A Head Scratcher

Sometimes in my line of work folks will ask me to look at an artifact, usually a military artifact of some sort, to help them determine what it is they have. I am not a collector or curator of military artifacts so sometimes I can help them, and other times I am as much at a loss as they are. I got an interesting one today....

Someone asked me to look at a Civil War musket and tell them what it was. When I arrived and they handed it to me, I was immediately thrown off by the appearance of it. It was clearly an Enfield rifled musket, but something wasn't quite right. Then I realized that the thing had been modified and had Springfield-style barrel bands and retention springs on it. Everything else about it was Enfield, except for that detail. Also, the weapon had been rebored at some point and is now a smoothbore weapon of a much larger caliber than it was originally. Well, I've never seen anything like this before and I was stumped so I started making phone calls. Here are two theories I've gotten from other military history professionals:

1. It was sent to the Richmond Arsenal for repair and modified at that point.

2. It could be one of a number of Enfields rescued from a sunken blockade runner off the coast, that were then sent to the Fayetteville Arsenal for repair.

Since both arsenals (Richmond and Fayetteville) were using equipment formerly found at the Federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, the Springfield-style hardware would fit the explanation. I tend to like the Fayetteville option, for the simple reason that its a better story. However, I may never be able to prove any theory about this weapon unless it starts talking. It would be very helpful if the family had some kind of story about this gun, like which one of their ancestors carried it, what unit he was in, etc. That would go a long way toward verifying some of the facts about this piece. But, I don't know that they even know the story behind it except that its been passed down through the family. This is the frustrating thing about history sometimes, the artifacts usually don't talk!

Weekly Quote

Since I'll be on the road tomorrow and Tuesday, I'm posting the weekly quote from the Mariner's Book of Days a little early.

Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made, for somewhere deep in their oaken hearts the soul of a song is laid. ~Robert N. Rose

Deletion from Blogroll

I am sad to say that Tomorrow's History is no more. The author hadn't posted since Thanksgiving weekend, and when I checked in this evening there was a message that the author had deleted the blog. I'm sad to see this one go, as I enjoyed reading it and the author's previous blog, Southern Pasts. While he was an interesting fellow, I suppose he just wasn't the type of person to keep up with a blog regularly enough to make it worth his while. Maybe he'll come back to the blogosphere in the future.

How Strong is Your Blogging Addiction?

45%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

I'm sure I scored lower on this than my wife would think! See honey, I'm not a total blogging nerd (not that you've ever read this).

Civil War Navy on Another Blog

Thanks to Mr. Rotov over at Civil War Bookshelf for putting a link to an article about Civil War Navy living history. This article is actually an interview with Chuck Veit, who I consider to be one of the fathers of naval living history and one of its foremost authorities. Thanks again Dimitri; I hope lots of folks read this article!

Weekly Quote

From The Mariner's Book of Days - 2008:

I cannot say those hills, alive and deliberate on all sides, were waves. They were the sea. ~H.M. Tomlinson

Maybe She Does Pay Attention Sometimes

My stepdaughter, who is 14 and a very typical teenager, surprised me a bit the other day when I picked her up from school. She was carrying in her arms a rather large stack of books, which I figured were for some paper or project she had to do. Rather, she told me that she had rescued them from the library's discard box (apparently the library, or Media Center as they like to call it at her school, was doing a little selective downsizing). I asked what she got and she said "a bunch of random books." When asked why she did so, she said that the books were about "random topics of interest" to her. I guess "random" is a typical pattern for 14 year old girls. Then she said that she had picked one up for me. And so, I now have So Proudly She Sailed: Tales of Old Ironsides written in 1981 by Olga Cabral. My wife was as impressed as I was that she picked out this book with me in mind. I guess it goes to show that no matter how little we have in common, she does pay attention to what my interests are. I suppose its kind of like how I buy her a bunch of CDs every Christmas, even though I hate the music she listens to. Anyway, as for the book, it is a fictional account of course, but illustrated with drawings of Old Ironsides and portraits some of her officers, all from reputable sources such as the US Naval Academy and various museums. If you look at the Amazon citation, it says the book is for 9-12 year olds, but I'll probably still give it a read one day.

