contest on April 9, 1865 -- the same day Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered  the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Courthouse.

The Trust and its partners, including the Conservation Fund and Historic Fort Blakely State Park, have saved 126 acres at Fort Blakely.

(The Union forces numbered 45,000 against 4,000 Confederate defenders.  Not too surprising how this ended.)

--Old Secesh

Joseph Pannell Taylor's Daughter Married Future Confederate General David Rumph Jones

Sarah Rebecca Taylor Jones, a daughter of Union  General Joseph Pannell Taylor, brother of President Zachary Taylor, married David Rumph Jones, a Civil War Confederate major general.

DAVID RUMPH JONES

BIRTH:  5 April 1825, Orangeburg County, South Carolina

DEATH:  20 January 1863 (aged 37), Richmond, Virginia

BURIAL:  Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia

Born in South Carolina, but family moved to Georgia from where he was appointed a cadet at the United States Military Academy on July 1, 1842.  He graduated in 1846, placing 46th out of a class of  59.  Among his classmates were  future Confederate general Stonewall Jackson and Union general George B. McClellan.

--Old Secesh