THE CHATEAUGAY PLATOON post #44 (Franklin Sargent and the Greek Amphitheater)

Tags

Abenaki, Adelaide Crapsey, Aiden Lair, All Souls Day, Ausable Chasm, Ausable River, Barclay Mountain, Battle of Chateaugay, British, Brushton NY, Bull Moose, Burlington VT, Canton NY, chasm falls, Chateaugay Bridge, Chateaugay Inn, Chateaugay NY, Chateaugay River, Civil War, Clarkson University, Commemoratio omnium Fidelium Defunctorum, Couchsachraga Mountain, Dark Eyes, Dean "Lecturer" Smith, Debar Pond, Doc Stanton, Dr. Trudeau, E.R.Wallace, Epinetus Wheelwright, Ezekiel Pratt, Falling Star, Fort Jackson NY, Franklin Sargent, French, Gerrit Smith, Giulliame Pineaux, Herr Jager, High Falls, Hiram Watts, Jay Johnson, John Brown, John Brown's Body, Joshua Crimmins, Karl-Heinz Liebenmeyer, Lietenant Preserved-Fish MacAdam, Loons, MacAdam's Cabin, Malone NY, McKinley, Meneely Bell, MERRY CHRISTMAS, Micah Ferris, Military Reunion, Mission of the Transfiguration, Montreal Canada, Native Americans, North Elba NY, Ochi Chernia, Othello, Panther Mountain, plank road, Professor LaPineaux, Richard Barclay, Roosevelt, Russian Gypsy Music, Saint Regis River, Salmon River, Santanoni Range, Saranac Lake NY, Sergeant Zacharias Asher, Shakespeare, Stanislaw Koscsiusko, Strurm und Drang, Sugar Creek NY, SUNY Potsdam, Tahawus NY, The Stone Chair, Tuberculosis, US Civil War, Wanakeena, war, War of 1812

 It is always good to set the tone; so if you would please help – – – start the music.

(In a stage act it is good to call on audience participation; not so sure about this in a blog.  Your call.)

The Chateaugay Platoon get together several times a year for a haunt fest.

On nights of the full moon they gather at Sargent’s Amphitheater.

 

Of course, nothing would be complete without a old yellowing copy of a news story of how Franklin Sargent, after an unrequited love, took his own life.

Poor old Franklin Sargent; he got pushed back to page 4.

 

The platoon invited Franklin Sargent to meet them at his amphitheater on those nights of the full moon. However, his heart was still sad due to his lost love and the deteriorating Greek Stage. He told Joshua Crimmins that he was more than welcome to perform “Othello” on the stage.

Crimmins was beside himself with joy when he heard the offer.

The local young people often gather there and listen for the screams at midnight – – – mixed together with Crimmins’ recitations. But all they hear are the trees groaning under the strain of Adirondack Winds and the intermittent screams of a bobcat.

And then all is quiet until the next full moon.

Every ALL HALLOWS EVE they gather in formation and march around several different towns. The children can see them – – – however – – – the grownups have become too jaded to recognize the platoon for who they are. 

 

If you have a chance to go to Chateaugay, Malone, Brushton, Aiden Lair, Tahawus, Chasm or High Falls on the Salmon River or any other of their haunts on ALL HALLOWS EVE then please say hello to the Platoon for me.

Great bunch of fellows; even if they are only there in spirit.

THE CHATEAUGAY PLATOON post #43 (Wanakeena and the Abenaki, Hiram and The Mission)

