Harper's Ferry and John Brown

Inside John Brown's Fort



John Brown's Fort

I just spent the morning in Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. Living in the Gettysburg area is great because there are dozens of Civil War sites (not just battlefields) that are within an hour or two of town. Harper's Ferry is included in that list. It's about 50 minutes from here.

John Brown's Fort (above) is one of the places that you can get up close and personal with John Brown. This building has had a very interesting history. This is what the plaque in front of the building says:

1848 Built as fire-engine house for U.S. Armory

1859 Serves as stronghold for John Brown and his raiders

1861-1865 Escapes destruction during Civil War (only armory building to do so), but is vandalized by souvenir-hunting Union and Confederate soldiers and later travelers

1891 Dismantled transported to Chicago Exposition

1895 Rescued from conversion to stable and brought back to Harper's Ferry area to be exhibited on a farm

1909 Purchased by Storer College and moved to campus

1968 Moved by National Park Service within 150 feet of its original location

This building has had such a varied history but its incredible to see it still standing. Its not a very big building and its standing right near the insection of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. As I stood looking at the building, I thought about who John Brown was....what he did....why he did what he did. I went into the John Brown wax museum and saw a wax reenactment of the hanging of John Brown (he wasn't actually hanging....he was standing on the steps leading up to the gallows) and this thought raced through my mind: "John, you had the right idea. It's a shame that you did it the wrong way." But then this thought came into my head: "What was the right way?" John Brown's action in Harper's Ferry was the unofficial start to the Civil War. If he had stormed the armory at Harper's Ferry in the hopes that more slaves would join him, would the Civil War had started when it did? So many questions....so little answers.

The Gettysburg Atlas

The ultimate map book on the battle of Gettysburg has been published and it is The Gettysburg Atlas. For us map lovers, 421 maps on the battle is more than we can handle. Follow in the footsteps of your favorite regiment or brigade. Follow your favorite general. See who stood on your favorite part of the battlefield. Whatever you need (or want) to know....its in this book.

What makes this book even better (as if 421 maps on the battle isn't good enough) is that it is spiral bound. This makes taking it on the battlefield so much easier. Instead of standing around trying to figure out how to hold open a book (which I've done many times) and look around without dropping said book, this makes following the battle while on the field 1000x better.

There is also a wonderful order of battle in the back. Ever wonder how many and what type of guns a particular artillery unit had....its in here. Ever wonder what the casualty rate for a certain regiment was.....its in here.

There's a real in-depth index in the back. AND a really long bibliography (which is something that I look for in a GOOD book).

The book sells for $40 and is worth every penny. For anyone who is looking for the ultimate book, The Gettysburg Atlas by Phil Laino is it!

The Minie Ball

I've sent some time reading about weapons and weaponry. One of the things that I have wondered about was the Minie Ball. Now, I know what a Minie ball is....but why was it shaped the way it was, why did it do the damage that it did, what was the purpose of this bullet? And so many other questions. So I did a little research. So many questions.....

Well, I hit the Internet....what a wonderful (and awful) tool. And I learned some interesting things about Minie Balls. First, here is a picture of what they look like.
It's important to know what they look like in order to understand why they did what they did.

This bullet was a conical shaped projectile with a hollowed out base. The bullet and the gunpowder were placed in a paper "cartridge" which made loading the gun easy. When the gun was fired, the gases from the gunpowder got captured in the hollow section and caused the bullet to expand. When it expanded, the bullet was forced to touch the sides of the barrel of the gun. This barrel was rifled (had circular lines on the side which helped spin the bullet on its way out of the gun) and by expanding, the bullet was forced to spin. Think on terms of a football....when you throw it without a spin, you have no control of it. When you spin it, you can throw it more accurately. Once the bullet left the barrel of the gun, it was spinning, giving the gun more accuracy and a longer range with which to hit. The Union minie balls had three grooves on the bottom of the exterior of the bullet and the Confederate minie balls had two bands of grooves. This was the basic rule of thumb for a minie ball.

