Event: Deep Creek

The WCWA's summer reenactment season started this weekend at Deep Creek.  While the 4th was not present as a unit, several members made the cross-state trek to participate.  Captain Jones once again served ably as both aide-de-camp to General Grant and bodyguard to President Lincoln.  Mr. Talbot crossed to the grey side to portray General Lee, with his usual skill and attention to detail . The blog-mistress introduced several visitors to running stitch and dip pens, in service of a USAS quilting project.

Highlights of the larger event included a lantern tour, a full schedule of presentations, beautiful weather*, and several hundred happy, inquisitive visitors.  Mr. & Mrs. Michie of the 1st Michigan Artillery, in particular, are to be commended for their skilled organization of the proceedings.  It is hoped that the experience will often be repeated.

The Union camp, viewed from "town".

Union forces assemble for the Monday battle.

The rebs may have a slight numerical advantage.

*During the day.  It got a bit nippy overnight.

We Are Coming Father Abraham, Three Hundred Thousand More

It's more appropriate for the volunteers than the regulars, but here's another popular pro-Union song of the 1860s. "[We are Coming Father Abraham,] Three Hundred Thousand More" appears in Personal and Political Ballads (1864), though the earliest I've found it printed is 1862, in The American Crisis; Or, Trial and Triumph of Democracy (and in many music sheets that year).  Interestingly, this song is attributed to multiple people in the period publications; the lyrics are variously credited to "a volunteer's wife", and to William Cullen Bryant, while the Stephen Foster, George R. Poulton, and L.O. Emerson are all said to have composed the tune.  Wikipedia indicates that James S. Gibbons originally wrote it as a poem, which was published by Mr. Bryant and subsequently put to music by various people. An identical song, credited to "a volunteer" and increasing the number of recruits to 600,000, was also published the same year.

THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE 

We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more,
From Mississippi's winding stream, and from New England's shore;
We leave our ploughs and workshops, our wives and children dear,
With hearts too full for utterance, with but a silent tear;
We dare not look behind us, but steadfastly before--
We are coming Father Abraham--three hundred thousand more! 

If you look across the hill-tops that meet the Northern sky,
Long moving lines of rising dust your vision may descry;
And now the wind, an instant tears the cloudy veil aside,
And floats aloft our spangled flag in glory and in pride;
And bayonets in the sunlight gleam, and bands brave music pour--
We are coming, Father Abraham--three hundred thousand more! 

If you look up all our valleys, where the growing harvests shine,
You may see our sturdy farmer boys fast forming into line;
And children from their mothers' knees are pulling at the weeds,
And learning how to reap and sow, against their country's needs;
And a farewell group stands weeping at every cottage door--
We are coming, Father Abraham--three hundred thousand more!

You have called us, and we're coming, by Richmond's bloody tide
To lay us down for Freedom's sake, our brothers' bones beside;
Or from foul treason's savage grasp to wrench the murderous blade,
And in the face of foreign foes its fragments to parade.
Six hundred thousand loyal men and true have gone before--
We are coming, Father Abraham--three hundred thousand more!

Several recordings are available on-line, mostly under the title "We are Coming, Father Abraham/Abr'am".

Hospital Sketches

In honor of the field nurses and hospital steward who run the 4th's Field Hospital, here are some primary sources.

Field Hospital on the Battle Field at Chancellorsville by Edward Forbes (1863)
From the Library of Congress, which has many hospital images in its Civil War Collection.

Here are some first-hand accounts of army hospitals and volunteer nurses:

Hospital Sketches by Louisa May Alcott (1863) is based on the author's experience as a nurse in 1862-3.

Half a Century by Jane Grey Swisshelm includes accounts of the author's volunteer nursing at hospitals in Washington, D.C., and at the frontlines, c. 1863-4.

Crusader and Feminist: The Letters of Jane Grey Swisshelm includes letters written while working in Washington, D.C. hospitals (c.1863-4).

Hospital Transports: A Memoir by Frederick Law Olmstead (1863) is a US Sanitary Commission publication, chronicling events of 1862.

Nurse and Spy in the Union Army by Sarah Emma Evelyn Edmonds (1865) gives an account of the author's work as a field hospital nurse.

The Hospital Steward's Manual by Joseph Janvier Woodward (1863) naturally focuses on the responsibilities of stewards, but also goes into great detail about the organization of military hospitals, including job descriptions and wages for male and female nurses, laundresses, and cooks. This is very useful background information for anyone portraying an army hospital worker.

Ward K, Amory Square Hospital, Washington DC (1865)
Also from the LOC.  There's another ward shown here, including a period wheelchair.

More Resources:

Notes on Nursing (1860) by Florence Nightingale.  Though not about field hospitals, this book was a popular home medical reference during the period, and reflects the knowledge that volunteer nurses would have brought with them; authors such as Mrs. Beeton recommended that every woman have a copy of this book.

Facts Relating to Hospital Nurses (1857) is pre-war, and discusses British customs, but it also gives an interesting view of how contemporary hospitals, and the duties of nurses therein.

A Woman of Valor: Clara Barton in the Civil War by Stephen B. Oates. Before the Red Cross and the even before the Missing Soldiers' Office, Clara Barton acted a field nurse and independent relief worker for the Union Army.  This volume provides lots of interesting detail about how field hospitals were run (or mis-run), and the role of politics in wartime volunteering.