Tags

Abenaki, Adelaide Crapsey, Aiden Lair, All Souls Day, Ausable Chasm, Ausable River, Barclay Mountain, Battle of Chateaugay, British, Brushton NY, Bull Moose, Burlington VT, Canton NY, chasm falls, Chateaugay Bridge, Chateaugay Inn, Chateaugay NY, Chateaugay River, Civil War, Clarkson University, Commemoratio omnium Fidelium Defunctorum, Couchsachraga Mountain, Dark Eyes, Dean "Lecturer" Smith, Debar Pond, Doc Stanton, Dr. Trudeau, E.R.Wallace, Epinetus Wheelwright, Ezekiel Pratt, Falling Star, Fort Jackson NY, French, Gerrit Smith, Giulliame Pineaux, Herr Jager, High Falls, Hiram Watts, Jay Johnson, John Brown, John Brown's Body, Joshua Crimmins, Karl-Heinz Liebenmeyer, Lietenant Preserved-Fish MacAdam, Loons, MacAdam's Cabin, Malone NY, McKinley, Meneely Bell, MERRY CHRISTMAS, Micah Ferris, Military Reunion, Mission of the Transfiguration, Montreal Canada, Native Americans, North Elba NY, Ochi Chernia, Othello, Panther Mountain, plank road, Professor LaPineaux, Richard Barclay, Roosevelt, Russian Gypsy Music, Saint Regis River, Salmon River, Santanoni Range, Saranac Lake NY, Sergeant Zacharias Asher, Shakespeare, Stanislaw Koscsiusko, Strurm und Drang, Sugar Creek NY, SUNY Potsdam, Tahawus NY, The Stone Chair, Tuberculosis, US Civil War, Wanakeena, war, War of 1812

 

The Native American known as Wanakeena was asked to speak about his previous life.

 

Being a man of few words he spoke softly as he told about the history of his people; The Abenakis.

 

 

 

 

Hiram Watts had appointed himself to the position of Mystic Sexton at “Mission of the Transfiguration” near Blue Mountain Lake. So, as Sexton, he also had to give a short description of the mission to the tourists.

 

“What do you tell the tourists?” asked Lieutenant Preserved-Fish MacAdam.

 

Hiram answered;

“The Church of the Transfiguration is a historic Episcopal church located at Blue Mountain Lake in Hamilton County, New York. It is a small, one story, gable roofed structure with a central belfry at the west end. The building is constructed of barked spruce logs, mitered at the corners, and set upon a high foundation of random fieldstone. The church features Tiffany glass windows and a Meneely bell donated by Mrs. Levi P. Morton wife of future Vice-President under Benjamin Harrison.”

He continued on;

“It was designed by Manley N. Cutter and built by Thomas Wallace.”

    

 

Then he continued “It hasn’t changed much.”

“What is a Meneely Bell?” asked the Sargeant.

Hiram had the answer folded up in an old print of “Machine and Builder” magazine which he removed from his jacket.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And with Hiram’s little speech the reunion ended.

But the reunion was not the last time that the Chateaugay Platoon ever got together.

THE CHATEAUGAY PLATOON post #42 (Liebenmeyer Sings and Barclay Mimes)

Tags

Adelaide Crapsey, Aiden Lair, All Souls Day, Ausable Chasm, Ausable River, Barclay Mountain, Battle of Chateaugay, British, Brushton NY, Bull Moose, Burlington VT, Canton NY, chasm falls, Chateaugay Bridge, Chateaugay Inn, Chateaugay NY, Chateaugay River, Civil War, Clarkson University, Commemoratio omnium Fidelium Defunctorum, Couchsachraga Mountain, Dark Eyes, Dean "Lecturer" Smith, Debar Pond, Doc Stanton, Dr. Trudeau, E.R.Wallace, Epinetus Wheelwright, Ezekiel Pratt, Fort Jackson NY, French, Gerrit Smith, Giulliame Pineaux, Herr Jager, High Falls, Hiram Watts, Jay Johnson, John Brown, John Brown's Body, Joshua Crimmins, Karl-Heinz Liebenmeyer, Lietenant Preserved-Fish MacAdam, Loons, MacAdam's Cabin, Malone NY, McKinley, MERRY CHRISTMAS, Micah Ferris, Military Reunion, Mission of the Transfiguration, Montreal Canada, Native Americans, North Elba NY, Ochi Chernia, Othello, Panther Mountain, plank road, Professor LaPineaux, Richard Barclay, Roosevelt, Russian Gypsy Music, Saint Regis River, Salmon River, Santanoni Range, Saranac Lake NY, Sergeant Zacharias Asher, Shakespeare, Stanislaw Koscsiusko, Strurm und Drang, Sugar Creek NY, SUNY Potsdam, Tahawus NY, The Stone Chair, Tuberculosis, US Civil War, Wanakeena, war, War of 1812

And so Karl-Heinz, being asked by his fellow soldiers, belted out a Sturm and Drang for them – – –

 

 

Richard Barclay, if you remember correctly, was from a fairly rich family. His father owned coal mines in Pennsylvania. Therefore, he only had to silently think about what he knew.