Now that we know what a minie ball is and how it works, let take a little look into the background of this particular bullet. This was co-designed by Capt. Claude Etienne Minie of the French army. He built on the design of Henri-Gustave Delvigne. Delvigne had designed an early version of the minie ball but it was larger and just didn't work as well. So, Minie got ahold of his design and tweaked it, made it smaller, used soft lead and was able to come up with a bullet that did just what they wanted it to do....shot long, fast, and deadly.

The minie ball was notorious for destroying bone. When the bullet hit bone, the bone usually disintegrated. Here is a photo of a bone that I found that shows a minie ball hit. When a bone was destroyed by one of these bullets, there was very little that a doctor could do for the patient....just amputate. This is usually when infection set in and people died.

Overall, the minie ball seemed like a good idea....and it probably was. It was dangerous....but what bullet isn't? After reading up on this, now I get a much better idea of just what a minie ball is, what it did, the history, and results.

Why did Lee go North?

First, before I get into the topic, I need to find a friend. Well....actually, I need to find someone or someones who is/are taking the Licensed Battlefield Guide test in December. If anyone out there is taking the Guide test and is looking for a "study buddy" please contact me: civilwargirl1@hotmail.com. I think I'll do much better if I can find a study buddy. Besides helping study for the test, this is a way to have a friend to help cheer on. So, if anyone is interested, please let me know. The more, the merrier!!!

So, what were the reasons for Robert E. Lee to move his army north of the Mason/Dixon line? Well, according to Edwin Coddington, there are 8 reasons. Actually, these are the only ones that I have ever heard...so these are probably a really good list.

1) He wanted to draw Grant away from the Lower Mississippi Valley. Take some of the pressure off of Vicksburg.
2) He wanted to gain a decisive victory
3) He wanted to break up the enemy's plan for a summer campaign in Virginia
4) He needed to find supplies
5) He wanted to force the Peace Democrats in the north to step up their agitation against the politicians
6) He wanted to impact the morale of the citizens of the north
7) He wanted to give the Southerners a respite from the war
8) He wanted to give the Southerners a chance to harvest their crops

When you stop and take a good look at the reasons that Lee wanted to move North it makes complete sense. The war had completely ravaged the south (especially Virginia) and he needed to get the war away from the citizens. He also needed to make the Northerners realize just what was happening in the South. By moving north, he was doing just that.

Alexander S. Webb - Forgotten Hero

Quite often as I study the Battle of Gettysburg, I stumble across people who performed unquestionable loyalty to their country. These are people who go above and beyond their duties....or they perform their duties in such a courageous way that they are almost larger than life. Occasionally one of these people really, really catches my eye....and my heart. One of these people happens to be Alexander Stewart Webb....a brigade commander in the 2nd Corps under the leadership of Winfield Scott Hancock.

First, let me repeat what Edwin Coddington states in his book about what Webb did at Gettysburg on the 3rd day during Pickett's Charge. On page 517, this is what is said:

As Webb struggled to rally his troops, for a time he despaired of preventing a major breakthrough and feared personal disgrace for himself and disaster for the Army of the Potomac. Refusing to give up, he set an example of bravery and undaunted leadership for his men to follow, although many of them barely recognized him since he had been appointed their commander but a few days before. To organize a counterattack he rushed back to his reserve regiment, the 72nd Pennsylvania, which was several hundred feet behind his line. In the confusion Webb neglected to go through channels and give Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Heiser the order to charge. Instead, he himself shouted out the order; when the soldiers did not budge, Webb in desperation seized the regimental standard and tried to drag the color bearer ahead in hopes of getting the regiment to follow. The bearer apparently not knowing him, pulled back and then, riddled by bullets, fell over head. Finally the men advanced a few paces and fired at the Confederates. They refused to go any farther, however, and steadfastly remained in a position about 250 feet back from the wall, where though without protection they kept up their fire.

