The Eckert collection's existence was not known by historians until 2009 when an owner, who had bought it ftom Eckert's descendants, put 76 books up for auction in New York City and it sold for $36,000. The new owners declined to reveal how much they spent.
Archives elsewhere contain militasry y\telegrams, but they are individual paper slips or pages copied from telegram and are haphazardly archived with many missing. The Eckert collection offers a systematic, centralized record in chronological order.
Lincoln spent many hours in the telegraph office of the War department which was located near the White House.
The Exkert collection shows that Lincoln had an assortment of aliases: Ida, India, Irving, Ingress, Ingrate and Ingot. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton was Indigo or Infant. If a message said "shaker" or "sable," it meant that an attack was to take place. The code for infantry was "rapture" and "ramble."
Evidence of insider trading was even found according to how a battle ended and the price of cotton and gold.
Seaky, Very, Very Sneaky. The Old "Ingrate." --Old Secesh
The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Union Code Books Surface-- Part 1
From The January 26th Chicago Tribune "Union code books surface, but too late for Johnny Reb" by Mike Boehm.
"A long-unknown, 150-year-oldtrove of handwritten ledgers and calfskin-covered code books, which giive a potentially revelatory glimpse into both the dawn of electronic battlefield communications and the day-to-day exchanges between Abraham Lincoln and his generals as they fought the Civil War, now belongs to a California research institution."
The Huntington Library, Art Collection and Btanical Gardens acquired these in a private sale January 23rd and includes 40 cardboard-covered albums of messages written by telegraph operators and walletlike booklets containing key codewords that Union commanders used to keep snoopy Confederates from finding out what they were saying.
The ledgers had been kept by Thomas Eckert who ran the US military telegraph office at the War department from 1863 to 1862. There are also messages from 1862 when he served as telegraph chief for General McClellan.
More than 100 of the telegrams transcribed were sent by Lincoln, many showing his frustration with McClellan.
More to Come. --Old Secesh
"A long-unknown, 150-year-oldtrove of handwritten ledgers and calfskin-covered code books, which giive a potentially revelatory glimpse into both the dawn of electronic battlefield communications and the day-to-day exchanges between Abraham Lincoln and his generals as they fought the Civil War, now belongs to a California research institution."
The Huntington Library, Art Collection and Btanical Gardens acquired these in a private sale January 23rd and includes 40 cardboard-covered albums of messages written by telegraph operators and walletlike booklets containing key codewords that Union commanders used to keep snoopy Confederates from finding out what they were saying.
The ledgers had been kept by Thomas Eckert who ran the US military telegraph office at the War department from 1863 to 1862. There are also messages from 1862 when he served as telegraph chief for General McClellan.
More than 100 of the telegrams transcribed were sent by Lincoln, many showing his frustration with McClellan.
More to Come. --Old Secesh
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Traveling the Civil War-- Part 2
THE BATTLE OVER CATTLE, Ft. Myers, Florida. Florida was a Confederate state, but Union troops used the fort here as a base for stealing local cattle being raised to feed the Confederate Army elsewhere. Over 4,000 head taken. In February 1865, Confederates attacked the fort but were repulsed. Light casualties on both sides. Probably the southernmosty fight in the war.
FIRST SUBMARINE ATTACK, Charleston, SC. Charleston, as the seat of the secession movement came under major Union attack starting in 1863. It was hoped submarine Hunley would be able to turn the tide. On Feb. 17, 1864, it attacked the USS Housatonic and sank it. The Hunley never returned, but was recovered in 2001. You can see it undergoing preservation.
Old Secesh
FIRST SUBMARINE ATTACK, Charleston, SC. Charleston, as the seat of the secession movement came under major Union attack starting in 1863. It was hoped submarine Hunley would be able to turn the tide. On Feb. 17, 1864, it attacked the USS Housatonic and sank it. The Hunley never returned, but was recovered in 2001. You can see it undergoing preservation.
Old Secesh
Traveling the Civil War-- Part 1
From the AARP Magazine "Civil War: Going to Extremes" by Bill Newcott.
