Gregg Biggs talks about the Tennessee Civil War flags book he is working on: part two

Historian Greg Biggs

This is part two of a five-part interview series with historian Greg Biggs.  See part one.

CWG: question 3 – What kind of role(s) have you had – or still have – as it relates to Civil War organizations?

I have started or helped to start three Civil War Roundtables – two in Ohio where I used to live, and the one in Clarksville, TN where I currently live.  My silly members keep electing me president every year too for some reason!  I am also a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

CWG: question 4 – How or why will this book be unique in the Civil War literature?

Well, believe it or not, there just aren’t that many Civil War flag books out there that are based on serious research.  There’s a few that are not worth the paper they are printed on in that there is little scholarship behind them and most simply repeat mythology without challenges to that.  These are a waste of time basically.  Union flags are woefully under-represented as well for whatever reason.

The late Howard Madaus began the serious work of studying Civil War flags in the 1970’s and led the way for people like me to follow.  He was certainly my mentor and taught me a great deal about flags.

So we aim to have this book fill in a much needed hole in the study of the Civil War’s material culture side, which seems to be neglected as well at times.  For whatever reason, academia does not like to deal with artifacts like weapons and flags and prefers to stay with paper documents, which is fine, as I use those as well.  But these artifacts they ignore also have great stories to tell and help us understand the war as a whole.  The book will be the joining of serious scholarship and examination of the artifacts involved and we hope this will give the reader a better understanding of the era.

Part two of five: The Civil War Gazette interview with historian and author Greg Biggs

The following images are all courtesy of the Tennessee State Museum.

35-star U.S. Cavalry Guidon, Unknown Regiment (after July 4, 1863). Tennessee State Museum Collection, acc. no. 2.194 (Courtesy Tennessee State Museum)

First National Flag, 32nd Tennessee Infantry. Presented by the ladies of Franklin, Tenn., while the regiment was stationed in Bowling Green, Ky. (December/January 1861–1862). Tennessee State Museum Collection, acc. no. 10.342. (Courtesy Tennessee State Museum)

Hardee Pattern Battle Flag, 17th Tennessee Infantry (circa 1863). Tennessee State Museum Collection, acc. no. 78.19.50 (Courtesy Tennessee State Museum)

Dalton-Issue Battle Flag of the 11th Tennessee Infantry (1864). Tennessee State Museum Collection, acc. no. 3.2 (Courtesy Tennessee State Museum)

18th Tennessee Infantry Color Bearers. L-R: Dr. Nat Gooch, Logue Nelson and William McKay. Published in Confederate Veteran, 1911. (Note: At the Battle of Murfreesboro, 10 men were killed or wounded bearing this flag, including Gooch and McKay.) (Courtesy Tennessee State Museum)

Christmas Boxes in Camp—Christmas, 1861.

January 4, 1862. Harper's Weekly

Christmas Night Of ‘62
by William Gordon McCabe

The wintry blast goes wailing by,
The snow is falling overhead;
I hear the lonely sentry’s tread,
And distant watch-fires light the sky.

Dim forms go flitting through the gloom;
The soldiers cluster round the blaze
To talk of other Christmas days,
And softly speak of home and home.

My sabre swinging overhead
Gleams in the watch-fire’s fitful glow,
While fiercely drives the blinding snow,
And memory leads me to the dead.

My thoughts go wandering to and fro,
Vibrating between the Now and Then;
I see the low-browed home again,
The old hall wreathed with mistletoe.

And sweetly from the far-off years
Comes borne the laughter faint and low,
The voices of the Long Ago!
My eyes are wet with tender tears.

I feel again the mother-kiss,
I see again the glad surprise
That lightened up the tranquil eyes
And brimmed them o’er with tears of bliss,

As, rushing from the old hall-door,
She fondly clasped her wayward boy-
Her face all radiant with the joy
She felt to see him home once more.

My sabre swinging on the bough
Gleams in the watch-fire’s fitful glow,
While fiercely drives the blinding snow
Aslant upon my saddened brow.

Those cherished faces all are gone!
Asleep within the quiet graves
Where lies the snow in drifting waves,-
And I am sitting here alone.

There’s not a comrade here to-night
But knows that loved ones far away
On bended knee this night will pray:

“God bring our darling from the fight.”
But there are none to wish me back,
For me no yearning prayers arise.
The lips are mute and closed the eyes-
My home is in the bivouac.

