Posts Tagged Civil War

"Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. John L. Burns, the 'old hero of Gettysburg,' with gun and crutches" Photo by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, July 1863.

During the Battle of Gettysburg, [John L.] Burns, a 70-year-old civilian living nearby, grabbed his flintlock musket and powder horn and walked out to the battlefield to join in with Union troops. The soldiers took him in, and Burns served well as a sharpshooter. During a withdrawal, Burns was wounded several times and left on the field. he managed to get himself to safety, his wounds were treated, and his story elevated him to the status of National Hero briefly.

The Atlantic

Robert Smalls was born on Ashdale Plantation on Lady’s Island, South Carolina. As a descendent of Guinea slaves, Smalls was hired as a deckhand on the CSS Planter, an armed Confederate military transport in 1861. He served under Brigadier General Roswell Ripley, commander of the Second Military District of South Carolina. Smalls was promoted to pilot of the Planter within a year.

On May 12, 1862, the Planter’s officers decided to have the crew spend the night ashore. In the early morning hours, Smalls, then 23, commandeered Planter. At that time, the ship was loaded with weapons and equipment for the rebel forts. Along with seven of the eight enslaved crewmen, Smalls stopped by a nearby wharf to pick up Smalls’ wife, children and twelve relatives of the other crewmen. They sailed towards the nearest Union blockading ship, Onward, with a raised white flag. Dressed in a captain’s uniform, Smalls reported shouted, “Good morning, sir! I have brought you some of the old United States’ guns, sir!”

Regarded as a national hero in the north, Smalls and his associates were given prize money from President Lincoln for their efforts and information regarding rebel locations. Smalls continued to fight in the Civil War for the Union and became the first black captain of a United States vessel. After the war, he learned to read and write and participated in the drafting of South Carolina’s state constitution. Smalls went on to serve five terms as a U.S. Congressman representing South Carolina. He moved back to Beaufort, South Carolina and served for nearly 20 years as U.S. Collector of Customs and lived, as the owner, in the same house in which he had been a slave.

Further Reading
The Atlantic
Robert Smalls on the Biographical Directory of the US Congress
RobertSmalls.org

Timothy H. O'Sullivan, photographer; printed by Alexander Gardner; negative July 4, 1863; print 1866.

Of the Civil War photographs, the most moving are the inhumanly objective records of combat deaths. Perhaps the most reproduced of these Civil War photographs is [Timothy] O’Sullivan’s A Harvest of Death, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1863. Although this image could be seen as simple reportage, is also functions to impress on people the high price of the Civil War. Corpses litter the battlefield as far as the eye can see. O’Sullivan presented a scene that stretches far to the horizon. As the photograph modulates from the precise clarity of the bodies of Union soldiers in the foreground, boots stolen and pockets picked, to the almost illegible corpses in the distance, the suggestion of innumerable other dead soldiers is unavoidable. . . . Though it was years before photolithography could reproduce photographs like this in newspapers, they were publicly exhibited and made an impression that newsprint engravings never could.

- Gardner’s Art Through the Ages

Fred S. Kleiner & Christin J. Mamiya, Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, Twelfth Edition: Volume II, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2005, 850.
Photo via The J. Paul Getty Museum website.

This 1879 picture details a parade by Rex, an all-male krewe (semi-mythological creature) whose leader is known as the "King of Carnival." The Krewe of Rex established the official Mardi Gras colors of green, gold, and purple.

The earliest date given to the beginning of the Mardi Gras celebration in the United States is 1703. However, New Orleans was not its birth place, it was in fact Mobile, Alabama and was originally called Boef Gras (Fat Beef). [Zim's Side Note: New Orleans was not founded until 1718, fifteen years after the first Mardi Gras celebration.]