As Promised, Some Photos from Fort Fisher

Photos by Melvin Kestner of New Bern, NC (forwarded to me by Greg Willett, Private, CSMC, Wilmington)

Weekly Quote

From The Mariner's Book of Days - 2008:

Seaworthiness is a relative term. ~Claud Worth

New Beginnings at Fort Fisher

Yesterday I participated in the January anniversary program at Fort Fisher. What made this anniversary unique is that it was the first such program for the three new staff members at the site. The program went very well and the staff should be pleased by their efforts for the first time doing an anniversary program. I was very impressed with the overall organization of the program and things ran more smoothly than normal. Though the weather was spotty in the morning it didn't seem to deter the spectator turnout. I'm hoping to have photos to put up on the blog soon!

Weekly Quote

From The Mariner's Book of Days - 2008:

Of all the works of the Creation, none is so imposing as the Ocean.
~John Constable

A Bit of Housecleaning

In case you are wondering (which most of you aren't) I removed three blogs from my blogroll due to inactivity. The Monitor Center Blog hasn't put up a new post since August 30, My Civil War Notes has been lacking new material since October 10, and Southern Pasts was cancelled by it's author on October 24. He subsequently opened a new blog called Tomorrow's History, which has now been inactive since Thanksgiving weekend, but I'm leave that on the roll for now. If any of you know of other blogs I might be interested in please let me know.

Anniversary of the Death of TR

Today marks the anniversary of the death of Theodore Roosevelt in 1919. I am mentioning this anniversary here because TR served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the late 1890s and also wrote a book on the history of naval operations in the War of 1812.

As Assistant Secretary of the Navy to John D. Long during the McKinley administration, TR had far-reaching power. Secretary Long was a very inactive cabinet member, and was ill much of the time, giving Roosevelt the opportunity to exercise unprecedented control. He prepared the Navy for the "Splendid Little War," and along with the likes of Alfred Thayer Mahan, furthered the transition to a thoroughly modern, battleship driven navy.

Roosevelt's book The Naval War of 1812, written in 1882, was the standard work on the topic for two generations and is still in print today. TR was well-recognized as an historian and even served as President of the American Historical Association, one the largest scholarly groups in the field.

If you are looking for a good book on TR and his generation, you may want to take a look at First Great Triumph: How Five Americans Made Their Country a World Power by Warren Zimmerman. Aside from TR and Mahan, the other gentlemen highlighted in the book are Henry Cabot Lodge, John Hay, and Elihu Root, all very important figures during their time. But, for today, remember the death of the nation's 26th president.

Another Season is Over

In very disappointing fashion, my Steelers ended their season last night, going down in defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars. As odd as this may sound, I don't mind losing to the Jags as much as I would to other teams. Jacksonville's team has been referred to as "Pittsburgh South" and in a lot of ways they are. I respect the team and head coach Jack Del Rio. I will certainly watch the remainder of the playoffs because I am a football fan, and I'll probably be rooting for the Jags now. So when does training camp open at St. Vincent's College in Latrobe?

Just Arrived!

Over the past year I have been trying to expand my library in the area of colonial/Revolutionary/early Republic period history. Most of my purchases have focused on the War of 1812, particularly the naval aspects, as you might imagine. However, I have also found renewed interest in the French and Indian War (as we refer to it on our side of the pond). I grew up learning about F&I because we lived close to Fort Ligonier. My interest in that period subsided until just recently. This week I received The War That Made America: A Short History of the French and Indian War by Fred Anderson. At under 300 pages this should be a very manageable read that will reintroduce me to the conflict by which I was so fascinated in my youth.

Another Interesting CW Navy Article - CWRT Appearance

Take a look at this article about the USS Commodore Hull, which can be found on the website of the Cape Fear Civil War Roundtable. There are a number of other short articles available on a variety of topics.

I will be making an appearance at this roundtable's meeting next week. Thursday, January 10 I will be doing a presentation about the USS Underwriter Expedition and the aftermath as it affected the officer corps on board the CSS Neuse. Basically, a number of the officers aboard the Confederate ironclad came to Kinston originally as part of the expedition, then got "stuck" there to help complete the ironclad, train the crew, and serve as the core group of officers. My presentation gives a brief overview of the expedition, then tries to draw out connections between the officers, and possible reasons why they were chosen to remain in Kinston after the expedition was over. It's still a work in progress, but quite the interesting story nonetheless.

Blog Post About the Charlotte Navy Yard (CSN)

I want to give a plug for another blog here. For those of you who may look at my blogroll, you'll see the first one listed is titled A Californian Living Down South and is authored by Justin Roepel. Justin recently moved to Hickory, NC from the West Coast (obviously) and has a strong interest in maritime and Civil War history. He is currently in the recruiting process to join our living history unit. One of his latest posts deals with the Confederate Navy Yard at Charlotte, NC . Click the link and take a look!