tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13887776395427998022024-03-13T07:22:44.098-07:00Fitz John Porter: Portsmouth's Own Herosilkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-46240536906202181252011-08-23T10:17:00.000-07:002011-08-23T10:22:53.457-07:005th New Hampshire Volunteers Visit FJP Monument<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KecyKBPJh4Q/TlPh0hkc4YI/AAAAAAAAA3c/VY4DLK9-pT8/s1600/2011-FJp5thw-KSA.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KecyKBPJh4Q/TlPh0hkc4YI/AAAAAAAAA3c/VY4DLK9-pT8/s320/2011-FJp5thw-KSA.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644103050506068354" /></a>
<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a6M7YRbFqoU/TlPh0bKXS8I/AAAAAAAAA3U/T7PLSNVoX-0/s1600/2011-FJP%2BEncampment.tiff" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a6M7YRbFqoU/TlPh0bKXS8I/AAAAAAAAA3U/T7PLSNVoX-0/s320/2011-FJP%2BEncampment.tiff" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644103048786037698" /></a>
<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_NA-D14LY6g/TlPh0OsmQXI/AAAAAAAAA3M/y9bNwNGgMSQ/s1600/2011-FJP%2BEncamp%2BDet1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_NA-D14LY6g/TlPh0OsmQXI/AAAAAAAAA3M/y9bNwNGgMSQ/s320/2011-FJP%2BEncamp%2BDet1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644103045439963506" /></a>
<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nalBUH9etr8/TlPh0DtzTDI/AAAAAAAAA3E/tiPjaUQL5oQ/s1600/2011-FJPKSA5thNH.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nalBUH9etr8/TlPh0DtzTDI/AAAAAAAAA3E/tiPjaUQL5oQ/s320/2011-FJPKSA5thNH.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644103042492222514" /></a>
<br />5th New Hampshire enlistees salute General Fitz John Porter on Sunday August 21, 2011.<div>
<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">All photographs courtesy of Brian Smestad, BlueTree LLC</span></div>silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-82603853202820291072011-08-22T19:34:00.000-07:002011-08-23T10:17:37.384-07:005th New Hampshire Volunteers at Strawbery Banke<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gD-NkGCjrWc/TlPgfwoZjAI/AAAAAAAAA28/6VXFjP7w83g/s1600/2011-FJPbonfire.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gD-NkGCjrWc/TlPgfwoZjAI/AAAAAAAAA28/6VXFjP7w83g/s320/2011-FJPbonfire.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644101594260278274" /></a>
<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vJlS0VYZabg/TlPgfowRQ-I/AAAAAAAAA20/qXqYVx-o1Gk/s1600/2011-5thNH.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vJlS0VYZabg/TlPgfowRQ-I/AAAAAAAAA20/qXqYVx-o1Gk/s320/2011-5thNH.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644101592145806306" /></a>
<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OcWEUKKDfLg/TlPgfd6N-GI/AAAAAAAAA2s/xNKakPLT81s/s1600/2011-FJPsolider.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OcWEUKKDfLg/TlPgfd6N-GI/AAAAAAAAA2s/xNKakPLT81s/s320/2011-FJPsolider.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644101589234743394" /></a>
<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dii2nNZmrhE/TlPgfGEUs3I/AAAAAAAAA2k/k8HQPpjBayg/s1600/NH%2B5th%2Bw%253Atent%2B%2526%2B%2Btvc.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dii2nNZmrhE/TlPgfGEUs3I/AAAAAAAAA2k/k8HQPpjBayg/s320/NH%2B5th%2Bw%253Atent%2B%2526%2B%2Btvc.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644101582834676594" /></a>
<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YdvB9Br775Q/TlPge7JRzNI/AAAAAAAAA2c/UU252M2yEKQ/s1600/2011-flag%253Asoliders.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YdvB9Br775Q/TlPge7JRzNI/AAAAAAAAA2c/UU252M2yEKQ/s320/2011-flag%253Asoliders.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644101579902667986" /></a>
<br />A photo gallery of the 5th New Hampshire (portraying the 2nd New Hampshire) during this special weekend encampment. Plans are underway for 2012!<div>
<br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">All photographs are courtesy of Brian Smestad, BlueTree LLC</span></div>silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-66394989764931787892011-08-20T06:09:00.000-07:002011-08-20T06:09:10.063-07:00Encampment Weekend at Strawbery Banke<div>Come on out and join us at Strawbery Banke Museum for weekend long encampment and free concert featuring Ken Perlman and Jim Pendergast!</div><div>
<br /></div><a href="http://myemail.constantcontact.com/THIS-WEEKEND-Aug-20-21--Civil-War-Encampment---Concert.html?soid=1101360702314&aid=3gpKLE7CBP8">http://myemail.constantcontact.com/THIS-WEEKEND-Aug-20-21--Civil-War-Encampment---Concert.html?soid=1101360702314&aid=3gpKLE7CBP8</a>silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-18190023485771907962011-07-29T07:10:00.000-07:002011-07-29T07:13:54.038-07:00Latest events for FJP<a href="http://www.strawberybanke.org/fjp.html">www.strawberybanke.org/fjp.html</a><br /><br />Check Strawbery Banke web site for latest updates on events and activities for "Hero or Coward: The Story of General Fitz John Porter" August, September and October will be busy.<br />Join us!silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-58039367589860958032011-07-23T06:52:00.000-07:002011-07-23T07:05:28.420-07:00FJP Post Malvern Hill, Harrison's Landing Respite?<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qka_FA3xtig/TirUel_sxGI/AAAAAAAAAyc/TTAZSwtC96o/s1600/FJPharrisonslanding.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 293px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qka_FA3xtig/TirUel_sxGI/AAAAAAAAAyc/TTAZSwtC96o/s400/FJPharrisonslanding.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632547906040677474" /></a><br />Following the Battle at Malvern Hill on July 1st, 1862, FJP moved to Harrison's Landing along the James River to rendezvous with Gen. McClellan. This semi relaxed camp scene, with General Porter seated, and posed young African American woman who is clearly meant to be in the photograph (laundress?) was probably taken a few days later, around July 4th.<div><br /></div><div>LOC photo</div><div>Courtesy, Philips Exeter Academy Archives</div>silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-90481320530989955892011-07-18T21:28:00.000-07:002011-07-18T21:29:46.628-07:00Civil War Fashion at Strawbery BankeAlexa Price<br />Strawbery Banke Curatorial Intern, summer 2011<br /><br /><br />Last week Salem State University held a one-week intensive class at Strawbery Banke, taught by Chief Curator Kimberly Alexander, Ph.D. and Professor Dane Morrison, focusing on New England's contribution to the Civil War. On Tuesday I was asked to do a brief presentation on clothing during the war era, and in preparation I had the chance to look at some wonderful pieces in the Strawbery Banke collections! I thought I would share my photographs of those pieces with our readers.