Winter Quarters

You have to hand it to Civil War soldiers. They could be pretty resourceful when they had to. As you all surely know, active campaigning, more often than not, took place during Spring and Summer - when snow and ice was not busy fouling everyone's good time. During the winter months, armies would set up elaborate winter camps and build semi-permanent structures using whatever they could find. Pictured is a mighty fine example of an officer's hut near Brandy Station - with a chimney, log walls, and a pitched roof stretched from what appears to be a tent. They even have a sidewalk out front.

This place is nicer than my first apartment. Huzzah!

K

What do Irvin McDowell and the San Francisco Marathon Have in Common?

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

Well - they really have nothing in common, except that I will be doing something in connection with both on the weekend of July 28-29, 2012. Yes, that is the weekend of the San Francisco Marathon, which I will be running as part of the LA/SF challenge. Exciting, yes? I will be heading up to the bay area to give it my best AND if time allows, visit Irvin McDowell's grave at the Presidio.

You see, in 1864 McDowell was "promoted" to command the department of the west after a number of Civil War debacles (including 1st and 2nd Bull Run). I guess the Lincoln administration figured he couldn't cause much trouble in California. And what do you know....? He excelled when he did not have anything to screw up...it turns out he took quite a liking to the west coast and was a popular fellow indeed.

So look forward to marathon updates and McDowell images in the next few weeks. I will keep you posted. I just love it when I can combine my two favorite things: running and Civil War history. Yay me :)

Peace,

Keith

Dogs of Honor

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

The other day, I pinned an image of the Irish Brigade Monument at Gettysburg featuring an Irish Wolfhound in repose. The picture was met with an enthusiastically positive response. So I thought for a while about other Civil War monuments featuring canine mascots and recalled this one.

The pup pictured here is Sallie - a pug-nosed brindle bull terrier presented as a gift in 1861 to the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment. Sallie saw plenty of action. Well drilled, she marched in formation with the men, and took her place in line of battle. Her first combat was a Cedar Mountain, where she stood resolutely by the regimental colors for the duration.

Rumor has it, that during an 1863 review, none other than President Lincoln offered an approving tip-o-the hat salutation to the 11th's mascot. And there are claims too, that Sallie was twice captured by Confederates -  and made her escape back to Union lines and her unit.

Sallie survived a neck wound received at Spotsylvania - but her luck would run out in February, 1865. On the 6th, the Pennsylvanians attacked the Rebel lines at Hatcher's Run. Sallie, always dutifully at her post, took at bullet in the head. She was killed instantly. The men of the 11th, still under fire, buried her where she fell.

In 1890, the veterans of the 11th dedicated a monument on Oak Ridge at Gettysburg - facing the direction of the attacking Rebels. There at the base you will find Sallie's bronze likeness. The next time you are in the neighborhood, stop by and leave a little treat.I think a biscuit would be a nice offering for a dog who helped save the Union. And I am sure Sallie would appreciate it.

Peace,

Keith

PS - I'll keep posting about Civil War mascots memorialized in this fashion - if you know of one you would like to see discussed here, please fill me in!

The Union Forever!

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

Just a short note today to illustrate something that I believe is worthy of further discussion. Most of us can agree with President Lincoln...that slavery was somehow the cause of the war. One of my former professors said it best when he wrote  on the blackboard on the first day of Civil War class: "It was slavery - stupid."

But with all the talk about slavery - both the reasonable informed discussions and the back and forth bang-your-head-against-the-wall (usually pointless) arguments with neo-Confederates, one thing sometimes slips beneath the radar.

The overwhelming number of northern soldiers enlisted to fight for the preservation of Union. The destruction of slavery did not, for the most part, compel them to take up arms.  During the war, many saw the demise of the institution as a great way to undermine the Rebels' war effort...and after the war, Union veterans' sense of moralizing self-righteousness in regard to their participation in emancipation went a long way to show the world that theirs had been the noblest of efforts.

Perhaps the notion of Union is far to abstract for 21st century folks to really grasp. Even historian Barbara Fields has suggested that 19th century soldiers did not consider Union worth fighting and dying for - implying that emancipation was the only truly noble cause. Sure, emancipation was a noble cause indeed...and many came to see it that way. But it was Union that stirred patriots' hearts in 1861.

