Wednesday's blog brought you the first part of the story of the famous Andrews Raiders of  Civil War days. It  told of the  failure of a first plan to sneak into enemy territory and capture a train, and  move north destroying some of the track, a few bridges and the telegraph lines  as the soldiers headed north from Atlanta GA to Chattanooga TN. It noted the  plan’s failure, the start of a 2nd one calling for more men, a slightly shorter route, and told of how the Raiders capturing the train at Marietta and heading off  on their journey.

A series of computer malfunctions preventing my posting any pictures with the blog. These have finally been sorted out and I am back with the 2nd part of the story. But you might want to have a reread of Wednesday's first. Just scroll down, and then come back to to-day's.

And today we start with this map of the ground covered by the Raiders and that also covered by General Mitchell.

The Raiders and General Mitchell all started off near Shelbyville in the upper left of the map. Mitchell was to travel south and attack Huntsville, (A on map) then proceed in north east direction to Chattanooga (B on map) and hopefully meet up with the Raiders there after they had captured the train and headed north. The Raiders were to travel south by foot to the Cumberland Mountains, cross them, travel a little further south and catch a N/E bound train near the Tennessee Georgia border, then ride it as passengers to Chattanooga. From there they would again ride as passenger southbound to Marietta (off the map but about 100 miles south of B) on the very train they would steal a day later when it was again N/Bound to Chattanooga again. 

Getting  back to Wednesday's story...

As the train left Big Shanty, the  Southerners could not call for help. There was no telegraph lines at Big  Shanty. So the conductor and two others, so angered at the nerve of stealing  their train started to run after it. In short order they found a handcar, put it on the track and then started using  long poles  to propel the cart in the chase for their train.   But the Raiders  anticipated this and had thrown some railway ties off the last box car. Most  just bounced off but a few stayed on the track and the push cart smashed into  these and was thrown from the track. The men simply brushed  themselves off, put it back  on the track and headed off again. 
 
In  short order they came alongside a sidetrack and found a small rail engine. They
grabbed this and continue the chase. Meanwhile the train had to pull off the  single line of track because a southbound train was expected and if it stayed in  place there would be a head-on crash. Pulling onto a siding, the southbound   train arrived and passed the Raiders, who then left the siding and continued  their northbound venture. But by now the conductor and others located an engine  as big as the General  captured by the Union soldiers. But it was facing the   wrong way. Regardless, it was backed onto the track and gave chase.. going  backwards.. and at speeds of upwards of 60 MPH when the track safety rating was  only 40 MPH. This map shows the route the rail line took from Marietta in the south to Chattanooga in the North.

The  Raiders tried to pry up some track but couldn’t.  They also cut some of the telegraph  line en-route but left some functioning which allowed the southerners to warn  troops at Chattanooga of what was going on and to amass troops to get ready to  deal with the Raiders.  They of  course did not know this was happening and continued to drive the General at top speeds towards Chattanooga.  Soon they could hear the whistles of  the chasing engine  catching up  with them. So they poured oil over one of the bridges and tried to set it on  fire. But it wouldn’t take. It was too wet from the recent downpours.   

Next  they tried to force a crash by unhooking the last box car in the hopes those  chasing them would plow into it. But the Southerners saw this and simply slowed down, hoocked up with it and continued northbound. The Raiders then  actually set another boxcar on fire and left it on a bridge, but that too  was simply pushed off onto a siding and the chase continued.

This sketch depicts the attempt to set a box car and bridge on fire, but again the dampness from recent rains stopped the bridge from catching fire.


After  about a 6 hour chase, water and coal was running low and creating troubles for the General's engines. She finally blew a valve, started losing power and eventually  stopped all together. The Raiders were  by then stranded near Ringgold, about 5  miles south of the Tennessee border and only about 18 short of their final destination. 
 
Now  the Raiders were in serious trouble! 

But rather than ruin your Easter celebrations, I'll bring the rest of this story to you on Tuesday. There will be no column on Monday the 29th.

Happy Easter,

Bart

 
 

Most agree that the bombing of Fort Sumter in the Charlston Harbour began the war between the states and mislabelled the CIVIL War. That was in March of 1861.

A year later almost to the date, another event would become one of the most celebrated and exciting stories  in the entire war. It involved a fellow by the name of James Andrews, approximately 33, born at Weirton Kentucky. He was a civilian in the employ of the Union army, working some times as a scout and others as a spy. He had hatched  a plan that might well have resulted in the Civil War ending very quickly. But it and a second failed miserably.

His idea was to send a handful of soldiers in civilian clothing deep into enemy lines in Georgia, capture a train and drive it north burning bridges, cutting telegraph cables and pulling up some railway ties enroute. He presented the idea to Union General Buell in Tennessee and the general thought it could work. He knew that if bridges and rail and telegraph are destroyed it would have a devastating effect on the enemy. Blown bridges took men to repair..and thus out of battle. Destroyed rail lines prevented the enemy from moving troops and supplies around quickly. And of course downed telegraph lines would have a horrible effect on communications with other troops. 

Everything was set in place.   Almost!

At the apppointed time the troops headed off and even made it to their targeted start point. All but one that is. And he was the very fellow who had railroad experience and was to be the train's conductor. Without him the train could not move. Andrews had to abandon the plan and disperse his men ASAP back to friendly lines. It was later learned that the fellow chosen, who lived in Georgia, got called up for service in the Confederate army and thus could not participate with the mission.

