March 04, 2015

** This blog now published Mondays and Wednesdays **

Fall Sojourn Along Confederate Avenue

These particular pieces are located just outside of town near the Lutheran Theological Seminary. Part of Watson’s Battery, Second Richmond Howitzers, 10-pounder Parrott Rifles bring a spark of interest to what would otherwise be an average view. These particular pieces are unmarked, so it’s uncertain when they were cast. (For more cannon info, check out waymarking.com or markerhunter.wordpress.com . . . . I’ve identified many of my cannon photos from these sites). Further down the line you can see the Salem (Virginia) Artillery. As for a blue sky? Well, you can’t have everything :-)

**HONORED TODAY**

PVT. DAVID WESTMORELAND

Co. K, 52^ND North Carolina Infantry

Born about 1840 --- Died July 03, 1863 at age 23

Pvt. Westmoreland, a young farmer, may or may not have enlisted in March 1862 with the knowledge that wife Martha would give birth to a child in August of that same year, a little girl they would name Arena May. Less than a month after the death of his brother Lewis in Richmond, he suffered his own mortal injury at Gettysburg. 

(c) 2012-2015 Skies of Blue and Gray

March 02, 2015

** This blog now published Mondays and Wednesdays **

This Texas State Monument is located at Warfield Ridge along South Confederate Avenue; though small, it’s a beaut. A few observations on the area . . . this part of the battlefield always seemed kind of quiet, maybe even secluded to me, especially back in Biesecker Woods where the Texans first started out for Devil’s Den. The land surrounding the Texas Monument is --- I don’t know --- heavy with sentiment, maybe. Looking more closely at the photo, I wondered if the rock wall in the distance might be original, and if not, it likely replaced an older wall. The boulder behind the monument was of course located in the same spot during the battle.

**HONORED TODAY**

PVT. ROYAL RAND

Co. H, 17^TH Maine Infantry

Born about 1825 --- Died July 1863

Pvt. Rand’s death date is given as both July 2^ND and July 3^RD. He enlisted in August 1862, a shoemaker by trade, and was wounded in the abdomen on the second of July. He was later buried at Gettysburg’s National Cemetery.


(c) 2012-2015 Skies of Blue and Gray

February 25, 2015

** This blog now published Mondays and Wednesdays **

This photo was taken from the observation deck at the Oak Ridge tower last summer. The green fields of what is now known as the 11^TH Corps Line just outside the town of Gettysburg would have looked much the same in 1863, though various features seen here --- the monuments, the newer fence around the Alms House Cemetery, and the flag pole you can just barely see at Barlow’s Knoll in the difference --- now intrude on the landscape.

Click for larger view: The tall monument seen to the left of Howard Avenue is the 153^RD Pennsylvania. Other monuments include, from left to right, the 17^TH Connecticut, the 25^TH and 75^TH Ohio, and the 107^TH Ohio (white monument, center right).

**HONORED TODAY**

CPL. JOHN GASTON UTLEY

Co. C, 47^TH North Carolina Infantry

Born December 21, 1814 --- Died July 03, 1863 at age 48 

At the time of his enlistment in February 1862, Cpl. Utley, nicknamed Gaston, was married with at least one child, a 17-year-old daughter named Dulcina. He was wounded July 3^RD in the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble Charge, taken prisoner, and later died of his wounds.


(c) 2012-2015 Skies of Blue and Gray

February 23, 2015

** This blog now published Mondays and Wednesdays **

Here’s a view of Cemetery Ridge taken from McMillan’s Woods a few years back. You can see a number of large monuments (from left to right, the United States Regulars, the Vermont State Memorial, and the Pennsylvania State Memorial) as well as quite a few smaller monuments. The Nicholas Codori farm adds a pop of color to the view. Fun fact: Did you know that’s not the original barn? (I know . . . I was disappointed too). I like the branches framing the photo, as well as the fence-line and rock wall (two Gettysburg staples). And a blue-sky day is rather a rarity for us while visiting Gettysburg :-)

**HONORED TODAY**

CPL. ISAAC BROWN NEWCOMB, JR.

Co. C, 22^ND Massachusetts Infantry

Born November 20, 1820 --- Died July 02, 1863 at age 42 

In a sea of men who claimed common-place occupations, Cpl. Newcomb’s was certainly interesting: a resident of Boston, he worked as a piano polisher. He enlisted in September 1861, and by the age of 40 he had already buried a wife, a little girl named Mary Jane (died 1853), another daughter Margaret (died 1848), and a son Charles (died 1855). He later remarried a woman named Salome. Cpl. Newcomb had two surviving children, Mary F. (born 1849) and Hattie G. (born 1857) from his previous marriage. He was wounded twice at Gettysburg and died at the Abraham Trostle farm, later buried at Gettysburg’s National Cemetery. His stone is mismarked “J. B. Nincent.”


(c) 2012-2015 Skies of Blue and Gray