Civil War Era Toys Used for Smuggling

Here's an interesting article from Yahoo this evening. Turns out that dolls now owned by the Museum of the Confederacy had hollowed heads that could have been used to smuggle quinine or morphine to Confederate troops through Union blockades. One theory is that the dolls came from Europe and already had the medicines inside with the thought being that if Union troops boarded a ship they would not closely examine children's toys. When you click on the link be sure to click on the photo to see other photos of the dolls and also a couple of x-ray images that have been taken.

Dave Powell Interview at Bull Runnings

Considering I just had a post with comments from Dave Powell I thought it right that I point out an interview with him just published on the excellent Bull Runnings blog. Check out the interview here. Dave has a new book coming out that looks like a winner. Just another one to add to the want list and already bulging reading pile.

Documents at risk at the National Archives

I opened up Yahoo to this great bit of news. Not that this is anything new or unexpected really but now the Government Accountability Office has released an audit showing that records and documents at the National Archives are at risk. The highest risk factors are theft (big shock since money is involved), deterioration (estimates show that up to 65% of holdings need some form of preservation care with many already being unreadable), and ignorance of the law (some federal documents and electronic media are destroyed illegally by agencies before proper permissions are granted).

Say what you will about federal spending but based upon everything that NARA is supposed to take care of and with the explosion of electronic records I'm not sure that the $470 million budget quoted in this article is enough.

Robert Partin update

A few days ago I posted about an interesting find I had made in my great great grandfathers Florida Confederate pension application. Jim Schmidt suggested contacting Chickamauga expert Dave Powell for his input. Dave was kind enough to reply and allow me to post his thoughts. Some great information especially considering I knew next to nothing about this battle. This is an area I hope to increase my knowledge on in the future especially with the family connection there!

Robert,

Thanks for the post.

Since Chickamauga was the first national military park, states created commissions starting in the late 1880s to determine how to site monuments. The northern states led the way here, with the goal of having most monuments in place when the park was scheduled to open in 1896.

The idea was that each regiment would form a committee to decide where their monument belonged and what text it should include. Then the ideas would be vetted at the state level, and finally by the park commission.

The ex-confederate states, having much less money to throw at monuments during this period, were slower to respond and often created a single state monument instead of individual regimental ones. Florida was one such - their monument stands just south of the Visitor's Center today.

The 4th Florida was in Stovall's Brigade, Breckinridge's Division, and fought very near where the state monument sits today. On September 20th 1863 Stovall's men routed part of John Beatty's Federal brigade (principally the 104th Illinois and part of the 15th Kentucky) and then turned south to strike into the flank of George Thomas' line at Kelly Field. The 4th did reach Kelly Field, but then Union reserves ejected them again. The 4th suffered 87 casualties out of 238 engaged, or 37%, in about an hour's fighting.

Dave Powell

Reading suggestions please!

I came across a small advertisement in a local magazine that on November 20 the Ormond Beach Historical Society will be presenting a talk on General Adelbert Ames. I did not realize that Ames had retired to Ormond Beach. Hopefully this will be an interesting talk and nothing will come up in the mean time.

Does anybody know of a good book on Ames or his command? I scanned quickly through Amazon and didn't see anything that looked too promising. I'll be checking Larry Tagg's The Generals of Gettysburg and also Ezra Warner's Generals in Blue but was hoping for something a bit more in depth. I mean it's not like I don't have tons to read already.

As always, thanks for your help!

Charting a More Perfect Union

I received a notice through Family Tree Magazine regarding a new online set of Civil War maps that are available. Click the image below to access the collection. Nearly 400 maps put together by the Office of the Coast Survey are available. Read the Family Tree Magazine blog article regarding this collection here.

Pennsylvania Grand Review

In November 1865 citizens of Harrisburg, PA gathered to honor the black Union troops who were not allowed to march in Washington D.C. in the Grand Review of the Armies. November 4-7 will be a commemoration of this event.