Peace,

Keith

Zouaves Before the Battle

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

I thought it would be nice to get a little military action in this morning - so here, courtesy of this company of Woodland Hills Zouaves - California Regiment, for lack of a proper unit designation, is an example of some first rate drilling.

You know, drilling is something that occupied a great deal of a soldier's time. Big battles, especially in the first two years of the war, were seldom. In short, Civil War soldiers spent a lot of time in camp - perfecting the art of killing.

One of my favorite soldier accounts of the war, Elisha Hunt Rhodes's All For the Union, discusses drilling and camp life at length...reading Rhodes, one might suspect that life in the army was actually pretty boring - only punctuated by fierce combat.

But it is here that we discover what military life was like - where we discover the insights of a Union soldier on Union, emancipation, secession, and religion. Coupled with scholarly accounts of Civil War soldiery, such as James McPherson's For Cause and Comrades, such writings are an invaluable resource. But if asked (and I often am), I would recommend a soldier account to get anyone started, and then offer what scholars think in comparison.

Peace,
Keith

Baltimore 1861 - The Pratt Street Riot

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

My Twitter friend @EmilyHill_Indie was asking about Civil War Baltimore the other day...which naturally made me think of all the mayhem that took place there right at the beginning of the war.

As you all probably know, Maryland - a border/slave-holding state - entertained the idea of secession in 1861. Many citizens had southern leanings, and would have preferred joining the Confederacy...a prospect that would have been very embarrassing for the United States. Had Maryland seceded, the US national capital would have been in the Confederacy.

But of course that never happened. Maryland remained loyal to the US...at least for the most part. But there were still plenty of Marylanders who were pro-Confederate...especially in Baltimore. On April 19, 1861 - secessionists and would be Rebels got to prove it.

It seems that the Union 6th Massachusetts Regiment were on their way to Washington City and had to transfer trains in Baltimore. There was no direct rail line through town and the unit had to march the 10 blocks west along Pratt Street to make their connection.

An angry mob (is there any other kind of mob?) gathered and began to follow the soldiers - they broke windows, threw bricks, shouted oaths...and then somebody in the mob fired a pistol. All hell broke loose and the 6th fired into the crowd - prompting a brawl between soldiers, a pro-Confederate mob, and the Baltimore police. In the end, four Union soldiers and twelve Baltimore citizens lay dead.

The entire state of Maryland fell under the scrutiny of the Lincoln administration - by May 13, Union troops under Benjamin Butler entered Baltimore and declared martial law. The pro-Confederate mayor, city council, and police commissioner were arrested and imprisoned at Fort McHenry. eventually, Union troops were deployed throughout the state.

And there you have it - the Rebels stirred up quite a fuss in Baltimore - a (sort of) northern city with definite southern sympathies. And for their troubles...Baltimore became - more or less - an occupied city.

peace,

Keith

Elmer E. Ellsworth - an Unfortunate Civil War First

Greetings Cosmic Americans!

Who has the unfortunate distinction of being the first officer killed in the Civil war - none other than Elmer E. Ellsworth.

Ellsworth was a New Yorker and an attorney in civilian life, he raised and commanded the 11th New York Volunteer Infantry (the Fire Zouaves) at the beginning of the war, and he was a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln.

Here's how it all went down. On May 24th 1861 - the day after Virginia's voters ratified their state's secession, President Lincoln noticed a huge Rebel flag flying over an inn in Alexandria Virginia...just across the Potomac from Washington City.

Ellsworth, who had worked at Lincoln's law firm, helped in his presidential campaign, and who had accompanied the president to Washington, offered to go over and take care of things - which he then proceeded to do.

He led the 11th into Alexandria, deployed his men in various places in town, and took four men to the Marshall House Inn to remove the heinous banner. When he came down the Inn's stairs with flag in hand, Inn keeper James W. Jackson unloaded a shotgun into Elsworth's chest - killing him on the spot. A Union corporal - Francis Brownell  - in turn killed Jackson. (He later won the Medal of Honor for this).

Lincoln, extremely saddened by the death of his friend, ordered an honor guard to carry him to the White House - where he lay in state in the East Room before returning to New York - where thousands came to visit his body at New York City' s City Hall. He is buried in Mechanicville.

Peace,

Keith