The Empty Chair, the Next Generation: The Battle of Fredericksburg, George's Death

Civil War Ambulance at Fort Scott National Historic Site, Kansas (https://www.nps.gov)

 

The Union Army under the command of General Ambrose Burnside arrived at Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg, Virginia, on November 10. He had ordered pontoon boats, but because of delays in deploying the boats they were not in place until December 10, which gave the Confederate forces plenty of time to fortify Marye’s Heights outside Fredericksburg. The resulting battle included thirteen assaults on the impregnable heights, with the slaughter of thousands of Union soldiers.

Assistant Surgeon Charles C. Lee summarized the battle well in a report filed after the battle:

In this battle, which may be said to have lasted three days, beginning with the bombardment of the town, December 11th, an attempt was unsuccessfully made to dislodge the rebel army from the heights of Fredericksburg by our right and centre, while our left, under General Franklin, should penetrate their extreme right, and cut off their retreat. In the efforts to bridge the Rappahannock, on December 11th, General Franklin alone succeeded in laying pontoons. On the right, the enemy’s sharpshooters, protected by the houses along the bank, kept our engineers at bay, in spite of the continual bombardment of the town. On the following day little or nothing was done, on account of the dense fog that obscured everything. At daybreak, on December 13th, two pontoon bridges were laid opposite the town. Our troops crossed, and met with comparatively little opposition until they attempted to storm the heights. These attempts were continued until late in the evening, with what disastrous result is known to all. Though repulsed from the heights, they held possession of the town, where all the wounded from our right and centre were collected in the churches and other temporary hospitals; and in this condition, constantly expecting another attack, we remained December 14th and 15th. On the afternoon of the 15th, the medical director transmitted an order from the commanding general to remove all the wounded immediately across the Rappahannock. By means of the ambulances, this was done as rapidly as possible during the same afternoon and evening, and the following night the entire army recrossed in safety to their former camps. * .* The wounded were conveyed to the division hospitals previously organized by the medical director. Five series of these, belonging, respectively, to the First, Second, Fifth, Sixth and Ninth Corps, were soon in operation at convenient points within half a mile or a mile of the river.

Medicine wagon (Wikipedia)

The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865) Vol. 1 Part 1, p. 130.

The wounded were kept in camp until Christmas Day when they were transported to hospitals in Washington.

George began to feel sick around the time that the march to Fredericksburg took place in early November, according to his Sergeant, S.S. Goodsell.

At the request of George's widow, Elizabeth, Sergeant Goodsell wrote to her giving an account of the last few months of George's life before his death on Feb. 11, 1863 at the Eckington Hospital located in the Gales Mansion, located at what is now 200 T St. NE.

Sergeant Goodsell wrote:

Newport News Apr 2nd/63

Mrs Lewis,
I received your Letter written Mar 11th, not until Yesterday, for it was directed to the regs’t, And I am forty five miles from the reg’t & went down there (to Suffolk) And my Capt. Told me He had it about 2 weeks, And now after so much delay, I will most willingly answer Yours, And give You all the Information that I can respecting the Sickess & Death of Your Husband — from the Day that George left Camp Casey [Chase?] near Alexandria on Arlington Hights, he seemed to commence feeling bad, and looked pale and languid, and on abt 7 days March I gave Him up my Horse to ride, And after we got to Falmouth before Fredericksburgh, He appeared to be about the Same, And I told Him he need do no duty, (although the duty was light)

2/ And that He had better put Himself under the Doctors care, but He was afraid He would have to go into the Hospital, then I Saw the Doctor, and He told me that if George would come and see him, He would give Him medicine to take, and He could continue staying in the Corps. I told George what I had done and not until then did He consent to take medicine, And George Seem to think that it helped Him, but I did not, And told Him that if He would go to the regt I would Surely get Him discharged, but He was fearfull again that He would have to go into the Hospital (and I did not blame him for that) and from that time (about 1st of Jany) He would have spells of putting his elbows upon His knees, & His Head upon His hands, and appear to be in deep thought, and almost Stupid, So much so that I would always have to speak twice to Him and I remember a number of times, when finding Him So

