Saturday, February 24, 2024

Antietam Battlefield National Park and Cemetery



Volunteers in line to read names of Union Warriors interred
at Antietam National Cemetery, D Paul photo, Sep 2017.


In September 2017, I traveled to Sharpsburg, MD (The Antietam Battlefield National Park) for the re-dedication of the Antietam National Cemetery (150th Anniversary Ceremony).  A paternal Great-Great-Grandfather William Moegling was wounded at the Battle of Antietam 17 Sep 1862 while fighting as an enlisted corporal with the 97th Infantry Regiment of New York State Volunteers (aka "The 3rd Oneida Regiment" or "Conkling Rifles").  The 97th New York was raised in Boonville, NY with volunteers primarily hailing from Oneida County, Lewis County, and Herkimer County in New York State.


Click HERE for more details courtesy of the New York State Department of Military and Naval Affairs website.


The guest speaker at the 150th Antietam National Cemetery Anniversary ceremony was the expert Civil War author/professor Dr. Gary Gallagher -- a great speaker -- very impressive, funny, interesting, and personally found myself in near 100% agreement with Dr. Gallagher's Civil War positions and thinking.  I've recently come across a few of Dr. Gallagher's talks on the Internet at YouTube, they take some time to review.  But these talks are highly worth your time for those who wish to be better informed on the hows, whereas, and whys of Civil War leadership and soldiers and why we these eight score+ years later need to remember that difficult 19th centruy rebellion period that nearly made us two countrys.  One of Dr. Gallagher's very fine talks is selected here and available on YouTube -- click HERE to view.


On Dr. Gallagher's "the preservation of the union message" as the majority reason for Union soldier fighting, I recall a decade past visiting the grave of another Great-Great Grandfather Private Albert Odell at Bath National Cemetery (in Steuben County, NY), late of the 91st Infantry Regiment of New York State Volunteers.  The cemetery plaque on the main soldiers and sailors monument reads "In memory of the Soldiers and Sailors of the War for the PRESERVATION OF THE UNION who died in the New York State Soldiers and Sailors Home."  I recall being surprised by the engraved monument plaque statement "...The War For The Preservation Of The Union" -- recall thinking I've never seen this language used on a Civil War monument before.  In my experience, the Civil War is most frequently referenced as "The War Of The Rebellion."  Of course the union was preserved as a major  outcome by the Union in Civil War, but any basic 20th/21st Century student of the war would think it was fought mainly to free the slaves.  Not so... and freeing slaves was not the majority cause why those union soldiers pick-up a rifle and killed other men (or to be killed). 



The Soldiers and Sailors Monument at Bath National Cemetery, Bath, New York,
photo dated May 2011 by DJ Paul.



Closeup of Bath National Cemetery Soldiers and Sailors Monument Plaque 



Saturday, February 17, 2024

Take A Look At This Happy American Legion News



 


Click HERE to read this very important NAUTICAL NEWS... 


So glad to learn that sailors can now walk around with their hands in pockets, that naval gals can wear false eyelashes in uniform (and I guess guys too, we gotta be gender-neutral don't we[?]), that naval chaplin's prayers were answered and they can now wear some sort of dolpin/wings uniform device, and lastly that naval drone pilots can wear wings.  My GOD, you are pulling my leg here... right?

And what's up with this new authorization allowing female sailors to wear the tiara as an optional uniform component when donned in dinner dress blues and/or white jacket uniforms.  How and why is this non-uniform change in naval uniform regulations necessary?  In interest of full disclosure, the author had to Google "tiara" being an old fart male, out of touch, and unfamiliar with this device.  So exactly how is it the tiara device makes military dinner-clothing uniform?  It seems obvious any such device-ware makes the uniform less uniform.  Isn't that the purpose of tiara wear in the first place -- to draw more notice and attention to those wearing the most beautiful tiara?  My gosh, what military genius thought of this? And is the Brazilian Butt Enhancement authorization next on your agenda?

I'm sittin' and reading this American Legion news release, and thinkin' this is the kind of miltary BS (aka FUBAR) that happens when we are not engaged in an active declared war... got to give those unnecessary senior officer billet-holders who are now polishing a desk chair with their butts (mostly flag rank) something to do down there in DC.  I'm so glad to be a former sailor... and naval management would certainly be happy to do without some of us with a similar take on this matter (asked to leave or forced retirement).

