As we have all experienced with the outragious gas prices, events closer to home are looking more and more appealing. Mark Gaynor of the 51st Ohio and I have been in touch regarding a new small event this December in Zoar, Ohio.
The Angel of Marye's Heights - Battle for Fredericksburg will be held on December 6-7, 2008. It will feature a winter encampment and battle in the streets.
I am trying to get three or four companies together who want to participate in this unique event. If you have ever been to Zoar Village in the winter, you can really appreciate what Fredericksburg must have been like in 1862.
Please talk to your pards and drop me an email in the next month. Visit the Zoar web site at http://www.zca.org/. You can download the information flyer at the link below...
Battle_of_Fredericksburg.pdf
Your Servant,
Christopher L. Smith, Lt Col
Birney's Division, 2d Battalion
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Gettysburg pics
The 145th Anniversary Reenactment of the Battle of Gettysburg is now history itself. Click Here to enjoy some of the pics.
Thanks to David Strichko of the 5th Ohio Sharp Shooters, Tom Simich of the 5th Ohio, Vern Woodruff of the 4th Ohio, and Rob Shick of the 66th Ohio.
Thanks to David Strichko of the 5th Ohio Sharp Shooters, Tom Simich of the 5th Ohio, Vern Woodruff of the 4th Ohio, and Rob Shick of the 66th Ohio.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Video from the 145th Gettysburg
We are in the process of putting together an online photo album of Birney's Division at the 145th Gettysburg reenactment. In the meantime, check out this video of Pickett's Charge on Sunday.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Falls Resident Marches with the Boys in Blue... Again.
By Paul Huff
Kate Mosteller will have Civil War reenactors marching in front of her as she rides in the Cuyahoga Falls Memorial Day Parade on Monday. But in 1926 she rode in the parade with a real Civil War soldier beside her.
Then six-years-old, Mosteller rode with her grandfather, Dwight Shumway, one of the city's last surviving Civil War soldiers. Mosteller remembers little of that particular day, but she does remember getting a new dress to wear in the parade. 'I have a picture of me wearing that dress. Back then it was really something when you got a new dress.'
She recalls Grandpa Shumway with fondness. Born in Massachusetts, he came to Cuyahoga Falls in March 1860 to work in farming when he was 22 years old. In August of 1861, he enlisted in Company K of the 19th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
While marching with the 19th, Shumway fought in some of the worst battles of the war including Pittsburg Landing (Shiloh), Stone River, Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. During General William T. Shermans's Atlanta Campaign the unit shed blood at Dallas, Dalton, Resaca, Pumpkinvine Creek and Kenesaw Mountain.
Federal records show Shumway's war ended at a place called Pine Knob, Georgia on June 17, 1864. Shumway would spend the rest of his service shuttled from hospital to hospital, starting out at a field station then to Chattanooga and Nashville in Tennessee and then Jeffersonville, Indiana. Coming back to Ohio he went to hospitals in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Camp Dennison and finally mustered out from one in Columbus at the end of the war.
One biography states, 'He was shot through the right arm by a minie-ball, which completely disabled it, the bone being shot out for two inches and shattered from three to four inches.During this time he suffered greatly and many pieces of bone worked out of his arm.'
Mosteller said, 'He was missing two inches of bone between his elbow and shoulder, but once he swung his arm up he could still use it. He built the family house on 2236 3rd street on his own.'
'My brother said he used to scare kids by winding it around like a rubber band and letting it twist back into place.'
Shumway returned to Cuyahoga Falls after the Civil War and spent the rest of his life here. He ran a drug store for fifteen years and then became a farmer. He held a number of public jobs as well. When he died in December of 1928, a Falls Reporter obituary said, 'He was a former postmaster here and a member of the city council and was instrumental in establishing the municipal waterworks system.' Mosteller said, 'He was 88-years-old when I rode in the Memorial Day Parade with him. I'm 88-years-old now.'
She will be riding in Model A Ford sponsored by the General A. C. Voris Camp, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. The Civil War Color Guard to march in front of her belongs to the Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry reenactors. The original Fifth Ohio fought in many of same battles of the Atlanta Campaign as Shumway's regiment.
Following the city's regular Memorial Service in Oakwood Cemetery, the Voris Camp and the Fifth Ohio will dedicate a Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) marker at Shumway's Grave in Oakwood Cemetery.
The GAR was the most popular and powerful of all Civil War Veterans organizations. It provided relief to local veterans, supported state veteran's homes and the Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home in Xenia, Ohio.
It also lobbied Washington for soldier's pensions.
Shumway was active in the local Eadie Post of the GAR, serving in many positions including Commander. When the Eadie Post folded due to age and mortality, Shumway joined Akron's Buckley Post.
The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War were originally an auxiliary of the GAR. The Voris Camp will perform an original GAR burial Service as part of the dedication ceremony.
