This might be once of the "Biggest Fish" stories ever.  And its true!

Willy was only 16/12 years old when he and a few friends ventured off from their small hometown near the Canada  US border town in Maine and went to fish along the Miramachi River in New Brunswick. He was sent into a local town after a few days to pick up some supplies, and that's were heard it. Canada had gone to war just a few days previous. And Willy wanted to trade in his fishing pole for a rifle. Walking into a recruitment centre in Fredericton Willy lied about his age and said that he was 21 when he was only 16 1/2. He claimed to be a banker when they signed him up as a private with the 71st York Regiment.

Soon Willy, now private William Henry Metcalfe, was trying to figure out which foot was the left and which was the right and by the time he got the marching right, a month would have passed and he was off to ValCartier as a member of the 12th Battalion. After some basic  training he and the 12th would be transported  to Halifax and on 03 October 1914 he set sail for England.

He had written his mother before the sailing to tell her what he had done and was stunned upon arrival about 2 weeks later that the American Ambassador to England was there too greet him. Apparently his mother had written several rather nasty letters to the Canadian and American authorities questioning why they would enlist such a under aged child and that they'd best find him and ship him home ASAP. But on disembarking he was questioned and insisted they had gotten the wrong guy. He claimed he came from a small town in NB near St Stephen and his commanding officer verified this and so the Ambassador could do little.

By Mid May of 1915 he was transferred to the 16th Battalion and already fighting in France. The 16th were also known as the Canadian Scottish from Victoria BC and like some other highlanders would be called the "Ladies from Hell" by the Germans seeing the fighting men in their kilts. The Germans would meet the Ladies in several battles and in early July of 1915 William was wounded for the first of 6 times. It was not enough to keep him out of battle and  his unit thought so highly of him that by September he was promoted to Lance Corporal.    

It would be at the horrendous several month long battle at the Somme in 1916 that Metcalfe's bravery was first noticed, with the above London Gazette actual document conferring upon him the Military Medal. Over 58,000 allies were killed in this battle, with 1/3rd dying on the very first day of the fight. The LG does not say what Metcalfe's actions were, but then, there were quite a few of these bravery awards mentioned and thus probably a space problem.  But it is known what he did to get a second MM, and thus a Bar for his first medal.

This would take place two years later at Amiens France. The record shows that... "on August 8th, 1918 this NCO behaved in a most splendid manner in charge of a signal station. With extraordinary perseverance and judgement he carried a telephone line forward with the first wave and upon arriving at the final objective, established a signal station from which he maintained all day under heavy fire. He several times traversed the zone of immediate danger to keep his line in repair. His fine conduct was responsible for keeping headquarters in touch with the  situation and thus contributed valuable assistance to the success of the action."

The Commanding officer of the 16th was Colonel Cy Peck, and it would be this very officer who was commanded to take the charge at the Drocourt Quent Line in France. His unit like most were in such a disarray as they had all lost a lot of men, and the officers that commanding them. In reorganizing his unit he was left with 800 men. He would take 400 and he turned to L Cpl Metcalfe to take the other 400 and move forward. But the shelling and rifle / Machine Gun fire was so heavy that Metcalfe ordered his men to take cover. Once done he heard one of the Allied tanks coming forth so he jumped out in front of it, still under very heavy fire and a captain popped open the hatch. He said that the unit was being pinned down by 4 MG nests and he took a signal  flag and guided the officer to traveling along the trench to a firing position. The tank complied and when all was said and done the four MG nests were taken out and Metcalfe had captured 10 Germans, and noted at least 17 MG's that would later be described as having been  "Well used."  Of the 400 who went into that battle with Metcalfe, only 60 would be alive that night.

Metcalf was so badly shot up that it would be his very prisoners who would be forced to bandage him up and carry him to the rear. His bullet ridden kilt was later put on display in London where he would  spend 9 months in hospital recovering.

This battle was part of the overall battle for Passchendaele. There would be 7 Canadian Victoria Crosses awarded for the battle. Metcalfe being a Yank,, was one of these, as was Doctor Hutcheson, another Lady from Hell, who was attached to the 75th Overseas Bn, the Toronto Scottish, a regiment I served for several years in the 1960's ands 70's. Another one of the VC's for this battle was none other than the Colonel of the 16th... Cy Peck.

Here is Metcalfe's London Gazette notice of the awarding of the Victoria Cross...

William H Metcalfe became the 5th of seven Americans in history to be awarded the Victoria Cross. This site has brought you the story now of five of them, 4 being serving in to Canadian units at the time they earned their medals. After the war he returned to Canada with his regiment and took his release at Quebec. 

He moved back to the US got further education and worked in the automotive industry in his home town but spent his later years in Portland Maine where he finally took ill for several months and passed away in August 1968 and now rests at a cemetery  in Portland. His widow insisted that the bagpipes be played at his service and the 40 members of the Royal Canadian Legion attended had no problems with that. She also requested that not the American nor Canadian flag be used to drape his coffin, but that of the Union Jack under which he served. And all complied with her wished. 

A few years back, on the 8oth anniversary of the Armistice, the Canadian Scottish contacting the family and asked if they could have a short term loan of the medals for a display. They were stunned when told that the family would be honoured to donate them to the unit were they are today most prized and on display in a most impressive museum at Victoria. They also hold several other complete medal groups that include highly coveted Victoria Cross.   

His late son was once quoted saying that Willy never liked to talk much about the war, like so many others have said over the ages. He left his medals in a drawer and only pulled them out once in while when he was going on a formal parade. When his own son asked how earned the Victoria Cross he only responded that he got it..."for stealing the Colonel's rum."  

Another cute story that needs to re retold... In the file is a cute story about a fellow in the legal business who wrote to Metcalfe many a year ago. He was telling how a fellow in Quebec was caught attempting to steal their money. He was impersonating Metcalfe, the VC recipient and trying to scrounge dollars from passers bye. One fellow donated $1. He was then caught, tried and thrown in jail... FOR SIX MONTHS.

And they say crime doesn't pay. I guess they are right.

