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Battle Hymn of the Republic

Wedded to War Historic Sites of Washington City

Wed, 2013-01-16 08:43 -- Jocelyn Green
Last month I shared with you five historic sites of New York City that appear in my Civil war novel Wedded to War. Today, I want to take you to Washington, DC--or Washington City, as it was commonly referred to in 1861. There are many sites not on this list simply because the buildings no longer exist. My goal is to show you places both "then" and "now" that you can actually visit today. First, to give you a general idea, here's what Charlotte Waverly and her sister Alice Carlisle saw upon arriving from New York City: "The tour of the capital was disappointing, if not downright depressing. The 'city of magnificent distances' sprawled out in every direction, with long stretches of shanties, taverns, and vacant lots between a few marble buildings looking wholly out of place in the swampy city: the Capitol, the General Post Office, the Patent Office, the Treasury, the Executive Mansion, and the Smithsonian Institution. . . .  Fish and oyster peddlers cried out from the corners, hawking their wares, while flocks of geese waddled on Pennsylvania Avenue and hogs of every size and color wallowed in the mud from Capitol Hill to Judiciary Square. In some neighborhoods, people still emptied slop and refuse into the gutters, and dead animals into the city canals." ~Wedded to War Now let's zoom in. 1) The Capitol  "The Capitol building was unimpressive, a blunted, unfinished dome holding up the skeletal frame with a metal crane perched on top. Even the marble wings on the old sandstone Capitol building were so new they had no steps yet. Littering the grounds were columns, blocks of marble, keystones, carvings, lumber and iron plates, workmen's sheds, and depots for coal and wood. Rather than a stately symbol of a proud and steady country, it looked instead like an ambitious plan still under construction but with no certainty that any sense of order would ever prevail. Perhaps it was a fitting symbol of the nation, after all." ~Wedded to War Not everything in the above excerpt is visible in the old photo, taken in March 1861 during Lincoln's inauguration, but hopefully your imagination can help fill in the blanks. [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"720", "attributes":{"class":"media-image aligncenter size-full wp-image-674", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"300", "height":"341", "title":"uscapitol", "alt":""}}]]The photo at left was taken May 15, 1861, and gives a better view of the construction materials lying around. By this time, more than 3000 soldiers were quartered in the House chamber. All work on the building was halted that day, and the iron contractors were told that they would not be paid until the country’s financial outlook improved. With more than 1.3 million pounds of iron stockpiled on the site, the contractors, Janes, Fowler & Kirtland continued the work without pay. More soldiers arrived every day during the spring and summer of 1861. Not only did they need places to sleep, but food, as well. One hundred fifty bakers worked around the clock  in the cellars under the Capitol's west wing to bake 60,000 loaves daily. They were taken by wagon to the army camps encircling the city. Of course the Capitol has come a long way since then. No visit to Washington would be complete without a stop here. The Visitor Center is open Mondays through Saturdays, but you would need to book a tour of the building in advance. Directions are here. Frederick Law Olmsted, landscape architect of Central Park and executive secretary of the U.S. Sanitary Commission from 1861-1863, later returned to Washington City and designed the Capitol Hill grounds. 2) The Washington Monument Though the cornerstone of the Washington Monument had been laid July 4, 1848 (the close of the Mexican War), chronic shortages of funds abbreviated its growth until, by 1861, this stump was all but abandoned. The sheds you see in the photo above housed stone gifts intended for interior walls. This place became known as the Beef Depot, since beginning in May 1861, a large herd of cattle was brought here to graze while awaiting slaughter to feed the Union army.  