The burning of Charleston (1861) – as told in Harper’s Weekly

THE BURNING OF CHARLESTON.

WE devote this and the preceding page to illustrations of the CITY OF CHARLESTON, South Carolina, which, we hear by telegraph, was mainly destroyed by fire on 11th and 12th. The dispatch from Fortress Monroe states :

The fire commenced in Charleston last night (December 11), at nine o’clock, in Ruzel & Co.’s sash factory, at the foot of Hazel Street, and communicated to the opposite side of Hazel, to Cameron & Co.’s machine shops.

Under the impulse thus given and a stiff breeze, with a small supply of water, the conflagration assumed a formidable character, nearly equaling the most extensive conflagration on the American continent.

The Theatre, Floyd’s coach factory, opposite the Express office, the old Executive Building, and all the houses between that point and Queen Street, are burned. The whole of one side of Broad Street is destroyed, from Colonel Gadsden’s residence to Mazyck Street. A considerable portion of the city, from East Bay to King Street, is destroyed. Among the prominent buildings burned are the Institute and St. Andrew’s halls, Theatre, Catholic Cathedral, and the Circular Church.

At last accounts from Charleston the fire had crossed Broad Street, and was sweeping furiously on. Nearly all that part of the city from Broad Street on the south, East Bay Street on the east, and King on the west, is said to be destroyed.

An extra train had left Augusta with supplies for the sufferers—thousands of whom roamed the streets—and assistance to fight the fire.

There are rumors of a negro insurrection and negro incendiarism. One account states that a plot was disclosed by the body-servant of a military officer, who said that the negroes of the city were to be joined by large bands of negroes from the country, who were to come in armed at night. He said that the sash factory had been fired by a free negro, whom he designated, and who has been arrested. A small quantity of arms had been found

under the floor of a negro cabin. They were all new and in good order. In other negro cabins knives and hatchets were found secreted.

The greatest consternation prevailed. Families were closing and barring their windows.

The fire companies being composed of men who are engaged on military duty elsewhere, the fire-engines were worked by negroes, who broke and rendered useless the two best ones. The offices of the Courier and Mercury are said to be destroyed.

Another account states that negro insurrections broke out in the interior of South Carolina two days before the fire, and are still raging unchecked; but this last report is not well authenticated.

Source: Dec 28, 1861. Harper’s Weekly. page 823

Photograph shows ruins in area adjacent to the Mills House in Charleston, South Carolina.

Seminary in La Grange, Tennessee during Civil War

Ladies' seminary in La Grange, TN. Drawn by Mr. A. Simplot for Harper's Weekly, December 20, 1862.

Captain Henry Forbes, commander of Company B, Seventh Illinois Volunteer Cavalry, wrote to his wife from La Grange:

It was a neat little place of about a thousand people. The yards were beautifully improved, filled with evergreens and rare shrubberies. A fine college building crowned a gentle eminence to the east of the town and a Seminary for Ladies looked across it from the North. All is vulgar desolation now. The college and its twin buildings are used now for hospitals, and the churches are all appropriated to the same uses, with many of the private dwellings. The fences are all burned, the gardens trampled, the most elegant evergreens turned into hitching posts for Yankee horses, and all this in a town where there had been no strife of contending forces. It is a natural consequence of war.

The “fine college building” the Captain referred to in his letter was the “Synodical College,” opened in 1857. The college had 119 students at the onset of the Civil War. Its first and only graduating class of 1861 ended the school year one month ahead of schedule, whereupon the entire class volunteered for the Confederate Army. The college building was used as a Union hospital, then later as a prison. In the harsh winter of 1863-64, the college building was torn down so that Union soldiers could use the bricks to build huts and chimneys for their tents. In the 1890’s, the federal government paid $50,000 in recompense for the destroyed building.

Source: Alethea Sayers on this web site

Disaster in Tennessee – news from Harper’s Weekly

Confederate raider John Hunt Morgan

At Hartsville, Tennessee, on December 6, the rebel guerrilla [John Hunt] Morgan made an attack upon the brigade commanded by General Moore at that place, which consisted of the 104th Illinois, Colonel Moore commanding brigade; 106th Ohio, Colonel Lafel; 108th Ohio, Colonel Limberg; Nicklen’s battery, and a small detachment of the 2d Indiana cavalry. After fighting an hour and a quarter our forces surrendered, and the enemy burned our camp, capturing nearly all the brigade, train, and teams, and burning what they could not carry away. Two guns of Nicklen’s battery were also captured. Our loss was between 50 and 60 killed and wounded, who were left on the field. The rebel loss is not reported. Morgan’s force consisted of three regiments of cavalry and two of infantry. It was said that Morgan made another attack upon General Fry’s position at Gallatin the same afternoon, but met with a serious repulse. General Fry was speedily reinforced, and pursued the enemy. It would appear that in the attack at Hartsville some of our troops behaved badly, while others fought gallantly to the last.