Bart

Friday's blog told of a Nova Scotia reader of these blogs and the tip that a few years back the US Mint produced a series of coins commemorating Civil War battles, the battlefields and efforts to preserve them. The article showed images of coins depicting Gettysburg and Antietam and other battlefields. His interest was as a result of locating a quarter commemorating the USS Cairo and its involvement with the Yazoo Expedition of December 1862. Today I'll talk about this.

In December of 1862 the North was in operation of its plan to split  the Southern states in two by controlling the  Mississippi River, a major north/south water route. Thus split, each side would have more difficulty navigating either northbound or southbound. This would have horrible effects on the movement of troops and supplies. This river in the state of Mississippi is just to the left of Vicksburg as shown with the "A" above. Vicksburg is about 50 miles West of Jackson and about 200 south of Memphis Tennessee.

Today's story takes place on the river about 10 miles north of Vicksburg at a place called Haynes Bluff.

In an operation called the Yazoo Expedition, a number of shallow bottomed boats (that could navigate shallow watered rivers) and that were also Ironclads, (build with iron shielding all around those portions above the waterline) were on a mission to capture or destroy any enemy vessels, destroy their fortifications and also clear mines from  the river beds.

The USS Cairo, depicted here and on the recent minted quarter, had a compliment of 251 officers and men, but according to a listing on the internet, may have been operating with only 158 men and a handful of officers on December 12th while it was northbound up the Mississippi River.  When about 10 miles past Vicksburg the war vessel came under heavy fire from a fortification at Haynes Bluff. Quickly making the guns ready she turned to better face her enemy. And in that quick action she either struck  a pressure triggered underwater mine... called a torpedoe in those days, or actually hit an electronic triggered mine being operated buy Confederate troops along the shoreline. Regardless, of type of device it had devastating effects in that it blew two holes in the side of the ship and it sank in about 35 feet of water within a dozen minutes. But not a sailor lost his life in the explosion.

This should be of interest to my reader from Nova Scotia as on that very day there were no less than at least 7 Canadian sailors on board. (Two from Nova Scotia.) In fact, of the crew of 158 that day, a whopping  42% of the men were non-American born.  The ship has gone down in history as being the first ever to be destroyed by an electronic underwater bomb, but the real cause is now being question as to the type used, as above noted.

During this expedition the Cairo was commanded by Lt Commander Thomas O Selfridge, who would many years later rise to the rank of Rear Admiral. This officer was indeed a lucky fellow. This would be his second ship that would sink under his feet. The first was back on March 8th of that same year... 1862. On that day, or more accurately stated the following day he would be involved in the famous Civil War battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack. (Often misspelled Merrimac) But truth be known, that battle actually started the day before with the Merrimack sinking another vessel called the USS Cumberland in about another 15 minute battle. That unfortunate vessel lost many lives when it had a hole big enough to drive a horse and carriage through, poked into its side. This being from a giant ram fastened under the waterline to the front  of the Confederates ship... the Merrimack. (True name was the CSS Virginia, but many refer to it as the Merrimack as that was the name of the vessel earlier sunk, then raised and made into a new ship...the Virginia)

Selfridge was a serving officer on the Cumberland that dreadful day it was sunk. He was one of about a third of the crew that were not killed and lived to fight another day. Two others from the Cumberland, Canadians both, would later earn Medals of Honor in other battles.

And on that first day's battle I should also noted that there were only two deaths to the Confederate's Merrimack (Virginia) and the first of these two was a Canadian from New Brunswick.

On the second  day of the famous Monitor and Merrimack battle Selfridge was on the new Union's ironclad... the USS Monitor and when its commander was wounded, actually ended up for a brief period as its commander.

One of the other vessels in the Yazoo Expedition was the USS Baron de Kalb of which Charles Robinson not only served, but later was awarded a Medal of Honor. He lived for some 30 years at Halifax, raised a family there and is buried there. Regular readers of these blogs know of my argument that he and three others actually earned not one... BUT TWO Medals of Honor and three blogs in this space brought readers that story.

Here is the coin that started this two part series on coins. To the right is the start of a resurrection of the USS Cairo, which was located in 1952. Raised in pieces for several reasons, it is now in the process of being reconstructed and can be seen at the museum in Vicksburg. There are many personal artifacts also recovered and on display as well.

Bart

Any blog writer welcomes feedback from his or her readers. If they don't come in, we sometimes might wonder if there is anyone out there. Don't worry though, my stats tell me you are. hehe.

But rather than being silent several comments have been forwarded from across North America and even England. The latest is from an old hometown of mine at Halifax Nova Scotia. And NS contributed plenty to the US during Civil War days. Thus he felt I should know about the 2011 issue by the US Mint of a 25 cent piece reminding us of the heroics of the USS Cairo in 1862.

Americans are very proud of their Civil War heritage,  and so they should be. They  take any commemorations for these men and women quite seriously. So ought we in Canada as some 50,000 of our own fought in that war and many more have fought before and after in other battles. We also should therefore have a keen interest in any coins that the US Mint has produced that celebrate these men and women.

Because of my reader, I am blogging today about several Civil War commemorative coins. There have been many more over the years but today I'll just look at those from the 1860's period.

In 1936 the US government approved a coin in honour of the battle at Gettysburg. It authorized the production of 50,000 coins to be issued in 1938 and that they would then be commemorating the 75th year of the battle. The left coin above is the face, or the obverse of that coin and depicts images of a Union and a Confederates soldier. The inscription reads ... "United States of America, Blue and Grey of Reunion, Liberty and E Pluribus Unum.

The coin's reverse, in the center above, depicts a bundle of sticks, bound by an axe, flanked by the shields of the Union and the Confederacy and supported by sprays of oak and laurel. The inscription reads... "1863, 75th anniversary 1938, Battle of Gettysburg, in God we Trust, 1936.

Check your US change because much more recently, in 2011, the government approved the creation of the quarter above and to right, again in honour of Gettysburg. The image on the reverse is that of the monument to the  72nd Penn. Infantry which is located on the battle line of the Union army at Cemetery Ridge.

Many North Americans do not realize it but dozens of Canadians fought in this battle, many would lay dead on its fields when all was said and done and Medals of Honor were issued for this battle  that had Canadian connections. Some of those fighting there from Canada would also go on to earn a medal at later battles. Canadian connections to this battle stretch right across this country as far to the west as Vancouver Island.

