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Returning to the God's Acre Candlelight Tribute Ceremony

6/21/2022

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I started to bring you this story a few blogs back but other matters kept me from completing the story. So we return to it today.

It began on Sunday, Father's Day. But as my blog was getting on, I tried to save it three different times and in each, the Weebly site I'm using managed to once again fail to do the SAVE. They ought not rely on me for any wonderful advertising in the days to come.

Hopefully Today's attempt to bring you the belated story will succeed. So here goes...

The God's Acre Cemetery has been operating for over 150 years, and got its beginnings with the navy's purchase of land back in 1868. The 1.1 hectare piece of land was self run for years and has grown to now be the final resting place for well over 3,000 members of the military family, their immediate families and others. In 1947 the cemetery was taken over by the folks at Veterans Affairs Canada, and have, since seen its expansion during their ownership.

For many years the cemetery has held ceremonies in honour of various causes. On the 26th of May this year several hundred attended its annual Candlelight Tribute. Each year the cemetery highlights several events in our military history. One of these annual events is called a Candlelight Tribute. These highly special events encourage public participation from several official, non official and civilian representatives of the local population.

This year's theme was the 60th anniversary of bravery and a solum remembrance of the incredibly high costs suffered during the 19 August 1942 attack on the beaches of Dieppe. 

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At the time the Germans held virtual control over most of continental Europe. The Allies needed desperately to get  a safe haven to land and start to advance on the Germans.

But, as thought by some, the attacks along a 16km stretch of coastline was well defended by hidden gun, mortar and other weapons to prevent such a landing. Many of the positions high up in the cliffs were so well concealed that Allied intelligence was completely caught off guard. Evidencing this was verified by some of the officers attacking and seeing evidence of mortar guides used to practice and then the weapons being better zeroed in and ready to counter any attacker.

And the Allies came...some 6,100 strong. About 5000 being Canadians from across the country. Some 1,000 were British Commandos and 50 American Rangers also participated.

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The Allies were to land at five separate areas along the beach of this fishing port in northern France. A peacetime portion of the landing area is shown above.
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Here we see the various obstacles including barbed wire the Allies faced when arriving at the beach. In upper right corner we see part of the higher positions where big guns were installed, and these followed the coast line all along the beach.

Getting over the concrete  obstruction closest to the water, you then had a pathway of crushed rock that made it quite difficult to dig into for protection and tank movements. Many of the tanks attacking would never even get off the beaches. Same for the brave soldiers!

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Over 1,000 planes fought in the air and tried to lend support to the ground troops. The Allied landing crafts could only get so far and then all the men had to bail out and make way through more water obstacles before even setting foot on ground.

The Royal Navy refused to provide enough heavy, long range bombarding of the beach and cliffs beyond. Such would have made landings much easier. Instead it was a Forlorn Hope. Many would call it a suicide mission. But the Canadians were glad to get into battle and very tired of the two years training and retraining and performing defensive duties at London.

So the stage was set for what was destined to be one of the most bloody and horrific few hours of fighting in our nation's history.

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Here we see several of the different landing points during "Operation Jubilee," the military code name for the operation. (On reflection it should have been "Operation Slaughter".)

Of the 4,963 Canadian troops landing, only 2,210 would make it back to London after the battle. Of about 6,200 involved, 3,367 became casualties, 1,946 became POW's and 916 of the Canadians were killed in action.

The attack was supposed to be a surprise, but one of the vessels approaching the coastline ran into German coastal patrols. A battle broke out and the noise was heard on the beach telling the Germans that an attack was underway.

Delays off shore also saw an arrival, schedual to be in darkness,  becoming one in the early morning light.  Further challenging the allied attack, was the fact that one of the beach landings starting 1 1/2 hours early. Thus sending the signal that more was to come.  Another problem had some of the troops landed on the West side of a river whilst they were supposed to land on the East side.

That river was called the Sice at the left of above image, at Green Beach. I have a particular interest in this and Red Beach.

It was at Green Beech  that Lt. Col. Cecil Merritt would go on to earn his Victoria Cross... in crossing a very dangerous bridge under withering fire, and rallying his troops to follow. Had they been landed in the right place much of this loss may have been prevented.

Merritt was a distant cousin of my mother's!

At Red Beach many units landed. One of these was the Toronto Scottish. This remains my favorite regiment of all reserve units in  Canada. One in which I first served and remained for close to 15 years. Had I not moved to the East coast I would have continued a career. And one in which I was destined, unknown at the time, to one day becoming its Regimental Sergeant-Major. But alas, by that time I was long gone.

But back to God's Acre, it would be the devastation at Dieppe,  the bravery through-out and the horrible costs that would be the subject of remembrance on May 26th.

And that will finally be covered in the next blog on Sunday.

Please join me then.

