Last Time 'Insurgents" Got This Close to the Capitol-- Part 4: Lincoln to the Front, 'Get Down, You Damn Fool!'

President Abraham Lincoln traveled to the front lines at Fort Stevens during Early's attack.  Although this was after Early had resigned himself to the failure of his attack.

Still, sharpshooter bullets whizzed and cannons boomed.

Generals and other officers pleaded for him to tale cover as bullets thudded into the  embankment.

Legend has it that one of these  officers was Captain  Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., the future U.S. Supreme Court justice, who, recognizing the lanky Lincoln as his commander-in-chief, barked at the President, "Get down, you damn fool!"

It marked the only time a sitting president ever came under fire in combat, according to the National Park Service.

--Old Secesh

Fort Sedgwick, Colorado

Fort Sedgwick is also known as the Post at Julesburg, Camp Rankin and Fort Rankin.  The last two were the original names.  The town of Sedgwick (pop. 146) is named after the fort, which was named after Union General John Sedgwick.  Nearby Julesburg's population is 1,225 and was named after  Jules Beni, who had a somewhat checkered life.

John Sedgwick (1813-1864) was wounded three times in the war and killed by a Confederate sharpshooter at the Battle of Spotsylvania on May 9, 1864, shortly after uttering the words, "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance."

In 1864, there had been an increasing number of skirmishes between Indians and white settlers.  As a result, military base Camp Rankin was established near Julesburg with a couple sod huts.  It was renamed for General Sedgwick.

It was used after the Civil War as well.

Nothing remains of the fort today.   The original fort flagpole is now in front of the Julesburg Library and  the town also has the Fort Sedgwick Museum.

--Old Secesh

More Mascots-- Part 4: About Old Douglas, the Camel

Company B of the 43rd Mississippi has a camel named Old Douglas.  Though, I saw it was Co. A in several sources.  He even has a Wikipedia page.  And, one of those government-issue grave stones.  Because of him, the 43rd became known as "The Camel Regiment."

According to the Wiki article,he was from Jefferson Davis' (while U.S. Secretary of War) plan to use camels in the southwest instead of horses, so he had two Confederate connections.

During the war, he was assigned to the regimental band and carried instruments.  The men tried to treat him like a horse, but Old Douglas could break any tether, so they just let him graze freely.  He participated in the Battle of Corinth and was killed by Union sharpshooters at the Siege of Vicksburg.

He has his own grave at  Vicksburg's Cedar Hill Cemetery.

--Old Secesh

George E. Albee-- Part 1: A Long and Varied Military Career and Medal of Honor Recipient

From Wikipedia.  After the last two days' posts, I decided to look up George Albee to see if there was anything else about him.  There was.  He was the one who took it upon himself to mark the position of his company of Berdan's Sharpshooters at the Second Battle of Bull Run, or do you say Manassas?

GEORGE EMERSON ALBEE  January 27, 1845 to March 24, 1918.

Officer in the U.S. Army who received a Medal of Honor for his actions in the Indian Wars.  During the Civil war, he fought with Berdan's Sharpshooters, the Wisconsin Light Artillery, the U.S. Colored Troops and the Regular U.S. Army.

George Albee was born in Lisbon, New Hampshire, on January 27, 1845, and died March 24, 1918, in Laurel, Maryland and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Section 2, Lot  850.  His wife, Mary Hawes Albee(848-1907) is buried with him

Albee enlisted in Co. G (Wisconsin) of Berdan's sharpshooters in June 1862.  After two months in the field, he was wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run and discharged for disability while he was convalescing.

But, His Military Career Wasn't Over Yet.  Not By A Long Shot.  --Old Secesh

Marking His Spot-- Part 2: What His Sign Said

These are the words on George Albee's sign:

"THE WISCONSIN COMPANY
1st REGIMENT of BERDANS
U.S. SHARPSHOOTERS

used many cartridges on this
spot, August 30, 1862-losing
1 man killed and 8 wounded.

Position marked by Geo. E. Albee, a private of the company."

An early history marker.

--Old Secesh

What They Said About Berdan's Sharpshooters-- Part 3: The Battle of Gettysburg

**   At Gettysburg, a soldier in the 4th Alabama recalled the death of a comrade:  "Taylor Darwin, Orderly sergeant of Company I, stopped, quivered, and sank to the earth dead, a ball having passed through his brain."

By nightfall, July 2, federal forces had withstood repeated attacks on Little Round Top.  Berdan's Sharpshooters had disrupted the Confederates long enough for reinforcements to arrive..

**  According to Col. Hiram Berdan's after-action report, 450 of his men were involved during the battle and had fired off 14,400 rounds of ammunition while suffering fewer than 30 total casualties.

