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”The dead continue to live by way of the resurrection we give them in telling their stories” -Stories of Real Human Beings Make History Powerful~Photographs Make it Immediate.
A Blog Remembering the Men and Women of the American Civil War, North & South, people, faces, and a unique culture we will never see again. Photos and stories about the people that lived it, including African American Photographs, Pre-Civil War history & the period in cultural history that began just after the Civil War. The historical info, photos and documents on this blog reflect the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of different times. This blog does not endorse the views expressed in some posts, which may contain materials offensive to some readers. You cannot compare the beliefs, values, politics, ethical values of today to the people of the 1800's.
Every effort is taken to remember the men and women of the Union and Confederacy equally with dignity and respect. The men and women who's photos are posted on this blog have living relatives today, please respect the families and their memory~
The events of the war, and the men of the war, are fast fading from the public attention. Its history is growing to be an “Old, Old Story.” Public interest is weakening day by day. The memory of march, and camp, and battle-field, of the long and manly endurance, of the superb and uncomplaining courage, of the mass of sacrifice that redeemed the Nation, is fast dying out. Those who rejoice in the liberty and peace secured by the soldier’s suffering and privation, accept the benefits, but deny or forget the benefactor-1877 National Tribune
(IF I HAVE MADE AN ERROR ON A HISTORICAL FACT PLEASE CONTACT ME DIRECTLY SO I CAN CORRECT IT) if I posted something unknowingly that you own copyright to, I will remove it immediately.
“The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted."― D.H. Lawrence
A Blog Remembering the Men and Women of the American Civil War, North & South, people, faces, and a unique culture we will never see again. Photos and stories about the people that lived it, including African American Photographs, Pre-Civil War history & the period in cultural history that began just after the Civil War. The historical info, photos and documents on this blog reflect the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of different times. This blog does not endorse the views expressed in some posts, which may contain materials offensive to some readers. You cannot compare the beliefs, values, politics, ethical values of today to the people of the 1800's.
Every effort is taken to remember the men and women of the Union and Confederacy equally with dignity and respect. The men and women who's photos are posted on this blog have living relatives today, please respect the families and their memory~
The events of the war, and the men of the war, are fast fading from the public attention. Its history is growing to be an “Old, Old Story.” Public interest is weakening day by day. The memory of march, and camp, and battle-field, of the long and manly endurance, of the superb and uncomplaining courage, of the mass of sacrifice that redeemed the Nation, is fast dying out. Those who rejoice in the liberty and peace secured by the soldier’s suffering and privation, accept the benefits, but deny or forget the benefactor-1877 National Tribune
(IF I HAVE MADE AN ERROR ON A HISTORICAL FACT PLEASE CONTACT ME DIRECTLY SO I CAN CORRECT IT) if I posted something unknowingly that you own copyright to, I will remove it immediately.
“The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted."― D.H. Lawrence
Private Patrick Monaghan Company K-22nd Iowa Infantry Volunteer Regiment
Born in Ireland in 1839, According to the 1860 Federal Census, Patrick, 21, was the oldest son living at home in Fillmore Township, just north of Hinkletown, Foote P.O., and worked as a laborer. From (Hinkletown/Little Creek) Height: 5’ 8 ½”, Hair: Black, Eyes: Blue
When Patrick Monaghan departed Foote for the Civil War, it is said his boots left deep impressions in the mud in front of the Monaghan home. His mother gathered boards and laid them over the depressions to preserve his shoe prints, fearing this would be the last physical memory of her son.
He was severely injured at the Battle of Black River Bridge, Mississippi. According to the Adjutant General’s report, “On the 17th of May, 1863, while on a charge against the enemy occurred a gun shot wound, which caused him to fall to the ground, the ball entering the neck just above the collar bone on the left side, passing down into the chest through the right lung and lodging near about the second rib on the right side where it still remains inside the rib.” He rejoined his unit after recovering at a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. According to records his treatment began on June 1, 1863 and continued through July 15, 1863. The bullet stayed in his body and eventually played a part in his death at the age of 58.
1 week ago on May 08, 2013 at 07:35pm
Confederate Soldiers
As the Civil War progressed the image of the Rebel soldier began to shift from the “ragged rebel” look to a well-uniformed Army in the Eastern and Western theaters. In the last 12 months of fighting these Confederate forces were well-uniformed, the best they had ever appeared in terms of consistency, wearing clothing made of imported blue-grey cloth, either manufactured locally or bought read-made under contract from British manufacturers, such as Peter Tait of Limerick, Ireland who became a major supplier of uniforms for the Confederacy.
