#82 Harriet Tubman: Union Scout



Woodcut printed in Sarah Bradford's The Scenes and Life of Harriet Tubman. This image is in the public domain.


Harriet Tubman, one of the most iconic black Americans in the history of country, is best known for her efforts as a "conductor" on the underground railroad, sneaking runaway slaves to the North and freedom. What isn't as well known about Tubman, however, is that during the Civil War she also led a raid near the Combahee River in South Carolina.

Under orders from Union commander Colonel James Mongomery, Tubman scouted the area and then on June 1, 1863, led several gunboats along the river banks. While soldiers burned the plantations, tore up railroad tracks, and laid torpedoes (mines) upriver, Tubman encouraged more than 800 slaves to come aboard the gunboats, which would take them to freedom.

Tubman's account, as told to Sarah Bradford, author of The Scenes and Life of Harriet Tubman, are recounted as follows:

"I nebber see such a sight," said Harriet; "we laughed, an' laughed, an' laughed. Here you'd see a woman wid a pail on her head, rice a smokin' in it jus' as she'd taken it from de fire, young one hangin' on behind, one han' roun' her forehead to hold on, 'tother han' diggin' into de rice-pot, eatin' wid all its might; hold of her dress two or three more; down her back a bag wid a pig in it. One woman brought two pigs, a white one an' a black one; we took 'em all on board; named de white pig Beauregard, and de black pig Jeff Davis. Sometimes de women would come wid twins hangin' roun' der necks; 'pears like I nebber see so many twins in my life; bags on der shoulders, baskets on der heads, and young ones taggin' behin', all loaded; pigs squealin', chickens screamin', young ones squallin'."

Many were too scared to get on board, so, according to Bradford, Tubman began to sing:

Of all the whole creation in the East or in the West,
The glorious Yankee nation is the greatest and the best.
Come along! Come along! don't be alarmed,
Uncle Sam is rich enough to give you all a farm.

The slaves boarded the gunboats, which transported them to the relative safety of Beaufort, South Carolina.

Sources:

LeSourd, Nancy. "Harriet Tubman: Civil War Spy, Daring Soldier." Accessed at http://libertyletters.com/resources/civil-war/harriet-tubman-civil-war-spy.php, on January 6, 2012.

Bradford, Sarah. The Scenes and Life of Harriet Tubman. W.J. Moses Printer. Located at http://www.archive.org/stream/scenesinlifeofha00bradrich#page/n7/mode/2up. Accessed on January 6, 2012.

#81 From the Eyes of a 10-Year-Old Girl

Carrie Berry. Photo in the public domain and found at
http://americancivilwar.com/women/carrie_berry.html

Atlanta resident Carrie Berry turned 10 on August 3, 1864, as Union forces under the command of General William Tecumseh Sherman shelled the city. She celebrated by doing some ironing and sewing some mittens for herself. Even as she describes the shells passing through parts of her house and garden, it's evident that she doesn't yet understand their destructive power. Here is what she says:

Aug. 14. Sun. Sure enough we had shells in abundance last night. We averaged one every moment during the night. We expected every one would come through and hurt some of us but to our joy nothing on the lot was hurt. They have ben throwing them at us all day to day but they have not ben dangerous. Papa has ben at work all day making the cellar safe. Now we feel like we could stay at home in safety. I dislike to stay in the cellar so close but our soldiers have to stay in ditches.


Aug. 15. Mon. We had no shells this morning when we got up and we thought that we would not have any to day (but, my, when will they stop) but soon after breakfast Zuie and I were standing on the platform between the house and the dining room. It made a very large hole in the garden and threw the dirt all over the yard. I never was so frightened in my life. Zuie was as pale as a corpse and I expect I was too. It did not take us long to fly to the cellar. We stayed out till night though we had them all day but they did not come so near us again.


Aug. 16. Tues. We had shells all night. There was a large piece came through Mama's room directly after we went to bed and fell on the little bed and I expect if we had been sleeping there some of us would have ben hurt. Cousin Henry and Cousin Eddy came to see us to day. They told us that they did not think the Federals would be here much longer to torment us and I hope that it may be so for we are getting very tired of living so.


Sherman's siege of Atlanta lasted until September 2, 1864, concluding his infamous march to the sea.


Sources: 


A Confederate Girl: The Diary of Carrie Barry, 1864. Edited by Christy Steele and Anne Todd.


http://gacivilwar.org/Stories/Detail/Carrie-Berry. Website Accessed 1/18/2012

#80 Gambling and Cards



Officers of the 114th Pennsylvania Infantry playing cards in front of tents near Petersburg, Va. Courtesy Library of Congress

 To assuage the boredom that came between marching, drilling, and battles, soldiers on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line engaged in various pastimes ranging from cards to cricket. Popular card games included of course poker and 21, but such games as euchre and keno were also played. Besides cards, dominoes, chess, and checkers were portable, quiet games that the soldiers could play as well if they could get their hands on them. Those seeking more raucous forms of recreation wrestled, boxed, played leapfrog, or participated in horse racing or a game of cricket. In at least one instance, a regiment knocked down wooden pins with cannon balls.

Source: "Past Times of the 1860s," Civil War Trust. Located at http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/on-the-homefront/culture/pasttimes.html. Accessed 1/12/2012.

#79 Antietam



Antietam Battlefield. Photo by Alexander Gardner. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

 September 17, 1862, was the bloodiest single day of the entire Civil War, or for that matter, any other American fought war since then. 23,100 casualties were inflicted, and of that number, 6,000 were dead. By comparison, 2,000 soldiers died on D-Day during World War II. The heaviest fighting ocurred in a cornfield belonging to David R. Miller, near Dunker's Church. Following the close-quarters, bloody battle, Union General Joseph Hooker stated, "In the time I am writing, every stalk of corn in the northern and greater part of the field was cut as closely as could have been done with a knife, and the slain lay in rows precisely as they had stood in their ranks a few moments before."

