Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Warfare in the Age of Steam

Gentlemen,

Came across a blog that may be of interest. It is entitled "Warfare in the Age of Steam" and is ran by some gents from across the pond, 2 Brits & a Frenchman. The blog covers the Crimean, Franco-Prussian, Russo-Turkish Wars, American CW, and a multitude of other military topics. There are colorful paintings, a few videos, etc. I really enjoyed the Papal Zouaves posts. Below is a paintng when they were called "Volunteers of the West." According to the website, they were "renamed to appease the anti-clerical instincts of the new French republican government." It depicts the 2 December 1870 Battle of Loigny. The soldier with sword in Armistead pose is Colonel Athanase de Charette. The Colonel was wounded & briefly taken prisoner. The unit incured 67% casualties.



http://1815-1918.blogspot.com/

Mike

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

David Ireland & the 137th NY

Gentlemen,

I have been corresponding with David Cleutz, a historian of the 137th NY Infantry and author of 2 books on the subject. One of his E-mails contained the following:

"I had a visitor from Huntington Beach here today, who asked me to take him on a tour of the 1850's park-like cemetery to see Col. Ireland's monument. Someone had placed a small Christmas evergreen spray by the side of the monument - very touching to see. He had no children, but has lots of "adopted descendants" who take every opportunity to pay respects. See the attached pic. I'm glad to count you in that number of his admirers."



Thought you guys would enjoy.

Mike

Monday, January 3, 2011

Erie Pennsylvania: A Surprisingly Rich Touring Experience

I (Jamie) went to Erie, PA for the New Years weekend, as I have many times before.  My wife and I meet our college roomates in Erie, at the beautiful abode of the gracious  Bill & Becky Hilbert.  We are all University of Dayton graduates from the early years of the 1980's, and we are proud of our long friendship and traditions.

I wanted to make this trip to Erie different, and to follow up on some momentum I had created in this group of friends in the Spring of 2010, when we all vacationed on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina for Spring Break.  I convinced a couple of the guys and our sons to go to Savannah for the day, and we toured Fort Pulaski and Fort McAlister (see stamps below).  The guys (Joe Spicuzza and Bill Hilbert) were especially enthusiastic, and Bill became very interested in my USPS Passport, and acquired one for himself at Ft. Pulaski.  We then followed up the Savannah trip with a day of bike riding exploration on Hilton Head, guided only by a cartoonish tourist map, and we discovered three intact Civil War forts: Fort Howell (USA), Fort Sherman (USA) and Fort Walker (CSA).  Bill Hilbert (who had never even heard of these forts) was amazed that these treasures existed in such good shape on an Island he had been vacationing on for many years. Therefore, when I mentioned to Bill that I wanted to see the monument to Oliver Hazard Perry on Presque Isle, Bill was all for the adventure.

Followers of this Blog know that we have made a special effort to see War of 1812 sites in 2010, so I figured that December 31 was a good day to take in another site from that conflict.  I knew from my reading that Perry had built his fleet in a creek west of Erie, and that he had returned to Erie after the Battle of Lake Erie (captured British prizes in tow) to repair his fleet preperatory to ferrying William Henry Harrison's US Army across Lake Erie to Sandwich, Ontario, where they disembarked for the campaign that ended with Proctor's defeat and Tecumseh's death near modern-day Chatham, Onatrio (see Stamp Guys entry for October 16, 2010).  I reviewed an online site regarding Presque Isle State Park, which showed a monument to Perry, and described Perry's activities throughout 1813 in the Erie area.   So, I asked Bill Hilbert to show me to the Perry Monument, which he has seen a number of times as a life-long Erie resident. 

In addition, as a devotee of the Fifth Corps of the Army of the Potomac in the Civil War, I have always had a desire (on my trips to Erie) to learn more about Strong Vincent, the original Lt. Colonel of the 83rd Pennsylvania Infantry (known as the Erie Regiment) who achieved fame and immortality on July 2, 1863 when he commanded the Third Brigade, First Division of the Fifth Corps in its succesful defense of Little Round Top at Gettysburg. Vincent became a martyr to The Cause when he received a mortal wound in the fight.  A few quick internet searches identified that Vincent was buried in Erie Cemetary, and that there was a statue to him at Blasco Memorial Library. Bill was very familiar with both of these sites, and promised to take me there.

