Here’s another in my periodic posts on forgotten cavalrymen.

I’ve long admired Col. William H. Boyd. As a company commander in the 1st New York (Lincoln) Cavalry, Boyd harassed and generally impeded the Confederate advance through Pennsylvania. His service, brilliant as it was, is too often overlooked, and has long been forgotten.

Here’s the entry from Samuel P. Bates’ Martial Deeds of Pennsylvania on Boyd:

WILLIAM HENRY BOYD was born on the 14th of July, 1825, at Quebec, Canada. His father was a soldier in the British army. At the breaking out of the war he was in the Directory publishing business in Philadelphia. He recruited a company of cavalry for Schurz’s National brigade, which became a part of the First New York (Lincoln) Cavalry, and which he led on the Peninsula as escort to General Franklin. After the Maryland campaign this regiment was left with Milroy at Winchester, and fought the advance of Lee in his march towards Gettysburg. Boyd was detached to save the wagon train and brought it safely to Harrisburg, after which he operated in the Cumberland Valley both during the advance and retreat of the enemy from Pennsylvania, rendering important service. He was shortly after commissioned Colonel of the Twenty-first cavalry, which in the Wilderness campaign he led as infantry, and at Cold Harbor was severely wounded, the ball piercing his neck and lodging in one of the vertebrae, where it remained for five months and was only extracted after three unsuccessful attempts. In 1868 he was an agent of the Treasury Department.

Locating information on Boyd is difficult; his service and pension files are a jumbled mess, confused with the files of his son (William H. Boyd, Jr.), commingled together. I haven’t been able to find much more on him other than that information available in the OR and in various newspaper accounts. One of these days, I hope to be able to put together at least an article on Boyd’s role in the Gettysburg Campaign that will give him the credit he deserves.

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We’re back from Gettysburg. The weekend was totally packed, and I’m pretty exhausted.

I saw something yesterday that absolutely blew me away. At the same time, knowing him, it didn’t come as any huge surprise. We had a bit of free time (not much), and I wanted to see the tree cutting in the Slaughter Pen area with my own eyes, so we did a quick drive through there (more on that in a moment). On our way to meet the gang for the next tour, I had to drive through the Stony Hill area of the Wheatfield fight, and there, leading a busload of tourists, was Ed Bearss, a week to the day after he lost his beloved wife Margie. On one hand, it was kind of amazing to see that he was back in the saddle again so soon after Margie’s death, but on another hand, it came as no surprise at all. Ed’s not the sort to back out of an obligation, and it probably gives him solace to be off doing what he loves. It was great to see him. I wish I’d been able to talk to him, but I was in a hurry, and talking to him would have required me to interrupt his tour, which I wasn’t about to do.

The tree cutting is really remarkable. The whole area around the Slyder farm has been cleared out, all the way to the site of the Timbers farm. I’d only ever seen the Timbers farm site once before, with a guide, and it was a terribly tangled, brambly mess buried in deep woods. It would have been extremely difficult to find without a guide, and I doubt I ever could have found it again on my own. However, it’s now out in the open. We covered the entire advance of the 1st Texas from its starting point to Devil’s Den. The vast majority of it would have been through thick woods until recently. It’s now all out in the open, and you can see terrain features that you would not otherwise have ever been able to see. I came away with a new respect for the ordeal faced by those Texans that day–they marched nearly 2 miles under fire and then had to fight their way up a steep ridge in beastly heat and humidity.

The National Park Service has also re-planted many of the historic orchards that are long gone. So, even though non-historic trees are being removed, historic stands of trees are being re-planted, which is great.

At the same time, though, the Service’s budget keeps getting cut and cut and cut, so there’s no money for routine maintenance. The Triangular Field, which has been been mowed a couple of times per year historically, was not mowed at all this year. Why? No money. The result is that there are several cedar trees growing in the field that are already several feet high, and if that area doesn’t get some attention soon, it will be lost to the trees again.

