Civilwarsallie visits Broadfording Christian Academy

[We are slow to put these on the blog because our computer teacher was at PETE-C, President's Day, and snow days]
Day1
We were so excited to have a guest. Then we found out it was civilwarsallie. It was Valentines' Day. We got four new people in our class. We took civilwarsallie to library class. by PR
Day 2
Our 5th grade class is having lots of fun with civilwarsallie. We have taken lots of pictures, some at Art, Music, and recess. Tuesday a teacher named Mr. Dobbs came to our class dressed up like a civil war soldier. He showed us what a soldier needs to survive the war. Mr Dobbs brought a canteen, a backpack, an ammunition cartridge, and a musket for us to see. Best of all Mr. Dobbs got to meet civilwarsallie. MH
Day 3
Today is Wednesday and civilwarsallie got to visit some teachers. This morning she went to Art class where she got to meet Mrs. Karroll! She had a wonderfultime. Later she went to recess. She got to cheer for her team. Around 2:30 we had music class and Sallie wanted to come. She got to meet Mrs. Smith the music teacher. Then she sang away. I am sure that we all had a great, great day! BD
Day 4
We had lots of fun with CivilWarSallie today. The class took her on a tour of the school. Sally got to meet people and see new places. She got to see some old friends who had died during the Civil War when we visited the cemetery across the street. Sally even got to see a dancing frog on her tour! We wish she didn't have to leave. But we had fun while it lasted, we will miss you when you leave Sally. FK
Day 5
Sally went to chapel. In song 3 we sang about God. We had fun. Then we had fruit and cookies. Sally thought they were good. JG

13 Days Under The Confederate Flag

On Monday, 4th Grade had a special visitor, Mrs. Bourdeau. She has been a Civil War reenactor who is very familiar with her hometown's history. Here is what I learned along with my host class.

From late June to early July, 1863, the small farming town of Waynesboro was occupied by Confederate forces. Before this, the sleepy town's citizens had not been directly involved in the war with few men enlisting. Life went on with farmers bringing produce to Saturday markets in the square and business conducted by the blacksmith, butcher, and other small shopkeepers. Most citizens felt that this political problem would be handled by Lincoln's Federal Army.

When Confederate troops came to town, Lee's plan was to advance north and capture key points so that the Union would surrender. Southern troops who had experienced the hardships of war in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley wanted Northerners to get a taste of war in Pennsylvania's Cumberland Valley. While in Waynesboro, the troops simply occupied the town...no battles, no shots fired. Many of its citizens met with Southern soldiers and listened to their reasons for entering the war and their stories of loved ones at home. Troops did go to farms to gather fruits, vegetables, meat for hungry soldiers.

Some local farmers hid out during the day in nearby caves...they feared that the Rebels would demand that they join their troops. Also some hid livestock so the army could not take it. One of those farmers was Mrs. Bourdeau's great, great grandfather. These scared men would sneak home at night to make sure that their families and farms were secure. The soldiers did not require that any men join the army so their fears were unfounded.

Finally, Rebel troops left the town...onward to Gettysburg and points north!

Union Forces Attacked Lee's Army At Monterey Pass

Today I visited a peaceful mountaintop on a gorgeous autumn day. There I visited an area where Union and Confederate troops clashed on a thunderstorm dominated summer night in 1863.

About six miles from Waynesboro lies the quiet, tranquil setting of Blue Ridge Summit. Forests shade and surround homes, churches, and stores. But on the evening of July 4, 1863, quiet did not prevail. The nearby Monterey Pass would be a center of mass confusion and fighting.

After Lee's loss at Gettysburg, he planned the retreat back to Maryland and across the Potomac River. Early on the morning of July 4, he directed General Richard Ewell and his Second Corps to go with their wagon trains through Fairfield and the mountains around Monterey Pass. This would be the shortest way back to Williamsport, Maryland, and the Potomac River. That evening a terrible thunderstorm drenched the nine mile-long line of wagons, supplies, livestock, and soldiers. Many of the soldiers had been wounded during the three day battle at Gettysburg.

That same night, the Union Calvary led by General H. Judson Kilpatrick met a local 12 year old girl named Hetty Zeilinger who was walking to her home at Monterey Pass. She warned the soldiers that the Confederates were blocking the pass and that she would show them how to get around them. One of the soldiers lifted her onto his saddle so that she could point out the way. She made her way home safely, but...

The Union and Confederate troops (about 10,000 soldiers in total) met and engaged in battle for six hours. With lightning, thunder, heavy rains, and flying ammunition, the scene was one of chaos and confusion. Many of the Confederate wagons crashed down the mountainside and crushed the occupants. The Union captured about 1,500 Confederate prisoners.

The Battle of Monterey Pass was the second greatest battle on Pennsylvania soil. Today Civil War history buffs such as I can visit and read the various markers that tell about the battle.