Soon Andrews would again try to set off on a mission. This time, with General Buell off on other duties, Andrews appoached General Mitchell with a similar plan. This one would have many more soldiers and would start not at Atlanta, but north a few miles at Marietta Georgia.

The mission would later become famous as the ...Andrews Raiders, and sometimes called the Mitchell's Raiders.

Mitchell altered the plan so that it would allow him to head off from Shelbyville Tn, move his soldiers south some 60 miles and attack Huntsville Alabama. He would attack on the same day that the Raiders were to board a train from Marietta and head northboud to Chattanooga Tn. Burning bridges and destroying telgraph lines would be of great help as the South would not be able to call for more troops, nor send them westbound to head of the Mitchell attack at Huntsville. Once the Union took Huntsville, Mitchell would move his troops north east to Chattanooga and meet up with the Raiders after their successful run north with a train operating on the Western and Atlantic rail line. From there all would move forth onto Richmond, take it and end the war.

So everybody thought!

To co-ordinate the two seperate actions Mitchell held off on moving south for a few days to allow the Raiders to get to Marietta. But that required herculean tasks. First, it required the Raiders to travel about 800 miles, over half by foot and the rest by train. They also had to travel throught very rugged country and climb the massive Cumberland Mountain range and get down over the other side. To complicate things they had horrendous rain storms that caused delays in their advance.

The Raiders started out with the number of 23, but 2 soon dropped out. The rest split up into little groups, all with practiced stories if caught by Southern troops. Their 3 1/2 days and nights allowed to be used up was mostly gone before they even got to Chattanooga from Shelbyville Tn. Meeting up with Andrews, they were told that the delays because of the storms probably also delayed Mitchell's soldiers enroute to Huntsville.  It didn't!

Andrews told the men to relax for a night then get to Chattannoga in time for the 100 mile southbound railway ride to Marietta the next morning. So being good soldiers they took the night off. When they finally arrived at Marietta, it was late at night and they stayed in seperate hotels so as to not alarm the Southerners whose midst they were in the middle off. 

The next morning they were to board the train at different points and with different destinations, also so as to not tip of the enemy of their possible plans. All boarded except two. They forgot to tip the innkeeper and so he in return forgot to wake them, and thus the Raiders heading off were now down to 19 men.

The first stop on the train ride northbound back to Chattanooga was just a few miles along the track at a place called Big Shanty. There the train stoped for a quick morning breakfast for all on board. All except the Raiders who stayed on the train. A few immedatiely were dispatched to the engine, and others to the last car on the track... a passenger car. It was unhooked and the second last being a box car, many of the Raiders jumped into that and the race was on.

The train under the control of the General, the engine made famous by books and movies, pulled out of Big Shanty as all looked on in disbelief and horror. Of more concern to the Raiders, right beside the station was a camp for Southern soldiers... some 4,000 strong.

Regardless, most looked on in disbelief. Some soldiers thinking ti was just a couple of deserters. But then a few of the crew, somwhat chagrined to seeing their train travel down the track without them, started to shoot at it. A few others, more adventurous started to race after it.  On foot if you can believe!

More of this tomorrow.

(NOTE: the computer program is on the fritz again and prevented me from posting a map and some other pics re this blog, Hopefully tomorrow it will be working correctly.)

Bart

Yesterday I told you about the 25th being Medal of Honor Day across the US.  Throughout the history of the Medal it is interesting to note that there were about a handful of soldiers who actually earned their medals on the 25th of March. Today's blog is about one of them.

The above battle map of Civil War shows the Union (blue) and Confederate (red) forces in the 2nd of three battles that took place at or near Petersburg in the state of Virginia on several days in March 1865. Today's story is about the four hour battle at Fort Stedman on 25 March and is shown in the upper right of the map. Here you can see the Union troops trying to advance towards Petersburg and the Confederates trying to push the Union back in and easterly and southerly direction.

Fort Stedman, pictured on left was an easy target for the South. Because of its weak construction and defences, the south felt it was the easiest target to pick off. It was only 200 yards from the Confederates front lines and so it was the obvious choice to advance on, even though it had over 300 men manning it and four 12 pounder cannons at their disposal.

Both the North and South had addition troops nearbye and the South would ultimately bring to the battle some 10,000 soldiers against the North's close to 15,000. The plan was to attack the North in the hours were most were asleep. They would first throw in some skirmishers that would sneak in at about 4 AM to remove any obtacles such as the ancient cheval de frise as shown above. Then they would send in a handful of men to pick off the listening or observation posts  and pickets, then others would be sent in impersonating drifters or deserters who would gain entry and final the intial storming parties would be sent in. Many of the initial troops had to advance with their muskets UNLOADED to prevent the premature firing, and waking up of the Union forces.

The southern soldiers were successful in the surprise attack, captured the 12 pounders and moved further into Union lines and caught many of the Union men asleep or stumbling about in confusion. Canadian born Sergeant James T Murphy was at the Fort and serving with the Ist Connecticut Heavy Artillery. Murphy was able to recapture one of their guns and turn it against the enemy with such effect that the Confederates started losing considerable ground. He manned the cannon for several hours and because of his bravery was later awarded a Medal of Honor. There would be four awarded in the battle, but his was the only one apparently  in the history of the Ist Connecticut Heavy Artillery throughout the war.