Joe Cain dressed as the make-believe Chickasaw chief Slacabamarinico

One of the earliest, well-known celebration occurred in 1830 on New Year’s Eve. It was begun by Michael Krafft and his friends who did not want to end a dinner party. After raiding a nearby hardware store, the group proceeded down the town streets with their stolen rakes, hoes and cowbells and woke the town up. Afterwards, the group formed Moblie’s first modern mystic organization called the Cowbellion de Rakin Society. Ten years later the Cowbellions presented their first parade with floats and a carnival theme.

During the Civil War, Mobile was under Union occupation and city soon became discouraged. The stress of the war had halted the Mardi Gras celebration until 1866 when Joseph Stillwell Cain dressed as “Chief Slacabamorinico” in full Chickasaw Indian regalia. Unbeknown to the Union army as well as the United States Government, Cain was making a political statement with his attire. It was meant to be a reminder that the Chickasaw never surrendered during the war and by suit, the people of Mobile should never surrender as well. Cain revived the celebration for future generations and while donning feathers and a skirt he rode the streets while encouraging the city. He was not punished because the government did not understand the meaning behind his costume. Because of his efforts in reviving Mardi Gras, the Sunday before Mardi Gras Day is called “Joe Cain Day,” where the city dresses in costume and celebrates him.

The date of Easter determines the date of Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras Day also known as “Fat Tuesday,” takes place on the Tuesday before the Ash Wednesday.

Mobile Mardi Gras website.
Carpenter, Allan and Carl Provorse, compl. Facts About the Cities. 2nd ed. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1996, 5.
Photos via TIME and Alabama Heritage.

Old Soldiers: 1913

July 1913. “Gettysburg reunion: Veterans of the G.A.R. and of the Confederacy, at the Encampment.” Harris & Ewing glass negative.

Shorpy Historical Photo Archive

Daniel Butterfield

Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield, a Union Army general in the Civil War, is credited with composing the iconic “Taps.” In 1862, Butterfield was camped at Harrison’s Landing in Virginia and it was here where he first played the tune. It has been argued that ‘Taps” was not an original idea but was instead a revision of several bugle calls. Butterfield’s version became popular during the war and the U.S. Army officially adopted ”Taps” in 1874.

It received its name because the music could be done with taps of a drum if there was no bugler available.

Due to his actions during the Civil War, Butterfield received the Medal of Honor for his service.

YouTube link: “Taps”

Villanueva, Jari. “24 Notes That Tap Deep Emotions,” found online here.
Daniel Butterfield’s photo.

Map of San Juan Island

As westward exploration expanded, it was common for land to have overlapping claims between Spain, Great Britain and the United States. This was especially common in the Oregon region, including present states of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, portions of Wyoming and Montana, in addition to British Colombia.

By the early 1800s, Spain had let go of their claims in the Oregon region, but the U.S. and Great Britain still had overlapping  land claims. One particular region in competition was the San Juan Island, an island located between Washington and Vancouver Island. Great Britain attested that the island was legally theirs since the British-run Hudson’s Bay Company had operated trade and commercial activities before the American’s claim. The backbone of the American claim rested on their idea of “manifest destiny” and saw the British threatening their idea of expansion.

British Capt. Geoffrey Hornby

The Hudson’s Bay Company set up a post on the island around 1818. Not long after, American settlers took notice of the island’s fertile land and set up farms. Tension between the two mounted and on June 15, 1859, it erupted over quite a small matter. On that day, American Lyman A. Cutler killed a Hudson’s Bay-owned pig because it kept destroying his garden. The pig repeatedly disrupted Cutler’s potato patch and he discussed the issue with the pig’s owners but they did very little. After the pig’s death, the Hudson’s Bay Company demanded that Cutler reimburse $100 dollars for the slain pig. Cutler refuted that he would not pay $100 dollars for “a $10 pig.”