Since all the souls can read each others minds (yes, it will happen to you also) this is what was transmitted to the other dead souls in the room.

 

 

Then the Native American known as Wanakeena was asked to speak about his previous life.

 

THE CHATEAUGAY PLATOON post #41 (Stanislaw Kosciusko at the Piano)

Tags

Adelaide Crapsey, Aiden Lair, All Souls Day, Ausable Chasm, Ausable River, Battle of Chateaugay, British, Brushton NY, Bull Moose, Burlington VT, Canton NY, chasm falls, Chateaugay Bridge, Chateaugay Inn, Chateaugay NY, Chateaugay River, Civil War, Clarkson University, Commemoratio omnium Fidelium Defunctorum, Couchsachraga Mountain, Dark Eyes, Dean "Lecturer" Smith, Debar Pond, Doc Stanton, Dr. Trudeau, E.R.Wallace, Epinetus Wheelwright, Ezekiel Pratt, Fort Jackson NY, French, Gerrit Smith, Giulliame Pineaux, Herr Jager, High Falls, Hiram Watts, Jay Johnson, John Brown, John Brown's Body, Joshua Crimmins, Karl-Heinz Liebenmeyer, Lietenant Preserved-Fish MacAdam, Loons, MacAdam's Cabin, Malone NY, McKinley, MERRY CHRISTMAS, Micah Ferris, Military Reunion, Mission of the Transfiguration, Montreal Canada, Native Americans, North Elba NY, Ochi Chernia, Othello, Panther Mountain, plank road, Professor LaPineaux, Richard Barclay, Roosevelt, Russian Gypsy Music, Saint Regis River, Salmon River, Santanoni Range, Saranac Lake NY, Sergeant Zacharias Asher, Shakespeare, Stanislaw Koscsiusko, Strurm und Drang, Sugar Creek NY, SUNY Potsdam, Tahawus NY, The Stone Chair, Tuberculosis, US Civil War, Wanakeena, war, War of 1812

Stanislaw Koscsiusko had been requested to sing a song from his home country.

 He had to oblige his other platoon members.

Stanislaw walked over to an old piano that had been sitting idle for years. He removed his cap and used it to remove the dust from the keyboard cover.

He replaced his cap upon his head and tested the foot treadles. They worked; or at least they appeared to be connected to the other parts of the piano.

Lifting the cover up with his left hand he hit a few keys with his right. He smiled at his buddies as if to give the OK that the piano was still working fine.

And he sang this one for them.

 

 

 

“What does it mean?” asked Epinetus.

Stanislaw replied;

Oh, these gorgeous eyes, dark and glorious eyes,

 Burn-with-passion eyes, how you hypnotise!

How I adore you so, how I fear you though,

 Since I saw you glow! Now my spirit’s low!

Darkness yours conceal mighty fires real;

They my fate will seal: burn my soul with zeal!

But my love for you, when the time is due,

Will refresh anew like the morning dew!

No, not sad am I, nor so mad am I;

All my comforts lie in my destiny.

Just to realise my life’s worthiest prize

Did I sacrifice for those ardent eyes!.

Oh, these gorgeous eyes, dark and glorious eyes,

Burn-with-passion eyes, how you hypnotise!

How I adore you so, how I fear you though,

Since I saw you glow! Now my spirit’s low!

 

Everyone arose to their feet, cheered and clapped. Well, all except for Barclay who kept on hollering Bravo!  Bravo!   Bravo!  – – – until he realized that the others were looking at him a little strangely.

Karl-Heinz Liebenmeyer, not to be outdone, like his old corpulent self, jumped up on a table and asked if anyone in the group had ever heard of Sturm und Drang.

They had not.

