The Battle of Gettysburg As Seen Through Disunion (1 Viewer)

[jazzeum]

In this moving article, Wounded Lion of the Union, Sarah Handley-Cousins, a graduate student in History at the University of Buffalo, shows Joshua Chamberlain, not the Camberlain we come to know from Gettysburg, but a Chamberlain who was wounded at Petersburg, Virginia in 1864 and whose wounds to his bladder haunted him for the rest of his days. leaving him in excruciating pain.

For the majority of his life he lived with pain, incontinence and infection. Writes Handley-Cousins:

Chamberlain’s case is only one example of the struggles of hundreds of thousands of disabled Civil War veterans. The pain and difficulty of wartime wounds and illnesses did not simply resolve with the surrender at Appomattox, and although prosthetics manufacturers made much of their ability to “fix” disabled soldiers, the majority of veterans suffered wounds, like Chamberlain’s, that no artificial limb could repair.​

The full article can be accessed here, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/05/the-wounded-lion-of-the-union/

 

[jazzeum]

In The High-Water Mark of the Confederacy, Phil Leigh writes of July 3, 1863 and Pickett's Charge.

The full article can be accessed here, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/05/the-high-water-mark-of-the-confederacy/#more-146340

 

[lancer]

In this moving article, Wounded Lion of the Union, Sarah Handley-Cousins, a graduate student in History at the University of Buffalo, shows Joshua Chamberlain, not the Camberlain we come to know from Gettysburg, but a Chamberlain who was wounded at Petersburg, Virginia in 1864 and whose wounds to his bladder haunted him for the rest of his days. leaving him in excruciating pain.

For the majority of his life he lived with pain, incontinence and infection. Writes Handley-Cousins:

Chamberlain’s case is only one example of the struggles of hundreds of thousands of disabled Civil War veterans. The pain and difficulty of wartime wounds and illnesses did not simply resolve with the surrender at Appomattox, and although prosthetics manufacturers made much of their ability to “fix” disabled soldiers, the majority of veterans suffered wounds, like Chamberlain’s, that no artificial limb could repair.​

The full article can be accessed here, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/05/the-wounded-lion-of-the-union/

This is a very informative article on what Chamberlain suffered through. He was a remarkable man, but one of a tough generation of veterans that all suffered from their horrible war wounds. I find myself wondering about Southern vets. What did they survive on? What pensions, if any, did they have? What was a bad situation for the Northern vets must have been even worse for the Southern vets. -- Al

 

[braddinpa]

This is a very informative article on what Chamberlain suffered through. He was a remarkable man, but one of a tough generation of veterans that all suffered from their horrible war wounds. I find myself wondering about Southern vets. What did they survive on? What pensions, if any, did they have? What was a bad situation for the Northern vets must have been even worse for the Southern vets. -- Al

Yep, they got pensions. In fact I recall reading that one Civil War pension is still being paid out or just ended. It was the son/daughter of a soldier who was disabled.

I have read some of the pensions and you would be amazed what these guys went through. Sadly, there were many like Chamberlain (both North and South). One interesting Pension I read was an officer who had other officers testifiy against him because they said he shot himself in the hand and it was not friendly fire. Another one was a soldier at Antietam who was killed but because of confusion it took the govt a year to acknowledge it and start issuing a pension to his mother.

Tragic stuff

 

[Rob]

Well this was an interesting, moving and very sad article indeed. I had no idea what he went through after LRT . Also very sad that this hero of Gettysburg ended his life pretty much in penury. As the last line says, he and others must have wondered what it was all for.

Thanks for posting this Brad.

Rob

In this moving article, Wounded Lion of the Union, Sarah Handley-Cousins, a graduate student in History at the University of Buffalo, shows Joshua Chamberlain, not the Camberlain we come to know from Gettysburg, but a Chamberlain who was wounded at Petersburg, Virginia in 1864 and whose wounds to his bladder haunted him for the rest of his days. leaving him in excruciating pain.

For the majority of his life he lived with pain, incontinence and infection. Writes Handley-Cousins:

Chamberlain’s case is only one example of the struggles of hundreds of thousands of disabled Civil War veterans. The pain and difficulty of wartime wounds and illnesses did not simply resolve with the surrender at Appomattox, and although prosthetics manufacturers made much of their ability to “fix” disabled soldiers, the majority of veterans suffered wounds, like Chamberlain’s, that no artificial limb could repair.​

The full article can be accessed here, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/05/the-wounded-lion-of-the-union/

 

[Rob]

In The High-Water Mark of the Confederacy, Phil Leigh writes of July 3, 1863 and Pickett's Charge.