**  Gettysburg was the last time Berdan was with his men.  He was promoted to division command and the two regiments were merged into one.

--Old Secesh

What They Said About Berdan's Sharpshooters: "One Shot, One Kill"

From the July 2019 America's Civil War magazine  "One Shot, One Kill" by Doug Wicklund and Michael G. Williams.

**  A sharpshooter on "California Joe":  "He is a craggy old monument from California and can shoot better than many as he was  a bear hunter."

**  A Confederate on how fast the sharpshooter Sharps bullets traveled:  "The bullet got to you before the report, but if it was a muzzleloader the report got to you before the report."  Report is the sound of the rifle firing.

**   A Confederate artillery gunner from the 1st Richmond Howitzers talking about the Battle of Malvern Hill where his battery faced off against the sharpshooters:  "We went in as a battery and came out a wreck."

**   Another wrote about the battle:  "[W]e came out with one gun, ten men and two horses, without firing a shot."

Pretty Effective Group Indeed.  --Old Secesh

Berdan's Sharpshooters-- Part 7: Engagements

Berdan's Sharpshooters saw action at the Battle of Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862.  There, in just ten minutes, they wrecked the Confederate 1st Richmond Howitzers regiment.

Again, they were prominent at the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862 at the Cornfield, but with heavy losses where the 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters had 13 officers killed and wounded and 54 enlisted men killed, wounded or missing.

What probably was the Sharpshooters' defining moment came at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, during Longstreet's advance at the Little Round Top.

This was Hiram Berdan's last time with his group as he was promoted to division command and a year later resigned.    That December, 1863, the two regiments were merged, but never again used in the role for which they were created.

--Old Secesh

Berdan's Sharpshooters-- Part 6: Their Weapon of Choice, the M-1859 Sharps Rifle

From the July 2019 America's Civil War magazine.

Three features made the M-1859 Sharps such a fine weapon:  loading design, action and ammunition.

It was the brainchild of Connecticut gunsmith Christian Sharps as an update to his 1848 concept for a percussion lock breechloader.  This was at the time when most firearms loaded through the muzzle.  A gun that could be loaded from the breech offered many advantages, especially to a sharpshooter.

Standing a rifle on its butt and fumbling with powder, ball and ramrod would give away a sharpshooter's position.  But a breechloader enabled him to reload effortlessly, no matter what position he was in.  They could load the single shot and shoot downrange up to ten well-aimed rounds a minute, nearly triple of what a muzzle loader could do.

The design of the rifle caused rounds to leave the barrel at 1,200 feet per second, compared to a muzzle loaders 900 feet.  This gave it a flatter long-range trajectory.

--Guns, Guns.  --Old SeceshBang

Berdan's Sharpshooters-- Part 4: California Joe Shines at Yorktown

And, there were a lot of stories about Truman Head's prowess with a rifle during the war.  The first  stories about him came out at Yorktown during the Peninsula Campaign.  More than one publication claimed he scored "the first rebel slain" in the action.

A large 32-pounder cannon was brought to the field by the Confederates and in the morning, as they prepared to load and fire it, a cannoneer approached the barrel to swab it out and Joe killed him.  The swab remained in the barrel and for the rest of the day, any rebel seen trying to remove it  met a similar fate from Joe or one of his comrades.

Another tale has a small party of mounted Confederates "led by an officer wearing a white shirt" ventured outside their line and Joe commented that he was "best at a white mark."  He quickly fired and the man in the white shirt fell off his saddle to the ground, apparently dead.

--Old Secesh

Berdan's Sharpshooters-- Part 3: California Joe (Truman Head)

From Wikipedia under Truman Head, his real name.

Since I was writing about him in my last post, I decided to write some more about him.

Born 1808 in New York.  Died November 24, 1875 in San Francisco, California.

He left home after falling in love with a young lady but being rejected by her father.  Supported himself as a hunter and trapper for several years before heading to California after gold was discovered in 1849.

When the Civil war broke out, he headed wast to fight even though he was 52.  he originally wanted to join Colonel Baker's California regiment but didn't particularly like the drill and decided to join Hiram Berdan's Sharpshooters and easily passed the trials and enlisted in Company C of the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters on September 14, 1861.

While the regiment was at a camp of instruction in Washington, D.C., he purchased a Sharps Rifle during the winter of 1861-1862.  This became the main killing instrument of his regiment.  Since he had no family, he left his $50,000 gold mining fortune in a trust for his fellow soldiers in case he was killed.

--Old Secesh

Berdan's Sharpshooters-- Part 2: California Joe

While the sharpshooters were training at Fort Corcoran in Washington, D.C., Truman Head, a former gold miner and hunter joined their ranks.Since he was from that western state, the men quickly started calling him "California Joe."

