Transcript The 17th in Washington Power Point

WASHINGTON D.C. IN 1862
IN 1861….
•Virginia lay just across the
Potomac.
• From the President's House in
Washington, Confederate flags
could be seen waving over the
seaport of Alexandria.
• The city was, for all practical
purposes, southern, and many
of its citizens had strong
southern inclinations.
THE CAPITAL WAS SANDWICHED
BETWEEN TWO SLAVE STATES, BOTH
SOUTH OF THE MASON-DIXON LINE.
FEW GOVERNMENT TROOPS WERE IN
THE VICINITY AND OF THOSE THAT
WERE, SOME OF THE OFFICERS AND
MEN CHOSE TO JOIN THE NEW
CONFEDERATE ARMED FORCES AND
HEADED SOUTH FOR THAT PURPOSE.
THUS, UNTIL MORE TROOPS ARRIVED,
WASHINGTON D.C. WAS A COMMUNITY
UNDER SIEGE.
IN THE SPRING OF 1861, THE CITY HAD LAIN OPEN TO
ATTACK BY STATES THAT HAD WITHDRAWN FROM THE
UNION. VIRGINIA, JUST ACROSS THE POTOMAC,
SECEDED IN APRIL. MARYLAND, A SLAVE STATE, HAD
MANY SOUTHERN SYMPATHIZERS.
THEY ANSWERED PRESIDENT LINCOLN’S CALL FOR
VOLUNTEERS BY BURNING BRIDGES AND TEARING UP
TRACKS TO PREVENT UNION SOLDIERS FROM
REACHING THE CAPITAL.
Following the defeat at First Manassas
(The Battle of Bull Run), gigantic
efforts were directed toward designing
and erecting a system of fortifications
to protect Washington, D.C., the
Union's capital. Prior to this battle,
Washington was protected by only one
fort---outmoded Fort Washington,
nearly 12 miles down the Potomac, had
been built to guard against enemy
ships following the War of 1812 .
BY THE SPRING OF 1865, THE DEFENSE SYSTEM TOTALED
68 FORTS AND 93 DETACHED BATTERIES FOR FIELD GUNS
WITH 807 CANNONS AND 98 MORTARS IN PLACE.
TWENTY MILES OF RIFLE TRENCHES FLANKED THESE
STRONGHOLDS, JOINED BY MORE THAN 30 MILES OF
MILITARY ROADS OVER WHICH COMPANIES OF SOLDIERS
AND GUNS COULD MOVE AS REINFORCEMENTS.
Washington had become the most heavily
fortified city in the world. Washington, DC
turned into the training ground, arsenal, supply
depot, and nerve center for the Union cause.
Newly formed regiments encamped in every
quarter, and streets reverberated under the
wheels of cannons.
Cattle for meat
grazed on the
National Mall; sacks
of flour, stacked
against siege,
surrounded the U.S.
Treasury. To protect
the city and vital
supply routes from
enemy hands, Union
armies built a ring of
earthen
fortifications.
By the time the 17th arrived in
October of 1862, thousands of
soldiers were quartered in
Washington, D.C. --- and they
were called upon to work on
constructing forts and defenses
to protect the capitol.
Life for enlisted men in the forts
began at dawn. Drill, repairs,
duties, parades, and inspection
consumed the day.
THE SOLDIERS OF 1861-1862 WERE
ALSO CALLED UPON TO PERFORM
“FATIGUE DUTY”---FELLING TREES,
BUILDING FORTS, BUILDING ROADS,
ETC.
To accomplish the work necessary to
construct and maintain the defenses of
Washington, a variety of tools were
necessary. On May 7, 1861, Barnard (Army
Corps of Engineers) wrote that he desired
"the following entrenching tools": 1000
shovels, 500 Picks, 300 Axes, 200 ax
handles, etc. On the same day, Barnard
asked for shovels, picks, axes, axe handles,
hand saws, cross cut saws, augurs and
wheel barrows. Other tools frequently
requested were spades, broad axes, sledge
hammers, hatchets, drawing knives, crow
bars, tape lines, and transits
The soldiers who worked on the Defenses of
Washington, frequently mentioned the tools
in their letters, memoirs, books and in
regimental histories.
