John G.B. Adams-- Part 2: Wounded at Gettysburg, Captured at Cold Harbor, Nine Months a Prisoner

The Medal of Honor that Adams won was one of 18 awarded Union soldiers at the Battle of Fredericksburg.  And seven soldiers in the 19th Massachusetts  received them as well.

John Adams was later commanded to captain and commanded Company I of the 19th at Chancellorsville and was severely wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2.  Returning in time o be at the battle of the Wilderness and then Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor, where the entire regiment was captured June 22, 1864.

Over the next nine months, he was held at Libby Prison and later Macon, Georgia, and Charleston, S.C., where he was placed on Morris Island to stop the naval bombardment.

The last place he was held at was Columbia, S.C., where he managed to escape, but was recaptured.  He was a prisoner for nine months.

Adams is buried at Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn, Massachusetts.

--Old Secesh

John G.B. Adams, Medal of Honor Recipient at Battle of Fredericksburg- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

This was my "Frank" question I gave in yesterday's post.

(1841-1900)

Enlisted as a private and eventually rose to the rank of Captain.  Fought at Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville,Gettysburg.  He, along with his entire regiment was captured at the Battle of Cold Harbor and he was held in various Confederate prisons for nine months.

He was from Massachusetts and enlisted with the 19th Massachusetts Infantry.

Adams was one of 18 Union soldiers receiving Medals of Honor at the Battle of Fredericksburg, when as a corporal he recovered both the regimental and national flags after their bearers were mortally wounded.  With a flag in each hand, he advanced toward the Confederate positions on Marye's Heights. The regiment reformed around him.

Of course, flag bearers were a natural targets in battles.

--Old Secesh

Here's Your Quiz on the Battle of Fredericksburg-- Part 2: What Doomed Burnside?

5.  Name the town on the north bank of the river that played an important role in the battle?

6.  Failure of these to arrive on time helped doom Burnside's chances of victory?

7.  Lee had two corps and a division of cavalry under him at the battle.  Who commanded them?

Here is the Frank question. So named because Frank really comes up with really, really hard questions.

8.  Who was John G.B. Adams?


Answers below

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5.  Falmouth


6.  pontoon bridges


7.  Longstreet, Jackson and Stuart


8.  Recipient of a Medal of Honor   I'll write about him next.

--Old Secesh

Here's Your Quiz on the Battle of Fredericksburg-- Part 1

This past Saturday, the McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group met at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake to talk about the Battle of Fredericksburg and to start off the meeting, I gave them a quiz.

1.  What were the dates of the battle?

2.  What river played a major role in the battle?

3.  How many Grand Divisions did Union General Burnside have and who commanded them?

4.  Who said, "My God, General Reynolds, did they think my division could whip Lee's whole Army?"



ANSWERS BELOW

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1.  Dates will vary, but anything between December 11 to15.

2.  Rappahannock River

3.  Burnside had three Grand Divisions, commanded by William B. Franklin, Edwin V. Sumner and Joseph Hooker.

4.  Major General George G. Meade.

There Are Four More Questions.  --Old Secesh

The Battle of Fredericksburg: The 14th Connecticut and Sad Case of Oliver Dart, Jr.

Tomorrow, the McHenry County Civil War Round Table will have its monthly discussion group meeting about the Battle of Fredericksburg at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

I was doing some catch-up reading in the February 2018 Civil War Times magazine recently and came across an article about Oliver Dart, Jr. whose face was essentially destroyed by the explosion of a Confederate shell "Mangled By a Shell."

He was in the 14th Connecticut, a regiment that fought in most every battle of the Army of the Potomac after its organization in August 22, 1862.  His regiment participated in the Union charge upon Marye's Heights, but he wasn't in it.  While waiting to attack, his unit and others came under heavy Confederate cannon fire and a 3-by-two-inch shell fragment blinded his brother-in-law and had it not then struck a four-inch square fence post, probably would have killed another soldier.