3/I would ask Him what was the Matter, And ask Him if Anything was wrong at Home, He would always answer me quickly and as cheerfully as He could that there was nothing the matter at Home, And that His family was well, and that everything was going as well as He could wish for, and Always finished his remarks with a word of praise for His Uncle I.C. Lewis, And that if Anything was wrong He would do all He Could to make it right[. A]bout the first of Feby He did not feel as well (although He would always prefer going after His meals Himself, And he kept in the tent most of the time, but on the 3rd He was better again, and Said He had not felt so well in two months[. And on the night of the 5th went on guard (that to stand from half past Eight until Eleven near the [lieutenants] quarters to see that none of the Horses went that way) I told Him there was no need of his going, but He said he felt so much better that he would go on[. T]he Morning of the 6th He said He continued to feel

4/better, and packed His knapsack for the march to Bell Plains, as he Expected to move any Moment, He put everything of any value that He wanted to take with Him in His knapsacok, except His gloves (And then I saw Put in afterwards) the 15th regmt had then gone to Acquia Creek) we were ordered to hitch up but I told George to favor Himself as much as possible, and when we started that he might ride in one of the ambulances, but just as we expected the order to move, it came to unhitch and move the next morning at 8 A.M. George said that He was glad that we were not going that day, for He did not feel quite as well, and He thought He would feel better in the morning. He eat two Hearty meals that day, but at Supper time did not eat much, and said He did not feel as well. I asked Him if He would not here the Sergeon of the 13th NH regmt come and see him (as I was acquainted with Him and knew Him to be a man as well as a good Physician. He laughed at me and said no, He was not sick, but did not feel very well, & Sat in the bed about 8x1/2, and as He had been lying down through the Evening, Come to get up, He could not Bare His weight upon his legs And had Some Strong Pain Curer in the wagon

5/and asked Him if I Should not get it & have the boys bath his legs with it but He did not think it best, and before I left the Cabin He said He felt better, but I left one of the boys to sit up with Him thinking that He might want something through the night, if George grew worse to Call me, He Called me just before Daylight, He said George did not feel as well, but that He had rested pretty well all night. I got  and went to the cabin and found two of the boys helping Him up, And as soon as I saw Him I knew that He was out of his head. I asked him what He wanted, but He made me no reply. I told the boys that George was pretty sick and that I must get Him under the Doctors care as soon as possible, and told the boys to get a Stretcher and put him upon his blankets and take him to the 13th NH Doctor. I went and called the doctor up and we had everything ready for His Comfort. As soon as the boys arrived with Him, the Dr

6/said that He was very strongly sick and He did not think that George would live until He got Him to Washington, but that He should have every Possible care, and you may rest asured that He did have until He got into the Hospital at Washington. I addressed a letter to His uncle as soon as possible, and in due time received a kind from Him. We had a long tegious time in getting here, but as soon as we got here I met the Doctor that Gov Be Kinham (?) Sent through the Hospital, and He told me that George died. As you wrote me, & that a Mr Lewis took Him Home, , I supposed it was His uncle at the time. I hear that Mr Lewis has been Here And I would have liked to see him, for then I could told Him better then to write you. George was payed up to Nov 1st and had (I think He told me) $21,00, and some change, and he broke a $20,00 note in to fives, and I saw him send a number of them, but they might never have got home,

The first page of Serg. Goodsell's letter

7/ he received the P.S. Stamps, and they besides 40 its was all He had in his part money. I had the Boys look in presence of the Hospital nurse so to take and send Home if he had any money, but we thought we had but to leave what he had everything that belongs to him, He had packed Himself. As we looked closely to see if there was anything left behind, but found nothing but a small rubber pouch which He kept His tobacco in, & we thought as it had got torn it would not be worth while sending it Home. So George had due Him when He died, 3 months, & 11 days pay from Nov 1st until Feby 12th, And as soon as I can get arrainged I shall see the Comdg Officer of Comp F, and get His discipline list and send you (if I can) and then you Can Collect the money there. I should have written upon the recipe of your uncles letter, but thought it was Him that went to Washington and would get the particulars concerning His Death, after He left me, but as it is I think I have told you all I know of him, Except that He always done His duty, most

8/readyly when asked to do it, and felt anxious to stay Here & be discharged when the rgmt was, for He said He did not want to leave before, and have the name of Coward flung in His face, and I must say here then, He had to part with us, that I missed one of the best men I had, and then come to learn the most, and from that time I have that Sympathy for you (His wife + Children) that being in the Army has not and as my wife heard the Sad news, She too sympathyzes with you, and would to God that this Controversy might come to an end that no more might be so sorely afflicted. If you wish any more information, let me know from you + I will do what I can to inform you, if it is in my power, while

I remain most
Respectfully
Sergt S.S. Goodsell

The telegraph to I.C. Lewis reporting George's death

Ambulance Corps 3rd div
9th a.c
Sent Robinson [illegible]!