 

 

THE CHATEAUGAY PLATOON post #40 (Crimmins Talks and the Pineauxs Sing )

Tags

Adelaide Crapsey, Aiden Lair, All Souls Day, Ausable Chasm, Ausable River, Battle of Chateaugay, British, Brushton NY, Bull Moose, Burlington VT, Canton NY, chasm falls, Chateaugay Bridge, Chateaugay Inn, Chateaugay NY, Chateaugay River, Civil War, Clarkson University, Commemoratio omnium Fidelium Defunctorum, Couchsachraga Mountain, Dean "Lecturer" Smith, Debar Pond, Doc Stanton, Dr. Trudeau, E.R.Wallace, Epinetus Wheelwright, Ezekiel Pratt, Fort Jackson NY, French, Gerrit Smith, Giulliame Pineaux, Herr Jager, High Falls, Hiram Watts, Jay Johnson, John Brown, John Brown's Body, Joshua Crimmins, Karl-Heinz Liebenmeyer, Lietenant Preserved-Fish MacAdam, Loons, MacAdam's Cabin, Malone NY, McKinley, MERRY CHRISTMAS, Micah Ferris, Military Reunion, Mission of the Transfiguration, Montreal Canada, Native Americans, North Elba NY, Othello, Panther Mountain, plank road, Professor LaPineaux, Richard Barclay, Roosevelt, Saint Regis River, Salmon River, Santanoni Range, Saranac Lake NY, Sergeant Zacharias Asher, Shakespeare, Stanislaw Koscsiusko, Sugar Creek NY, SUNY Potsdam, Tahawus NY, The Stone Chair, Tuberculosis, US Civil War, Wanakeena, war, War of 1812

Joshua Crimmins took to the platform, as he always had.

The attendees of the meeting shouted in unison “Sit Down, sit down, we have had enough of The Inn at Chateaugay and the words of Othello.”

Joshua surprised them by stating “What a glorious bridge has been built across the Chateaugay Chasm.” He then described how it almost floated high above the river and defined the structure while using his fingers, hands, and arms as points of clarification.

“Two trapezoids, one on each end, joined in the air by five upright rectangular boxes, the entire thing held together only by rivets and cables. The floor made of three inch thick hemlock planks. Each end barely meeting the chasm edges to the east and the west.”

They didn’t believe him until he unrolled a scroll with the rendering of the new bridge.

 

 

 

Giulliame Pineaux brought his nephew to the reunion. The others were convinced that both of them were a “little off.” And then the Pineaux’ duo proved them right with the following rendition.

 

 

Those at the reunion had enough of their silliness and asked Stanislaw Koscsiusko what he had been doing. Stanislaw said only that he had been scaring tourists at High Falls near the Barnesville road.

“That’s it?” asked Lieutenant MacAdam with an incredulous tone.

Koscsiusko replied “Well sometimes when I get tired of my shouting match with the falls I sing some songs from the old country.

“Sing one, sing one” the members all shouted.

 

 

THE CHATEAUGAY PLATOON post #39 (Epinetus Wheelwright and Doc Stanton at the Reunion)

Tags

Adelaide Crapsey, Aiden Lair, All Souls Day, Ausable Chasm, Ausable River, Battle of Chateaugay, British, Brushton NY, Bull Moose, Burlington VT, Canton NY, chasm falls, Chateaugay Inn, Chateaugay NY, Chateaugay River, Civil War, Clarkson University, Commemoratio omnium Fidelium Defunctorum, Couchsachraga Mountain, Dean "Lecturer" Smith, Debar Pond, Doc Stanton, Dr. Trudeau, E.R.Wallace, Epinetus Wheelwright, Ezekiel Pratt, Fort Jackson NY, French, Gerrit Smith, Giulliame Pineaux, Herr Jager, High Falls, Hiram Watts, Jay Johnson, John Brown, John Brown's Body, Joshua Crimmins, Karl-Heinz Liebenmeyer, Lietenant Preserved-Fish MacAdam, Loons, MacAdam's Cabin, Malone NY, McKinley, MERRY CHRISTMAS, Micah Ferris, Military Reunion, Mission of the Transfiguration, Montreal Canada, Native Americans, North Elba NY, Othello, Panther Mountain, plank road, Professor LaPineaux, Richard Barclay, Roosevelt, Saint Regis River, Salmon River, Santanoni Range, Saranac Lake NY, Sergeant Zacharias Asher, Shakespeare, Stanislaw Koscsiusko, Sugar Creek NY, SUNY Potsdam, Tahawus NY, The Stone Chair, Tuberculosis, US Civil War, Wanakeena, war, War of 1812

Someone mentioned what a great time they had at the Christmas party. They all agreed and toasted “TO CHRISTMAS!” Epinetus Wheelwright went over to his horse, reached into his saddlebag and pulled out the lithographed greeting that he had saved.