I also saw two monuments that I never knew existed. One is on the Chambersburg Pike, west of Wisler’s Ridge (and the first shot marker), which commemorates the attempted stand by the rookies of the 26th Pennsylvania Emergency Volunteer Infantry against Jubal Early’s veterans on June 26, 1863. I’d driven by it dozens of times, but never noticed it before. The other is the regimental monument to the 21st Pennsylvania Cavalry. It’s an interesting monument for a couple of reasons: the 21st Pennsylvania did not muster in until August, AFTER the battle. However, Co. B of this regiment consisted of Adams County men formed in a militia cavalry company commanded by Capt. Robert Bell (called, not surprisingly, Bell’s Cavalry), and one of Bell’s men, George Sandoe, was the first Union soldier killed on the battlefield at Gettysburg when he was shot by a member of Lige White’s cavalry on June 26. I think it’s the only regimental monument there to a regiment that did not exist at the time of the battle, and I found that quite interesting indeed.

The upshot of it is that I’m beat tonight, and have a lot packed into four days this week before we go to North Carolina for a wedding next weekend.

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A couple of times per year, I just have to go to Gettysburg.  I’m drawn by the place, and I have to go there to re-charge my batteries.  I’ve only been there once this year, in June, and I’ve been hearing the call.

I’m outta here in about 90 minutes for a weekend in Gettysburg.  Should be two-and-a-half days of good battlefield stomping.  Even though it will be chilly, the worst day of battlefield stomping is still better than that best day of work.  🙂

See y’all on Sunday night.

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Several months ago, thanks to Joe Bilby, the authority on all things New Jersey Civil War, I learned that Ulric Dahlgren’s colonel’s dress uniform was in the collection of the Historical Society of Princeton.

Ulric’s oldest brother was named Charles Bunker Dahlgren. Charlie Dahlgren named his first son Ulric in honor of his slain brother. The second Ulric Dahlgren, born six years after his namesake was killed in action, became one of the world’s most famous scientists. He was a world-renowned biologist and zoologist, and was an award-winning and long-tenured professor at Princeton University. Somewhere along the line, Charlie Dahlgren came into possession of his brother’s last dress uniform. That uniform ended up in a trunk in the attic of the second Ulric Dahlgren’s son, and a purchaser of the house eventually discovered it. It was then donated to the Historical Society of Princeton.

The Society recently kicked off an exhibit on New Jersey in the Civil war, and for the first time ever, the uniform is on exhibit. This photo was forwarded to me by the Historical Society so I can include it in the book. There’s also a CDV of Dahlgren wearing this uniform posted here. The CDV was taken in Philadelphia in November 1863, shortly before Ulric went to visit his father in Charleston, SC for the next couple of months.

I find a couple of things remarkable about it.

Dahlgren stood over 6 feet tall, but I doubt that that uniform jacket is bigger than a size 40 or so. Now, I’m not a slender fellow, but I was once. When I was 18, I was 6’3″ and weighed about 170 pounds. Even then, I wore a size 44 suit coat. Although Dahlgren was tall and very athletic, he obviously never filled out.

The other striking thing about it is the condition. The thing is in absolutely immaculate condition. It obviously was not worn often by Dahlgren before his fatal mission. It also was obviously well cared for by its subsequent stewards.

It will make a great addition to the book.

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I’m sad to report that, after 48 years of marriage, Margie Bearss, the wife of Ed Bearss and distinguished Civil War historian in her own right, passed away on October 7 after a very lengthy illness.

I did a program with Ed at the end of July, and I asked him then how Margie was doing. He told me then that he had nearly lost her a week or so earlier, so I figured it was just a matter of time. I’m sad to report that Margie finally lost her battle.

Condolences to Ed and his family.

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I’ve not been shy about stating my opinions about copyright protection issues, generally in the context of Google’s scheme to engage in copyright infringement on an unprecedented scale.