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-MiSPOz51c/TiUBy1IIXiI/AAAAAAAAAw8/jPMddwVdAys/s1600/blue%2Bgown%2Bcollage"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 394px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-MiSPOz51c/TiUBy1IIXiI/AAAAAAAAAw8/jPMddwVdAys/s400/blue%2Bgown%2Bcollage" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630908881862942242" border="0" /></a><br />This blue silk gown is an exquisite piece of 1860s day wear, with gathered self-fabric trim at the dropped shoulders, fringed pagoda sleeves and acorn tassels at the front closure. The pattern is a fashionable one for the time, when large plaids and stripes were popular for women's clothing. The bodice is fitted with darts in the front, placed directly over two bold blue stripes and causing them to taper down towards the skirt, adding to the illusion of a small waist. Interestingly, women in the 1860s did not wear tight-laced corsets to achieve their figures, unlike the fashions of the later 19th century. Rather, corsets mainly provided support while dropped shoulder seams and hoops worn under the skirts made the waist look smaller by comparison. We unfortunately did not have a hoop to display this dress over, so I will have to leave that to your imagination.<br /><br />Be sure to zoom in on the photographs for a look at the decorative details of this gown-it is well worth it.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br /></div><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-exQ70rkbPz0/TiUCFsQUvXI/AAAAAAAAAxE/2hNe4Cif6G4/s1600/Brown.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 217px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-exQ70rkbPz0/TiUCFsQUvXI/AAAAAAAAAxE/2hNe4Cif6G4/s400/Brown.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630909205898902898" border="0" /></a>This is a simpler day gown, from the very late 1850s or very early 1860s. The cut of the dress is the same as the blue gown, and again the bodice is fitted with darts in the front, but it lacks any form of ornamentation. The bodice has bishop sleeves, a more practical style than the flared pagoda. This particular dress is made from textured silk, but similar gowns with darted or gathered bodices could be made from cotton or calico prints, depending on one's financial means.<br />The less expensive cotton gowns would be what you might expect to see in a Civil War encampment, if a woman were following her husband in the army. Gathered bishop sleeves were more practical for working in camp; also, hoops were very impractical and would not be worn. The hoop had its dissenters, as working women would have known well. In one example from 1860, a mill owner put out a statement that, "It is always a pleasure for us to see our workpeople, and especially our comely young women, dressed NEAT and TIDY.[but] the present ugly fashion of HOOPS. is almost impossible and highly dangerous. We now request all our Hands, at our Factory to leave HOOPS AND CRINOLINE at home" (<a href="http://www.blockaderunner.com/nlc/info.html">http://www.blockaderunner.com/nlc/info.html</a>)<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-shI8yLnGpL4/TiUC-O56E1I/AAAAAAAAAxc/3aruPCOGon4/s1600/Short%2Bsleeves.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 303px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-shI8yLnGpL4/TiUC-O56E1I/AAAAAAAAAxc/3aruPCOGon4/s320/Short%2Bsleeves.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630910177272795986" border="0" /></a></div><br />Strawbery Banke also owns a young lady's gown from c. 1840, which I included because it shares some features with young ladies' fashion during the Civil War. Girls and young teenagers could wear gowns with short sleeves, as this example shows. Skirts were also shorter for young people, starting below the knee for girls, and extending gradually to ankle-length by the age of 18. Girls generally did not wear hoops, only enough petticoats to hold their skirts out to a generous size.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gNZLN2b3QmQ/TiUDTkWIDJI/AAAAAAAAAxk/s6pHgbDtnII/s1600/brown%2Bsleeve%2B.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gNZLN2b3QmQ/TiUDTkWIDJI/AAAAAAAAAxk/s6pHgbDtnII/s320/brown%2Bsleeve%2B.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5630910543805549714" border="0" /></a>And finally, a detail shot of a layered and fringed pagoda sleeve on a deaccessioned gown from Strawbery Banke. The silk is shattering badly on this gown, but it makes an amazing study piece. The pattern is unusual, being almost a watercolor-look broken impression of a plaid!<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gNZLN2b3QmQ/TiUDTkWIDJI/AAAAAAAAAxk/s6pHgbDtnII/s1600/brown%2Bsleeve%2B.JPG"><br /></a>silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-67710159440768900142011-07-11T03:03:00.000-07:002011-07-11T03:10:10.217-07:00"Footsteps of Heros" walking tours, Newburyport, MA<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lGRTZPOWSZA/ThrLJrKThHI/AAAAAAAAAw0/YfU8TM22qmI/s1600/%252531_multipart%25253F2_multipart%25253F3_100_5329.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 301px; height: 226px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lGRTZPOWSZA/ThrLJrKThHI/AAAAAAAAAw0/YfU8TM22qmI/s320/%252531_multipart%25253F2_multipart%25253F3_100_5329.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628034051418063986" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:Times;font-size:medium;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span id="role_document" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">P</span></span></span></span><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">hoto, courtesy Aileen Kelly</span></span></div><div><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Footsteps of Heroes: Civil War Walking Tours of Newburyport</span></b></span></div><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"></span><div><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"></span><div><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"></span><div><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"></span><div><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"></span><div><span id="role_document" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#000000;"><div> </div><div><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"><br /></span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Questions? contact Bill Hallett @ 978.994.4717</span></strong></div><div><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;"></span></strong> </div><div><strong><br /></strong></div><div><strong>Footsteps of Heroes: Civil War Walking Tours of Newburyport</strong></div><div><strong>Saturday, July 30, 2011 @ 5-6:30pm</strong></div><div><strong>Saturday, August 6. 