BEDFORD LIGHT COURIER UR I ER

Colonels Concerns:

Lt. Colonel’s Minute:

Captains Corner:

Well it’s that time again. The new year is upon us and a new year of campaigning is before us. The officers will be in Richmond at the end of January for the Longstreet’s Corps meeting. We will find out then what the Corps events are that we need to attend. We will have a Unit meeting in February. The date and site has yet to be determined but by the time the newsletter comes out that should be decided. I will send out reminders and ask Cpl. Henry to add it to the web site. At the meeting we will discuss events, attendance, registrations, camp expectations and rules. We have 5 guns this year and need to discuss how to handle Powder, Primers, and which guns go to which events. We will also discuss crew alignments.

I have a partial list of possible events that we will be voting on at our February meeting. Here is the list of events and dates:

Appomattox, April 7–10, Virginia

Sayler’s Creek, April 8–10, Virginia

Lee’s Final Retreat, April 15–17, Virginia

Elmira, April 29–May 1, New York

Artillery School, Fort Niagara, May 14-15, New York

Letchworth, May 20–22, New York

Brockport School, June ?

Wells College, late April or early May, New York

Gettysburg, July 1–3, PA

Mumford, July 16–17, New York

Liberty, July 30–31, New York

Marilla, August 5–7, New York

Hamlin Beach, August 19–21, New York

Olean, September 16–18, New York

Macedon, September 9–11, New York

Gettysburg Living History, September 10–11? PA

Cedar Creek, October 15–16, Virginia

The date for The School of the Piece at Old Fort Niagara is May 14–15. It is mandatory that all members attend.

I will be sending out a questionnaire to every member in the unit. Please fill it out and send it back to me as soon as possible. I would like to have them back prior to the February meeting.

A former member, Harley Peckenpaugh, was severely wounded in Iraq. He is slowly recovering in Washington, DC. He and his family still need our prayers and support. I wish to thank those that have donated money to help his family be with him.

Your Obedient Servant,

Captain Michael J. Karnitz

REMEMBER –

We still have tickets to sell for the Gun Raffle.

If you would like more tickets to sell, please call Cpl. Henry at (585) 659-2240 or e-mail him at bvhenry@rochester.rr.com

We need to sell enough tickets to make a profit. We need your help to do this. The more profit, the more gun powder!!

Text Box: REMEMBER –
We still have tickets to sell for the Gun Raffle.
If you would like more tickets to sell, please call Cpl. Henry at (585) 659-2240 or e-mail him at bvhenry@rochester.rr.com
We need to sell enough tickets to make a profit. We need your help to do this. The more profit, the more gun powder!!

1^st Sergeant’s Desk:

Here we are again, time for another newsletter. Well as most of you know the Christmas party at Eric & Eileen Smith’s was a smashing success. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Eric & Eileen for hosting the party and supplying a big portion of the food. Without them the party would not have happened.

As most people know some of us are on our way to Richmond, VA. for the Longstreet’s Corps meeting and the Alexanders Battalion meeting, will have updates available for the next newsletter or the first battery meeting, which ever comes first.

I still have to find out when we can get into some gun shows so we can sell our raffle tickets, will have the information as soon as I can, and get it out in the next newsletter. Anyone wanting tickets to sell, please contact Cpl. Bob Henry.

Since we have not had any events lately, my job here is done. If anyone in the battery has any questions concerns or comments, don’t be shy, send them to me. I will answer them the best I can.

Your Obedient Servant;

1^st Sgt. Roland Meiers

Rebel Sons of Erin
10th Tennessee Inf.

With St Pats day approaching and because Dawna and I are both of Irish decent, (McKinivan and Fant) I thought it would be a good time to do a report about a book I have recently read titled "THE REBEL SONS OF ERIN" I read this book because my family owned land very close to the Chickamauga Battlefield and many of them fought to protect that land with the 14th Alabama and the 48th Georgia. Unfortunately, none of my relations are mentioned in the book! However it was a very good book especially for any one having any particular interest in the plight of the confederate Irish during the WBTS.

The 10th Tennessee was mustered into duty in Nashville at the beginning of the war. There were many valid reasons for the Irish to not get involved in the war. The strongest of which was simply that they were reluctant to fight their Irish brothers who happen to live in the north, whom they did not consider to be Yankees. Their bond with their Irish brothers was stronger than with the southern cause. But when the former Irish Mayor of Nashville Lt. Col. Mc Gavock wanted to form an all Irish regiment from Tennessee they just couldn't resist a good fight. The 10th helped with the construction of Ft. Henry, and Ft. Donelson. They were listed as the 10th Tennessee Infantry Regiment of Irish Volunteers. The Irish reference was just as it appeared in Richmond.

