A Christmas Teatime for the Children
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"In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;" {*}

Historians still debate the exact author of the great Christmas poem we know today as "Twas the Night Before Christmas". The majority opinion identifies the author as Clement Clarke Moore born in New York City in 1779. It was first titled "Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas", and was published in the Troy [New York] Sentinel newspaper on December 23, 1823.

Moore based his portrait of Santa Claus after his family's Dutch handyman and was inspired to add additional elements to the poem after an enjoyable sleigh ride. He is tale told through rhyme had Santa Claus...
Brady Visits Burns
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Here is a highly magnified crop from one of Mathew Brady's photographs of John Burns at Gettysburg in mid-July, 1863. Sitting on the side steps of the Burns' house is Brady's vested assistant and Brady, himself. In the foreground is the Burns' covered well and behind that is Brady's portable darkroom which he used to process this as well as his other iconic Gettysburg photographs.
Artillery Shell Display
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If you live or travel through north-central Virginia you are probably already familiar with The Clark Brothers gun shop located at the intersection of US Route 29 and 17 in Warrenton.
It’s about 40 miles nw of Fredericksburg and about 30 miles northeast of Culpepper.

The Clark Brothers and their family have owned and operated a gun shop at the same location for over 70 years.
When I was in high school in the mid 1960s (yes I attended school with Washington and Jefferson) “Uncle John” [Clark] would buy civil war relics we found. In turn “Uncle John” would sell the relics to tourist- or keep the rare finds for his own collection. A five gallon bucket filled with Minnie’s would...
How Did The Spencer Rifle / Carbine Work?
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IMG_1212.jpg

Spencer Rifle displayed in front of books that relate to its introduction into combat.​

In response to a recent thread about the effectiveness of Spencer repeating rifles, several folks have asked me how they worked. The genius of the design was its simplicity, witch contributed to its reliability. You don't read accounts of Spencers misfiring or jamming, no matter what the conditions might be. As you can see in the image above, there are only nine moving parts. It was remarkably easy to clean. Simple design really is good design.

To fire a Spencer, pull the hammer to full cock, aim & fire.
[ATTACH...​

New Posts

 ★ ★   Buford, John

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John Buford Jr.
:us34stars:
Buford.jpg

Born: March 4, 1826
Birthplace: Woodford County, Kentucky
Father: Colonel John Buford Sr. 1778 – 1847
Mother: Ann B. Watson
Wife: Martha McDowell “Pattie” Duke 1830 – 1903

Children:
James Duke Buford 1855 – 1874​
(Buried: Georgetown Cemetery, Georgetown, Kentucky)​
Pattie McDowell Duke Buford 1857 – 1863​
(Buried: Georgetown Cemetery, Georgetown, Kentucky)​

Education:
1848: Graduated from West Point Military...​

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Neil P. Chatelain: Defending the Arteries of Rebellion - S1E13
Confederate Naval Operations in the Mississippi River Valley, 1861-1865

Who Would You Have Voted For (in 1860)

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