By the time the battle was over, both sides held about the same ground they did at the start. Had the south been more successful, and continued their push south some 16 miles, they would have been most pleased to find stading in front of them none other than General Grant. And beside him was a fellow named Abe Lincoln, who had arrived earlier  that mornig  and was to attend a grand parade.  It was put off till the afternoon!

The Union lost 72 soldiers and another 450 wounded that day. About another 500 were captured or MIA. But the South would lose over 600 to death, 2400 to wounds and another 1,000 to MIA or POW's. Within the next couple of weeks Petersburg would be captured by the Union and then Richmond would also be lost by the South and the Civil  War would come to an end.

James Murphy signed up for CW service with the Ist Connecticut in December 1961 and would be in numerous battles right up till the end of the war. On first enlistement he was given the rank of Cpl and a year later would be promoted to Sgt. A few days after his MOH deed he would be wounded while still at Petersburg, were two other Canadias had earned MOH's eight months earlier.

In the underground passageway or concourse that connects the state Legislative offices and the Capitol Building at Connecticut's capitol are several plaques in honour of state heroes. The one on the left is to MOH recipients born at or connected to the state. Murphy lived for a time either pre or post CW days at New Haven. A enlarged photo on the right shows his name suitably enscribed. But his rank is wrong.

James Murhy died at New Haven in 1904 and lies at rest in a cemetery in that city.

He earned his Medal of Honor 148 years ago yesterday.

Bart

While the New York Times put the above  on page 1 of 25 March 1863, it was buried way down on column 3 and very easy to miss. Too bad, because it told little, but said so much.

Civil War Union General General Mitchell's troops noted above were six Ohio soldiers who were part of a crew of 22 sent out on a very  secret mission deep into the Confederate lines under the command of a civilian spy by the name of James J Andrews. Most of the 22 had undergone almost a year of incarceration, abuse and torture and many were hanged as spy's. But that will all be covered in the days to come in another blog.

The next day the same paper again published another front page notice... at column 5 and again buried and almost impossible to discover without a very careful read.  This above notice is possibly the first notice in the history of the United States that Medals of Honor, though not identified as such, had been awarded to soldiers and gives the names of the six noted above and just released days earlier by the Confederates.

Compare that with the fanfare received of late when a Medal of Honor is awarded! Obviously in the earliest days the medal was not treated with the reverence it receives today There have been many high's and low's for the medal over the years. And back in the early 1990's The US House of Representatives had had enough of the complacency often seen when mention of a MOH was made. In fact it was so bad just a few years earlier that a Wall Street Journal survey of 1500 students stunned the newspaper when the results revealed that 50% of those responding did not even know what a Medal of Honor was. They thought it was issued throught the entertainment industry. Only 5% could say what it actually was. 

Taking matters in hand they proposed that each year a day should be set aside as one in which communities locally, state wide and nationally could create programs to give more meaning and awarness to not only the medal but its incredible heroes who had been awarded it over the years.

Here is the bill that created National Medal of Honor Day in the United States. While in place to this day, it is disappointing to know that not all areas of the country seem to be celebrating these heroes on this day. Of concern also is that some who are, have chosen to celebrate one or two days before or after the 25th as a matter of convenience.

The 22 men who went off on the death defying mission above noted were repeatedly tortured. Seven were hung. One twice. As he was quite heavy and broke the rope the first time. One was stripped and wipped almost to death while a pistol was held to his head and two Confederates held him down. The price they paid to carry out their orders probably did not include the option to put things off to another day as a matter of convenience!

The 25th of March being the very first day that  Medals of Honor was presented to heroes, was chosen as MOH day across the US. But it should be remembered that technically, it was not the first medal awarded, just the first presented. Over the next few years several others had been awarded for actions before those of the Andrews Raiders.
The very first one was for actions in 1861 to Assictant Surgeon JD Irwin for saving 60 men's lives during Apache raids. But more on that also in another blog.

Take a few minutes today to remember these brave heroes. And while you do, also keep in mind that over the entire history of the medal, one in five went to a non-American born. Please remember then also.

Bart

Edmund DeWind was the youngest of 3 boys and 5 girls born to a  well known Belfast engineer. In early adulthood he worked briefly for the Bank of Ireland and then decided he wanted a new start in North America.  After he, an older brother and sister all got the itch to move, they emigrated to Canada around 1910. Within a year the former bank clerk found employment with the Canadian Bank of Commerce, (The same bank that in 1961 ammalgamated with the younger Imperial Bank of Canada to become what we now call the CIBC)

Edmund also joined the militia in Toronto and served with the Queens Own Rifles for about 6 months before he and his brother ventured off to Edmonton, where Edmund, and possibly his brother,  found more work with another branch of the same bank.

In November of 1914 Edmund left the bank to sign up at Edmonton with the 31st Canadian Battalion of the Expeditionary Forces.

On 29 May 1915 the SS Northland set sail for Liverpool. This vessel had a series of owners and even sailed under three different names, its middle being the Northland. It was at the time under British control but operated under the White Star Dominion Line. And on board was a Private by the name of Edmund de Wind.  (The ship  is pictured above)

After additional training in Britain, de Wind's unit would sail for France in mid September of 1915. He would stay with the unit till 1917 and fight in one of its Machine Gunner's platoons of C Company  in numerous battles including at  Ypres, the Somme and St Eloi. His bravery was recognized a number of times and he would be mentioned in at least one dispatch (MID) to higher authorities at the Front. In 1917 he qualified for extra training to get a commission and was sent back to England, took his commissioning course at Bramshot England, and  was commissioned a 2nd Lt. he was then transferred to a British Regiment... the 17th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles and shipped back to the front lines in France. In December he would be transferred over to the 15th (North Belfast) Battalion of Rifles.