 WTF, over and out.
 


Friday, January 12, 2024

Serious Instruction On Work Place Touching

 


Long ago I worked with a female Navy Chief Petty Officer who once told me -

"I don't mind sexual harassment, it's that harassment without the sex that ticks me off."


That CPO would likely be fired in today's "touchy-feely" PC Navy (or negative comments may certainly be inserted in her official record). I worked with a few female Navy Chiefs... to be honest I'm not sure which one said this to me, but I do recall the remark was made just after we attended a 3-hour mandatory sexual harassment lecture. I got a huge laugh hearing that comment.


Actually was told this in a lecture like first graders might be regarding work-related touching. There are "green zones" good and OK touching, "yellow-zones" questionable and uncomfortable touching, and then to "red-zones" contacts -- I guess a slap on the ass, making the Grab, etc. touches that are obviously worthy of formal charges.


It's so stupid... anyone with a brain should know what inappropriate touches are... and if this conduct is found the offender should be gone (fired) by sunset. I remember the sexual harassment lecture was delivered by a female Navy Commander (a lawyer) who flew in from Washington just to deliver the nasty conduct lecture. Timing was just after the infamous Vegas hotel "Tail Hook" incident involving naval flying personnel following Gulf War I (1991) – guess those Navy Airedales watched too many older Hollywood movies and attempted duplication of unacceptable conduct depicted in some now unseemly movie scenes.


Monday, November 20, 2023

State and Local Fiddling With Election Operations

 

Check out the attached chart addressing ID checks. Very interesting, many of the below cited requirements are known to be true, and I can't certify all are 100% accurate (but the chart's point is so very true). The U.S. Constitution leaves most of the specific general election day mandates regarding operation, policy, and procedures to the individual states (otherwise stated more correctly, election law, policies, and administration are set by the individual state legislatures). This U.S. Constitutional provision seems to be a problem full of opportunities for corrupt and unfair federal general elections. Changes in federal general election policy and administration are NOT the responsibility of any court or any of the politically-selected-appointed local/state election board(s) -- unless the U.S. Constitution is first suspended. Change authority in established and historical election operations rests exclusively with the individual state legislatures – PERIOD (although some states may have delegated this election change authority -- such delegated election change authority is itself likely unconstitutional). A U.S. Constitutional amendment proposal to make general election operations and procedures more consistent among the states would almost certainly fail since the Democrat controlled states would likely disapprove. Many state leaders like this election day policy constitutional power as granted to the individual states where general election policy, rules, and procedures can be manipulated on the fly to favor a Big-D election political outcome.



P.S. I would add purchasing a can of spray paint... this perhaps local or state mandated ID check at least typically true in many New York State general stores.  Emoji dj


Thursday, November 2, 2023

Herkimer County Now Past Peak On Halloween Eve



A Favored Leaf-Peeping Tree
 

The later October winds and rains experienced in the couple of days before Halloween really did a final wipe-out on much of the local Autumn 2023 beauty, many of our trees now without their varied fall colored leaves.  Just a few of our more hearty and stubborn Oak trees still refusing to succumb to those recent stiff winds, rain, snow, ice, and graupel (soft pellets) experinced yesterday.  As Ma Nature ushers in November, a sturdy few trees won't let their fine colored leaves fly. 


Another All Hallow's Eve image:

Northeast View - some more hearty trees 




       

Sunday, October 8, 2023

Pre-Memorial Day Burial Ground Visits To Install Revolutionary War Veteran Grave Markers And Earned American Flags On The Graves Of Five Connecticut Rebellion Heros.


Our Revolutionary Stanton Men Of Connecticut


JULY 2023 UPDATE:

Southeast Connecticut cemetery visits in June 2023 revealed the various Stanton Family Revolutionary War Veteran graves remain in good shape, and each grave had a fresh Memorial American Flag installed.  Many thanks to the unknown and caring Connecticut residents who are actively tending our ancestor's graves. 

   

Metal Revolutionary War Veteran Grave Markers and American Flags were installed in ten inches of concrete during this mid-May 2021 Southeastern Connecticut trip to Groton, New London, Ledyard, North Stonington, and Griswold Connecticut to visit a few older burial grounds.  Each man introduced in this post is a distant paternal cousin and a Revolutionary War Veteran.  The cousin relationships apply to my siblings and to my paternal 1st cousins as cited in the following individual brief biographies.  Other interested family genealogists need to calculate their own personal cousin relationships to these Revolutionary War Veterans.    