NORTHERNMOST SKIRMISH
At St. Albans, Vermont, where 21 Confederate soldiers posing as tourists drifted down from Canada and robbed three banks Oct 19, 1864 and took off back to Canada with $208,000. A historical 1861 schoolhouse where the raiders gathered before the attack is now the St. Albans Historical Museum.
WESTERNMOST CLASH
Picacho Pass, Arizona. On April 15, 1865, a three-and-a-half hour battle between Confederate Rangers and Union cavalry from California resulted inthree Union dead.
FIVE PIVOTAL CIVIL WAR SITES
1. Manassas National Battlefield Park, Vitginia. better-known as Bull Run, the first really big battle of the war July 21, 1861.
2. Appomattox Court House National Historic Park, Virginia. Lee's surrender April 9, 1865, essentially ending the war.
3. Harper's Ferry National Historic Park, West Virginia. John Brown's Raid before the war began but a big reason why it came to be.
4. Andersonville National Historic Site, Georgia. Confederate prison where 12,000 Union troops died.
5. Ford's Theater National Historic Site, Washington, DC. Where Lincoln was killed.
More to Come. --Old Secesh
NORTHERNMOST SKIRMISH
At St. Albans, Vermont, where 21 Confederate soldiers posing as tourists drifted down from Canada and robbed three banks Oct 19, 1864 and took off back to Canada with $208,000. A historical 1861 schoolhouse where the raiders gathered before the attack is now the St. Albans Historical Museum.
WESTERNMOST CLASH
Picacho Pass, Arizona. On April 15, 1865, a three-and-a-half hour battle between Confederate Rangers and Union cavalry from California resulted inthree Union dead.
FIVE PIVOTAL CIVIL WAR SITES
1. Manassas National Battlefield Park, Vitginia. better-known as Bull Run, the first really big battle of the war July 21, 1861.
2. Appomattox Court House National Historic Park, Virginia. Lee's surrender April 9, 1865, essentially ending the war.
3. Harper's Ferry National Historic Park, West Virginia. John Brown's Raid before the war began but a big reason why it came to be.
4. Andersonville National Historic Site, Georgia. Confederate prison where 12,000 Union troops died.
5. Ford's Theater National Historic Site, Washington, DC. Where Lincoln was killed.
More to Come. --Old Secesh
Monday, June 25, 2012
Daughter of Union Veteran Dies at Age 94
From the June 14th San Diego Union-Times by John Wilkes.
It is amazing that there are still folks alive just one generation removed from the war, but it is true. Stella Mae Case, 94, died June 10th. Her father was John Harwood Pierce who was 70 when she was born and died seven years later.
She only has a few memories of him but remembers seeing him in his Civil War uniform at Memorial Day parades and staying with him at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles where he was the resident Santa Claus.
Mr. Pierce was born in Canada on Leap Day 1848 and was turned down twice from entering the Union Army because of his young age. He finally joined the 11th Illinois Cavalry despite being 14 and under five-foot tall. Because of his youthful appearance, he once dressed as a woman while spying.
After the war he had a series of jobs: teacher, newspaper reporter, mechanical bell inventor, lecturer and minister. He married five times and had five children with some of them born out of wedlock. Stella was the last one and born in Oakland in 1918. Her mother, Jennie, had a nervous breakdown after she learned Pierce was still married to someone else.
One of the Vanishing Links to This Old War. --Old Secesh
It is amazing that there are still folks alive just one generation removed from the war, but it is true. Stella Mae Case, 94, died June 10th. Her father was John Harwood Pierce who was 70 when she was born and died seven years later.
She only has a few memories of him but remembers seeing him in his Civil War uniform at Memorial Day parades and staying with him at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles where he was the resident Santa Claus.
Mr. Pierce was born in Canada on Leap Day 1848 and was turned down twice from entering the Union Army because of his young age. He finally joined the 11th Illinois Cavalry despite being 14 and under five-foot tall. Because of his youthful appearance, he once dressed as a woman while spying.
After the war he had a series of jobs: teacher, newspaper reporter, mechanical bell inventor, lecturer and minister. He married five times and had five children with some of them born out of wedlock. Stella was the last one and born in Oakland in 1918. Her mother, Jennie, had a nervous breakdown after she learned Pierce was still married to someone else.