 

 

The platoon had a few more drinks and then it was Doc Stanton’s turn to tell everyone where he had been haunting. Doc got all choked up and said that his haunting home couldn’t possibly compete with Adelaide Crapsey’s poem about the dead. So, as tears rolled down his cheek, he simply recited a few key phrases about Adelaide’s fears of death.

 

How can you lie so still? All day I watch

And never a blade of all the green sod moves

To show where restlessly you toss and turn,

And fling a desperate arm or draw up knees

Stiffened and aching from their long disuse;

I watch all night and not one ghost comes forth

To take its freedom of the midnight hour.

Oh, have you no rebellion in your bones?

 

And if the many sayings of the wise

Teach of submission I will not submit

But with a spirit all unreconciled

Flash an unquenched defiance to the stars.

 

I’ll not be patient. I will not lie still.

 

All fifteen members of the platoon became silent. Not a word was heard from any of those departed platoon members. Some thought “What a fighter she was” while others were a bit embarrassed that they had given up so easily – – – to a quick and almost painless bullet wound – – – while she endured a slow death over several years.

 

The mood was broken by Epinetus Wheelwright when he accidentally dropped his wheel-spoke shaver and workpiece on the wooden floor.

Personally, I think he did it on purpose because he could not stand to see those fourteen ghosts weeping.

 

All eyes turned to Epinetus. They were searching for what he had to say. For Epinetus never spoke unless he had something quite important to say. This time he failed them; he only asked that if anyone had carpenter skills he sure could use them. His current haunt in Aiden Lair was falling apart.

 

 

They all said that they would pitch in. Some had skills at cutting cedar shingles, others had observed the wood mill operations and thought they could make some siding, others had watched the glass windows being installed in various missions and churches.

Epinetus was elated.

And then they all started jabbering and talking  nervously – – – glad to have gotten past the sad Adelaide Crapsey moment and on to more manly-man discussions.

A voice from the crowd asked “Who’s next? Who is going to speak next?

 

THE CHATEAUGAY PLATOON post #38 (The Military Reunion Continues)

Tags

Adelaide Crapsey, Aiden Lair, All Souls Day, Ausable Chasm, Ausable River, Battle of Chateaugay, British, Brushton NY, Bull Moose, Burlington VT, Canton NY, chasm falls, Chateaugay Inn, Chateaugay NY, Chateaugay River, Civil War, Clarkson University, Commemoratio omnium Fidelium Defunctorum, Couchsachraga Mountain, Dean "Lecturer" Smith, Debar Pond, Doc Stanton, Dr. Trudeau, E.R.Wallace, Epinetus Wheelwright, Ezekiel Pratt, Fort Jackson NY, French, Gerrit Smith, Giulliame Pineaux, Herr Jager, High Falls, Hiram Watts, Jay Johnson, John Brown, John Brown's Body, Joshua Crimmins, Karl-Heinz Liebenmeyer, Lietenant Preserved-Fish MacAdam, Loons, MacAdam's Cabin, Malone NY, McKinley, MERRY CHRISTMAS, Micah Ferris, Military Reunion, Mission of the Transfiguration, Montreal Canada, Native Americans, North Elba NY, Othello, Panther Mountain, plank road, Professor LaPineaux, Richard Barclay, Roosevelt, Saint Regis River, Salmon River, Santanoni Range, Saranac Lake NY, Sergeant Zacharias Asher, Shakespeare, Stanislaw Koscsiusko, Sugar Creek NY, SUNY Potsdam, Tahawus NY, The Stone Chair, Tuberculosis, US Civil War, Wanakeena, war, War of 1812

 When everyone was inside the reunion hall Ezekial Pratt was already on the stage platform.