Some of the many Canadians who fought at Antietam would also go on to earn a MOH at other battles. You just read of one of these men in a recent blog.

The Antietam battle was fought on 17 September 1862. It only lasted 12 hours. But when it was over one in four of the  113,000 (combined Union and Confederate) were either dead or wounded, Missing or Prisoners of War. The  battle was the bloodiest battle in US history.

In 1937 the US mint produced the Half dollar coin shown at left. It was in honor of the 75th anniversary of the battle. The face of the coin depicts the commanders at the battle, General  George B McClellan and Robert E Lee. The reverse shows an image of the Burnside Bridge.

In 1995 the US Mint produced a series of 3 coins called "Civil War Battlefield." The first was the gold $5, pictured to left, then the silver $1 and half dollar coins are shown.  The gold was limited to 300,000 coins, the silver Halfs had 2,000,000 and the $1 had 1,000,000 coins authorized for minting.

The face of the gold coin depicts a bugler calling the troops to arms and its reverse has the eagle  clutching a banner that reads..."Let Us Protect and Preserve."

The face of the Half Dollar shows a drummer boy while the reverse battlefield scene carries the words ..."Enriching our future by Preserving our Past."

The face of the Bottom $1 coin shows a soldier raising his canteen to the lips of his wounded foe, and the reverse contains a quote from gamed CW hero Joshua Chamberlain.  It says..." In great deeds something abides on great fields, something stays,  forms change and pass bodies disappear. But spirits linger to consecrate ground for the vision place of souls."

These three coins honor the 100 anniversary of the beginning efforts to start saving historic CW battlefields for future generations. 

More on this next week.

Bart

There are no doubt many stories of those wearing a uniform and rising in the ranks from buck private to that of a general officer. Perhaps as many even of service men and women who have worn the uniform and served their country for 50 years and more.

But I don't recall ever hearing a story of a Canadian that went south and did all three. Today's blog is about such a man.

Stranger yet, a 1910 census indicated that he emigrated to the United States in 1837. Strange as that was the year he was born.

The history books are very vague and so far we know not where in Canada John C. Gilmore came from, but info tells us he was born on 18 April 1837, and as stated above apparently moved to the US that same year. Probably not on his own. He probably lived at Louisville NY in 1861.

John was attending law school at the St Lawrence Academy in Potsdam New York when President Abe Lincoln put out the call in 1861 for 75,000 men to enlist. John would be assigned  to the 16th New York Volunteer Infantry on 7 May 1861. His term would be for 2 years. (A little shy of the 50 he would go on to stay with the services.) Just 2 days earlier James also signed up. And James was also from Canada and would go on to earn a Medal of Honor in this same regiment. But he was much older than John when he left Canada. He was 5 years old. But a little more on him later today, and much more in a later blog on Allen.

John not only signed up, he and another law student from the Academy actually raised the company that came from Potsdam. He was so popular that he was elected to its position of Captain, and thus the officer that was to command the company, one of many in the 16th NY. His commissioned would be dated for early July of 61 but back dated to 7 May. He was 24 years old at the time.

Captain Gilmore would lead his troops in many of the battles you have read about in past blogs in this space. He would fight  at Manassas, Fairfax Court House and Bull Run in 1861, would be back at Manassas again in March of 1862, at Fredericksburg in early April then Yorktown and on to West Point in May.

In early May Gilmore would find himself in command on not one but three companies doing battle at West Point Virginia when several others were badly wounded, killed or had gone missing. The enemy were later reported to have slit the throats of many Union soldiers, used some for apparent bayonet practice, and stripped other bodies for any thing of value...including their very clothing. After the battle a Brig. General would write his superiors and note that... "Captain Gilmore, who commanded the three companies of the 16th New York engaged,  has received the commendation of his superior officer for the skill and gallantry displayed during the action."

His regiment moved on to Richmond on 25 June and on the 27th Gilmore would be wounded, probably slightly, at Gains Mills where his company helped to secure two field guns the Union lost earlier to the enemy. Here his regiment lost 3 officers and 55 men to either being killed or mortally wounded,.. including their regimental commander. Another 7 officers and  166 men were wounded in that fight. The unit went into battle with very high morale and the soldiers worn into battle a special straw hat made by a friend of the regiment.

The regiment then moved on to Malvern Hill, and the Maryland campaign, and then fought at Crampton's Gap where fellow Canadian James Allen would earn his Medal of Honor with a stunning ruse that saw him capture an enemy flag, weapons and about 16 Southern troops who he had to surrender over to his company commander. And that was none other then Captain Gilmore, but more on this in another blog.

A few days later in September of 1862 Captain Gilmore would perform heroically at  Antietam. In December he would receive a brevet promotion to major for his gallant and meritorious service here, and this would be backdated to September. Then came Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg. Performance here would also result in a brevet promotion... to the rank of Lt Colonel, but again that came later. With the promotion to Major, he would be taken out of his company and assigned duties at the regimental level.

In late April of 1863 Gilmore's regiment would be fighting at Chancellorsville and days later would be in the thick of battle at Salem Heights, part of the overall Chancellorsville campaign. Gilmore should not have even been in battle  at the time. In fact, neither should any of the officers or men. Their two year term of service enlistments was up, and no more was required of them. They could have done what so many others had done, simply walked off the field and went home. But Gilmore and all the rest of the officers took up a vote and decided man for man that they would stay and continue to serve their country. And then the men took the same vote,  and they did likewise.

At Salem Heights the regiment was in the front line of battle and came under most intense firing. In short order the unit had lost to death or bad wounds 6 officers and over 90 soldiers. It was here that Captain Gilmore had grabbed the units colours and raced across the front lines under direct fire and rallied the men to move forward, and it was for this very action that some 30 years later Gilmore was recommended for, and later received the Medal of Honor.

Just a few days later the unit would muster out of service at Albany NY, and Gilmore would do the same effective  22 May 1863. It would not be long before Major Gilmore was again being promoted by brevet to that of a Lt Colonel and given command of the  193rd Regiment, NY Infantry. This was a one year term and when it finished he joined the regular US Army where he would serve for the next 40 years.

Gilmore served on the western frontier for decades. Showed here as a Civil War Lt Colonel, on the left, he would later serve the regular army in the a12th, the 30th and the 38 Infantry regiments.