One of the Vanishing Links to This Old War. --Old Secesh
Friday, June 22, 2012
More Horses and Mules Died: One and a Half Million
From the Civil War Examiner "More horses and mules died in the Civil War than men" by Bob O'Connor.
Most people do not think of the fate of the equine branch of the military forces during the war, but they too suffered and died right alongside the men they served. hey! Super big targets, and, stop the horses and mules, stop the cavalry and artillery.
There is a war horse statue in Richmond Virginia at the Virginia Historical Society at 428 North Boulevard. It is dedicated to the million and half horses and mules who died in the Confederate and Union armies and was designed by England's Tessa Pullam and dedicated in 1997.
Like the men, more died of disease and exhaustion than were actually killed in battle. Many died of glanders, a highly infectuous disease of the nasal passages, respiration and skin. In battle, it often took more than one bullet to bring one down. Many were found with as many as five bullets.
At the Battle of Gettysburg alone, more than an estimated 3,000 died. Horses had a problem keeping up with the established 4 mph cavalry rate of movement.
Something You Don't Think About. --Old Secesh
Most people do not think of the fate of the equine branch of the military forces during the war, but they too suffered and died right alongside the men they served. hey! Super big targets, and, stop the horses and mules, stop the cavalry and artillery.
There is a war horse statue in Richmond Virginia at the Virginia Historical Society at 428 North Boulevard. It is dedicated to the million and half horses and mules who died in the Confederate and Union armies and was designed by England's Tessa Pullam and dedicated in 1997.
Like the men, more died of disease and exhaustion than were actually killed in battle. Many died of glanders, a highly infectuous disease of the nasal passages, respiration and skin. In battle, it often took more than one bullet to bring one down. Many were found with as many as five bullets.
At the Battle of Gettysburg alone, more than an estimated 3,000 died. Horses had a problem keeping up with the established 4 mph cavalry rate of movement.
Something You Don't Think About. --Old Secesh
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Wade Gains Control of War Committee
From the Dec. 14, 2011, Biloxi/Gulfport (Miss) Sun Herald "Benjamin Wade Gains Control of War Committee."
Known as one of the most radical of the Radical Republicans, Benjamin Wade of Ohio was given the chairmanship of the newly formed Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. This group came about because of embarrassing defeats at Fort Sumter, Manassas, Wilson's Creek and Ball's Bluff.
Wade, along with Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania and Charles Sumner of Massachusetts were the leaders of the Radical Republicans and all were vehemently opposed to slavery and southern power. They thought Lincoln was too moderate and lenient.
The defeat at Ball's Bluff brought it back as a sitting senator, Col. Edward Baker was killed.
The Radical Republicans had a great disdain for West Point-trained generals and favored those appointed for political reasons. From 1861 to 1866, the group held 272 meetings.
No Wonder General Butler Did Not Fear It, --Old Secesh
Known as one of the most radical of the Radical Republicans, Benjamin Wade of Ohio was given the chairmanship of the newly formed Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. This group came about because of embarrassing defeats at Fort Sumter, Manassas, Wilson's Creek and Ball's Bluff.
Wade, along with Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania and Charles Sumner of Massachusetts were the leaders of the Radical Republicans and all were vehemently opposed to slavery and southern power. They thought Lincoln was too moderate and lenient.
The defeat at Ball's Bluff brought it back as a sitting senator, Col. Edward Baker was killed.
The Radical Republicans had a great disdain for West Point-trained generals and favored those appointed for political reasons. From 1861 to 1866, the group held 272 meetings.
No Wonder General Butler Did Not Fear It, --Old Secesh
The Joint Committee of the Conduct of the War Approved by Congress
Fr5om the December 10, 2011, Civil War Gazette.
I have mostly heard of this group because of the hearing on Benjamin Butler's attack on Fort Fisher, but didn't know much about its origins. I did know it was set up to look into Union debacles.
The Union disaster at the Battle of Ball's Bluff was the incentive for the group. It was not a big battle, but very important from a political view. What was wanted to know was who was at fault: Col. Edward D. Baker or General Charles Stone or was it that the regular Army soldiers were guilty for not aiding the volunteers.