2011 @ noon-1:30pm</strong></div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong></strong> </div><div><dd class="hertoursub"><strong>Begins and ends in front of 57 State St. (Arthur Page Insurance Co) located at State and Pleasant Sts. (tour length ~ 90 min.)</strong></dd><dd class="hertoursub"><strong><br />Bill and Liz Hallett will lead us back in time to the mid-19th century and the conflict that nearly tore the country apart. Newburyport is rich in Civil War history and now those times get their due. See the location of the family dry goods store where Capt. Bartlett worked before becoming a casualty of the Battle of Antietam. See the location of the old meeting house where Frederick Douglas spoke against slavery on his first New England tour. See the home of a prominent citizen and presidential hopeful who was a dear friend of Jefferson Davis. Intersperse these sites with the accounts of famous ships and a Newburyport man who became a Confederate General. Find out what Mayor Jackman and the city did upon hearing of the Lincoln Assassination, and more!</strong></dd></div><div><strong><br /></strong></div></span></div></div></div></div></div></span>silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-18681127795966887242011-07-10T15:39:00.000-07:002011-07-10T16:01:33.692-07:00"Hero or Coward? The Story of General Fitz John Porter" available<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4QX8BVL-oAY/ThouE5JPOZI/AAAAAAAAAws/0h6BBeB3UMQ/s1600/FJPequestrian.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4QX8BVL-oAY/ThouE5JPOZI/AAAAAAAAAws/0h6BBeB3UMQ/s320/FJPequestrian.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5627861345946778002" /></a><br /><i><b>Hero or Coward? The Story of General Fitz John Porter</b></i> is now available for online purchase! For full details, including extras such as content and image previews, Antiques Auction Forum podcast by Martin Willis, book synopsis and author biographies for Kimberly Alexander, Ph.D., Dane Morrison, Ph.D. and Rick Schubart, Ph.D. please visit the publisher's website:<div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">www.thebluetree.com</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Publication will be available at several locations early August; book signings this autumn.</div><div>We look forward to your comments.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Photograph, courtesy, Brian Smestad, April 2011</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">General Fitz John Porter Equestrian Monument, Haven Park, Portsmouth, NH</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">James E. Kelly, sculptor, 1904</span></div><div><br /></div>silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-48653158382353830512011-06-30T07:24:00.000-07:002011-06-30T09:51:19.975-07:00Children's Civil War Reproduction Clothing<span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Times;font-size:small;" >Hello SilkBrocade watchers, this is Alexa here to quickly let you kn</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Times;font-size:small;" >ow about some Strawbery Banke sewing! For the past week I've been working on children's Civil War costumes, which will be used in the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Times;font-size:small;" >Discovery Center. With the Fitz John Porter exhibit in full </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Times;font-size:small;" >swing, we want our young visitors to be able to try on these scaled versions of a Union enlisted man's uniform. The Collections Center has been buzzing with the sound of our seasoned 1975 sewing machine, which has served the museum in making everything from clothing to reproduction bed hangings! So far I have finished one complete outfit (shirt, sack coat, and trousers), but will continue to make more pieces in different sizes.<br /></span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Times;font-size:small;" >This has been a wonderful and fun way to connect the current exhibit to our work with historical clothing! Below are some pictures of my completed pieces, modeled on a child-sized dress form outside the Collections Center, Wednesday 29 June 2011.<br /><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Times;font-size:small;" >.</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LWmhfUWWd-c/TgyIMHPIciI/AAAAAAAAAv8/d6JLdXhsoEQ/s1600/P6290256.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LWmhfUWWd-c/TgyIMHPIciI/AAAAAAAAAv8/d6JLdXhsoEQ/s320/P6290256.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624019776361230882" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UgWx3Ma-vO4/TgyIb4PM6nI/AAAAAAAAAwE/TolFqxK2UfQ/s1600/P6290260.JPG"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UgWx3Ma-vO4/TgyIb4PM6nI/AAAAAAAAAwE/TolFqxK2UfQ/s320/P6290260.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624020047212898930" border="0" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rz2Q-1LM3uE/TgyJB4ENBtI/AAAAAAAAAwM/ev_MXmL7Wms/s1600/P6290265.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rz2Q-1LM3uE/TgyJB4ENBtI/AAAAAAAAAwM/ev_MXmL7Wms/s320/P6290265.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624020700001797842" border="0" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:Times;font-size:small;" ><br /><br /></span></div>silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-85512443435559650462011-06-20T21:58:00.000-07:002011-06-20T21:58:12.088-07:00Hero or Coward? General Fitz John Porter (1822-1901)<a href="http://animoto.com/play/Y9mpJ0DvYV91uJCySYDFfA">Hero or Coward? General Fitz John Porter (1822-1901)</a><div><br /></div><div>A short flick- A photographic biography of a court-martialed man.</div>silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-69834695232558090222011-06-20T06:08:00.000-07:002011-06-20T07:01:25.328-07:00FJP: Field Glasses<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SVphmB_d-mQ/Tf9SIGMRU_I/AAAAAAAAAtU/xUWrm5FYAss/s1600/FJP-glasses-v2.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 237px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SVphmB_d-mQ/Tf9SIGMRU_I/AAAAAAAAAtU/xUWrm5FYAss/s320/FJP-glasses-v2.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620301159036179442" /></a><br /><!