Touring A Warship And A Trip To The Circus

With the exception of a bad storm on March 22 in which “a number of lives were lost,” Philip’s entries from March 19 through April 5, 1865 report continued good news for the Union efforts.

On April 5, Philip takes some time to tour the USS Monadnock. The Monadnock was launched in March 1863 and commissioned in October 1864 and was the first ironclad built in the Boston Navy Yard in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The Monadnock was one of four Miantonomoh-class monitors commissioned by the US Navy during the Civil War. The Monadnock was constructed with wooden framing and hull, sheathed with 12- to 14-inch thick wooden planks, and armored with multiple layers of one-inch thick wrought-iron plates. The ship had two turrets, each housing two 15-inch caliber Dalgren cannon.

USS Monadnock
Source: The Siege of Petersburg Online
 
After touring the Monadnock, Philip went to the circus. Isaac Van Amburgh started out as a cage cleaner with the Zoological Institute of New York, which was actually a travelling menagerie, before acquiring his own animals and forming his own traveling menagerieknown as the “Van Amburgh's Mammoth Menagerie and Great Moral Exhibition.” The “Mammoth Menagerie” part of the title alluded to his collection of animals including lions, tigers and leopards, among others. The “Great Moral Exhibition” part of the title was intended to show the power of kindness and discipline in taming wild animals, which is ironic as he was often criticized for his brutal treatment of his animals. While at the circus, Philip mentions seeing war Secretery Edwin Stanton and Secretary of State William Henry Seward who had suffered a broken arm, along with other injuries, when his carriage horses bolted and he was thrown to the ground.
Flyer for the Van Amber Menagerie and Great Moral Exhibition
Source: Massachusetts Historical Society

Sources:

___________

MARCH 19TH
We have had very nice weather for the last week. On the 16th we had inspection by some of the brigade officers. Did not learn his name. We had very pleasant time of it. The duty is pretty hard on us. I was this day on a visit to the General Lee rebel mansion. The doors were left open and a number of ladys(?) were there. A great many of the paintings are still hanging on the decaying walls left going to ruin for want of care. The beautiful grounds around the mansion is now the last resting place of our fallen soldiers who gave their lives for their country (now the Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery).

MARCH 22ND
Was on picket last night. Had a very good time. Weather was very pleasant. During the night, at 10 o’clock, was visited by Captain Niven field officer day. At 1am by the same man. During the day there was some skirmishing going on in the direction of Fairfax. There was nothing of any importance transpired until March 23RD. We had a tremendous storm which came very near caving in our quarters. It lasted two hours with some rain. It done a great deal of damage…a number of lives were lost in Washington by falling timbers of some houses that blew over.

MARCH 25TH
Was on pickett. Had very rough weather during my stay. Heavy wind with cold sleeting rain. Was visited by Capt Stackings field officer day. Everything passed off quiet. Grant had a fight in Petersburg.

APRIL 1ST
The Army of the Potomac has been moving and had some fighting and been very successful. I was on guard. Had very nice weather. The camp drew clothing, knapsack, HSKV, canteens, the preparation to marching orders.

APRIL 2ND
We had a grand review and inspection by Colonel Whistler. The company was very highly complimented for their neatness and discipline. On the 30TH of March, seven of our men went home, their time having expired. It looked very hard to see our comrades leave us, being so long together. There is a salute being fired in Washington in honor of the fall of Petersburg and Richmond, together with Jeff Davis and his whole cabinet are prisoners. How true it is I can’t tell, but so says the rumor. We will know by tomorrow. The soldiers are all jubilant over the news hollering and throwing their caps in the air.

APRIL 3RD
Great excitement prevails in the city this morning. At 8:15, our troops under General Weitzel (Major General Godfrey Weitzel, Commander of the Army of the James) entered Richmond. They captured a large number of prisoners. Petersburg was entered on the same morning. At 3:00 we fired 100 rounds in honor of the great victory.

APRIL 4TH
Was on guard. Another salute was fired…I got a pass this evening and went to Washington. I found the city illuminated. It ws a grend affair. I saw all the public buildings were decorated by flags. The Capitol was a splendid light itself. Great rejoicing of the people. Went to the Oxford Music Hall. Very good performances.

APRIL 5TH
I went to the Navy yard. Saw the monitor Monadnock. She was… battered up at the fight of Fort Fisher. I went all over her. It is a wonderful piece of work. Went this afternoon to the circus of Van Amburg who is now at Washington. Was very good performance. I saw Secretary Stanton of the war department at the circus. He is a fine looking man. Secretary Seward had his arm broken by an accident – his horse running off.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1st Regiment, West Virginia Light Artillery, Battery C

Image
Philip L. Loufman was a Private with the 1 st Regiment, West Virginia Light Artillery, Battery C.  The history of the battery is a little confusing but I've pieced together some information from various sources. The battery started out as the 18th Ohio Volunteer Militia, Company B, which was mustered out in August 1861. In September 1861, almost the entire company reenlisted as a battery of light artillery and was offered to the service of Governor Pierpont of West Virginia. The company traveled from Marietta, Ohio to Wheeling, West Virginia.  Battery C (Pierpont Battery) was organized in Wheeling during the first part of 1862.    Most of the men in the battery were from Washington County, Ohio.  I was not able to find a picture of Battery C. But I imagine this photo of Battery F gives a good idea of what Battery C might look like. The battery fought in several battles throughout 1862 and 1863 including Cross Keys, Chancellorsville, the second Battle of Bull ...
Read more

Starting Over

Image
Back in high school (early 1980s) I became aware that my grandmother had a Civil War diary from my great-great grandfather Philip L. Loufman. At that time (way before personal computers), I went to her house with a pad of yellow lined paper determined to transcribe the diary. It didn't take me long to be overwhelmed by the task (probably 5 or 10 minutes). The entries were all written in pencil and difficult to read. Add to that my almost total lack of interest in the Civil War, and I had little to no context to understand much of what my great-great grandfather was writing about. What I could understand wasn't very exciting - days on end of drills, fishing and picking blackberries. Needless to say my first attempt at a handwritten transcript didn't get very far.  Years later, in the early 2000s, after my grandmother had passed away, I asked my mom for the diary so I could transcribe it. This second attempt went much better. I had slightly more patience and knowledge of the ...
Read more

Long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror

Image
The title of this post is a quote I’ve seen and heard in various forms. I have not been able to pin down a definitive source of the quote but a version of it seems to have been around as early as World War I and seems to apply to the Civil War as well. The life of the soldier was filled with military routine: drills, guard duty, picket duty, work details and the same food every day. Many fought boredom by playing games, sketching, whittling and making music, among other activities. This is a photo of two Union soldiers whittling.  The title quote is ever present in my mind while I’m transcribing Philip's diary. There are often several days in a row with entries stating “Nothing new to report,” “guard duty all day” or “went blackberrying.” This was one of my downfalls during my previous attempts at transcribing the diary. Because of my lack of time and patience, I kept looking for all of the action. The movies don’t focus on the monotonous days of drills and guard duty. More informa...
Read more