Antietam is also known for a sunken road at the center of the battlefield, where confederates struggled to hold and then tried to retreat up a slope, only to be shot down by Union soldiers and canon, their bodies falling back onto the road. Following the battle, the road was aptly renamed "Bloody Lane."

Although the battle's outcome was officially "inconclusive," it was the Confederates who retreated back across the Potomac into Virginia. Nevertheless, Union General George McLellan's failure to use the entire army in a concerted effort rather than a conglomeration of single orders to individual units contributed to his dismissal by President Lincoln the following November. 

Sources:
"Battle of Antietam," Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Antietam#Battle. Accessed 1/11/12.
"The Battle of Antietam," http://www.civilwar.org/. Accessed 1/11/12.
"Antietam," CWSAC Battle Summaries. American Battlefield Protection Program. http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/md003.htm. Accessed 1/11/12.

#78 What's in a Name?

Signatures from "Capture of a Rebel Brigade at Gettysburg July 1st 1863 by the 6th Wis, 95th N.Y. and 14th N.Y.S.M." Courtesy Library of Congress

According to the U.S. Census of 1880, these were the top 20 most popular male names during and after the Civil war (from 1861-1870.)

John
William
Charles
James
George
Frank
Henry
Thomas
Joseph
Edward
Robert
Frederic
Samuel
Albert
Lewis
David
Harry
Daniel
Andrew
Walter

The top 20 most popular female names were:

Mary
Elizabeth
Sarah
Ann
Emily
Ellen
Catherine
Margaret
Jane
Martha
Ada
Frances
Susan
Alice
Nancy
Lou
Harriet
Julia
Lucy
Helen

Some of the least favorite male names included:

Emmett
Leander
Mitchell
Zacharias
Bruce
Berry
General
Luke
Lyman
Clyde
Ross
Max
Freeman
Millard
Ransom
Erwin
Uriah
Price
Orlando
Lemuel

And the least favorite female names:

Inez
Lida
Almeda
Casandra
Olga
Theodoci
Clementi
Alberta
Ora
Mabel
Sabina
Lulu
Tilda
Myra
Tennessee
Lidia
Vina
Celina
Marci
Easter

Source: "Given Name Frequency Project," http://www.galbithink.org/names/agnames.htm. Accessed May 26, 2011.

#77 Crazy Betsy

Elizabeth Van Lew, or "Crazy Betsy"

Elizabeth Van Lew hated slavery, which, for a woman living in Richmond when the Civil War broke out, was odd in and of itself. But she was also outspoken, and dressed strangely, which earned her the name of "Crazy Betsy," or "Crazy Bet." Nevertheless, her neighbors had no idea how strange she actually was: she was a Union spy.

Born, raised, and schooled in Philadelphia, Lizzie, as her family knew her, lived with her mother in Richmond following her father's death. When the war broke out, she was in her 40s, and was a staunch Unionist.

The most remarkable thing about Van Lew is that she was pro-Union out in the open. On days of fasting and prayer proclaimed by the Confederate government, Van Lew held elaborate meals and openly voiced her opinions against slavery.

In retrospect, it seems that her eccentricities helped advance her plight to help the Union and its soldiers. Everyone saw her as harmless, and therefore let her do as she wished. As the war progressed, she refitted her home with secret passages, hidden rooms, and supposed tunnels that led to the James River. Many escapees are believed to have taken shelter there on their way northward.

She also gained access to the prisons to carry books and food to the imprisoned Union officers, who passed her information that had been overheard. Moreover, Van Lew organized a Union sympathizer group in Richmond, which included Elizabeth Bowser, an African-American woman who was on the whitehouse staff and overheard important conversations as she served meals and attended to Jefferson Davis.

In retrospect, it is truly remarkable how she was able to hide in plain sight, being dismissed as slightly crazy person, yet be among the most effective spies for the entire Civil War. General U.S. Grant stated that Van Lew had provided the most valuable information from Richmond during the war. He later appointed her postmistress of the city.

Sources:

"Civil War Podcast by Dr. James Robertson," produced by WVTF Public Radio. Accessed at  http://www.wvtf.org/news_and_notes/feeds/wvtf_cw_rss.php on May 20, 2011.

"Elizabeth Van Lew." Accessed at http://www.civilwarhome.com/vanlewbio.htm on May 20, 2011.

#76 Carrying the Log and Other Punishments



"Too Fond of Whiskey." Source: Library of Congress

 The Civil War, like all wars, consisted of long stretches with nothing to do broken up by short periods of marching and fighting. During the slow times, Union soldiers in Virginia passed the time by stealing food from nearby southern farmers, getting drunk, gambling, fighting among themselves, or all of the above. The creativity of the offenses were often met with equally creative punishments.

1) Carrying the Log: For minor offenses, soldiers had to substitute his rifle for a thick log, that he had to carry with him wherever he went. Often, he would be called to guard the tent of the officer responsible for making him carry it.

2) Fit to be Tied: For moderate offenses, a soldier might have to sit with a stick placed behind his knees with his hands tied together in front of his ankles, and a bayonet in his teeth.

3) Barrel Balance: Also for moderate offenses, this punishment consists of removing the lid from a barrel and forcing the soldier to stand, and balance, on the rim. Soldiers were also made to wear the barrel, and only the barrel.

4) Branding and Flogging: For major offenses, such as attempted disertion, soldiers might have been branded, flogged, or hung up by their thumbs.

5) Death: The worst offenders were shot, sometimes sitting on their own coffins, or hanged.

Sources:

Gone for a Soldier: The Civil War Memoirs of Private Alfred Bellard