Oddities of the War

[thea_447]

Pierre G.T. Beauregard had the shortest tenure of any superintendent of West Point, from 23 to 28 January, 1861, when he was dismissed for seditious behavior.

In August of 1861 the 79th New York Highlanders mutinied when the army decided to take away their kilts, but were quickly brought to their senses when higher authorities presented an irrefutable argument in the form of a Regular Army battery.

The first Union victory at sea occurred in June 1861, when William Tillman, the young black cook of the schooner S. J. Waring, single-handedly recaptured the ship from a crew off the Confederate privateer Jeff Davis, killing three and capturing three, which feat, he is said to have accomplished in little more than seven minutes. Congress awarded him $6,000 in prize money.

The first Confederate warship to show the flag in a European port was the lightly armed side-wheeler C.S.S. Nashville, which landed at Southanpton on Nov. 21, 1861.

[FSPowers]

Two odd weapons came to mind;

There was a wheeled device that mounted about 20 musket barrels that had to be loaded seperatly, then it was fired by pulling a lanyard, releasing a hammer that fell on a single percussion cap, firing all barrels at once.

There was also a rocket "torpedo" that was tested, but I understand that failed.

[thea_447]

Blood was first spilled in Baltimore a week after the firing on Fort Sumter.

On April 19th troops from Massachusetts, sent by the governor to protect Washington, D.C., fully armed and marching in military ranks, fired on civilians, killing twelve of them! The civilians fired back and killed four soldiers. The problem came about because there was no train directly to Washington. Troops from Pennsylvania had arrived before those from Massachusetts, but they walked one by one through the streets of Baltimore from the East Side depot to the Camden Street station, where they then boarded another train to Washington. The Massachusetts regiment, however, marched into Baltimore like an invading army. The mayor of Baltimore, George Brown, wrote to the governor of Massachusetts and explained the incident: "Our people viewed the passage of armed troops to another state through the streets as an invasion of our soil, and could not be restrained." Massachusetts governor John Andrew replied, "I am overwhelmed with surprise that a peaceful march of American citizens over the highway to the defence of our common capital should be deemed aggressive to Baltimoreans." (Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War (New York, 1977), p.88 The complaint that armies from the North were invading states in the South would soon become the battle cry for the defense of the Confederacy.

[thea_447]

At Cold Harbor, the two cavalry units and some elements of infantry came together at first light on June 1, 1864. The Rebel attack was commanded by Col. Lawrence Keitt, a brave, but yet inexperienced leader. Keitt rode into battle leading his 20th South Carolina regiment. Sheridan's dismounted cavalry was armed with repeating rifles. Col. Keitt was shot several times as he charged on horseback and died on the field of battle.

The volley of fire from the repeating weapons was so great, the ground spattered as if hit by a driving rain storm. The Rebels had no choice but to stop their assault and erect defensive positions. They would wait for help. Reinforcements arrived for both sides and the battle continued through midday and long into the evening. Grant arrived late in the day and was not prepared to attack until the next morning.

Lee's men dug in deep and constructed what historians would later call, "Their best defensive posture ever in the war." Rifle pits were dug with a log across the top. The Union forces marched blindly into these fortifications because it was hard to spot the Rebels. It was here Grant would experience the loss of over 7,000 men and where a defiant Union captain, T.E. Barker said, "I will not take my regiment in another such charge if Jesus Christ himself should order it!."

[thea_447]

The Civil War employed many persons from all walks of life serving in the military. Some of the more famous ones were later day presidents and congressional members. Here are a few other individuals you may recognize:

Christopher C. "Kit" Carson - he was a brigadier general; Jesse James - he rode with Quantrill; George Westinghouse and Elias Howe - known for the air brake and the sewing machine; Lew Wallace - author of Ben Hur; Samuel Clemens - known as Mark Twain; Henry Morton Stanley - of "Dr. Livingstone, I presume," fame; Henry A. DuPont of the DuPont family from Wilmington, Delaware - he later became a senator; Albert Pike - author of the famous tune "Dixie." Col. George S. Patton of the 22nd Virginia was grandfather to Gen. George S. Patton, famous commander of the U.S. 3d Army in World War II; Eli Lilly was a colonel - he went on to become a pioneer in the making and distributing of insulin and his life saving medications have made the Eli Lilly company famous throughout the world; Commdr. Matthew F. Maury of the U.S. Navy was the first man to recognize the existence of the Gulf Stream; Brayton Ives, was a colonel who later became President of the New York Stock Exchange; Cornelius Vanderbilt and Andrew Carnegie of railroad and steel fame were both Civil War vets.

[thea_447]

When J.E.B. Stuart and company captured the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania in June of 1863, their demands included 25 barrels of sauerkraut. The popular dish in the North and South was well known because not only did it tasted good, but was also known to prevent attacks of scurvy. The citizens of this Pennsylvania town thought the Southern troops were making fun of their famous sauerkraut and apparently many of the Southern soldiers were in fact suffering from scurvy. It is unknown if their demands were met.

[thea_447]

Since the troops usually preferred something with a little alcohol in it, they often resorted to various time-honored soldier's concoctions, such as "champagne," a fermented beverage made with three parts of water and one of corn and molasses.


So infrequently did Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson draw his sword that it eventually rusted in the scabbard.

[thea_447]

During the Second Bull Run campaign (August-September, 1862), Confederate cavalryman J.E.B. Stuart chanced to "capture" Union Maj. Gen. John Pope's dress coat, while the former's best plumed hat fell into the hands of the later, with the result that Stuart proposed a formal exchange of prisoners.



Compared to the numbers of men in the armies, the manpower of the sea services--navy, marines, revenue service--was relatively insignificant. Officially there were 132,544 enlistments in Union forces afloat, although the Navy peaked at so 50,100 men at the end of the war, including about 3,500 Marines, while total enlistments in the Confederate sea services were probably between 12,000 and 15,000 men, although the peak strength of the Confederate Navy appears to have been about 5,000 plus about 1,000 Marines--figures attained in early 1864.

[thea_447]

Arthur MacArthur, who in 1899 belatedly received a Medal of Honor for leading his regiment at Missionary Ridge, was the father of Douglas MacArthur, who received his during World War II, making them the only father and son to have ever received this decoration.



By mid-1863 it was estimated that the war was costing the Federal government $2,500,000 a day.



The officers of the Russian fleet which wintered in New York in 1863-1864 donated $4,760 to buy fuel for the poor of the city.

[thea_447]

Edmund Kirby, West Point '61, had the most meteoric promotion in the Union Army, being jumped from first lieutenant to brigadier general by direct order of Abraham Lincoln as he lay dying from a mortal wound incurred while commanding a battery at Chancellorsville with "undaunted courage."


The 10th New York Infantry had its own Masonic Lodge, the National Zouave Lodge, and often held regular meetings, even when in the field, to which fellow-Masons of the Confederate persuasion were welcome, if they happened to be around as prisoners-of-war.