His comrades thought that Dart was going to die, but he somehow recovered, but had a ghastly wound on his face from his nose to jaw. for the remainder of his life.  he partially covered it with a full beard.

I will be talking about him and the 14th Connectcut's service at the meeting.

--Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil War Round Table Meets Sat., Nov. 23: Topic is the Battle of Fredericksburg

The McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT) will meet this Saturday morning from 10 a.m. to noon at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake.  This month's topic is the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Panera Bread is located at Route 14 (US-Highway 14, Northwest Highway) and Main Street.

Everyone is welcome to attend.

--Old Secesh

The 8th USCT: The Men of the 8th

The unit's enlistees mostly were free Northern blacks who came from Pennsylvania, some were Southern contraband as well as inhabitants of border states of Maryland and Delaware.  Some even came from Indiana and one was even from Jamaica.  Little is known of these soldiers as the overwhelming majority were illiterate and fewer still left personal recollections of their service.

Service records, however, do provide some detail of these men.  Private Richard D. Duryee was drafted in Brooklyn, NY, on 2 September 1863.  Thirty-four years old, he stood 5 feet 4-1/2 inches and had black hair, eyes and complexion.  He was born in Pennsylvania and listed his pre-war occupation as "coachman."

Promoted to corporal on 1 January 1864, and served as a non-commissioned officer in Company I.

Another member was Elijah Little, 25,  5 feet 7-1/2 inches tall, yellow complexion.  Enlisted in Philadelphia 3 December 1863 and had been a farmer.

--Old Secesh

The 8th U.S. Colored Troops-- Part 2: Its Officers Were All White and From Other Regiments

The Eighth's commander was Colonel Charles W. Fribley of Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.  He had risen from being a non-commissioned officer to captain in the 84th Pennsylvania Volunteers..  On 18 November 1863, he was appointed colonel of the Eighth by the Secretary of War.

Fribley's inexperience with higher rank is apparent  from the fact that soon after assuming command, charges were brought against him  by the commandant of Camp William Penn, Lt. Col. Louis Wagner, who accused Fribley  of "obeying my orders when it suits him and disobeying when it does not suit him."

The army's judge advocate general office, however, eventually ruled that the charges were not sufficient to warrant a court martial.

Most of the other officers of the Eighth were also veterans of other regiments who had appeared before examining boards selecting officers for the new U.S.C.T. regiments being formed.  One example was First Lieutenant Oliver Willcox Norton, formerly a private in the 83rd Pennsylvania and its bugler who reportedly played the first "Taps."  He had also fought at the Battle of Gettysburg and many other eastern battles.

The Eighth's lieutenant colonel was Nelson B. Bartram, formerly of the 70th New York and Major Loren Burritt had been with the 56th Pennsylvania.

Again, officers in the new USCT regiments were all whites.

--Old Secesh

The Eighth United States Colored Troops-- Part 1: Oliver Norton Was a Lieutenant in This Unit

In the last post, I mentioned that Oliver Willcox Norton the man given credit of playing "Taps" for the first time, was a lieutenant in the 8th United State Colored Troops (USCT).  Many white enlisted soldiers and officers saw that commanding in the black units was a chance to be officers and so many volunteered for this service.

The first action this unit saw was at the Battle of Olustee in Florida and despite not being trained yet for battle, they exhibited great courage.

From the Battle of Olustee.org.

This regiment was in Hawley's Third Brigade at the Battle of Olustee.  This was a new unit and completely untrained for combat, having been organized between September 1863 and January 1864 at Camp William Penn near Philadelphia.

Several companies were also raised at Wilmington and Seaford, Delaware.

--Old Secesh

Oliver Willcox Norton and "Taps"-- Part 2: Became Lieutenant in 8th U.S.C.T.

Whether "Taps was the handiwork of Norton or his commanding officer, General Daniel Butterfield is not known for sure.

But, it was on a night in 1862 that "Taps" was first played.  Shortly after it was heard, other Union buglers adopted it, and even Confederate buglers, to signal the end of the day.

