Civil War

Relics

Civil War Relics

Relics

For such a young country, the United States has a lot of history. Just taking into account the American Revolution and the Civil War, we also have a lot of battlefields in the east. Many of these battlefields are still full of relics that enterprising people will go out and find. Sometimes they do it to sell what hey find, sometimes they do it to try to persevere history. For the most part, relic hunting on government-owned land is illegal and some may even question the morality of it. These battlefields are mass grave yards where many hundreds even thousands of people have died.

For collectors there is a draw to these relics. Holding a piece of history in your hand is something beyond words. Stories become real and a sense of magnitude takes over. Guessing how the pieces got to where they were found, who may have touched them, what stories do they hold. Sure, you can go to a museum and see them behind glass, in cases, up on walls, but you can’t touch them or feel them.

Now of course besides the legal issue, you also have the issue of authenticity. Generally of the price is too good to be true, it is. Sometimes though that doesn’t really matter if you need a certain piece for your collection. Price and value are relative in many ways.

Shrapnel

Above is a picture of some pieces from my personal collection. They were supposedly dug from the Seven Pines battlefield in Henrico County Virginia. The battle took place May 31st to June 1st 1862 as part of the Peninsula Campaign during the Civil War.

As you can see they are not cleaned up and only a few pieces are easily recognizable. In the upper left you the broken pieces of an artillery shell (round hollow ball with a fuse that explodes into shrapnel). The Lower left you have a prick, which was used with cannons, once the tube was loaded you would shove the prick into the touch hole to expose the powder. In the upper right is  a nail. The rest appears to be iron banding and other scraps.

Are these really artifacts from a Civil War battlefield? I can not say for certain, but I think they are and that makes it pretty cool to have.

Word and Phrases, WWII

Kilroy Was Here

Kilroy was here

Kilroy Was Here

 

The doodle and phrase seems to be everywhere that US Soldiers have visited throughout the years.  It is really cool to think that something like this went viral before the term going viral even came to be. So who is Kilroy and where does he come from? Now that is an interesting story.

Mr. Chad

The origin of the doodle part, the bald man, big nose, hands looking over a wall, most likely originated in Britain in the early days of WWII. That character, named Mr. Chad, was a response to the rations during the war. His image would appear on walls with a phrase such as “Wot? No tea?” Or whatever was in short supply at the time.  US servicemen stationed in Britain took note of Mr. Chad and took him onto the continent during the invasion of France.

Kilroy

The name Kilroy is a little tougher to nail down. For the most part it is thought that Kilroy wasn’t a real person, just a neat name to go with the image. There is however at least one possibility that makes sense. In 1946 a radio contest tried to find out where the name came and phrase came from. One of the contestants was James J. Kilroy, a steel worker from Massachusetts. During the war his primary job was inspecting tanks and ship hulls.

As Kilroy explained to the ATA:

I started my new job with enthusiasm, carefully surveying every inner bottom and tank before issuing a contract. I was thoroughly upset to find that practically every test leader [the head of a work crew] I met wanted me to go down and look over his job with him, and, when I explained to him that I had already checked the job and could not spare the time to crawl through one of those tanks again, he would accuse me of not having looked the job over.

I was getting sick of being accused of not looking the jobs over and one day as I came through the manhole of a tank I had just surveyed, I angrily marked with yellow crayon on the tank top, where the tester could see it, ‘Kilroy was here.’

The following day, a test gang leader approached me with a grin on his face and said, ‘I see you looked my job over.’ I nodded in agreement.

Kilroy figured that other workers may have seen his mark and took the expression with them when the went in the military. He was able to provide witness and collaboration for the events and won the contest.

Uncle Joe?

That seems like a good enough answer to me.  The best Kilroy story though by far is from the Potsdam Conference in 1945. Churchill, Truman and Stalin were meeting to make their plans for the post war world. During a break Stalin reportedly went into one of the restrooms. When finished he came out asking one of his aids who Kilroy was. Not even Uncle Joe could avoid a visit by Kilroy!

 

Word and Phrases

Wednesday Words & Phrases: Click (or Klick)

Image result for klick distance
Best I could find for the term!

Click or Klick

Kilometer

This term became popular during the Vietnam War and is an indication of distance, a kilometer to be exact. The range of the big artillery guns  was managed by turning one of two dials (for lack of a better term). One of which was for large adjustments, one click of the dial equaled one kilometer.  The other was for smaller adjustments, less than a kilometer.

Some have indicated that the term predates Vietnam and could be from the Korean War or in the interwar period. It may, but it definitely came into popular use during the 60’s.

Modern

The Wilson Desk

The Wilson Desk

The Wilson Desk

Or at least sort of.

Above is a recreation of the Oval Office from the GR Ford Presidential Museum and is very accurate in almost every detail. The one detail that we are going to look at here is the desk.

