Sharing photos, videos, vintage images I've discovered, and -- occasionally -- commentary and thoughts from retired life and travels.

civil war

What a reach! The American Civil War on facebook …..

April 10, 2012

image

“Reach” for our facebook fan page has gone over 10,000.

Reach?

What the heck is that?

According to facebook, it’s the number of people who have seen any content associated with our page during a seven day period.

Another way of saying it is that something related to our American Civil War on facebook has been seen by 10,588 during the seven day period from April 2nd through April 8th.  That’s up 282% from the previous week.

There must be something to it.  The number of image likes has been rising and the rate seems to have increased.  Today we went over 4500 and it currently stands at 4505.

Four blogs contribute material to The American Civil War on facebook:

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Torn Asunder

August 3, 2011

I’ve created a short video using photographs from the civil war and and mixed it with a couple of medleys of civil war music recorded almost 100 years ago.  I titled it “Torn Asunder–Images from America’s Civil War.”   It can be viewed in high definition by going to YouTube.com and then selecting the full screen icon in lower right corner of video (move mouse cursor over lower part of video to see icon).

Before and after:

image

Unidentified young soldier in New York Zouave uniform

This little project took a lot longer than the one’s I’ve created from my own photos and videos.  I assembled it photo by photo as I found them in the U.S. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog.  Each image was “adjusted” to correct fading, remove spots and scratches, or other enhancements.  The audio was enhanced to filter out most of the static, hisses, and pops.

The video shows very little of battle.  First off, there are very few actual photos of battle.  Second, for most people, including the soldiers, the actual fighting was only a fraction of their war-time experiences.

I am using the frames from some of the photographs in the new header on my Daily Observations from the Civil War blog, which, of course, also has a post on this video, with a different slant to the blog post content.

_________

Description of photographs:

  • Keedysville, Md., vicinity. Confederate wounded at Smith’s Barn, with Dr. Anson Hurd, 14th Indiana Volunteers, in attendance, September 1862.
  • Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform and forage cap.
  • Chickahominy River, Va. Grapevine bridge built May 27-28, 1862, by the 5th New Hampshire Infantry under Col. Edward E. Cross.
  • Unidentified young soldier in Union uniform with musket, bayonet, and knapsack.
  • Aquia Creek Landing, Va. Embarkation of 9th Army Corps for Fort Monroe, February 1863.
  • Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform and slouch hat, missing jacket buttons.
  • Cedar Mountain, Va. A Confederate field hospital, 1862.
  • Unidentified young soldier in New York Zouave uniform.
  • Cumberland Landing, Va. Federal encampment April – May 1862.
  • Unidentified young soldier in Confederate shell jacket, Hardee hat with Mounted Rifles insignia and plume with canteen and cup.
  • Military Bridge across the Chicahominy, June 1862.
  • Unidentified African American soldier in Union uniform in front of painted backdrop showing military camp.
  • Rebel gun in front of Fort Hell, April 1865, a Confederate cannon inside of Fort Sedgwick in Petersburg, Virginia.
  • Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform.
  • Yorktown, Va. Embarkation for White House Landing, Va.
  • Unidentified young sailor in Union uniform.
  • Antietam Bridge, September, 1862.
  • Unidentified soldier in Confederate shell jacket and slouch hat with object hanging from neck in front of painted backdrop showing waterfall.
  • Confederate prisoners at Fairfax Courthouse, June 1863.
  • Unidentified girl in mourning dress holding framed photograph of her father as a cavalryman with sword and Hardee hat.
  • Hand colored; Tending wounded Union soldiers at Savage’s Station, Virginia, during the Peninsular Campaign, 1862.
  • Two unidentified women reading letters.
  • James River, Va. Sailors on deck of U.S.S. Monitor; cookstove at left, July 9, 1862.
  • Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform and civilian, likely his father or older brother.
  • Harper’s Ferry, meeting of the Potomac and the Shenandoah, July 1865.
  • Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform.
  • Libby Prison, Richmond, Va., August 23, 1863.
  • Unidentified African American Union soldier with a rifle and revolver in front of painted backdrop showing weapons and American flag at Benton Barracks, Saint Louis, Missouri.
  • Manassas, Virginia. Camp of General Irvin McDowell’s body guard, hand colored photographic print.
  • Unidentified soldier in uniform with young woman, probably his wife.
  • Secret Service agents, Whitehouse, Va.
  • Unidentified soldier in Confederate uniform of the 11th Virginia regiment with knapsack and bedroll.
  • Dinner time in camp.
  • Unidentified woman wearing mourning brooch and displaying framed image of unidentified soldier.
  • Confederate artillery near Charleston, S.C.
  • Unidentified soldier in Union uniform with Company E, 12th Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers hat.
  • Confederate prisoners at Belle Plain Landing, Va., captured with Johnson’s Division, May 12, 1864.
  • 1863, Interior view of Fort Sumter showing ruins and explosion.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Observations on or from the Battle of Bull Run