--StartFragment--> <h2><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFF99;">The Field Glasses </span></span></h2><h2><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFF99;"><span style="font-family:";"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-family:Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFF99;">In 1862, as part of a new Union strategy to use hot air balloons both for surveillance and possible battle, it is Porter who first scrambles into a balloon basket invented by New Hampshire native, Thaddeus Lowe. Porter makes aerial drawings of Confederate camps at Yorktown using these field glasses. He made use of the surveying and drafting skills he learned at West Point. Note that the field glasses are well used, dented and bent, no doubt due to incidents such as the one on 2 April 1862, which are discussed in previous blog posts. The glasses were put on deposit at Manassas Battlefield by Porter’s daughter Eva in 1947. </span></span></span></h2><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-family:Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFF99;"> </span></span><!--StartFragment--><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFF99;">General Fitz John Porter’s field glasses, used c. 1862. </span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-family:Times;"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFF99;">Courtesy, National Park Service: Manassas Battlefield Park. </span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-family:Times;"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFF99;">Photograph, courtesy Brain Smestad, 2011.</span></span></span><!--EndFragment--> </span></div>silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-56760120009959139972011-06-20T05:52:00.000-07:002011-06-20T06:06:28.876-07:00FJP: New Bronze Bas Relief Portrait Created<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oAqvt8NFP2k/Tf9FYSPjt5I/AAAAAAAAAtM/KWP5FNUmFuQ/s1600/porter1RR.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 319px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oAqvt8NFP2k/Tf9FYSPjt5I/AAAAAAAAAtM/KWP5FNUmFuQ/s320/porter1RR.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620287143497938834" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CVOqJKWbdy4/Tf9FYUSMhlI/AAAAAAAAAtE/5QAnXhI7ajs/s1600/Ronatwork.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CVOqJKWbdy4/Tf9FYUSMhlI/AAAAAAAAAtE/5QAnXhI7ajs/s320/Ronatwork.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620287144045872722" /></a><br /><!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="text-indent:0in"><span style="font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFCC;">Bronze Bas Relief Portrait of General Fitz John Porter <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="text-indent:0in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFCC;">Strawbery Banke Museum’s cooper, Ron Raiselis recently envisioned a wood carved portrait medallion of General Porter. Once he began working with the project, the concept of creating a clay model for casting developed. After studying numerous images of General Porter, the artist’s intent was to make Porter appear a bit older than he had as a uniformed officer, in the post court-martial years, with a slightly preoccupied look and somewhat care-worn visage. The first study was very different from the final—it was more abstract. In the final version, Mr. Raiselis refined the piece to more fully reflect Porter’s personality. The sculptor of the Porter equestrian monument, James E. Kelly, had also been asked by the family to complete a portrait bas-relief, so it has been a true addition to the visual body of work on FJP.</span></p> <p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="text-indent:0in"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFCC;">Ron Raiselis, artist</span></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="text-indent:0in"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFCC;">Gift of Steve and Julia Roberts, 2011</span></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="text-indent:0in"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFCC;">Casting by Skylight Studios, Inc.</span></span></span></i></p> <!--EndFragment-->silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-32793445947545093812011-06-19T09:51:00.000-07:002011-06-19T10:02:23.084-07:00Excerpt from "Hero or Coward? General Fitz John Porter"<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kgbrIl-EpDY/Tf4rjfTdJPI/AAAAAAAAAs8/fFo7hcYFlHI/s1600/FJPequestrian.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kgbrIl-EpDY/Tf4rjfTdJPI/AAAAAAAAAs8/fFo7hcYFlHI/s400/FJPequestrian.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619977273703474418" /></a><br /><!--StartFragment--> <h2 align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Coda:</span></span></h2><h2 align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Monument and Memory</span></span></h2> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Kimberly S. Alexander and Dane A. Morrison</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>New Hampshire is the State of my birth, and my daughter, Eva, desires to go </i></span></span><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>and I wish to take her there, to Exeter </i></span></span><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><i>my [very early?] school home and to </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;"><i>Portsmouth my birth place.</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Major General Fitz John Porter to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">General William Buel Franklin, c. 18 June 1894</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">1</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:2.0in;text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">In1894, retired Major General Fitz John Porter (1822-1901</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">) </span></b></span><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">traveled with his daughter, Eva, to revisit New England and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, places that recalled simpler times in “my boyhood home,” as he wrote to an old friend.</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">2</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> The decision to return to the Portsmouth that he still called “home” may have been one vexed between memories both cherished and troubled. Perhaps the 72-year old Porter thought of it as the final leg of his life’s journey. His had been unusual: Dedicated to the highest standards of soldiering, stumbling on official censure, recommitted to defending his honor, and ending, ultimately, with exoneration and public accolades.