The full article can be accessed here, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/05/the-high-water-mark-of-the-confederacy/#more-146340

Another very enjoyable article Brad, much appreciated.

Rob

 

[jazzeum]

I think what veterans have suffered from time immemorial is beyond words. At least today, most governments are doing more than what was done in the past.

There was quite an extensive pension system in the post War South and a lot of research has been done in them. However, I believe it was state by state.

 

[jazzeum]

In An Orange Blossom in the Devil's Den, Ron Coddington discusses the Orange Blossoms, the 124th NY Infantry, which, on July 2, was located at Houck's Ridge, a rise of rock-strewn ground anchored on its southern end by a prominent outcropping of boulders known as Devil’s Den.

In the mid afternoon of that day, the New Yorkers fought Texans and Arkansans to a standstill. After countercharge ordered by the major of the 124th, James Cromwell (who was killed during the countercharge), which was initially successful but repulsed by a line of Georgians the 124th withdrew.

However, the resistance of the 124th and other Union forces in this section of the battlefield slowed the advance of the Confederate forces and brought time for the Union forces that arrayed for battle along Little Round Top.

The full article can be accessed here, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/an-orange-blossom-in-the-devils-den/

 

[jazzeum]

Nursing the Wounded at Gettysburg by Pat Leonard, editor and publisher of the Gold Cross, a magazine for volunteer E.M.T.'s in New Jersey, describes the efforts made by several nurses in the aftermath of the Battle, a scene of carnage and gore that "those who came upon it invariably faltered in their attempts to describe it."

In her memoirs written after the war one such nurse, Cornelia Hancock, wrote that

we began to realize that war has other horrors than the sufferings of the wounded or the desolation of the bereft. A sickening, overpowering, awful stench announced the presence of the unburied dead, on which the July sun was mercilessly shining, and at every step the air grew heavier and fouler. Not the presence of the dead bodies themselves, swollen and disfigured as they were, and lying in heaps on every side, was as awful to the spectator as that deadly, nauseating atmosphere which robbed the battlefield of its glory, the survivors of their victory, and the wounded of what little chance of life was left to them.


​

In July 1913, Cornelia Hancock returned to Gettysburg for the 50th anniversary of the battle, where she and other former nurses were treated as honored guests.

The article can be accessed here, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/nursing-the-wounded-at-gettysburg/

 

[Rob]

Really enjoyed this Brad, great description of the action in and around the Devil's Den, thanks for posting. Loving the book by the way mate!:salute::

In An Orange Blossom in the Devil's Den, Ron Coddington discusses the Orange Blossoms, the 124th NY Infantry, which, on July 2, was located at Houck's Ridge, a rise of rock-strewn ground anchored on its southern end by a prominent outcropping of boulders known as Devil’s Den.

In the mid afternoon of that day, the New Yorkers fought Texans and Arkansans to a standstill. After countercharge ordered by the major of the 124th, James Cromwell (who was killed during the countercharge), which was initially successful but repulsed by a line of Georgians the 124th withdrew.

However, the resistance of the 124th and other Union forces in this section of the battlefield slowed the advance of the Confederate forces and brought time for the Union forces that arrayed for battle along Little Round Top.

The full article can be accessed here, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/an-orange-blossom-in-the-devils-den/

 

[lancer]

Nursing the Wounded at Gettysburg by Pat Leonard, editor and publisher of the Gold Cross, a magazine for volunteer E.M.T.'s in New Jersey, describes the efforts made by several nurses in the aftermath of the Battle, a scene of carnage and gore that "those who came upon it invariably faltered in their attempts to describe it."

In her memoirs written after the war one such nurse, Cornelia Hancock, wrote that

we began to realize that war has other horrors than the sufferings of the wounded or the desolation of the bereft. A sickening, overpowering, awful stench announced the presence of the unburied dead, on which the July sun was mercilessly shining, and at every step the air grew heavier and fouler. Not the presence of the dead bodies themselves, swollen and disfigured as they were, and lying in heaps on every side, was as awful to the spectator as that deadly, nauseating atmosphere which robbed the battlefield of its glory, the survivors of their victory, and the wounded of what little chance of life was left to them.


