Updates & News

January 27, 2012

I've added a new page giving Major Jacob Parker Gould's testimony to the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War.   Gould appeared January 2nd 1862, and answered questions about his command at Harper's Ferry, September - October, 1861.  

January 16, 2012

I have added a page with the text and various  newspaper reaction, to the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

January 11, 2012

The new page Camp at Sharpsburg, 1862,  is up.  

November 24, 2011

I've updated the Harper's Ferry, 1861, page.  Correspondence with Harper's Ferry Historian David Fox in 2010, and Marlboro Historical Society Trustee Paul Brodeur this summer, have made locations, events, and the role of some soldiers clearer.  There is a lot of new information, including a section on engineer Lauriman Russell, photos of California 49er Chandler Robbins, William R. Warner,  and George Marshall.  I have also restored correspondence from Captain R.C. Shriber, which I initially edited out of  Richard Humphrey's original research for the purpose of keeping a strict chronology. There is still some overlap with the Sandy Hook page because events occured simultaneously.   Nine Weeks at Harper's Ferry.

September 10, 2011

The new web page for the Maryland Campaign and the Battle of Antietam is up.  Highlights include John S. Fay's Memoirs, Lt. Charles B. Fox's casualty report, and the article "Short Service."  Antietam.

May 19, 2011

I had enough material to fit a new page between the 2nd Bull Run battle and the next page to come, -the Antietam Campaign.   This page is interesting for its list of '13th Mass.' men interned at various hospitals around Washington, D.C.   The list was compiled for the Surgeon General in response to the disastrous battle of 2nd Bull Run.  Aftermath.

April 1, 2011

The Fort Independence Page has been updated with new material and pictures.  Fort Independence.

March 18, 2011

The Sandy Hook page has been re-built with css.  New material has been added to the page including serveral letters and photos.  A few bits from the Official Records shed new light on events described, including the engagement at Beller's Mill, Sept. 2nd.  There is some overlap now with the Harper's Ferry Page, which will be rectified when that page is updated.  Camp at Sandy Hook.

February 7, 2011

I've re-built the "Williamsport '62" page using css.  There should be no difference in the page other than a tighter layout & hopefully, better design.  The page design now matches the later pages rather than the earlier pages.  I plan to 'retro-fit' all the earlier pages with the css layout as time permits.

January 27, 2011

The latest web page has been added to the history section.  This is "The Battle of 2nd Bull Run."  The page describes the bloody action on Chinn Ridge during the climax of the battle, August 30, 1862, and what the soldiers of the 13th Mass., experienced during and after the battle.   This is a milestone page for me.  Second Bull Run was the first major action the regiment saw, and it has long been my desire to share these collected stories with  a broad audience.  The page concludes with a list of men killed during the battle.   As usual, comments are appreciated.

November 13, 2010

Its been a long while, but the latest page is up, General Pope's Retreat.  This was the most challenging page to build to date & I'm very proud of it. It contains the usual collection of soldiers' letters and memoirs, but I have added more narration to explain this complex campaign, where strategic events happened daily.  The page initially ended with a short account of the 2nd Battle of Bull Run, but since I will devote an entire page to that event, it ends with the engagement at Thoroughfare Gap, August 28th, 1862.  Charles Roundy's reflections on General Pope's campaign end the page.  The next page won't take nearly as long to build, or post.  I hope you enjoy my account of Pope's Retreat.  Comments are appreciated.

May 16, 2010

The new page "General Pope Takes Command" (June 26 - August 9th, 1862) is posted.  This page covers the creation of Major-General John Pope's Army of Virginia, and ends with The Battle of Cedar Mountain.  The battle/battle-field is described by Austin Stearns and John B. Noyes. 

I've added a new feature to the page; a sidebar that lists other brigades and regiments that served with the 13th Mass.  I've also simplified the Table of Contents into broader categories.  Individual letters and articles are indexed on the 'site map' page.

Again, I would ask that any bugs, layout breaks or broken links be reported to me via the 'contact us' page.  Please tell me the browser & version you are using,  The layout looks good in my firefox browser.  But the layout broke up in Explorer.  This happened to me with the last page.  I just think my version of Explorer is buggy.  Comments are always appreciated.

March 1, 2010

The new Page "To Front Royal & Back" (May 29 - June 22, 1862) is posted.  Sitemap and links pages are updated accordingly.  This covers part of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign of 1862.

February 5, 2010

I've added an image of the Steamer "Nelly Baker" to the Fort Independence page with a bit from Austin Stearn's memoirs.

January 31, 2010

I have added the transcription of an article from a Southern newspaper, The Staunton Spectator, to the Williamsport '62 page and the Site Map.  The article gives a southern slant to Jackson's movements at Hancock and Romney.

January 25, 2010

The Harper's Ferry Page was updated with new information about the "Shenandoah City" iron foundry burned by Col. Geary following Bolivar Heights.  Information was provided by Harper's Ferry Park Ranger David Fox.

