civil war sallie

4 Irish related Civil War items

by fifer1863 on March 16, 2011

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I thought I’d do a quick post on 4 Irish-related Civil War Items.

 

#4 – Civil War Steeplechase by Edwin Forbes: This sketch is from March 17, 1863 and shows a “Saint Patrick’s Day celebration, Army of the Potomac, American Civil War. Irish Brigade holds a steeplechase race”

#3 – The Irish Brigade:  One of the most famous brigades of fighting men during the Civil War, the Irish Brigade was known for it’s bravery and gallantry during battle.  Led by Thomas Francis Meagher, the Irish Brigade would go into battle shouting, “faugh a ballagh” which means “clear the way”!

#2 – The Irish Brigade Monument in Gettysburg: One of the most popular monuments on the battlefield because of the life size Irish wolf hound that adorns the monument and symbolizes loyalty.  Dedicated on July 2, 1888, the monument with it’s Celtic Cross, honors the brave deeds of the Irish Brigade and their struggles in the Wheatfield.  Of the over 500 men that went into battle on July 2, 1863, about 200 would become casualties. Here is our good friend Civil War Sallie checking out the monument.

and

#1 – David Kincaid:  According to his Haunted Field Music website, David Kincaid is both a musician and historian who “presents a compelling combination of the songs and history of the Irish in the American Civil War. I have had a pleasure to listen to David perform many times over the years and each time is a true pleasure.  He is a wonderful artist and does a wonderful job of portraying the Irish soldier during the Civil War. Check out his The Irish American’s Song and The Irish Volunteer CDs

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Everyone

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Clara Barton

by Sarah on May 31, 2009

Clara Barton is one of the most famous women in American history. So while in 4th grade, it came time for my daughter to do a report on a famous person from history, she chose Clara. What was even more fun was that she wanted to do a slide show of pictures about Clara as she gave her oral report. So, she searched the web for pictures and information about Clara and then I showed her how to load them into iPhoto and how to make a slide show. It was a lot of fun working on this with her and we both learned a good bit about Clara and iPhoto, Garageband and iTunes.

So, I thought I would take her oral report and share some of it in a blog post, along with some of the photos, information and links about Clara that Sarah found.

Clara was born in 1821 in New Oxford, Massachusetts. My parents are Sarah Stone Barton and Capt. Stephen Barton. I have two brothers named David and Stephen and two sisters named Sarah and Dorothy (or Dolly).

This is a picture of the home where Clara was born.

Growing up Clara was a shy girl and enjoyed riding her horse. One day when David was out working on the barn roof he fell and broke his arm. The doctor told Clara that he may die, but she made a wish that he would not and cared for him for several weeks and her wish came true.

Clara’s brother and sister grew up to become teachers. In 1850, Clara became a teacher in this one-room schoolhouse. She earned praise when she refused to physically punish students. Clara liked to think that she left a mark on each school in which she taught, organizing the classroom and drafting lesson plans.

In 1861 when the civil war began I followed the troops taking care of the wounded soldiers. Clara and other women would care for the wounded soldiers by giving them food, bandaging their injuries and writing letters for them to their families.



During the Battle of Antietam in September 1862, Clara saw many wounded and dying soldiers everywhere she walked. They were in barns, in cornfields and even in the Dunker Church. These pictures show some of the wounded soldiers from the Battle of Antietam that she nursed back to health.


Although it is widely believed that Clara was set up on the Joseph Poffenberger farm on the north end of the battlefield, according to Ranger Mannie Clara was actually at the Samuel Poffenberger farm, a little more to the east. This is a modern photograph of the Samuel Poffenberger farmhouse, which is where she stayed for a week or so.


There is a monument at the Antietam National Battlefield to Clara that says:

DURING THE BATTLE OF ANTIETAM SEPTEMBER 17, 1862 CLARA BARTON BROUGHT SUPPLIES AND NURSING AID TO THE WOUNDED ON THIS BATTLEFIELD THIS ACT OF LOVE AND MERCY LED TO THE BIRTH OF THE PRESENT AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS THIS SYMBOLIC RED CROSS HAS BEEN MADE FROM A BRICK FROM THE CHIMNEY OF THE HOME WHERE CLARA BARTON WAS BORN AT NORTH OXFORD, MASSACHUSETTS ON CHRISTMAS DAY, 1821


Beginning in 1870, Clara spent 10 years organizing the American National Red Cross, which was officially incorporated in 1882. Under my leadership the Red Cross assisted with relief efforts following disasters like floods, forest fires, and earthquakes.


Thanks to Ranger Mannie from Antietam National Battlefield, Ranger Smith from Gettysburg Battlefield and Mr. Joe Korber of the 119th New York Field Music and The Sykes Regulars for information on Clara, photos and music for this presentation.

So, that was the bulk of her report. A few points to consider: 1) Sarah’s school has very little in terms of technology so it was great for her to show the other kids, 2) This provided me a change to help Sarah learn how to research a topic on the Internet, 3) I made sure that she asked permission to use photos and music for her presentation that were not in the public domain and 4) her class got to see a great presentation using technology.

A few more quick photos.
This is Sarah at the Clara Barton monument


and

Here is Sarah, holding her Junior Ranger certificate and badge, with Ranger Mannie.


Additional photos and information about Clara are available on the web at these sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Barton
http://www.civilwarhome.com/bartonbio.htm
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm072.html
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/27barton/27barton.htm
http://www.clarabarton.org/

Updated from the old blog:  Check out Sarah’s new project Civil War Sallie who recently visited the Clara Barton home and wrote a two-part blog post on her visit.  Check out Part 1 and Part 2

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Congratulations Civil War Sallie

by jared on May 20, 2009

Today was the state wide competition for the Pennsylvania Middle School Computer Fair was held at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa.  As you know, my daughter Sarah has her Civil War Sallie project and she had entered her project in the Web Page Design Category.   Well, I’m here to tell you that Sarah and Sallie took 1st place today.  We are very proud of all the hard work Sarah has put into Civil War Sallie.

Here is a photo of Sarah prior to the start of the judging:

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and here is Sarah with her ceremonial check:

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Sallie is looking for Civil War museums, battlefields and classrooms learning about Civil War to visit.  She would love to come visit you in order to learn more about the Civil War while sharing her experiences on her blog or Flickr page.

Please go and check out Sallie’s home page and if you teach the Civil War, live or work near a Civil War battlefield or museum sign up to have Sallie come visit you.

Congratulations to Sarah and Civil War Sallie.  Next up for Sarah is the National Educational Computing Conference where she will be participating in the student showcase while Sallie will be traveling to Andersonville Prison in Georgia.

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Introducing Civil War Sallie

February 10, 2009

As part of her Pa Middle School Computer Fair project, my daughter has created a very cool project.  Based on an idea called Morpheus Fortuna, she has created an educational “follow me” project to get kids to learn more about the Civil War and using technology in the classroom. Introducing Civil War Sallie. Sallie is [...]

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