We started out with a trip to dowtown Erie, where we passed Perry Park, a handsome rectangle of greenery in the middle of the downtown. Bill mentioned that there were statues at either end of the park, and we made a mental note to return later in the day. Bill also mentioned that Erie is the home of the Pennsylvania Soliders & Sailors Home, and that the home had a military cemetary, so we decided to add the Home to our burgeoning itinerary.

We headed to the Erie waterfront to the Library, which is right next to the Erie Maritime Museum. The Museum was closed for the Holiday, but the famed brig Niagara is based there.  Bill promised me that we would take in the Museum and the Niagara on a future trip to Erie.  Stamp Guys, are you game???

We then strolled over to the Library and took in the excellent statue of Strong Vincent (see picture below).  Vincent is portrayed in an accurate style, standing atop a rock as he brandishes his riding crop (not a sword). He proudly boasts a Maltese Cross (symbol of the Fifth Corps) on his blouse, and the granite base of the statue bears a recreation of his Brigade pennant with the Cross. The link above really shows the staue's detail very well.  Bill and I both marvelled at the excellent condition of the statue, which sits in the open on the library lawn.



As we looked south toward Erie from the Vincent statue, I spied the golden onion domes of an Orthodox Church on a bluff overlooking the waterfront.  I commented on it, and Bill (catching the true spirit of exploration that animates all Stamp Guy outings) said "let's go see it."  The facility turned out to be a Russian Orthodox Church (with its own historical roadside plague describing the "Little Russia" neighborhood that grew up on the bluff during the industrial boom days of Erie in the late 19th and early 20th centuries). As we attempted to find a way into the locked Church, Bill saw a few historical roadside markers about 100 yards down the street that ran parallel to the edge of the bluff.  This set of three markers turned into a treasure trove. The first marker described the history of forts in Erie, showing the placement of a fort called Presque built by the French ("Presque" is French for peninsula, which accurately describes the spit of land that thrusts northeast into Lake Erie, almost parallel to the shore, before cutting back in and enclosing a perfectly protected bay with a narrow channel).  Fort Presque was built just inside the bay, with the obvious desire of dominating any wind-borne ships trying to cross the four foot deep mouth of the channel.  Fort Presque was eventually repalced by a British fort at the same spot after the French & Indian War.  The next marker described the site of American Fort, built by General "Mad" Anthony Wayne during the Indian Wars of 1793-1794. The marker indicated that American Fort was slightly east of the marker, down the bluff by the Soldiers &Sailors Home today.  The final Marker described American Fort in more detail, and included the amazing information that General Wayne was buried there!!!!!!

Well, as Sherlock Holmes says, the game was now afoot.  Bill and I drove onto the grounds of the S&S home, and headed around the north side of the stately Victorian-era strucure toward the graveyard.  As we cleared the buildings, we saw the graveyard with their familiar US Veterens markers, and then off to the left a Stockade (see picture). 

We drove to the stockade site, which had a padlock on the door and the upstairs windows.  A local resident was exercising his dogs in the park-like setting by the stockade, and he approached and told us that (1) the stockade has a small museum inside, which can be accessed if you go to the S&S Home, leave your driver's license and ask for a key and (2) that Wayne was buried under the blockhouse. (This link seems to confirm the information we received)  On closer inspection, Bill discovered that the corner stone of the blockhouse was marked with the single word "WAYNE".  While we both contemplated trying to get the key, we quickly agreed that we would save this treat for a future trip, and then headed over to the graveyard.  The graveyard contains numerous Civil War burials, including a Liuetenant form the First Nebraska Cavalry, numerous USCT veterans, and one guy who served in both the Civil War and the Spanish-American War.  The Civil War section contains a handsome monument (see picture).  We also viewed the headstones of WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam veterans who had spent their final days in the Home on the bluff overlooking Lake Erie, built on the site of Anthony Wayne's fort.  This site has been owned by the US government for a long, long time.