George died on February 11 and it appears that one of his uncles, Jared Lewis, went down to retrieve his body to bring it back to Meriden. He telegraphed his brother, I.C. Lewis, to tell him what he found. Presumably Jared had him embalmed, a service that was provided by embalmers who moved with the army. It wouldn't have been cheap but the Lewis family could certainly afford it.

The Empty Chair, the Next Generation: A Letter to Home

While serving in the Union Army in 1862 George wrote home rather infrequently, it appears. Letters were an emotional mainstay for soldiers but also for families back home. No word from their soldier for an extended period of time could easily cause them to worry that he had been killed or seriously wounded.  In this letter George asks Elizabeth to write more frequently.  This long letter is remarkable in that he discusses his political position in line with the Democratic Party which supported a negotiated peace and separation from the Confederacy. He states several times that he has no concern about freeing the slaves even though he also states that he isn’t in favor of slavery.  

The last page is very touching. George asks his wife to kiss the children for him and to tell them to be good. He must have had the real possibility of death in the back of his mind and was obviously helping to prepare Elizabeth and the children for that possibility.

Note: this letter contains language that today is considered racist.  I include it for historical purposes, not to offend anyone. This language does not reflect my own views.

The number at the head of each section indicates the page number. The original spelling has been retained including misspellings.

 No. 2

Camp Chase Oct 19th 1862

Dear Wife
    Again the Sabath day has come and I take the opportunity to write to you. Our company has gone to the brige that is all that are able to go unless they are left for camp guard. There is about thirty of our company sick. I do not have to go so I am exempt from guard duty & I have got the day to myself and shall not even have to answer to roll call until tomorrow night. I can tell you it makes some difference with me and I like the plan of going to bed every night I do not doubt but what you will believe this last statement). We went to Washington yesterday to be reviewed by Genl. Casey & Banks it was a very fine affair the review was held on Capitol Hill and I had a better chance than I ever have had before to see Washington it looks very nice in the neighborhood of the Capitol. The grounds around the building are beautiful it is enclosed by an iron fence and the trees a great many of them are varieties that I never saw before. I wish you could see it and I hope that sometime you will have a chance. I am well and so are all the boys from east side. I have told Henry Warnock a good many times that his people want him to write and I told him last night and he says that he has writen three letters one to Matthew and two to Mr. Thorp and has got no answer. He wants 

2/ those answered before he writes. He is well and has not been sick a day since he has been here that I know of. I have written to uncle Ike [Isaac] to Horace Yale and to little Ike but I get no answer from any of them. I hear from Meriden that I have got be an abolitionist. I am not and I never shall be. I am a Democrat and in the fullest sense of the word. I do believe in Equal and Exact Justice to all men of whatever State or Persuasion Religious or Political and I do believe in asking nothing but what is Right and in submitting to nothing that is wrong. I want this war to come to an end and hoe that when it does and that that Slavery will end with it. The North did not take up arms against the South until they made an attack upon us and now because they cannot have their own way they would raise a black flag and make it a war of extermination. If Congress has got the power to confiscate the nigers I don’t care how quick it does it and sends them out of the country with Greely Garrison Philips and the rest of the agitators and give such men niger enough but I must stop here I have written almost a page on a subject that you care nothing about. If I was only out of the mess at home and about my own business they might niger it to their hearts content. But here I am and if ever take prisoner by the fiends what can I expect. If it comes to a war of extermination there will 

 3/ be some such fighting as the wourld never saw before. The South may win and If it does our whole nation is ruined as it is it is takeing some of our best men. The army takes the best men in the country the Government does not want the aged or the decrepit it is takeing them that are in the prime of manhood and without doubt fifty thousand of our soldiers have fallen either by disease or by the bullets of the enemy to say nothing of the thousands that are made for ever useless by wounds and diseases that will follow them to the grave and all about what, about some thing that might have been settled without the fireing of a gun. If both sides had been willing to have rendered Equal and Exact Justice, but it is with nations individuals a man will sometimes ruin himself for the sake of haveing his own way and so will a nation. I hope I shall be home by another spring, but I can see nothing now that indicates it and I do not see the war is any nearer a close than it was two years ago but even if I have to stay the whole term of my enlistment I will be satisfied if I can go home at last in as good health as I left it. If I was only there now and knowing as much as I do now I should say let them go that like it. I cannot see how anyone that has been once should want to go again—even if it was in times of peace and I could make as much here as anywhere. I should not like it and I don’t suppose I should like my 