As Grant attacked Ft. Henry in February of 1862 the 10th Tennessee marched through the rain to the shore of the Tennessee River to meet him. The rain and fog were so thick that McGavock sent them out as sharpshooters onto the banks where one union Col was shot and killed. Of course, being Irish, they fought among themselves each claiming the kill. In order to stop the men from fighting each other, Lt Col McGavock had to give all 16 of the sharp shooters a recommendation.

During the battle at Ft. Donelson the 10th held a fortified ridge on the side of the Cumberland River and they held off charge after charge from the 45th and 49th Illinois. They were General McClernards hometown boys and the battle became known as the battle of Erin Hollow. A truce was called after the battle in order to recover some of the dead and wounded union soldiers because a fire had started in the woods from a shell explosion. Col. Heiman, the leader of the Confederate forces at Donelson, asked for volunteers. So the "Bloody10th" came out of their fortifications to help recover men they had just shot.

After the fall of Donelson, out of the 714 men listed with the 10th 446 were sent to Camp Chase prison camp in Chicago, where 22 men died of disease while in confinement. The remaining 268 either escaped or deserted. They were exchanged in September of 1862. Only 383 showed up for the reorganization. The 10th now became part of the Thirtieth Tennessee still under the leadership of Col. Hieman and Col. McGavock and they were sent to Vicksburg Mississippi by transport ship. Arriving at their destination and then being off loaded it was reported to the Captain of the ship that all the knives, spoons and forks and most of the rations were missing. McGavock made the men turn their pockets out but nothing was found. But McGavock made sure that the transport ship was re-supplied before the return trip.

Their first couple of months at Vicksburg was uneventful. The fighting Irishmen when having no one else to fight with fought and drank with each other. One day, two brothers having nothing better to do decided to row a small boat across a river to get some moonshine, against orders of course. They got half way back and then couldn't agree weather they should drink the moonshine right then or wait till later so they started to brawl. One brother fell into the water and he couldn't swim so his brother had to jump in and save him.

Col. Heiman died of the fever in the spring of 1863 and McGavock was promoted to full Col. Then came the arrival of U.S. Grant and the siege of Vicksburg was on. At the battle of Chickasaw Bluff McGavock had the Sons of Erin dug in as well as they had been at Erin Hollow. The Irishmen had a field day with Sherman's troops. Sadly, it was at the battle of Raymond where the Irishmen lost their beloved leader, Col. MaGavock. After the battle William Grace was promoted to Col. and given leadership of the 10th Tn.

After Vicksburg fell the 10th Tn. marched into Georgia and fought at Chickamauga. There they were tied in with General Longstreet's corp. Attacking Phil Sheridan's division the 10th overran an exposed position and captured 9 cannon and other equipment. On the second day at Chickamauga the Sons of Erin fought at Stedman's Hill. During the battle Col. Grace's horse was shot out from under him and he sustained a serious back injury. Major O'Neil's sharp-shooters covered Col. Grace while Robert Seymour saved his Col's life. It was the only thing on that bloody Sunday afternoon that the 10th had to cheer about. Out of 190 men they lost 48, a full 25%. Between September 12, and November 12,1863 they went down to 104 men due to desertion. After Chickamauga they went north to Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge. By this time they were down to 100 men and were mostly used as sharpshooters. They shot a horse out from under Phil Sheridan there. Rosecrans was replaced with U.S. Grant.

From Missionary Ridge Sherman pressed the Confederate's south again towards Atlanta. The Irishmen were mostly used as rear guard through Resaca and Kennesaw. General John Bell Hood replaced General Joe Johnston as over all commander for the army of Tennessee. Hoods aggressive fighting tactics were getting the army of Tennessee destroyed all around Atlanta. After the battle of Vtoy creek the Sons of Erin had only 35 men left out of the original 725. During the battle of Jonesborough Col. Grace was being given his last rights by the 10th's Catholic priest when the father's head was blown clean off by a cannon ball. He is listed in the records as the only catholic priest killed in action from either side.

Atlanta fell. The Army of Tennessee including what was left of the 10th went to Franklin Tennessee. Franklin was another major blunder for Gen. Hood. After Franklin there were only 24 of the 10th's Sons of Erin left. There was another Great Irish General lost at Franklin - Patrick Cleburne. But that's another Irish story to be told at a future date. After Franklin Hood was again replaced by Johnston. Twenty-one of the remaining Irishmen were captured at Franklin and sent back to Camp Chase. The remainder gave chase to Sherman in Tupelo Mississippi. Only 4 Irishman left and 3 of them were captured at Bentonville North Carolina. That left only Sergeant Barney McCabe. He served in the confederate army from September 1, 1861 till May 1, 1865. Out of the 725 Fighting Irish, 221 deserted (mostly after Donelson and then only after becoming POW's) 121 were casualties; 26 died in confinement; 10 of disease in Mississippi. A young Irish drummer boy was carried off the battlefield at Franklin. He was Danny McCarthy. He died at the age of 90. And so passed the last of the Bloody 10th Son's of Erin