December 31, 2009

The new page "A Change in Plans" is posted.  This covers the history from May 12th - May 28th when General Irvin McDowell took command of Hartsuff's brigade and advanced to Falmouth near Fredericksburg.  The page has a better css template than the previous page posted in September, and I will be working to correct the "Old Crummy" page with the new layout.  The Site Map and History, 1862 pages have been updated with links to the new page.

September 7, 2009

The new page "With Old Crummy to Camp Misery" is posted.  This page chronicles the short period of time when the regiment's brigade was commanded by General John J. Abercrombie, who marched them from Winchester to Warrenton Junction, Va.  This is a large page, with many large images.  This is also the first page using a CSS stylesheet with html code.  The CSS is not as efficient as it could be but I will make future improvements as I get more familiar with the code.  The page looks best if you have at least 800 pixels in the viewing window.  As always, comments are welcome and please report any errors or problems to me using the "contact us" page.  This will probably be the last update for a while.

I have started a new blog dedicated to research I come across while building the website.  The link is: http://13thmass.blogspot.com/

August 28, 2009

The "Advance to Virginia" page has been uploaded and linked to the history '1862' page.The Site Map has also been up-dated to link to the new material.  Please report any errors, typos etc. to me using the "contact us" page.

June 25, 2009

The 'Williamsport, 1862' page has been uploaded, (a most ambitious page). It is linked off of the 'History' > '1862' page.  The Site Map has been updated with new links to this page.  

My screen resolution is set at 1280 x 1024.  Mozilla Firefox is my browser.  Most of the content fits within a box of 816 pixels wide.  The pages will react differently in different browsers.  Please use the 'Contact Us' link in the left-hand navigation bar to report any problems you may have accessing pages, or any other technical difficulties experienced so I can address them.  Hope you enjoy the site.

June 10, 2009

The new page, 'Williamsport, 1862' is completed but not posted.  I am awaiting permission to use an image from the West Point Military Museum on the page.  The new page will be the first link from the history for the year 1862.

New material has been added to the following  pages at this site:  Fort Independence, Departure, Sharpsburg, Darnestown, & Williamsport 1861. There are lots of new photographs and text.

New text icludes excerpts from the history of the 39th Illinois Volunteers;  letters and photographs of 13th Mass band-member Edwin Rice; letters of Oliver H. Walker, Co. C; and articles by Major Elliot C. Pierce, Charles H. Bingham, Co. D,  and Charles Roundy, Co. F.  The Rice letters come from a small booklet published in 1975, titled "Civil War Letters of Edwin Rice"  Edited by Ted Perry.  Three letters of Oliver Walker, Company C were received from the curator of the Western Maryland Room, Hagerstown Library.  Images from the Boston Public Library & the Library Company of Philadelphia have also been added.

The Fort Independence page has several new photographs of the fort & a letter of Edwin Rice.  One of the new photos is an aerial shot from the Boston Public Library Prints Department.

The Departure page - a beautiful vintage photograph of the Boston Waterfront that includes the area known as 'Long Wharf" has been added, courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Prints Department. There is also a new illustration of the Cooper Shop Refreshment Saloon in Philadelphia, courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia.  There are two new newspaper accounts from the Philadelphia Inquirer, August 1st, & August 2nd, 1861, chronicling the 13th's arrival and passage through the city.

The Sharpsburg page now includes an historic photo of the town.  Two letters of Oliver H. Walker, Company C, obtained from the Western Maryland Room of the Hagerstown Library have been added to the page, as well as an article by Elliot C. Pierce; "A Midnight Ride."  The page contains a photograph of Pierce.

The Darnestown page now has a graphic diagram of the camp created after an original drawn by band member Edwin Rice.

The Williamsport 1861 page has a new image of the town, albeit a poor one, taken from a magazine issue of North and South.  Excerpts from the book "The History of the 39th Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, "Yates Phalanx" in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865, by Charles M. Clark, M.D., have been added to this page, detailing the arrival of the 39th Illinois at Williamsport, and their inter-actions with the 13th Mass Regiment.  Four letters of Edwin Rice and a letter of Oliver H. Walker  have been added to this page.  A short biography of Walker is included.  New photographs include a portrait of William Blanchard, Co. B, and Sgt. George Pfaff, boss teamster.  I have  added the only known war-time image of the 13th Mass Band, touched up in Photoshop.  The image comes from the wonderful collection of Edwin Rice's letters edited by Ted Perry.

The Hankcock page now includes a wonderful new vintage photograph of the town, circa 1910 provided by Mr. Wayne Keefer of the Hancock Historical Society.  There is also a contemporary photo of the town.  Two new articles from the history of the 39th Illinois have been added.  One titled "Dr. Clark and the Rebel Flag" features Capt. Joe Cary, Co. B whose photo has been added.  Dr. Clark of the 39th IL  is also pictured.  A vintage photograph of the B& O railroad bridge over the Cacapon River is also added.

May, 2009

The website folder structure was re-organized.  This caused a problem with many broken links for which I apologize.  Hopefully these have all been fixed.  Please report a broken link by contacting me from the feedback page.

There are some style differences in text between pages.  I'm trying to decide between Arial text for the yellow pages, and Times New Roman for all the pages.