Kate Mosteller will have Civil War reenactors marching in front of her as she rides in the Cuyahoga Falls Memorial Day Parade on Monday. But in 1926 she rode in the parade with a real Civil War soldier beside her.
Then six-years-old, Mosteller rode with her grandfather, Dwight Shumway, one of the city's last surviving Civil War soldiers. Mosteller remembers little of that particular day, but she does remember getting a new dress to wear in the parade. 'I have a picture of me wearing that dress. Back then it was really something when you got a new dress.'
She recalls Grandpa Shumway with fondness. Born in Massachusetts, he came to Cuyahoga Falls in March 1860 to work in farming when he was 22 years old. In August of 1861, he enlisted in Company K of the 19th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
While marching with the 19th, Shumway fought in some of the worst battles of the war including Pittsburg Landing (Shiloh), Stone River, Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. During General William T. Shermans's Atlanta Campaign the unit shed blood at Dallas, Dalton, Resaca, Pumpkinvine Creek and Kenesaw Mountain.
Federal records show Shumway's war ended at a place called Pine Knob, Georgia on June 17, 1864. Shumway would spend the rest of his service shuttled from hospital to hospital, starting out at a field station then to Chattanooga and Nashville in Tennessee and then Jeffersonville, Indiana. Coming back to Ohio he went to hospitals in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Camp Dennison and finally mustered out from one in Columbus at the end of the war.
One biography states, 'He was shot through the right arm by a minie-ball, which completely disabled it, the bone being shot out for two inches and shattered from three to four inches.During this time he suffered greatly and many pieces of bone worked out of his arm.'
Mosteller said, 'He was missing two inches of bone between his elbow and shoulder, but once he swung his arm up he could still use it. He built the family house on 2236 3rd street on his own.'
'My brother said he used to scare kids by winding it around like a rubber band and letting it twist back into place.'
Shumway returned to Cuyahoga Falls after the Civil War and spent the rest of his life here. He ran a drug store for fifteen years and then became a farmer. He held a number of public jobs as well. When he died in December of 1928, a Falls Reporter obituary said, 'He was a former postmaster here and a member of the city council and was instrumental in establishing the municipal waterworks system.' Mosteller said, 'He was 88-years-old when I rode in the Memorial Day Parade with him. I'm 88-years-old now.'
She will be riding in Model A Ford sponsored by the General A. C. Voris Camp, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. The Civil War Color Guard to march in front of her belongs to the Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry reenactors. The original Fifth Ohio fought in many of same battles of the Atlanta Campaign as Shumway's regiment.
Following the city's regular Memorial Service in Oakwood Cemetery, the Voris Camp and the Fifth Ohio will dedicate a Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) marker at Shumway's Grave in Oakwood Cemetery.
The GAR was the most popular and powerful of all Civil War Veterans organizations. It provided relief to local veterans, supported state veteran's homes and the Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home in Xenia, Ohio.
It also lobbied Washington for soldier's pensions.
Shumway was active in the local Eadie Post of the GAR, serving in many positions including Commander. When the Eadie Post folded due to age and mortality, Shumway joined Akron's Buckley Post.
The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War were originally an auxiliary of the GAR. The Voris Camp will perform an original GAR burial Service as part of the dedication ceremony.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Photos from Drill
New 5th OVI pics have been posted on www.5thohio.com from the unit's annual drill weekend in Lodi, Ohio.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
5th OVI 2008 Schedule
The unit schedule for the 2008 reenacting season is now posted at www.5thohio.com on the "Unit Events" page.
Contact Ken with any questions. Now let's get out there and shoot somebody!!
Contact Ken with any questions. Now let's get out there and shoot somebody!!
Monday, March 31, 2008
May Division School of Instruction
PLEASE FORWARD THE FOLLOWING TO THE MEMBER UNITS OF THE ENTIRE DIVISION:
Gentlemen,
I hope your unit is planning on attending the School of Instruction on May 16-18, 2008. The site for the School will be Camp Markle just outside of West Newton, PA. It is off of Route 136 about 3-4 miles out of town.
Historically, Camp Markle was a Camp of Instruction, rendezvous camp, for the Sewickley Rifles in September of 1862. They were earmarked to be part of the 100th PVI. However, the 105th PVI also forming a regiment at that time was short one company to be officially a regiment. The captain of the Sewickley Rifles offered the commanding officer of the 105th PVI the company he had formed in exchange for the rank of Major in the 105th. This being agreed to, the Sewickley Rifles became Company E of the 105th PVI. The parade "march" that we will re-enact on Sunday afternoon is the same route that the Sewickley Rifles did in going to the train station in West Newton when going off to join the regiment and fight in the war. Also, this same ground was used as a camp by the Continental Army when organized to put down the Whiskey Rebellion in the late 1700's. Bottom line is this. We will be holding a camp of instruction, which we all need to brush off the rust from the winter, and hold a living history at the same time, while on historical ground used for the same purpose. Lastly, we will be supporting a fellow unit member (105th PVI) of Birney's Division at the same time.