submitted by Pvt. James Miller

STITCHES FOR BUTTONHOLES

Since there were no mandatory standards for buttonholes during the 1800's, the only way to know what stitch was used on a particular item, is to see that item. The fact that these uniforms were not made in large factories, further compounds the problem. Since the work was contracted out, even items of the same exact style and from the same depot could easily have different stitches used. But there were standard practices that tailors and seamstresses followed. I was lucky enough to be taught how to sew by my mother and my wife's grandmother was a professional seamstress all her life. Of course that doesn't take us back to the time of the civil war, but it does date to the late 1800's and turn of the century. The buttonhole stitch is the one that my wife's grandmother used, as taught to her by her mother. I've never made a close inspection of Civil War buttonholes, but the ones I remember seemed to use this stitch.

The WHIP STITCH is NOT an appropriate button hole stitch and would have only be used by someone that did not know how to sew, to repair an item when no other choice was available.

I think the proper thread for medium to heavy weight fabrics, would have still been the "Silk buttonhole twist", size 8/3 D, E or F. Any thread used needs to be waxed and pressed before use.

The Buttonhole Stitch

The buttonhole stitch is the most appropriate stitch for sewing buttonholes. It is used to prevent fraying of the buttonhole. Since it has a small half-knot at the top of each stitch it is also less likely to unravel if the thread is broken, something that is likely to happen eventually, from use. To get the most strength, it is important to wax the thread before use. The waxing will strengthen the thread and prevent twisting while sewing the buttonhole.

You can sew the buttonhole stitch in any direction. Hold the thread along the top edge of the material, with the end pointing in the direction you are going to sew. Make a loop, with the top of the loop pointing upward. Inserting the needle through the loop, then into the fabric from the wrong side and then through the large loop left on the right side of the material. Tighten your stitch, keeping the purl on top by see-sawing the thread and using your fingernail. The additional stitches are created by arching the thread over the right side opening of the buttonhole in the direction you are sewing, then looping down and back around in the opposite direction your are sewing, through the loop at the top, then through the material from the wrong side about 1/16th of an inch from the last stitch, through the large loop on the right side and then tightening as before. Continue doing this all the way around the buttonhole until done.

Overcast & Cross your hand

Overcast & Cross your hand Stitch

The "Cross your Hand" stitch is also a good stitch for buttonhole as is less likely to unravel than a overcast/whip stitch. It also prevents fraying as does the buttonhole stitch. It is basically a series of whip (overcast) stitches sewn in one direction and then returning with a series of whip (overcast) stitches in the opposite direction. Both directions of stitches go through the same hole, creating a "V". The "V" should be about 1/16th of an inch deep and 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch apart. This knot can be started and completed with a simple knot, starting from the wrong side. Since there is no knot at the top of each stitch, if you break both threads in the same spot they will start to unravel. For this reason, the buttonhole stitch is a better stitch for buttonholes. For the best strength, the thread should be waxed, as for the buttonhole stitch.

The Blanket Stitch

The blanket stitch is similar to the buttonhole stitch in finished appearance, but lacks the knot at the top. Is is basically a series of half hitches. This stitch can be started the same as the buttonhole stitch, except the needle enter from the right side of the material. As it exit the wrong side you bring the needle through the loop of thread at the top of the stitch, creating a half hitch. As with the "Cross your hand" stitch, there is no knot at the top and if the thread is broken, it will unravel. Again, the buttonhole stitch is a better stitch for buttonholes. For the best strength, the thread should be waxed, as for the buttonhole stitch.

Information about the Web link for this information was submitted by Miss Dawna Miller.

Be sure to check out the Bedford Light Artillery website. Go ahead and see what’s up. Just go to www.bedfordlightartillery.com on the internet. Cpl. Henry keeps us up to date with the latest information on the unit by adding the newsletter, pictures of what we do and how much fun we have, and upcoming news/events.

Also check out Alexanders Battalion website. Cpl. Henry is the webmaster for this site too. Bedford Light Artillery has a link to this site or you can go directly to the site by logging on to www.alexandersbattalion.org.

If you have anything to add to the unit website, or if you have any comments or concerns, please contact Cpl. Henry at (585) 659-2240 or e-mail him at bvhenry@rochester.rr.com or contact Lt. Col. McCann at (585) 225-8984 or e-mail him at mccannon01@bluefrog.com or Col. Matteson at (716) 694-0947 or e-mail him at LTCOLBEDLITE@att.net. Thank you.