The Blue Ridge Corps

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Eireann

Since the Ken Burns series rekindled public interest in the war, every diary keeper, North and South, whose writings were stashed away in attics has become a published author. Most of these accounts are repetitive or uninspiring, but I’m sure each one has at least one anecdote of interest. This account contained a term I’d not heard before, but which tickled me:

Charlie wrote about deserters and their ease of leaving the army by joining what he calls the “Blue Ridge Corps,” men who slipped over the Blue Ridge Mountains to escape army life.

http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20120114/NEWS01/201130314/Pieces-Past-Book-compiling-soldier-s-letters-provides-insight-into-Civil-War?odyssey=nav%7Chead

One of Jackson’s Foot Cavalry

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Eireann

I tried a search for “best Civil War memoirs” (listing “Grant” and “Watkins” as qualifiers for quality), and one Amazon list suggested John H. Worsham’s narrative. Found it on DocSouth, and a quick flip through reveals some very entertaining anecdotes, and a sense of irreverence amidst the hard marching and the terrible battles.

We went to bed that night in regular military order, had a camp guard, lights out by taps, etc. Some of the boys, during the day, had purchased whistles, tin horns, and other noisy things, and as soon as lights were put out, the fun commenced: One blew a horn, another in a distant part of the building answered on a whistle. This went on for a few minutes. When the officers commanded silence, no attention was paid to them. When the officers said to the sergeant, “Arrest those men,” the sergeant would strike a light, and go where he thought the noise originated; but each man looked so innocent that he could not tell who it was. By this time, another would blow. Soon there were four sergeants, running here and there, trying to catch the delinquents. This was kept up until the perpetrators became tired, not one being detected.

http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/worsham/worsham.html

Perret on Grant

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Eireann

Thanks to Google’s Books service, I went from a quick consultation of this book to reading a good portion of it online. The first few chapters are available in their entirety – as the book progresses more and more are left out, but it’s enough to gauge the readability, and this one’s very readable. Like Grant himself, it’s workmanlike – not a lot of literary flourishes, here – but genial. Several reviewers ravaged it with one stars, complaining of off-by-a-day dates or lack of tactical military understanding, but I can excuse the former if they’re minor, and the latter usually bores me to tears. My historical preference is for biography, and Grant comes back to life through the anecdotes and quotes Geoffrey Perret provides. If you’re a Grant fan, pick this one up.

Frank Thompson

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Eireann

A two-for-one posting: An interesting article that mentioned a memoir which I’ve added to the Library. A Canadian girl disguised herself as “Frank Thompson”, and joined the Union Army. Given this description from the article, the memoirs will be quite the Victorian potboiler:

How did Emma and 400 other male impersonators that served in the Union Army pass inspection? Since neither a physical examination nor proof of identity were required, it was easy to fool recruiters whose sole concern was putting warm bodies in uniform…

The beardless private was a model soldier, whose courage and devotion to duty earned an appointment as regimental mail carrier in March 1862. Next to food nothing mattered more to the foot soldier than letters from home. Emma took her responsibility seriously and did such a first-rate job that she was promoted to brigade postmaster.

But Emma did not want to spend the war playing post office. Itching for more action, she jumped at the chance to join the Secret Service.

Unsexed: or, The Female soldier. The thrilling adventures, experiences and escapes of a woman, as nurse, spy and scout, in hospitals, camps and battle-fields

http://smmercury.com/19299/bartee-haile-woman-pulls-off-civil-war-masquerade/

Nelson Miles’ Memoirs

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Eireann

Another free book added to the Library, and this one promises to be interesting: Nelson A Miles was a young volunteer who earned wounds, acclaim and medals (including the Medal of Honor, though in fairness these were handed out like candy during the Civil War) on his rise to a major generalship. Post-war, he became notorious for his (supposed) maltreatment of Jefferson Davis during the latter’s imprisonment at Fortress Monroe, and in the suppression and massacres of many native tribes in the West. As it’s a memoir, I don’t expect the full story to be told, but there have to be some nuggets in here.

http://www.archive.org/details/servingrepublicm00mile

More Freebies

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Eireann

I’ve uncovered a few more e-books on my travels. They’ve been added to the Library.