July 21, 2011

image
Josiah Marshall
Favill
image
Image of unknown
man used for John
Beauchamp Jones.
image
Image of unknown
woman used for
“refugee” Judith
White McQuire.
image
Joseph Howland
image
Horatio Nelson Taft
image
William Howard Russell

Seven of the writers that I am including at Daily Observations from The Civil War wrote diary entries or letters on July 21, 1861 that related to the battle near Manassas Junction and/or the aftermath.  The following are excerpts from their writings of the day:

Josiah Marshall Favill – “In the order prescribed by the regulations, for a force feeling the enemy preparatory to an attack, we marched forward, passing over the open field and into a piece of full grown timber, apparently the slope of a considerable hill. As we slowly ascended the rising ground, suddenly a loud screeching noise overhead sent more than half the regiment pell mell the other side of a fence that ran along the road side. Here we crouched down flat on our bellies, our hearts in our mouths..,” – Diary of a Young Officer.

John Beauchamp Jones – “The President left the city this morning for Manassas, and we look for a battle immediately. I have always thought he would avail himself of his prerogative as commander-in-chief, and direct in person the most important operations in the field; and, indeed, I have always supposed he was selected to be the Chief of the Confederacy, mainly with a view to this object, as it was generally believed…” – A Rebel War Clerk’s Diary at the Confederate States Capital.

Judith White McQuire – “We were at church this morning and heard Bishop Meade, on the subject of “Praise.” He and his whole congregation greatly excited. Perhaps there was no one present who had not some near relative at Manassas…” Diary of a Southern Refugee During the War.

Joseph Howland – “On The Battle-Field Near Bull Run… Our brigade is making a demonstration in the face of the enemy and a fight is going on on the right of the line five or six miles off.” – Letters of a Family During the War for the Union.

Horatio Nelson Taft – “This has been the most exciting day yet. We have heard the guns all day from the battle which has been raging at or near Mannasses Junction. There is no news that can be relied on public tonight, only that a terrible fight has been going on all day.” – Diary of a Clerk in the U.S. Patent Office.

William Howard Russell – “The calmness and silence of the streets of Washington this lovely morning suggested thoughts of the very different scenes which, in all probability, were taking place at a few miles’ distance. One could fancy the hum and stir round the Federal bivouacs, as the troops woke up and were formed into column of march towards the enemy.” – My Diary North and South.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Three of my civil war writers cross paths!

June 29, 2011

At Daily Observations from The Civil War, I publish daily writings from letters and diaries of 150 years ago, scheduling posts well in advance to keep from getting overwhelmed or behind.

lusk_and_woolseysWhile working with War Letters of William Thompson Lusk, I came across some familiar names.  On August 11, 1861, Lt. Lusk writes to his mother, “I have been fortunate in meeting several friends most unexpectedly during the last few days. Miss Woolsey was at our encampment on some errand of mercy yesterday evening. I saw her for a few moments, and promised to call upon her and Mrs. Howland soon, which I shall do if allowed to leave the camp. The laws are very strict though now, and I doubt whether I shall be able to leave the camp for some time to come.”

Miss Woolsey was Georgeanna Muirson Woolsey and Mrs. Howland was her sister, Eliza Woolsey Howland.  Many of their civil war letters – and those of other family members – are preserved in Letters of a Family During the War for the Union, another book I have been working with. There, Eliza Howland writes to her husband on October 1, 1861, “Very little to tell you about except a few calls, including one from Mrs. General Franklin to ask us to take tea with her to-night. Lieutenant Lusk of the 79th, whom we used to know as “Willy” Lusk, also came. He seems to have grown up into a very fine young fellow, handsome and gentlemanly, and with the same sweet expression he had as a child. He was studying medicine in Europe when the war broke out, but came home at once and enlisted as Lieutenant in the 79th, where he is now Acting Captain—so many of the regiment were either killed or taken prisoners at Bull Run.”