U.S. Army Veteran Captain Ebenezer Stanton is a Revolutionary War Veteran serving over three years of active duty as a  junior officer in Captain Amos Stanton's 6th Company of the 2nd Additional Infantry Regiment of the Connecticut Line, under Commanding Officer Colonel Henry Sherburne. Ebenezer later served in the trusted staff positions of Regimental Quartermaster and then as Regimental Paymaster.  Following his three-year tour of Army active duty, Ebenezer Stanton was named Master and Commander of the privateer vessel COUNT de GRASSE in May 1782, a schooner with a crew of about 30 men operating mainly on Long Island Sound.  Official records show that Captain Ebenezer Stanton and his crew captured several small craft and cargo from Yankee wartime profiteers doing business and selling supplies to the British enemy.     

In 1780, General George Washington conducted a massive military reorganization of the patriot army he commanded, and one element of this reorganization was to combine the 2nd Regiment of Connecticut Line with an existing Rhode Island Regiment.  The 2nd Infantry Regiment of Connecticut Line was formally disestablished effective 1 Jan 1781.  All or most of the regiment's officer corps were allowed to resign their commission during 1780, Ebenezer's resignation was effective in April 1780.             

Following the USA victory, Captain Ebenezer Stanton owned and operated an ocean-going trading ship as Master and Commander, a ship that engaged in Mediterranean Trading.  This earns him the Captaincy prefix he used in business and personal communication and as inscribed on his gravestone as found in Cedar Grove Cemetery, New London, CT.

Captain Ebenezer Stanton is a paternal 3rd cousin-8xRemoved, and a Great-Great-Grandson of the Stanton Family colonial progenitor Thomas Stanton Sr. (d.1677, in Stonington, CT).

Captain Ebenezer Stanton's beloved wife Mary "Molly" (Smith) Stanton, the daughter of Colonel Oliver Smith and Mrs. Mary Noyes (Denison) Smith, she is presented in a previous post that some genealogist readers will find interesting.  Click HERE to learn things about wife Mary.    




The memorial gravestones of Colonel Oliver Smith and his lovely wife Mrs. Mary Noyes (Denison) Smith are found in Smith Lake Cemetery, Town of Groton, CT (aka Poquonock Bridge).  OBTW, the wives of Revolutionary military warriors are also the rebellion heroes who single-handedly managed the home and family left behind while their men went to war. Colonel Smith was initially a Captain and the commanding officer of a company of Stonington Militiamen when a British ship (the frigate HMS Rose) cannoned the small seaport community of Stonington, Connecticut.  The Rose attack is reported to have caused little damage to Stonington properties, almost equivalent to what is today called a drive-by shooting.  The 20-gun frigate HMS Rose was likely en route to harass the larger seaports of Newport and Boston. 


In July 1776, Connecticut General Assembly appoints Oliver Smith Lt Colonel and commanding officer of the 8th Connecticut State Militia Regiment of Foot (aka Infantry) in New London County. He is advanced to full colonel grade later in the rebellion. Many pay records of the nine companies assigned to the 8th Regiment of the State of Connecticut Militia, signed by COL Oliver Smith, stand testament to his Revolutionary War command of over 500 Southeast Connecticut Militiamen.  Early in the Revolution, Colonel Smith is reportedly an aide to General George Washington and was with General Washington for a time at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777/78.   


Colonel Oliver Smith is a paternal 2nd cousin-7xRemoved and a Great-Great Grandson of Captain George Denison Sr. (d.1694 in Hartford).  Another cousin-relationship exists via his maternal grandmother Ms. Mary Stanton (d.1724), where via this link Oliver is a Great-Great Grandson of Thomas Stanton Sr. (d.1677).        





