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BBaannnneerr Newsletter of the Colonel James D. Brady Camp No. 63 Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Honoring Union Veterans in Southeastern Virginia since 2003 April – June 2012

Camp Marks the Sesquicentennial of the By: Tom Grund

Photo: Neil Hanlon Union cavalry on parade at , May 5, 2012

On Saturday, May 5, 2012, the Brady Camp gathered for a tour of the battlefield sites at Williamsburg, VA. Neil Hanlon, Tom Grund, Ed Freyfogle and Lou Mosier turned out for the tour. The tour was led by Brother Tom, who studied for months to prepare for the event. This year’s tour was different from the camp’s last visit to Williamsburg in 2010. The previous tour, which was led by local historian Michael Moore, focused on the Confederate redoubts, or small fortifications, south and east of Williamsburg. By contrast, the 2012 tour visited key sites all around on the battlefield. Brother Tom noted during the tour that the Battle of Williamsburg was primarily fought outside the redoubts, so it was necessary to show more than just the Confederate line. Additionally, this year’s tour added the soldier’s view of the battle. Brother Tom narrated the story of the battle at the various tour stops, Photo: Neil Hanlon but also told the (Left to right) Lou Mosier, Tom Grund, and Ed personal stories of two Freyfogle at the grave of Sergeant Joshua soldiers from the Richardson in Yorktown National Cemetery. Excelsior Brigade, Sergeant Richardson was killed in action at the Sergeant Joshua Bloody Ravine in Williamsburg. Richardson and Private Martin Bingham, who was married to Richardson’s niece. Brother Lou also had two ancestors (great uncles) at the battle in Battery D, 1st New York Light Artillery, and he offered the viewpoint of these artillerymen as well.

The tour began at 10:00 A.M. at Yorktown National Cemetery. The brothers visited the grave of Sergeant Richardson and placed a small flag as Tom introduced Richardson and Bingham to the group. Tom then began the tour with some background on the 1862 , connecting this tour to the camp’s earlier visit to the Yorktown- Warwick Siege Line and the Battle of Dam Number 1. At the end of the month-long siege of the Yorktown-Warwick Line, from April 5 to May 4, 1862, the Confederates abandoned Yorktown and retired up the Peninsula. The Confederate Commander, General Joe Johnston, wanted to find a more suitable place to engage the Army of the Potomac and had no intention of fighting in the line of fortifications at Williamsburg. Johnston’s plans changed, however, when Union cavalry aggressively pursued his army and attacked the rear of his column on the afternoon of May 4. Johnston decided to fight

2 a rear guard action in the Williamsburg Line the next day. The Williamsburg Line consisted of a network of 14 redoubts between the York River on the east and the on the west. Redoubt 6 was actually a large fort named , and it was situated at the principle road junction south of Williamsburg. Controlling this junction was the key to keeping the Federals out of the city, so Johnston deployed his read guard forces around Redoubts 2-6 in the western parts of the line.

After finishing at Yorktown, the group drove to the first stop on the tour. This was the position occupied by two Union artillery batteries from Major General Joe Hooker’s Division. The site is located along Route 199/Penniman Rd. Brother Tom explained that this site was also the place where Hooker first surveyed the redoubts and deployed two of his three infantry brigades to probe Redoubts 2-6 on the morning of May 5. Hooker’s men soon encountered two Confederate brigades under the command of Brigadier General Richard H. Anderson and the battle bogged down into a bloody stalemate.

Map: Civil War Preservation Trust A map of the Brady Camp tour of the Battle of Williamsburg.

The group then drove up Penniman Road to Fort Magruder (Redoubt #6), passing through the triangular road junction along the way. The area between the two positions is obscured by woods today, but the short drive gave everyone an idea how close the two sides were. At the fort, Brother Tom explained the Confederate response to Hooker’s opening moves. The Confederate field commander was Brigadier General James Longstreet, who commanded a division of six brigades, including the two already engaged. Longstreet knew that Hooker had more artillery than he had, so he devised a plan to outflank Hooker and force his artillery back.

From there, the group back-tracked down Penniman Rd. and followed Route 199 to Route 60/Pocahontas Trail. The next stop was at the infamous “Bloody Ravine,” which 3 saw the heaviest fighting during the Battle of Williamsburg. Brother Tom explained that Hooker’s second brigade, the Jersey Blues Brigade, arrived at this point along the ravine in pieces, with the later regiments coming just in time to block the Confederates’ flanking maneuver and prolong the stalemate. Tom also pointed out the close proximity of Redoubt 4, the most embattled of all the redoubts. Following Tom’s narrative, the group spent some time exploring the ravine.