He would also do some time as the Assistant Adjutant General of the US Army, and in October of 1892 the War Office sent him a letter advising that the President had awarded him the Medal of Honor, when, as a Major, and at  Salem Heights Virginia, his distinguished conduct back in 1863 was then being recognized with the medal.

Just prior to the start of the Spanish American War the president would write him advising that he had yet again been promoted by brevet to the rank of Brig. General as pictured above on right, and was being placed on the direct staff of Lt General Miles in Cuba. He would follow Miles with further service as Chief of staff in Puerto Rico.

In 1910 General Gilmore finally took of his uniform and retired and received a wonderful scroll advising that he would maintain his rank and be on the retired list... and no doubt subject to further recall if needed. (Hope he left his phone of the hook!)

Canadian born General John C Gilmore came into this world on 18 April 1837. That was  181 years ago last Thursday. He passed away in December of 1922 and lies at rest with several family members at Arlington and so close to so many that he served with over a half century. 

Bart  

On 7 March in this space I brought you the story of George Phillips from New Brunswick, his involvement with the sinking of the USS Merrimac to block off a Cuban harbour and later being awarded a Medal of Honor. This was back in 1898 during the Spanish American War (SAW). Earlier than that blog, on 19 February I wrote about the Miller Brothers of Nova Scotia and their actions during the famous Cable Cutting incident, also in the SAW. And on 7 February I told of an American, Leonard Chadwick who also earned a Medal of Honor during the Cable Cutting incident. He then went on to join the British during in the Boer War and actually was one of only eight in the world to be rewarded with a Queen's Scarf, so the blog noted.

Today I want to talk about Daniel J Campbell of PEI and his Medal of Honor, also from SAW days and in fact sitting in one of the boats with Chadwick in that incident. Of the 110 Medals of Honor that were later awarded for actions in the SAW,  a total of 45% were awarded to non-American born recipients. Of these, 7 came to Canada.

Daniel was born on Boxing Day in 1874. The records so far have not revealed any details of his life before he was living in Boston when he enrolled in the United States Marine Corps in 1896.

He came onto the history radar in 1898 while still a private and attached to the USS Marblehead in Cuban waters. While there is information available about his battle, other than about a one liner containing his name and very brief details, little is known about this man. It is known that he was in one of the four vessels sent off to cut the undersea cables.

The Cable Cutting job was assigned to the gunboats USS Marblehead and USS Nashville. Pictured here is the first mentioned, in about 1898 and has been stripped down and ready to go to battle stations.

The job for these vessels was to cut 2 major undersea cable that connected the Cienfuegos harbour with Havana and the outside world. While doing this a third cable  was discovered of lesser importance  but still needed cutting. 

To do this job both gunships supplied two small vessels each, a sailing launch and a steam cutter. Four of the Canadian MOH's in the SAR would come from this action, and one served on each of the four smaller craft. On the sailing craft there were twelve oars, so one sailor was assigned to each. In addition the sailing craft had 1 coxswain, 1 officer, 1 carpenter's mate and finally 1 blacksmith. These would be responsible for the actual cutting job. The other two cutters held the firepower to protect the cutters as they did their work. On these each would have 5 or 6 marines to act as sharpshooters. Each would also have a Marine Sergeant. And finally one would have a one pounder Hotchkiss cannon while the other had 2 Colt Machine guns like the one you read about in a blog a few days ago, These could fire upwards of 400 rounds per minute. Each would also have a coxswain a naval fireman, coal passer and 2 more seaman for general duties to operate the boat itself.

Campbell, as a marine, would serve on  the steam cutter assigned to the Marblehead and he either fought using his rifle or was assigned to one of the machineguns.

While no accounts have been found about Campbell's  actions on 11 May 1898, some of the crew members have recorded their thoughts. One would tell of the obvious suicide aspect to the mission. Clearly nothing like this had been done before, according to their Captain, and all that participated had done so entirely voluntarily. In fact more volunteered than the limited amount that could go.
 
No one knew what they were up against, they grabbed the tools they thought they would need and set them aside to grab in the early morning of the plan. The next morning after coffee and hardtack they said their goodbyes to their mates and boarded the four boats and off they went, some armed with rifles, others with revolvers for the closer shore to ship fighting that they thought they might face. 

The waters were very rough as seen in this image, and as you got closer to shore there were plenty of rocks jutting out from the ocean floor. As many were just under the surface and scrapping anyone of them could have sank any of the boats since all were very thin wooden craft. As they moved closer to shore they even noted mines floating but just under the water line. A switch house of shore probably held the control to set any of them off and the marines soon saw Mexicans running for that shack and turned their powerful machine guns onto them killing all. Then then leveled the shack itself.

Finding the cable was not easy. They had to be in shallow water to do this, and of course that meant being closer to the enemy. The closer they got the sooner they aroused enough attention to get bullets coming their way. Soon the firing was so intense and the enemy focusing on shooting below the water line, that the sailors had to use their bullets to stuff in the holes to keep most of the water out.

When the cable was first located it then took considerable effort to grab onto it with hooks, Then the challenge was to hoist it...soaking wet and weighing over 6 pounds per foot, up and out of the ocean and drape it across the bow and then try to figure out how to cut it. Numerous tools were tried but in the end it appeared that they had to just use the hacksaws... but even then it was sawing thought a hunk of iron as thick as your wrist

When the first cable had its shore end cut it was draped on one of the boats and then hauled out to sea several hundred feet. There about 150 feet was chopped off and curled up in the boat to take back to the gunboats and later chopping up even further as keep sakes for all involved. The sea end was then just dropped overboard.

A second cable also had to be cut and this time they had to get even closed to the shore. The Mexicans had by then brought in even more reinforcements and heavier guns as well. One of the men signalled their gunboats of the increasingly dangerous situation and then both the Nashville and Marblehead started shelling the shores again. But when this happened, now the sailors and marines risked not only death from enemy fire, but also from fire VERY close to their heads from their fellow shipmates. One fellow would later claim that every time the shell went over his head he felt like he was about to be pulled from the boat... just from the pressure of the shell passing bye. The second cable had about 100 yards chopped off and then the men found yet a third unexpected cable. This one was much smaller and felt to be of considerably less importance and an initial shot at trying to get at it was abandoned due to the enemy strength now gathered.