</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">3</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> On his journey to Portsmouth, amidst reaquaintances and reunions, his thoughts must have returned to the single defining moment of his life, in the year 1862, the year that saw his greatest victories and rapid downfall.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">* * *<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman";font-family:";color:blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Long after the final battle had been won, Porter’s wife and staunchest support, Harriet, urged the General to agree to sit for the sculptor for the statue that would later grace Haven Park in Portsmouth. As she confided to sculptor, James Edward Kelly (1855–1933), “That it was she who continually urged Porter forward saying why shouldn’t you go out and show your face—you’ve done nothing wrong. And so she had him go everywhere with her.” Harriet was instrumental in securing and working with Kelly, a renowned artist of powerful Civil War monuments, who had designed the statue of General John Buford, dedicated at Gettysburg Battlefield in 1895. Kelly, who would become a fast friend and even serve as a pallbearer at Porter’s funeral, asked what would have happened to Porter had she not been by his side to which she remarked essentially, that he would have wasted away to a shell. She discussed his casual handsomeness as a young man, but that the “trouble” had ruined his health and she poignantly asked the sculptor to show him as youthful rather than as “the wreck” he had become. During the sittings, their repartee was playful. Harriet interrupted frequently, advising, “Fitz sit up straight,” advising the General to pose as though he were in the saddle, and asking Kelly to obscure his bald spot. Clearly, she had a vision of her husband that she would present to the public.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">* * *<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Kelly’s grand equestrian monument to Porter at Haven Park in Portsmouth, is a complex representation of this man and his world.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> The dedication on 1 July 1906, three years after the General’s death and 44 years to the day of his victory at Malvern Hill, was attended by veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Spanish American War and featured a parade and an oration from his friend and comrade, General Alexander Webb. The four-sided base incorporates a plaque and three panels that commemorate highlights of Porter’s career. Nowhere does the monument attest to the greatest battle he fought—his sixteen-year struggle for exoneration. This seems perplexing until we consider the complicated aftermath of </span><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">the Civil War, in which, as David W. Blight observes, survivors sought a lens through which "contending memories clashed or intermingled" around "the tangled relationship between two profound ideas</span></span><span style="font-family:Symbol;mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Symbol;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">¾</span></span><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">healing</span></i></span><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> and </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">justice.</span></i></span><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></i></span><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This “tangled relationship” unfolded even before the planning of the site: First, Portsmouth inhabitants were reluctant to accept the $30,000 gift to the city from Porter’s closest friend and Boston cousin, Richard Henry Eddy, to erect the monument, and then, even during construction, a vandal defaced granite slabs that were being prepared. In an essay on “Myth and Memory,” </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Schultz and Morrison suggest why Porter’s monument tugged so powerfully on bitter memories, observing, “place takes on a particular mnemonic resonance when associated with extraordinary human events, most often involving tragic, sometimes wasteful sacrifice. A place is remembered far more vividly for those who suffered or died in it than for those who lived in it, and the most memorable places are often those where, it seems, lives were squandered. Tragedy can transform a place into a shrine.” </span><span style="Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">What further complicates the issue is Porter’s grand equestrian is its lack of connection between the place and the events—not surprisingly a common feature of New England’s Civil War monuments. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; font-size:medium;">Forty years after the war, Haven Park had come to commemorate the complicated constellation of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; font-size:medium;">victories and losses that survivors remembered from the War; for some, the unstated losses—what was left out of the monument, was the more important enshrinement. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in;line-height:200%"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; font-size:medium;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:medium;">Today, most visitors to Portsmouth walk by General Fitz John Porter without a second glance. Yet, it remains an astonishing testament to the memory of a war both distant and ever present in our national consciousness.</span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height:200%"><o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-47960772603252948512011-06-07T22:29:00.000-07:002011-06-09T20:24:20.210-07:00Hero or Coward? The Story of General Fitz John Porter, release July 2011. ... on Twitpic<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7tWgZPQXiM0/TfGOVkX-PsI/AAAAAAAAAos/zYxjpHaVGKk/s1600/0145-Cover.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 309px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7tWgZPQXiM0/TfGOVkX-PsI/AAAAAAAAAos/zYxjpHaVGKk/s400/0145-Cover.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616426711500340930" /></a><br /><a href="http://twitpic.com/58joxg">Hero or Coward? General Fitz John Porter, release July 2011. ... on Twitpic</a>silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-27430237946097494492011-05-30T00:09:00.000-07:002011-05-30T00:19:32.176-07:00The Field Glasses and the "Yankee" Balloon<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZniLaqciKJI/TeNE7h8uVPI/AAAAAAAAAlY/lvfvG489JDE/s1600/DSC02136.