American Capt. George Pickett

Because Cutler refused to pay the fine, the Hudson’s Bay Company threatened to bring him to trial and sentence him under British law. Since Cutler is American, he sought protection from the U.S. government. The British sent five vessels, stationed them in the straits by the island, and were authorized to land if necessary. They were commanded by Captain Hornby. The U.S. dispatched troops commanded by Captain Pickett from Oregon. Both captains realized the situation would not end well if further military action occurred. Both governments agreed upon joint military occupation on the island until they agreed upon a finalized border. Great Britain gave up their claim on the island in 1873.

The Pig War resulted in one casualty – the pig.

[Zim’s Note: Captain Pickett is most known for his actions in the Civil War. During the Battle of Gettysburg, he, a Confederate Major General, led the Pickett’s Charge. The charge was a bloodbath, with over 50 percent of those who fought in it were either killed or wounded. Until his death, Pickett regretted having anything to do with Pickett’s Charge.]

Sources:
New York Times, “State Department Recounts Tale of a Pig That Nearly Caused Conflict With Britain,” August 1, 1948.
New York Times, “A Pig Nearly Causes a War,” July 17, 1892.
“The Pig War” on the National Park Service website.

Photos: Pickett and Hornby

Henry Ward Beecher

Kansas was in an uproar following the 1854 Kansas- Nebraska Act that gave territories the power to choose to be either a free state or a slave state. The problem with this act was that it negated the Missouri Compromise of 1920, which stated that any new state in the West or north of Missouri’s lower state line was entered into the Union as a free state.

Leading up to the Civil War, Kansas experienced bloody battles between abolitionists, who wanted no slavery, and those who supported Kansas as a slave state. Because of the fighting, Kansas was nicknamed “Bleeding Kansas.” Ultimately, Kansas entered as a free state in January 1861.

During Kansas’ upheaval, abolitionists across the Union sent supplies, and in some cases, fighters to help establish a free state. One of these abolitionists was New York preacher Henry Ward Beecher. He, along with his congregation, wanted to help anti-slavery agenda. The one thing he believed the new Kansas emigrants needed most was guns. His group raised around $625 and bought Sharps rifles, costing $25 each, and 25 Bibles. The crates of weapons were labeled “Beecher’s Bibles,” so it would not arouse suspicion. On February 8, 1856, the New York Tribune ran a article on Beecher in which it discusses the ideology behind the guns.

He [Henry W. Beecher] believed that the Sharps Rifle was a truly moral agency, and that there was more moral power in one of those instruments, so far as the slaveholders of Kansas were concerned, than in a hundred Bibles. You might just as well. . . read the Bible to Buffaloes as to those fellows who follow Atchison and Stringfellow; but they have a supreme respect for the logic that is embodied in Sharp’s rifle.

Beecher’s sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a powerful anti-slavery novel still popular today.

Information

Patrick, E.J. The Civil War Reader: Facts, Trivia, Legends, and Lore. New York: MJF Books, 2008, 5-7.

Information and Photo – Kansas Historical Society website.

It is common to hear the phrase “rule of thumb” when someone is discussing rules or regulations. Have you ever wondered about the origin of the phrase? I wish I could say it came from a children’s fable or that a famous person uttered it long ago, but unfortunately the phrase’s beginning is not as pleasant. The saying emerged around the Civil War when it was legal, and socially acceptable, for a husband to beat his wife. The only stipulation was the instrument used could not be thicker than the thumb. Thus the saying “rule of thumb” found it’s way into our everyday language.

Johnny Clem

At 10 years old, Johnny Clem ran away from home to join the Union Army during the Civil War. Two years later, the Army accepted him as a drummer boy and regimental mascot. While parts of his early military career (notably “Johnny Shiloh”) are more myth than true, it should not deflect the true story of his life. Johnny Clem’s extraordinary story is summarized here and hopefully you may find it as fascinating as I did.

“Johnny Shiloh”

There are different reports on Clem’s involvement in the Battle of Shiloh and his early nickname “Johnny Shiloh.” In a 1915 New York Times article discussing his retirement, it states this legend as fact.