Bart



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A Correction and  More on God's Acre Ceremony

6/12/2022

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Way back in 1988 I began a 5 1/2 year run writing a Column in a Halifax newspaper. When it ended I had done  over 560 columns helping folks seeking better treatment from municipal, regional, provincial and federal governments, as well as agencies, boards, commissions and the like  at all those governments  levels.

During that time I learned early on that when one in the press writes something, it often stands, even after the author has been told he or she was wrong about something.

I however took a different approach as a freelancer at the time. I felt that when an error is made, one must verify and then correct the error in a future column. I was however  most stunned to hear quiet often that often you don't correct,  you simply ignore it and move on.

In as much as my column was one of the top columns in the paper and in fact NS journalism of the day, the paper's approach was silly. A mistake uncorrected could lead many a reader down the wrong path to their search for justice.

So, when errors were pointed out to me I corrected them, much to the chagrin of many on the newspaper staff. I have tried  to bring this same philosophy to about  755 blogs in this space over the past dozen years.

So today's column brings you a correction, as have several in the past.

It deals with Dennis Buckley's grave, of which you have hopefully read much here in the past. After some 134 years Buckley remained buried under a misspelled name. Many searched for years to locate his grave without success.

The current historian for his Civil War unit finally tried something different. If Buckley was hiding, the man would just look for the fellow who died with him at Peachtree Creek in July 1864. That man's name was Whitmore. The hunch turned out correctly.

As a result of this great research, historian  John DuBois, took steps to have a new grave marker made, and a formal ceremony conducted in Georgia about the discovery and correction to this part of US and Canadian History.

The following year the historian and family and other re-enactors traveled to Ontario to help me and others  unveil a commemorative marker in Lindsay for Buckley. Much has appeared in this space in the past about both matters.

Interestingly, DuBois' grandfather also fought at Peachtree, and later at Gettysburg and  rests at same cemetery. His name was also misspelled but I believe corrected  by John DuBois.

Somehow the story had it that the CW soldier buried next to Buckley was DuBois. But in fact it is another soldier, who died at Peachtree, and was also a buddy of Buckley's. He too was killed there in action, and it is this man... Sam Whitmore that rests at Buckley's side.

Below are some  Images to show these graves.

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Like so many other soldiers who died in war, Sam and Dennis were originally buried very near the fields where they were killed. Only wooden crosses were first erected. Later they were moved to a second and then third cemetery. That 3rd cemetery is the Marieta National Cemetery in Cobb County in Marietta Georgia.

Here we see Sam Whitmore's marker at left in upper image and to the right is  Dennis Buckley's markers on the right. Below these is the current marker for Buckley, unveiled by DuBois and many others in 2005.  Note the older model of marker then still in place for Sam Whitmore.

I shall return on Sunday June 19th to give more on the story of God's Acre, introduced last week.  Hope you will join me then.

Bart

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A Week of Remembrance!

6/5/2022

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Last week was another of the 52 weeks in every year that folks across North America must stop and give thanks and thoughts to. And remembrance of so much given by so many in order that you and I can live, in peace today.

Or at least in most places, tragic that it is that these feelings can not be shared by the daily horrors seen  by those brave men, women and children in the Ukraine, and their families around the world. 

Closer to home, thousands each day pass one of the  18 wonderful Civil War statutes in Washington DC. One dedicated to remembrance! Though, tragically not known to all who pass bye.

Here is that statute.


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The man on top of this statute asks, did you remember the price we, are families and other loved ones  paid so long ago? 

His name was John Logan and he was a politician, lawyer and Civil War General. After the war he became the 2nd president of the thousands strong very influential veterans group known as the Grand Army of the Republic.

His statute represents men and women who came forth from so many nations,  to save the United States of America. Ironic, that its very location, is only a few blocks away from the Canadian Embassy. Canada being a country that some 50,000 left to help our American neighbours during those horrific days of 1861-5. 

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Several years ago I had the privilege of visiting both the Canadian Embassy, and this statute and many other important DC locations. I was there doing research on the Civil War and the roles fellow Canadians played during those tragic days.

At war's end Major General John Logan joined and soon became the 2nd Commander in Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). This group, numbering in the tens of thousands, had offices... or posts, across the US and a handful even in Canada. They represented the interests of their member veterans.


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One of General Logan's (shown above) orders of business, was indeed an order. An order that required all members to take the time to remember, give thoughts to, and show same by adorning the graves of the past veterans with flowers.

And as such, a day had to de decided, that flowers would be in bloom all across the country. That day was chosen to be May 30th, and it was to become known as Decoration Day. Today it survives but Americans now call it Memorial Day.

And that day for this year was last week!

Logan's original order, known as General Order number 11, was issued on 5 May 1868, and here it is...

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This plaque may make reading a little easier...
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Several times a year Americans come forth to recognize their fallen service men and women. Here is one way they show their respect...
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It  is unknown if this young fellow is one of many planting flags across the nation, during several occasions each year, or more tragically, if he is grieving the loss of a friend or family member.