The use of wool in the uniform meant that the uniforms were not suited to the warm climates that were common in the South. This helped contribute to the fact that many Confederate soldiers suffered from heatstroke on long marches~Source: Mansfield, Howard, “The Same Ax, Twice: Restoration and Renewal in a Throwaway Age” page 33
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniforms_of_the_Confederate_States_military_forces#cite_note-XY-1
Original Image found on Richmond History Center, no identifying information, names or date.
1 week ago on May 08, 2013 at 07:17pm
Civil War Era Fashion Plate - April 1864 Godey’s Lady’s Book
- Description of Steel Fashion-Plate for April
Fig 1 - Dinner-dress of rich pearl-colored silk, trimmed with ornaments formed of gold-colored chenille cord and chenille drop buttons and fancy plaitings of the silk, edged with chenille cord. The corsage is in the Pompadour style, and the sleeve consists of merely a jockey. Fancy white muslin guimpe and sleeves. Black lace coiffure, with barbe ends.
Fig 2 - Evening-dress of heavy white corded silk, made with a tunic skirt. Both skirts are edged with a narrow ruffle and puff, and trimmed with black lace leaves. The corsage is made round, and trimmed to match the skirt.
Fig 3 - Child’s dress of checked silk, trimmed with shells of imperial blue silk. Red-riding-hood sack, made of scarlet flannel, and trimmed with a plaiting of ribbon and narrow black velvet.
Fig 4 - Walking-dress of smoke-gray poplin. Both dress and sack are trimmed with rich gimp ornaments. Chip hat, trimmed with scarlet velvet and white plumes.
Fig 5 - Rich lilac robe silk, woven with a fancy black lace design on the skirt. Sash of white silk, trimmed with black velvet. The corsage is cut in a point both back and front, to show the fancy white muslin chemisette. The hair is rolled in front, and arranged in waterfall style, and puffs at the back. Wreath of lilac velvet flowers, with a long spray on the left side.
Fig 6 - Walking-dress of brown alpaca, braided on the edge of the skirt with black braid. Fancy plaid wrap, trimmed with chenille fringe. Peach blossom silk bonnet, trimmed with white lace and cherries for the inside trimming.
2 weeks ago on May 05, 2013 at 05:19pm
Confederate Uniform Coat of Gray Wool with Blue Trim
Referred to as a Columbus Depot Style Jacket. Originally had six buttons. One pocket on the left front side as-well-as an inside pocket on the right side. The coat belonged to Private Michael Jackson Jones, who served with Company H, 1st Missouri Infantry. Private Jones was wearing the coat when he received a disabling wound at Champion Hill on May 16, 1863.
Wool. Shoulders (measuring across back just below collar) 39.0, Left Sleeve 60.0, Right Sleeve 60.0, Backseam 56.9 cm Credit:
Vicksburg National Military Park , VICK 572
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nps.gov
2 weeks ago on May 05, 2013 at 11:46am
Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865.
Lincoln Facts:
- His son, Robert Todd Lincoln, was in the vicinity of the assassination of three presidents: Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley.
- Born in Kentucky, Mary Todd Lincoln received scorn from Southerners, who believed she was a traitor to her birth, and suspicion from Northerners who accused her of treason, throughout her husband’s tenure in the White House during the Civil War.
- During his term, the population of the United States was 32 million.
Source: Print Collection portrait file. / L / Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865.Location: Stephen A. Schwarzman Building / Print Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs Digital ID: 1560870Record ID: 1043783 NYPL Digital Collection
2 weeks ago on May 02, 2013 at 08:01pm
From Slavery To The US House of Representatives-Representing South Carolina-He Became A Naval Hero at The Same Time He Freed Himself and His Family in May 1862
Robert Smalls was born a slave in South Carolina. During the Civil War, Smalls steered the CSS Planter, an armed Confederate military transport. On May 12, 1862, the Planter’s three white officers decided to spend the night ashore. About 3 am, Smalls and seven of the eight enslaved crewmen decided to make a run for the Union vessels that formed the blockade, as they had earlier planned. Smalls dressed in the captain’s uniform and had a straw hat similar to that of the white captain. The Planter stopped at a nearby wharf to pick up Smalls’ family and the relatives of other crewmen, then they sailed toward Union lines, with a white sheet as a flag. After the war, he went on to serve in the United States House of Representatives, representing South Carolina. (LOC)
Photo: Library of Congress description: “Robert Smalls, S.C. M.C. Born in Beaufort, SC, April 1839”.
