Civil War Days has moved!

Civil War Days has moved and had a name change! CivilWarDays.blogspot.com is now located at http://civilwarsaga.com/ and has been renamed The Civil War Saga. Make sure to update your bookmarks and come check out the new site!

Paul Revere's Grandsons Fought In the Civil War

Portrait of Paul Revere, circa 1768

Paul Revere had a large family with a total of 51 grandchildren, three of whom, Paul Joseph Revere, Joseph Warren Revere and Edward Hutchinson Revere, served in the Union army during the Civil War.

Paul Joseph Revere served as a colonel in the 20^th Massachusetts Regiment along with Edward Hutchinson Revere who was an assistant army surgeon. Joseph Warren Revere served as a Brigadier General in the New Jersey Volunteer Infantry.

Both Paul and Edward were captured by Confederate troops during the Battle at Ball's Bluff in Virginia in October of 1861. According to the book “Massachusetts in the War” Paul spent time in the infamous Libby prison in Richmond before being exchanged for several Confederate pirates:

“In the Battle of Ball's Bluff, October 21 1861, he was wounded in the leg and made prisoner, being confined first at Libby prison and afterward being one of seven Federal officers made hostages for the lives of Confederate privateersmen held by the United States government on the charge of piracy. For three months he was with his fellow hostages confined in a wretched cell of Henrico county jail. He was paroled on 22 of February, 1862, and being exchanged May 2 rejoined his regiment before Yorktown.”

According to the book “Harvard Memorial Biographies” Edward was held at a Confederate prison in Leesburg and then in Richmond. The prison is not named but the author states it was a former tobacco warehouse. Libby prison was, in fact, a former tobacco warehouse but so was another Richmond Confederate prison, Castle Thunder. These warehouses were located along Tobacco Row near the James River.

After his brother Paul was taken as a hostage from the prison and moved to Henrico, Edward wrote a letter home informing his family of the news. The context of the letter further suggests Edward was at Libby prison with Paul but, again, the prison is not named:

“Paul and the other officers left us last Thursday for the jail, to await the trial of the privateersmen. There were seven in all from here, the rest of the fourteen being either in South Carolina or New Orleans. They are confined in one small cell, with two small windows. I hear from them everyday, but am not allowed to see them. You can imagine our anxiety to hear what action the government will take when they hear of their imprisonment, for there is not the slightest doubt in my mind that whatever is done to the privateersmen will be meted out to our unfortunate comrades.”

Edward was paroled on February 22, the same day as Paul, and went home to await his official exchange, which occurred in April.

After their release, Paul and Edward served in the Battle of Antietam in September of 1862. During the battle, Edward was shot and killed while caring for a wounded soldier and Paul was wounded again. Fortunately, Paul made another full recovery and went back to war.

Paul's luck ran out in July of 1863 when he led his troops in the famous Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania and was wounded on the second day of the battle. Paul passed away just two days later. After his death, he was posthumously promoted to Brigadier General.

Joseph was the only grandson to survive the Civil War, but he had his fair share of bad fortune as well. At the Battle of Chancellorsville in the spring of 1863, Joseph withdrew his troops from battle without orders to do so, resulting in a court martial. Sentenced to be dismissed from the army, President Abraham Lincoln allowed him to resign instead.

Paul Joseph Revere

Joseph Warren Revere

Sources:

"Harvard Memorial Biographies”; Edited by Thomas Wentworth Higginson; 1867

“Appleton's Cyclopædia of American biography, Volume 5” edited by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske; 1915

“Massachusetts in the War, 1861-1865”; James Lorenzo Bowen; 1888

“The Cyclopedia of American Biography V6”; John Howard Brown; 1903

“Civil War Boston: Home Front and Battlefield”; Thomas H. O'Connor; 1997

“Best Little Stories from the Civil War”; C. Brian Kelly; 1994

CNN: Seven Civil War Stories Your Teacher Never Told You: http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/06/12/mf.civil.war/index.html#cnnSTCText

“The Life of Colonel Paul Revere, Volume 1”; Elbridge Henry Goss; 1906

Abraham Lincoln Was Related to Paul Revere

Abraham Lincoln in 1862

Although born and raised at different times and in different places, Abraham Lincoln was related to Paul Revere through three marriages in his family.