Many of you are familiar with the site YouTube, where people can post videos on the Internet and where they can be downloaded for free. YouTube is coming under increasing scrutiny due to copyright infringement concerns. While the networks haven’t gone after it yet, that day will come, probably much sooner than later. Here’s an article that appeared on CNet earlier this week:

Another Internet research firm has predicted doom for YouTube’s business model.

“It only takes one unhappy media company–Disney, Sony, CBS or News Corp. for example–to force the company’s hand. And the cases on this point, from Napster to Grokster at the Supreme Court, are clear.”

Here’s a link to the Grokster decision, handed down earlier this year by the United States Supreme Court. In Grokster, the Court addressed a challenge to the system of downloadable file-sharing of copyrighted music and film files on a peer-to-peer network. These ubiquitous networks have led to a proliferation of copyright infringement by permitting the distribution of copyrighted material for free. In short, the complaint against Grokster and its kind is that the copyrighted material is distributed for free, with no compensation to either the artist of the record company.

The U. S. Supreme Court found that “the unlawful objective is unmistakable,” and held that “one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties. We are, of course, mindful of the need to keep from trenching on regular commerce or discouraging the development of technologies with lawful and unlawful potential. Accordingly, just as Sony did not find intentional inducement despite the knowledge of the VCR manufacturer that its device could be used to infringe, 464 U.S. at 439, n. 19, mere knowledge of infringing potential or of actual infringing uses would not be enough here to subject a distributor to liability. Nor would ordinary acts incident to product distribution, such as offering customers technical support or product updates, support liability in themselves. The inducement rule, instead, premises liability on purposeful, culpable expression and conduct, and thus does nothing to compromise legitimate commerce or discourage innovation having a lawful promise.”

There’s not much doubt in my mind that the same thing will hapen to YouTube if and when there is a challenge. And that day will come, probably much sooner than later.

My point in raising all of this is that as someone who is intensely worried about protection of my intellectual property rights, I’m glad to see that the tide seems to be shifting a bit in favor of the owners of intellectual property. I will be waiting to see what the outcome of the Google litigation is, but I am very hopeful that Google will lose and the intellectual property rights of authors and artists will be further protected, even in this digital age.

Not surprisingly, by the way, Google is apparently trying to acquire YouTube.

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The ONLY thing sweeter than beating the Dullass Cowboys is beating the Dullass Cowboys AND completely shutting down big-mouth Terrell Owens and driving him to intense frustration, so much so that he was screaming at people on the sidelines.

The Eagles are 4-1 and in undisputed possession of first place in the NFC East. Life is good.

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For tonight, there IS joy in Mudville–the mighty Yankees have been blown out. 🙂

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This from today’s edition of the San Jose Mercury News:

Google seeks rivals’ data for lawsuit over libraries
YAHOO, MICROSOFT BACK OTHER BOOK PROJECTS
By Elise Ackerman
Mercury News
Google is subpoenaing documents from its two biggest competitors, Microsoft and Yahoo, in an effort to defend itself in copyright lawsuits filed against it by publishers and authors.

“Is the library of the future going to be open?” Kahle said. “Or will it be controlled by a couple of big corporate players?”

Precisely.

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Here’s a prime example of political correctness run amok:

From the October 4 issue of the Tennessean newspaper:

Rebel flag, guns not wanted at battle event
Franklin officials cite safety and sensitivity

“The first year of trying to get the elephant up and dancing there are going to be these kinds of problems,” said Joe Smyth, president of the nonprofit Save the Franklin Battlefield Inc.
“This is a matter of working it out with officials and staff. I would expect these issues.”

Let’s recap, shall we? There’s an event to commemorate a Civil War battle on the actual battlefield. The battle was an especially bloody affair wherein fifteen Confederate generals were casualties, including six killed, and was a critical moment in Hood’s 1864 Tennessee Campaign. Yet, they want to prohibit the Confederate battle flag and they want the re-enactors to stack their weapons and not carry them.

Good grief. Talk about political correctness run amok…..

Will it ever end?

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