The brothers then went to Redoubt #3, which is located at the Williamsburg Crowne Plaza Hotel. About half of this redoubt is well preserved in the courtyard behind the hotel. At Redoubt 3, Tom continued the story of the battle. Late in the morning on May 5, 1862, Hooker committed two of the four regiments from his last brigade, the Excelsior Brigade, just as the last two brigades from Longstreet’s Division arrived. Hooker then committed his last two regiments. The Excelsiors held the field with the Jersey Blues until 2:00 P.M., outnumbered 3-to-1 by Longstreet’s command, but they were finally overwhelmed and driven back to a new position in the woods to the south. Here they were reinforced by two brigades from Brigadier General Phillip Kearney’s Division at 3:00 PM. Kearny’s troops were outnumbered by Longstreet’s men, but now the Confederates were exhausted and disorganized, and Kearny’s force drove them back to the redoubts, where the fighting ended at nightfall.

The group decided to break for lunch after visiting Redoubt #3, and then went to Colonial Williamsburg for a sesquicentennial ceremony in honor of the battle. The ceremony was held behind the colonial court house and featured the key-note speaker, Professor James I Robertson, Jr., of Virginia Tech, as well as a parade by Union and Confederate reenactors.

Afterwards, the group resumed the tour and drove to Redoubt #1 on the far western flank of the line. This redoubt did not play a part in the fighting on May 5, but the site is well preserved in a city park and it has several historical markers interpreting the site and the Williamsburg Line. Here Brother Tom described a lost opportunity by the Union to seize this undefended redoubt and turn Longstreet’s right flank. The brothers also discovered that nearby Redoubt #2, which was abandoned and overgrown for a long time, has been cleared and connected to Redoubt # 1 by a walking path.

From Redoubt # 1, Brother Tom led the group to the opposite flank. Here, at the eastern redoubts, a small Union force under Brigadier General Winfield S. Hancock succeeded in turning the Confederates’ left flank. The brothers could not visit the most embattled redoubt of the eastern battlefield, Redoubt #11, because it is overgrown and located on private land. Instead, the group went to Redoubt Park on Quarterpath Road, where Redoubts # 12 and # 13 are preserved and interpreted. From here, Tom narrated the action on the Union right. Hancock led a brigade in the Army of the Potomac’s IV Corps (later renumbered as the VI Corps). As Hooker battled on the Union left, Hancock was sent to the right to investigate reports that there were unoccupied redoubts, and an unguarded road into Williamsburg, on the eastern flank. Hancock marched his brigade toward Redoubt 14 and quickly occupied it, along with neighboring Redoubt #11. From there, Hancock approached Redoubts # 9 and #10 near Fort Magruder, deployed 10 artillery pieces, and bombarded the fort and the neighboring redoubts. The stunned Confederate commanders rushed troops into Redoubts # 9 and #10 and sent a brigade under Brigadier General Jubal Early to outflank Hancock’s position. Hancock’s isolated brigade was now in danger, but through a combination of skill and luck he won the day. Early’s Brigade severely botched their flanking attack while Hancock’s men flawlessly

4 defended the high ground near Redoubt #11. After only 23 minutes, Early’s men retreated back the way they came, leaving a staggering number of casualties behind. Hancock suffered only slight losses. Darkness then fell, and the Confederates from both flanks joined Johnston’s retreat up the peninsula.

Brother Tom concluded the tour with a summary of the battle. Williamsburg was considered a Union victory by the standards of the Civil War era because Johnston left the field in Union hands. However, Johnston met his tactical objectives by fighting a successful rear guard action until the traffic jam in Williamsburg had cleared. Thus, some modern historians have tried to spin the outcome as a Confederate victory. Tom noted, however, that the battle had no affect on McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign, and before long the armies were fighting near Richmond. Moreover, the citizens of Williamsburg were strongly pro-Confederate, and they bitterly condemned Johnston for leaving them under Union occupation. Tom also described General McClellan’s unjust reporting on the battle, which over-emphasized Hancock, mentioned only Hooker’s heavy losses, and ignored Kearny all together. Finally, Tom closed by noting the importance of the Battle of Williamsburg in Civil War history. At Williamsburg, over 25- 30% of both the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia got their first taste of full-scale battle. In addition, many veterans of larger battles like Gettysburg would later look back on Williamsburg as their toughest fight of the war, due to the intense, point-blank fighting, the severe weather, the muddy ground, and the broken terrain near the Ravine. Tom noted that for these reasons, observing the sesquicentennial of the Battle of Williamsburg was an entirely fitting activity for the camp that includes Williamsburg in its region.

