Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Tennessee in the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Commemoration of the American Civil War on postage stamps wikipedia , lookup
Gettysburg Address wikipedia , lookup
Opposition to the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Issues of the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
Union (American Civil War) wikipedia , lookup
United States presidential election, 1860 wikipedia , lookup
United Kingdom and the American Civil War wikipedia , lookup
The Irish Volunteer Official newsletter for the 116th Pennsylvania, 4th California and th 54 Massachusetts Infantry February, 2006 Published by Mary L. Miller February Drill & Meetings Our next event will be Saturday February 11, 2006: Company meeting, potluck and drill. Location: 1945 Matthews Loop S, Salem. •10 A.M.-Noon: Drillsoldiers please be prompt. We will drill in the park 1 block away. •10 A.M.-Noon: Civilian meeting in the home. •Noon-1:30: Potluck •1:30-3:00: Board meeting Please bring your filled out membership forms and safety tests with you. You can get all the forms off our website at www.116pvi.org Forms will also be available at the event. Potluck- The meat and soft drinks will be provided. Last names A-L please bring a salad and/or side dish. M-W please bring bread/rolls and dessert. Directions: From I-5 take Kuebler Blvd exit #252 turn west and proceed 3.8 miles. Turn right on Croisan Scenic, go 1 block and turn right on Justice Way. Proceed about 4 blocks on Justice Way and it becomes 18th Place. Go about 3 more blocks and at the traffic circle turn uphill onto Matthews Loop. The home is the last one on the right at the top of the hill. From Polk County over the Salem bridge: Turn South on Commercial, proceed about 2+ miles and take Liberty road at the "Y" for about 2+. Turn right on Cunningham just before the Sunnyslope shopping center. Proceed almost to the end and turn left on Century, one block then left on Connector, one block then right on Matthews Loop, proceed one block until street turns left downhill. Home is on your left. www.116pvi.org Event Change There has been a change in the official NCWC calendar for this season. The Deschutes River Campaign in Tenino, Washington, scheduled for July 29-30, 2006, has been cancelled. The NCWC hopes to replace it with a different WCWA event. “The Same Canteen” by Private Miles O'Reilly The following poem was written by Charles G. Halpine under the pseudonym Private Miles O’Reilly. Halpine was an Irish immigrant who served briefly as a lieutenant in the 69th New York Infantry, Irish Brigade, before gaining a staff position with General David Hunter in South Carolina. While there he drafted orders authorizing the raising of the Army's first black regiment. 2 “The Same Canteen” There are bonds of all sorts in this world of ours, Fetters of friendship and ties of flowers, And true lover's knots, I ween; The girl and the boy are bound by a kiss, But there's never a bond, old friend, like this, We have drank from the same Canteen! It was sometimes water, and sometimes milk, And sometimes apple-jack "fine as silk;" But whatever the tipple has been We shared it together in bane or bliss, And I warm to you, friend, when I think of this, We drank from the same Canteen! The rich and great sit down to dine, They quaff to each other in sparkling wine, From glasses of crystal and green; But I guess in their golden potations they miss The warmth of regard to be found in this, We drank from the same Canteen! We have shared our blankets and tents together, And have marched and fought in all kinds of weather, And hungry and full we have been; Had days of battle and days of rest, But this memory I cling to and love the best, We drank from the same Canteen! For when wounded I lay on the center slope, With my blood flowing fast and so little hope Upon which my faint spirit could lean; Oh! then I remember you crawled to my side, And bleeding so fast it seemed both must have died, We drank from the same Canteen! Source: Poetry and Music of the War Between the States. “The Same Canteen”. http://civilwarpoetry.org/union/soldierlife/canteen.html and accompanying links. www.116pvi.org “The Mother of the Army” One of the most interesting things for me to do in my Civil War reenactment endeavor is to find unknown heroes and heroines during the war era and to present their Biblical perspective. In the previous newsletter, we mentioned some unknown heroes and heroines in “A Tribute to Irish Abolitionists." In recognition of African-American history month this February, let us acknowledge another unknown heroine of the Civil War: Sister Lydia Penny, who was known as “the Mother of the Army”. As Civil War reenactors, most of us are aware of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry and their heroic charge at Fort Wagner. However, the 54th was not the only unit of African descent involved in the Civil War. There were between 166 and 167 African-American units in the Union forces and they fought in over four hundred battles. Thirty-nine of those battles were major escalations. One particular unit was the 5th United States Colored Troops and their matron of honor, Sister