The Wilson Desk, as it is known, served both Presidents Nixon and Ford. Nixon chose it because it had supposedly been used by President Woodrow Wilson. It is mahogany and was purchased between 1897 and 1899 for use in the US Capitol.

During the time that the desk served President Nixon, it saw some things.  The desk saw the Vietnam War spiral out of control and come to an end. It saw a man sit at it that had not been elected to his position. It saw numerous policy decisions that we are still seeing effects of today. Most importantly, it also saw a number of recording devices being installed into it.  Devices that would cause one if its occupants to leave the office before his time.

Coming from the Vice Presidents room at the Capitol it saw use by some major names before being called up to the big leagues. Teddy Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry S. Truman, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson and Hubert Humphrey among others.

When Carter took over the office, the desk was returned to the Capitol where it has served every VP since.

Oh yeah. The name.

No one has a clue. While Nixon thought it had been used by Woodrow Wilson, that was certainly wrong. For a time it was believed that the desk had been used by President Grant’s VP Henry Wilson. Later that was disproved as he had been VP almost twenty years before the desk was purchased. So the actual origin? Who knows, maybe it should have had the recording devices put in sooner.

 

American Revolution, Book Reviews

Book Review: The Unruly City

The Unruly City Audiobook

The Unruly City: Paris, London and New York in the Age of Revolution by Mike Rapport

 

During roughly the same time period all three cities mentioned in the title of the book underwent revolution. New York had the American Revolution and in the wake of that a softer revolution based around how the country was to be run. London, while not an outright revolution, went through a period of political turmoil that was spawned by the American and French Revolutions. Paris, well in their revolution Paris pretty much burned.

So the question is, why did the French Revolution become such a violent event while the revolutions in New York and London, though just as world changing, stay relativity violence free? Part of the answer according to the author lies in the cities themselves. How they were built, where the public buildings were located, how the grew in response to the turmoil outside.  This is a book not about revolution but about the geography of revolution and how the construction of the cities themselves shaped the events.

Yes, it sounds a little out there, at least to me. The author however handles the topic well and treats the cities themselves as characters in the narrative. They comes off as living breathing entities that react and sometimes even guide the events purported by the people residing in them.

It can get a little heavy at times, not boring, but a lot  is going on as the narrative bounces between locations. The one thing that is totally and unquestionable accomplished with this book is perspective. A lot is happening at the same time and events in one city effect the others and this is handled very well.

It is my opinion that one can not truly respect what the American Revolution was until you understand what the French Revolution became. If that interests you, then this book needs to make your list. It is highly recommended and as always you can pick up a copy via Amazon by clicking on the cover above.

Word and Phrases

Wednesday Words & Phrases: Face the Music

Image result for face the music

Face the Music

To Accept Punishment

When a military officer was to be  kicked out of the service it is said that he was cashiered. This comes from the French casser, “to break”. When this happened the officer would stand in front of the regimental drummer while the reasons for his dismissal was being read aloud, all the while the drummer played. After the reading was over the drums would change to a somber tattoo while the officer’s sword was broken and the buttons torn from his uniform. The rhythm of the drums would then change again as the officer was escorted from the scene.

Besides having “faced the music” the officer was also said to have been “drummed out”. “Drummed out” entered general speech in 1776, but “face the music” took much longer not reaching general use until the 1880’s.

Modern, Movie Reviews

Movie Review: War Machine

Poster for War Machine 2017
The tag line sums the movie up well, just remember it is not a comedy.

Movie Review: War Machine

War Machine is a Netflix original movie that is centered around the conflict in Afghanistan. It is not a comedy, but not quote a drama, definitely not a documentary, but more in the real of satire. There in lies the problem with the movie. It does not quite know what it wants to be and makes for a very uneven experience.

In the movie Brad Pitt plays General Glen McMahon, who is sent to Afghanistan to wrap up the then eight year war in that country. This character is strongly based on Gen. Stanley McCrystal that was sent to do the same thing in real life. As always, Pitt shines and inhibits the character, from speech to mannerisms that makes the character complete. He comes into his new post with the intention of “winning the war” and is well-meaning, almost jingoistic, in his philosophy. McMahon is a soldier through and through and truly believes in what he is doing.

The conflict, and what makes this movie fascinating, is that almost no one that he answers to really wants the war won, just over.  Which to a man like McMahon is just makes no sense. Why fight if you are not supposed to win. How do you protect the people you are there to protect if your hands are constantly tied. That phrase though becomes key as it pertains not just to the civilians, but to the young men that the general orders into the teeth of the monster. It is a reality of what war has become when it is fought in the political realm first and the on the battlefield second. welcome to modern war.

The supporting cast is phenomenal.  Anthony Micheal Hall and Topher Grace are standouts. Tilda Swinton and Ben Kingsley, in the little screen time they do have make an impact. The most props though need to go to Meg Tilly who plays the general’s wife. She will be recognizable to anyone with a spouse or parent that is or has served in the military.