In fact the shells and bullets being fired at the four boats were so bad that it was high time to head out to the ocean. The Nashville, seeing the predicament actually came forward and placed itself between the shore and the retreating four boats to give added protection. When the attack was completed several hours later, there were only a few deaths, and a handful of wounded Sailors and marines. But later claims had Mexican deaths of almost 300..and that is not including the wounded. 

Sea creatures were known to chew at cables and so these cables had to be include  some considerable protection. The portion of the  cable actually carrying the message in these was the 7 stands contained at the very centre. The picture on the left was a keepsake that was poured into a metal framework and so the outer edge seen is not part of the actual cable.

Of the 110 Medals of Honor awarded for actions in the SAW 52 were for sailors and marines involved in this cable cutting event. Only one was later awarded...posthumously.. for the entire war. And that went to a fellow named Roosevelt. Teddy, of Rough Rider fame, and a later President. His family received the award in 2000.

Lt EA Anderson recommended Medals of Honor for those troops he commanded on 2 of the 4 boats in under his command in Feb of 1899 and shortly after that they and the rest would all be awarded their medals.

Anderson went on to earn the MOH himself in later days and ended up as a Rear Admiral.

Campbell left the Marines  about five years later and for the next 50 years his actions have yet to be documented. He died 58 years ago this Sunday and lies at rest in Massachusetts. 

Bart

John was only 17 1/2 when he walked into the recruiting centre in Massachusetts and signed up for what was probably a three year stint with the US Navy. Little did he know he would still be at over 30 years later. He would serve on at least 8 different war ships, would command at least 3 and fight in the Spanish American War, would serve during the Mexican campaign, in WW1 and WW2 and when all was said and done would wear many medals  including the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.

The only thing about early life widely known was that John was born into the Grady family on Christmas Day in 1872 somewhere in New Brunswick. By the summer of 1890 he was in Massachusetts signing up for service.

By May of 1901 he had risen through several ranks and was promoted to a Warrant and with the trade of Gunner. Three years and several ships later he would be promoted to Ensign, would soon skip the next rank and get an accelerated promotion to naval Lieutenant.

In May of 1893 Lt. John Grady was posted to the USS New Hampshire, (shown to left and at the New York Harbour) and within a year he would be awarded a Medal of Honor for his bravery...not at sea... but on land at Vera Cruz during the Mexican Campaign.

This vessel was under the command of the Naval Captain, (and much  later),  Admiral Anderson. This is the same officer that during the Spanish American War commanded two of the  USS Marblehead's launches that were involved in the cable cutting incident where several Canadians earned Medals of honor.
Mexico was in troubled times in those days. Several governments had been ousted in short order and at the time the country was being ruled by a dictator who came to power via a coup. US President Wilson did not like this and was of course concerned about the Americans in Mexico and the US interest within the country. He kept gun boats not far off shore for awhile and when learning of an expected arrival of a cache of arms, he ordered the navy to land her marines and artillery to ensure the cache was not landed. Complicating matters the Mexicans had most recently arrested several sailors and also boarded a US boat and seized others who were on a mission of resupply. Within days matters started to bubble over and the President ultimately got permission to land about 7,000 sailors and marines and soldiers to take control of Vera Cruz.

Lt John Grady was put in charge of a navy/marine artillery unit and on day two of a three day insurrection Grady had to set up and man a heavy gun position in the streets of Vera Cruz. He came under very heavy fire from snipers positions inside buildings, from rooftops and the streets.  He shelled the city from numerous locations and did so in such a manner despite the shooting all around him, that he would later be recommended for, and awarded manned a Medal of Honor. 

There have been over 30 times when sailors have landed and acted as marines or soldiers in battle, but this was the first time ever that a Naval officer would earn a MOH with the naval artillery. While the fighting only took a few days and most would soon be back on their vessels and most off to other duties, 55 men would earn MOH's in this campaign.

John Grady continued his service throughout WW1 and was promoted to Lt Commander and then acting Commander. Shortly after the war came to an end he was confirmed in rank as a Commander. During the later part of the war Grady was given command of three different war ships. Grady would also become one of only 8 men at the time that had been awarded a MOH and later also be awarded the Navy Cross. His being awarded  ..." For distinguished service in the line of his profession as commanding Officer of the USS Wilhelmina, engaged in the important, exacting and hazardous duty of transporting and escorting troops and supplies to European ports through waters infested with enemy submarines and mines."  

In December of 1921 Grady was appointed to the General Court Martial Board at new York and he took his retirement the following year. He would be called out from the retirement list briefly in WW11, with the confirmed rank of Commander, promoted to Naval Captain and within short order again took retirement,

Naval Captain join Grady died in 1956 and lies at rest with at least 365 other Medal of Honor recipients at Arlington National Cemetery.

His wife lies at his side.

At death he had two sons, one following in his footprints and at that time was a naval Lt. Commander himself.

Yesterday was the anniversary of the 99th year of the same date in 1914 when Grady's heroism resulted in his receiving the Medal of Honor.

Bart

Oft quoted is the fact that during the Civil War some 50,000 Canadians either went south, or were already south and took up arms, mostly for the North in the conflict. Most came from Ontario east but there certainly was many from the rest of Canada also. Graves of veterans can be found across the country all the way out to Vancouver Island. There have been many stories told in this space about some of the heroes that came out of that conflict. And some that did not.

Back in January I told the story about Colonel Morgan, born in St Catharines Ontario, the very hero and Medal of Honor recipient who the US government chose to name and army camp after in Bosnia Herzegovina. The Colonel's father was also a fighting man and during the Civil War rose from the ranks of Private to Brig. General. If you look up the usual lists of Canadian generals in that conflict, they list 4 or 5 and miss several... including General Morgan who lived for many years and started his family also at St. Catharines Ontario.

Today I want to tell you about another hero from the same city. His name was Fred (not Frederick as sometimes cited) Fisher. And he would live...become a war hero and die before he got to his 23rd birthday. One might wonder if he even ever got to vote.