It would be at the devistating battle near Grungies France, marked A above, and about 70 miles east of Amiens that Edmund would take place in a horrendous battle at the front. Edmund was wounded twice, but still was able to take out several enemy in a trench and would eventual be killed in heavy machine gun fire. Below is the London Gazette entry re his heroism and the annoncement of course that he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery.

This award is found at page 6084 of the London Gazette and whilst the award is dated the 13th of  March 1919, it was actually published a few days later... on the 15th.

DeWind was actually first reported Missing in Action, but after the war, when comrades were liberated, some came forth with the incredible tales of his heroism, and thus the later date of  the VC awarding.

Three months later DeWind's mother was invited to Buckingham Palace and on June 19th she was presented the Victoria Cross posthumously by King George V.

There is no known grave for Edmund DeWind, but he is commemorated with an enscription that he is Missing in Action, at the Pozieves Memorial which is located within the larger Australian cemetery at Pozieves France. There are over 14,000 soldiers buried there, with some 2786 in the Commonwealth cemetery and of these there are at lests 1380 unknowns who's names are suitably enscribed on part of the monument.

Memorials for DeWind are numerous. In Canada's Jasper Park there is a Mount deWind which stands some 8,000 feet high. A Pillar at the entrance to the St Ann's Cathedral in Belfast has an insciption in his honur. In his home town of Comber Ireland there is a street named after him. In it's town squere there once stood a german artillery gun dedicated to his honour, complete with inscription. But this was removed in WW11 to melt down for medal to be used for ammunition. Some side plates remain in its place with inscriptions.  The Parish church has a tablet in his honour. And in the same town an Ulster Historical Circular Blue Plaque is also mounted on a wall in his honour. These have been in existence dating back to the mid 1800's and designate places, and more recenlty people of historic significance.

When this plaque was unveiled in 2007, a grand niece, and her family from Washington state arrived to officially take part in the unveiling. Among her words were these...   "This plaque, along with the rosters at the Somme Historical centre remind us of these individuals. So when I salute you as mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, it is in recognition that we are a world community and because of them, we have this world that they gave their lives for."

Edmund deWind is pictured here as a 2nd Lieutenant and probably with one of the Irish units, just before his death in 1918... he died in the battle of Mar 21, 1918...  95 years ago yesterday.

His medals are proudly held  in Belfast Ireland by the Royal Ulster Rifles Regimental Museum.

Pictured here, from left to right are his Victoria Cross, the 1914 Star, the British War Medal and the Allied Victory Medal. Not shown, and belonging afixed to the ribbon of the last medal is the Bronze leaf indicating that Edmund deWild was a recipient of the MID medal from bravery.

Bart

Back on December 26th I brought you a brief story on Joseph Noils from Nova Scotia and his heroism during the battle between the Confederates' CSS Alabama and the Union's  USS Kearsarge during the Civil War. Therein I mentioned that very recently the Noils grave, missing to the MOH world of historians for about 150 years was finally located just a very few miles from Washington DC, On 29 December I also brought you the story of Battle of the Bulge, WW11 war hero Charles McGillivary from PEI and his role in the creation of the new markers for Medal of Honor recipients.

Above at the left and right are two pictures of the Noils grave very weathered and mostly unreadable. In the centre is one of the newer designed markers for Ontario born Dennis Buckley, who was buried under the wrong name for about 140 years.

The Noils grave is one of quite a few that are listed to be replaced with the centre type of marker. But the issue has been delayed because of  flexible rules at the federal level that allowed new markers for some but later the rules changed. The marker is apparently still in the works but it seems to be taking a long time moving forward.

I tell you this while I have most recently received a similar request. This is from the Mayor Pro Tem (Deputy) of a small city in Washington state as a result of his reading my blogs. He has asked for help in getting a new marker for a Civil War vet who is also a MOH recipient. His deed was performed by 5 fellows, and one of these was another Canadian. I have now provided him with some of the details causing the delays in obtaining new markers and also contact info for him to communicate with one of America's experts on getting these markers updated. A historian whom I am proud to say is a fellow member of our group known as the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the US.

No doubt he will be able to provide the details needed to move that project along.

On another subject...   

You better be nervous if you see this critter coming your way. Heck you might not see it cause it may be way up there in the sky. And no point waving at. There is no one in it!

It's not a UFO. Those letters were already taken. Its  a UAV. And it kills. A little effort on the internet and you can find a few stories this month and last about how many civilians are being killed by it in the war in IRAQ. It is actually an Unmanned Airial Vehicle and it is being controlled by men and women siting at computer terminals in trailers and other facilities in Florida, in Nevada and who knows were else. They puch buttons and men die. So do women and children.  And the men in those operation centres are now dressed in green airforce fighter suits and even call themselves pilots and  of late can even earn medals for their DISTINGUISHED WARFARE conduct. Perhaps  their medals, just recently created, are really for the heroism they may need when they walk past a real boots on the gound hero who faced his or her enemy in the face and received a purple heart or Bronze Star that  are, incidently,  now rated BELOW this new medal.

You can bet that politicians and military leaders and the boots of the ground men and women who actually do the fighting are lived at the creation of the new medal called the Distinguished Warfare Medal. In fact they are so up in arms, pardon the pun,  that the manufacturing of the medal has been put on hold and now the decision makers are re-examining the whole matter.