 4/ reputation in which there is as much restriction as there is here. If I was out of it and with my present feelings the bate would have to be a good one to get me again. There is some men in the regiment that I do not know what they are kept here for unless it is to die. When a man is so near gone as to be of no use why not let him go home and give him a chance to get well if he can. Liby if I do get home I will never leave my family voluntarily to go on any such an expedition again. I long to see you all Fredy and Samuel must be good boys and help Mother all they can and so must Josephine. Tell her to be a good girl. Father hopes he shall live to come home again and he wants to have them all be good children. Take good care of little Willie the dear little fellow. How I wish I could see you all you had not better send Sam to school this Winter but get Fred & Phina some good warm clothes and make all of the little fellows as comfortable as you can. There is no need of my telling you too. I know you will kiss them all for me. I wish you would write oftener it seems so long between your letters and you don’t know much good it does me to hear from home. If you will mark your letters as I told you in my last and as I mark mine we shall know if we get all the letters. The Quarter Master has finally got us some potatoes and we have enough to eat. If we have anything that I don’t like I can go and toast my bread and good bread we always have and enough of it. I don’t know but what they will keep us here until the end of the war all the rest of the troops that come here are marched off after a few days stay but they keep us for the stand by I hope we shall stay some regiment has got to and it might as well be us as any one else and I think if the men will only behave themselves that we may. I know it is hard work to have to do so much guard duty but we have no long marches to perform. Give my love to all enquiring friends and except a large share for yourself when you write you must write all of the news. How is the colt growing. Is he alive you don’t say anything about it write soon.

From your affectionate husband
G.H.L.

 

Next: The Battle of Fredericksburg

The Empty Chair, the Next Generation: Off to War

July 12 Proclamation By the Governor of 

Connecticut

 In my last post I wrote about George Lewis' life in Meriden before entering the service. He heeded the call issued by President Lincoln on July 1, 1862 for 300,000 infantry troops. The governors of many of the states issued their own proclamations calling for the formation of new regiments. Connecticut's governor called for at least six regiments. Several of these regiments, including what became the 15th Connecticut Volunteers, formed out of New Haven County. The regiment had two companies out of Meriden, Companies A and F. George was listed in Company F.

The new volunteers trained for several weeks while their regiments were organized, and by mid August they were ready to depart. They mustered on August 25.

In his History of the Fifteenth Connecticut Volunteers in the War for the Defense of the Union (1893) Sheldon B. Thorpe notes:

Studied closely as a whole, no regiment was put into the field by the State of Connecticut containing so large a percentage of education, morality, and religion as was embodied in this." (p. 13)

 Thorpe, who also served in the regiment, relates a story that transpired a few days before their departure the Atwater Armor Company in New Haven had made a killing selling iron plate bullet proof vests to more than two hundred soldiers. They thought them a good idea, but when they put them to use in Washington they tossed them in the Potomac River because they.were useless and too heavy.

The Long Bridge, near where I-395 now crosses

On the 28th they reached New York City and marched down 4th Avenue and Broadway to the Battery where they boarded a transport. The next day they reached Washington, marching down Pennsylvania Avenue and then on to Arlington Heights. They reached the Long Bridge, one of the two main bridges that crossed the Potomac into Arlington. For the next two months they camped at Camp Chase and guarded the Long Bridge. From Camp Chase they could hear the artillery firing at the Second Battle of Bull Run.

Thorpe describes the condition on the banks of the Potomac that he describes as "poisonous marshes":

The immediate duty of the regiment at this time was the guarding of the Washington end of Long Bridge, and the commissary stores at Fort Runvon. The fort was a veritable death-trap. Situated on the great marshes bordering the Potomac, it was in the midst of a most foul and fever breeding district — the air was filled with poison, and on the unacclimated lads of the North it fastened with a deadly grip. The ague became prevalent in camp, and in a short time numbered its victims by the hundred. (pp 21-22)

It is well known that two soldiers died of disease for every one that died of battle wounds. As Thorpe notes, for New England men this was exacerbated because they did not have a built up resistance to the illnesses present in a southern climate.