Lydia Penny. Sister Penny is known for her considerate actions for soldiers at the battle of Deep Bottom, Virginia on July 27, 1864. In a letter written on December 21, 1864, Quartermaster Sergeant James H. Payne of the 27th U.S. Colored Infantry near Richmond, Virginia wrote, "civilians often accompanied army regiments as 3 servants, wagon drivers, sutlers, or cooks." This was true in both white and black regiments. Sergeant Payne tells of "Sister Lydia Penny," a nurse who traveled with the 5th United States Colored Infantry. "Permit me the privilege, through your worthy columns, to give your readers a brief historical introduction to our very worthy and eminent sister and mother in the army, Sister Lydia Penny. Sister Penny was born a slave in Blount County, East Tennessee, in the year of our Lord 1814. At the time of the Indian war, when General [Winfield] Scott and General Wood drove the Indians from their habitations in Tennessee, Sister Penny served two years as a cook. She was, at the time, only a girl; but she informed me that she subsequently became the mother of a family of children whose companionship she had long been deprived of through Slavery, and that she was left a widow to suffer the torments of cruel oppression." (Her children were sold away from her, she never saw them again, and she lost her husband.) "She was finally sold to a Dutch butcher in Memphis, Tennessee. By this time she had learn to trust in God, who had promised to deliver the oppressed and to open the prison doors to them that are bound. She said that she had a falling-out with her Dutch mistress about something, and that she gave her master and mistress both to understand distinctly that she intended to run away from them, which threat she carried into effect about one week after it was made, by which time they thought that she had become contented to remain with them. Sister Penny says that she kept herself concealed among friends in Memphis until the Union army had extended its lines near the city, when she made her way within its lines, and again engaged herself as a cook. Here, she said, being a lonely widow, and having no one in particular to befriend or protect her, prudence dictated the propriety of making selection of a companion, which she did, as soon as she found one who she thought would treat her as a wife and act the part of a faithful husband by her. While in the army she formed the acquaintance with Mr. Penny, a native of Pennsylvania, who had enlisted as a servant in the three months’ service. They finally came to the City of Cincinnati, Ohio, where Thomas Penny, her husband, re-enlisted in the service, and joined the 5th United States Colored Troops, at Camp Delaware, Ohio. Sister Penny said that she felt it to be her duty to go along with her husband, not merely on account of the love she had for him, but also for the love which she had for her country-that the cause which nerved the soldiers to pour out their life-blood was her cause, and that of her race, and that she felt it to be her Christian duty to do all she could for the liberty of her afflicted and down-trodden race. This good woman is called by those who are acquainted with her, ‘the Mother of the Army.’ She well deserved the name, for she has been in the service ever since this rebellion broke out, or very nearly as long. Sister Penny says that she is not tired of the service, nor does she think of leaving the field until the last gun is fired and peace is declared, and every slave is freed from captivity. Many of our officers and men who were wounded at the battle of Deep Bottom [July 27, 1864] will never forget the kind deeds of Sister Lydia Penny, who went among them and administered to their wants as they lay weltering in their blood on the banks of the James, near Jones’ Landing. There she could be seen, the only woman present, like an angel from above, giving words of cheer, and doing all in her power to relieve the suffering of the wounded and dying. Yes, while others stood aloof, thinking themselves too good even to go near enough to give them a drink of water to quench their burning thirst, Sister Penny was seen, like a ministering angel, or one of the holy women who in primitive days administered to Christ and His apostles. She gave them water to drink and bread to eat, and assisted the surgeons in dressing the wounds. When the www.116pvi.org 4 wounded were placed on the boats to be taken to hospitals at Fortress Monroe, she left her tent and all behind and went on board the boats to minister to their comfort. When they were delivered into the hands of careful nurses, Sister Penny returned to her tent, where she ever waits to administer to the wants of the afflicted soldier. Her husband seems to be much a gentlemen. I hope that all Christians who shall be permitted to read this short statement of Sister Penny’s life and character will pray for her; and I can assure them; they will pray for a worthy woman." Notice that Quartermaster Sergeant James H. Payne quoted from the Holy Scriptures of the Bible in reference to the character of Lydia Penny. He likened her to one of the women who ministered unto the Lord Jesus, which is in Luke 8:2,3. He mentioned her as an angel ministering