After touring the S&S Home, we headed across Erie.  On our way to Presque Isle, Bill showed me some beautiful structures in Erie, such as St. Patrick's Cathlolic Church, the Erie Catholic Cathedral,  Cathedral Prep High School, the rows of mansions on 10th and 6th Streets, and Strong Vincent High School.  We saw a historical marker on the corner of 6th Street and Cascade that discussed something about Perry, but we couldn't stop at the moment and decided to come back later in the day.  We then headed onto the road that leads north on to Presque Isle, which is a state park.  The weather was unseasonably warm on December 31, and the park had a good contingent of walkers, bicyclists and runners.  We drove past the many amenities of the Park designed for summer beach-goers and water lovers, and headed toward the far end of the Park, where the peninsula curves back south toward downtown Erie.  At a place called Crystal Point, we stopped and walked out on a path to the Perry Monument (see picture).  There were numerous wayside markers describing the role Erie played in the War of 1812 and in the complex campaign for control of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.




We then headed back to the mainland and decided to hunt down the plague we had first spied at 6th and Cascade.  The Plague told us that Perry had built the 110-foot brigs Niagara and Lawrence, and the sloop Ariel, at "the foot of this street."  Bill directed his Yukon north on Cascade until we ran out of Cascade Street at the bluff overlooking some waterfront condos and a marina. However, just to the east of the street, in a children's park, sat a small, unobtrusive boulder with a bronze plague on the north side. The plague (see picture) informed us that Perry built his ships "100 yards north of this spot" in Cascade Creek.  Bill and I walked the few steps to the bluff, and sure enough we saw the woodline of a creek that meandered in from the west.  Cascade Creek is so small that Bill had never even heard of it. When we return for our next tour, I have tasked Bill with figuring out a way to get down into the mouth of Cascade Creek so that we can see the actual ship building site. 

Bill and I then proceeded to Perry Park, and took in the statue of Perry on the east end of the Park (with the immortal words "We have met the enemy and they are ours" carved in script on the front), and then swung around to the west side and viewed a two-figured statue to the soldiers & sailors from Erie County in the Civil War.  The Statue had a wayside exhibit chock full of information about the various infantry, cavalry and artillery units made up of Erie men during the War.  In addition to the aforementioned 83rd PA, the Erie area also contributed the 145th PA Infantry, whose soldiers are immortailized in the painting of Hancock's Second Corps surging over the works at Spotsylvania's Mule Shoe Salient on May 12, 1864 (which is reproduced on the wayside).

Bill then drove us to Erie Cemetary, incorporated in 1850 and as spectacular as many of the other graveyards of that vintage.  We were drawn to the grave of Vincent, which for some reason is covered with pennies (see the picture).  The marker is one of many in a circular formation around a Celtic Cross that bears the name Vincent on its base.  The Erie Cemetary also boats the grave of another luminary of the First Division of the Fifth Corps, Colonel John McLane (see picture). McLane was the original Colonel of the 83rd PA, and he was killed in the titanic struggle along Boatswain's Creek at the Battle of Gaines Mill on June 27, 1862.  McLane's grave interestingly carries a subtle Maltese Cross, even though I do not believe he or his unit ever bore the symbol during McLane's life.



We left Erie Cemetary after viewing a few of its more spectacular mausoleums and family plots.  We headed back to Bill's house in the 'burbs to meet our spouses and friends, with whom we shared a wonderful New Years Feast of roast pork, mashed potatoes and (of course) good-luck bearing sauerkraut, along with several bottles of fantastic pinot noir selected by Bill.  We finished the evening sipping Manhattens while we watched football and the New Years Eve countdown, ensconsed in the loving warmth of good long-time friends, and bouyed by the thrill of new discoveries.