by JD Thomas | Oct 30, 2019
This poem was recited to great applause to crowds in Philadelphia in 1915 at the Forty-Second Annual Reunion of the Army of the Potomac and included in the published Report of Proceedings.
The poem was created on the scene of the reunion by Captain Jack Crawford and was based on the arrest of an old soldier a “day or two” before the meeting. The soldier who was arrested was quoted as saying “I did it, yes I did it, and I’d do it again.”
Assault with Attempt to Kill
“Benjamin White,” the Court clerk cried, and “Benjamin White” again,
When a man of apparently sixty came out of the prisoners’ pen.
He leaned on a cane of hickory wood, and walked with a limping gait,
And stood at the bar with determined face, and there awaited his fate.
“Benjamin White,” his Honor cried, as the crowd in the court grew still,
“The charge which 1 see against your name, is assault with intent to kill.
How do you plead? ’Tis a serious charge, with a heavy penalty;
The Court would advise that you ponder well before you enter a plea.”
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by JD Thomas | Nov 23, 2016
While the loyal citizens of the North were eating their turkeys, our gallant soldiers in the South were also celebrating their Thanksgiving. We illustrate the amusements indulged in at Fort Pulaski, premising, however, that in South Carolina, where our flag waved, the day was observed by special orders of Gen. Saxton.
Thanksgiving Day at Fort Pulaski, Georgia (1862)
Divine services were held in all the churches in Beaufort, and Gen. Saxton visited the camps to see that the soldiers were properly supplied. The grand attraction of the day, however, was the fête given by the officers of the 48th N. Y. V., Col. Barton, and Company G, 3d Rhode Island regiment.
As a curiosity, we give the programme:
- DIVINE SERVICE at 9. The entertainments to commence with target practice. Three competitors from each Company. Distance 200 yards.
- ROWING MATCH—Distance one mile around a stake-boat and return.
- FOOT RACE—Three times round Terreplein, and over 12 hurdles three feet high.
- HURDLE SACK RACE—100 yards and return; over three hurdles 50 yards apart and 18 inches high.
- WHEELBARROW RACE—Competitors blindfolded, trundling a wheel-barrow once across Terreplein.
- MEAL FEAT—Exclusively for Contrabands; hands tied behind the back, and to seize with the teeth a $5 gold piece dropped in a tub of meal. Six competitors, to be allowed five minutes each to accomplish the feat.
- GREASED POLE—Pole to be 15 feet high.
- GREASED PIG—To be seized and held by the tail Three competitors from each Company. Prize—pig.
- BURLESQUE DRESS PARADE—Each Company will be allowed to enter an equal number of competitors for each prize.
Thanksgiving Day at Fort Pulaski, Georgia (1862)
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The wonderful work of archivists have preserved far more material than we usually see. Our goal here is to unearth and present some of the stuff we never saw in school.