96th Pennsylvania drilling in 1861 by Mathew Brady. Source: National Archives & Records Administration.

 The rest of September was occupied with drilling and parades and reviews in Washington.

George became a part of the newly established Ambulance Corps, which was formed when the magnitude of battles became obvious, and the need was recognized for an ambulance corps to rescue wounded soldiers off a battlefield and get them to a hospital.

DAILY DUTY A. M.

Reveille. 6.00. 

Surgeon's call, 6.15. 

Squad drill, 6.15 to 7.15.

Breakfast, 7.15. 

Guard mount, 8.00. 

Officers' drill, 8.30 to 9.30. 

Company drill, 9.30 to 11.00.


1st Sergeant's call, 12.00. Dinner, 12.00. 

P.M.

Inspection quarters, 1.00.

Battalion drill, 2.00 to 4.00.

Dress parade, 5.30.

Supper, 6.00.

Officers' meeting, 7.30.

Tattoo, 9.00.

Taps, 9.30.

Next time, George's letter home.

The Empty Chair: Part 4, The Next Generation

 

George Hallam Lewis, 1862

This is the first in a series of blogs about another ancestor of mine. He wasn’t famous. He was just another one of the 650,000 soldiers who died in the Civil War. My family’s memory of him lasts, though, because of his early death.

George’s story, intertwined with his family’s story, was repeated over and over, almost three quarters of a million times. His family was lucky in that his body was retrieved and they knew exactly what happened to him. Many families never knew the fat of their loved one other than the presumption that he died. They wouldn’t have a casket and a grave. 

George is the first ancestor that I have a connection to through family artifacts. Have a number of things that belonged to him, such as several books, a photograph he had taken before he left for the war, and a few other items. Two letters remain, one he wrote to his wife back home, and another written by his sergeant to my great great grandmother after he died. Those will come in a later post.

My family has a long memory. The Lewis family has been in Connecticut since the founding of the colony in the 1630's. In the Lewis line, my immigrant 9 gr. grandfather, William Lewis, settled in Farmington. The family stayed there for several generations before my branch of the family moved to the newly settled Wallingford in 1670. In Meriden, where generations of the Lewis family were born, lived, and died, family houses still stand. There is a street named after George's uncle, I.C. Lewis. Other branches of my family have been in Connecticut for centuries, so combined, it makes for a long memory. I have been aware of George my entire life, and grew up with objects from him. In an odd way, he has been a presence throughout my entire life, even though he died almost a century before I was born. My middle name is his last name.

My great great grandfather, George Hallam Lewis, was born on January 16, 1833 in my hometown, Meriden, Connecticut. His parents were Partrick and Mary Lewis. Partrick is the ancestor I wrote about in a series of blog posts a couple of years ago. His business went bankrupt and he travelled west to Iowa to homestead, and instead became deathly ill and died in Burlington, Iowa. George would have had only faint memories of his father since he was just four years old when he left in 1837.

I.C. Lewis teapot, 1848-52

George’s name is an interesting place to start. “George” is a very common name. Many parents named their sons “George” or “George Washington Xxxxxx” in honor of our first President. But his middle name has intrigued me for a long time. I have discovered the source, however, in the world of poetry. Apparently a close friend of Alfred Lord Tennyson was a poet named Arthur Hallam. He was engaged to Tennyson’s sister, and there was a scandal of sorts surrounding the engagement. Hallam was a published poet, and had a following.

Arthur Henry Hallam was not long to live, however. He died suddenly on September 15, 1833 in Vienna of apoplexy resulting from a congenital malformation of the brain. He was mourned in the world of poetry. The timing with George’s birth must be more that a coincidence, with George being born only a few months earlier.

What probably happened was Partrick and Mary added the middle name “Hallam” to George’s name in memory of a poet who was memorialized in Tennyson’s later, much loved poem “In Memoriam.” Hallam was a romantic poet like Tennyson. His poems bear the same romantic feelings found in poets of that period.

It would not be surprising if Partrick and Mary were familiar with Hallam’s poetry. Given the timing of his death and George’s middle name it seems certain.