It was a pubilc nuisance which continued throughout the war. Walt Whitman complained of the ten thousand cows here. Other uses for this space included billeting transient troops, training grounds for cavalry and infantry, and occasional testing of new weapons. Today, at 555 feet tall, it is the dominant feature of Washington, D.C.'s skyline. The difference in shading on the monument we see today marks the line where construction stopped. The capstone was finally placed in 1884. Visit the National Park Service's Web site for the monument here. It is near the center of the National Mall. Find directions here. Also on the National Mall (which was not called that yet in 1861) was the Armory Square Hospital, where Charlotte Waverly nursed after the second Battle of Bull Run. It was built according to U.S. Sanitary Commission recommendations and had one thousand beds in twelve pavilions. Here's an illustration of it below, made in 1864, hence the finished Capitol Dome. 3) The White House  Wedded to War's only scene in the White House takes place on Monday, Feb. 24, 1862. . . "The huge gilt mirrors in the East Room of the White House were draped in mourning, black fabric covering the frames, and white on the glass. Grief hung so thickly in the air Edward Goodrich felt as if he was choking on it. He had never been to a child's funeral before, and he'd never dreamed that his first one would be for President Lincoln's boy. But four days ago, in this very mansion, typhoid fever had claimed the life of eleven-year-old Williw. The entire nation mourned the loss, and Edward had a front row seat to the gut-wrenching grief of a parent burying his child." ~Wedded to War The East Room during Lincoln’s administration (pictured above) had wall-to-wall red and blue floral carpeting, wallpaper with gold highlights, massive glass chandeliers, tall golden mirrors, and a long rectangular table for dinner parties. It was the most impressive room in the White House. Mary Lincoln was too overwrought to attend her son's funeral, and wept in her rooms upstairs instead. Visit The White House Historical Society Web site for a wealth of information. To schedule a tour of the White House, you must submit a request through your Congressperson, up to six months in advance, and not less than 21 days in advance. See details here.  For the rest of us, there is a virtual tour here. Incidentally, the White House grounds shown above were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted's son, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. 4) Treasury Building Lady clerks leaving the Treasury Building   In April 1861, Gen. Winfield Scott, then commander of the small Union army, decided the Treasury Building would be the city's last holdout in the event of an attack, protecting the President and Cabinet. This plan was never used. The Treasury Building also housed the small office of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, where Frederick Law Olmsted wrote his reports and recommendations for the army camps in and around Washington. Elsewhere in the building, supplies of the Commission were kept. Below we see the main Treasry building as it stands today at the corner of 15th and Pennsylvania Ave., NW. Tours of the Main Treasury Building are available by advanced reservation through your Congressional offices. For more information on tours and reservations, please click here. You can also take a narrated Virtual Tour of the Main Treasury Building. 5) Pensylvania Avenue Many historic addresses make their home on Pennsylvania Ave., including the White House and the Treasury Building. Imagine this road as it was on the morning of July 22, 1861--it was raining, muddy, and full of mobs of Union soldiers retreating after a shocking (at least to them) defeat at Bull Run. On this street, the Sanitary Commission set up tables to feed them and waited for ambulances to bring in their wounded. Ambulances came back--empty. The wounded that couldn't walk had been left on the field. An obscure address today is 627 Pennsylvania Ave., but back in the Civil War, it was the home of Matthew Brady's National Photographic Art Gallery. Matthew Brady was the world's first war photgrapher of note, considered by many the father of photojournalism. He took portraits of key figures in the war, and was on the fields at Bull Run, Antietam, Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, and more. If you want to see his work, have fun browsing the National Archives' Flickr collection. There are thousands here. 6) New York Avenue Presbyterian Church Though we don't see New York Ave. Presbyterian Church in Wedded to War, we do meet its pastor, Dr. Phineas Gurley, and heard him preach at the funeral of Willie Lincoln in the East Room of the White House. You may find the full text of that sermon here. In July 1862 the Army was in dire need of more hospital space. Dr. Gurley, as pastor, announced one morning that services would be suspended indefinitely since the building was needed for the wounded. According to Mr. Lincoln's City by Richard M. Lee: On hearing this, President