Source: December 20, 1862 Harper’s Weekly. Harper’s also covered a raid of Morgan in the August 13, 1863 edition.

Note: the action referred to in the above Harper’s Weekly excerpt was officially part of the Stone’s River campaign. The Hartsville action saw 2,004 total casualties.  The Federals suffered 1,855 casualties and the CSA only suffered 149.

Interview of a Civil War Reenactor

Matt Woodburn is a Civil War reenactor who lives near downtown Franklin. CWG asked him about the hobby of Civil War reenacting.

1. Are there different categories of Civil War reenacting?

First and most popular is recreating a particular battle of the Civil War usually for an audience and/or film crew. Then there are “living histories” which may not involve a battle, but portray life during the Civil War. You’ll get to see what life was like for soldiers and/or civilians in a particular place or time of the Civil War. Finally there are what’s called Events By Us For Us (EBUFU). They can include all of the above, but are more for the serious living historian that wants to experience life as it really was in the 1860s which in many ways is not politically correct today. These types of event are not open to the public.

2. How long have you been reenacting?

27 years.

3. Is reenacting a popular hobby in Williamson County and Tennessee?

The hobby is very popular in Williamson County. There are several groups in the area that cater to all types of interests and types of reenacting. Tennessee had the second most number of battles in the state after Virginia, so there is a lot of history here.

4. How are reenacting events organized?

Organization of reenactment groups runs from loosely knit hobbiests that communicate infrequently, to groups that have elected leaders, by-laws, newsletters and monthly meetings. Once at an event on the reenacting side, men are grouped into companies, companies into battalions, battalions into brigades and so on just like they would have been in the regular military.

5. How are events chosen?

As a reenactor you may choose to do about any event you want that is listed open to the hobby. Typically there is a registration process so the event planners know how many people to expect. Understand that the largest event in US history had 32,000 reenactors and 500,000 spectators over the course of a weekend. Something that large requires herculean efforts by planners, county government, law enforcement, National Guard, etc.

6. How many events are hosted locally each year? And which are the best to see as an observer?

In Williamson County there are some events well worth seeing. Every five years there is the anniversary of the Battle of Franklin which attracts a few thousand reenactors. This event has been held at Rippavilla Plantation most recently. Every three years, there is a great encampment at Fort Granger just behind Pinkerton Park. And you can find a couple good living histories every year at The Carter House and Carnton Plantation.

7. How would one go about getting started in reenacting?

To get started in reenacting I recommend going to some events as a spectator and asking alot of questions. This will help you find out about the different ends of the hobby, help you determine what you want out of the hobby, and where you will fit in best and be happiest. There is a great magazine that caters to the hobby called Civil War Historian, which is filled with event listings, informative articles, sources for reenacting uniforms, weapons and equipment. It is sold at some of the bookstores in Williamson County.

8. Are reenactors soldiers?

Many reenactors portray someone other than a soldier. This may be a male or female civilian during the conflict, a grave digger or embalmer, a journalist, a foreign military observer, a member of a Soldier’s Christian Aid Society, or a soldier of the support branches of the military like quartermaster, commissary, engineers, etc.

9. Do you have to be a “Civil War nerd” to enjoy reenacting?

People involved in reenacting come from all walks of life, doctors, lawyers, engineers, mechanics, salesmen, bar tenders, teachers, authors, truck drivers, pilots, warehouse workers, realtors, retired and active modern military, the list goes on. People are in the hobby for many reasons, and like most things, you’ll get out of it what you put into it. You simply need to decide what you want out of it.

10. Why do you enjoy reenacting?

Reenacting has given me my favorite camping experiences, my best friendships, a chance to lead, my best laughs, an income, a chance to serve others, continuing opportunities to learn, a chance to write and publish, some of the strongest words of praise and affirmation given to me, chances to travel the country, chances to teach, chances to speak to groups, to hear applause, to receive appreciation….

Reenacting The Battle of Franklin

Mr and Mrs Barney Williams

We have several earlier posts on Civil War Gazette related to Irish songster Barney Williams, and his wife Mary. All of these images are scanned from the originals in our possession.

