Monday, December 31, 2012

The Pacific Coast and Atmospheric Rivers


As an Oklahoman, I have a profound interest in the weather, an enthusiasm shared by approximately 99.9% of Oklahomans. I have yet to meet an Oklahoman who could not talk at length about weather issues. It is not surprising, then, that my attention was drawn to an article in the January 2013 issue of Scientific American titled “The Coming Megafloods.” What surprised me is that it had a Civil War connection.

Authors Michael Dettinger and B. Lynn Ingram wrote “The intense rainstorms sweeping in from the Pacific Ocean began to pound central California on Christmas Eve in 1861 and continued virtually unabated for 43 days… The rivers and rains poured into the state’s vast Central Valley, turning it into an inland sea 300 miles long and 20 miles wide. Thousands of people died, and one quarter of the state’s estimated 800,000 cattle drowned. Downtown Sacramento was submerged under 10 feet of brown water filled with debris from countless mudslides on the region’s steep slopes. California’s legislature, unable to function, moved to San Francisco until Sacramento dried out—six months later. By then, the state was bankrupt” (p. 66). The authors explain that the intense rains were caused by phenomena known as atmospheric rivers (“pineapple expresses” are one type of these). Sometimes these atmospheric rivers become megafloods, and these megafloods occur approximately every two hundred years along the Pacific Coast…

California soldiers were marching to Fort Yuma in Arizona during part of this time period. Here is Andrew E. Masich’s description of the ordeal from his book, The Civil War in Arizona:
“Roads became mud bogs, making the movement of men and supplies virtually impossible. Soon after [Lieutenant Colonel Joseph] West’s command reached the Colorado, the river overflowed its banks. Torrents of muddy water carved a channel around Fort Yuma, making it an island, and swept away tons of stockpiled supplies. Despite these conditions, by February 1862, ocean-going vessels and river steamers had delivered all of the expedition’s supplies, now safely stored on high ground at Fort Yuma” (p. 28). In training at Camp Wright in southern California, George Hand wrote entries such as “heavy rain,” “Very stormy,” “Very rainy,” “Rained all day and night very hard,” “Rained, snowed and the wind blew heavy” in his diary through the period.

Citation for George Hand diary: Carmony, Neil B., ed. The Civil War in Apacheland: Sergeant George Hand’s Diary: California, Arizona, West Texas, New Mexico, 1861-1864. Silver City, NM: High-Lonesome Books, 1996.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

A Vacation Idea: The Texas Civil War Museum



Recently I returned from a trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to visit relatives. On the way home, I stopped off at the Texas Civil War Museum. It had been two years since my last visit, and I was eager to visit again. Billed as the “largest Civil War museum west of the Mississippi,” the museum consists of three different collections: the Ray Richey Civil War Collection, the United Daughters of the Confederacy Confederate Collection, and the Judy Richey Victorian Dress Collection. The collections are well organized and seem to have something for all Civil War buffs. As a trans-Mississippi historian, my personal favorite is the U.D.C. area that highlights Texas soldiers as well as the war west of the Mississippi. Altogether the U.D.C. collection has 60 historic flags with these exhibited on a rotating basis. Emblazoned with “We Fight For Our Country,” a flag given to Company D of the 4th Texas Infantry is on display currently along with a “wedding dress” flag given to the same regiment. The latter was made from the wedding dress of Mrs. Louis T. Wigfall and surely ranks as one of the most historic of Texas flags since it was carried through several battles including Antietam. A number of other flags are also on display in the exhibit halls. Also, I purchased a copy of Gregory Michno’s book, The Settler’s War: The Struggle for the Texas Frontier in the 1860s in the gift store. The book is of great personal interest to me as I had ancestors who lived in Wise County during this conflict between white settlers and Indians.

Friday, December 14, 2012

In The Army of Occupation: The 8th U. S. Colored Infantry


The 8th U. S. Colored Infantry stands in the “Three Hundred Fighting Regiments” list created by William F. Fox. For nearly two years, I have featured the regiments from this group that served at some point in the trans-Mississippi. Like several other regiments, the trans-Mississippi service of the 8th U. S. Colored Infantry consisted of only a short period as an occupying force at the conclusion of the war. In previous postings on these regiments, I have included links with further information, but, unfortunately, I could find no detailed information on the Internet about the 8th U. S. Colored Infantry. What follows is Fox’s history of the regiment from his Regimental Losses In The American Civil War, 1861-1865 (1898).

“Hawley’s Brigade —Seymour’s Division--Tenth Corps.

(1) Col. Charles W. Fribley (Killed).
(2) Col. Samuel C. Armstrong; Bvt. Brig-Gen.

Companies.
killed and died of wounds.
died of disease, accidents, in Prison, &c.
Total Enrollment.
Officers.
Men.
Total.
Officers.
Men.
Total.
Field and Staff
1

1



13
Company
A

13
13

16
16
135

B

14
14

6
6
124

C

10
10

14
14
127

D
1
14
15

21
21
140

E

10
10

12
12
125

F

16
16

11
11
129

G

4
4

13
13
122

H

14
14

15
15
137

I
1
8
9

12
12
134

K
1
12
13

12
12
136
Totals
4
115
119

132
132
1,322

Total of killed and wounded, 364; captured and missing, 72; died in Confederate prisons (previously included), 6.
Battles.

K. & M. W.
Olustee, Fla.
Feb. 20, 1864
87
Bermuda Hundred, Va.
August 24, 1864
1
Chaffin's Farm, Va.
Sept. 29, 1864
18
Darbytown Road, Va.
Oct. 13, 1864
10
Siege of Petersburg, Va.
June 15, 1864-April 2, 1865
3

Present, also, at Hatcher’s Run; Fall of Petersburg; Pursuit of Lee; Appomattox.
Notes.--Organized at Philadelphia, recruiting having commenced in September, 1863. The field officers had seen service in other regiments, Colonel Fribley having served as a Captain in the Eighty-fourth Pennsylvania. The Eighth left Philadelphia, January 16, 1864, proceeding to New York, where it embarked for Hilton Head, S. C. After a short stay of two weeks, it sailed with Seymour’s Division for Florida, where it was engaged, soon after, at the battle of Olustee; it had been assigned, shortly before this action, to Hawley's Brigade. The fighting at Olustee resulted in a serious defeat to Seymour’s forces, and the Eighth, after facing the enemy's musketry for over half an hour, retired slowly and in good order, its casualties amounting to 50 killed, 187 wounded, and 73 missing; the latter were all killed or wounded men. Colonel Fribley was killed in this battle.
The regiment remained in Florida until August, when it accompanied General William Birney’s Brigade to Virginia, where it joined the Army of the James. At Chaffin's Farm the regiment, under Major Wagner, distinguished itself by its gallantry and efficiency, losing there, 8 killed, and 60 wounded, out of about 200 in action. In the affair on the Darbytown Road — then in Doubleday’s (2d) Brigade, Birney's (3d) Division, Tenth Corps--it took only 150 men into the fight, losing 4 killed, 31 wounded, and 5 missing. Upon the organization of the Twenty-fifth Corps in December, 1864, a corps composed wholly of colored troops, the regiment was placed in the Second Brigade, Second Division (General William Birney’s). Of the 166 colored regiments in the Union Armies the Eighth U. S. stands third in point of loss in action. It saw considerable active service in the field during the campaign of 1864-65, and was known as an efficient and reliable regiment. After Lee's surrender, the Eighth was ordered to Texas, where it encamped on the Rio Grande, at Ringgold Barracks, until October, 1865, when it returned to Philadelphia for muster-out” (Fox, p. 421).