The Museum of Civil War Medicine has a great deal of information--if nothing else, check out the book list on their "Education and Research" page.

Demonstration at Fort Lewis

Per custom, members of the 4th presented a living history demonstration at Fort Lewis's Armed Forces Day events.  As the writer was celebrating Queen Victoria's Birthday in 1855, pictures will be added when they become available.

WCWA Quilt Projects

Here are some fun projects to look forward to at WCWA reenactments this summer:

1) A Ladies' Aid Society Quilt.  This will be a "quilt as you go" style quilt, in which blocks of a standard size are individually pieced, quilted, and bound; the finished blocks are then whip-stitched together into a quilt.  The technique is found in most of the Aid Society/Sanitary Commission quilts explored in Weeks and Beld's Civil War Quilts, and it seems very well suited to a group effort.

Other period (or slightly post-period) quilts with this technique:
Susannah Pullen's Quilt
An 1880s "Quilt as You Go" (Also some pictures of an 1860s Soldiers' Aid Quilt)
A Post-War Quilt (Possibly started during the war and finished later--it's easy to add more blocks with this method).

I envision this project as one that ladies (and gentlemen) can work on at their leisure, doing as much or as little as suits.  A large number of participants is not required for success, and the work is small enough to be carried around easily.  It'll also start conversations with the public about a technique that's not well known.  For those interested in participating, but unsure how to start, I'll provide some easy period block patterns and even pre-cut fabric.

2) An inscribed a four-patch quilt, based on the 1864 "Amherst" Quilt (Smithsonian Record). This will be a drop-in activity for visitors or reenactors who want to participate without necessarily having the time, knowledge or materials to make a finished square on their own. Instead, they can join four pre-cut squares into a quilt block; I'll teach a basic running stitch to anyone interested. Those who can't or won't sew may choose to sign a white square for inclusion in the quilt.

These will both likely be long-term projects, but I look forward to seeing where they go.  Even if we don't end up with two reproduction quilts for the field hospital, it should be a valuable learning and interpreting experience.

Glory, Hallelujah! / John Brown's Song / The Battle Hymn of the Republic

The lyrics we know as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" were first published in The Atlantic in April of 1862:

BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC. 

MINE eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
                                                             His truth is marching on.  

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
                                                                  His day is marching on.  

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero born of woman crush the serpent with his heel.
                                                              Since God is marching on."  

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
                                                           Our God is marching on. 

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me:
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
                                                 While God is marching on. 

Sheet music from the same year includes both the familiar tune and the refrain: "glory, glory, hallelujah".  Both are carried over from the earlier song which continued to be popular: "Glory, Hallelujah" or "John Brown's Song."  Sheet music was published under both titles throughout the war, some with variations to the lyrics.  Additional lyrics were set to the same tune, including "McClellan is Our Leader Now" (1863); a further four versions appear in Songs of the Soldiers (1864).

Here are a fairly typical set of lyrics to "Glory, Hallelujah" from an 1861 music sheet, on which the tune is attributed to Phillip Simmons (the lyricist is unnamed):

John Browns' body lies a mould'ring in the grave,
John Browns' body lies a mould'ring in the grave,
John Browns' body lies a mould'ring in the grave,
His soul's marching on!* 

Chorus: Glory, Glory Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory Hallelujah!
His soul's marching on! 

He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord,
He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord,
He's gone to be a soldier in the army of the Lord,
His soul's marching on! 

Chorus 

John Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his back,
John Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his back,
John Brown's knapsack is strapped upon his back,
His soul's marching on! 

Chorus 

His pet lambs will meet him on the way,
His pet lambs will meet him on the way,
His pet lambs will meet him on the way,
They go marching on! 

Chorus:Glory, Glory Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory Hallelujah!
Glory, Glory Hallelujah!
His soul's marching on!** 

They will hang Jeff Davis to a tree!
They will hang Jeff Davis to a tree!
They will hang Jeff Davis to a tree!
As they march along! 

Chorus: Glory, Glory Hallelujah!, etc.,
As they march along! 

Now, three rousing cheers for the Union!
Now, three rousing cheers for the Union!
Now, three rousing cheers for the Union!
As we're marching on! 

Chorus: Glory, Glory Hallelujah, etc.,
Hip Hip Hip Hip Hurrah!

* Note that this line has 5 syllables, not the more familiar 6.
**In this version, except for the last verse, the last line of the chorus is the same as the last line of the preceding verse.

Many recordings of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" are available on-line, including videos with lyrics, instrumental marches, anachronistic battle montages and performances by celebrities such as Johnny Cash, Whitney Houston, and Judy Garland.  "Glory Hallelujah" hasn't been quite so popular, but you can find a few recordings under the title "John Brown's Body" (there's even one with lyrics).

Elegant Simplicity

The less trimming you put on the better. A rich dress does not require it; and on a cheap one, it looks “I would if I could.” What is more ridiculous than a low priced dress spattered with ruffles, folds, buttons, gimp and cord? Much trimming is an unmistakable sign of an empty head. You cannot possibly keep up with the fashions, which people start who have nothing else to do, and the attempt is silly. The plainest dress is always most genteel. There is something that commands respect in an evident absence of pretension; therefore, the more plainly a dress is made the more likely it is to continue to look well. 

--Jane Swisshelm “Letters to Country Girls” (1853)