The press, military, people and politicians wanted somebody's head. Since early December, the 37th Congress had been discussing how to find that scapegoat (or guilty party). It was decided a joint committee of both Senate and House members would be set up. It was approved by the Senate and then, on December 10th, by the House.
It consisted of three senators and four representatives who had the "power to send for persons and papers and to sit during recess of either house of Congress.
Go Get 'Em, Boys!! --Old Secesh
I have mostly heard of this group because of the hearing on Benjamin Butler's attack on Fort Fisher, but didn't know much about its origins. I did know it was set up to look into Union debacles.
The Union disaster at the Battle of Ball's Bluff was the incentive for the group. It was not a big battle, but very important from a political view. What was wanted to know was who was at fault: Col. Edward D. Baker or General Charles Stone or was it that the regular Army soldiers were guilty for not aiding the volunteers.
The press, military, people and politicians wanted somebody's head. Since early December, the 37th Congress had been discussing how to find that scapegoat (or guilty party). It was decided a joint committee of both Senate and House members would be set up. It was approved by the Senate and then, on December 10th, by the House.
It consisted of three senators and four representatives who had the "power to send for persons and papers and to sit during recess of either house of Congress.
Go Get 'Em, Boys!! --Old Secesh
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
New Civil War Museum in Missouri
From the August 28, 2011 Southeast Missourian.
The new museum is located at the Jefferson Barracks State Historic Site at 1905 Post Exchange Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri, in a building slated to be torn down, but was saved by a history group.
Jefferson Barracks was founded in 1826 and is the oldest active military installation west of the Mississippi River. At one time it also had one of the largest hospital complexes during the Civil War.
Today the post is home to the Missouri National Guard.
So, the next time you're cruising the Mother Road, put a little Civil War history in your tank.
Gotta Check It Out. --Old Secesh
The new museum is located at the Jefferson Barracks State Historic Site at 1905 Post Exchange Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri, in a building slated to be torn down, but was saved by a history group.
Jefferson Barracks was founded in 1826 and is the oldest active military installation west of the Mississippi River. At one time it also had one of the largest hospital complexes during the Civil War.
Today the post is home to the Missouri National Guard.
So, the next time you're cruising the Mother Road, put a little Civil War history in your tank.
Gotta Check It Out. --Old Secesh
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Serve the Whole War and Get Killed at the End: What a Bummer!
From the July 25, 2011, Travel Wire "Appomattox a solemn site: Flags mark Civil War's last casualties" by Bob Downing of the Akron (Oh) Beacon Journal.
Private Jesse H. Hutchins joined the Confederate Army three days after Fort Sumter was fired upon, enlisting April 15, 1861, in Co. A, 5th Alabama Battalion. He was initially sent to Florida, but then spent the rest of his career with Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.\
He fought in virtually every battle before being shot and killed on the evening of April 8, 1865, in a skirmish with Union cavalry outside Appomattox Court House, just a few hours before the surrender. He had survived 1,454 days of Confederate service, just to die on that last day.
Today, he is buried just 500 yards west of the reconstructed McLean house, among 18 Confederate and one unknown Union soldier. These nineteen were among the 600 killed, wounded or captured during the last two days before Lee surrendered. All were buried where they were killed before being reinterred in 1866 by the Ladies Memorial Association of Appomattox.
That had to have been lousy to have served all that time and then get killed right at the end.
Poor Private Hutchins. --Old Secesh
Private Jesse H. Hutchins joined the Confederate Army three days after Fort Sumter was fired upon, enlisting April 15, 1861, in Co. A, 5th Alabama Battalion. He was initially sent to Florida, but then spent the rest of his career with Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.\
He fought in virtually every battle before being shot and killed on the evening of April 8, 1865, in a skirmish with Union cavalry outside Appomattox Court House, just a few hours before the surrender. He had survived 1,454 days of Confederate service, just to die on that last day.
Today, he is buried just 500 yards west of the reconstructed McLean house, among 18 Confederate and one unknown Union soldier. These nineteen were among the 600 killed, wounded or captured during the last two days before Lee surrendered. All were buried where they were killed before being reinterred in 1866 by the Ladies Memorial Association of Appomattox.