Barney Williams, (Bernard O’Flaherty) was born in Cork county Ireland in 1823. His parents immigrated to America when he was a young boy and settled in New York. By 1836, at age 13, he was connected with the Franklin theatre. He learned clogging while in Ireland and became the first professional clogger in America by 1840. In his early performance-days Barney performed negro minstrels, the circus, and performed a variety of song-n-dance routines. Click on the following links to read about Williams’s performance career during the Civil War in America.

• Barney Williams (1823 – 1876), Irish songster, comedian and performer, played for the troops
• Barney Williams, Irish songster performed for the soldiers during the Civil War
• When he opened his mouth you could smell the shamrock.

We recently found the following images of the famous performing-couple to share with our readers.

The Illustrated London News, July 26, 1856: p, 91

Mrs Barney Williams as the “Yankee Girl”

Mrs Barney Williams, The Gleason Pictorial, October 22, 1853: p. 264

I found this broadside ad promoting a performance of Barney Williams.

Barney Williams broadside ad

Reviews of Irish Songster Barney Williams’s ‘Paddy’ character

Barney Williams

In 1853, The Spirit of the Times maintained that Barney Williams, “as a representative of the Irish character, excels chiefly in the impersonation of the rustic peasant: poor in pocket, yet rich in humor, with a smile for his own troubles and a sign for another’s grief.” A reviewer for the New Orleans Picayune in 1854 claimed that “in the presentation of the genuine Paddy, the true Irish peasant,” Barney Williams gave his audiences “the broad, unmistakable, wide awake ‘broth of boy,’ alike ready to fight or shake hands, equally at home with the girls or the boys.” In 1858 the Cork Examiner stated that Irish themselves regarded Williams as a “real Paddy, and a true son of the sod.” While the stage Irishman often appeared as a cross between a buffoon and a savage, the Examiner claimed to see in Williams’s impersonation “the genuine Irishman of humble life – brave, honest, warm hearted, up to all kinds of fun, with no conscientious aversion to a ‘drop of the native,’ a decided taste for getting into scrimmages, and a willingness to go any and every length for a friend. “How his black eyes twinkle, and what fun there is in his face!” marveled one reviewer. “He seems brimful, and running over, with good humour, and looks as if care never had or could touch him . . . “

Source: ‘Twas Only an Irishman’s Dream, p. 86-7.

Also see:

Barney Williams (1823 – 1876), Irish songster, comedian and performer, played for the troops

Barney Williams, Irish songster performed for the soldiers during the Civil War

Barney Williams as "Ragged Pat"

Source: Gleason’s Pictorial, Oct 22, 1853 (p. 264).

Cotton states go free . . .

“If the cotton states shall become satisfied that they can do better out of the Union than in it, we insist on letting them go in peace . . . . We hope never to live in a Republic whereof one section is pinned to another by bayonets.”
- Horace Greeley, editorial, December 17, 1860, The New York Tribune

South Carolina became the first southern state to secede three days later.

Interview: reenactor, Professor Barclay – The Wizard of Edinburgh

The Civil War Gazette recently sat down with 19th century reenactor Rick Green who performs as Professor Barclay – The Wizard of Edinburgh.

Professor Barclay, The Wizard of Edinburgh

CWG: What do you do?

I am a combination of a reenactor and a professional magician; I do a presentation of 19th Century conjuring as a Scottish-born magician living in the South during the Civil War. The show is called, “Professor Barclay: The Wizard of Edinburgh .”

CWG: How long have you been doing it?

I have been performing magic since 1995, and created this show around 2003.

CWG: How did you get started?

I’ve been interested in history since I was a small child and when I got into magic, I was naturally drawn to the stories of the magicians in history. Most magicians will have an extensive library of magic books, and I am no exception; the difference is that about half of my magic library pertains specifically to magic history.

The idea for the show came after a chance meeting with a few re-enactors. I had been performing a show called, “Victorian Secrets”, which is a ‘tribute’ to the European salon magic shows of the 1840s-70s. These folks saw my show, liked what they saw, asked me to perform for their reenactment group Christmas party and, as they say, the rest is history!

CWG: Who or what influenced you a lot to get started, stay motivated?