As for Norton, he resigned from the 83rd Pennsylvania when he was commissioned as lieutenant in the 8th United States Colored Troops, on November 10, 1863.  He remained with that unit until 1865.  He also wrote "The Attack and Defense of Little Round Top" (1913) as his eyewitness  account of that part of the Battle of Gettysburg.

After the war, he became a New York banker and later moved to Chicago to invest in a company which produced cans.  From that, he eventually became one of the founders of the American Can Company.

He died in 1920 at the age of 81.

--Old Secesh

Oliver Willcox Norton and "Taps"-- Part 1: He Played It First

I wrote about him in yesterday's post.

From Find-A Grave.

OLIVER WILLCOX NORTON

Birth:  17 December 1839   Angelica, New York

Death:  1 October 1920 aged 80    Cremated and ashes spread by his family.

He was teaching in West Springfield, Pennsylvania, when the war began and resigned and joined Co. K of the 83rd Pennsylvania as a private on September 1, 1861.  He was wounded at Gaines Mill, Virginia, on June 27, 1862.

Mr. Norton  likely had no idea the impact he had on the military, both its nightly routine and in honoring those who gave their lives.

That moment came when, as a the company bugler, he played a variation of a Scottish tattoo that would become known as "Taps."

--Old SecTaps

The Birth of Taps

From the November 8, 2019 Chicago Tribune  "Touching notes"

Bugles were first used by American armies during the American Revolution.

"Bugles were the way orders were communicated before there were electronic means," says bugler Tom Day.  "There were bugle calls to move to the left, move to the right, charge, fall back.  The bugler was right there with the commander sending the call."

Then, in 1862, during the Civil War, a new bugle call was established.  General Daniel Butterfield was in command of Union troops at Harrison's Landing in Virginia.  There was a tradition of firing a cannon at the end of the day to honor the fallen from that day's battles.

But General Butterfield didn't want to fire the cannon and give away his troops' location so he asked the bugler to play a tune he'd heard in France.  That bugler was Oliver Willcox Norton and he listened to the tune and wrote down the 24 notes and played them for the troops for the first time.

Other buglers began playing the tune, which is now known as "Taps" to mark the end of the day.  Although, there are some variations on the origin of "Taps" this is the best one.

"Taps" are still played on military bases for "lights out."

--Old SecTap

MCCWRT Meeting Tonight: Elections and Grant at Chattanooga

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table will hold its last general meeting until March tonight at the Woodstock (Illinois) Public Library at 414 West Judd Street at 7:00 p.m..  The next function will be the discussion group which will meet Saturday, Nov. 23, at Panera Bread at 6000 Northwest Highway in Crystal Lake, Illinois.  Discussion topic: The Battle of Fredericksburg.

Elections will be held tonight along with Dave Powell speaking about Grant at Chattanooga.

Several of us will be getting together before the meeting at 5:30 pm at 3 Brothers Restaurant on Illinois Highway 47 in Woodstock.

Be There.  --Old Secesh

In Honor of Veterans Day: Musicians Who Served and Chicago Veteran Memorials

From the METV Monday MeMail, Nov. 11, 2019.

They play a long list of artists who served in the nation's military, including Elvis Presley, Lou Rawls, Johnny Cash, and Bobby Vinton.

Chicago is home to Veterans. Memorial Park on the south side, the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in the Loop and the National Veterans' Art Museum on the northwest side.

George Rogers Clarke-- Part 4: From Lieutenant to Brigadier General

Promotions:

Captain 9/5/1861
Lt. Col.  5/18/1862
Colonel 12/17/1862
Brig-Gen. 3/13/1865  by Brevet.

Of course, a whole lot of colonels were brevetted to brigadier generals at the end of the war.

Intra Regimental Company Transfers:

 5/18/1862  from Company I to Field & Staff  (As of 15th Illinois Infantry)

Other Information:

Born 11/22-1839 in Piermont, New Hampshire
Died 2/28/1915 in Lake Forest, Illinois.

--Old Secesh