spirits which is in Hebrews 1:14, and he mentioned her as one of the holy women in old times, which is in 1st Peter 3:5. The Scripture says in Hebrews 13:8 that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. And Malachi 3:6 says “For I am the Lord, I change not.” Therefore, the same Lord Jesus Christ that Lydia Penny believed in is the same Lord Jesus Christ that we can believe in and trust in even today. Consequently, the personal Scriptural linkage between those living in Sister Penny's day and those living today is in 1st Thessalonians 4:16,17, which says "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." What great words of comfort and promises to "individual believers living in Sister Penny's day and individual believers living today in the Lord Jesus Christ." One may ask why were those words so great to believers than and are great for believers today? Because no matter wherever one is, whether one is dead or alive, when the Lord returns, immediately they will be with him. Therefore, the dead in Christ, which were Sister Lydia Penny, and million upon million of believers throughout history and of various ethnicity shall rise first. Then we who are alive in the Lord today and remain shall be "caught up" together with them in the clouds. We as believers today do not know when the Lord will return and it could happen at any time in such an hour we think not, which means one could be withdrawing money out of an ATM machine but if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. One could be at their job but if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. One could be attending a wedding or baby shower but if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. One could be taking their car in for a tune up or purchasing gasoline but if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. One could be taking their clothes to the dry cleaner or a laundromat, but if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. One could be driving home from work after a hectic day but if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. One could be stuck in the middle of a traffic jam but if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. One could be grocery shopping but if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. One could have just put their bills to mail off in the mail box but if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. One could be on an airliner flying to France or Mexico for vacation but if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. One could be looking at a house to potentially buy it but if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. One could be going to a restaurant for breakfast, lunch or dinner but if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. One could be picking up a friend at the train station or the Greyhound bus station but if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. One could be attending their fifteen year high school reunion but if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. One could be going to visit their in-laws but if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. Even if one does things that we take for granted in our normal life (washing our face or brushing our teeth) if the Lord returns, one will be caught up. www.116pvi.org 5 One may wonder or say, you started off with the testimony of Lydia Penny and ended with talking about the Lord's return, so what is the point to all this? The point is ultimately that there is the perspective of eternal life and the realm of eternity. We are all limited to a specific space of time to live and then we die. However, fortunately for us, the Lord Jesus Christ is the common denominator between Sister Penny, a person who attended a camp meeting service on the frontier in 1801, a slave who never learned to read or write, a Union or Confederate soldier, or a person living in our contemporary times. The realm of eternity for us is through the Lord Jesus Christ. Take care and many Blessing from your Comrade in Christ, Chaplain Daniel E. Hayes Jr. 116th Pennsylvania/54th Massachusetts Source on Sister Lydia Penny: Redkey, Edwin S. A Grand Army of Black Men. Forty-Ninth Letter, 123-125. Book Review: Team of Rivals By Ken Morris, 10th New York Cavalry Pulitzer Prize winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln is a must-read for all Civil War reenactors. Goodwin analyzes the character of Abraham Lincoln through the eyes of his key cabinet members: Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of State William Henry Seward, Attorney General Edward Bates, and War Secretary Edwin M. Stanton. Lincoln’s cabinet must go down as one of the most unusual in history. Rather than appointing sycophants and yes-men to his cabinet, Lincoln persuaded his political rivals to serve – men of every stripe from radical Republican abolitionist to moderate Democrat. Some of them had even run against him for the 1860 Republican nomination and had been bitterly disappointed when this “second-rate country lawyer” had snatched victory from them. But Lincoln recognized that potential enemies were safer if kept close to him rather than at arm’s length. The members of his cabinet