The
Cause
Vol.XII, No, 4 36th Regiment of Virginia Volunteers, Company A April 1999
In this issue (Click on topic)
The 36th Virginia "She-bang" at Battalion Drill
Captain's Message
Gentlemen,
It has been a while since I have written to you, however, Kevin Cade has been doing such a good job, I just figured it best for me to leave him alone. But, as you know by now, I just can't leave well enough alone for long.
We have an event is weekend which is very important to us - the Buffalo, Putnam Co. living history (May 14-16). You really ought to try to be there as we postponed several important decisions for the rest of the year until this event. We do need to decide which events we want to attend as a unit for the remainder of 1999. But, come to participate in the event itself, as well. Remember it is 1861 and the war is new. The uniform is none at all (civilian, not naked) or dark blue frock. Now, if you have neither of these come in your shirt sleeves. However, bring your uniform so we can skirmish on Sunday (if you have a Federal Uniform, please bring it). Also, please come prepared to do some early war portrayals - first person, I mean. This is your opportunity to get even with the lieutenant and I and we just have to grin and bear it. If you have any particular ideas for activities please g in touch with me and let me know.
One activity the hosts what is a period church service done by us. They want this outside on the lawn unless it rains. In that event, we will be inside the Presbyterian Church. Well, I'm not feeling too long winded just now (but I am sure that will change when you get me in person) so I will close confident I will see all of you at Buffalo.
Your obedient servant,
Capt. Wm. E. Fife
(Mike Sheets)
New club being formed - new members are not wanted
Commentary by Kevin Cade
Terry Wass and I have started an exclusive club. All one needs to do to join is to fire a loaded musket at Dan Bishop's feet during a safety inspection. The bigger his eyes get, the higher the office you may hold in it.
Seriously, I never dreamed that I'd become a member of this group, thinking myself to be fairly safety conscientious. Nevertheless, at the event in Hurricane, I fired a blank round into the ground creating a small, black crater and surprising both myself and our lieutenant conducting the inspection.
It seems that the situation was created at our January drill. We did a couple of firings as a unit with myself in the ranks. After reloading, I was pulled from the ranks to fill the vacant 1st sergeant's position where I removed the musket cap since I wouldn't be firing. Upon arriving home after the event, I told myself that even though I only fired twice, I ought to clean that musket, but got busy with other things and the gun went unattended.
Another embarrassing incident occurred during Battalion drill. Towards the end of the drill session, we fired several rounds and during the last fire command, I noticed that my musket had misfired. Since we were ending for the day, the Colonel finished up by having us prime twice to clear weapons.
I popped my two percussion caps without the weapon firing and concluded that what had happened was the powder had failed to make it to the breach and instead of firing with a bang, it simply fizzled as it burned.
Before dismissing us, Colonel Medich wanted to point out the procedure for firing at the oblique and had the men to prime once more. He was standing in front of the battalion and moved back to a safe distance in front of us to demonstrate the angle we should be firing.
On the command "Battalion - at the left oblique, aim - Fire" everyone's musket went "pop" and mine went "BOOM." My gun had not fired in three tries, plus I had cleaned it in camp the evening before specifically to avoid this sort of thing. Yet, here was another occasion when I was fairly convinced that I was unloaded - and my musket fired.
Now, I don't like telling things like this on myself, but if the story makes someone who reads it to be more mindful of the dangers of black powder - then it's worth telling.
Guys, we should always assume that a weapon is loaded and take precautions to avoid any accidents with it. Fortunately, one of my mishaps occurred during a safety inspection - which is designed to avoid accidents by aiming at the ground to prove the barrel is unobstructed. The other was after our Colonel thoughtfully moved back beyond the percussion of the muzzle blasts, even though everyone should have been unloaded at that point. He knew not to take any chances.
During battles reenactments, we can safely fire at one another if we do so at proper distances. If the enemy gets close, don't aim directly at them. If they get too close, don't shoot. And, NEVER aim at someone else's face or head - loaded or unloaded.
Also, a clean weapon is safer than a dirty one. Old powder residue not only is corrosive to the barrel, but it can hold an ember after firing and possibly create a "cookoff." A dirty barrel can also "catch" a powder charge and prevent it from reaching the breech. A musket cone that is allowed to become clogged can also keep a charge from igniting.
So, let's be careful and keep our event memories happy ones.
Other notes
Death in the family
Dan Bishop's grandfather, George Raider, died April 18. Our heartfelt condolences goes out to to Dan and his family.
Newsmaker
Steve Frame made the news when his efforts to repair damage at the Fort Scammon site in Charleston were reported in the Charleston Daily Mail. On a visit to the location, Steve had noticed several holes had been dug - perhaps by relic hunters.
Fearing erosion at the site, Steve tried first to contact the proper officials, then took matters into his own hands. Armed with a shovel and wheelbarrow, he repaired the damage himself.
Confederate troops established the fort in 1862, moving cannons onto the hilltop to cover the intersection of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers, The Confederates were driven out after Union reinforcements arrived. The Yankees decided to establish the hill better and they built the fort that still exists in outline in a residential neighborhood. Fort Scammon was named after Col. Elikim Parker Scammon, the commander of the 23rd Ohio Infantry, the Union troops in charge of the area. Scammon was later replaced by Rutherford B. Hayes.
