Blog 4 History

In what is easily the most interesting historical news of late, historian John Richter found the above photo while surfing online through the Library of Congress’ digital archives, and found it among more than 5,000 Civil War images that were made available. Richter, a director for the Center for Civil War Photography, seeing something that caught his eye in the photo, enhanced the image with the help of a powerful computer program. After closer inspection, he believed he found a new photo of Lincoln.

Some experts agreed it could be Lincoln, but cautioned it may never be known for sure because the image does not offer a clear view of the man’s face.

(Hat tip to Brian) I just added a nice new resource call The Papers of Abraham Lincoln which has a neat section called Lincoln Log, a day-to-day breakdown of his activities. Very nice.

Also, there might be a new never seen before photo of lincoln at Gettysburg.

I’ve been looking through potential new textbooks for our U.S. History A & B classes, and have been disappointed thus far. The various sample copies I have viewed have either been incredibly dry (boring) or incredibly slanted. This pains me. For example, Eric Foner’s “Giver Me Liberty” is at times too leading and obviously tilted.

Eric’s Civil War & Reconstruction work I am a big fan of, however, it seems with his general U.S. History writing he allows his political beliefs to interfere too much with a fair presentation.

For example, according to Mr. Foner, the Communist and Socialist movements in the U.S. during the 1930s were actually a good thing and played a pivotal role in the “expansion of freedom in the United States,” yet their membership never exceeded 100,000. He completely fails to give a complete picture of their doings and the corruption that saturated these organizations and discredited them.

Also, just read through his fawning and apologetic presentation of Bill Clinton, and then compare it to his biting and loathing descriptions of Ronald Reagan and of course George Bush.

I’m not asking for the reverse, but I am sick of politics getting in the way of straight forward historical analysis.

Maybe Foner’s book would be good to use, and could lead to discussion with the students about author’s intentions and biases, as well as cognitive dissonance, get in the way of historical scholarship.

Nope, not unless this was an AP class, which it simply is not.

I am currently reading two excellent books on the Civil War, and though on the surface they do not appear to have much in common, they both involve narratives that are often overlooked or simply not available. In A Slave No More, escaped slaves John Washington and Wallace Turnage, who fleed bondage, lived through the Civil War and Reconstruction,  and shared their experiences. They  not only risked life and limb to emancipate themselves, they witnessed and dealt with the racial animosities and tensions after the war. David W. Blight, the author, has used their narratives to capture a unique portrait of two men’s struggles. I can’t wait to finish this book and discuss it in more detail.

Blood, Tears, and Glory How Ohioans Won the Civil War is an impressive book. It feels, looks and reads perfect. When I started reading I could tell that James H. Bissland is a fine writer. When we discuss the Civil War, we rarely recognize the contribution that Ohio made to winning the war. The work is well-researched and uses an array of primary sources, including many diaries and early newspaper accounts. This is not just a book on Ohio and the Civil War, though that is indeed its main focus. It is a book about the war and struggles involved for all Americans. Midwesterners are often forgotten in favor of the Northeastern men, who undoubtedly played an important role, but it can be argued that the boys from Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan played the a most pivotal role from the Mississippi to east of the Appalachians.

Came across this letter on ebay and was attempting to list it on SoldierStudies.org, but have not been able to as to the lack of a regiment assignment for this soldier.

This is what I know: his name is probably Edward (Bigelow?) and was a member of the Union Civil War Regular Army (13th Army Corps, 4th Division, 2nd Brigade). He wrote this letter to his his mother, Sarah Bigelow, Lakeville, Livingston County, New York. He recorded his location as Carrollton, Louisiana, Sep 19 1863, with original postal cover, postmarked New Orleans LA, Sep 21 1863.

[contents read in-part]

…You have no idea of the pleasure we soldier boys receive from reading letters from those who are near and dear to us at home. Complaints are often made that we do not write often enough, yet the folks at home seem to forget that we are as anxious to har from them as they are from us … I am far down in Dixie in the vicinity of New Orleans. The weather has been hot, very hot for a long time, but night before last the wind shifted into the NW and it has been cool and pleasant since. Last night we almost shivered under a single blanket and a good many complained of cold toes in the morning. The wind is cool today, but the sun shines warm. In fact, the days are bound to be warm in this climate, though the nights are quite cool. We have a good breeze … every day either from the Gulf [of Mexico] or Lake Ponchartrain. Wm. P and I went to the city of New Orleans a few days since and from thence to Lake Ponchartrain, and looked out for the first time a far as the eye could reach on the surface of the salt water. The water is clear, almost as crystal, and anything moving … can be seen for some distance beneath the surface. Some of the boys have seen alligators while there, but [I] did not happen to see any. Such creatures are quite numerous in these parts, especially in the swamps and along the water courses. In N. Orleans almost every shoe store will have an alligator’s hide hanging in the door. They make boots of whem, which are said to be very durable and will never wet through. New Orleans is remarkable for its cleanliness, the streets are kept in the neatest order, more so than any northern city I have ever been in. The inhabitants are a mixed up mess, being German, French, Spanish, Irish, English and all shades of Negroes, as well as some Chinese. You can hear all kinds of languages and see all kinds and classes of people … At the ship landing all kinds of floating craft from a skiff up to a mammoth steamship, a man of war, vessels of different nations are at the wharves, presenting a somewhat novel sight to one who has always lived inland, and far from seaports. I suppose we will not remain here a great while. The most of our Army Corps have left and gone to Brashear City [LA] and I presume we will soon follow … We thought when we first came here we were bound for Mobile, but we now begin to think our destination [is] Texas and we have about made up our minds for a hard old tramp, and I presume we will have a good deal of bushwacking to do, as that seems to be the favorite mode of fighting among the Texans. Anything and anywhere to help put down this wicked rebellion and I hope the day is not far distant when peace will be restored to this unhappy country. I have seen and experienced enough of the horrors of war, but rather than yield or abandon this war for a dishonorable peace, I am willing to experience more for the sake of Country and the maintenance of our free institutions. I hope yet to be spared to see the end of this war and return home and enjoy once again the privileges of society and the pleasures of meeting friends, bothers, sisters, father and mother around the old hearth stone, where I spent my childhood days … I would be glad to see you all and sit down with you all for a social chat and, by way of variety, take a good old fashioned farmer’s dinner … Well, I must bring this letter to a close. This is Saturday evening, tomorrow is the Sabbath. Whether it will be a Sabbath to us I cannot tell … The Captain and I started for church last Sabbath and visited five churches before we found one where the preaching was in English and we could understand … I am well and in good spirits … The health of the camp is tolerable good … I hope to hear from you again soon and the letter will probably find me somewhere in the southern country … [signed] Edward.