We do the same in Canada. Similarly we also do Candlelight  Ceremonies in many locations including here in Victoria BC.

At Victoria one such ceremony takes place annually at the Department of Veterans Affairs cemetery known as God's Acre.

The land was purchased by the navy for use as a cemetery back in 1868, making it 155 years old next year. On the grounds rest many family members and workers from the military and some 2500 resting places for military men and women.

To get to the cemetery you have two directions of approach, shown below.


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To gain entry to the cemetery you could drive south on Tillicum Road, and turn right at Colville Road and continue to the 2nd arrow above. This is Veterans Drive. Again turn right and continue on for a few minutes till arriving at the cemetery. Or you could approach the entrance from the left side of the map show above.

If from the right, you drive right past an important historical memorial. Sadly most do not ever even see it. It is located at the red arrow at right in above picture. Here is that memorial...


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The image is that of Rowland Bourke, a Brit. who moved to Canada and began farming but in clearing the land he lost an eye in an explosion. Continuing on, at the beginning of WWl he volunteered first with the Cdn. forces, then the US forces and then the Brits and got rejected by all three.

Eventually, with only one eye, the Brits took him on in their Naval Reserves.  He would eventually be called into action, and  would earn the Distinguished Service Order, and in short order would then be awarded the Victoria Cross for two different events and the saving of many sailors lives. (His heroism has been oft noted in this space.)


Lt Commander Bourke and General Pearkes are the only  VC recipients buried in the greater Victoria area.

Bourke's grave has an annual ceremony, thanks to family, myself and the great folks at HMCS Malahat, the local naval reserve unit.

Pearkes final resting place, as far as I can tell, gets little notice or ceremony by anyone other than normal church maintenance.

Both should get major attention several times a year.

But getting back to God's Acre, for years the cemetery sign has become weather beaten and in need of repair. Several attempts to have the matter addressed finally  resulted in the new sign being erected several months back. Here are both...

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Something has just cropped up that needs my attention, so my planned description of those events and more must  be left till next Sunday.

I hope  you will again join me then.

cheers,
Bart

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Delay till Wed. or Sunday

5/29/2022

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Am searching for an image I want to use but can't find it.

I think it got lost with about  a thousand emails and images due to a recent complete  failure of my back up hard-drive. Will go and get another image locally tomorrow and should be back on line by Wed or Sunday with a blog.

Sorry folks,
Bart

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More Medal of Honor News

5/22/2022

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When we talk about Medal of Honor news, be it current or historic and involving the United States, we should broaden our horizons.

We should realize that men (and one woman)  being awarded these most precious tokens of American appreciation for their valour,  where not limited to American born men and women alone. Of the 3500 plus medals awarded so far, well over 700 went to non Americans coming from at least 48 other countries. (In fact the very first award, by date of action, went to an Irishman... (with Canadian connections to boot.)

And so it is fair to say that MOH news is news that ought to be of interest to all 48 countries... if not more.

During Civil War days alone, one in four medals went to a non American. These numbers drop to one in five over all years from inception in 1862 until today.

Moving along, the longest war the Americans have been said to have fought was that against  the American  Natives. There are many stories about bravery and atrocities on both sides of a 30 year period beginning in the late 1860's.

I shall leave those discussions to those far more qualified than I to document these battles.

But I do want to offer brief comment on the battle some know as the Battle of  Rocky Mesa, others call it the  battle of  Chiricahua Pass.

The natives had been attacking the white man in the area for some time and the US Cavalry were on the look out for such activity.

A mine President headed off his property with several others en-route to do other business, decided to take rest at an abandoned stagecoach stop. But natives were in hiding and  attacked and killed all but one man who escaped to near-by Fort Bowie and troops soon were en-route to capture the natives.

A five hour battle broke out before the natives escaped, leaving their carnage behind. Five months later the government awarded 33 Medals of Honor, apparently the most in the medal's entire history, for a one day or shorter battle.

Several Canadians in that unit had, or would later earn Medals of Honor but in this battle a Canadian risked his life in a hail of gunfire to crawl out and rescue one of the troopers. He would  be one of those later getting the MOH. His name was Mosher Harding and he was from Ontario.

Mosher would live another 60 or more years and finally passed away and was laid to rest in 1931. His original marker contained no information regarding his Medal Of Honor Status and years later another marker was laid at his final resting place. Both are shown below at a Dennison Iowa cemetery.  

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Unfortunately the image is of very poor quality but it does show Mosher wearing a later version of the Medal of Honor. His original would have been slightly different.  Its has been reported that in this frame we see not a picture...but his actual Medal of Honor.

Moving on, just days ago I learned of a major event in the Medal of Honor world. And as noted above, this event, being digital can be shared by folks in all the countries around the world, even those who did not bring home an actual Medal of Honor.