Webb, almost frantic, then left the line of the stubborn 72nd and, fully exposed to enemy bullets, rushed over to the 69th Pennsylvania, the left regiment of his brigade. It had stoutly held its ground, although the right half of the regiment had pulled away from the wall at almost a forty degree angle to give the men elbow room and to keep them from being outflanked. When Webb cried out for them to fire across the front of the 72nd regiment, they raked the Confederates with a crippling cross fire. To their rear 2 companies of Webb's 4th regiment, the 106th Pennsylvania, remained steady and resolutely blazed away at the charging enemy. On his way to the 69th PA regiment Webb passed within a few feet of Armistead as he was leading his men up the slope beyond the wall. The two Generals narrowly missed a personal encounter just as the fierce contest between their forces reached its climax. Within minutes Armistead fell mortally wounded, while Webb survived to relive the scene of his triumph for years to come.

Years later General George G. Meade was given a gold medal by the Union League of Philadelphia to "Commemorate the Battle of Gettysburg". He had copies of the medal made and gave one of them to Webb. Here is the reason that Meade gave the medal to Webb: "For distinguished personal gallantry on that ever memorable field" and in appreciation of his "Cordial, warm, and generous sympathy and support so grateful for a commanding General to receive from his subordinates."

Some years later, General Winfield Scott Hancock is attending a dinner being given by General Daniel Butterfield. There was a toast given at the dinner and Hancock responded: "In every battle and on every important field there is one spot to which every army [officer] would wish to be assigned -- the spot upon which centers the fortunes of the field. There was but one such spot at Gettysburg and it fell to the lot of General Webb to have it and to hold it and for holding it he must receive the credit due him."

Now these are two men who didn't go around complimenting people.....unless they deserved it. Congress must have agreed with them because a few years after the Civil War they presented him with a Medal of Honor.

Sometimes when we read about the Civil War, these men are just names or sometimes just a face.....but when we really understand what they did.....how they put themselves out there......how they did things that the average person would not do.....that when we start to realize just how much these guys are the real heroes on the battlefield. Alexander S. Webb is no exception.

It happened....we got a blizzard in Gettysburg. Actually things aren't too bad....it's only 25ish inches. What's an inch or two when you have 2 feet???

AND....we are expecting more on Tuesday. I've heard that we could get another ten inches. We are being punished...but I'm not sure what for, yet. Enjoy this picture because I really don't want to see any more of THIS.

Another snow in Gettysburg

I just came home from work and had to take a drive around the battlefield. I had to do this because I may not get to drive around the battlefield again for a week or more. Why? We are expecting another really big snow storm. Depending on who you believe, we could get 6+ inches (no big deal) or we could get 24 inches (big deal). Pretty much I'm hearing about 12-18 inches. Anything less than 10 inches is just a nuisance storm. More than a foot is something that I dread. When it snows, the park closes off many roads throughout the battlefield. Pretty much, you can't get to the southern end of the park. And forget about Culp's Hill. That's not happening. So today I took a drive around because I know that I need to hit the battlefield for one last glance until we have a warm spell (hopefully soon).

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning we had a small snowstorm....maybe 3-4". This storm was just enough snow to make driving a little treacherous for a short time. But those 3-4" are great for looking at the battlefield. As of today, there isn't much of that storm left, but there is enough to see things that you don't normally see.

It was also enough to have snow banks along the sides of the roads from the snow plow. This is pretty much what is left of the storm. Until tonight. Looks like there are going to be huge piles on the sides of roads and in parking lots and where ever else it will get piled.

I have lived in Gettysburg for almost 5 years and this is the worst winter that we have had yet. I'm not complaining. But its been a wild winter. All too often roads throughout the battlefield are closed off and I haven't been able to spend as much time out there as I would like (well....its been really cold also). Looks like we are in for it again tonight....and another storm is on the horizon for Tues or Wed. So, for anyone who is anxious to get to the battlefield, unless you are good at cross country skiing, I wouldn't recommend coming until April or May or whenever we finally get out from under all this snow.