Lincoln stood up in his pew, interrupting, "Dr. Gurley, this action was taken withouth my consent, and I hereby countermand the order. The churches are needed as never before for divine services." This was the Lincoln family's church throughout the Civil War. The Lincolns rented a particular pew, which was a customary means of supporting a church at that time. The "Lincoln pew" remains in approximately the same place it was in the 1860s. Visitors are allowed to sit in it, and any time a U.S. president attends, he and his family are seated in the Lincoln pew. For more information on this historic church, including photos of the Lincoln pew, and the Lincoln stained glass window, visit here. The address is 1313 New York Ave. NW. 7) St. John's Church "St. John's Church was emptier than usual today, and the conspicuous gaps in the high-backed pews distracted Charlotte from the sermon. Outside, the steady sound of carriages, gigs, hacks, and wagons rolling by was like one continuous low roll of thunder, punctuated by riders' laughter and son, and by champagne bottles clinking at their feet." ~ Wedded to War In the excerpt above, the congregation in St. John's Church heard the sounds of people skipping church to go picnic-ing on the battlefield near Manassas, Virginia, twenty-five miles west of Washington City, for a glimpse of the battle of Bull Run. It was July 21, 1861. After the church service, Gen. Winfield Scott shook hands with those who were there, then went home to take his afternoon nap, having no clue the disaster that was about to befall the Union army. St. John's Church on Lafayette Square is one of the most historic buildings of the city, and its appearance is unchanged since the Civil War--which is great for me, since I couldn't find a photo earlier than 1918 anyway. :) Known as the Church of the Presidents, James Madison and several early presidents after him were communicants, as were more recent chief executives. The bell in St. John's steeple was cast by Paul Revere's son, Joseph, at his Boston foundry in August 1822 and installed at St. John's on November 30, 1822. St. John's bell is one of two Revere bells in Washington, both cast and installed in 1822. However, of the two, St. John's bell is the only one that has been in continuous service since its installation. Find location and directions here. The church is open daily and is free to enter. Tours of the church are available on a regular basis following the 11:00 a.m. service (10:30 a.m. during the summer) on most Sundays. Special tours may be arranged by contacting the church office at 202.347.8766. 8 ) Willard's Hotel Willard's Hotel   While Frederick Law Olmsted worked out of his office in the Treasury Building for the Sanitary Commission, he stayed in Willard's Hotel. Before the Lincolns moved into the White House, they stayed here. During the war, Willard's Hotel was known as the gathering place for Union supporters, and the heart of the Union, even more so than the Capitol building. Its bars, sitting rooms, corridors and dining rooms were full of lobbyists, politicians, contractors, officers, financiers, war correspondens, and anyone else who wished to learn anything or have any influence over the fate of the Union. It was in the lobby of the Willard Hotel that Ulysses S. Grant popularized the term "lobbyist." But more than just deals and handshakes took place here. On Nov. 19, 1861, Julia Ward Howe spent the night here, and in the predawn hours, awoke with lyrics running through her mind. Hastily, she wrote them down, to the tune of John Brown's Body, and went back to bed. She had just written the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," which would become the rallying cry of the Northern army. In Wedded to War, while working in a field hospital on the Virginia peninsula, Charlote and other women sang this hymn to boost morale--and to drown out the drone of the wounded. Charlotte Waverly and Alice Carlise (my fictional characters) were staying across the street at the Ebbitt House when Julia Ward Howe was at Willard's. As a side note, the Ebbitt House is no longer in existence, but here is what it looked like: Original Ebbitt House   For more history on the Ebbitt House, click here. Now back to Willard's. There is now an exlusive, luxury hotel at 1401 Pennsylvania Ave., called simply The Willard Washington DC. Directions and a photo gallery of the interior are here. The Willard   This concludes the Wedded to War Historic Sites of Washington City tour! If I find more, I’ll add them. But my next project will be the Wedded to War Historic Sites of Virginia! Wondering what Wedded to War is all about? Click here for an overview and book trailer.