On March 25th past, Medal of Honor Day in the US, it was apparently announced that a fabulous source of research and learning had been developed for free use. A tool for all to enjoy and learn all about the medal and the men and one lady who had been recipients in the past.

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The Congressional Medal of Honor Society and the American Battlefield Trust and others have joined forces to bring us this fabulous and most attractive resource to pursue our MOH interests. And it is fun and most attractive to digest. Here is my favorite part, but much more time is needed for me to better look at all it has to offer.
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The buttons on the right control the screen image you see. Each gives direct details depending on what you are looking for.

Its great fun..and useful too. And here's my favorite so far...

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Alexander Scott was born in Montreal and fought at Monocacy Md. during the US Civil War and was awarded the medal for his bravery. He is among at least 2 dozen Canadians buried at Arlington.

I almost missed bringing you the following plaque possibly erected in 2021 and dedicated this year  regarding Mosher Harding and the other MOH recipients. It was  erected by the Cochise County Arizona Historical Society. Note in the left column, Mosher Harding's name  being the 6th from the top.


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More next Sunday,
Bart

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More Tidbits for Your Canadian Medal of Honor Files

5/15/2022

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In this space over the past 12 years, I have brought you news about the Canadian part of the US Medal of Honor story. With almost 600 blogs, that's  an average of at least one blog, every week for those past years. It is true that I have taken a few sabbaticals for a few months a few times. But the average numbers still show at last one blog per week since December of 2012.

I have visited several dozen locations, both in the US and Canada. Getting to graves or research materials and visiting descendants has taken me on numerous automotive trips, travel by air, by ferry, train, subway, taxi and even at one stop by a golf cart to get to a burial site.

Costs to bring this material to you have included many thousands of dollars for hotel and parking, taxi, meals, and very high number of long distance telephone costs covering the above dozen and another 8 years previous to the start of these blogs. 

A bucket list of other costs would include going through three computers and printers, office supplies, monthly subscription fees for the URL, this site, membership in numerous organizations, purchase of numerous books and videos on subject, making several actual donations to like minded entities, and much more.

All of this and so much more has been absorbed by me without any financial help over the 2 decades other than I believe  one night  in California hotel and 2 in a bed and breakfast establishment in Ontario. Small stipends for talks on two occasions also helped out.

The gist of this work has been to uncover forgotten heroes from Canada, and helping to document or correct so much in the existing files. This and of course, bringing these results to the decedents and you, my faithful readers.

With start numbers at 54 Canadian Medal of Honor recipients,  and mine now hovering close to 120, the site has done its job! But so much more remains to be done. And with the help of so many from all walks of life that have lent me a hand in this journey, I pray they will stay with me for another dozen.

Did I just hear you scream!

Today I have a few updates and then some new materials, so strap in.

Past blogs have brought you the story of Lindsay Ontario born Medal of Honor recipient Dennis Buckley, who gave his life trying to save the Union during the US Civil War. His story has oft appeared in the space in the past. For the new reader, the search engine at upper right will get you to stories about Dennis.

As a youth he was the sole bread winner for ailing parents and younger siblings. He literally brought home the clothes on their backs and the food for the kitchen table.

At one point, while working for a  local farmer, it was a bad month and there were no funds to pay Dennis for his labor. Instead he was given a cow. He took it home for the family to slaughter.

Not long after, he got influenced by a US agent to go to the US and sign up for Civil War service. He did so and soon found himself in the Battle at Peach Tree Creek near Marietta Georgia. 

It was not his first battle, but it was his last!

On advancing to the enemy lines Dennis captured the enemy's colours. As he waved at his own troops he shouted out words of encouragement to keep advancing and while waving it about, yelled that ..."Every Bullet is Worth a Cow."

This was no doubt said while remembering the importance of that cow the farmer gave him to feed his family months earlier. 


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This is the Confederate flag of the 31st Mississippi Regiment of Infantry that Dennis captured.

But as Dennis was rallying his New York Infantry unit to keep coming forth, he hollered out the above phrase and was immediately shot dead by the Confederates. He was only 19 or 20 at the time. A southern shot hit the flag pole, bounced up and hit Dennis in the head,  instantly killing him.

For well over 120 years many tried to find where Dennis was buried, without success. But then came along  a fellow named John DuBois.  Several years ago John was a historian for Dennis's old regiment, the 136th New York Infantry. And John was most interested in the Buckley story. It turns out that everywhere Dennis went, so went a fellow name DuBois... John's grandfather, William E DuBois.

And he too was killed at Peach Tree Creek and was thought to be at Dennis's side when the Lindsay youth  was killed.

Years of research finally hit John when he thought of going to the Marietta grave site to look for his relative's grave  and perhaps Dennis's would be close by. Turns out they were right next to each other. The DuBois marker was misspelled, and so was the Buckley grave. And thus the difficulty for over a century in finding both. Two men lost to history for almost 125 years.
 