Ezekiel asked the previous three presenters if any of them has a pretty wife that helps them haunt.

 

Ashamedly, and looking at their feet, the Lieutenant, the Sergeant and the plow-share manufacturer responded “No.”

 

Zeke was prouder than a peacock proudly presenting his plumage while pursuing his peahen for purposes of personal yet prurient interest. He pulled a picture from his pants to present a photo of his spouses’ personage.

(Pardon the presumptuous pattern)

 

 

The other fourteen members of the Chateaugay Platoon moaned in unison.

Lecturer Smith decided that now was the time to spring an image of his new-found university on the other members of the platoon. He has hidden the rendering of his university under a bees-waxed water proof  coat made of canvas. The others thought that he had brought the cloak in case of rain; but no, he had brought it so that he could surprise everyone with his pride and joy.

 

 

There were ooo’s and ahhh’s once the rendering of the university was revealed. They all thought that Lecturer was full of haggis but once they saw his accomplishment they became believers.

 

Jay Johnson and John Brown showed up together. The other members were not pleased that an outsider was allowed in their re-union. Especially because they thought John Brown may have caused 600,000 deaths of Union and Rebel Civil War platoon members. Jay Johnson explained that those deaths were due to fate and not to John Brown. They finally accepted it, took a vote, and allowed John Brown to remain at the re-union. After all, he had been hung by the neck for what he had done. It was all water over the dam or under the bridge or spilt milk.

The bell could not be un-rung and the civil war could not be un-done.

John Brown then showed them a picture of the home he once lived in. He had been renting it from Gerrit Smith; the financier of John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry Arsenal.

It was not the mansion that they expected.

 

  

 

AS I WANDERED #53 BUTLER

Tags

Annapolis, B & O Railroad, Beast Butler, Ben Butler, Civil War, General Ben Butler, New Orleans, Susquehanna River, Thunder Mug, Thunder Pot, Virginia, Washington DC

Old Ben Butler…. he is a hoot.
 
Both Bogdan Yelcovich and Jim McFee have heard of him.
 
We were talking about Butler one day and sure enough Bogdan brought in some literature about him.
 
Bogdan must have a house full of recent periodicals. Maybe that is where he learns about all this trivia.
 
Anyway we should start with the basics.
 
Ben Butler is big in politics but not so big in wartime.
 
Everyone seems to either hate him or love him. He has strong opinions on everything and does not have the patience to beat around the bush looking for snakes.

If he thinks there is a snake in the bush he reaches in, grabs it by the tail, and yanks it out.
 
Ben’s problem is that once he gets hold of the snake he doesn’t always seem to know what to do with it.
 
There is a story around about his school days. He decided that he needed to speak out about the Christian ways of the school he was attending. That got him close to expelled.

Bogdan had a periodical that I had never seen before. It was rather humerous and poked jokes at everbody from Commodore Vanderbilt to Old Ben Butler.

Of course they had to ask a snide question with two meanings.

Other periodicals joined in on the fun.

But “The Old Guard” got pretty nasty about Ben after the civil war.

And then there is the “New Orleans” story:

OLD NEW ORLEANS

 OCCUPIED BY THE TROOPS OF GENERAL BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BUTLER

It seems as though the ladies of New Orleans were harassing his troops and being generally mean to them. Butler, once again, grabbed the snake by the tail and yanked it out of the bushes.

Of course this was an insult, not only to the ladies but also to the southern gentlemen. An uproar ensued in periodicals all over the country.

This would be a good place to show the good General’s photograph for comparison.

 

The comparison will be the picture of General Benjamin Butler that started showing up in the bottom of all the “thunder mugs” being sold for the boudoirs of New Orleans.

Even the consumptive patients in Saranac, New York had something to say about Ben Butler and his political cronies.

 

And the following is an example of how Old Ben Butler ignored orders and pulled a rabbit out of the hat.

 

Even the Susquehanna River played a part in that story; how about that!