Georgeanna and Eliza lived together in Washington, D.C., while Eliza’s husband, Joseph served in the Union Army of the Potomac.  When the Army of the Potomac left the Washington area, they tried to get permission to travel with it.  However, they were unsuccessful until the Sanitary Commission gave them positions  on the hospital ship Daniel Webster.

All three survived the war. 

Eliza and her husband returned to their home in New York after he was wounded in 1862 at the Battle of Gaines’ Mill, effectively ending his military career. 

Georgeanna became very prominent in nursing during the war and after, including being one of the principle founders of the Connecticut Training School for Nurses. 

William took part in engagements at Blackburn’s Ford, First Bull Run, Port Royal, James Island, Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and many other minor battles. He was also a staff officer of Isaac I. Stevens until Stevens’ death, and he commanded two companies during the Draft Riots of 1863.  When his command was sent to Delaware and designated as inactive, he resigned and returned to medical school. 

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

What I’ve been working on

November 30, 2010

Most of the online work that I have been doing lately has been associated with my civil war blog, adding entries that will be posted at some point in the future.  The following is cross-posted from that blog.

Introduction to some of the letter, journal and diary writers from 1860 and 1861 who will appear on the pages of Daily Observations from The Civil War.

A major part of my approach to the war is to present observations made in letters, journals, and diaries by people living the war and its impacts. My hope is that this will often result in our being able to “see” the progress of events from a variety of perspectives.

In most instances, I will be including all of what was included in the published versions of their writings, no matter how mundane. Some will have entries for almost every day while, with others, there will be long lapses without writing.

I have a large number of posts already scheduled for future publication in “Daily Observations from The Civil War,” including material from the following writers:

Dora Richards Miller, "War Diary of a Union Woman in the South"

Mary Boykin Chesnut, "A Diary From Dixie"

Lincoln Administration Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Wells, "Diary of Gideon Welles"

Susan Bradford Eppes, "Through Some Eventful Years"

Horatio King, Postmaster General at the end of the Buchanan administration

Catherine Cowles Richards, "Village Life in America 1852 - 1872"

The Woolseys of New York, "Letters of a Family During the War for the Union"

DNC Chairman August Belmont, "A Few Letters and Speeches of the Late Civil War"

John Beuchamp Jones, "A Rebel War Clerk's Diaray at the Confederate States Capital." (Image is from 1845 political cartoon)

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

Blogs and Diaries

November 14, 2010

I’ve been spend a bit of time working on the civil war blog, Daily Observations from The Civil War, and, as a result, have been missing from here for a bit.  However, since much of what will be posted in that blog is going to be time relevant, I want to get a good handle on it before things really start happening.

It’s highly likely that I will be going back to work for another 6 month stint beginning in January which means that I’ll be working during the 150th anniversary of the run-up to and beginning of the civil war.  The amount of time that I’ll have for working on the blog will, thus, be limited – which is the reason for the effort now.

imageI’m currently working with  “Village Life in America, 1852 – 1872,” by Caroline Cowles Richards.  I went ahead and back posted entries from the early days of her diary and am pre-posting entries after November 14, 1860 so each will be published on the applicable day.

Things were going fine until I discovered the e-text I was using didn’t match the text in the pdf copy I was using to check spelling and wording against.  I had already run into missing text earlier, but had just assumed that an error had been made in electronic transcription.

richards_catherine_cowlesBut, then, I ran into an instance where the entry in the pdf version for a particular date had a lot more information and detail.

It turns out that the pdf version is a “new and enlarged” edition.

In looking into it a little further, it turns out that it is at least the third published edition of Miss Richard’s diary and, probably, has entries included that were left out of the previous editions.

So now I am going back and comparing editions and adding new posts where they were omitted.

Of course, if I used the e-text and pdf for the same edition, there wouldn’t have been any discrepency to be found.

I’ll be incorporating more diaries into the blog, but I’ll make sure that the text and pdf versions are from the same source document.

2500I mentioned in an earlier post that I had joined with two others on The American Civil War page on facebook. That was 3 weeks ago and the “friend” count for the page was 1,385.  Today, it went over 2,500.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

← Previous Entries