"The very name of the medal is ludicrous. Distinguished implies a level of admiration that can't possibly  be reached in the prosaic act of piloting a drone."  So says a retired airforce Colonel who no doubt recognizes bravery when he sees it. He wears a blue ribbon around his neck. And fasted to it is a Medal of Honor.

I'll be watching for updates on this blunder and bring them to you as I see them.

As noted in an earlier blog, Womens  History Month is being celebrated this month in the US. (It's in October in Canada.)

The month... "is a time to remember those who fought to make that freedom as real for our daughters as for our sons. Written out of the promise of the franchise, they were women who reached up to close the gap betweeen what America was  and what it could be.  They were driven by a faith that our Union could extend true equality to every citizen willing to claim it. Year after year, visionary women met and marched and mobolized to prove what should have been self-evedent..."

A few of the words of President Obama on proclaimning this to be the Womens History Month of 2013. As the President noted, these women have indeed marched and moboloized. Over 283,000 women have marched into Iraq or Iran in the last decade. More than 800 were wounded. At least 139 have lost their lives.

As American salutes its women, including those in uniform, those who have served and those yet to serve, it is wonderful to report that most recently the Friends of the Freedoms Foundation in Phoenixville at the Medal of Honor Grove has just unveiled a plaque in the Honour of Doctor Mary Walker, the ony woman in the history of the Medal of Honor to be awarded such a medal.

Over the nbext few days I hope to be able to bring you a story with photo's of the unveiling before the historic month concludes.

Closer to home, it should not be forgotten in our somewhat smaller army than the US's, hehe,  we can be very proud of our own women in uniform. There are about 8,000 women serving in our regular forces and about 5,000 in our reserve units across the country. 

And like in the US, there have probably been hundreds of thousands who wore the uniform, before those currently honouring it.

Kudo's to all.

Bart

Like thousands of other families, Martin Thomas McMahon's mother and father and an uncle left Limerick Ireland for new opportunities in North America. They would land in Canada and very soon Martin's dad and his uncle would get caught up in the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837 and 38. Details are quite difficult to locate  but whatever the men did, they had to flee the country to avoid being captured by the authorities.

During that rebellion over 1,000 Canadians were rounded up, some for just attending rallies or signing petitions for a change in government. To fink on your neighbours at that time, you could get a portion of their wealth seized by the authorities. Being on the wrong side left you in jail for weeks... or years in some cases. Twenty nine  were less lucky and apparently hanged. Fifty eight were deported to Australia. The McMahons had to get out of town and so off to Pennsylvannia they fled. They took Martin with them of course. History books tell us he was only 3 weeks old. But a careful search by a Victoria Genealogist has found christening documents that show he was at least one year old when the above was going on and before all fled to the US. 

The family would later relocate to New York and soon two more boys would be born. All would get a great  education in Fordham and would enjoy excellent carreers in the military when the Civil War broke out. Thomas would become a lawyer in New York and would also serve as the Private Secretary to the Postmaster General. At the same time he would take some legal training then head off to Buffalo to take even more before finally being appointed to the bar as a lawyer. A promotion at the PO would result in Martin's relocation to PO to San Fancisco. But then The Civil War started. Martin, like his father and a brother would each raise army units, Martin's of course being in California but a brother and his father raise units in NY. Both brothers would serve in one of the units.. .and both ultimately commanded it.

Martin's unit was the first Cavalry unit raised in the war anywhere along the Pacific Coast. His popularity resulted in his  election to the rank of Captain. But he would be soon upset that his unit would not be alowed to travel east to the front lines and had to stay in California as a state unit, so that other Regular Force soldiers could be shipped off. Matin was not happy with this and so he resigned his commission and headed off to DC were he pretty soon joined another volunteer force, was immediately given his rank back and also got appointed as the Aide-de-Camp for none other than General George McClelland head of the  Army of the Potomac. By war's end this Private to Captain would end up working directly for three different generals, have four brevet promotions due to bravery and have several Mentions in Dispatch for his heroism before the war ended and at that time he would be wearing the rank of a Major General. By then he also particpated in every battle the Army of the Potomac fought in.

It woul be at the Battle of White Oak Swamp Virginia, also known by 7 other names, that then Captain Martin T McMahon would be awarded a Medal of Honor for capturing a pontoon train that the enemy abandoned between the lines. If the Confederates recovered it they could have uses it against the Northern troops in the futue. He burned the entire train except one wagon that had some very important military instruments that the Union could make use of.

This picture shows a pontoon bridge which could be set up in fairly quick order to allow passage over the river of creek or valley etc.  A "train" consists of many wagons that would be pulled by oxen, as pictured in bottom left, with each carrying a small wooden boat. These were 5" wide and 21" long and could be lashed together or separated as above, with materials fasten on top to build a temporary roadway that could be lifted after they cross, or just left in place. 

This photo, probably taken in 1862 or 63 shows General McClelland, possibly as a Colonel, standing behing the stump and it is believed to HIS left is general McClelland.

They were obviously close friends throughout the war and after, and in 1885, when McClelland died, one of the five generals acting as a pall bearer was McMahon.

After the war McMahon wrote at least two books about his war experiences. He would also be oft quoted remarking on the death of another general that he served under.. John Sedgwick.

