Teaching School Children about Drummer Boys in the Civil War

This is me with my friend John Saparito. John reenacts as Col. Robert Gould Shaw.  Col. Shaw was the commander of the first black regiment, the 54th Massachusetts. 

I talked to school groups that visited Frampton Plantation in South Carolina about Drummer Boys in the Civil War and John talked about Col. Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts.  

Drummers had three main jobs during the Civil War.  Sometimes they served as stretcher bearers which means that they carried wounded soldiers to safety so they could be treated by doctors.  Drummers also drummed out commands that could be heard over the fighting by the soldiers. Drummers also entertained soldiers.  Drummer boys were usually 11-14 years old but some were as young as 8 or 10. 

  

The drummer boy for Company C of the 54th Massachusetts was named Alexander Johnson.  He was at Fort Wagoner with the 54th.   He was called the Original Drummer Boy by Robert Gould Shaw. After the battle of Fort Wagoner he said "It was a hard fight, we lost our good Colonel."  The regiment lost almost half of it's men and all but one of their commissioned officers.  

Alexander Johnson 54th Massachusetts USCT

My trip to South Carolina and Georgia to be in a movie

I was in a Civil War movie called Unbreakable Bonds, the Civil War Series by Cape Fear Films. I was a Drummer Boy in the movie that will be released as a DVD.

It was filmed on the Pocotaligo battlefield in Yemassee South Carolina.  It is about the 54th Massachusetts a United State Colored Troops regiment.  Many people believe that the 54th was the first colored regiment to be in action but there were a couple of regiments of black soldiers including the North Carolina Colored Volunteers and the Corps d'Afrique.

The night before the filming, my mom and I went to Savannah and I got to see Sherman's headquarters.

Me in my uniform at Pocotaligo.

Me with the 54th Colored Troop reenactors.

Me teaching a school group about Drummer Boys during the Civil War.  I talked to about 8 school groups that morning. 

And I met an adorable puppy.  She is named Daisy and is a 7 month old Bloodhound.  She liked smelling the battlefield on me.  She smelled me so hard she kept knocking me over!  

I will be posting be posting blogs often about the trip.

Union Flag that was flown over Richmond at end of Civil War

This Fall I took a class at the Virginia Historical Society taught by Mike Gorman called How to be a Civil War Photo Geek.  He showed us two versions of this photo.  In one, the flag was limp and one it was perfectly flying in the wind. It took 16 seconds to expose a photo.  It would be hard to catch the flag flying but they didn't get it flying in the other picture.

I also take an American History class at The Virginia Historical Society.  At one of my classes I saw the flag that is in this image!  The flag is on the wall in the museum upstairs near the trolly car.  

The flag has 31 stars.  When the Union captured Richmond in April 1865, it was flown over the Capital building.  If you want to see the flag in person, you can go to the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond Virginia.

Civil War Photo Monday: General Philip Sheridan

This is my Civil War of General Philip Henry Sheridan.  This is my favorite Civil War Photo I own.  I bought it at the Union Drummer Boy in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  

The photo is by J.Q.A Tresize of Zanesville, Ohio.  

The stamp on the back of the Carte de Visite is a tax stamp.  The Tax Stamp was used on photos to generate revenue for the United States government during the Civil War.  The tax stamps were only used on photos during 1864 and 1865 so he was a Army Commander when this photo was taken.  This is a 2 cent tax stamp so it that means that this CDV cost under 25 cents.  If you find a CDV with a tax stamp you know it is a Civil War era photo from 1864 or 1865.  

Lost Avenue in Gettysburg Pennsylvania

Neil Avenue is the extreme right flank of the Union Line and the probably the least visited place in Gettysburg Pennsylvania.  I wanted to go to Lost Avenue to see where my relative Roscoe Doble's regiment fought.  

Almost at the Monuments on Neil Ave.

Monument to Neil's Brigade

Marker for the Right Flank of the 7th Maine

Me at the 7th Maine Monument

7th Maine

Left Flank of the 7th Maine

The wall behind the monuments was there during the battle but the stone wall on the other side of Neil Avenue wasn't there and was put in by the park service later.  If you go beyond the stone walls it is private property.

Me with Mr Dean Shultz.  

He is the owner of the property on either side of Neil Avenue.  His family was there during the battle. He told me that the soldiers took all of the chickens to eat but one was laying on their eggs and didn't move so they didn't get her.  After the battle the eggs hatched and repopulated the chickens!

I'm pretty sure this is a witness cow! 

A couple of weeks later I brought my friends Ted and Faye Chamberlain to see Lost Avenue.

Ted told me that the Fifth Corps was on Wolf Hill, where Lost Avenue is, the night before the battle of Little Round Top.

Me at the marker for the Extreme Right Flank of the Union Line.

This is the monument to the 61st Pennsylvania. 

Civil War Photo Monday November 14, 2016

This is a Civil War Carte de Visit that I bought from 

Ronn Palm's Museum of Civil War Images in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania this weekend. 

The photo was taken in New Haven, Connecticut by Filley and Gilbert photographers. 

Chamberlain Weekend 2015, me reciting In Great Deeds by Joshua Chamberlain

This is a video of me reciting Joshua Chamberlain's In Great Deed's speech on Little Round Top, 20th Maine position at Chamberlain weekend in Gettysburg in November 2015.  Joshua Chamberlain is portrayed by Ted Chamberlain.

I will be doing this speech again this year on November 12th at Chamberlain weekend.