Tomorrow along with the 4th graders, I will meet a reenactor and learn more about Waynesboro's occupation by the Confederates for 13 days.

Here In Waynesboro, Pennsylvania!

I arrived on Monday, October 18, at Saint Andrew Catholic School which is located on East Main Street. Down this very street rode Confederate troops in 1863. More about the town's history in a moment...

My hosts for this trip are the 4th Graders and Mrs. Haffner. We have been reading If You Lived During The Civil War and You Wouldn't Want To Have Been A Civil War Soldier to gain background knowledge. Several of the students have ancestors who were in the Union Army.

The town of Waynesboro is in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. It is in the Cumberland Valley. It is two miles from the Mason-Dixon Line. During the days of June and July, 1863, the town was under the Confederate flag for 13 days. When Lee passe through the town headed north, he stopped in the town square. At the time, there was a water pump there. Lee dimounted his horse and got a drink. Then, he gave his horse Traveller a drink. A week before the Battle of Gettysburg, Major General Jubal Early's division passed through the town as they were headed north. Check my blog for Tuesday, October 26, to find out more about the occupation of the town.

This weekend, I am staying with Mr. and Mrs. Haffner who have an extensive Civil War art collection which I will view. We will be visiting historic sites, including one with an incredible view. I will post about my weekend jaunts tomorrow along with some photos.

Comics and Confederate Invasion on the Coast

Sallie had no idea that there was so much Civil War history in Maine. Most people think of the battlefields in southern states, but not about the beautiful coastline of Maine. Not only are there Civil War artifacts here, but also battle sites.

Her host, the Fifth Maine Regiment Museum, organized a History Comix Camp for middle schoolers. It was an art and history camp that focused on the real history of piracy and privateering in Casco Bay, Maine. What does privateering have to do with the Civil War? Well, one of the events that she learned about was the "Confederation Invasion of Portland" in 1863.

Despite the fact that the Yankee port boasted three granite masonry forts, a group of Confederate privateers slipped into the harbor and commandeered a merchant vessel called Caleb Cushing. Alas, it didn't end well for the Confederates as they were chased, caught, and imprisoned not too far after leaving the harbor. Nonetheless, they did manage to steal the ship under the noses of a significant defense system and destroy it.

Sallie wanted you to see one of the forts that the Confederate privateers snuck by, Fort Gorges. As it turns out, for some reason this magnificent and newly-built fort was unmanned at the time!

It wasn't the first time that Portland harbor suffered an attack from sea either!

Well, it's time to move on to new places and new stories. Sallie is boarding her own vessel today, a ferry that will take her to Portland where she will fly home.

Which Artifact is Quirkier?

Sallie went to work today as a docent at the Fifth Maine Regiment Museum on Peaks Island. Since a docent's job is to call visitors' attention to things of interest, she decided to share two of her most favorite artifacts at this museum on an island in Maine. Here she is welcoming you as she stands in front of the regiment's original silk flag, recently restored and placed on display.

One of her favorite artifacts sits in an exhibit case constructed by the veterans themselves after they built their reunion/memorial hall (which is now the museum). On these shelves they placed the souvenirs and other items that they brought back from the Civil War battlefields. Using her own flag as a pointer, Sallie wants you to notice that the museum curates one hundred and fifty year old hardtack, a common type of biscuit eaten by soldiers during the Civil War. Yup, these biscuits are 150 years old and have been sitting on this shelf since the veterans put them there. Yucky but cool.

Next she takes you out of the Great Hall and into a small room that once served as a bedroom for vacationing soldiers and their families. Now it's a small gallery. Using her flag as a pointer again, Sallie is showing you the bullet hole in the top of this kepi worn by Adjutant Bicknell of the Fifth Maine. Many, many soldiers perished on the battlefields, but Bicknell was fortunate and survived his bullet hole wound.

So now you can vote - which artifact wins the Quirky Prize?

If you would like to learn more about what goes on at the Fifth Maine, check out Patricia Erikson's blog!

Sallie Follows Fifth Maine Veterans to Peaks Island

Sallie heard a rumor that the veterans of the Fifth Maine Regiment of the Union army had built themselves a summer vacation retreat on an island in Maine. The veterans' wives complained that after years of camping out for reunions in canvas tents, they wanted something more comfortable.

She decided that sounded like an adventure worth pursuing. Off she went and she liked it so much, it turned into an extended stay.

Much to her delight, this Queen Ann style cottage is now a museum, the Fifth Maine Regiment Museum, and it hosts a whole range of fun things to do, especially in the summer time.

Here are some of the campers (left) who are sitting on the very same steps that Civil War veterans posed on for their reunion photo (above). These campers came together for the "Art and History of Treasure Island" camp.

Campers learned about museums, artifacts, and how to make history fun. By the end of the week, campers exhibited their very own collages. Sallie hung out to see the exhibit.