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZniLaqciKJI/TeNE7h8uVPI/AAAAAAAAAlY/lvfvG489JDE/s320/DSC02136.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612405350149805298" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9oNPRzxOFnw/TeNE7SVcMaI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/nQA3d0HR1Vc/s1600/DSC02134.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9oNPRzxOFnw/TeNE7SVcMaI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/nQA3d0HR1Vc/s320/DSC02134.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612405345958506914" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jGS4r9YBXdw/TeNE7GXiHNI/AAAAAAAAAlI/5WUa0X_I7W0/s1600/fjpfield%2Bglasses.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jGS4r9YBXdw/TeNE7GXiHNI/AAAAAAAAAlI/5WUa0X_I7W0/s320/fjpfield%2Bglasses.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612405342746057938" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">General Fitz John Porter's Field Glasses and the "Yankee" Balloon Episode<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br /><br />In 1862, as part of a new Union strategy to use gas-filled balloons both for surveillance and possible battle, it is General Porter who first scrambles into the basket of a gas-filled balloon, invented by New Hampshire native, Thaddeus Lowe. Porter made the first aerial drawings of Confederate camps at Yorktown using these field glasses. He made use of the surveying and drafting skills he learned at West Point. Note that the field glasses are well used, dented and bent, no doubt due to incidents such as the one on 2 April 1862, which are discussed below. The glasses were put on deposit at Manassas Battlefield by Porter’s daughter Eva in 1947. ( Courtesy of Manassas Battlefield National Park.)<br /><br />Avidly supported by President Lincoln, who was intrigued by using balloons to spy on the enemy, the balloon was an important – though short-lived--vehicle for reconnaissance for the Union Army. The Union Army Balloon Corps was created, operated by the New Hampshire born aeronaut and balloonist, Thaddeus S.C. Lowe. <br /><br />General Porter immediately recognized the benefits of balloon surveillance. At 7 am on April 12, 1862, the air of the Union camp just outside of Yorktown was tense and filled with cries of, “The balloon is loose!” In the distance, a hot air balloon floated out over the encampment and toward Yorktown, where the Confederates began firing at it. Porter, who wanted a better look at the enemy and their position, was stuck inside the basket, helpless and unarmed as he was fired upon. Although he began throwing the sand bags overboard, the ropes attached to the gas valve were tied up, about six feet above the basket and he could not control them. Lowe (who was fortunately at the scene) began shouting instructions to Porter. “Open the valve! Climb the netting and pull the valve rope!” The men below took up the call as well. Soon they saw Porter descending from above them. Having reached the rope, Porter opened the valve too much. Acting quickly, he saw a tree and took his chances, jumping into the branches, hanging haplessly tangled in the balloon, the gas filling his lungs. Even before he was safely on the ground, Porter, with his field glasses in hand, began recounting what he had learned of the enemy camp and positions. So well-known was this escapade that it is recounted on the Haven Park equestrian monument.<br /><br />With scant training, the “Yankee Balloon” episode reveals much about Porter- clever, skilled, fearless with perhaps a touch of recklessness thrown in. It also reveals Porter’s calm and cool demeanor even under direct fire in an air balloon struggling to stay out of enemy terrain with a wind shift. Valor, heroism, courage under fire.<br /><br />Robert Sneden, a mapmaker for the Union Army, recalled the danger of the incident:<br /><br />Porter, fearing that he would be carried beyond to the James River unless he could descend, became desperate, climbed out of the car and gave the valve line a hard jerk, which opened the valve wide. It also made him lose his grip on the ropes and he fell into the basket, one half of his body hanging over the side with the balloon 2,000 feet above the earth.silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-85699936637613434172011-05-29T09:07:00.000-07:002011-05-29T09:17:21.685-07:00FJP - Court-Martial Quotes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6dRLU576BMI/TeJwleieaPI/AAAAAAAAAkg/84-FeXnYB98/s1600/images-5.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 279px; height: 181px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6dRLU576BMI/TeJwleieaPI/AAAAAAAAAkg/84-FeXnYB98/s320/images-5.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612171874812193010" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7PABcgGNeeM/TeJwlBEIzsI/AAAAAAAAAkY/N9wYVOxjj1A/s1600/cwcdv394z.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7PABcgGNeeM/TeJwlBEIzsI/AAAAAAAAAkY/N9wYVOxjj1A/s320/cwcdv394z.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612171866900319938" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jiDvl4m6l7M/TeJwk9Hdu1I/AAAAAAAAAkQ/_tA_mFVrxx8/s1600/second%2Bmanassas.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 262px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jiDvl4m6l7M/TeJwk9Hdu1I/AAAAAAAAAkQ/_tA_mFVrxx8/s320/second%2Bmanassas.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612171865840532306" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y5nHkbndDXQ/TeJwklFoF1I/AAAAAAAAAkI/XVRb_FV-sxU/s1600/second%2Bmanassas%2B2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 254px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y5nHkbndDXQ/TeJwklFoF1I/AAAAAAAAAkI/XVRb_FV-sxU/s320/second%2Bmanassas%2B2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5612171859390371666" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Conflicting Quotes on the Court-Martial of General Fitz John Porter<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br /><br />"...