Union Soldier Gets Long-Delayed Tombstone By James Thomas Jr. Virginian-Pilot correspondent © May 31, 2012 http://hamptonroads.com/2012/05/union-soldier-gets-longdelayed-tombstone

Down a dusty, wooded lane, leading to a small family graveyard with names etched on concrete slabs, honor and recognition was paid to a Nansemond County Civil War veteran whose family can trace its ancestral loyalties to both sides of the divisive conflict.

William A. Boon, a free black, served with Union forces near in 1864. He was buried in a small family plot with no military markings. But after discovery of his service record, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War had a memorial service and presented a tombstone.

It reads "William A. Boon, Pvt. Co. H USCT (United States Colored Troops), Jan. 15, 1845 - Nov. 18, 1937."

William Aldred Boon

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"The march of this soldier is over," invoked Thomas L. Grund Jr. commander of James D. Brady Camp 63. "Let us remember comrade Boon... that it is our duty as Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War to honor the memory of the men who stood shoulder to shoulder on the bloody fields of battle...who fought for liberty and the dear old flag."

Photo: Mark Day Brady Camp Brothers Joe McGrenra, Don Wells and Tom Grund stand at the grave of Private William Aldred Boon on the Boone Family Farm in Gates, NC.

Sons of Union Veterans members laid two wreaths, a rose and a U.S. flag at the grave, followed by a three-volley military gun salute and the playing of taps.

About 100 Boon descendants and friends met at the Stoney Branch Baptist Church in nearby Boonetown for the procession to the gravesite. Descendants included two granddaughters, a 95-year-old grandson, several great-great-grandchildren and too many cousins, nieces and nephews to count.

State and county lines tend to blur in this thicket of woods between Nansemond County and Gates County, N.C., where Boon settled after the war. Originally from Suffolk, he married Caroline Parker-Boon with whom he had nine children.

Discovery of Boon's burial site and military service comes 13 years after a tombstone dedication in Skeetertown for older brother, Jason Boone, who served for the Confederate 41st Virginia Infantry and honored by Sons of Confederate Veterans of the Civil War.

Linwood Boone, 50, a great-grandson of William, followed up on family oral history to find facts about the younger Boon.

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Photo: James Thomas Jr. Linwood Boone, great-grandson to William A. Boon, located the gravesite and researched military records to arrange the tombstone dedication.

"My mother first mentioned it to me," Linwood said. "My mother has Alzheimer's and I didn't believe her at the time. But then another family member said it was true, that he was buried in the Boone cemetery somewhere in Nansemond County.

I couldn't find it. But eventually I did find it and started to do some research."

Linwood's research included the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, state archives in Virginia and North Carolina and libraries at Hampton University and Norfolk State University.

Family genealogists place Jason and William as two of nine children of John C. Boone and Martha (Patsy) Reid from Skeetertown. Further evidence shows two other brothers, Anthony and Frank, also served during the Civil War for the South and North respectively.

After the war, the brothers went separate ways, adding yet another inscrutable footnote to the war that pitted brother against brother.

"The discoveries have brought us together in a wonderful kind of way. We have bonded in a new way," Linwood said. "It gives you a sense of peace that we are arriving at some reconciliation."

Katheryne Hamilton, great-granddaughter to Jason Boone, told the Pilot's Linda McNatt in 1999 that the Boone family was descended from Joe Skeeter, an English surveyor

7 who settled Skeetertown, near the Dismal Swamp. A daughter, Patsy, purportedly had two interracial marriages. Patsy was mother to Jason and William.

Photo: Mark Day A combined honor guard from the Sons of Veterans Reserve (SVR), the 63rd New York Infantry, and the 54th Massachusetts Infantry fired volleys for William Boon.

It's unclear why the last name spellings vary from Boon to Boone. Hamilton posits that since few whites or blacks could read or write, in many cases spelling depended on who was doing the writing.

Linwood noted "race and class struggle" also played a part in family differences."

There was a Skeetertown family reunion for all descendants of Joe Skeeter over the Memorial Day weekend.