​

In July 1913, Cornelia Hancock returned to Gettysburg for the 50th anniversary of the battle, where she and other former nurses were treated as honored guests.

The article can be accessed here, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/nursing-the-wounded-at-gettysburg/

A gruesome and often overlooked part of the story of Gettysburg. A very good book, done in 1998, is called "A Strange and Blighted Land: Gettysburg, the Aftermath of a Battle" by Greg Coco. Quite an interesting study of what the town and it's people went through to recover after the battle which left the area overwhelmed with thousands of dead and wounded men and animals. -- Al

 

[Rob]

Nursing the Wounded at Gettysburg by Pat Leonard, editor and publisher of the Gold Cross, a magazine for volunteer E.M.T.'s in New Jersey, describes the efforts made by several nurses in the aftermath of the Battle, a scene of carnage and gore that "those who came upon it invariably faltered in their attempts to describe it."

In her memoirs written after the war one such nurse, Cornelia Hancock, wrote that

we began to realize that war has other horrors than the sufferings of the wounded or the desolation of the bereft. A sickening, overpowering, awful stench announced the presence of the unburied dead, on which the July sun was mercilessly shining, and at every step the air grew heavier and fouler. Not the presence of the dead bodies themselves, swollen and disfigured as they were, and lying in heaps on every side, was as awful to the spectator as that deadly, nauseating atmosphere which robbed the battlefield of its glory, the survivors of their victory, and the wounded of what little chance of life was left to them.


​

In July 1913, Cornelia Hancock returned to Gettysburg for the 50th anniversary of the battle, where she and other former nurses were treated as honored guests.

The article can be accessed here, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/nursing-the-wounded-at-gettysburg/

Horrible, fascinating and moving, these women were heroes in their own right. 'The Roses of No mans land' as Rose Coombs described their WW1 counterparts.

A gruesome and often overlooked part of the story of Gettysburg. A very good book, done in 1998, is called "A Strange and Blighted Land: Gettysburg, the Aftermath of a Battle" by Greg Coco. Quite an interesting study of what the town and it's people went through to recover after the battle which left the area overwhelmed with thousands of dead and wounded men and animals. -- Al

Have any of you read 'When the Smoke Cleared ' by George Sheldon? It looks at the trials and Horror that faced the people of Gettysburg in the days after the battle. Its on my list of ACW reads.
Rob

 

[jazzeum]

Meade's Army Annihilated discusses the reaction of the Union prisoners in Libby Prison in Richmond to the news of Vicksburg and Gettysburg, as it was reported in the Richmond Examiner and Richmond Dispatch, both as it was first reported and as more facts regarding the battles came to light.

The article can be accessed here, http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/12/meades-army-annihilated/?#more-146690

 

[Jack]

Horrible, fascinating and moving, these women were heroes in their own right. 'The Roses of No mans land' as Rose Coombs described their WW1 counterparts.

Have you walked around France and Belgium with Rose Coombs' book as well?

 

[jazzeum]

This is a timely post, Brad. I just received notice today from Casemate Publishing that their new book entitled "John Bell Hood: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of a Confederate General" by Stephen Hood, is now available. The Simpson book is a superb history of the whole unit. -- Al

Al,

Came across this interview with Sam Hood the author and thought you might find it interesting, http://civilwarcavalry.com/?p=3442

I'm sure Bob will find it worthwhile also.

Brad

 

[lancer]

Al,

Came across this interview with Sam Hood the author and thought you might find it interesting, http://civilwarcavalry.com/?p=3442

I'm sure Bob will find it worthwhile also.

Brad

Thanks, Brad. It is a very interesting article and just makes me all the more anxious to get my hands on the new book. --Al

 

[Rob]

Have you walked around France and Belgium with Rose Coombs' book as well?

Sorry Jack only just seen this. Yes her's is the Western Front bible as it were and my first copy got so battered on campaign that I have a mint hardback version at home too. Superb work this one a real must have for Battlefield travellers. When she wrote the first edition (early 70's?) She ducked into a pillbox near the Newfoundland memorial park and there was still a stack of British rifles stood in one corner of it. One can only imagine what those places were like in the 60's/70's before everything was spirited away.

Rob