[Porter] suffered a judgment of infamy for the single offense of having been one of the wisest, noblest, and bravest of our Army's commanders." Alexander McClure<br /><br />“I do not hesitate to say that, if he had discharged his duty as become a soldier under the circumstances, and had made a vigorous attack on the enemy, as he was expected and directed to do, at any time up to 8 o’clock that night, we should have utterly crushed or captured the larger portion of Jackson’s force before he could have been by any possibility sufficiently reinforced to have made an effective resistance.” General John Pope<br /><br />“Pope will probably try to blame Porter, and lay the blame of the whole matter on him, on the ground of disobedience of orders. General Porter disobeyed no orders...” Stephen M. Weld, Aide de Camp<br /><br />“Fitz John Porter has fought more battles, won more victories, and possesses more brains and patriotism, than every man of the court which tried him, and the hounds who assailed him.” The Laconia Democrat, 13 February 1863<br /> <br />“When he came back from Washington, he wanted to shrink away and hide himself. But I said to him, ‘What have you done? Why should you hide? Why don’t you go out and show yourself? Show that you are not afraid – that you are not conscious of having done anything.’ And I used to drag him out.” Mrs. Harriet Cook Porter<br /><br />Images shown: Maps of 2nd Manassass showing troop locations (assumed) with actual view showing Porter and overwhelming Confederate presence; Porter in full military dress ca. July 1862, just 6 weeks prior to 2nd Manassas, Porter's court-martial.silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-30094764805059975692011-05-21T05:38:00.000-07:002011-05-21T06:10:39.385-07:00Dr. Brent Glass, Director, National Museum of American HistoryMark your calendars! Dr. Brent Glass, Director of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institute, will speak on the Civil War as part of the General Fitz John Porter: Hero or Coward? lecture series. Join us on <strong>Sunday 23 October 2011, 2:00, Strawbery Banke Museum,Tyco Visitor Center</strong>.<br /><br />Further details to follow.<br /><br />strawberybanke.orgsilkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-29922061287859323942011-05-15T11:00:00.000-07:002011-05-20T18:26:12.774-07:00For Credit Course "New England in the Civil War"<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1w0c3_7Zs-I/TdcTt-gQIpI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/1gp7MBmw7sw/s1600/images-4.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 202px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1w0c3_7Zs-I/TdcTt-gQIpI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/1gp7MBmw7sw/s320/images-4.jpeg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608973541506556562" /></a><br /><strong>Experience the Past!</strong><br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>HST 410/HST 709 Institute in Local History<br />New England in the Civil War<br />11-15 July 2010 8:30-4:30 </strong><br /><br />Dr. Kimberly Alexander, Chief Curator, Strawbery Banke Museum<br />Dr. Dane Morrison, Professor of Early American History<br /><br />What was New England’s contribution to the Civil War? What was the experience like for those who fought and those who remained at home? How did the great and the ordinary think and write about their experiences of victory and loss? <br /><br />In this one-week Institute held at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH., we will search for the answers to these questions and more on the site of one of the country’s most respected outdoor history museums. Entering the worlds of soldiers and families, abolitionists and draft dodgers, widows and orphans, we will use Strawbery Banke Museum as text and site. The course will be of particular interest to students in Public History, Education, American and Museum Studies, and Theater, as we explore New England’s Civil War on a 10-acre site comprised of 35 historic houses, replete with gardens, archaeological discoveries, artisans and role-players—along the banks of the Piscataqua River. Through a medley of lectures, discussions, and walking tours, we will go behind the scenes and engage the best practices of museum professionals in art, architecture, education, gardening, and more. <br /><br />For information on course credit for graduate and undergraduate students, contact www.salemstate.edu or www.strawberybanke.org (under "education").silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-86122943663866023332011-05-15T03:10:00.000-07:002011-05-15T03:16:39.627-07:00President Abraham Lincoln on FJP Court Martial<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9duwptAXlPU/Tc-n0R-sZFI/AAAAAAAAAhA/PyhztfxB6Xo/s1600/Lincoln_and_generals_at_Antietam.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 295px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9duwptAXlPU/Tc-n0R-sZFI/AAAAAAAAAhA/PyhztfxB6Xo/s400/Lincoln_and_generals_at_Antietam.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606884577720951890" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />JANUARY 21, 1863.<br /> <br />"The foregoing proceedings, findings, and sentence in the foregoing case of Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter are approved and confirmed, and it ordered that the said Fitz John Porter be, and he hereby is, cashiered and dismissed from the service of the United States as a major-general of volunteers, and as colonel and brevet brigadier-general in the regular service of the United States, and forever disqualified from holding any office of trust or profit under the Government of the United States."<br /><br />--ABRAHAM LINCOLNsilkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-54873442979548630132011-05-15T03:00:00.000-07:002011-05-15T03:05:12.982-07:00General Ellis Spear recalls Civil War experiences<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oLp4dv_z66U/Tc-lFGvivlI/AAAAAAAAAg4/UlUFpihcS5s/s1600/2_clip_image002.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 227px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oLp4dv_z66U/Tc-lFGvivlI/AAAAAAAAAg4/UlUFpihcS5s/s320/2_clip_image002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606881568227507794" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">General Ellis Spear<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br /><br />(write up, courtesy of the JLC CWRT)<br />A native of Warren , Maine a graduate of Bowdoin College , Class of 1858, General Spear commanded the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment longer than any other officer.<br /><br /> In 1862, he was mustered in as captain of Co. G, commanding more than two dozen of his own recruits, and served at the head of that company until promoted after the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Gen’l Spear served in all of the engagements of that regiment from Antietam to Appomattox and mustered out of service in 1865 with the rank of Brevet Brigadier General.