RoadTrippin' with Charles Gilbert-- Part 3: Gettysburg, Pro Football and 'The Kentucky Giant'

Charles Gilbert was buried at Louisville's Cave Hill Cemetery.  Here are some other persons of interest buried there.

**  ANDREW J. COWAN  (1841-1918)

Scottish-born Union Army artillery officer.    At Gettysburg, his battery was posted just south of the copse of trees during Picket's Charge.    Ordered his cannoneers to fire double canister.

**  PAUL HORNUNG  (1935-2020)

Heisman Trophy recipient and Pro Football Hall of Famer.   Played got the Green Bay Packers.

**   A whole lot of Union and Confederate officers and generals.

**  JAMES D. "BIG" PORTER (1811-1859)

Small as a child, but started to grow at age 17.    In three years, he grew to the height of 7 feet 8 inches.  Around 1830, the name "Big" was added.  Also known as the Kentucky Giant.

--Old Secesh

Jayhawks and Tigers, Oh My!!!-- Part 1: What's In An Athletic Name

From KCUT NPR  "Civil War origins of the Kansas Jayhawk and Missouri Tiger" by Lisa Rodriguez.

Since I have been writing about the University of Missouri a lot lately, and because the name Tigers which is used by their teams, also dates to the Civil War, I found this article to be of interest.

For more than 100 years, an athletic contest between the University of Missouri Tigers and the University of Kansas Jayhawks has been a bitter rivalry with bragging rights on the line.  Before Mizzou left the Big 12 Conference to join the Southeastern Conference the rivalry was even bigger.

But, this rivalry can be dated even back to the Civil War.

According to the University of Kansas, the state in the 1850s was a fierce battlefield between those who were "Free Staters and those who were pro-slavery.  At the time, people started referring to those across the region as jayhawkers, which was a combination of two bird names.  The blue jay is a noisy, quarrelsome bird and the sparrow hawk a stealthy hunter.

The nickname was meant as a warning:  "Don't mess with a Jayhawker!!"

The term originally was used to refer to both Free Staters and Pro-Slavers.  But eventually it came to be used for the Free Staters.  When the KU football team played their first game in 1890, it adopted the name.

The first illustration of the mythical Jayhawk  in 1912 wore shoes for kicking opponents.  These boots/shoes are made for walking.

So That's Why the Jayhawk Wears Shoes.  I Was Always Wondering.  --Old Secesh

John G.B. Adams and Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn, Massachusetts-- Part 1

Whenever I write about a person and find out where they are buried, I like to go to that cemetery site and see if anyone else of interest is buried there.  This is part of my "Road Trippin' Through History."

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SOME INTERESTING PEOPLE BURIED AT LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS; PINE GROVE CEMETERY

HARRY AGGANIS--  Nicknamed the "Golden Greek."    Made name for self playing at Boston University where he was the school's first-ever All American.  His career with the Boston Red Sox was cut short by his death after just two seasons.

ELIHU THOMSON--  Famous inventor.  Had about 700 electrical patents and founder of the Thomson Houston Electric Company which was a precursor of the General Electric Company.

FRANCIS MOORE--  Was undisguised at the Boston Tea Party.  He was a baker and supplied bread to the Patriot Army as his own expense.

--Old Secesh

Elmer Ellsworth and the United States Zouave Cadets-- Part 1

Presentation given to the McHenry County Civil War Round Table November 14, 2017, by Doug Dammann of the Kenosha Civil War Museum (Wisconsin).

Elmer Ellsworth was one of the most influential people of the Civil War, even though he died as young as he did and as early in the war.  It was the influence he had on his officers and what they accomplished later on in the war.  Mr. Dammann then showed a picture of the Green Bay Packer coaching staff  in 1992, featuring head coach Mike Holmgren and his assistants.  A whole lot of them went on to head coaching position and success on other teams.  And, that was what Ellsworth's officers did.

And, of course, there was the whole Zouave military thing and training.

Besides his own regiment that he raised in New York, the 11th, or Fire Zouaves (raised from New York fire stations) his mark was also on the 19th Illinois and 44th New York.

His great grandfather, George Ellsworth, was a private in the Continental Army during the American revolution.  His greatest ambition was to attend West Point but he didn't have the political connections to get nominated and attend.  But, he studied the all things military religiously.

Real Military bearing.  --Old Secesh

Civil War Sites in Wisconsin-- Part 1

From the November 1, 2013, Chicago Sun-Times by Gary Knowles

Most people don't think of Wisconsin when it comes to Civil War activity.  No battles or skirmishes were fought in the state, but things related to war did happen.

Camp Randall and the Memorial Arch in Madison are on the plot of land where the University of Wisconsin football stadium is located.  Of course, the stadium is named Camp Randall.

It was named after Wisconsin Civil War governor Alexander Randall.  More than 91,000 Wisconsin troops trained here before shipping off to war.  The memorial Arch was dedicated in 1912 and then rededicated this June.

Sitting on a mound in the memorial park around the arch are two Civil War cannons, including one that was captured at the Battle of Shiloh.  A Memorial bench was presented by the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War.  There is also a small wooden shack that was once a part of the original Camp Randall, the only remaining piece of it.

--Old Secesh