Isaac C. Lewis in later life.

I.C. Lewis trademark

George lived in East Meriden. In 1850, at the age of 17, he was living in the large household of his uncle, Isaac C. Lewis, who was able to thrive in the same trade that his older brother Patrick had failed in. Isaac C. Lewis went on to help found the Meriden Britannia Company, which became International Silver Company.

George's signature in the book on horses

I.C. Lewis became a surrogate father for George. We will see in a subsequent post how Isaac felt responsible for his nephew.

Colorful frontispiece to Sartain's Magazine

My family has several books that belonged to George. One is a popular book on horses from 1854. Another is an 1852 bound volume of a popular magazine. Monthly magazines were very popular, providing new reading material. Bound volumes such as this were prized long after they were published. This particular volume is the January-June, 1852 issues of Sartain's Magazine of Literature and Art, which he acquired in 1855. It is filled with poetry, short stories, and travel accounts from Europe.

One last book is a biography of the Empress Josephine given to Elizabeth in 1851, the year before they were married.

George and Elizabeth had four children:

Josephine Elizabeth (1854-1906)

George F. (1855-1921)

Samuel Clinton (1857-1939) My great grandfather, my father's maternal grandfather

Wilbur Alton (1861-1886) 

All were obviously young when their father left for the war in the summer of 1862.

Next time: George leaves for the war.

Lexington and Concord: A Family Connection 250 Years Later

 Growing up in the 60’s in suburban Connecticut, history was a the very heart of our family’s life.  Through my mother’s genealogical research and my father’s long collective memory of past generations we had a better sense than many of the relative longevity of our family in New England. In the decades since then I have been able to solve some genealogical mysteries and flesh out different branches of my family’s past. With the advent of genealogical research online it has become vastly easier.

Engraving by Amos Doolittle, based on eyewitness accounts, December, 1775

I don't do genealogy to find famous ancestors in order to brag about them. Some of my notorious ancestors are nothing to brag about. But, you can pick your friends but you're stuck with your family. I do genealogical research to understand who I am and where I come from. My identity is hardwired in New England, where much of my family on both sides lived for centuries.

I made one of my earlier discoveries in the 80’s, when I discovered that through my father I was descended from one of the eight minutemen who died on Lexington Green on April 19, 1775.

So here’s how I found him. Skip this paragraph if you’re not interested in the details.  I can’t remember exactly when. I used to go to a local Mormon church that had a genealogical research center, where all were welcome whether or not you were a member. It was a wonderful resource. On one trip I was tracing back a line in my father’s family. We had known for quite awhile where the Cowing line came from, back to a Scottish ancestor who was sold as an indentured servant in Puritan Massachusetts after the last English Civil War in the 1650’s. There wasn’t much to find out there. However, we hadn’t done much with the Page line. My great grandfather, Walter Cowing (1845-1913) married Caroline S. Page (1860-1942) who was from Boston area. I started to go back and see what I could find. The Page line went back into Lexington, Massachusetts at the time of the Revolution and before that. That was interesting. My 4 gr. grandfather, Timothy Page (1778-1860) married an Isanna Harrington (1779-1861).  I discovered that the Harringtons were a huge family in Lexington at that time. Isanna’s mother (my 5 gr. Grandmother) was Anne Munroe (1740-1811). Munroe was another prominent name in Lexington. Anne’s father was a Robert Munroe (1712-April 19, 1775). That date in 1775? Why was that date familiar. I knew it had something to do with the beginning of the Revolution. It took a minute but I realized what it was. I sat there, stunned, for several minutes. Nobody in my family had remembered this. Maybe everyone collectively forgot it. It blew my mind. That night I called my parents to tell them, and they couldn’t believe it. We had spent a decade portraying a British regiment in Revolutionary War re-enactments, so we all knew quite a bit about the weaponry of the time, and how battles were fought.

With the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord tomorrow I’m thinking about Robert Munroe and the world he lived in. He had served in the 7 Years War in Roger’s Rangers in the 1750’s, as Britain and France fought for control of what is now eastern Canada. He had seen war up close. At 63 he was elderly by the standards of the time, and instead of carrying a musket (which weighed well over ten pounds) he was the ensign, carrying the flag. Today a flag in battle may seem a superfluous thing to someone not acquainted by war, but at the time the flag was a marker, a signpost. It told the soldiers where they were supposed to be. It was honorary to be the ensign but also immensely important and practical.