Civil War Songs and Poems

Thu, 2012-06-21 10:36 -- Jocelyn Green
Music is important to us. We use it to set the mood, lift our spirits, and teach, among other reasons. If we were to look at the most popular songs of America today, we’d get a sense of what is important to our culture, wouldn’t we? When writing historical fiction, we can do the same thing. Looking at the popular songs and poetry gives me a more robust flavor of the Civil War era, and helps me understand the mindsets of my characters better. Music was so much a part of life then (just as it is today) that some of the lyrics made their way into my novel, Wedded to War, and they will appear in the rest of the series as well. Here are five songs and poems which both reflected and colored public and military sentiment. Victory’s Band by Dan Emmett This song, written in 1861, was sung to the tune of Dixie’s Land. In my novel, troops stationed outside Washington City sang this song after a day of drilling before they were tested with their first real battle—the Battle of Bull Run. We’re marching under the Flag of union, Keeping step in brave communion! March away! March away! Away! Victory’s band! Right down upon the ranks of rebels, Tramp them underfoot like pebbles, March away! March away! Away! Victory’s band! CHORUS Oh! We’re marching on to Victory! Hurrah! Hurrah! In Victory’s band we’ll sweep the land, And fight or die for Victory! Away! Away! We’ll fight or die for victory! This song reflected their over-confidence. The Union suffered a staggering defeat at the Battle of Bull Run and retreated in shame. Battle Hymn of the Republic by Julia Ward Howe Julie Ward Howe was prompted to rewrite the lyrics to the tune of John Brown’s Body (aka the John Brown Songs) when she was staying at the Willard Hotel in Washington City in November 1861. She awoke before dawn, penned the new lyrics, and went back to bed. It was first published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862 and soon became the rallying cry of the Union. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on. I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps; I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps; His day is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on. I have read a fiery Gospel writ in burnished rows of steel; “As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal”; Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel, Since God is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Since God is marching on. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat; Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet; Our God is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on. In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me: As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free; [originally …let us die to make men free] While God is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! While God is marching on. He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave, He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave; So the world shall be His footstool,and the soul of wrong His slave, Our God is marching on. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on. Singing songs like this at a battlefield hospital increased morale—and helped drown out the moaning of wounded and dying men. [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"908", "attributes":{"class":"media-image alignright size-medium wp-image-361", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"254", "height":"300", "title":"howland_mary_elizabeth_watts_woolsey", "alt":""}}]]A Rainy Day in Camp by Mary Woolsey Howland During the early years of the war, Mary Woolsey Howland (pictured above) wrote several poems that were published and distributed among grateful troops. (Mary was the sister of Georgeanna Woolsey, who was the inspiration for Wedded to War’s main character, Charlotte Waverly.) The first of these poems was “A Rainy Day in Camp” and was said to bring tears to the eyes of the most of the men who heard it. Personally, I love how Mary drew a parallel near the end of the poem to God as the commander in chief of a great victorious army.   It’s a cheerless, lonesome evening, When the soaking, sodden ground Will not echo to the footfall Of the sentinel’s dull round.   God’s blue star-spangled banner To-night is not unfurled; Surely He has not deserted This weary, warring world.   I peer into the darkness, And the crowding fancies come: The night wind, blowing northward, Carries all my heart toward home.   For I ‘listed in this army Not exactly to my mind; But my country called for helpers, And I couldn’t stay behind.   So, I’ve had a sight of drilling, And have roughed it many ways, And death has nearly had me;- Yet I think the service pays.   It’s a blessed sort of feeling— Whether you live or die— You helped your country in her need, And fought right loyally.   But I can’t help thinking sometimes, When a wet day’s leisure comes, And I hear the old home voices Talking louder than the drums, — And the far, familiar faces Peep in at my tent door, And the little children’s footsteps Go pit-pat on the floor,— I can’t help thinking, somehow, Of all the parson reads About that other soldier-life Which every true man leads. And wife, soft-hearted creature, Seems a-saying in my ear, “I’d rather have you in those ranks Than to see you brigadier.”   I call myself a brave one, But in my heart I lie! For my country, and her honor, I am fiercely free to die;   But when the Lord, who bought me, Asks for my service here To “fight the good fight” faithfully, I’m skulking in the rear.   And yet I know this Captain All love and care to be: He would never get impatient With a raw recruit like me.   And I know he’d not forget me; When the day of peace appears, I should share with Him the victory Of all His volunteers.   And it’s kind of cheerful, thinking, Beside the dull tent fire, About that big promotion, When He says, “ Come up higher.”   