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1 month ago on April 21, 2013 at 08:28pm
Piece of Hardtack With Original Paper Wrapper, Issued By The United States Army During the Civil War.
Hardtack is a biscuit (or cracker) made from flour, water and salt. It was a staple of the Civil War soldier’s diet because it was inexpensive and, when properly stored, lasted for years. Hardtack, while nutritious, could be exceedingly hard and usually had to be soaked before it could be eaten. The wrapper reads “Army / Cracker / or / Hardtack 1864 / John W. Weiser / Ohio Infy”. It was given to Levi Longfellow, Principal Musician of the 6th Minnesota Regiment, Company B, by John W. Weiser, Ohio Infantry, at the close of the Civil War.
Watch the Collections Department’s podcast about hardtack to learn more.-Curator Matt Anderson shows a very old piece of food from the Minnesota Historical Society’s collection: an original piece of hardtack from the Civil War. It’s one of the more bizarre items in the collection, and an edible that was made to last.
1 month ago on April 21, 2013 at 07:46pm
Civil War Bible with Bullet Holes
Walter G. Jones, Private, 8th New York Cavalry, Co. C., U.S.A., half-length, facing front and his New Testament with bullet holes, and the two bullets which lodged in the book. It was taken between 1861 and 1865.
1 month ago on April 19, 2013 at 09:08pm
Agonizing like so many Americans did, to join the Union or the Confederacy, weighing family ties, loyalty, and devotion, Robert E. Lee stayed with the country his family help found. He explains his bond with Virginia to his cousin.
Sympathizing with you in the troubles that are pressing so heavily upon our beloved country, and entirely agreeing with you in your notions of allegiance, I have been unable to make up my mind to rise my hand against my native state, my relatives, my children and my home. I have therefore resigned my commission in the Army and never desire again to draw my sword save in defense of my state. I consider it useless.
Portrait of Gen. Robert E.Lee, officer of the Confederate Army Date 1863 Source The Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. And LOC.gov
1 month ago on April 19, 2013 at 05:13pm
Gettysburg Battlefield-Photographs Submitted by Steve Traywick
In July of 1863, General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia of 75,000 men and the 97,000 man Union Army of the Potomac, under George G. Meade, concentrated together at Gettysburg and fought the Battle of Gettysburg.
Of the more than 2,000 land engagements of the Civil War, Gettysburg ranks supreme. Although the Battle of Gettysburg did not end the war, it was the great battle of the war, marking the point when the ultimate victory of the North over the South became clear to both sides alike.
Here at Gettysburg, on July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, more men fought and died than in any other battle in American history.
1 month ago on April 18, 2013 at 07:17pm
Tattoos and the Civil War
Tattoos and the name Martin Hildebrandt go hand in hand. Hildebrandt set up New York’s first tattoo shop on Oak Street in lower Manhattan where he tattooed soldiers who fought on both sides of the Civil War. He tattooed military insignias and the names of sweethearts. His daughter Nora Hildebrandt at age 22, became the first tattooed woman to be exhibited in America.
In 1870, Hildebrandt established an “atelier” on Oak Street in New York City and this is considered to be the first American tattoo studio.
From “Corporal Si Klegg and His Pard” (page 303): How They Lived and Talked, and what They Did and Suffered, While Fighting for the Flag (Google eBook) “As a matter of fact the army did get pretty thoroughly tattooed during the war. Every regiment had its tattooers, with outfits of needles and India-ink, who for a consideration decorated the limbs and bodies of their comrades with flags, muskets, cannons, sabers, and an infinite variety of patriotic emblems and warlike and grotesque devices … Thousands of the soldiers had name, regiment, and residence tattooed into their arms or legs. In portions of the army this was recommended in general orders, to afford means of identification if killed in battle.” (Book is written by a Civil War veteran, who served in the Ohio 65th Volunteer Infantry)
Sources: http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/tattoo_museum/united_states_tattoos.html
http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/view.aspx?id=54021
http://www.amazon.com/Corporal-Si-Klegg-His-Pard/dp/0965672700
1 month ago on April 03, 2013 at 09:58pm
Georgia Brothers- Daniel, John, and Pleasant Chitwood, ca 1861 - 1865
Description: Gordon County, ca. 1861-1865. These three brothers all served in Co. A, 23d Regiment Georgia Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. Holding handguns and knives.