In that battle, Clem got into the very hottest of the fight. He came very near losing his life when a shrapnel shell exploded within a few feet of him. A fragment of the shell crashed through his drum and the shock of the explosion hurled him unconscious to the ground, where he was subsequently found and rescued by his bigger comrades.

Clem’s involvement has since been seen as a legend rather than reality. In a 150th Anniversary Tribute edition of the Time magazine, they state the “Johnny Shiloh” events differently.

Ohio boy Johnny Clem became the toast of the North after the Battle of Shiloh, in which the drummer boy supposedly was knocked unconscious when an artillery shell tore though his drum. The story is almost certainly false, having been conflated with the song The Drummer Boy of Shiloh, written be William S. Hays.

If the legend of Johnny Clem being at the Battle of Shiloh were true, he would have been 10 years old (he was 12 years old during the Battle of Chickamauga.) Most reports agree that Clem was 12 years old when he joined the army and several officers refused to enlist him two years earlier. Therefore, it would be more likely that his involvement at the Battle of Shiloh was fictional.

Statue honoring Johnny Clem, located in the Veterans Park in Newark, Ohio

“Drummer Boy of Chickamauga”

Clem fought during the Battle of Chickamauga that took place in September 1863. Confederate soldiers overwhelmed the brigade Clem was attached to and while retreating, Clem was separated. He ended up running straight into a Confederate Colonel who wanted Clem to surrender. Instead, Clem shot and wounded the Colonel before escaping and meeting up with his unit. He became known as the “Drummer Boy of Chickamauga.” Years later, Clam stated, “When I heard that I had not killed that Confederate officer it was the best news I ever got.”

Civil War Activities and Honors

During the Civil War, Clem participated in the following battles: Perryville (October 6, 1862), Murfreesboro (December 5-7, 1864), Kennesaw Mountain (June 27, 1864), Peach Tree Creek (July 20, 1864) and Atlanta (July 22, 1864).

On December 18, 1871, President Grant promoted Clem to Second Lieutenant after Clem failed to pass the West Point entrance examination due to his lack of preliminary education. Clem continued to move up in the ranks and received the following titles:

• 1874 – First Lieutenant
• 1882 – Captain
• 1895 – Lieutenant Colonel
• 1903 – Colonel
• 1915 – Brigadier General

After the Battle of Chickamauga, Clem was promoted to sergeant, making him the youngest non-commission officer ever in the U.S. Army.

When he retired as a Brigadier General in 1915, Clem became the last Civil War veteran to retire from active duty.

Other Facts

His musket was sawed down due to his short stature; this allowed it to be proportional with his frame.

He was wounded twice during the Battle of Atlanta; one bullet grazed his right ear while shell fragments struck his hip.

His cap had three bullet holes through it after the Battle of Chickamauga.

Clem was taken prisoner towards the end of the war but he was later released in a prisoner exchange. The Confederate newspapers launched an assault at the Union who “send their babies out to fight us.”

His father-in-law served in the Confederate Army.

Further Reading

“Last Veteran of ’61 to Leave the Army.” New York Times, August 8, 1915.

Time. “The Civil War: 1861-1862: An Illustrated History.” (2011): 40.

Civil War Battle Summaries, nps.gov.

Photos – Johnny Clem and Statue

Depiction of a early zoo

The oldest zoo in the United States is the Philadelphia Zoo, it opened on July 1, 1874.

• On opening day there were 3,000 visitors
• The admission cost stayed the same during the first 50 years. An adult had an admission cost of 25 cents while children were 10 cents.
• They intended to build the zoo earlier but the Civil War delayed it 15 years.
• In 1928, the Philadelphia Zoo had the first successful birth of an orangutan and chimpanzee in the U.S.
• According to the zoo’s website, “In its first year of operation, the Philadelphia Zoo had 813 animals and received well over 228,000 visitors. Today, the Zoo has more than 1,300 rare and endangered animals, and its attendance is approximately 1.1 million visitors a year.”

[Photo and Information - Philadelphia Zoo]