Captain Amos Stanton recieves a new earned bronze Revolutionary War Veteran Grave Marker.  Amos' first commitment to the fledgling rebellion is documented by early 1776 service as a 2nd Lieutenant of Marines aboard the Connecticut State Navy's Row Galley SHARK, a vessel under the command of Captain Theophilus "Theo" Stanton (Theo is Amos' paternal 1st cousin 1xR).  In July 1776, SHARK and two sister Connecticut Navy Row Galley vessels WHITING and CRANE were ordered to the Hudson River (then referred to as "The North River").  In late fall 1776, the Galley SHARK was moved further up river where the crew was apparently relieved and the vessel placed under the care of ship's carpenter Fanning.  In Spring 1777 SHARK was transferred to the Continental Army.  SHARK was not captured by British forces or burned by her crew to prevent capture as some reports speculate.  NOTE: new information suggests that SHARK escaped the three early October 1776 Lower Hudson River battles; whereas, her two sister vessels Connecticut Navy row galley WHITING was evidently burned and row galley CRANE was captured by British Forces after her crew intentionally ran aground and abandoned her.

Early in 1777, Amos was awarded an active-duty Connecticut Line Lieutenant's commission with the U.S. Army 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Connecticut Line, a regiment commanded by Colonel Henry Sherburne.  SHARK commanding officer Captain Theophilus Stanton's letter of recommendation to Colonel Sherburne cites Amos' competence with military guns and munitions and was no doubt somewhat responsible for Colonel Sherbunre's appointment.  In late 1777 Amos was awarded a Connecticut Line captaincy and assigned as company commander of the 6th Company within Colonel Sherburne's Connecticut Line Infantry Regiment.  Official records show Company Commander Captain Stanton detailed as "On Command" -- a term then used to indicate detached duty from the regiment, perhaps in performance of special trust assignments.  Records show Captain Amos Stanton served on several courts-martial boards.  Captain Amos Stanton resigned his U.S. Army Connecticut Line military commission in April 1780.  All or most officers under Colonel Sherburne's command resigned their commissions in this mid-1780 period, these and many other U.S. Army resignations are part of a total military reorganization plan authorized by General George Washington. Strong evidence suggests that General Washington's rebel army became unmanageable in the later rebellion years, holding too many Chiefs (officers) and not enough Indians (enlisted men -- aka, the cannon fodder) to carry on an effective fight against the British forces. 

Captain Amos Stanton was killed in action on 6 Sep 1781 in defense of Fort Griswold, Groton, Connecticut in what is now called the Revolutionary War Battle of Groton Heights.  Among over one hundred other local men, Amos Stanton had answered an alarm issued by area commander Colonel William Ledyard for local militiamen to assist in the defense of Fort Griswold.   Captain Amos Stanton's remains were interred at Stanton Cemetery in the Town of Groton, on the property then owned by the Stanton Family.  The burying ground is just a few short miles north of Fort Griswold, this land is now part of the Town of Ledyard since Ledyard was formed from Groton Township lands in the mid-1820s.

Captain Amos Stanton is a paternal 3rd cousin-8xRemoved, and a Great-Great Grandson of the Stanton Family colonial progenitor Thomas Stanton Sr. (d.1677, in Stonington, CT)     

Footnote: Seems obvious that Captain Amos Stanton should be provided a new federally-supplied memorial gravestone since his present gravestone is both broken and unreadable.  A new suitable federally-furnished gravestone is his earned right.   






Aged 36 years Lieutenant Enoch Stanton and his brother aged 25 years Sergeant Daniel Stanton, were both Killed In Action at Fort Griswold during the Revolutionary War Battle of Groton Heights.  The two Stanton brothers are buried side-by-side at the rural Stanton-Hull Cemetery, Wheeler Road, North Stonington, Connecticut.  This well-kept rural burial ground is about six miles by the best route from where they fell on that early day in September 1781 at Fort Griswold, Groton, Connecticut.

Gravestone Inscription:
"Here Inter'd are the bodies of two brothers Sons of Capt Phineas Stanton and Elizabeth his wife who fell with many of their friends on Sept 6th, 1781 while manfully fighting for the liberty of their Country and defense of Fort Griswold. The assailants were commanded by that most despicable patricide, Benedict Arnold."  

Note: While it is true that British General Benedict Arnold was in overall command of this early September 1781 New London County operation, but to be historically correct, the turn-coat Arnold was never present or in a direct leadership role on the Groton side of the Thames River or at Fort Griswold.  General Arnold was present on the New London side of the Thames River that September day, taking an active leadership role in the capture of Fort Trumbull and in the cowardly unfortunate burning of many City of New London properties. 

