Fort Wood in NY Harbor During the Civil War-- Part 1: Dating From the War of 1812

I have been writing a lot about this fort and its connection to the War of 1812 in my Not So Forgotten: War of 1812 blog.  Today, I also posted about it in my Tattooed On Your Soul:  World War II and Cooter's History Thing blogs.  You can see what I wrote by clicking on My Blogs to the right of this.

Now Fort Wood serves as the base of the Statue of Liberty.

From Civil War Talk  Forgotten Forts.

Fort Wood was used intermittently from the War of 1812 to the Civil War.  And it wasn't always as a fort.  At times it was an ordnance depot for the harbor's defenses as well as an immigration station.

The fort was also updated to add more cannons.

--Old Secesh

Camp Hobson, Kentucky-- Part 1: Union Recruiting and Training Camp

I have been writing about Colonel Ethelbert Ludlow Dudley of the 21st Kentucky Infantry Regiment (U.S.) who died of disease two months after his regiment was mustered in, Feb. 20, 1862.  Since the regiment did its initial training at Camp Hobson in Kentucky, he would have been on command then.

One source said Camp Hobson was located near Greensburg, Ky., along the Green River.  Another source had it listed  by Glasgow in Green County.

The Historical Marker Project has the camp bu Campbellsville in Taylor County.  This is probably the more correct location.

The site goes on to say that the camp operated December 1861 to February 1862 and that it was a Union recruiting and training camp named for Edward H. Hobson and on the farm of James Allen Sublett.  Between December 1861 and February 1862, U.S. Mustering Officer  Captain S.M. Kellogg mustered nearly 2,000 recruits into service there.  They became the  13th and 21st Kentucky Infantry regiments.

--Old Secesh

21st Kentucky Infantry (Union)-- Part 1: "The Old Infantry"

From Wikipedia.

The 21st was organized at Camp Hobson, near Greensburg, Kentucky, and Camp Ward, Kentucky, and mustered in for a three-year enlistment on December 31, 1861, and January 2, 1862, at Green River Bridge, Kentucky, under the command of Colonel Ethelbery Ludlow Dudley.

Before the war, most of the regiment's men were members of "The Old Infantry," a state guard unit commanded by Captain Samuel Woodson Price, who would later command the regiment.

The regiment mustered out of service December 9, 1865.

All of its duty was in the Western Theater.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT: The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal-- Part 3: Capture of Generals Kelley and Crook

One way of disabling the canal was to breach it.  This meant putting a hole in a side of it and letting the water out.

After it was determined that Maryland was not going to join the Confederacy, frequent raids were made on it.

Union Brigadier General Benjamin Franklin Kelley and Major General George Crook were captured along the canal by a small group of Confederate partisans near the end of the war, on February 21, 1865.  They were taken to Richmond but were released by a special exchange on March 20.

His Army career didn't last long after that as he resigned on June 1.

--Old Secesh

4th Kentucky Cavalry: Col. Green Clay Smith's Short Command

Continued from November 13, 2018 blog entry.

Green Clay Smith was the commander of this regiment for a short time in 1862.  Its first commander was Colonel Jesse Bayles.

While in Tennessee, Colonel Green Clay Smith took command in May 1862.    While he commanded the regiment, they were involved in several engagements with with Confederate cavalry in Tennessee.

Lebanon, Tennessee, was an especially hard fought engagement with the Confederates under John Hunt Morgan.  For gallant service, Smith was made a brigadier general the same month he took command.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT: The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal-- Part 2: Severely Damaged in Antietam and Gettysburg Campaigns

The C&O Canal was the only direct route in Washington, D.C., for coal.

The Confederates, despite the strategic importance of the canal, did not attack it early in the war because of hopes that Maryland would join the Confederacy. but did develop plans of attack in case that didn't happen.  Prime spots to attack would be aqueducts and culverts where the canal crossed water.

Jackson destroyed the C&O Railroad Bridge

While the CSS Virginia was still a threat to Washington, canal boats were taken and sunk downstream on the Potomac River to prevent its approach.

During the Confederate incursions northward ending in the Battles of Antietam and Gettysburg, the C& O Canal was heavily damaged.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT October Meeting: Charlie Banks on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal-- Part 1

This important canal was located along the Potomac River and was a major target of Confederate raids during the war.  Let's just say, parts of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal (C&O Canal) were destroyed at times.

It was built and ran alongside the Baltimore & Ohio Rail Road.

As important as this canal was, it is surprising that the North did not do more to protect it.  It was a major supply route to Washington, D.C..   Nor did they do much to defend the Northern Railway from Baltimore to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The C&O Canal dates to the American revolution.  The Point of Rocks section of it was a particularly narrow spot along the Potomac River.

Charlie Banks used a slide presentation to make his points.  They included source photos and ones he had taken himself.

--Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil War Round Table October Meeting

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table meeting was held Tuesday October 9 at the Woodstock Library in Woodstock, Illinois,   We meet here every second Tuesday of every month except January and February.

Elections to be held at next month's meeting.

Again we will be offering a $1,000 scholarship to students from McHenry County   They will be writing an essay on a Civil War-related theme.  Volunteers needed for a committee which will have two meetings.

The discussion group topic for October will be "Divided Loyalties" about families who sent soldiers to both sides.  I have been doing research on the Clay family in Kentucky which is one of those families.

Our Christmas party will be held December 2 at the Pinecrest Golf Club in Huntley.  It will be a buffet which a special appearance by Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln.

Charlie Banks gave a presentation on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal during the war.

--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

Col. Ethelbert Ludlow Dudley-- Part 2: Medical Profession

From Find-A-Grave.

Born 1818 in Fayette County, Kentucky.

Died 22 February 1862

Buried in Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, Kentucky.

Educated at Harvard  and the Transylvania Medical School.  He served as professor of Anatomy at Transylvania and at the time of his death had also joined the new Kentucky Medical School in Louisville.

The GAR Post in Lexington, Ky. is named for him.

From the  Feb. 26, 1862, Observer and Reporter:

Remains of Col. Ethelbert Dudley arrived 24th and funeral held today..  Big parade and burial in Lexington Cemetery.

--Old Secesh

Colonel Ethelbert Ludlow Dudley-- Part 1: Died of Typhoid Fever

I have been writing about a Col. William Dudley in my Not So Forgotten Blog:  War of 1812 blog.  His command was involved in what is now called Dudley's Massacre when it came to the relief of Fort Meigs in Ohio in 1813.  I came across some other Dudleys in my research.

Theses are some Civil War Dudleys.  I am not sure if any are related to him.

COLONEL ETHERBERT LUDLOW DUDLEY.

1818 to February 20, 1862

Prominent Kentucky physician.  Educated at Harvard and Transylvania (Kentucky) colleges.  Graduated in 1842.

In 1862, at the age of 45, he died of typhoid fever in Columbia, Kentucky,   At the time of his death, he was commander of the 21st Kentucky Infantry.  He was interned at Lexington Cemetery.

--Old Secesh

Dr. Ezra Read-- Part 5: Some More About the 21st and 11th

From Civil War Index, 21st Indiana officers.

SURGEON

Ezra Read of Terre Haute, Indiana.      Commissioned July 23, 1861.  Mustered in July 24, 1861.  Resigned December 15, 1862;  Re-entered service  as Surgeon 11th Cavalry.

The 21st Indiana Infantry became the 1st Indiana Heavy Artillery in February 1863.

Ezra Read of Terre Haute  Commissioned March 1, 1864.  Mustered March 1, 1864.  Resigned April 26, 1865.

The 11th Indiana Cavalry was formerly the 126th Indiana Infantry.

--Old Secesh

Dr. Ezra Read-- Part 4: Service With the 21st Indiana Infantry and 11th Indiana Cavalry

In 1837, he married Lovilla Young and three years later founded a medical practice in Paris, Illinois (by the central Illinois-Indiana line).  In 1847, he moved his practice to nearby Terre Haute, Indiana.

For eighteen months in the Civil War, he was surgeon of the 21st Indiana Infantry and later of the 11th Indiana Cavalry.

Initially during the war, he was  an anti-Lincoln Democrat, but afterwards made impassioned pleas to support the Union cause.

--Old Secesh

Dr. Ezra Read-- Part 3: The Texas Revolution

When the Texas Revolution started in 1836, he quit his Cincinnati medical practice and  volunteered his services to an Ohio  military company heading for Texas.

At the Battle of San Jacinto, he treated Mexican leader and general  Antonio  Lopez de Santa Anna.  In 1837, he was attending physician at an infamous duel  between Gen. Felix Huston, for whom he was staff surgeon, and  future Confederate general Albert Sidney Johnson.

Ezra Read was named "acting surgeon-in-chief" of the Texas army and navy, and afterwards commissioned Surgeon General of the Texas Navy, the only person to ever serve in that capacity.

--Old Secesh

Dr. Ezra Read-- Part 2: In U.S. Navy, Became a Doctor

Surgeon General of the Texas Navy (Texas Revolution).  Treated the captured  prisoner of war  General  Antonio Lopes Santa Ana (of Alamo infamy) and doctor in Terre Haute, Indiana.  Also in U.S. Navy and surgeon in Union Army.

Well liked and admired in Terre Haute and many attended the funeral.  Friend of the poor and often gave free treatment to them.

Born in Marietta, Ohio.  Attended  college in Athens, Ohio, now University of Ohio, for three years before accepting appointment as midshipman in the U.S. Navy and helped escort controversial John Randolph to posting as U.S.  Minister to Russia in 1830.

Resigned from the Navy and studied medicine, graduating with high honors in 1836.

--Old Secesh