John Beatty’s The Citizen Soldier or, Memoirs of a Volunteer – http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20460

Finally, Richard W. Johnson’s A Soldier’s Reminiscences in Peace and War, also via Archive.org, has a handful of personal stories about Lincoln, as well as about several other generals of the war: http://www.archive.org/details/soldiersreminisc00john

John B. Gordon

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Eireann

This is the birthday of Georgia General John B. Gordon. This newspaper’s tribute to him is uncomfortably pro-Southern, but relates some of the man’s best anecdotes. Though his memoirs aren’t always to be trusted (see the Gordon-Barlow Incident), he did have some excellent stories to tell/embellish.

September 17, 1862, is known was the bloodiest day in American history. Confederate General Gordon was there, defending a position called the sunken road. Wave upon wave of Union troops attacked Gordon’s men. The casualties were beyond today’s understanding. Gordon was struck by Yankee bullets four times, but continued to lead his men. Then, a fifth bullet tore through his right jaw and out of his left cheek. He fell with his face in his hat and would have drowned in his own blood except for a hole in his hat. Though Gordon survived these wounds, the last one left him permanently scarred. That is why in later photographs of him you see him only from the right side.

http://www.huntingtonnews.net/20515

The Rebel Yell

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Eireann

One of those old movies I was wishing for in the last post! Smithsonian Magazine uncovered this film of a bunch of aged Southern vets demonstrating what’s left of their Rebel Yells for a crowd in the 1930s. The individual yells don’t do much on their own (one old fellow, in particular, looks winded by the attempt), but my goodness, that opening scene with the screaming crowd does match Shelby Foote’s “peculiar corkscrew sensation up the backbone” description, doesn’t it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6jSqt39vFM&feature=related

The Birneys

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Eireann

The Birneys are a Civil War family of whom I was only peripherally aware, but as this article points out, they had quite a history. The book, Apostles of Equality: The Birneys, the Republicans, and the Civil War, could be quite an interesting read.

Although unsuccessful in his presidential campaigns of 1840 and 1844 as the Liberty Party candidate, Birney shook the political landscape with his abolitionist determination and influenced a number of politicians, including Abraham Lincoln and the fledgling Republican Party, Rogers noted.

He also imbued five sons with his political savvy and anti-slavery convictions, four of whom fought in the Civil War, as did one grandson, Bay City native James Birney IV. Two of his sons, David Bell Birney and William Birney, although not Bay Cityans, had strong connections to Michigan and both became major generals during the war.

Rogers said three of the four Birney sons who saw combat died during the war. The only one to survive was Gen. William Birney, the distinguished commander of black troops in campaigns in Florida and South Carolina. The grandson, James Birney IV, was a heroic figure at Gettysburg, riding with the 7th Michigan Cavalry in the Wolverine Division under Gen. George A. Custer. He also commanded a company of the famed Buffalo Soldiers, black cavalry troops, in the 9th U.S. Cavalry after the war.

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/12/author_reveals_role_of_bay_cit.html

Birge’s Squirrel Tails

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Eireann

It’s always interesting to read about the “special forces” from the war, not only for their rarity but also their colorful histories. Birge’s Sharpshooters, like the Bucktails, made hunting prizes part of their uniform and unit pride.

The unit was the brainchild of John Birge, a St. Louis eye doctor and adventurer. Birge had been a member of the Hunter Patriots, a group of Americans who in 1838 tried to invade Canada to break it away from the British Empire.

Birge patterned the regiment after the units being raised in the East by Hiram Berdan, who had gained nationwide notoriety for his sharpshooters. To qualify, each recruit had to hit a target 10 times at 200 yards. To make the grade, the shooter had to hit “three shots to measure no more than 10 inches,” meaning his three most inaccurate shots were no more than 3¹/³ inches from the center of the bull’s eye.

“They were one of the longest-lived elite units,” Sullivan said. “The more you learn about this unit, the more extraordinary they are.”

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/dec/25/an-elite-unit-on-the-battlefield/

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