The Grain of Salt

One thing I want to make clear before offering my recommendation. Though it may seem like this would end up being a typical Hollywood anti-war movie, it really is not. It does not get “political” even when it plays politics. It would have been too easy for it to come out and condemn the war and the warriors, but at its heart it just asks the valid question of “why are we fighting here in the first place?”

Do I recommend it? Yes, it is well worth a watch on Netflix. There is humor and poignancy, a good mix for a somber subject. The scene where McMahon is explaining to his staff that, “you can’t help them and kill them at the same time” makes it worth watching alone.

 

American Revolution

The End of Patrick Ferguson

The gravestone of Patrick Ferguson

The End of Patrick Ferguson

This is the monument to Patrick Ferguson that was built at Kings Mountain. This stone does not mark where he fell, but where they moved the body sometime after. The battle at Kings Mountain October 7, 1780 has a sort of weird place in the annals of the American Revolution. It is on one hand perhaps one of the most important battles and victories of the patriots, but it is also one that not many people know about. Patrick Ferguson is sort of like that for the British. He was one of the their most important and talented commanders, but his name is usually not recognized by the layman.

The entire story of Ferguson is one that could fill a book on its own. From his creation of a breech-loading rifle, to the time he came one shot away from killing Washington and ended the war, his stories and the stuff of legend. No, we will look here briefly not at the start of his story but at his end here at Kings Mountain.

Kings Mountain

After the fall of Charleston in 1780, General Clinton gave Ferguson overall command of Loyalist troops in the region. With these troops, mainly light infantry, he was to go into the far reaches of the south and do what he could to prevent the rebels from coming back into power. He relished his role and set about it with fervor. Perhaps a little too much fervor.

He and his men went after the rebels with gusto, burning farms and threatening destruction to anyone that fought against the King. He was effective, but he also made a terrible estimation. In the far west of the region were the Overmountain Men. Frontiersmen that though mostly rebels, were more concerned with the natives that they seemed constantly at war with. Ferguson sent them a message that if they came back across the mountains, he would burn their farms and kill their families. They did not take kindly to that and set out to find Ferguson and put an end to his threats.

At Kings Mountain they found him. Ferguson fought well that day, rallying his men several times from their position on top of the mountain. In his red and white checkered hunting shirt, using a whistle to relay orders he seemed to be everywhere. Until he wasn’t. The loss of for the British was terrible. The left-wing of their army evaporated. One of their best commanders gone for good. Worst of all, the loyalists in South lost the will to fight,

When you see the headstone you can remember the man buried there.  He earned that. That grave though does not just hold his body, but the British hopes of winning the war.

Word and Phrases

Wednesday Words & Phrases: Grape

Image result for grape

GRAPE

Yes, when you hear grape you most likely think about those little beauties in the picture above.  But how did they get their name?

Well from this:

Woman using a grape to harvest grapes.

The curved knife in the lovely lady’s hand was called by several names during the medieval era, one of which was grape. During times of war grapes (the knife) were used to penetrate the cracks, crevices and joints of armor. The sharp point and hook were very effective at getting around the protection and into the flesh of the enemy.

In times of peace the grape was very effective in harvesting “wine berries” from their vine. (Yep that’s what they were called!) Eventually the name transferred from the knife to the berries which they harvested.

 

 

Civil War

As Close As We Can Get: Lincoln’s Masks

Lincoln Death Mask

As Close As We Can Get

Gettysburg is more than a battlefield. It is also the home to a very good museum with a number of fantastic exhibits and artifacts at the visitor center. One artifact worth mention is the plaster mask of President Abraham Lincoln pictured above.

The practice of creating “life” and “death” masks dates far back into antiquity when men of note would allow a mask to be made of their features using plaster. Sometimes done during their life, sometimes not until after they died. These masks are the closest we may ever get to seeing what these men of legend actually looked like.

Lincoln himself had two life masks done . The first in 1860 before becoming president. The second in 1865, just months before his untimely death.  The one pictured above comes from a cast of the 1860 original. It shows a Lincoln, sans beard, before the tolls of politics and war took their toll.

For more information on the masks themselves and the story of their castings visit Abraham Lincoln Online via this link.

Lincoln: Myth or Man?

No matter how you view Lincoln seeing his face, even in plaster, is sobering. Generally considered the best President of the United States he has become more myth than man. In recent years there has been a movement to try to demystify him, to make him more human and flawed. From efforts to paint him as a racist, who only used the issue of slavery as a political tool,  to efforts underway to prove he was homosexual, Lincoln is still a touchstone for controversy.

But seeing that face, as close to reality as you will ever get, shows that he was a man upon which the history of the nation turned on. Standing in front of the exhibit at Gettysburg just adds to the over all feeling of awe at the place.

 

People, Places and Things from US Military History

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