At one point when snipper fire was quite heavy he turned to his general and asked that Segwick not expose himself so much to enemy fire and to take cover more often. As he was saying this one of the soldiers nearby said that the eneny could not hit an elephant from that distance. The next thing heard was a whistling, then a thug, and then the general fell into McMahon's arms... quite dead and pulled McMahon to the ground with him.  On another occassion he would later note that with regards to the battle at Cold Harbour... it was the worst eight minutes of the war. Total losses for both sides amounted to over 7,000 soldiers.

Martin Thomas McMahon had as colourful and rich a career after his military service. In 1866 he would start a 2 year term as the corporate council for the city of New York. During this time he would become one of the 12 founders of the third oldest society in the US today..the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the Unites States.

In 1868 and 69 he served as the US Minster to Paraguay. The stamp to the right was released on the 40th anniversary of the US Peace Corps and in recognition of McMahon's service to Paraguay. It was released in October of 2007 and has an equivalent Canadian value of about 15 cents.

There are possibly as many as 2 million stamp collectors in Canada. I'd bet just a few dozen know that this man was a Canadian.

In the mid 1880's McMahon was earning about $6,000 a year as a US Marshall in New York City. In 1891 he would be finally awarded his Medal of Honor for actions almost 30 years earlier. In the  mid 1890's he was serving as a  Judge of the General Sessions Courts. This saw him presiding over a murder trial in 1896.

McMahon would also serve four terms in  the US Congress and also as a state senator.

General McMahon died in April of 1906 and is buried at Arlington. He was born back in 1837, on 21 March, and that was 176 years ago tomorrow.

Bart

Back on 11 February I brought you a story about the first of seven Americans who earned a Victoria Cross, the highest medal for bravery in any of the British Commonwealth Countries. That hero was  Stoughton Massachusetts born William Sweeney who was awarded his Victoria Cross while an Ordinary Seaman with the British Navy serving at the Straights of Shimonoseki Japan back in 1864. The 4 March blog told about the  2nd American to be awarded a VC, Sergeant George Mullin from Portand Oregon who was rewarded for his bravery at Passchendaele on 3 October 1917. Just 5 weeks later in the same battle a third American would be awarded for bravery.

Mullins was a child of two yrs age, when he came to Canada with his family. Today's hero must have been an old man...at age six...  when he came to Canada's village of Plunkett Saskatchewan  from Fairibault Minnesota with his widowed mother in 1900. They made the journey northwest some 800 miles to the village of about 75 and took on homesteading.

At some point our man Ray, who's full name was Raphael Louis Zengel. moved to the Virden area of Manitoba. When WW1 broke out he answered  the call by enlisting with the 45th battalion in Jan of 1915. He no doubt got his basic training before having arrived at Halifax by train and then sailing the dangerous Atlantic to London. Later shipped off to France he would be transferred to the 5th  Saskatchewan and soon was at the front of fighting in  many of the dreaded battles of Europe.

After the war years Ray would have a special reason to celebrate November 11th. First... it was his birthday. Second, it was on that very day in 1917 that Ray Zengel performed so heroically in trench warfare at Passchendaele that he would later be awarded the Military Medal. 

It was just about 3 weeks earlier that fellow American George Mullins, noted above, had earned his Victoria Cross... on the same battlefield. 

The London Gazette dated on  13 March 1918 published a long list of soldiers who had been awarded the Military Medal.
 
The list is the most brief of announcements, giving no details whatsoever, of the deeds performed, but nevertheless listing Ray Zengel as being awarded his Military Medal. After going through quite a few pages, I found his announcement, as noted above, at page 3254. (bottom left) Six months later he would again appear in print in the London Gazette. This time it would take almost  half a page of print.

Ray Zengel, now a Sergeant, was in charge of a platoon of men that were in the midst of the Allied advance about 100 miles north of Paris, France,  and heading westerly some 40 miles east of Amiens,  (At B and heading to A, in above map.)

The enemy machinegun fire was very heavy and had taken out many of the Allied troops to Ray's left. His own platoon was pinned down also under heavy fire. Ray had the men take cover and on his own initiative advanced some 200 yards into no man's land also still under very heavy fire and managed miraculously to take out the officer and soldier manning the most dagerous of machinguns and in the process dispersing the enemy troops that were left at the gun. This allowed his platoon  to catch up and the advance continue forward.

But he again came under ferocious fire from another MG position and brought very effective fire down onto that position. He was soon knocked out by the concussion of an enemy shell, but regained conscienceness and still fought most actively in the continuing battle of the day.

Here is the London Gazette's announcement of Ray's being awarding of the  Victoria Cross for these actions....

After the Great War that was supposed to end all wars, Ray Zengel moved to the Calgary area and worked as a fireman for a time then relocated to the Rocky Mountain House area about 100 miles north west of Calgary Alberta where he worked a farm till WW11 started. He served in that war also, but now as a Sergeant major and Training officer at Suffield Alta,  In the mid 1960's he got married and a few years later continued his jorney westward and settled at Parksville BC. 

Over the years he would be honoured several times. The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 8 at Rocky Mountain House was named after him.  Mount Zengel receiving its name in Jasper Park in 1957 and even a lake in N/E Saskatchewan was named the Zengel Lake. A great Granddaughter in the construction trade and co-builder of a 13 home cull-de-sac in Parksville would honor Ray by calling the road... "Zengel Way."

I'll leave this hero with the posting of his WW1 picture, a VC and a photo of him wearing his VC, (hard to see but it is on far left,)  his MM and other medals shortly before his death in Febraury of 1977 at Parksville BC.

