Army Song Book, published by the U. S. War Office in Washington, DC, in 1941. This song book was compiled by the Adjutant General's Office in collaboration with the Library of Congress and published by order of the Secretary of War. It contains lyrics for 67 songs including, "The Army Air Corps," "Song of the Signal Corps," "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag," and "Battle Hymn of the Republic." The title pages reads: "This book is the property of the United States government and its contents may be used only within the military services." The cover features stylized historical images of U. S. Army soldiers.
This snare drum was made by John Webster, near Spencertown, New York, around 1790-1820. It has a painted shell with a painted eagle with its characteristic “frog-legged” design that appears during the period of the 1790s to about 1820 on U.S. militia canteens, belt plates, cap insignia and knapsacks. Also this basic design, with a shield on the eagle‘s breast, was used on the U.S. Peace medals of 1792 and 1793. There are 13 stars painted on the drum shell in a circular pattern around the eagle motif. Also, there are 4 additional stars painted vertically to the right side of the eagle motif.
The drum has two wood hoops drilled with 9 holes each for rope, which at one time, was laced through leather ears, used to tighten the hoops. There are 2 skin heads in poor condition and remnants of a gut snare. The drum is disassembled and would require conservation to bring it back to its original condition. It is accessioned with a pair of hardwood drum sticks. There is a label inside the shell that is inscribed:
“I was made by John Webster 3 miles north of Spencertown Meeting House Sept 1779”
As indicated in correspondence with the previous owner, this drum was brought back from the War of 1812 by Captain John George Snyder. Further research is needed to determine details of Snyder’s military career.
Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Alexander Gardner, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
A group at the headquarters, near Fairfax Court-House, taken in June, 1863. Thoughtful and erect, the most prominent figure is Colonel Ulric Dahigren, then a Captain on the Staff of General Meade. Handsome, chivalric, one of the bravest of the brave, his character was fitly compared to that of the good knight, the Chevalier Bayard, and like him, he was truly "sans peur et sans reproche." So noble a man, that of all the heroes who have perished for the nation, his loss is the hardest to realize. The story of his short but brilliant career has been written by abler hands, and is now a "household word." Of its closing scenes, the writer narrowly escaped being a witness, having been invited to accompany the Colonel on that ill-starred expedition by which his life was sacrificed. Just recovering from the loss of his leg, and suffering acutely from any physical exertion, his active spirit could not be controlled, when he thought of his brothers in arms pining under the cruelties of Libby and Belle Isle. No ruthless raid was his, but a Christian effort to help the despairing Union Prisoners. None, who knew him, need be told how false was the document, claimed to have been found upon his person. General Meade, suspecting his inability to undergo the fatigues of an expedition in the inclement weather of February, was disinclined to give him permission; but Dahlgren, determined on his purpose, mounted his horse, and proceeding to a review of the Second Corps, rode so fearlessly over the fields, and under his frank smile, so well hid all traces of bodily suffering, that the General reluctantly permitted him to depart. After the review, when he came over (for the retirement it offered) to the writer's tent, it was too evident how fearful had been the effort of his will.
The officer upon the ground, wearing a straw hat, is Lieutenant-Colonel Dickinson, Assistant Adjutant General to General Hooker a position he held from the time that General first commanded a brigade, until the battle of Gettysburg. In that action the Colonel was hit in the arm with a link of a chain, thrown with other misiles from a rebel shell. On the recovery of his wound he retired from the service, The gentleman in foreign uniform is Count Zeppelin, of the Prussian army, then on a visit to this country. On the left is the figure of Major Ludlow, since better known as the General in Command of the Colored Brigade, which excavated, under a continual and heavy fire, the canal on the James, called Dutch Gap. The perils of that undertaking he faithfully shared, from first to last, doing much, by his cheerful bearing and example, to support his troops in their perilous work. The last of the group is Lieutenant (since Lieutenant Colonel) Rosencranz, a Swedish officer, on leave of absence, and occupying successively the position of Personal Aid upon the Staff of Generals McClellan, Burnside, Hooker, and Meade. A very reliable soldier, and one of the best Aids on the Staff, his genial disposition, unfailing amiability, and keen appreciation of humor, made him acceptable everywhere. He was probably as well known as any officer in the field.