Robert Munroe was a farmer like many in his community. He was born in Lexington in 1712. He was related to the Harringtons, several of whom also took part in the battle on Lexington Green. One of them famously crawled to the front door of his family home and died at the feet of his wife.

In our re-enactment days we used to joke about how the Lexington Militia stayed up all night at the Munroe Tavern waiting for the British force they were sure was going to come. We all realized that they weren’t just drinking lemonade. Perhaps the militia line was a bit ragged the next morning.

What happened early that morning was far from funny, though. As the militia line waited the 700 British soldiers marched on to the Green opposite the militia line. From my re-enactment days I know that the maximum distance the British line could be was about 100 yards away if they had any hope of hitting anyone. At that distance they would have only half a chance of hitting someone. At 300 yards only one quarter of a chance.

It’s important to recognize the limitations of the firearms of the time. The British Long Pattern Brown Bess musket was an effective weapon as it was used, but it had limitations. Introduced in 1722, it had a flintlock firing mechanism. I won't go into the details as to how it was fired, but it wasn't just a matter of putting in bullets and pulling the trigger. Nearly five feet in length, the musket has a smooth bore varying from 75 to 80 caliber (100 caliber is an inch), and the balls that were fired were smaller, about 69 caliber, because the carbon buildup inside the barrel would clog it after a number of shots. Brown Bess muskets had a smooth bore, with no rifling, and the balls exited with much less force. A trained soldier of the line would be able to fire three or four shots a minute in the heat of battle. These muskets did not have sights. A soldier did not fire at an individual. They fired in mass volleys at the opposing line. If you had the misfortune of being hit in a limb with a lead ball almost 3/4" in diameter you were guaranteed to lose that limb. The ball would not go through. It would flatten out and shatter a leg or arm bone beyond repair.

Me firing a Brown Bess, ca. 1975

Robert Munroe was the first person in the militia line to be killed, and that was no accident. The British may have had a sniper armed with a rifle to pick off the officers. Munroe was third in command of the militia and with the flag he would have made an excellent target. In the end eight militia members were killed.

But the big question--who fired the first shot?

Here's my take. In my opinion a British soldier would not have fired the first shot. These soldiers were trained to collectively follow commands to the letter, not to act independently. I am fully convinced that the first shot was fired by a militia member. They also knew the tension of the moment. Perhaps one of them decided that standing in lines facing one another was too much and they fired a shot to get things going. Or it may have been a misfire. Flintlock muskets can certainly misbehave at times. Or it may have been the consequence of staying up in the tavern all night. We will never know.

After the initial confrontation the British continued on to Concord, their destination, in order to seize a store of gunpowder. The militia followed, and the Concord Militia was alerted. The ensuing battle at the North Bridge in Concord, followed by a ragged British retreat to Boston ended the day. The militia picked off many British soldiers from behind stone walls.

It's easy to romanticize this day,and many will undoubtedly do so. I do not. I've been in enough re-enacted Revolutionary War battles to know that isn't realistic. A battle at that time was hot, very dirty, and very dangerous. On this day the militia must have known that armed conflict with the British military would have severe consequences but they did it anyway. They could not have imagined what would flow from this brief conflict on their front lawns. They were defending their homes.

Me with my parents, 4/20/75

I don't like to think of war as inevitable in any situation, but it's not surprising that this happened. After the Boston Massacre in 1770 and the Boston Tea Party in December, 1773 the tensions in Massachusetts were in the red zone. If this conflict hadn't happened this day another conflict would have happened on another day. Everyone was on high alert.

It's always interesting to think about the implications of any historical event, in this case the implications of a bunch of farmers standing in line against hundreds of British soldiers. For myself, I like to focus on the event itself. We have the luxury of knowing what happened after. They did not, and it is important to look at it from their perspective.

A Coin for Some Cigarettes, 81 Years Later

 Tonight I'm writing about a family treasure. My brothers and I have a number of treasures handed down through our family. Some span generations, some only two.