"There is a new man here in my company that is all attention," one sharpshooter wrote in his diary.  "He is a craggy old monument from California, and can shoot better than many as he was a bear hunter.  He favors...an old Sharps and has told all that will hear that he will obtain a newer edition to fight the rebels shortly."

An outstanding marksman, Joe was disgusted with the guns the regiments were using.  True to his word, he bought a M-1859 Sharps and showed it to Hiram Berdan who was impressed and immediately ordered a thousand for his men.  But, the Sharps factory was backlogged and until they got that rifle, they received a consignment of M-1855 Colt revolving rifles which were not much-liked by the men.

--Old SeceshJoe

Berdan's Sharpshooters-- Part 1: Crack Shots

From the July 2019 America's Civil War magazine ""One Shot, One Kill" by Doug Wicklund and Michael C. Williams.

They were greenclad (to blend in with surroundings) to set them apart from regular Union troops and they were sharp shots.  A Confederate's worst nightmare.  And they hit their mark very often.  Probably their greatest two actions were Antietam and Gettysburg.

Organized by Hiram Berdan, a nationally-known marksmen, whose contribution was to organize a sharpshooting regiment made up of the best riflemen of the North.  (This man had quite the facial beard,)  The members came from six states and were given incentives to join, but had to pass rigorous sharpshooting trials.

Some 2,000 men qualified and in August 1861 they became the 1st and 2nd United States Sharpshooters.

And, they did prove their mettle.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group Meets This Saturday: Civil War Special Forces

The discussion group of the McHenry County Civil War Round Table will meet this Saturday at Panera Bread at 6000 Northwest Highway in Crystal Lake, Illinois.  We'll meet at 10 a.m. to noon.

The topic this month is Civil War Special Forces like scouts, spies and sharpshooters.

I plan on talking about John Yates Beall and James Duke as I have written a lot about the first one in this blog and my Civil War Navy blog.

Everyone is welcome, even non-members.  All you need is an interest in history.  (We do not always stay on topic and often get side-tracked.)

Come On Down!!  --Old Secesh

Why Did Alexander Gardner Move Soldiers' Bodies For His Civil War Photographs?

From the December 2014, Smithsonian "Ask Smithsonian."  Question from Charlie Ian of Los Angeles, California.

Gardner was seeking to create dramatic tableau of the aftermath of battle.

The best known of his "manipulations" was the so-called Rebel sharpshooter at Devil's Den at Gettysburg, for which he moved an ordinary soldier's corpse some distance to a nook in the rocks to give him the status of a sharpshooter.

In effect, he created a narrative about an individual; it was his way of coping with the mass, anonymous casualties of modern warfare.

Now,we justifiably deplore this as an affront to historical fact.

David G. Ward, senior historian, National Portrait Gallery.

--Old Secesh

Who Shot General Sedgwick?-- Part 2: Was It Charles D. Grace?

"One of the most interesting incidents relating to the Battle of Spotsylvania (I've seen it spelled with double ts and a single t) Court House is the death of Union General John Sedgwick on May 9, 1864.  His apparent disdain for enemy bullets and his last remarks provided an ironic end yo a brilliant career."

Two other Federal officers of rank were also shot on May 9th, about the same place and same time.  They were Col. Frederick T. Locke, a staff officer, and General William H. Morris, one of Sedgwick's subordinates.  Both recovered, though Morris was quite badly hurt.

At least a half dozen Confederates have been named as the one who fired the fatal shot: Charles D. grace, 4th Georgia; Thomas Burgess, 15th South Carolina; Benjamin M. Powell, 1st South Carolina; Reuben Garnett Willis, 13th Virginia; Waller Holladay, Charlottesville Artillery (Va.); and an unnamed skirmisher identified by the 6th Vermont and killed soon after.

--Old Secesh

Who Shot General Sedgewick?-- Part 1

From the December 1995, Blue & Gray magazine.

The Woodstock (Illinois) Public Library was getting rid of some of their old magazines, so I picked this one up as it featured the North Carolina Battle of Bentonville, fought near Goldsboro, N.C., where I was born.  The magazine also had the article"The Man Who Shot John Sedgwick" by Roger S. Durham.

One man who most believe was the shooter was Charles D. Grace of the 4th Georgia Infantry Regiment.  That regiment number sounded recently familiar to me and then I read that Grace was from LaGrange, Georgia, where the female military unit, the Nancy Harts were from.

I have been writing a lot about Nancy Hart, the American revolution heroine, in my Cooter's History Blog lately.

--Old Secesh