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Here we see the old grave stone for Buckley. On the left it was incredibly difficult to read. With some careful cleaning up the image on right shows the same grave stone. And now it was readable. But Buckley's name was misspelled and actually read BURKLEY.
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After hearing about a news story regarding the grave being found, I contacted John DuBois. I assisted with making a few calls and aiding his journey to get a new marker and also put him in contact with the Canadian Counsel General office locating in Marietta Georgia, quite close to where the unveiling was to take place. A formal unveiling assisted by many officials including the Canadian government then took place in 2006.
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This is a picture of the Buckley grave at Marietta National Cemetery outside of Atlanta Georgia years later.

I later contacted John DuBois regarding  the story and noted that I had an interest in doing the same for him in Canada... at Lindsay, his home town.

After I wrote an article in the local paper I was stunned to learn that the Victoria County Historical Society, in Lindsay had heard from Lindsay Monument, a firm that makes monuments and that they had offered to make a memorial stone for Buckley at no charge to the Historical Society.

Soon plans came to fruition and a formal unveiling ceremony took place in April 2007. John DuBois and several family members and others from the 136th re-enactors from this NY City regiment, as well as an Ontario group of Civil War re-enactors participated in the service.  Also attending were several dignitaries including from the US Consulate office in Toronto, at my request.

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Here is the new marker in Ontario.  I had not seen it prior to the day that I and John DuBois did the actual unveiling. The monument company did a great job but there are two problems with the marker. To begin with, it looks like an actual burial marker. There  are no remains buried here. And thus the marker really is what is referred to as a Memorial Marker.

It most interesting also noted the quote about the cow, very pertinent to those who know the whole story.

But missed  by me on the day of unveiling was that the firm used an image of an Air Force Medal of Honor. This is quite different than the proper one, being for army service.

I shall make inquiries re the correcting of this... if possible.

If you are ever in Lindsay I think it would be great for you to stop by the Riverside Cemetery. Check out the memorial and reflect on the cost this youth paid to quell the terrible slaughters of the Civil War.

More next Sunday. Hope you will join me then,

Bart

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Yet Still More Updates...

5/4/2022

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One in every 50 men, women and children left home for the gathering. They would never come home again!

These 620,000 enlisted and fought in the US Civil War that began, they say, with the firing of over 3,000 shells weighing upwards of 128 pounds each, on what was, and remains known as Fort Sumter.

It was on the 11th and 12th of April 1861, and that was 159 years ago a few weeks past.

Despite the massive poundings fired by the Southern  Confederates, the Union did not lose a single man from enemy action.

As shown in past blogs, here are pre and during bombing images of the Fort.

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When forced to surrender due to supply shortages, the Union commander... Major Anderson requested that the Southern's  Brig. General Beauregard allow the Union to take down their flag. Also requested was permission to fire off a 100 gun salute. The captors gave approval.

It was then that  an Irishman became what many claim was the first death of the war. He was getting ready to fire off the 47th volley, but a spark blew the barrel up,  tearing off the soldier's  arm. Within hours he'd be dead!

About a half dozen others also were killed when the same sparks set off shells ready to be fired. The resulting explosions took their lives as well.

So the claimed first deaths in the US Civil War, were NOT caused by enemy action, but in fact by ACCIDENT.

The first fellow to die was a 36 year old soldier named Daniel Hough. His name is proudly displayed on the US Government sponsored plaque at the Fort Sumter National Monument near Charleston South Carolina. Here is an image of that monument.

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Seen above is an enlarged photo of  part of the plaque and showing Hough's name at its bottom.

These are the two commanders that faced each other at Fort Sumter. The Union's Major Anderson on top and the Confederates Brig. General Beauregard at bottom.

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Ironically Anderson and Beauregard both attended West Point. During their training Beauregard held a junior rank to Anderson and was even his assistant at some point  at the Academy.  Note Anderson's obvious elder age as shown above.

I wanted to bring you this tidbit three weeks ago but managed to get tied up with other matters at the time of the 159th anniversary of this famous Civil  War event.

Moving along to another matter, I have been a proud member of a group of US researchers into all matters relating to the Medal of Honor. In fact I joined shortly after it first opened its doors back in 2009 and remain its sole Canadian member. My interest is mostly directed towards the Canadians that were awarded the Medal of Honor.

A  matter most in Canada are oblivious to!

Over the years the society has been of much more benefit to me than I to it. However, we have worked jointly on a number of MOH related matters. One of the most attention getting was the collaborative efforts of it and myself in the Joseph Noil story covered many times in these blogs.

Our group is called the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States.

Here we see the society cover page logo for one of its numerous newsletters each year.


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And below, the just released wonderful new logo for our society.
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The above issue of the newsletter brought the readers a story about Canadian Medal of Honor recipient John Handran. He and fellow sailor Edward Madden (Maddin) were born in Newfoundland.