As you can see from the Birney's Division website, we have a full schedule of quality instruction and activities to make it a worthwhile weekend.
In the way of perks to attend this school the Sergeant Major has obtained the following:
1. Eighty-five $20.00 gas cards awarded to those that participate in the Sunday parade. Also, all participants will receive a "housewife" and a bible for participating. The Sergeant Major will be arranging school bus transportation back to the camp from the train station after the march. For the older soldiers that may not be up to a four mile march, the bus will drop them off for the last leg of the march to the train station. It's about a mile down hill. They would still receive the gas card. If you carpool to this event, your gas should almost be paid for by these gas cards!!!
2. A live firing competition will be held near the camp.Yes, of course in a safe place and direction. The winner will receive a $100 award. The competitors will need to bring their own balls (bullets), but the event will provide the measured rounds of powder.
3. For a $10.00 fee, the event will provide a breakfast on Saturday (pancakes, syrup, and sausage) and Sunday (fruit) , a Saturday lunch (Sandwich, ham and cheese, and soup), and Saturday dinner (pig roast or prime rib with a potato and vegetable side). Please bring your own plates, utensils. Beverages are on your own. To ensure enough food is purchased and prepared, the fee must be paid no later that Friday May 2, 2008 when you register. See registration form.
4. The net proceeds of the event fee of this school will be donated to the preservation of a needy monument at the Gettysburg National Military Park. The selected monument will be announced on the Birney's Division website after the event.
Gentlemen, if you have any questions, please contact me. The registration deadline, registration form available on the Birney's Division website, is Friday, May 2, 2008.
Sincerely,
Paul D. Baltzer, Colonel
Infantry Brigade Commander
Birney's Division
Gentlemen,
I hope your unit is planning on attending the School of Instruction on May 16-18, 2008. The site for the School will be Camp Markle just outside of West Newton, PA. It is off of Route 136 about 3-4 miles out of town.
Historically, Camp Markle was a Camp of Instruction, rendezvous camp, for the Sewickley Rifles in September of 1862. They were earmarked to be part of the 100th PVI. However, the 105th PVI also forming a regiment at that time was short one company to be officially a regiment. The captain of the Sewickley Rifles offered the commanding officer of the 105th PVI the company he had formed in exchange for the rank of Major in the 105th. This being agreed to, the Sewickley Rifles became Company E of the 105th PVI. The parade "march" that we will re-enact on Sunday afternoon is the same route that the Sewickley Rifles did in going to the train station in West Newton when going off to join the regiment and fight in the war. Also, this same ground was used as a camp by the Continental Army when organized to put down the Whiskey Rebellion in the late 1700's. Bottom line is this. We will be holding a camp of instruction, which we all need to brush off the rust from the winter, and hold a living history at the same time, while on historical ground used for the same purpose. Lastly, we will be supporting a fellow unit member (105th PVI) of Birney's Division at the same time.
As you can see from the Birney's Division website, we have a full schedule of quality instruction and activities to make it a worthwhile weekend.
In the way of perks to attend this school the Sergeant Major has obtained the following:
1. Eighty-five $20.00 gas cards awarded to those that participate in the Sunday parade. Also, all participants will receive a "housewife" and a bible for participating. The Sergeant Major will be arranging school bus transportation back to the camp from the train station after the march. For the older soldiers that may not be up to a four mile march, the bus will drop them off for the last leg of the march to the train station. It's about a mile down hill. They would still receive the gas card. If you carpool to this event, your gas should almost be paid for by these gas cards!!!
2. A live firing competition will be held near the camp.Yes, of course in a safe place and direction. The winner will receive a $100 award. The competitors will need to bring their own balls (bullets), but the event will provide the measured rounds of powder.
3. For a $10.00 fee, the event will provide a breakfast on Saturday (pancakes, syrup, and sausage) and Sunday (fruit) , a Saturday lunch (Sandwich, ham and cheese, and soup), and Saturday dinner (pig roast or prime rib with a potato and vegetable side). Please bring your own plates, utensils. Beverages are on your own. To ensure enough food is purchased and prepared, the fee must be paid no later that Friday May 2, 2008 when you register. See registration form.
4. The net proceeds of the event fee of this school will be donated to the preservation of a needy monument at the Gettysburg National Military Park. The selected monument will be announced on the Birney's Division website after the event.
Gentlemen, if you have any questions, please contact me. The registration deadline, registration form available on the Birney's Division website, is Friday, May 2, 2008.
Sincerely,
Paul D. Baltzer, Colonel
Infantry Brigade Commander
Birney's Division