Abraham Lincoln's father, Thomas Lincoln, had two cousins in Boston during the late 1700s named Amos and Jedediah Lincoln. Like himself, both cousins were carpenters, although they were much more successful at their trade.

After Amos Lincoln participated in the Boston Tea Party when he was 20 years old and served as a Lieutenant Colonel during the Revolutionary War, he married Paul Revere's eldest daughter Deborah in 1781. They had nine children together before she passed away in January of 1797. After Deborah's death, Paul Revere took in their youngest child, Frederick Walker Lincoln, and raised him himself. Later that year, in May, Amos Lincoln married Deborah's younger sister, Elizabeth, and had five more children. The first of those children, Mary Lincoln, was born in December of 1797, just seven months after the couple's wedding, which suggests the baby was conceived before they were married.

Portrait of Paul Revere in 1813

Jedediah Lincoln was also a Revolutionary War soldier. After Jedediah's first wife, Betsey Edwards, died in 1796, he married Paul Revere's daughter, Mary, and they had seven children together. The family lived near Paul Revere in Boston's North End Square.

Both Amos and Jedediah Lincoln are buried at Copp's Hill Burying Ground in the North End of Boston.

Since Abraham Lincoln and Paul Revere's lives overlapped by nine years, Lincoln was nine years old when Revere died in 1818, it is very possible that Lincoln knew of his family connection to the famous Paul Revere.

Sources:

"Paul Revere and the World He Lived In”; Esther Hoskins Forbes; 1942

The Paul Revere House: Paul Revere's Ancestry: http://www.paulreverehouse.org/bio/father.html

"Paul Revere's Ride”; David Hackett Fischer

Ben L. Edwards: The Colonial Edwards Family: http://benledwards.com/edwards/familytree.html

Boston Tea Party Historical Society: Amos Lincoln: http://www.boston-tea-party.org/participants/amos-lincoln.html

History.com: 12 Things You May Not Know About Paul Revere: http://www.history.com/news/2011/04/18/12-things-you-may-not-know-about-paul-revere/

The Glowing Wounds of the Battle of Shiloh

After the Battle of Shiloh in April of 1862 in Tennessee, over 16,000 wounded soldiers lay in the rain and cold mud for over two days as overwhelmed doctors and nurses struggled to locate and treat the soldiers. Some of these wounded soldiers later reported that as they lay on the ground awaiting help, their wounds started to glow in the dark.

Chromolithograph of the Battle of Shiloh, circa 1888

At the time, the reason for the glow was a mystery but doctor's did note that the wounds that glowed healed faster than those that didn't. The mystery remained unsolved until 2001, when two teenagers finally uncovered the source of the glow.

After the two teens, Billy Martin and John Curtis from Maryland, conducted a variety of scientific experiments, they discovered that the wounded soldiers became hypothermic as they lay in the mud. This lower body temperature allowed for the growth of a bioluminescent bacterium called Photorhabadus luminescens, which inhibits pathogens, to develop in the wound. This bacterium not only caused the wounds to glow but also prevented them from became gangrenous, which saved the lives and limbs of many soldiers.

Although it was common for wounded soldiers to lay on the battlefield for days after the battle's end, glowing wounds were not a widespread phenomenon of the Civil War. The glowing wounds of the Battle of Shiloh are mostly due to the wet, cold and muddy conditions of that April battle as well as the fact that this glowing bacterium is known to attach itself to a certain type of flatworm, called planaria, which is commonly found in the Shiloh area. Since worms only come to the surface when it is wet, there was an abundance of the worms moving throughout the mud during and after the rainy battle.

The discovery won Martin and Curtis the top prize at the Siemens International Science Fair Competition. Curtis later went on to pursue a career in science and Martin pursued a degree in American history, specializing in the American Civil War.