<br /><br /> Now the Solicitor of Patents for the government in Washington , D.C. , the general has consented to discuss incidents and anecdotes of his distinguished military career during the Great Rebellion of 1861-1865, now 25 years past.<br /><br /> Following General Spear’s appearance, historian Tom Desjardin will answer questions regarding the 20th Maine Regiment and the Civil War in our country.<br /><br /> Tom Desjardin is a historian whose work focuses on the history of Maine and on the Civil War. He is an 11th generation Maine native and holds a Ph.D. from U Maine. He is a leading expert on the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment and its famous commander Joshua Chamberlain. Tom has been particularly fascinated with Spear’s story since meeting his grandson Abbott Spear in the early 1990s and learning about General Spear’s dry wit and dark, tragic perspective on the Civil War. By appearing as Spear around 1890, Tom will give a first-person perspective on the Civil War and actions of the 20th Maine , including the postwar relationships of the veterans and their differing ways of trying to explain their experiences in combat as well as life in camp during the lulls between battles.<br /><br /> Tom has written four books, appeared in a number of television documentaries, and served as the historical advisor to actor Jeff Daniels in his role as Chamberlain in the movie Gettysburg . He has taught history at Bowdoin College and the University of Maine at Augusta and lived and worked for six years at Gettysburg . He is currently the historian for the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands.<br /><br />For more info, please go to www.cwrt-nh.org<br /><br />For those interested, some members will be dining at Telly's prior to the meeting. To dine with us, please RSVP by Thursday at 6:30 to ensure room at the table. Those who come unannounced make for a crowded dining experience.silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-36217196187407498802011-05-08T18:17:00.000-07:002011-05-08T18:27:19.452-07:00Joshua Chamberlain on FJP<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hfARNeaNRRs/TcdCc7hykyI/AAAAAAAAAgw/RcjKA0Hex2M/s1600/porterfitzjohn.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hfARNeaNRRs/TcdCc7hykyI/AAAAAAAAAgw/RcjKA0Hex2M/s320/porterfitzjohn.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604521326069060386" /></a><br /><br /><br />Joshua Chamberlain:<br /><br />"I would tender any honor in my power to the memory of General Porter, whom I intimately knew, and hold as a splendid type of the soldier, the patriot, the Christian, and the man."silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-63694242135730459592011-05-08T18:10:00.000-07:002011-05-08T18:16:35.043-07:00FJP response to being a "traitor" to his country<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h0AuF8JkOZc/TcdAL5NX3HI/AAAAAAAAAgo/YvepxNLUH-I/s1600/250px-Fitz_John_Porter.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 277px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h0AuF8JkOZc/TcdAL5NX3HI/AAAAAAAAAgo/YvepxNLUH-I/s320/250px-Fitz_John_Porter.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604518834365521010" /></a><br />“Traitor to my country! When did treason so endeavor to maintain the authority of the Government? Traitor to my country! When did treason to labor and peril life to rescue it from destruction? Traitor to my country! Indifferent to the honor of its flag! . . . If the charge had not assumed the solemn form that has been given to it, it would be received everywhere where my whole conduct is known, as ludicrous, false, or the creation of a morbid or distempered brain.”silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-40189456464413720162011-05-08T17:54:00.000-07:002011-05-08T18:04:18.961-07:00Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail Symposium<span style="font-weight:bold;">“The Civil War: Race and Representation in New England”<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br /><br />Saturday, May 14, 2011 9 AM – 2 PM<br />Discover Portsmouth Center, 10 Middle St.<br /><br />Elizabethada Wright Artist Daniel Minter David H. Watters<br /> Rivier College, Nashua NH Portland, Maine University of NH<br /><br />Is there a Civil War monument in your town? <br />Does it make a reference to slaves or abolition? <br /><br />Liz Wright, Daniel Minter and David Watters will lead a discussion <br />of attitudes of white Yankees toward slavery and race after the war.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />7th Annual Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail Symposium<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br />Co-Sponsored by UNH Diversity Initiatives and Seacoast African American Cultural Center <br /><br />Free admission. Pre-register for lunch $15 pbhtrail@aol.com 603-431-2768<br /><br />http://nhcss.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/“the-civil-war-race-and-representation-in-new-england”/silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-88642333385982683362011-05-04T21:34:00.000-07:002011-05-04T21:38:44.025-07:00Revolutionary war patriot, Samuel Cutts meets Paul Revere @ S... on Twitpic<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FIVPBMgxhYk/TcIpCUUf42I/AAAAAAAAAgg/ZlryiRW22rc/s1600/290693033.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 196px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FIVPBMgxhYk/TcIpCUUf42I/AAAAAAAAAgg/ZlryiRW22rc/s400/290693033.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603086006193480546" /></a><br /><a href="http://twitpic.com/4t2k6h">Revolutionary war patriot, Samuel Cutts meets Paul Revere @ S... on Twitpic</a><br /><br />Samuel Cutts suit, c. 1775-1785. <br />Mannequin and styling, Schaeffer Arts<br />Strawbery Banke Museum Collections<br />Photograph, Astrida Schaeffer<br /><br />More to come on this important surviving example of Portsmouth's Revolutionary War era men's wear.silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1388777639542799802.post-50650345759377419672011-05-04T21:29:00.000-07:002011-05-04T21:30:30.701-07:00NH Volunteers, black beaver pelt chapeux, Bush & Bent Co.... on Twitpic<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6lx6WjqdRsM/TcIn3JiJITI/AAAAAAAAAgY/a7K7Inzjqhk/s1600/FJP-042.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6lx6WjqdRsM/TcIn3JiJITI/AAAAAAAAAgY/a7K7Inzjqhk/s400/FJP-042.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603084714807730482" /></a><br /><a href="http://twitpic.com/4tj76o">NH Volunteers, black beaver pelt chapeux, Bush & Bent Co.... on Twitpic</a>silkbrocadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17013743842817593623noreply@blogger.com0