The heroes Lieutenant Enoch Stanton and his younger brother Sergeant Daniel Stanton are paternal 3rd cousins-8xRemoved, and the Great-Great Grandsons of the Stanton Family colonial progenitor Thomas Stanton Sr. (d.1677, in Stonington, CT)    






Ensign Nathan Stanton is thought to be the father of Captain Ebenezer Stanton (d.1811) as cited in the first section of this post.  Official Revolutionary War documentation is found supporting Nathan's gravestone inscription that he is a Revolutionary Soldier and that this Ensign Nathan Stanton in 1776  was assigned as a junior officer serving in the company commanded by Captain William Stanton, 8th Infantry Regiment of the State of Connecticut Militia (Colonel Oliver Smith's New London County, Connecticut Militia Regiment).  Further, we know from the official record that the 8th Infantry of Connecticut Militia was in New York State to support the October 1776 rebellion Battle of White Plains, New York State.  The White Plains battle is strongly significant since it was essentially the delaying action that allowed General George Washington and his rebel army to escape British forces into Pennsylvania.    

No dates are inscribed on Ensign Nathan Stanton's memorial, such dates would naturally be of certain assistance with a more positive ID, but gravestone inscriptions are known to be secondary genealogical references at best.  However, the preponderance of evidence tends to suggest this is the grave of Nathan Stanton (1732-1786), the father of the aforementioned Captain Ebenezer Stanton.  Also, we are currently unable to find the internment site of Ensign Nathan Stanton's wife Mrs. Elizabeth Abigail (Billings) Stanton, who is thought to have passed away in about 1761 (predeceasing Nathan by nearly 25-years).  Elizabeth was likely buried in a presently unknown Billings Family plot near Stonington, Connecticut.  We think that Nathan never remarried; however, this is an unproven opinion. Circumstances regarding why Nathan is not interred near to his beloved wife Elizabeth are unknown. 

Ensign Nathan Stanton is not found in his military unit's official pay records in 1780, this suggests he resigned his commission perhaps due to sickness or advancing age (no formal documents are found to support his military discharge).  A junior grade company officer's military responsibilities are certainly stressful and demanding at times, where a younger man would be better suited. No metal grave marker was installed on Ensign Nathan Stanton's grave at Rixtown Cemetery, Griswold, CT until more identification proofs become available; however, a fresh American Flag was installed on this gravesite in the Town of Griswold. Hopefully, additional research and discovery prove this Ensign Nathan Stanton is the late father of Captain Ebenezer Stanton (d.1811, New London, CT).  Nathan will then be claimed as our distant 2nd Cousin-9xRemoved -- and the Great-Grandson of colonial progenitor Thomas Stanton Sr. (d.1677).     

         

Tuesday, July 4, 2023

On GETTYSBURG -- The Turner Movie



The four-hour+ Turner classic movie GETTYSBURG was viewed again two days ago.  In the late afternoon that day July 2, 1863, Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's 20th Maine Regiment made their successful downhill bayonet charge off Little Roundtop just outside Gettysburg, PA.  The 20th Maine's exploits that day crushed a nearly successful left flank attack by rebel army units on the Union line.  And it was on this day July 4, 1863, that Union Commanding General George Meade allowed the rebel troops under Confederated States of America (CSA) General Robert E. Lee to complete their escape across the Potomac River back into the safety of their home ground in Virginia.  A supermajority of folks who study the American Civil War perhaps agree that General U.S. Grant would have followed the retreating rebel forces to re-engage them -- and perhaps ending that bloodiest of all American wars then in that hot summer of 1863.  How many thousands of casualties would General Grant's leadership have saved?         

General Robert E. Lee in no way accepted the premise that the Confederate Rebellion was lost following those bloody first three days in July 1863 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania -- one hundred and sixty years past.  More Civil War causalities occurred following the Battle of Gettysburg than were suffered before this American Civil War fight.  General Lee does not appear to be a broken man as he writes this August 1863 letter from Richmond to his second-in-command top general and his most trusted  right-hand man Lieutenant General James Longstreet:

"GENERAL, I have wished for several days past to return to the army, but have been detained by the President. He will not listen to my proposition to leave to-morrow. I hope you will use every exertion to prepare the army for offensive operations, and improve the condition of our men and animals. I can see nothing better to be done than to endeavor to bring General Meade out and use our efforts to crush his army while in its present condition."

Very respectfully and truly yours,

R. E. LEE
General.