County:Gordon County Held by:Georgia Archives, 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, GA 30260
Credit: Vanishing Georgia, Georgia Division of Archives and History, Office of Secretary of State.
1 month ago on April 02, 2013 at 10:37pm
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain-20th Maine- (1828-1914) at the age of 43, and Pictured During the Civil War.
“But out of that silence rose new sounds more appalling still; a strange ventriloquism, of which you could not locate the source, a smothered moan, as if a thousand discords were flowing together into a key-note weird, unearthly, terrible to hear and bear, yet startling with its nearness; the writhing concord broken by cries for help, some begging for a drop of water, some calling on God for pity; and some on friendly hands to finish what the enemy had so horribly begun; some with delirious, dreamy voices murmuring loved names, as if the dearest were bending over them; and underneath, all the time, the deep bass note from closed lips too hopeless, or too heroic, to articulate their agony…It seemed best to bestow myself between two dead men among the many left there by earlier assaults, and to draw another crosswise for a pillow out of the trampled, blood-soaked sod, pulling the flap of his coat over my face to fend off the chilling winds, and still more chilling, the deep, many voiced moan that overspread the field.”
~(At the end of the first day’s fighting at Fredericksburg…)
Chamberlain, a professor at Bowdoin College, became a Civil War general who led the successful Union campaign at Little Round Top at Gettysburg. He served as governor of Maine from 1867-1871 and president of Bowdoin College from 1871-1883. http://www.mainememory.net/artifact/5262
http://carrothers.com/civwar.htm
1 month ago on March 31, 2013 at 06:35pm
In Their First Major Battle, at Port Hudson, Louisiana, on May 27, 1863, African Americans Proved Their Courage Beyond a Doubt.
Port Hudson, Louisiana
May 21 - July 9, 1863 The May 1, 1863 New York Tribune summed up many Northerners’ feelings about African American soldiers when it declared, “Loyal Whites have generally become willing that they should fight, but the great majority have no faith that they will really do so. Many hope they will prove cowards and sneaks — others greatly fear it.” In their first major battle, at Port Hudson, Louisiana, on May 27, 1863, African Americans proved their courage beyond a doubt. Port Hudson served as the linchpin of Confederate control over the Lower Mississippi.
Among the Union regiments attacking the well-fortified position were two African American units: the First Louisiana — which was one of the few units commanded by African American officers — and the Third Louisiana. Although they did not inflict a single casualty on the enemy, the units showed conspicuous bravery, charging repeatedly against blistering artillery and rifle fire. All told, the two regiments sustained nearly 200 casualties. Among those impressed that day was Union general Nathaniel P. Banks, who reported, “The severe test to which they were subjected, and the determined manner in which they encountered the enemy, leaves upon my mind no doubt of their ultimate success.”
http://thomaslegion.net/africanamericansoldiersandtheamericancivilwar.html
1 month ago on March 28, 2013 at 08:14pm
Private David Lowry, of Company E, 25th Virginia Cavalry Regiment, Company A, 41st Virginia Infantry Regiment, and Company D, 47th Virginia Infantry Regiment, in uniform and corsage of flowers with musket and book. Confederate States of America.—Army.—Virginia Cavalry Regiment
Like the Union Army, most Confederate soldiers were under 30. More than half the Confederate soldiers were farmers, although only a very small percentage of them owned slaves. The others came from many different types of jobs: carpenters, clerks, blacksmiths, students, etc. As in the Northern army, the Southern soldiers had educational backgrounds that ranged from university degrees to illiteracy.
Cavalry and artillery regiments attracted wealthier and more highly educated men than infantry units in the South, and a Confederate foot soldier was more likely to be illiterate than his Union counterpart. It is not certain how many foreigners fought for the Confederacy, but the number seems to be in the tens of thousands.
- Digital ID: (digital file from original item) ppmsca 32062 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.32062
- Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmsca-32682 (digital file from original, tonality adjusted) LC-DIG-ppmsca-32062 (digital file from original item)
- Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
- Source: The Civil War Trust
- http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/warfare-and-logistics/warfare/who-fought.html
1 month ago on March 27, 2013 at 08:52pm