This sheet music is for the song "Anchors Aweigh," by Capt. Alfred H. Miles, U.S.N. (Ret.) and Charles A. Zimmerman. It was published by Robbins Music Corporation in New York, New York in 1907.
verso contains two postmarks, one for origin in Williamsport, PA on June 12, 1908 and one for Retreat, PA on June 13, 1908; web search returns this as Retreat State Hospital opened in 1878 and closed in 1980, demolished in 1981; open field in foreground; backs of men in midground with clouds of smoke billowing around them; town in background; WWI era
Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Alexander Gardner, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
Berlin is a quiet little village on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, twelve miles from Point of Rocks. A fine bridge connected it with the Virginia shore until June, 1861, when the Confederates sacrificed it to the spirit of destruction that ruined Harper's Ferry and laid waste the pleasant places of the border. Its inhabitants, numbering about five hundred, are dependent principally for support upon the business of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which passes the place, and during the war, from the interruption of navigation necessarily suffered much hardship. The bivouac of the Army of the Potomac in its vicinity in 1862 first introduced its name to the country, and it has fallen again into the partial oblivion that has hidden much more pretentious villages. Here McClellan had his headquarters after the battle of Antietam, and the troops crossed into Virginia, marching down through London to Rectortown and Warrenton, and thence to Fredericksburg.
The Photograph only shows the village and a small portion of the Maryland shore, from which no adequate impression can be formed of the beauty of the surrounding scenery. The river at this point is obstructed by scattered rocks, and with the wooded hills that slope precipitously to the water's edge, forms one of the most charming pictures of the Potomac. Game and fish abound, many objects of interest are close at hand, and the summer fugitive from the ills of city life finds here a pleasant halting place in his journeyings for recreation.
Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by John Reekie, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
This sad scene represents the soldiers in the act of collecting the remains of their comrades, killed at the battles of Gaines' Mill and Cold Harbor. It speaks ill of the residents of that part of Virginia, that they allowed even the remains of those they considered enemies, to decay unnoticed where they fell. The soldiers, to whom commonly falls the task of burying the dead, may possibly have been called away before the task was completed. At such times the native dwellers of the neighborhood would usually come forward and provide sepulture for such as had been left uncovered. Cold Harbor, however, was not the only place were [sic] Union men were left unburied. It was so upon the field of the first Bull Run battle, where the rebel army was encamped for six months afterwards. Perhaps like the people of Gettysburg, they wanted to know first "who was to pay them for it." After that battle, the soldiers hastened in pursuit of the retiring columns of Lee, leaving a large number of the dead unburied. The Gettysburgers were loud in their complaints, and indignantly made the above quoted inquiry as to the remuneration, upon being told they must finish the burial rites themselves.
Among the unburied on the Bull Run field, a singular discovery was made, which might have led to the identification of the remains of a soldier. An orderly turning over a skull upon the ground, heard something within it rattle, and searching for the supposed bullet, found a glass eye.
Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
The sketch represents a portion of the breastworks on the left of our line at Gettysburg, occupied by the Fifth and Sixth Corps, and against which, in the second day's fight, the Confederates under Longstreet repeatedly and so impetuously dashed. This position is on a steep ridge known as Little Round Top, on which was stationed General Warren, Chief Engineer of the Army of the Potomac, with a signal officer, for the purpose of communicating to the commanding General the movements of the enemy. In front and to the left open fields stretched away, with here and there a small grove, which afforded shelter to sharpshooters, who annoyed our officers at the signal station excessively. Sickles, with the Third Corps, had opened the fight in the afternoon, considerably advanced in front of this position, with his left exposed, and the approach to the ridge entirely open to a flank movement. While the battle was raging fiercest in front, Longstreet, with fifteen thousand men, suddenly emerged from the woods into the open fields on our flank, and moved rapidly down upon Round Top, the occupation of which must inevitably have resulted in our defeat.
General Warren sent an aid to General Meade for a corps from the right, but the commanding General could not be found. A second staff officer was sent down to Sickles for some of his troops, but he could spare none, and another officer was hurried off to bring up any command that could he found, while the enemy still pressed nearer, threatening to overwhelm us. Sickles' left was turned, his Corps pressed slowly back, and the Confederates commenced clambering up the rocky sides of the ridge, when the tramp of the Fifth Corps, on the double quick, was suddenly heard coming up through the woods to the rescue, and in a moment our colors flashed out from the foliage. Both armies reached the crest at the same time, the battle opened like a thunder-clap, and raged with terrific fierceness. After the first volley, our whole line charged with the bayonet, struggled with the enemy for a moment breast to breast, and then, with shouts and cheers, drove him in disorder down the slope to the shelter of the groves and stonewalls in the fields. Breastworks of stones and timber, shattered by the shells, were instantaneously thrown up, and after a brief interval the fight was renewed. Each change in the lines, by the fluctuations of battle, was marked by defenses of stone, our troops never neglecting thus to protect themselves from the withering fire of the enemy. When night closed upon the field, these breastworks were stretched along like winrows marking the shifting tide of the struggle, between which the dead lay in countless numbers, and to-day the visitor traces by them, the steps of our advancing lines, which, though frequently repulsed, finally rested in triumph at the front.
Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
The ingenuity and taste of the American soldier is strikingly illustrated in the variety of architecture with which he adorns his summer quarters. A permanent camp is invariably surrounded by evergreens; and if a regiment bivouac but for a day, the spot will long after be marked by the leafy bowers erected before each tent. The forests are ransacked for the brightest foliage, branches of the pine, cedar, and holly are laboriously collected, and the work of beautifying the quarters continued as long as material can be procured. Camps are surrounded with neat hedges, arches bearing the corps badge and other devices are erected at the entrances, and the tents sheltered from the sun by roofs of deftly woven twigs and leaves. Sometimes a framework is erected around a number of tents, upon which is fastened a thick covering of evergreens, completely hiding the interior, and forming a home delightfully cool, even in the hottest days. Thus secluded, the wives of officers, in their brief visits to the front, find a most pleasant abiding place, from which they return with reluctance to city homes. An indescribable charm surrounds such life. There is the glittering show of the army, all the beauty that skill can add to nature's work, and an endless round of festivity like that of the merriest picnic.
A camp thus embowered, with the regiments parading, the arms glittering like silver, and the music of the bands swelling on the breeze, presents a scene of beauty rarely excelled. Its recollections are treasured among the happiest memories of the field, and many a country woman will wear a brighter dress for the lessons of adornment army life has taught.
Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by W. Morris Smith, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
Here is shown one of the Monuments erected in memory of the Union dead who fell at the battles of Bull Run and Groveton. The Monuments are of chocolate colored sandstone, twenty-seven feet high, and were erected by the officers and men of General Gamble's separate cavalry brigade, camped at Fairfax Court-House. The Monument on the first Bull Run field is situated on the hill in front of the memorable stone house, on the spot where the 14th Brooklyn, 1st Michigan, and 1st and 2d Maine were most hotly engaged, and where Ricketts and Griffin lost their batteries. The shaft is twenty-seven feet high, and bears upon its top a hundred pound shell. On the pedestal at each corner is a shell of similar size. On one side of the shaft is inscribed, "To the memory of the patriots who fell at Bull Run, July 21st, 1861," and on the reverse, "Erected June 10th, 1865." The Monument at Groveton is similar in its proportions, bearing the inscription "To the memory of the patriots who fell at Groveton, August 29, 1862," and on the reverse also, "Erected June 10th, 1865."
The dedicatory exercises were conducted on the first Bull Run field, by Rev. Dr. McMurdy, who read an appropriate service, which was followed by a hymn written for the occasion by Pierpont, a military parade by the 5th Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, Colonel Gallup, and a salute by the 16th Massachusetts Battery, Captain Scott. At the close of these ceremonies, eloquent addresses were delivered by Judge Olin, General Wilcox, General Heintzelman, and General Farnsworth. At the second Monument the services were similar to those described.
Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Barnard & Gibson, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
This sketch represents a portion of the Confederate fortifications at Manassas after their occupation by the Federal Army. The works were laid out by General Beauregard, well known as an engineer of great ability; but their construction illustrates the inexperience in military matters of the men who rallied at this spot to resist the authority of the Government. The casks were filled with earth, and were intended to supply the lack of more suitable gabions, but would have offered very little resistance to artillery. The flooring was laid for the use of the guns, the four short posts marking the embrasure. The interior of the works was badly drained, and the trenches were almost constantly filled with stagnant water. The fortifications formed a semi-circle about four miles in length, but contiguous to this position were the ridges and earthworks of Centreville, extending the line to nearly fifteen miles. The armament consisted principally of six and twelvepounder field batteries, with a few old fashioned thirty-twos, brought from the Norfolk Navy Yard. Located, however, upon high table-land, bounded by ravines and the almost impenetrable thickets bordering Bull Run, the works did not require, very heavy ordnance. Had they been assaulted, the musket and bayonet would have proved far more serviceable in repelling the attack than artillery, although there is no doubt that the small number of heavy cannon was attributable to their scarcity in the South rather than to confidence in the natural strength of the position. The fortifications are now rapidly being leveled, and in a few years will have entirely disappeared. The soil composing them is of a light character, and washes away in every rain, filling up the ditches and reducing the sharply defined works to sloping mounds, over which the farmer's plow is already turning the furrow.
The Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut produced this token during the early 20th century. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, medals, coins, and tokens.
Obverse: Bust of George McClellan facing left. The legend reads: MAJ. GEN. G. B. McCLELLAN, PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN.
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1840. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods campaign medals. The medal has a hole so that it could be worn.
Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing left. The legend reads: MAJ. GENl W. HARRISON BORN FEB. 9. 1773.
Reverse: Image of a log cabin, and the legend: THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE/ THE HERO OF TIPPECANOE.