That had to have been lousy to have served all that time and then get killed right at the end.
Poor Private Hutchins. --Old Secesh
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Civil War Artifact Remains a Mystery
From the July 27, 2011, Ypsilanti (Mi) Courier "From the archives: History behind Civil War artifact remains a mystery" by Laura Bier.
Somewhere in the attic of Sherzer Hall on the Normal College campus are two bottles. One has blood-saturated coal cinders and the other has whole blood. Both are from the Civil War. In 1951, a yellowed clipping turned up about these two bottles.
The bottles involved the fatal shooting of Union Col. Elmer Ellsworth of the 11th New York early in the war by James Jackson in Alexandria, Virginia. The New York and Michigan soldiers on the scene knew of the historic significance of the event and cut up the blood-soaked stair-runner and chipped pieces from the stained stairway as souvenirs.
A piece of the Confederate flag that Ellsworth took down that day is at the Smithsonian. No one is sure how the bottles, said to contain blood from both victims that day, turned up at the Michigan college, but most think that it came from a Michigan. Perhaps they came from Corporal Francis Brownell himself. Brownell was the one wh shot Jackson.
Early Souvenirs of the War. --Old Secesh
Somewhere in the attic of Sherzer Hall on the Normal College campus are two bottles. One has blood-saturated coal cinders and the other has whole blood. Both are from the Civil War. In 1951, a yellowed clipping turned up about these two bottles.
The bottles involved the fatal shooting of Union Col. Elmer Ellsworth of the 11th New York early in the war by James Jackson in Alexandria, Virginia. The New York and Michigan soldiers on the scene knew of the historic significance of the event and cut up the blood-soaked stair-runner and chipped pieces from the stained stairway as souvenirs.
A piece of the Confederate flag that Ellsworth took down that day is at the Smithsonian. No one is sure how the bottles, said to contain blood from both victims that day, turned up at the Michigan college, but most think that it came from a Michigan. Perhaps they came from Corporal Francis Brownell himself. Brownell was the one wh shot Jackson.
Early Souvenirs of the War. --Old Secesh
Friday, May 11, 2012
Alabama Still Collecting Tax for Confederate Veterans-- Part 2
This article hits home particularly hard for me as yesterday I received my property tax bill which jumped almost $900 to $9300 a year!! Looks like its about time to take a Rebel Stand!!
The state took control of the home in 1903 where the last Confederate veteran living at it died in 1934. It then became a hospital before being converted into apartments for widows. That closed in 1939 and the five women living there were transferred to Montgomery.
Money that once went to the home and pensions now goes to fund veteran services and the state welfare agency. The current park was created in 1964, during the Civil War Centennial. Nothing is left of the home's 22 buildings except a few foundations and ten cemeteries containing 313 graves. A museum with Civil War artifacts opened in 2007.
Just 10,000 visitors come a year, despite being just 9 miles from I-65.
What You Gonna Do? --Old Secesh
The state took control of the home in 1903 where the last Confederate veteran living at it died in 1934. It then became a hospital before being converted into apartments for widows. That closed in 1939 and the five women living there were transferred to Montgomery.
Money that once went to the home and pensions now goes to fund veteran services and the state welfare agency. The current park was created in 1964, during the Civil War Centennial. Nothing is left of the home's 22 buildings except a few foundations and ten cemeteries containing 313 graves. A museum with Civil War artifacts opened in 2007.
Just 10,000 visitors come a year, despite being just 9 miles from I-65.
What You Gonna Do? --Old Secesh
Alabama Still Collecting Tax for Confederate Veterans-- Part 1
From the July 20, 2011, AP by Jay Reeves.
I originally wrote about this back on July 21st, but will rewrite.
The last Confederate veteran of the some 60,000 who served from Alabama died generations ago, yet state citizens are still paying a tax to support the neediest of them. This is despite the state being Republican and they are against taxes.
The tax once funded the Alabama Confederate Soldier Home...which closed 72 years ago. It operated from 1902 to 1939 and at its height had 91 veterans and 19 widows.
The tax now goes to pay for Confederate Memorial Park where the home used to be. This park is located in Mountain Creek, Alabama, and consists of 102 acres. There is also a museum and a research facility.