Medal of Honor recipient Colonel Morgan died in July 1892. Twenty five months later Fred Fisher was born, perhaps to carry the next hero's torch for St Catharines.

Fred's father was in the banking business and thus the family moved around with bank transfers. He would live in Dunnville, possibly in the Toronto area where he may have spent two years in a school cadet corps, lived at Niagara on the Lake and finally got to settle down in Montreal. There he attended Westmount Academy and then went on to start his study of engineering at McGill University.

His schooling came to an abrupt end when WW1 came along. when he left University to join the 5th Royal Highlanders of Canada. Joining the militia element, just a month later he signed the attestation papers to join its active Battalion, the 13th, which of course would soon be off to war. Fisher was moved to Valcartier where thousands arrived to get some basic training in the fields and tent cities that lacked many of the basics of normal camp life... like buildings.  

From Valcartier the soldiers were transported to the Montreal and later to the Gaspe Basin on board the Cunard Liner Alaunia, which was only one year old and must have been a bit of a shock after the living conditions back at Valcartier.
This liner was requisitioned as a troop carrier and would be the first in the war to carry Canadian soldiers overseas. It would leave Gaspe for England in a convoy of  37 ships, that would sail in 3 columns and would stretch some 21miles carrying over 30,000 troops for the Empire. Little did Fred know that he would never see the shores of Canada again.

The cruise liner luxuries soon ended with the 14 October 1914 landing at Plymouth and a move back into tents at Salisbury where they would remain and get further drilled and trained for 5 months. Early in that training he would be promoted to Lance Corporal and a transfer into a Machine Gun detachment.

In February 1915 Fisher and others sailed from England to France. Conditions being so bad in the Channel, it took three days to make the trip. He would take part in battles leading up to Ypres and it would be there several months later that Fred and thousand s of others would face the first gas every used in a major attack in history. Over 18000 faced the gas, and 2,000 died from it. Back home and even in England they had never heard of gas and of course had no training. When it came most were surprised. One doctor on site told the men to urinate in their hankerchiefs  and put it over their noses. Gross, but it save thousands of lives.

It was during the 2nd of at least five battles at Ypres  that Fred Fisher would become a hero, and it would be here that he and thousands of others would be killed in battle.

Youthful Fred Fisher, pictured here, was just a few hundred yards away from the Germans who were bringing down concentrated fire against a battery of 4 Canadian 18 pounder heavy artillery guns. The men manning them were being gunned down and those that could were trying to at least save the guns by hauling them off.

Fisher volunteered to go forth with six men, set up his colt machine gun that could fire off over 400 rounds per minute, and give the Germans something else to think off while the battery tried to save their weapons.  He was successful but lost four of his men when they also came under heavy fire. But the artillery guns were saved.

Later he took for more men and they carried the colt machinegun, firing it from their hips as they rushed into the town of Julien were the Germans were in concentrated groups. He turned his weapon on them and killed many but lost all of his men to death or bad wounds.

Yet again in the early hours of 23 April 1915 (the next day) Ken Fisher took his gun out under very heavy fire and set it up for action but was hit in the chest and instantly killed. His Lt. and others buried Fisher almost on the spot in a make shift trench, but soon the trench would be lost to history.  

Two months after Ken Fisher was killed the London Gazette carried the notice that he was being awarded a Victoria Cross. It would be the first VC issued in the war to  a Canadian. It would also be the first to a Canadian who was fighting within a Canadian unit and not elsewhere.

The Medal was forwarded by mail to Fred's parents back in Montreal with a letter dated 5 October 1915. It was from the King of England.

It read...  "It is a matter of sincere regret to me that the death  of Lance Corporal Frederick (wrong) Fisher deprived me of the pride of personally  conferring upon him the Victoria Cross, the greatest of all military decorations."

It was signed...   "George RI"

Fisher's VC stayed in the family and at the parents death, his sister obtained it and other medals. Years later she donated them to the Black Watch Museum at Montreal where there are on display today.

On 24 July 1927 the Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing was opened at the edge of town at Ypres Belgium. During WW! thousands of soldiers passed through this area as they advanced on the enemy. The gate was in the position of an older gate that actually allowed passage through the old defensive wall and a corridor from the town of Ypres to the town of Menin, and thus the name.

The memorial was built and designed to be a commemorative to over 50,000 war dead from Ypres in WW1 that went missing and no location of their individual graves is known.

At 8pm nightly since day one, the entrance to the gate is blocked off to traffic. At that time a ceremony and last post is played EVERY NIGHT since it opened, with exception of during occupation days of WW11. And even then the ceremony continued, but it was held in England, After the Polish soldiers liberated the town of Ypres, that very night the ceremony returned to the Menin Gate Memorial. Inside is the Hall of Memory and here are the engraved names of the missing... including Fred Fisher of St Catherines Ontario, and thousands of other Canadians as well.

There are a number of memorials in Ontario to Fisher, including his name appearing in the Book or Remembrance, at pg 14, contained in the Peace Tower at the Parliament Buildings of Canada. Montreal's Bleury Street Armoury has a plaque displayed in honor of Fisher, and a portrait of Fisher is displayed proudly at his old Academy in Montreal which is now called Westmount High School. And back at St Catharines there is a plaque in his honour at City Hall and a Ontario Government historic plaque near where he was born. They also have a street named after Fred.

Some of the Fisher medals including the VC, as earlier noted at the Black Watch Museum... and it is within the Bleury Street armoury above mentioned.

Bart

Yesterday's blog was the first of 2 on Michael McCarthy, Newfoundland born soldier, who probably served briefly in the Civil War, then in the Fourth, and finally the First US Cavalry Regiments. At the left is a picture of him taken at Fort Walla Walla Washington probably in 1878 whilst holding the rank of First Sergeant. 

A quick read of that article will bring readers up to date if you missed yesterday's blog.

After the defeat at White Bird Ohio the First US Cavalry returned back to their barracks at Fort Walla Walla Washington state. It was from there that ,McCarthy's Troop Commander, Captain JG Trimble, wrote to his regimental headquarters and commended Sergeant Michael McCarthy for repeated acts of bravery and distinguished conduct in the battle 7 months earlier with the Nez Perce Natives. at White Bird Canyon.