A great letter, an interesting letter, and a mystery I need to solve.

There are the following potential soldiers who could have written this letter at this time and from this location:

Bigelow, Edward E., 29th Regiment, Wisconsin Infantry
Bigelow, Edward E., 130th Regiment, Illinois Infantry
Bigelow, Edward E., 77th Regiment, Illinois Infantry

Why no New York regiments? That was strange. As a matter of fact, no “Bigelow” for any New York regiment serving in the 13th Army Corps. So, this means the spelling is incorrect or…. well he did not join a NY regiment. Ugh. The frustration of a Civil War letter rescue operation….

Still Standing: The Stonewall Jackson Story

I have to admit that I am not a Stonewall Jackson expert. So nonetheless, I have to say this was an enjoyable video experience for me and my 13 year old son who watched it with me. Several times we stopped the video and discussed it; it was great.

I know the basics of Stonewall and have always respected his military legacy. When I reviewed motion picture DVDs years ago, I was always focused on the quality of the production. Here, with “Still Standing”, we have a top quality production that delivers a high quality viewing experience; regardless of your support for or against the story being told.

Stonewall Jackson’s legacy as a military genius is indeed widely renowned, but what I enjoyed most about this DVD was the information on his childhood and up-bringing that I did not know. To me, Stonewall is as close a thing as the South had to Sherman and Grant. All were “self-made” men who came from humble beginnings and used the military to make something, indeed everything, of themselves. I see Stonewall as an American Icon worthy of the respect given to Sherman and Grant.

My only criticism, the video seemed to go out of its way to show Jackson as a “friend” to slaves and blacks, via his Sunday School activities with blacks. This is indeed important, and only needed mentioning once–not over again.  I understand the issue here, but feel it was not needed to emphasize this to the point that it was. Today to be a supporter of anything Southern (of this time period) is seen as being “apologetic” for the Old South, and that is wrong. Jackson and others were human and good people as well. Jackson was clearly a good and decent man. Yes, he fought for the South. Yes, in essence he fought for slavery. But, we need to recognize that he was an American and he was, indeed, an Icon and a hero regardless.

I came across an article detailing the demographics of the 8th Wisconsin Regiment and noticed that they had a soldier nicknamed “Infant.” Though he was no infant in height, standing 6 feet 8 1/4 inches. I knew that he was not the tallest soldier in the Union, but could not remember who is considered to be the tallest? (Note: the 8th claimed to have an average height of 5’10″, which is well above average.)

According to what I could find, the 27th Indiana Regiment had the tallest soldier. David C. Van Buskirk of Company F was 6’10.5″ tall and was probably the tallest soldier in the war. (This would be about 7’4″ inches today by comparison.) He was called the ‘Biggest Yankee in the World’ by the Southern press. When captured at Winchester on 25 May, 1862, David went to the infamous Libby Prison in Richmond and attracted the attention of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. He was ultimately paroled on September of 1862. Astonishingly, Company F boasted 35 men over six feet. Incredibly, as tall of a target as David was, he survived the war and was never wounded. (Source: http://www.geocities.com/pentagon/barracks/3627/facts.html)

It’s pretty much over now, my preliminary research on my new pet project “The Cotton Brigade.” Whether it becomes a scholarly article or a book is yet to be decided. I don’t see how there will be enough here to make it to book length. But we’ll see!

I have found ample evidence that Cotton stealing, speculating, and confiscating influenced military policy in Arkansas during the summer and fall of 1862. This might lead all the way to Gen. Curtis. It cost soldiers and civilians their lives. It was done because officers, perhaps generals, were making lots of money.

Take note of this (right) section of a newspaper article I found which deals with the Cotton Brigade and its commander, Col. C. E. Hovey (note they call him “Gen.” as he was up for promotion, which is another interesting aspect of this story). The questions I am looking at I have already reviewed here.

I am going to have to spend some serious time looking into Hovey’s financial history, whatever is available to look at. I want to get into the private holdings of Generals Curtis and Steele, as well as a few other officers. I have found enough from the ground up (foot soldiers) discussing rumors, along with documented reports such as the one to the right, that has me convinced that Hovey and others were heavily involved.

Because some people are just that stupid…