One such treasure is a coin my father brought back from World War II. He was in a finance/logistics unit that was attached to Patton's Third Army, which worked its way across northern France toward Germany. He remembered seeing General Patton ordering his driver to drive his Jeep up the front stairs of a French town hall, with Patton himself jumping out and demanding gasoline for his tanks. One of the towns that he found himself in was Reims, which is northeast of Paris. Outside Reims Cathedral he was approached by a French farmer. The farmer asked him if he had any cigarettes he wanted to part with, knowing that American soldiers were supplied with cigarettes. Dad said he did, and pulled out a partial pack from his pocket. The soldier paused and said that he didn't have any money, and said that the only thing he had of value was a Roman coin which he had on a string around his neck. The coin had been plowed up in their field. Dad thought it was a fair trade and parted with his cigarettes. He was interested in history so he thought the coin would be an interesting souvenir.

This was in 1944. Eighty one years later I have the coin. He gave it to me a number of years before his death, when he was distributing family possessions after my mother's death.

So here is the coin.

It was minted during the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius, probably around 41-42 AD. Claudius was the emperor who successfully conquered Britain in 43 AD. So if the coin was found in northern France it is likely that the person who lost it was perhaps a soldier on his way to crossing the English Channel. 

This coin is a bronze sestertius, which was a quarter of a silver denarius. It is about 1.5" in diameter, about the same as an older US dollar coin. The denarius was a silver coin about the size of a US penny and was a day's wages for a soldier or laborer. So this sestertius could easily have bought a meal for a soldier or laborer. Equivalent to perhaps $10-15 today? Not a small amount to be sure. Today the coin would easily be worth more than $100, given its excellent condition, which suggests it was dropped not long after it was made, but long enough to accumulate some wear. The hold diminishes the value considerably. It doesn't matter to me. I treasure it.

The coin commemorates Claudius' father, Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus. He led successful military campaigns into Germania, which the Romans sincerely wanted to conquer. The Roman Empire was always a work in progress. With each new conquest of territory came the desire for a buffer zone between Roman territory and the barbarians on the other side of the border. This meant that the Roman military was always trying to expand its border. With that concern foremost in their minds there was no limit as to how far they would go. There was always more territory to conquer. What the Romans discovered, though, was that it was one thing to conquer territory. It was quite another to organize it and govern it. They generally did that well, but in the end they over-extended themselves.

So Dad's coin is a microcosm of early European history. It reflects the time that it comes from but its secondary context is the trade in 1944 for a pack of cigarettes. And now I have it to enjoy, knowing the whole history.

Restoration of a Very Early French Harmonium: Wadding!

2 ply rug yarn. 900 yards!

Making wadding is one of the aspects of harmonium restoration that scares off many people. I'm dense enough to try it because nobody told me I couldn't do it. I started with a 900 yard cone of rug yarn (80% wool/20% nylon), used for weaving rugs. Add some very soft lavender colored split suede leather and mercerized cotton thread and I was good to go.

 

The purpose of wadding is to form a gasket that seals the windchest. The upper part has the reeds and action, and the lower part the reservoir. This enables the instrument to keep the air in the system so it can be played. The upper chest with the reeds is hinged in the front and is lowered on to the valve board. There is a gap of about 3/8” that the wadding fills. There are also partitions between each set of reeds that have wadding seals as well. 

The

Cotton thread for sewing

Cutting the strips of leather evenly and carefully is important so you don't get any irregularities in the finished product, and so that all edges meet nicely.

 

I made a rack for sewing the wadding in 4' lengths, more than the width of the organ side to side. I knew I'd probably have some left over but that's better than not having enough. 

Cross section

The first step is to wind the yarn between the two dowels, stretching it as you go. I started off doing 50 strands but decided that wasn't enough so I jacked it up to 80. That's where most of the 900 yards of yarn went. The reason for stretching is so the yarn will tighten up when the finished wadding comes off the rack and it will expand some to fill the leather tube.

The sewing rack with yarn stretched.

After stretching the yarn I started sewing, making sure the edges meet squarely. It took about 1.5 hours to sew a 4 ft length. I made eight and definitely had some left over.

36 ft of wadding!

After the sewing was done I glued the wadding, seam down, over the location of the original wadding and used duct tape in a few places to hold it still while the glue dried.

 

I didn't feel that the 20% nylon content would compromise the wool at all, and it didn't. Others have used a similar blend with good results. The most important thing with wadding, with this being my only experience in making it, is don't rush and don't be nervous. The world won't come crashing in around your ears if it doesn't work the first time. Be deliberate and use good materials and you'll be fine.