Trimble referred to McCarthy as a sergeant in the letter, and requested that he be awarded a Certificate of Merit for his actions that day. Trimble also requested that... "any consideration or promotion bestowed upon the Sergeant, would be but the deserts of a faithful soldier of nearly ten years standing  (it was more) , and an intelligent, energetic, and moral man.

At that time the Certificate was only authorized as an incentive to private soldiers, not Non Commissioned Officers such as Sergeant McCarthy. The officer was later told that due to the rules, the award could not be made. But that aside, it would appear that soon McCarthy was promoted to First Sergeant, for his faithful service, no doubt including the actions of many months earlier.

McCarthy's pension files at the federal archives include a curious document that is dated in 1880. It does not identify who wrote it, or who the officer was that it spoke about. But nevertheless it appears to be a note from higher headquarters giving a tongue lashing to a junior officer that was continuing to push for a certificate for McCarthy. The  note states again that the certificate cannot go to any soldier other than those with only the rank of private. It adds that the note... is not in relation to the soldier's case but simply call to the attention to the fact that he is finding fault with the department for a matter that it appears that he knows nothing about."  Ouch!

While stationed at Walla Walla McCarthy worked with an  Oregon state senator to have the remains of Cavalry soldiers from the earlier White Bird battle relocated from the area to Walla Walla.

He was successful, but when public donations were sought he ended up contributing almost 1/3rd of the costs to have the 15' high Vermont Marble monument made and installed at Walla Walla and as seen here in this picture. There are quite a few Cavalry graves and also of some of the natives on site as well, and two are shown  here.

In June of 1878 McCarthy was promoted to Quarter Master Sergeant and a year later he took his release from the US First Cavalry to take on a new challenge. He was offered a position with the Washington  Territorial Militia.  By July of 1881 he was appointed as a First Lieutenant with the  Walla Walla Guards. Seven years later he would be a Captain in this unit which had by then been transformed into what was then called the Washington National Guard.

By 1897 Michael McCarthy of Newfoundland had risen in ranks from a private and was then a Colonel and Quarter Master General with the National Guard. In that year he also would be recommended for the Medal of Honor.

The same officer that recommended him so many years earlier for the Certificate of Merit, made the recommendation for the MOH. And this time it was supported by several other officers including the former Civil War General O.O. Howard. By November the War department was advised that the President approved the medal and had sent it by mail to McCarthy in Walla Walla. He would soon receive it and would write back to express his appreciation and noted that..." I shall ever cherish this medal as my most valued possession."

A few months later he wrote again to say that when the medal arrived there was no bow knot enclosed, and asked that it be forwarded. This device is literally a small bow, using the same ribbon material used to suspend the actual Medal of Honor, and is worn by the recipient at less formal occasions where the wearing of the medal itself is inappropriate. He would soon get this. And in 1907 he would be given a 2nd MOH, the latest version after the design of the medal had changed. He of course could not consider that as being a 2nd award, just a replacement for the earlier one. And only one could be worn at any time. Some recipients chose to continue to wear the older one as it was more of a keepsake to them than  a newer version. 

McCarthy accumulated quit a bit of land in later life and would ultimately sell most of it off, but he kept an empty lot at Walla Walla and built a substantial home as seen here. There are many bedrooms and his sister and mother came to live with him in this building where he lived till death.

I visited the building a few years back and the current owners were quite kind and gave me a little tour. They did not know which bedroom was Michael's but since I was in all, I was in his. Each was very big with large windows as you can see from this site view. The entrance porch is at the bottom left.


Michael McCarthy also served on the personal staff's of 4 different governors and at retirement still held his rank as a Colonel and Chief of Engineers.  His services to the Militia, state Guard and Governors' staffs would total over two more decades of service to the United States.

Michael had two strokes in later life and one left him speechless with paralysis of the throat. In his last years his sister became his care giver. Michael passed away in 1914 and is buried at Walla Walla. Helen stayed on another two years till she also passed away.

Michael rests now at the Mountain View cemetery with his sister still at his side and their mother at her side. While not an official MOF marker the words are still legible along the front of his marker.

Many years ago the state of Washington erected a monument outside of its lovely legislative buildings at the capitol in Olympia.

I have visited this site a few times and have stopped to reflect at the monument pictured here. It is in memorial of all of the state's recipients of the Medal of Honor. And  I was quite please to see that it contained the names of several of the Canadians who had a connections to that state and went on to earn their own Medal s of Honor.

There are 6 army recipients, including Michael McCarthy on this panel and one fellow from the air force. There is room for more recipients to be added.

The last entry is for James Okubo. It was awarded in 2000 at a ceremony  at the Whitehouse in which 21 recipients were awarded the MOH. Trouble is that all but 7 were by then dead. There were Japanese Americans and prejudice of the day prevented their receiving proper awards for their bravery. 

In 2000 the US undertook a study of Japanese recipients of the Silver Star and as a result of the review these 21 clearly showed the status in which these service men were taken in earlier days. All 21 were up graded several levels to that of the Medal of Honor.

An injustice corrected that could have been avoided.

Bart

The joys of computers. Not! In the Fall of 2009 I toured Camp Walla Walla and several parts of Washington State during a research trip. I came home with oodles of pictures telling stories of several of the Canadian Medal of Honor recipients. Some will appear here today and tomorrow. Finally with the computer allowing me access to them.

Michael McCarthy was born at St John's Newfoundland on 19 April 1845. That was 168 years ago today.

His parents were of English and Irish decent. On his father's side relatives could be traced back to some of the earliest settlers on the island. His mother's family had resided there since 1784. His maternal grandfather built the very blockhouse that was home for the Marconi wireless station. With this kind of history around him perhaps it was destined for him to also make history, but this time as a war hero.

At the age of six he moved with his family to St. Mary's Harbour, about 125 kms south west of the capitol where his dad became the sole merchant for years. At age 14 the family would return to the capitol and he would take two years of college training. Then the family was up-routed again and off to Trinity Bay, much closer to the capitol where father and son worked on relaying  some of the underwater cable in the Atlantic cable system.

In 1852 the family moved to the Boston area and just before the Civil War came to an end, Michael had traveled south to meet up with a cousin who was then the Colonel of the 57th Massachusetts infantry. It is possible that Michael served briefly under his cousin. There was a Private Howard at the Battle of the Wilderness with the regiment, and it is known that McCarthy used the alias Augustus Howard a little later in life. Maybe he used it earlier as  well!