One of the first magician conventions I ever attended happened to take place here in Nashville , TN. Until that time, I’d never thought of magic as a ‘theatrical artform’, but more as just something one could do in small informal setting…kind of like David Blaine does on TV. At this convention, however, I saw a man by the name of Max Howard. Max is an Emmy Award-winning actor as well as being a magician, and at that convention he performed a show called, “The War Wizard”. In his show, he was performing as an actual magician who had lived during the Civil war named Gus Rich, who happened to have been the bass drummer for the 23rd North Carolina Regiment as well as being a fantastic magician. After the war ended, Gus performed throughout the Blue Ridge region of North Carolina performing in what he called, The Great Southern Sleight of Hand Show. Upon learning about Gus, Max did quite a bit of research and put together “The War Wizard.” Upon seeing that, I had my eyes opened to what a presentation of magic COULD be.

CWG: What do you like most about what you do?

Meeting the people involved in reenacting, as well as having the opportunity to learn so much more about our country’s rich history.

CWG: What do you like least?

Performing in the cold!

CWG: Can you speak to the challenges you have faced? Over come? Still have?

Magical apparatus from the 19th Century is neither readily available, nor cheap to have reproduced! Most of the “props” in my show are reproductions or close facsimiles. One great example is the classic ‘cups and balls’ trick. The cups that are available today look very little like the ones used in the 19th Century; I wanted to stay with ‘period correct’ pieces. After some searching, I found someone who was able to make them for me…in SWEDEN !!

CWG: What is your show like?

Well, the show is a presentation of what was called, “Salon Magic”. Every piece in my show…from the “Duo-Chromatic Handkerchief” to the afore-mentioned cups and balls…is a reproduction of something from that period. Also, as one who is a descendant of Scot-Irish immigrants, I can do a fairly decent Scottish accent. Knowing that Professor Barclay would be performing for both Union and Confederate reenactors, I didn’t want to pick sides, so I made him a Scot who lives in the South and understands their issues with the North, but doesn’t particularly have anything against the North himself; except for the fact that the Union troops in Nashville took over his home! As Barclay would say it, “They call it requisitioning; I call it stealing!” In my back-story on Barclay, he and his family moved to Franklin as a result of this.

CWG: Were these kind of showmen really around in mid 19th century, and if so, who were they?

Not only were they around, they were some of the highest paid entertainers in the world! Signor Blitz traveled from his tative England to perform across the US, including Washington, DC and Boston, MA. The French magician, Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, is called the ‘Father of Modern Magic’, and is also the namesake of the great Houdini; he lived and performed in Paris , France in the 1840’s until his death in 1871. In Austria , you had Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser, who is still considered to be the greatest magician with cards who ever lived. He was performing in Vienna from 1856-64. The one that I most admire is John Henry Anderson, aka, “The Great Wizard of the North.” He was from Aberdeen , Scotland and a favorite of Queen Victoria . He performed and toured the world from 1837 until he died in 1874. A quick story on Anderson : he had been scheduled to do his second performance tour in the US in the winter of 1860. He had sent his promotional material, including posters and broadsides, to the city in which he was to perform: Richmond , VA. When he arrived in Richmond, he found his posters and marketing materials had been destroyed and he was told to leave quickly at the risk of his own life because his billing title, the ‘Wizard of the North’ had so incensed Southerners, he had to leave immediately. He never again performed in America .

CWG: Can you share a funny story or two about your craft or personal experience?

This was the very first time I performed as Barclay, and is a true story. I’ll tell you before you read this next part that this was entirely impromptu.

I’d been hired to perform for the 19th Alabama Regiment’s Christmas Party in 2003 which was going to be held at the Elm Springs home in Columbia, TN, which is the headquarters for the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The entire evening was magical since it was all done as though it was Christmas 1862. Anyway, during dinner, everyone was chatting away and talking; one of the ladies who happened to be sitting across from me asked me (in character, of course), “Professor, isn’t it true that there is an animal that is native to Scotland that is not found in any other part of the world?”

“Yes, my dear. They are huge, ugly beasts with long red hair, horns as wide as a man’s armspan, and the most foul smell. Ugly, smelly beasties, they are!”

“What are they called?”

“Mother-in-laws!”

The entire table was nearly on the floor laughing! This really set the stage for the rest of the evening.

CWG: What personal goals do you have related to your show?

My biggest goal is to continue to perfect my show and have presentations that stay true to the history of the Civil War.

CWG: How can you be contacted?

The best place to get info and contact me is via my website, www.wizardofedinburgh.com,
or you can email me at richard[at]wizardofedinburgh.com