needed to demonstrate a commitment to preserving the Union, but Lincoln was open to listening to their divergent views on how this might best be accomplished. Ultimately, Lincoln took a careful middle ground. Goodwin’s work is also extremely helpful in understanding Lincoln’s views regarding the abolition of slavery, which were far more nuanced and complex than is commonly appreciated. Gradually, Goodwin makes it clear that while Lincoln personally abhorred slavery (he once likened the Government allowing slavery to spread to new states to a parent knowingly preparing a bed of poisonous serpents for her children to sleep in) he understood that pushing for emancipation too quickly would undermine support for the war. Goodwin also makes it clear that first and foremost Lincoln’s goal was to restore the Union. He viewed the United States as a great experiment, where the question of whether or not a government “by the people and for the people” could exist, would be decided. Although perfect freedom and equality for all Americans was far from being a reality, Lincoln believed that the framers of the Constitution intended an inexorable movement towards this goal. Initially, he believed that slavery would die a natural death as long as it was not allowed to grow into new states. Strengthening the Union would provide the fertile ground where new freemen could benefit fully from the fruits of their own labor. But over time it became clear that the South would not relinquish slavery of its own accord. Although Lincoln clearly went to war to preserve the Union, www.116pvi.org 6 he also knew quite well that, as he asserted in his Second Inaugural Address, "All knew that this interest [slavery] was, somehow, the cause of the war." I have in the past found it difficult to reconcile the image of Lincoln as the “Great Emancipator” with his seeming slowness to abolish slavery. Goodwin ably guides us through the logic, which, at the time, made Lincoln’s gradual approach a necessity. And when the hour to strike finally came, Lincoln had prepared the ground of public opinion, and public sentiment generally sided with him. Team of Rivals shows, through the eyes of Lincoln’s contemporaries, both his superb sense of political timing and his skill at dealing with people. More so than any member of his Cabinet, Lincoln lived by the two Biblical precepts of treating others as he would hope to be treated, and turning the other cheek. Countless examples are brought forth demonstrating Lincoln’s sympathetic nature, and his ability to forgive those who slighted him. He rarely spoke in anger, and always apologized for his lapses. He was a highly intelligent man, but if anything, his “E.Q.” exceeded his I.Q. Managing the group of highly opinionated men in his cabinet required an emotional intelligence of the highest order. Team of Rivals brings not only the members of Lincoln’s Cabinet to life, but also their wives and families. The men of Lincoln’s administration attracted educated, politically astute women. Indeed, the constant array of social events engineered by the women forged and cemented political alliances. William Seward’s abolitionist wife Frances acted as the Secretary of State’s conscience when he strayed too far from the noble cause. Mary Lincoln comes off as sympathetic character, tormented by the ghosts of two dead sons, but putting on a brave face to meet her duties. After the death of her son Willie she spent countless hours visiting soldiers in hospitals, bringing them fresh flowers, lemons, and oranges. But unlike the other “society ladies”, she refused to have the press follow her about and report on her errands. This book will be helpful to all reenactors in understanding the political and cultural milieu of the decades preceding the Civil War. A wealth of detail on clothing, furnishings, food and other aspects of everyday life bring the era to life for the reader. We learn what its like to ride on the circuit court through the backwoods of Illinois (where judges and young lawyers had to sleep 2 or 3 to a bed at country inns, out of necessity) and to attend high society soirees in Washington. Goodwin makes sense of the diverse elements that comprised the fledgling Republican party-Whigs, moderate Democrats, abolitionists, FreeSoilers, Wide-Awakes, and so on. The reasons for sectional divisions, not only between North and South, but New England, the Western states, and the border states, become clearer and invite further study. If you want a book that will help you improve your first person impression, at least from a Northern perspective, Team of Rivals is it. Cartridges! Now is the best time of year to roll cartridges for next season! If you roll them now you can fly through the season without the hassle of making them for each event. This is also a great time to completely disassemble your musket to remove rust and oil the stock. If you need help, Quartermaster Stevens is more than willing to assist you. You may email him at [email protected] or call 503-302-3030. Submissions Newsletter submissions are due at the first of every month! Please send in your favorite Civil War quotes, poems, book reviews, reenactor tips, or other special article. www.116pvi.org