Sources:

Los Angeles Times; Glowing Wounds and the Civil War; Rosie Mestel; July 2 2001

http://articles.latimes.com/2001/jul/02/health/he-17705

"Helping Boys Succeed in School: a Practical Guide for Parents and Teachers”; Terry W. Neu, Rich Weinfeld;

Science Netlinks: Glowing Wounds: http://sciencenetlinks.com/science-news/science-updates/glowing-wounds/

Smithsonian Magazine; Civil War: 8 Strange and Obscure Facts You Didn't Know; November 15 2010: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2011/11/the-civil-war-8-strange-and-obscure-facts-you-didnt-know/

Conjoined Twin Eng Bunker Drafted During the Civil War

Chang and Eng Bunker

In 1865, conjoined twins Chang and Eng Bunker were living in North Carolina when Eng was suddenly drafted to fight in the Civil War.

The Thailand natives were living in Traphill, North Carolina as naturalized citizens when the Union army raided the area and drafted some of the locals to join their army, despite the fact that many of them, including the Bunker brothers, were Confederate supporters.

Union General George Stoneman put the names of all men over 18 years of age into a lottery wheel and selected names at random. Eng's name was drawn but Chang's wasn't. Since the conjoined twins could not be separated by surgery because their livers were fused, there wasn't much that Stoneman could do. Neither brother ended up fighting in the war although both of their eldest sons, Christopher Wren Bunker and Stephen Bunker, joined and fought for the Confederacy. Both Christopher and Stephen survived the war but Christopher was captured and spent nearly a year as a prisoner of war at Camp Chase in Ohio in August of 1864.

Sources:  

"Touring the Carolinas' Civil War Sites"; Clint Johnson; 2011

Smithsonian Magazine; The Civil War: 8 Strange and Obscure Facts You Didn't Know; November 15, 2011: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2011/11/the-civil-war-8-strange-and-obscure-facts-you-didnt-know/

Stonewall Jackson's Account of John Brown's Execution

Hanging of John Brown

Stonewall Jackson was a professor at the Virginia Military Institute in December of 1859 when he was ordered, along with his cadets, to provide security at John Brown's execution in Charlestown, Virginia. John Brown had recently been condemned to death after his failed raid in October on Harper's Ferry in Virginia. After rumors began to swirl that some of Brown's supporters were planning to rescue Brown at the execution, Virginia Governor, Henry A. Wise, ordered 1,500 soldiers to Charlestown to make sure the execution took place.

Also present at the execution was actor and future presidential assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Booth was in Virginia rehearsing for a play when he spontaneously volunteered to serve as backup in the local volunteer militia the Richmond Grays, who were also on hand to thwart any rescue attempts from Brown's supporters.

Stonewall Jackson, who was then known as Professor Thomas J. Jackson as he didn't earn his famous nickname until the first Battle of Bull Run in 1863, wrote a letter to his wife Mary Anna Jackson on the day of the execution, detailing the event. In the letter, Jackson said Brown behaved with “unflinching firmness” and hoped that Brown would be forgiven for his actions and allowed to enter heaven:

Stonewall Jackson

“December 2. John Brown was hung today at about 11 1/2 A.M. He behaved with unflinching firmness. The arrangements were well made under the direction of Col. Smith. Brown's wife visited him last evening. The body is to be delivered to her. The gibbet was south east of the town in a large field. Brown rode on the head of his coffin, from his prison to the place of execution. The coffin was of black walnut, enclosed in a poplar box of the same shape as the coffin.

He was dressed in carpet slippers of predominating red, white socks, blacks pants, black frock coat, black vest & black slouch hat. Nothing around his neck beside his shirt collar. The open wagon in which he rode was strongly guarded on all sides. Capt. Williams, formerly one of the assistants of the Institute, marched immediately in front of the wagon. The jailer and high sheriff and several others rode in the wagon with the prisoner.

Brown had his arms tied behind him, & ascended the scaffold with apparent cheerfulness. After reaching the top of the platform, he shook hands with several who were standing around him. The sheriff placed the rope around his neck, then threw a white cap over his head & asked him if he wished a signal when all should be ready---to which he replied that it made no difference, provided he was not kept waiting too long.