Bart

NOTE:  On Thursday the folks at Weebly who provide the wonderful services that I use for this site, had a major computer malfunction that went into Friday before being resolved. It triggered a need for twickering with my own computer system the following day and thus, for the first time since starting this blog, I did not meet deadlines for publishing. I pride myself in meeting deadlines, but this was unavoidable. For those coming to the site and not finding the latest blog, that is what happened and  I am sorry for the let down.

By the way, Today's is somewhat of a milestone... though late. This is my 80th blog with over 260 pictures. Hope you have enjoyed these and learned a lot about our Canadian and American VC and MOH heroes and other interesting facts along this journey. If you missed some of them, they are all right here on the site. You just have to scroll down and down and down.  hehe   Please share  the site with your friends and tell your local editor about the work I am doing and also keep the comments coming in....

Now for today's blog...

Edward was 20 or 21 when the Civil War broke out. He'd been born in Toronto but a year before the war started be was living in New York and  would answer President Lincoln's call for troops after the bombing of Fort Sumter.

Within less than three months of putting on his private's uniform in the 71st New York State Infantry he'd find himself and thousands  of others in the two day march south towards Manassas Virginia. (The direction of these men are shown with the blue arrow in the above map.)  The public were screaming for the President to send troops into Richmond and crush the rebellion before the war began to take on far more tragic tolls on both the North and the South. In the earliest days of the war troops were ill prepared on both sides... and also in many cases ill disciplined. An example would be during the march of two days south bound into Virginia. Northern troops were exhausted from the   march and the heat. Many discarded their food rations and ammunition because it was getting too heavy to carry. And soon the men would simply lie down on the side of the route, or stop even to pick berries.

The historic battle they were marching into was the first major land battle of the war. Some would call it the First Manassas after the community close by while others would call in the First Battle of  Bull Run, as it occured near the river of that name that flowed down out of the Bull Mountains. Call it what you will, it was still a slaughter and eye opener for the soldiers on both sides. So too for the hundreds who heard about a battle coming up and thought they would take in the excitement by heading off on horse drawn carriage to see the adventure. No doubt they were horrified to see some 5,000 dead or wounded, capture or Missing in Action when it was all over just several hours after it all started. It was an overwhelming victory for the South who routed the Northerners who headed for home. Had the South more energy and themselves been less exhausted as well, they might have pursued the Northern troops, captured then and moved onto DC. 

If that had happened, the country might have  a different name today.

Edward was one of those captured by the South and made a Prisoner of War.  He had only been a soldier for three months. Many in his 90 day regiment joined him as POW's.  Thought to be wounded because he was found under a blood soaked coat, Edward was transported to a hospital with other wounded. Within two months he hatched a daring escape and with a handful of wounded soldiers, they roamed the countryside in search of Northern troops. After many near captures by the enemy they finally found friendly lines. Soon he'd be transfered back  to his unit but it then was about to be mustered out of service. Like so many other regiments just raised for a short term, theirs also came to an end and the men were released.

But Edward still had the uniform in his blood and so  he joined the 155th NY  Infantry which was part of the Corcoran's Legion... mostly Irishmen. And Edward liked the Irish. His parents immigrated to Canada from Ireland many years earlier. During his 2 yr term with the 155th he was promoted to Captain. But that unit's term expired and then he joined the 16th New York Cavalry. When that term ended, he joined another and then another and finally another unit, He'd soldier in 6 regiments before finally hanging up his uniform for good in 1871.

But it would be with the 16th New York that Edward, pictured here wearing Captain's bars, of earlier days, would become famous the world over.

Sharing international fame with Edward would be another fellow just 2 years older than himself. You might recongnize him. He was from Marryland and his name was John Wilkes Booth pictured in all three pictures above. The centre picture is just before his death at age 26. A well recognized actor from  a family of actors, he is dressed for the part in one of his plays on the left and is joined by his brothers Edwin and Junius, all in a Shakespeare play.

John was one of ten kids that grew up on a farm that was worked by slaves. He was brought up to be pro slavery and in youth even joined a Virginia Regiment so that he could play a role in the capture of John Brown at Harpers Ferry a few years earlier. He would still be serving and standing on guard when Brown was hanged. The guards were there to prevent anyone from attempting to rescue Brown.

John and a handful of other conspirators planned to kidnap Lincoln and hold him hostage till some southern slaves were released, but the plan failed. So a month later he upped his plan to murder, attended the Ford's Theatre at Washington DC, snuck into Lincoln's booth and shot the President who died the next morning. Booth them jumped to the stage and made his escape back to Marryland, and in a few days he was caught hiding in a barn in Virginia.

Washington immediately went into a panic. Everyone with any authority went looking for Booth. It has been said that almost 2,000 suspects were rounded up and held in cutody. One Toronto man apparently was held in jail for over two months though he had nothing to do with the horrible crime.

Edward... now a Lietenant in the 16th New York at the front, was with his regiment when they were ordered back to DC to play a role in the capitol's defences.

Our Toronto man mentioned above was none other than Lieutenant Edward Paul Doherty. Some of his men had already been sent off in scouting missions around DC on the hunt for this man or any other conspirators. Edward would be sitting on a bench across from the White House one day when a messenger arrived with orders from a General that he was to collect 25 well trained men from his regiment and immediately report to the Capitol building for instructions.

