USS Constellation

USS Constellation, the last all sail warship built by the US Navy, is open to the public as a museum in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. The USS Constellation Museum invites guests to discover life on board the only Civil War era vessel still afloat and explore the ship's maritime history.

I have been through this ship and it is facinating. It is well worth the time to tour through it and visit the harbor when in the area.

Knights of the Golden Circle 1860 Election

11/5/1860 a letter from Union Soldier refers to the election about to begin and how they arrested Knights of the Golden Circle!!! KGC was to lay the groundwork for annexation of territories in Mexico, Central America, & Caribbean to be included w US as slave states.

Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC) was a secret society originally founded to promote the interests of the Southern United States.

Most of the time, families knew more what was going on than the soldiers. Families had the advantage of reading the paper. Soldiers would wait for newspapers to be sent from home to learn the news.

1860 was historical for many reasons, but probably the most important was the election of Lincoln! This one act would set off a chain of southern states secessions.

The Presidential Election of 1860

Abraham Lincoln won the support of the Republican National Convention.

The Democratic National Convention was held in South Carolina, with a second meeting in Maryland. During the convention, 110 Southern Delegates, walked out when the party would not adopt a platform endorsing the expansion of slavery into new/future territories. The Democrats that remained, nominated Stephen A. Douglas for the presidency. The Southern Democrats held another convention in Virginia, nominating John Breckinridge.

The former Know Nothings with some Whigs formed the Constitutional Union Party running on a platform supporting the Constitution.

November 6; Republican Candidate Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States, with Hannibal Hamlin as his Vice President. This brought on the secession of the Southern States, starting with South Carolina.

Quote by Thomas Jefferson

"Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. " Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson died in 1826, long before the Civil War. I just think he was brilliant and my mom is named after him....

My Great Grandfather was named after Thomas Jefferson. My mother was named after her grandfather, (there were no boys), her name is Jeff Bratton.

Nurses, Spys, Union and Confederate Soldiers, Sutlers

There were a few women awarded pensions after the war. The numbers vary, but were around 300 +- women served. These women would dress and present themselves as men, wearing loose clothing, short hair, bathed in their underwear, and sometimes sporting fake mustaches.
One I found very interesting was Loreta Valezquez. She laid many claims in her memoirs in later years; even without validation of all her claims, she had a very interesting life. She claimed she was disguised as a female spy at one point for the Confederate Army. Imagine, a woman pretending to be a man, pretending to be a woman. She served as Lieutenant Harry Buford fighting at the First Bull Run, Fort Donelson, and Shiloh.

Many women served as nurses and Sutlers assisting the troops in the field and at home. Sutlers were basically merchants; selling goods to the troops.

Ahhh the prostitutes! Must have been relatively common; as I read through letters from Union and Confederate soldiers, they refer to these women coming in and out of camp on a regular basis.

Officers had their wives come into camp and stay with them in their tents. These women would cook, clean and take care of their men.