And though it’s dismal—rainy- Even now, with thoughts of Him, Camp life looks extra cheery, And death a deal less grim.   For I seem to see Him waiting, Where a gathered heaven greets A great victorious army, Marching up the golden streets.   And I hear Him read the roll-call, And my heart is all a-flame, When the dear, recording angel Writes down my happy name!   —But my fire is dead white ashes, And the tent is chilling cold, And I’m playing win the battle, When I’ve never been enrolled! [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"909", "attributes":{"class":"media-image alignright size-medium wp-image-364", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"300", "height":"212", "title":"harpers our women and the war", "alt":""}}]]Somebody's Darling by Marie Ravenel de la Coste Marie Ravenel de la Coste who spent her early days in Savannah, Georgia, teaching French when the Civil War broke out. This poem was first published anonymously in 1864 in Augusta, Georgia, as a song, and is perhaps the best-known Confederate poem. Women in both North and South revered the sentiments it portrays. Into a ward of the whitewashed walls Where the dead and the dying lay— Wounded by bayonets, shells, and balls—   Somebody’s darling! So young and so brave, Wearing still on his pale sweet face—   Soon to be hid by the dust of the grave— The lingering light of his boyhood’s grace.   Matted and damp are the curls of gold Kissing the snow of that fair young brow,   Pale are the lips of delicate mould— Somebody’s darling is dying now.   Back from the beautiful blue-veined brow Brush the wandering waves of gold;   Cross his hands on his bosom now— Somebody’s darling is still and cold.   Kiss him once for Somebody’s sake; Murmur a prayer, soft and low;   One bright curl from the cluster take—  They were Somebody’s pride, you know.   Somebody’s hand hath rested there; Was it a mother’s, soft and white?   And have the lips of a sister fair Been baptized in those waves of light?   God knows best. He has Somebody’s love; Somebody’s heart enshrined him there;   Somebody wafted his name above, Night and morn, on the wings of prayer.   Somebody wept when he marched away, Looking so handsome, brave, and grand;   Somebody’s kiss on his forehead lay; Somebody clung to his parting hand;—   Somebody’s watching and waiting for him, Yearning to hold him again to her heart;   There he lies—with the blue eyes dim, And the smiling, child-like lips apart.   Tenderly bury the fair young dead, Pausing to drop on his grave a tear;   Carve on the wooden slab at his head, “Somebody’s darling slumbers here!” [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"910", "attributes":{"class":"media-image alignright size-medium wp-image-363", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"230", "height":"300", "title":"when this cruel war is over", "alt":""}}]]When This Cruel War is Over by Charles Carroll Sawyer Published in 1863, “When This Cruel War is Over” (also known as “Weeping, Sad and Lonely”) was one of the best-selling songs during the war both in the North and the South, with more than a million copies of the sheet music sold. Dearest Love, do you remember, when we last did meet, How you told me that you loved me, kneeling at my feet? Oh! How proud you stood before me, in your suit of blue, When you vow’d to me and country, ever to be true. CHORUS: Weeping, sad and lonely, hopes and fears how vain! When this cruel war is over, praying that we meet again. When the summer breeze is sighing, mournfully along, Or when autumn leaves are falling, sadly breathes the song. Oft in dreams I see thee lying on the battle plain, Lonely, wounded, even dying, calling but in vain. CHORUS: Weeping, sad and lonely, hopes and fears how vain! When this cruel war is over, praying that we meet again. If amid the din of battle, nobly you should fall, Far away from those who love you, none to hear you call – Who would whisper words of comfort, who would soothe your pain? Ah! The many cruel fancies, ever in my brain. CHORUS: Weeping, sad and lonely, hopes and fears how vain! When this cruel war is over, praying that we meet again. But our Country called you, Darling, angels cheer your way; While our nation’s sons are fighting, we can only pray. Nobly strike for God and Liberty, let all nations see How we loved the starry banner, emblem of the free. CHORUS: Weeping, sad and lonely, hopes and fears how vain! When this cruel war is over, praying that we meet again. How interesting to see how the sentiments changed from the first two songs on this list to the last two. The war clearly lost its glory and glamour as both Union and Confederacy grew weary of the fight. Think again about the music we listen to today. What does it say about us? What does your music say about you, or about how you view life?  [[{"type":"media", "view_mode":"media_large", "fid":"679", "attributes":{"class":"media-image alignleft", "typeof":"foaf:Image", "style":"", "width":"154", "height":"240", "alt":"WeddedtoWarcover-193x300"}}]]More about Wedded to War: When war erupted, she gave up a life of privilege for a life of significance. Tending to the army’s sick and wounded meant leading a life her mother does not understand and giving up a handsome and approved suitor. Yet Charlotte chooses a life of service over privilege, just as her childhood friend had done when he became a military doctor. She soon discovers that she’s combatting more than just the rebellion by becoming a nurse. Will the two men who love her simply stand by and watch as she fights her own battles? Or will their desire for her wage war on her desire to serve God?Wedded to War is a work of fiction, but the story is inspired by the true life of Civil War nurse Georgeanna Woolsey. Woolsey’s letters and journals, written over 150 years ago, offer a thorough look of what pioneering nurses endured. This is the first in the series “Heroines Behind the Lines: Civil War,” a collection of novels that highlights the crucial contributions made by women during times of war.            
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