In 2007, we hope to find out more about Civil War soldier Justus Collins Wellington. We visited his hometown of West Brookfield, Mass., in November. We'll be back there soon to dig up more nuggets of history. In the meantime, enjoy this post:
I visit Antietam battlefield at least once a year. It's a haul traveling from Texas, but my folks conveniently live in Pittsburgh, about 3 1/2 hours from the battlefield. A recent trip to Sharpsburg was special. I collect Civil War photographs -- ambrotypes and tintypes of soldiers I am lucky enough to have identified. One soldier, Justus Collins Wellington (at left) of the 15th Massachusetts, was killed in the West Woods on Sept. 17, 1862. I took the ambrotype I own of Justus back to the battlefield and put his picture next to his name on the 15th Massachusetts monument (below). Probably the last time ol' Justus will get to visit the battlefield again. Don't know where his grave is -- I searched in the national cemetery in Sharpsburg. He may have been buried on the northwest side of the Mary Locher cabin at the Antietam (bottom). Not sure if his folks had his body shipped back to West Brookfield, Mass., or not. There's an excellent Web site on the 15th Massachusetts that has information supplied by yours truly. Here's the link.
We've been bored here at John Banks' blog and slightly off topic. We're going to devote more blogs in '07 to our favorite subject, the Civil War. We'll have lots more stuff from Antietam, and we'll post more pictures of the ambrotypes and tintypes in my collection. Meanwhile, we'll feature a couple of our posts of the year:
Unlike Gettysburg, Antietam is perhaps the most pristine of Civil War battlefields. If a Civil War soldier were to visit Antietam today, he would find it fairly close to what it looked like in 1862. And unlike Gettysburg, there's not a lot of monument clutter. Here are a few of my favorite Antietam monuments. (All photos taken with my cellphone camera.) For more on Antietam monuments, check out Stephen Recker's excellent Web site.
Ahh, let's return to the original mission of this here blog: Civil War history. On my recent trip to Newport, R.I., I stumbled upon a neat factoid. Newport was the U.S. Naval Academy's headquarters during the war. I snapped a picture of the original site. The building behind the sign was not there during the war. It's an Elks Lodge.
Through the genius of YouTube, we present my cellphone video of seagulls along Ocean Drive in Newport, R.I. I am thisclose to being the next Stephen Spielberg.
Of course, the highlight of any trip to Newport, R.I., is a visit to a mansion or two on Bellevue Avenue. These aren't your run-of-the-mill $2 million mansions. These are megahouses, most built in the late 19th century by some of America's wealthiest families, including the famous Vanderbilts. The mansions, many with views of the water, are spectacular. I toured two today: The Marble House (above) and The Breakers (below), both built by the Vanderbilts. The Marble House is -- you guessed it -- mainly built of Italian marble. The many rooms are ornately decorated. The chairs in the dining room are made of bronze and covered with gold and weigh from 75 to 100 pounds each. A butler helped the Vanderbilt children move the chairs when they gathered with mom for lunch there each day. (I don't think they were a peanut butter and jelly family. The kids' first language was French.) The dining room is the size of your average tennis court. Among the highlights at The Breakers: Mr. V's bathtub has hot and cold water as well as sea water, and the kitchen was manned by a French chef who was paid the outrageous sum of $10K a year. That's big bucks for the early 20th century. Photography is not allowed inside the mansions, so you won't find photos here. I did snap some quality outside shots, including one of yours truly, the sun shining directly into my eyes, in front of The Breakers.
I added another state to the Banks resume today. Little Rhode Island, the smallest state in the USA, had never been visited by yours truly. Our target was the little seaside town of Newport, about two hours from the Greater Bristol area. With the temperature in the low 50s, it didn't feel like a typical December New England day. Newport is a beautiful old town, with many old churches (several dating to the 18th century), narrow streets and interesting shops along the waterfront. Being a big fan of old New England churches, I snapped a few photos of Christ Church, which was established in the early 18th century. A neatly kept, old graveyard flanks the church. Here's a grave marker that dates to 1729!
ESPN, my new employer, had its annual holiday party last night. It was a cozy affair that included, oh, about 2,500 people. Pretty much a standard company party scene: eight open bars, stretch limos, 1,000 food stands, giant dance floor and game room with air hockey tables, pop-a-shot hoops and video games. And what's a party without really bad pics from my cellphone camera? Pictures of actual people other than yours truly shall be posted once I get their permission. Saw Darren Woodson, the former Cowboy. My wife has a soft spot for Darren, who held the door for the very pregnant Mrs. Banks as she and I were leaving a Mavericks game at Reunion Arena in Dallas 12 years ago. Didn't think it was the place to give Darren a belated thanks. Hey, maybe next year! Oh, it isn't a party without your company's name carved out of a 400-pound block of ice. Crummy cellphone photo does not do this justice.
I had lunch in Collinsville, Conn., today, a neat, little town by the Farmington River. Before eating at the LaSalle Deli, I spotted this horse-drawn carriage giving tours. This will be great for the Banks kids.
An Antietam ranger has a fascinating post about archaelogists uncovering a bit of the past there recently. Really neat photos. I can add a little bit to the history of Antietam:
Way back in 1980s, when I was a reporter for the Martinsburg Evening Journal, I did a story on the family who owned the Miller Farm at the battlefield. The Miller Farm encompasses the famous bloody Cornfield, where savage fighting took place for hours. The family -- their name escapes me now -- placed all the neat stuff they had discovered on the farm over the years on a table in the driveway. Bullets, cannon balls, bayonets, shell fragments -- they dug up lots of artifacts in the course of farming the property. Of course, this was before that land was owned by the National Park Service, so this was all legit.
Several months later, a friend and I asked for the family's permission to do a little metal detecting of our own on the farm. They agreed. We turned up a lone bullet, but it was quite a thrill to pull it out of the ground after 120-plus years. Above is video of the famous Cornfield that I found on YouTube.
I just happened to catch this great moment on my cellphone camera. Not vouching for the quality, but the moment was special. We get a kick out of my reaction after my daughter scored two on a beautiful jumper. For some reason, YouTube cut off part of my reaction when I uploaded the video this morning. Man, it's easy! More videos to come!
I visited Antietam, my favorite Civil War battlefield, in April. I make frequent visits there. On my last day, I recorded my walk down Bloody Lane on my cellphone camera. It's a strange feeling to walk where hundreds of soldiers died.
I visit Antietam battlefield at least once a year. It's a haul traveling from Texas, but my folks conveniently live in Pittsburgh, about 3 1/2 hours from the battlefield. A recent trip to Sharpsburg was special. I collect Civil War photographs -- ambrotypes and tintypes of soldiers I am lucky enough to have identified. One soldier, Justus Collins Wellington (at left) of the 15th Massachusetts, was killed in the West Woods on Sept. 17, 1862. I took the ambrotype I own of Justus back to the battlefield and put his picture next to his name on the 15th Massachusetts monument (below). Probably the last time ol' Justus will get to visit the battlefield again. Don't know where his grave is -- I searched in the national cemetery in Sharpsburg. He may have been buried on the northwest side of the Mary Locher cabin at the Antietam (bottom). Not sure if his folks had his body shipped back to West Brookfield, Mass., or not. There's an excellent Web site on the 15th Massachusetts that has information supplied by yours truly. Here's the link.
