Category Archives: Military Matters

living flag

Posted on June 14, 2018 by SUMPTER

“Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I’m not ashamed of that, never have been, never will be.”                  – John Wayne According to Wikipedia, … Continue reading →

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bait and scalp

Posted on December 21, 2016 by SUMPTER

On December 21 1866 a small band of Lakota, Arapaho, and Cheyenne lured a force of about 80 United States soldiers away from the confines of Fort Phil Kearny, which was there to protect the Bozeman Trail, and into a … Continue reading →

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“their sudden emancipation”

Posted on September 23, 2015 by SUMPTER

It’s going on six months since federal troops won the Battle of Fort Blakely on April 9, 1865 and a few days later occupied Mobile, Alabama. It is written that “The siege and capture of Fort Blakely was basically the … Continue reading →

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“boots and saddles” no more

Posted on July 7, 2015 by SUMPTER

From the Seneca County Courier July 13, 1865: LETTER FROM A SENECA FALLS SOLDIER-BOY. The following interesting letter is from a native of this town, who was among the very first to respond to the President’s first call for Volunteers … Continue reading →

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pay-roll pay-off

Posted on May 28, 2015 by SUMPTER

From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in May 1865: The average pay due each soldier is $250, and the government is ready to pay off and discharge every man in both armies. The friends of General Sherman and Secretary … Continue reading →

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exhumation impracticable

Posted on May 22, 2015 by SUMPTER

Family and friends weren’t allowed to exhume the remains of soldiers in Virginia, especially if they had been dead less than a year. From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in 1865: The Removal of Dead Soldiers from Virginia. Colonal … Continue reading →

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what’s next?

Posted on May 18, 2015 by SUMPTER

President Lincoln wasn’t afraid to swap horses midstream of the rebel invasion back in 1863. Thankfully for the Union cause, George Gordon Meade, the new commander of the Army of the Potomac, sure knew how to play defense against the … Continue reading →

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quiet kanawha

Posted on May 15, 2015 by SUMPTER

It had been real quiet for the New York First Veteran Cavalry in the Kanawha Valley, but our SENECA correspondent was able to report the April surrender of a small rebel force at Lewisburg on Appomattox terms. The veterans in … Continue reading →

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make love, and war

Posted on April 8, 2015 by SUMPTER

Spring’s not a bad time to celebrate the creative arts. From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in April 1865: A corporal of the 18th New Hampshire regiment was recently taken ill and sent to the hospital, and in a … Continue reading →

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dropped out at Farmsville

Posted on April 8, 2015 by SUMPTER

From Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant (in chapter 66): This [General Lee’s letter of April 7th] was not satisfactory, but I regarded it as deserving another letter and wrote him as follows: April 8, 1865. GENERAL R. E. LEE, Commanding … Continue reading →

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