In this condition he stood on the trap door, which was supported on one side by hinges, and on the other (south side) by a rope, for about 10 minutes, when Col. S. told the Sheriff "all is ready," which apparently was not comprehended by the Sheriff, and the Col. had to repeat the order, when the rope was cut by a single blow, and Brown fell through about 25 inches, so as to bring his knees on a level with the position occupied by his feet before the rope was cut. With the fall his arms below the elbow flew up, hands clenched, & his arms gradually fell by spasmodic motions---there was very little motion of his person for several minutes, after which the wind blew his lifeless body to & fro.

His face, upon the scaffold, was turned a little east of south, and in front of him were the cadets commanded by Major Gilham. My command was still in front of the cadets, all facing south. One howitzer I assigned to Mr. Truheart on the left of the cadets, and with the other I remained on the right. Other troops occupied different positions around the scaffold, and altogether it was an imposing but very solemn scene.

I was much impressed with the thought that before me stood a man, in the full vigor of health, who must in a few minutes be in eternity. I sent up a petition that he might be saved. Awful was the thought that he might in a few minutes receive the sentence "Depart ye wicked into everlasting fire." I hope that he was prepared to die, but I am very doubtful--he wouldn't have a minister with him.

His body was taken back to the jail, and at 6 p.m. was sent to his wife at Harper's Ferry. When it reached Harper's Ferry the coffin was opened and his wife saw the body---the coffin was again opened at the depot, before leaving for Baltimore, lest there should be an imposition. We leave for home via Richmond tomorrow.”

Sources:

Virginia Military Institute: Cadets at the Execution of John Brown Documents, November 1859 – January 1860

http://www.vmi.edu/archives.aspx?id=4907

Virginia Military Institute: The Execution of John Brown Stonewall Jackson Eyewitness Account

http://www.vmi.edu/archives.aspx?id=4919

PBS: The Hanging

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/brown/peopleevents/pande10.html

"Memoirs of Stonewall Jackson”; Mary Anna Jackson; 1895

Stonewall Jackson's Strange Habit

Painting of Stonewall Jackson's famous gesture

General Thomas Jonathan Stonewall Jackson is a Confederate icon and considered by many to be one of the best Confederate commanders of the Civil War. According to various sources, Stonewall Jackson had a number of strange habits, one of them being that he often walked around with his hand in the air to balance the blood in his body.

According to the book “Thomas Francis Meagher and the Irish Brigade in the Civil War,” Stonewall Jackson believed one side of his body was heavier than the other. To balance the weight of his body, he would often walk around or ride his horse with his hand in the air so the blood would flow from one side of his body to the other. He believed this tactic “lightened” his arm and improved his balance.

Modern physicians suggest Jackson's feeling of unbalance may have been the result of a diaphragmatic hernia, which also gave him stomach problems and caused him discomfort while sitting.

Incidentally, Stonewall Jackson received a bullet or shrapnel wound in his hand as a result of holding it up in the air during the first battle of Bull Run. The wound was not deadly but a surgeon recommended amputating one of his damaged fingers. Fortunately, the wound healed without any need for amputation.

Stonewall Jackson later had his left arm amputated after he was shot multiple times by friendly fire during the Battle of Chancellorsville in May of 1863. His arm was buried near Chancellorsville with a marker that read "Arm of Stonewall Jackson." Jackson survived the wounds and the amputation but died from pneumonia a week later. His body was buried in a plot at the Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery in Lexington, Va before being reburied under a monument in the cemetery.

Marker for Stonewall Jackson's arm

Stonewall Jackson's first grave in Lexington

 Sources: 

"How the North Won: a Military History of the Civil War”; Herman Hattaway, Archer Jones; 1983

"Thomas Francis Meagher and the Irish Brigade in the Civil War”; Daniel M. Callaghan; 2006 

National Parks Traveler: Where Is Stonewall Jackson's Arm Buried?
 http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/podcast/2010/where-general-stonewall-jacksons-arm-buried7164