The tax also brought in millions for the veterans pensions. Now, lawmakers slice this money up and send it to other projects. This has been done ever since the men in gray began dying off.
No one has ever challenged the tax. One reason is that very few know anything about it.
Today, the old tax brings in about $400,000 a year, used for the park where the Confederate flag still flies. The tax isn't all that much when compared to the state's $1.8 billion budget.
For the Cause? --Old Secesh
I originally wrote about this back on July 21st, but will rewrite.
The last Confederate veteran of the some 60,000 who served from Alabama died generations ago, yet state citizens are still paying a tax to support the neediest of them. This is despite the state being Republican and they are against taxes.
The tax once funded the Alabama Confederate Soldier Home...which closed 72 years ago. It operated from 1902 to 1939 and at its height had 91 veterans and 19 widows.
The tax now goes to pay for Confederate Memorial Park where the home used to be. This park is located in Mountain Creek, Alabama, and consists of 102 acres. There is also a museum and a research facility.
The tax also brought in millions for the veterans pensions. Now, lawmakers slice this money up and send it to other projects. This has been done ever since the men in gray began dying off.
No one has ever challenged the tax. One reason is that very few know anything about it.
Today, the old tax brings in about $400,000 a year, used for the park where the Confederate flag still flies. The tax isn't all that much when compared to the state's $1.8 billion budget.
For the Cause? --Old Secesh
Thursday, May 10, 2012
The Dark Side of Being a Civil War Nut
From the March 22nd Progress-Index "Relic hunter to serve time in prison."
John Jeffrey Santo, 52, was sentenced to a one-year-and-one-day term in prison, then three years of supervision and must pay $7,356 in restitution to Petersburg National Battlefield for taking lots and lots of items from it.
Santo, a resident of Petersburg, admitted to digging illegally at least three times between 2009 and 2010, but a diary he kept discovered in the house search showed he had done so at least 122 times over five years.
Officials found 8,515 bullets, 47 fuses and 11 shells or cannonballs in his 1,100 square-foot home.
Sure Glad They Caught Him. --Old Secesh
John Jeffrey Santo, 52, was sentenced to a one-year-and-one-day term in prison, then three years of supervision and must pay $7,356 in restitution to Petersburg National Battlefield for taking lots and lots of items from it.
Santo, a resident of Petersburg, admitted to digging illegally at least three times between 2009 and 2010, but a diary he kept discovered in the house search showed he had done so at least 122 times over five years.
Officials found 8,515 bullets, 47 fuses and 11 shells or cannonballs in his 1,100 square-foot home.
Sure Glad They Caught Him. --Old Secesh
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
First Visit to the McHenry Civil War Round Table
Last night, I did something I've been planning to do for a long time, pay a visit to the McHenry County Civil War Round Table which have their monthly meeting in Woodstock, Illinois, just off the great Woodstock Square (see my Roadlog Blog for today).
This is one nice library as well.
We had a presentation on McHenry County soldiers held prisoner in Confederate prisoners which I will write about later.
They meet in the downstairs room and there were about thirty in attendance. They don't just talk about the war, but also gave out a scholarship to a McHenry County senior in high school for a Civil War writing. The group also raised funds to restore both the nationals and state flags of the 95th Illinois, which was the regiment primarily raised from McHenry County. They also do a lot of work finding and marking the graves of veterans buried in the county, even Confederate, which really impresses me a lot.
They're planning a trip in June to Springfield, Illinois.
Impressive Group. I'll Be Signing Up. --Old Secesh
This is one nice library as well.
We had a presentation on McHenry County soldiers held prisoner in Confederate prisoners which I will write about later.
They meet in the downstairs room and there were about thirty in attendance. They don't just talk about the war, but also gave out a scholarship to a McHenry County senior in high school for a Civil War writing. The group also raised funds to restore both the nationals and state flags of the 95th Illinois, which was the regiment primarily raised from McHenry County. They also do a lot of work finding and marking the graves of veterans buried in the county, even Confederate, which really impresses me a lot.
They're planning a trip in June to Springfield, Illinois.
Impressive Group. I'll Be Signing Up. --Old Secesh
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