![[Image]](pict3.jpg)
Hats off!
Speaking of Frames, congratulations to Caleb Frame who graduated Valedictorian of Freedom Christian Academy, Nitro. Caleb has also received the Robert C. Byrd Award for outstanding academic achievement. Good job, sir!
Gen. Jenkins plantation
Mike Sheets reports that he ran into the site person from Greenbottom who asked him if we were ready for the Civil War academy on the morning of May 22. Yikes! He didn't know that was being scheduled. Mike would like to know if anyone will be able to attend. More information on this event to be discussed at Buffalo. Also, there may be a parade in Huntington that same afternoon.
SCV memorial
Jerry Trautwein wants to let us know that the Sons of Confederate Veterans are having a memorial service near Ft. Gay on June 12. Anyone who would like to participate should get in touch with Jerry.
Address update
Dan and Beverly Bishop have a new home, and therefore, a new address. They can be reached by mail at 130 Roberts Road, Dunbar, WV 25064.
Battalion drill
The 36th Va. had nine members in the ranks at Battalion drill and Jeff Clagg serving as quartermaster sergeant. The turnout was low and we were ended up as one of the larger units in attendance. However, the small-sized battalion did not prove to be a hindrance and may even have helped the men to hear and understand instructions.
The following information comes from the book "Charleston 175" by John G. Morgan.
The book is collection of articles on the 175-year history of Charleston, W.Va. published in 1970.
Charleston had a weak government and something less than a pretty face in the late 1850s. Some of its citizens were unruly. The town came under fire of the Kanawha Valley Star in an editorial published Feb. 3, 1857:
"We have a town, but it looks rather shabby - streets but they are rather in name - pavement, but very short, with long intervals in between - churches, but sometimes almost inaccessible to the ladies, who are unfortunately the chief attendants.
"We have a charter, but it has been forgotten - bylaws but they have been lost - officers but in their long, quiet reign the people have forgotten them and their duties and dignities.
"The town seems actually to have become a waif, and has been taken up by the county court, and put under the county justices as derelict property.
"Negroes band in crowds about the streets in certain suspicious localities, and drunken white men swagger about day and night, filling the air with vulgar language and profane oaths, as if there were no law, human or divine.
"Fights occur in the streets, and the fighters go unpunished."
The newspaper urged that a town talk be had and a committee appointed to "hunt up the town charter and bylaws" and put them in one volume. It further urged that the committee identify the town officers, if possible, and "wake them up from their Rip Van Winkle sleep and request their return to duties long neglected and now very pressing and then report to the people the result of their labors."
There is no know record of the town's direct response to the editorial. However, more than a later, on March 1, 1858, a town election was held. Elected as councilmen were John H. Goshorn, J.G. Wright, Orestes Wilson, E.S. Arnold, George High, John Williams and Joseph Bibby. The newspaper reported the results of the election and added:
"It is earnestly hoped that the 'new Dads' will be like new papers - very attentive to their unhealthy charges. There is much to be done, and now is a good time to begin. So gentlemen, off with your coats and let the people see how much public pride and spirit you possess."
On Aug. 2, 1859, a portion of the town came under another kind of fire - a real one. fire broke out in the Sons of Temperance. Hall in a two-story brick building across the street from the courthouse. "The smoke was too hot and dense to use buckets, and the engines were soon brought into action," the Star reported. The brick building was regarded as a total loss, but nearby frame buildings were saved. Damage estimates approached $5,000. "The ladies rendered great service at the fire, carrying out goods and leaving them in the courthouse," commented the newspaper.
Robinson and Lakes' Circus, featuring "170 men and horses," came to town in 1860. Acts included "LaFaria Kate, Pike's Opera House Dancer" and "graceful, lovely, yet daring Eugenia DeLorma." There was to be an "entrance into a den of lions and a terrific encounter with a ferocious lion." Among exhibits was the "horned horse, the last of his race."
Traffic was reduced greatly on the James River and Kanawha Turnpike by 1860. This was due to the railway line coming westward across Virginia to Clifton Forge and to increased use of steamboats from Charleston to the Ohio River.
Stagecoaches were hard hit by these developments and they lost part of their glamour. Six-horse outfits using the turnpike were reduced to four horses and finally to two. The very busy life along the turnpike never returned in the era of horse-drawn vehicles.
Charleston had a population of 1,520 in 1860, the year Abraham Lincoln was elected president. A writer for Harpers Weekly, in a story published about 30 years later, said Charleston had the characteristics of an "old southern town and a new western town" just before the Civil War. He chose these additional words in describing pre-Civil War conditions:
"There were a few rich old families which held slaves and lived in a large jovial way, to which their huge houses scattered up and down the river, and more or less ruined, bear witness.
"Besides them there were the professional men and the saltmakers, timber dealers and merchants, largely from the north, who dwelt in or near town and built big houses surrounded by ample and beautiful gardens.
"The humbler populace was mainly a pretty rough and illiterate lot of people employed about the salt works and upon the river, a good share of whom came from Ohio and New York state. Colored people were comparatively few."