The Remembrances, Poems and Letters of Three Comrades in the Grand Army of the Republic
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Three Comrades: The remembrances, poems and letters of three comrades in the Grand Army of the Republic Compiled by Robert L. Nelson The content of this article is the responsibility of the individual author. It is the library’s intent to provide accurate information, however, it is not possible for the library to completely verify the accuracy of all information. If you believe that factual statements in a local history article are incorrect and can provide documentation, please contact the library. 1 THREE COMRADES The Remembrances, Poems and Letters of Three Comrades in the Grand Army of the Republic Compiled by ROBERT L NELSON PREFACE During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and the first quarter of the twentieth, the American Civil War began to be viewed as an epochal event in the eyes of its participants. At the conclusion of the war in 1865, returning veterans attempted to put the killing, carnage and destruction of the previous four years behind them as they rebuilt their lives. By the 1880’s however, the suffering they had seen and experienced twenty years earlier were beginning to dissipate and be replaced by a pride in what they had accomplished. As this feeling grew, veterans began perceiving themselves as a unique band of comrades who had participated in the great American adventure, which would never be repeated. Organizations such as the Grand Army of the Republic, representing Union veterans of the Civil War, continued to fuel this attitude. They encouraged “comrades,” to share their remembrances in books, articles and letters in order to ensure that the nation would never forget what they had achieved. Among Civil War veterans living in Santa Cruz, California who shared their remembrances and impressions were three members of a local GAR post. Their contributions provide us with a window into the war experiences of young soldiers and sailors, their veteran organization, civilian concerns and the lives of their aging comrades in veteran homes. While gathering information for OLD SOLDIER, the History of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Civil War Veterans of Santa Cruz County California, published by the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History in 2004, individual reminiscences, poems and letters were encountered that cried out to be preserved in a contemporary context. “Three Comrades” is a compilation of the writings of three local Civil War veterans that appeared in the Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper. In their writings Andrew Kane, Isaac Blaisdell and Caleb Todd shared their remembrances, feelings and observations. On November 22, 1885 the Santa Cruz Sentinel began the first of a series of eighteen articles ending on March 14, 1886 recounting the Civil War experiences of Andrew Kane, a local veteran originally from Indiana. In his Remembrances of the War Kane shared his experience as a young soldier serving in the Union Army’s Army of the Tennessee in the western theater, continuing through the Carolinas and concluding with his discharge and return home. The sea battle adventures of Massachusetts’s sailor, Isaac Blaisdell, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel on March 30, and April 11, 1886 provide a glimpse of naval engagements in which he participated during the Civil War. In his Letters to the Editor, from the late 1880s until his death in 1902 Blaisdell shared veteran concerns and served as a local “gadfly” in addressing other issues of the day. In 1908 Caleb Todd, a Santa Cruz carpenter who had served in an Illinois regiment in Tennessee during the war, was admitted into the Sawtelle Soldiers Home near Los Angeles. Over the next ten years he contributed over thirty-seven letters to the Santa Cruz Sentinel describing the life and experiences of old soldiers living out their days in that Southern California facility. Included in the contributions of Isaac Blaisdell and Caleb Todd are a number of poems. Although the style and wording may appear antiquated to contemporary ears, they were typical of the poetry of that period. Readers also need to assume a “then and now” attitude when judging the appropriateness of the racial names used. The epithets the authors applied, which today may be considered crude or offensive, were commonplace in their society and have been left unchanged. The original spelling and punctuation used by the author and/or publisher have also been left as they originally appeared. Between 1865 and the death of the last Union veteran in 1956, Civil War veterans came to envision themselves as a unique and privileged fraternity. That feeling became so imbedded in their belief that they chose to let the Grand Army