National Cemetery, SF

Tomorrow is Good Friday, and I have something special to do. I get to act like a historian!!

When I took Magical History Tour #1, I learned so much, but most of all I learned that seeing things like a historian is different than just seeing things. There is a different way to comport oneself, and a different way to introduce yourself, etc.

I am very new to this part of my life, but I take direction and criticism well. I now have a "Contact Card" and everything!! LOL!

So, tomorrow I am going to the National Cemetery in San Francisco to look at graves. The Kerfluffle at Picacho Peak resulted in three deaths. In 1892, two of the three soldiers were disinterred in Arizona, then reinterred at the National.

I don't know how long it has been since anyone visited the graves of George Johnson and Bill Leonard, but I am bringing flowers to these two young Union men from the 1st Cavalry, California Volunteers. Huzzah!

A Lifetime of Service--John Clem-Part 3

Clem’s legend grew following Chickamauga, although some stories may be apocryphal. One holds that his drum was destroyed at the Battle of Shiloh, earning him the nickname “Johnny Shiloh” and serving as inspiration for the song, “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh.”

However, the 22nd Michigan, Clem’s unit, was not mustered until the summer after the Battle of Shiloh, making it unlikely Clem saw action in the battle with that regiment.

John Clem went on to fight at Perryville, Murfreesboro, Kennesaw and Atlanta, where he was wounded twice. Clem was discharged from the Army in 1864 at age 13, but sought to rejoin the military in 1870.

Nominated to West Point by President Ulysses S. Grant, Clem failed the entrance exam several times before Grant appointed him a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

He enjoyed a successful second military career, rising to the rank of colonel and assistant quartermaster general by 1906. He retired on the eve of U.S. entry into World War I with the rank of major general, the last Civil War veteran to actively serve in the U.S. Army.

John Clem died in 1937 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Chickamauga--Not Shiloh!! Part 2

Young Johnny Clem became a national celebrity for his actions at Chickamauga.

Armed with a musket sawn down for him to carry, Clem joined the 22nd Michigan in the defense of Horseshoe Ridge on the afternoon of September 20, 1863, the Battle of Chickamauga.

As the Confederate forces surrounded his unit, a Confederate colonel spotted Clem and shouted either “I think the best thing a mite of a chap like you can do is drop that gun” or called him a “damned little Yankee devil,” according to various sources.

Rather than surrender, Clem shot the colonel and successfully made his way back to Union lines. For his actions, Clem was promoted to sergeant, the youngest soldier ever to become a noncommissioned officer in the U.S. Army, and became known as the “Drummer Boy of Chickamauga.”

Johnny Shiloh-Part 1

April 6-7 will be the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Shiloh.

One of that battle's more interesting legacies is that of Johnny Clem, the "Drummer Boy of Shiloh." He was ten when he joined the Union Army, after his mother died.

Many units on their way to Washington marched through young Clem's home of Newark, Ohio. Without his mother to hold him back, he followed Company C of the 22nd Volunteer Infantry out of town, then told them he was a drummer and refused to go away.

Eventually the men accepted him, adopting him as their mascot and helping him learn the various drum rolls necessary in an Army camp.

By the time he was 12, he had formally enlisted and was paid $13 a month.

At the Battle of Shiloh, fragments from a cannon shell smashed his drum, but he continued on with the men, earning him the sobriquet "Johnny Shiloh."

Unlike the boy in the song often identified with him, "The Boy Who Prayed Before He Died," John Clem did not die at Shiloh.

Check here tomorrow for more about this amazing kid--and we worry about our own children "growing up too soon!"

This is NOT an April 1 Joke

Last July, I reluctantly began this blog. It seemed, from all I had read, that a writer should have a blog so people know she exists.

What happened to just sitting in my garret and composing? Well--that is SO 19th century!

The first month I had 231 readers, including some from Russia. "Nice," I thought. " and Russians!"

Last month--March--I had over 2,000 hits. 2,000!!!

I am humbled and astounded that all of you would read this blog. If it has gotten better, it is because of your input and faithfulness. 2,000 folks is a lot of people to disappoint, after all.

So, now I have to do even better and keep those of you who read regularly happy, and maybe you will tell others that First Fallen is a good place to be.

You can do this by hitting the "Like" buttons, the "Tweet" and "Facebook" links, and anything else that is there for you to hit. It only takes a second, and the results are exponential.

Why do I ask this of you? For the same reason I began the blog in the first place. It will help get the book published. I need to show potential publishers that I have an audience just waiting to purchase their investment. 2,000 is a lot better than 231, to a publisher.

Me? I'm just glad you are here. Especially the Russians!! (Russians?? who knew?)