Both were on the USS Franklin (shown below) at the time. And both received Medals of Honor for their bravery in saving a fellow sailor blown overboard while the vessel was caught up in the strong movement of tides near Portugal's capital city of Lisbon.  

The man was destined to drown if not for the bravery of these two heroes and a third sailor.

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Here's what the New York Herald had to say about the heroes that day.
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The Rear Admiral of the day and in charge of the Franklin and other vessels, was William Radford. Having commanded 6 warships previously, one was the  USS Cumberland. Much had been noted in this space about the USS Cumberland and the major clash between two ironclads, that quite literally changed warship building around the world.

The Cumberland was sunk in minutes, taking over 100 lives  to their watery graves. Of the survivors, one Canadian went on later in the US Civil War to earn the Medal of Honor. The sole loss of one sailor for the Confederates that deadly day was yet another Canadian. He was from New Brunswick. At least another dozen Canadians had connections with that famous battle. 

One so important that a depiction of it appeared on the Union's medal of service for all those who served in the navy on Union side during that famous war. Images of the medal are shown in earlier blogs.

In the early days  General Orders were often issued that listed all the men receiving a Medal of Honor. Here is the one covering the  actions at Lisbon. 

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About a dozen years later John Handran found himself working in the fishing trade and onboard the schooner Cleopatra. It was soon caught up in a horrible storm that sank many a vessel. His was about to go down and distress flags were hoisted.

Then something incredibly brave happened. The ship's captain realized that any vessel coming to their aid would probably result in some of them actually dying. He then discussed it with his crew and actually took a vote to wave off any attempts for their rescue knowing full well that all on boards would then be doomed.

All the man agreed and the flag was lowered. But in the confusion  the rescuers still came forth. But by then several men on the Cleopatra had drowned. John Handran being one of these. For a whopping 2 cents you could buy the  Boston Daily Globe on 29 December 1885. And therein, actually on its first page, you will find this brief notation...

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Our society newsletter above told some of this story, and noted that it was not until 2021 that Medal of Honor hero John Handran was finally being honoured. This not being a formal grave marker as his body was never found, but a Memorial Marker instead. This is located at the Calvary Cemetery at Gloucester M.A. honoring Canadian  John Handran with the Memorial below...
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Several members of the extended family attended the service recently at  Calvary Cemetery.

A heartfelt thanks from those of us in Canada who know of our Medal of Honor connection to the US, and to all those yet to waken up to the role we on both sides of the border shared in protecting a peace that is so much in need of attention as I write and you read.

A huge thanks also to those that in our society and the extended Handran family for helping to preserve this man's story for all to enjoy and learn from in the days and weeks and months and years to come.

I will be off on other duties this coming Sunday but should be back in this space on the 15th.

Thanks to all, and please take some time to tell others of the work this blog is doing.

In the mean time, your comments are most welcome on this site.

 Cheers,

Bart

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Some Recent News... Continuing From Last Week

4/24/2022

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A few days back I introduced you to the wonderful US Government's Department of Defense  website known as Medal of Honor Mondays. Each week the site brings the reader a story about one or more of over 3,500 recipients of the MOH. It usually has some great pictures also. I again  highly recommend you take some time to Google the site and enjoy the story of the week.

With so many to choose I cannot fault the fact that so few contain information about the Canadian heroes. But those noted seem well done, some though,  having minor glitches.

One of these tells of the Civil War navy hero Horatio Young. It, like so many other sources, and for so many years, insist that Horatio was born in Calais Maine. Possibly not so. More work need to be done but it appears he may have been born in the rural area known as Dufferin, close to St Stephen, and still in NB.

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This is a picture of Horatio many years after the Civil War.

When the war started he headed off to Boston and enrolled in the navy. He was assigned to the brand new USS Lehigh and assigned to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. Moving to the Charleston Harbour area the vessel was supposed to be anchored but the heavy tides pushed it into a position where it was hung up on a sand bank.

Several Confederate ships and forts then turned their concentrated efforts onto the ship manned by about 90 Union sailors.

Many attempts were made to get a line over to other friendly vessels and one was finally successful. Till the Southerners shot it off !

A last ditch effort was made by five fearless soles  and a link-up was finally made and the USS Lehigh was saved to then turn her powerful guns onto the Southerners. 

The five men were later awarded the Medal of Honor. One of these was Horatio Young from New Brunswick Canada.


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Here we see the USS Lehigh in calmer times.

As told in much earlier blogs, Charles MacGillivary, was a PEI born Medal of Honor man, and was awarded the US Medal of Honor for heroism  for actions during the Battle of the Bulge. Earlier blogs also told that he was elected the President, of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society many years ago.

While holding down that incredible honor, he had significant input into the creation of new designs for the grave markers for the fallen medal recipients.