of the Republic die with its last member rather than become diluted by the inclusion of non Civil War veterans. As you read these remembrances, poems and letters it is hoped that a better understanding of our nineteenth century veterans and the fraternal bond existing among them might be obtained. nels Robert L Nelson Santa Cruz, California January 3, 2014 INDEX Remembrances of the War Andrew H. Kane Page 2 The Voice of the GAR Isaac L. Blaisdell Page 43 Life at the Soldiers Home Caleb J Todd Page 77 REMEMBRANCES OF THE WAR By Andrew Hill Kane Andrew Kane (1841-1912) ABOUT THE AUTHOR Andrew Kane provided harsh, vivid images of the Civil War, along with a lighter view of camp and field life in a series of eighteen articles appearing in the Santa Cruz Sentinel between November 22, 1885 and March 14, 1886. Andrew Hill Kane, the son of Morrison and Rhoda Kane, was born on August 5, 1841 in Hendricks County, Indiana. His parents, originally from Stokes County, North Carolina, had moved to Indiana 1832. When the Civil War began Andrew was living in Ashland, Indiana, and enlisted as a musician in Company A of the Fifty-ninth Indiana Infantry Regiment at Spencer, Indiana on October 10, 1861. He remained with that regiment throughout the war. As a musician Kane served with the band in providing cadence music for the regiment while marching, and signals during its field operations. When in battle he also functioned as a medic in attending the needs of the sick and wounded. At the conclusion of his enlistment on April 14, 1865 he was honorably discharged at Wilmington, North Carolina, and returned to his home in Indiana. Three years later, on October 25, 1868 Andrew married Martha Brady in Fremont, Iowa. In 1870 their daughter Rhoda Kay was born, and the family moved to Jackson in Amador County, California where Andrew worked as a miner. A son Fred was born into the Kane family in 1876, and sometime prior to 1882 the family relocated to Santa Cruz, California. During his early years in Santa Cruz Andrew was employed as a carpenter, and later worked as a policeman. Kane later affiliated with the J.F. Reynolds post of the Grand Army of the Republic and served in most of its offices, including that of commander. While living in the community he also became an active member of the Santa Cruz Odd Fellows lodge. By 1900 Kane had left the carpentry trade and subsequently worked as a salesman, night watchman and census enumerator. During a trip to San Francisco in July 1902, Andrew was hit by a streetcar and suffered internal injuries that remained with him throughout his life. By October of that year his condition had not improved and he admitted himself into the Veterans Hospital at Sawtelle, California for surgery. After returning to Santa Cruz, he attempted part time work as a yardman in a lumber company, but was later forced to return to Sawtelle for additional medical assistance. Andrew remained in that Southern California facility until early 1909 when he was moved to the veteran home in Yountville, California. On May 13, 1909 at the age of 70 Andrew Hill Kane died and was buried in the veteran home’s cemetery. Source Reference: http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/905/ BRIEF REGIMENTAL HISTORY OF THE 59TH INDIANA (Source: http://www.civilwarindex.com/armyin/59th_in_infantry.html) Officers: Colonels, Jesse I. Alexander, Jefferson K. Scott, Thomas A. McNaught; Lieutenant Colonels, Jefferson K. Scott, Thomas A. McNaught, Edward J. McBride; Majors, Elijah Sabin, Thomas A. McNaught, Edward J. McBride, John E. Simpson. This regiment was organized at Gosport in the fall and winter of 1861 and was mustered in Feb. 11, 1862. It left the state Feb. 18, and preceded to Commerce, MO, being the first regiment to report to Gen. Pope for duty with the Army of the Mississippi. It moved to Benton and thence to New Madrid, participating in the siege of that place and being one of the first regiments to enter the town and take possession of Fort Thompson. It then marched for Tiptonville and assisted in the capture of over 5,000 prisoners. It embarked for Fort Pillow April 12, returning on the 17th, and then proceeded to Hamburg, TN. Gen. Buford was assigned to the command of the brigade to which the 59th was attached. The regiment was engaged from April 24 to May 29 in the movements connected with the march to and siege of Corinth, and then joined in the pursuit of the enemy to Booneville, Miss. Returning to Clear creek near Corinth June 13, it remained until Aug. 6 and then removed to Jacinto where it remained until Sept. 7. It then moved to Rienzi where it was joined by 250 recruits from Indiana. It was engaged in the battle of Corinth in October and pursued Gen. Price to the Hatchie River, after which it moved successively to Grand Junction, Davis' mills, Moscow, Oxford, and Lumpkins' mill.