"Skeeters, Boones, Milteers Chalks, Faulks of all races," Hamilton said.

James Thomas Jr., [email protected]

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Movie Review – Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter By Joseph J. McGrenra

This summer saw the release of a strange hybrid of a movie, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Part historical/Civil War and part action/fantasy/ horror film. For those unfamiliar with the property, it started life as a 2010 novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, whose premise was that it was based on Lincoln’s Photo: Abraham Lincoln – Vampire Hunter “secret diaries.” I have President Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) giving the not read the book, so Gettysburg Address. these comments apply only to movie.

The plot starts with Lincoln as a young boy, who gets upset when a friend and his family are sold to a Southern Plantation owner. As the boy is abused, young Abe Lincoln goes to stand up for his friend, which leads to his father being fired. In retaliation, the slave dealer (who is a vampire) visits the Lincoln home that evening and bites/kills young Abe’s mother. Unknown to the vampire, Lincoln saw him and swears vengeance.

The first half of the movie follows Lincoln as he begins and his life and legal and political careers in Springfield, Illinois, including learning about vampires and how to fight them. The second half of the movie skips until he has been elected President and deals with his time as President including the Civil War. Several major events such as the death of his son Willie, signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Battle of Gettysburg.

I am a fan of the action, fantasy, and horror genres, but I am not a big fan of historical fiction. I have found a lot of historical fiction will use names of historical events and figures without any regard to the actual events or persons, and this film is no different. In my opinion, the most successful type of historical fiction keeps the actual events and people as accurate as possible while using fictional characters to tell the story. I found the first half with the young Abe Lincoln to be better only because it is structured like a “super hero” type film with a character having two identities. “Abe Lincoln” is shown arriving in Springfield becoming a lawyer and getting involved in politics, while his “Vampire Hunter” identity is a role he assumes when the need develops to dispatch vampires. The second half of the film finds Lincoln in the White House, and I felt was much less successful as instead of keeping the historical and “Vampire Hunter” identities separate, it merges them supplying new reasons for events including the underlying reason for the start of the Civil War, death of Lincolns son, and the Battle of Gettysburg

9 to mention a few examples and to this combination evens adds a dash of 21st century political correctness and the latest in special effects.

Overall, I found two strengths that I think lift Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter above being a just a forgettable summer action type movie. The first was Benjamin Walker’s performance as Lincoln, which I found to be excellent. Mr. Walker worked hard to capture the essence of Lincoln, and I think he did an outstanding job even when the film gets into areas that are pure fantasy. The second (which also is a result of Mr. Walker’s performance) was the recreation of the Gettysburg Address. The greatest legacy that this film could have would be to encourage young people to learn about the real Abraham Lincoln and the real Civil War.

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Brady Camp Schedule August – December 2012

August:

131st SUVCW National Encampment Dates: August 9-12, 2012 Location: Los Angeles Airport Marriott 5855 West Century Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90045 Phone: 1-310-641-5700 / Toll-free: 1-800-228-9290

September:

Camp Business Meeting: September 22, 2012 Location: The Rose & Crown Restaurant 11861 New Kent Highway, New Kent, VA 23124 Time: 12:00 P.M. POC: Steve Von Hitritz Note: After the meeting, there will be a tour of Historic St. Peter's Parish Church. George and Martha Washington were married in the church in 1759, and it served as General Sumner’s HQ during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign.

October:

Belle Isle Memorial Dedication: October 6, 2012 Location: Belle Isle Richmond, VA Date: October 6, 2012 Time: 1:00 P.M. POC: Neil Hanlon Note: In the event of bad weather, the make-up date is October 13, 2012.

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November:

Camp Business Meeting / Election of Officers: November 3, 2012 Location: Carrot Tree Kitchen 411 Main Street Yorktown, VA Time: 12:00 P.M. POC: Tom Grund

Veterans Day Observance: November 11, 2012 Location: Cold Harbor National Cemetery, Richmond, VA Time: 11:00 A.M.

Remembrance Day, Gettysburg, PA: November 17, 2011 Location: Gettysburg PA

December:

Installation of Officers Luncheon: December 15, 2012 Location: Carrot Tree Kitchen 411 Main Street Yorktown, VA Time: 12:00 P.M. POC: Tom Grund

“Gentle When Stroked, Fierce When Provoked” The Irish Brigade at Gettysburg, July 2, 1863 By Bradley Schmehl 11