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Here we see Charles wearing a white helmet, and standing between two veterans in New Brunswick. On the left the vet holds the new marker for Horatio Young. On the right a vet  holds one for George Phillips, a Cdn. recipient for heroism during the Spanish American War, and buried in New Brunswick. That story appears in past blogs on this site and can be located using the search engine at upper right.

It should be noted that of the flat markers located across the US, (and no doubt many of the 48 countries where Medal of Honor men came from), these two markers are the first to ever leave the US, and have come to New Brunswick.

Here is the mounted marker installed at St. Stephen  (aka Saint) Stephen in June of 1989 by Charles MacGillivary, then the immediate past President of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

The use of the term "Congressional" comes from the fact that the society, made up entirely of recipients of the medal, is mandated by their federal charter, to include "Congressional", despite the fact that the proper name of the medal DOES NOT use the term.

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There are at least 4 other known Civil War connections to St Stephen Rural Cemetery.

At the bottom right of lower map is a place called Robbinston Maine. Lorenzo Stanhope was born there in 1845 and enlisted from there in 1862. He served in the 28th Main and after the war he worked in Calais. (At upper left of lower map.) He died at Oak Bay, Charlotte County NB, shown at upper right of top map, and was buried at St Stephen.

James Smith was born at St Stephen and served with the 12th Maine. At death in 1910 he was laid to rest at St. Stephen.

Little is known about Pte Robert Linton, possibly Maine born and having served in both the 16th and 21st Regiments of Maine, and now resting at St Stephen.

Apparently  John Curtis, Vermont born and working in Maine,  joined and quickly rose through the ranks to Brig. General.  He commanded troops at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and no doubt many other battles.
After the war he was a lawyer and statesman. His wife died while visiting a daughter at St Stephen. He died there while visiting family, and was buried at St Stephen beside his wife.

After the Lincoln assassination he became one of only 8 generals requested to travel the Lincoln funeral train at the dead president's side. Several other ranks were placed throughout the train and remained with the late president on the journey back to Springfield. Twenty nine escorts would received Medals of Honor which later were ILLEGALLY rescinded, as oft noted in this space. (two of these came to Canadians. A picture of one of these appears in an earlier blog.  The very escort train funeral car was designed and built by a handful and one of the leaders was yet another Canadian, who had earned a MOH earlier in the war in unrelated actions.

More in a week's time,
Bart

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Some Recent News...

4/20/2022

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It was almost 170 years ago that the actions of a Nova Scotia journalist rocked the boats of officialdom so bad that the press of today still enjoy his results.

That fellow was Joseph Howe. He used his newspaper... the Nova Scotian, to expose government corruption going back for about 30 years. Government of course then did the typical by accusing him of libel and hauling him before the courts. No lawyer in town would take on the case and so he gave an oration in court on his own behalf that lasted 6 hours.

The jury, while instructed to find him guilty, did the opposite and acquitted him. It took them only 10 minutes of deliberation before announcing their verdict. He would later claim that..."The Press in Nova Scotia is Free. A benefit still enjoyed across the country to this very day.

Howe would go on to become the province's Premiere, a Father of Confederation, though opposed, and  later an MP, and still later the province's Lt. Governor.

In August of 1871, Howe attended a massive family gathering for Howe's, of various spellings, across North America. In his address at Framingham Massachusetts. His words of wisdom included the following...

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For the last 20 years and more of research, 12 in doing these blogs and almost 600 blogs, in my own humble way I am trying to honour Mr Howe's wishes to document and preserve the materials noted within each edition in this space.

Sadly, I see much room for improvement by Canadian governments at all levels and the press in doing the same!

And in doing this work I often turn to the materials found at the US  government web site of the Department Of Defense, and within, from the materials under the weekly title ... "Medal of Honor Mondays." ( searchable on the net.)

I highly recommend you Google this title to read of the incredible heroism covered by Medal of Honor men (and one woman) dating back of course to the US Civil War days of 1861-5.

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This is the cover page of that site.

In one of the last month's issues the site tells briefly about the incredible bravery of Charles E Hosking Jr. and his Medal of Honor. But it does not include a wonderful tidbit about his service.

He ran away as a youth to join the army. Being too young in the US he fled to Canada...and was only 16 yrs old, and obviously gave fake birth details. 


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This is Charles wearing his Canadian army uniform. It is that of the famed Black Watch. His service was cut real short. Less than 3 months.

As told in this space in the past he and other mates were in a pub drinking and acting silly when he had mentioned his home town in the US. An older man in the bar that very night knew the name of the town... because it was also that man's hometown.

The man, an insurance man by trade, was in Montreal on a holiday when he  saw Charles in the bar. On hearing his last name immediately contacted the family back home.

He knew who to call as the parents were, in fact one of the agent's customers, and the agent had earlier been told by his clients that Charles was "missing." 