After the Civil War Michael took his release and invested some money in a printing operation of some sort. But he would soon leave this to get back in uniform. This time in the Cavalry though, with the 4th US Cavalry... and again possible under his cousin who then held a lower rank, as Captain and officer commanding McCarthy's Troop. Actually it wasn't McCarthy. This time he enrolled as Augustus Howard, for unknown reasons, and stayed with that unit, from November of 1865 till his term was up in November of 1868.

Over the next decade he would serve two consecutive 5 year terms with the Ist US Cavalry, but this time he was serving under his real name. He would get promoted to Cpl, then Sgt, then First Sergeant over the years which would see him patrolling across many lands in several states during the Indian Uprisings of the time. Many famous personalities served in the US First Cavalry. Among these can be found the names of Kit Carson, Jeff Davis and later General Pershing.

In H Company where McCarthy served there was an officer named Lt. William R Parnell. This man many years earlier, was one of the few with Toronto born Lt Alexander Dunn VC, who managed to walk off the field of battle after the famous Charge of the Light Brigade. (Dunn's VC was the only VC to an officer in the Charge)

Throughout history, time and again there were examples of one group coming along and forcing others to back away and accept the new group's way of life... a sort of turf war if you will. In the US, as in Canada and elsewhere the white man came along and apparently discovered what was already discovered.   Curious!

The native Indian stories of being rounded up in forced to move off their traditional lands for years to accommodate the new fellows... read the white man...  are well recorded for those wishing a good read.

This map could tell the same story.

It would come to a head at White Bird Utah, some 200 miles s/e of Spokane Washington and directly east about 450 miles from Portland Oregon.

Back in 1855 the US government signed an agreement with a native band called the Nez Perce. The agreement was that if they occupied only certain lands, the white man would leave them alone and hopefully the Indians would agree not to harass the whites. Sounds great... if you are white. But then along came the discovery of Gold and of course it was on the Indian lands. So the whites decided it was time to renegotiate. By that I mean force the Indians further away from their traditional grounds, and in this case to accept a reduction in their new reservation size to 10% of what it was under the old agreement. Some of the natives felt this was unfair. Imagine that!
 
Some went along in peace but others were less willing to accept this abusive treatment and decided that enough was enough. Push came to shove repeatedly on both sides and white settlers and miners were pushing the government to send in the troops.  And so they did.

It was on 14 June 1877 that things started to get really stirred up. On that day some of the natives tackled some white ranchers and killed one of them. It was a payback for the murder a few years earlier of the native's father or brother. Back at the reservation others soon decided to join in and extract their own pound of flesh from the white settlers who were very soon abandoning their properties and seeking protection in some of the larger homesteads and communities of whites. Word got out to the military and the natives knew that there would be a major confrontation soon.
 
On the 17th it came.

F and H troops of the First US Cavalry arrived, tired and beat,  after a 24 hour march. On arrival about 1/2 mile north of White Bird they came upon the natives. They did not want a fight by just wanted to show the force of 106 men on horseback. Surely that would turn the natives away. Not so!  The true owners of the land outsmarted the whites and were well prepared to protect their lands and anticipated the arrival of troops. They were well entrenched in their own hiding places along the route and in no mood to sit still for a show of force.  It would be the cavalry who would see a show of force... and much more. And in that little army was First Sergeant Michael McCarthy. 

The Cavalry were southbound, as depicted by the heavy set arrows on this map. They came upon the natives along White Bird Creek and then the battle broke out, by a few hotheads. Probably on both sides. The army wanted to talk and sent in an advance party of about a dozen men which included a few scouts. One of these fired at a few of the enemy rather than talking and so return fire was fast and much heavier than anticipated.

It was said that the natives outnumbered the Cavalry about 2 to 1, and because of the position the troops got themselves into, an attack was most difficult, as was a retreat. Their only option was to try and set up a defence... but how do you when the enemy was hiding behind rocks and bushes just about everywhere.

A small defensive position was sighted and one of the officers ordered McCarthy to take 6 men to this high ground and protect it at all costs. Meanwhile ... " The Indians broke forth, yelling and screaming, , filling the air with hideous howls and showers of bullets." 

While McCarthy and his men took the high ground, word was sent back to main force to get there quickly. On arrival they soon were overwhelmed by the effects of the well placed natives. In very short order men from the cavalry pulled back in somewhat of a confusion, the officer having lost control of them. Soon the officer thought the only thing to do was order a retreat and so he did. But he was then told that  the officer was abandoning McCarthy and his men. The officer then  canceled the order and tried to regroup the men for an assault. McCarthy seeing the officer having trouble reorganizing the men, left his high ground and went out by horseback to help the officer. En-route he had two horses shot out from under him. He would then return as ordered back to his high ground. The troops were again driven back by the natives and so a full retreat was under way to abandoned the area.

But that still left McCarthy and his few men, not yet shot, to fend for themselves.  Soon another officer arrived to help and    managed to get a few more of the men to safety. But McCarthy got into another bad situation. His new horse was badly wounded and unreliable, so he to take a dive off it and into a bush for protection. Lying very still, natives actually rushed right past him without realizing it. Then a few native woman saw his boots sticking out  and made a motion to go after the boots. Seeing this he managed to slip them off, and still leave them in place and crawl back into deeper brush and witnessed several more of his men being killed.

Eventually he made it away from the scene and for the next three days he travelled at night and hid by day and roamed through heavy brushed areas and mountainous terrain without food or water, a horse or even boots. Finally after three days of roaming through enemy territory  he finally made it back to the cavalry fort and surprised all there who thought for sure that he was dead.

The battle of June 17th was over several hours after it started with both combatants heading off to their perspective corners. The cavalry lost 34 soldiers and 2 more wounded. They also lost over 60 rifles, ammunition an other supplies to the enemy who no doubt made the best use of them in future skirmishes. The natives that day only lost 3 man. It was probably one of the most humiliating battles of the native wars that spanned some 30 years or more.

More on Michael McCarthy tomorrow in a make-up blog for the one missed yesterday.

cheers

Bart