On arrival he was ordered to head off in search of Booth, given ample supply of stores and ammunition and sent on his way. He was ordered by the Secretray of War to also take along two detectives....   who may well have been on their own mission! 

This is the farm house of the Garrett family in Virgina where Booth was finally captured.

The left shot is in 1865 and the right is in 1932 shortly before it collapsed. Out in the rear was a tobacco barn and upon arrival it was determined that Booth and one other fellow were inside. When asked to surrender, the accomplice did and was taken prisoner. But Booth refused. He was told the barn would be burned if he did not give up. One of his men or one of the detectives then lit the hay and started the barn ablaze too soon. Another of his men... Sgt Corbett was at the rear and later claimed he saw booth raise a weapon and point it at Doherty and so, for fear of his officer's life, he took a shot through the cracks of the barn rear wall and hit booth in the head. Booth was hauled out and actually died in Doherty's arms at the farmhouse veranda. Some say it was not Corbett who did the shooting but the detectives who answered directly to the Secretary of War and others. And many a story is told of how the detectives were told that the accused was not to be taken alive. He, it is said, knew too much that some in DC did not want aired at any trial... Information like WHO was in the know.. AT THE CAPITOL. There are many books written about the subject and make for great reading. "The Lincoln Conspiracy" by David Balsiger and  Charles E Sellier, Jr is an eye opener for sure.

As officer in charge, Doherty would receive about $5,000 dollars of reward money. His soldiers would get about $2-3,000, the detectives got about $4,000 and many others also got a piece of the reward funds. Doherty would join the regular army and be given a promotion due to his involvement in the Booth capture. After his army service he moved to  New Orleans and got involved in a business venture there for many years and by the mid 1880's he had moved back to the New York area were he worked as an inspector in street pavings for years until death in 1897.

He is buried at Arlington where there are over 365 Medal of Honor recipients buried. About a dozen of these heroes are  from Canada and at least two dozen other Canadians rest there including one soldier  who  is believed  to be the ONLY Confederate  soldier at Arlington.

Bart

A month ago I had the pivilege of attending the Black History Month seminar held again this year in Victoria BC. At this gathering there were a number of booths and one of these was the Old Cemeteries Society who, among other things, do great work in identifying, refurbishing and protecting old grave markers throughout metro.  As I approached their booth, I was wearing my identity card which has a picture of the Medal of Honor on it and a note regarding the research I am doing.

The woman operating the booth and I started talking and she noticed the badge and then immediately flipped through one of the massive binders of work they have done and then stopped at the page she was looking for. Mind you she was reading it upside down but that did not stop the speed in which she found the article. And then she pointed her finger to an amazing story, which is the subject of todays blog. 

This is the article she found. It and several other pages the Society had gathered tell a fascinating story about Robert Burt Gilbert, who was born in Winnipeg in 1888.

Gilbert was a coloured man who joined the 2nd Canadian  Mounted Rifles when the Great War broke out and ended up with the 103rd Battalion Expeditionary Forces at Vimy Ridge in 1917.

While others had tried to take the ridge in the past they failed. This was the first time that the  four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together. They would be required to charge across no man's land that was heavily defended by German troops and on the very grounds that many an Allied soldier had died in the several attempts to take the ridge that the Canadians were then expected to capture.

And they did.

Robert Gilbert was in the charge and soon found himself running through a German with his bayonet and coming across several others of the enemy with their hands up and surrendering and on the march towards the Allies friendly lines... he told them to keep going as he moved closer into the enemy lines.

Gilbert finally arrived at the face of his target... a tunnel suspected of holding several enemy soldiers.  It is probably at about the centre of this map that shows the 3rd Canadian Division and the 2nd Mounted Rifles' position.

As he got to the face of the tunnel first, he was waiting for the rest of his troops to show up. Then an officer appeared and he explained the situation. The officer said to guard it till he returned, and did so shortly with another officer. By then several of his fellow soldiers had also arrived.

One of the officers asked him what to do... and he said that they had to enter the tunnel. And then the officer said... WHO will go in there, and Gilbert said that he would. He exchanged his rifle for a pistol and got a bag of bombs (grenades)  and went in alone.

After throwing several bombs ahead of him he finally got to the bottom and from around a corner he heard a yell to stop throwing them. With a deep German accent, a man yelled... Mercy   Kamarad..." and with that a voice pleading that he stop throwing the bombs and that they would give up.

A German officer came out first then the men... 25 of them. Once they were all secured as POW's the officer went up to Gilbert and took of his chest an Iron Cross and gave it to Gilbert telling him how brave the officer thought he was. 

About 1 1/2 years later Gilbert would be back in Victoria BC and stationed at Willows Camp. He'd still be a private and had received no awards whatsoever for the capture of 25 prisoners, an officer and the machine gun that was about to be mounted against the Canadians.

Four WHITE Canadians were awarded the Victoria Cross for various acts of bravery, quit similar to Gilbert's, yet Gilbert got no medal of any sort for his bravery. Nor did he apparently even get a promotion.

In an 1918 article in the local paper, some of his friends had praised his bravery at Vimy and one  noted that..."if it were not for his colour I believe he would have the Victoria Cross for his work on Vimy Ridge...".

He worked in the shipping and longshoreman trades in Vancouver after release from the military. He died in Vancouver in 1952 at age 56.

Robert Gilbert is buried in at the Mountain View cemetery in Vancouver in their soldier's section and his marker does not have the notation that he was a Victoria Cross recipient.

Some day that ought to change!


Bart