Someone, a hundred years into the future, may refer to Ben Butler as “a reckless, impetuous, headstrong, boy who regularly got into fights and never seemed to grow out of it.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

©W. Tomosky♠

AS I WANDERED #36 GALENA

Tags

Civil War, Galena, Ironclad, Ulysses S. Grant

Bogdan Yelcovich told me “There are two of them.”

Of course I said “Two of what?”

Of course Bogdan had an Atlantic Monthly with him. It was the January, 1863 issue.
Bogdan answered “Yes. Two Galenas.”

That was two more than I was aware of.

One was a town in Illinois and the other was a ship that prowled the Atlantic coast.

Who knew?

This is the town:

These are six of the people that lived in the town.

Ulysses S. Grant a resident of Galena, Illinois. He was the 18th President of the United States after his successful role as a general in  the Civil War.

And five other generals:

Augustus Louis Chetlain, Union army, U.S. Consul to Belgium

Jasper Adalmorn Maltby, Union army, military mayor of Vicksburg

Ely Samuel Parker, Union army, transcribed Appomattox surrender terms, U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs

John Aaron Rawlins, Union army, Galena’s City Attorney, Secretary of War

John Eugene Smith, Union army

This is the ship:

USS Galena was a wooden-hulled broadside ironclad built for the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was damaged during the Battle of Drewry’s Bluff because her armor was too thin to prevent Confederate shots from penetrating.

And this also was shown to me by Bogdan Yelcovich. It comes from that same Atlantic Monthly; January, 1863:

See? Down there by the water-line?

Bogdan even marked out where one shell and one canon ball is imbedded in the hull.

You don’t think all those generals had anything to do with the naming of this ironclad – – – do you? Hometown pride and all that.

I wonder how the future will look upon all this.

©W. Tomosky♠

THE POETRY OF PAUL HAMILTON HAYNE: An Introduction

Tags

Atlantic Monthly, Augusta GA, Charleston SC, Civil War, Copse Hill GA, Critic, Editor, Grovetown GA, Paul Hamilton Hayne, Scribner's Monthly, Southern Opinion, Supporter of the Arts, The Independent

Now, as you well know, I like to post about people who have either been forgotten or never known; except, possibly, in an old census report.

I prefer to allow them to speak for themselves; if they can.

But now I must bow to one who is fairly well known; or he was at one time.

His name is Paul Hamilton Hayne. Paul is a poet. Well at least in my mind he is. Others have called him an editor, a critic, and a supporter of the arts.

Paul was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1830.

Due to the death of his father Paul lived with his mother and a rich uncle. He attended college and worked as a lawyer until he discovered it was not his calling.

He loved to write poetry.

Union forces destroyed his home and library during the Civil War. He moved his family to Augusta, Georgia, where he became a news editor. Paul Hamilton Hayne was never the beneficiary of good health. His health impeded his career ambitions thereby forcing his resignation as a news editor. Hayne moved his family in 1866 to Grovetown, Georgia, roughly fifteen miles from Augusta. He remained there until his death.

Despite his health and financial difficulties Hayne continued an eager literary life. His poetry and essays appeared in such magazines as Scribner’s Monthly, the Independent, Southern Opinion and The Atlantic Monthly. He continued sharing his skills as an editor and literary critic with several Southern newspapers.

And therefore we embark on a journey through Paul Hamilton Hayne’s mind via his poetry. I present the following posts as small snippets of his poetry and the accompanying artwork found in;

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/aam9116.0001.001/3?xc=1&g=moagrp&q1=list+of+illustrations&view=image&size=100

I must make you aware that Hayne has written poems from eight liners to sonnets to sagas. His mind holds more words than a dictionary; and he does not use them lightly. He knows exactly of each word he speaks and precisely what word to use.

Now that we have left John Bessac and Henry Birdsall let us move on within the mind of Paul Hamilton Hayne. I allow his poetry to define him.

Therefor I will commit the unnatural task of keeping my opinions to myself.

I warn you that what appears in each post will rarely be a complete poem.

So I will do my best to identify its nearest page. That way you may read the complete poem which sometimes covers several pages.

Join me over the next few weeks as we delve in Hayne’s work.