The family contacted US authorities who contacted Canadian authorities and ultimately Charles was released from the Black Watch after less that 3 months service.

A year would pass and at age 17 he would run away again. This time he found  a new home... and uniform... with the US Coast Guard. But a child-hood heart problem caused his early release and sending off back to his home yet again. This, after about 6 months service, and still underage.


As noted in an earlier blog, when finally of age he would join up with the US Army and would go on to serve several enlistments and postings with several units and would end up wearing the rank of a Master Sergeant, as shown below.
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Among several postings, he would be in Germany and fighting in the famous Battle of the Bulge. It would be here that PEI born Charles McGillivray would earn a Medal of Honor, and in fact in later years go on to become the President of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

Hosking would serve in Korea and do three tours in Vietnam. It was during his last tour that he grappled with an enemy soldier about to toss a grenade towards several of his mates. The grenade was trapped between the two as they stumbled to the ground and then exploded, killing both.

For this action Charles Hosking was awarded the Medal of Honor, but posthumously.

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President Nixon presented the MOH to Charles' 7 year old son, and is said to have actually draped it around his neck as well.

Above also shown is an image of his dad's grave marker.

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In 2000 the Police Benevolent Association of Ramsey NJ, his hometown, dedicated this memorial to him  at Veterans' Park.

More on Sunday,
Bart

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Catching Up...Part ll

4/10/2022

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On Wednesday last, I starting telling you about the mini survey I did regarding three of the famous Canadian Nurses of WW1. I noted that in the survey of the three, each page  had 30 hits.

But to my horror and absolute disgust I found that   Beatrice MacDonald had no hits, and Madelaine Jaffray had only 2.  Lenah Higbee has a whopping 27.


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Nurse Jaffray was born in the US, to Canadian parents. They would return to Canada pre WW1 and when the French Red Cross pleaded for nurses from Canada to assist them in the war, she responded.

When the Germans were bombing the field hospitals she became victim of a dropped bomb. The explosion caused  severe damage to her foot. She would soon lose it, and thus became  Canada's first, and indeed only WWl female amputee. Returning back to Canada she soon became very active with the War Amputees, would ultimately marry a double amputee in Ontario and soon both headed off to live in  Alberta.

She received several medals including the French Croix de Guerre,  as shown above, and at her far left she wears the ribbon for the Royal Red Cross Medal. She died in 1972 and rests with her husband in Alberta.

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Here is one of many posters used to recruit soldiers for service in Europe.
While doing the nurse survey, I notice several videos on line regrading the recent US national Medal Of Honor Day. (Too bad we do not have a similar day for the more than 100 MOH men from Canada, and for that matter a similar day for over 100 Victoria Cross recipients from, or with connections to Canada.)
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This is a screen shot of one of the pages in the video's. Note the grave at left for Willard Miller. Willard and his brother Harry both served in the Spanish American war and earned Medals of Honor for the Cable Cutting incident noted often in this space.  Both form one of at three sets of brothers from, or with connections to Canada, that earned the MOH.

The Millers were from Nova Scotia, and the grave image  above is from his resting place at the famous Arlington National Cemetery at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC.

Several years ago I had the privilege with a friend in visiting his home, meet descendants  and actually tour the house the brothers grew up in. We also saw the very route from the house to waters edge that they traveled to head off to war in the US.

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This is an image of Willard proudly wearing his medals. His Naval  Medal Of Honor is the star shaped medal on his right, a position always occupied by the most senior of medals  service men and woman wear.
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And saving the best for the  last, while we in Canada have trouble even acknowledging the Medal of Honor men that came from Canada in any substantial way, this is what our neighbours to the south have done to celebrate all MOH recipients... including those from Canada.

In fact they celebrate all recipients from I do believe, at least 48 countries around the world that brought a precious MOH back to their homelands and families.


Well Over 100 of these are Canadian or with connections to Canada.

On March 25th, national Medal of Honor Day in the US, all  recipients are now being remembered for their services and heroism in a very big way. And that is thanks to the wonderful and thoughtful folks and their supporters at American Airlines.

On March 25th, MOH Day in the US this plane was unveiled and will fly under the logo... Flagship Valor. On the wing tips you see the stars representing the 13 original colonies. Along it's side you see the very characters of the Medal of Honor. They being Courage, Sacrifice, Integrity, Commitment,  Patriotism and Citizenship.


The flagship was unveiled to a most dignified  crowd at Dallas and its first flight was to take MOH recipients to Washington DC to celebrate  MOH Day there.

Onboard the aircraft there are provisions for you to use a scanner to pull up the names of ALL recipients and no doubt read a brief description of their deeds in days past.

I will try to get details of  plans on flights into Canada and bring you more on this as it is learned.

See you hopefully in a week.

Bart

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    Author;
    Bart Armstrong, C.D.,
    Recipient, Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers 

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