•“[We] quickly erected Fort Sumner with "the diligent
use of axes in front, with the teams hauling timber,
with pick and shovel, crosscut saw, broadax, and
other tools which the Government furnished."
•" . . . the men are put to work with pick and shovel . .
•“[We] put aside . . . drilling, and exchanged . . . guns
for the pick and shovel."
•“We have been exchanging the musket for the
pick and shovel about every other day since, and
will continue to do so, no doubt, until the work is
finished, which will be soon."
• [We] worked daily ". . . on a line of breast-works
connecting the forts"
•"Many of them, reared on farms, had a natural
propensity for digging holes and shoveling dirt,
which had been fully satisfied by details to dig
"sinks" and tent drains" but they " . . . were glad
of a chance to exhibit their artistic qualities on
something less degrading than a camp sink."
THE 17TH CONNECTICUT
IN WASHINGTON
REPORT OF COL. NOBLE
BY ELEVEN O’CLOCK ON THE MORNING OF
OCTOBER 16, APPAREL, EQUIPAGE, A
THOUSAND MEN AND ALL OF THEIR
PERSONAL BELONGINGS WERE LOADED
ONTO THE TRAIN THAT WAS TO TAKE THE
REGIMENT TO WASHINGTON, D.C. THE
RAILS WERE SO CROWDED BY ARMY TRAVEL
AND TRANSPORTATION, HOWEVER, THAT
THE TRAIN DID NOT REACH WASHINGTON
UNTIL DUSK.
THE NEXT MORNING, THE REGIMENT WAS
ORDERED TO MARCH TO TENALLYTOWN
AND TO ENCAMP AT FORT KEARNY IN
DEFENSE OF WASHINGTON.
REPORT OF COLONEL NOBLE
We were marched to the other side of
Tenallytown and took a camp just
vacated by the 138th New York. The men
were put to work entrenching a hill that
was afterward known as Fort Kearney.
Our camp was named Camp Nellie
Seward after the daughter of the
Secretary of State.
PRIVATE WILLIAM WARREN:
The men of the regiment were doing
considerable growling at this time. They entered
service to kill rebels (they claimed) and not to dig
trenches. Several times they rebelled openly
against being detached for this work, and the
officers threatened to punish them, but no
punishment of any importance was afflicted.
Through the days they dug earth, and at nights
they sat about the fires and told stories and sang
songs.
THE FIRST DAY IN WASHINGTON
WAS SPENT SIGHTSEEING
P.T. BARNUM, TOM THUMB, AND
COMMODORE NUTT CAME TO VISIT AND TO
PREACH TEMPERANCE.
• OCT. 25TH - COLONEL NOBLE
FELL INTO A RIFLE PIT,
INJURING HIS ARM BADLY.
• SHORTLY AFTER, LIEUTENANT
COLONEL WALTER’S HORSE
STUMBLED AND FELL ON HIM. THE
HORSE WAS KILLED, AND LT.-COL.
WALTERS WAS SERIOUSLY HURT
•CHRISTOPHER OLMSTEAD “CRIP” –
(FRIEND OF JUSTUS SILLIMAN
AND SAM COMSTOCK) WAS
HOSPITALIZED WITH “BALTIMORE
FEVER.”
AND THE 17TH ?
“At Fort Kearney, the regiment was immediately put
to work in entrenchments. It expected to have been
sent along to Sigel, and did not like the delay. It
very likely worked with less will at its task of
digging than it would have done except in the face
of its disappointment. At any rate, several reports
of its not being good diggers had been made.”
(Colonel Noble)
." In an official report to his superiors on October 28, 1862 Civil
Engineer Gunnell informed that "the 17th Conn regiment is
of no use for working on the forts . . ."
TENALLYTOWN:
DIGGING AGAIN
AND WHINING ONCE MORE!
Digging and growling filled up the
time until the 30th, when the report
came that we were to move the next
morning. It was said we were going
to Centreville, Va., to join General
Sigel's corps. The members of the
regiment received this news with
rejoicing. They paraded through the
company streets, singing and
throwing their caps in the air.
SIGEL’S CORPS AT LAST?