The Civil War History of the 57th Indiana (#2 of 52)

Moving into Kentucky

“We finally got started, and after quite an amount of marching reached the wharf and took passage on a large ferry-boat for the south side of the Ohio river. . . Landing on the south side, we found ourselves in the city of Louisville, Kentucky. Some flags were displayed as we passed, but as a general thing there was rather a cool reception shown us.

“On the day succeeding our arrival, we exchanged our bell tents for what was called a Sibley tent. These tents, when pitched, are about twelve feet high, conical shaped, and will cover a space measuring fifteen feet across. The opening for the door is placed in the side, and a small aperture is left at the top that may be removed to give air or a passage of smoke. When pitched on level ground, they will accommodate twenty men for sleeping purposes. Five of these tents were issued to each company, and two Wall tents for the officers. This comprises the full allowance for a company of one hundred men, as prescribed by army regulations. It was the custom to provide all new regiments with this kind of tent after arriving in Louisville. . .

“Upon our arrival at Louisville, we were to form a part of the Army of the Ohio, then commanded by Gen. Buell. The advance under Gen. McCook was already at Green River; and new regiments, as fast as they could be, were supplied. The regiment received the order for two hours’ drill daily, with knapsacks, besides the regular company drills, which gave us from four to six hours of drill duty.

(Christmas Week, December, 1861, Louisville, Kentucky)

Excerpts taken from “Annals of the Fifty-Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry: Marches, Battles, and Incidents of Army Life” written by Asbury L. Kerwood immediately after the war.

The Rise and Fall of the Boomers

Oh no! Not another article/blog about Baby Boomers! You may be right, but it’s my turn to have a say. Everyone is either a Baby Boomer themselves or is related to one somehow.

Demographic Definition

Establishing a beginning and an end to the post-WWII Baby Boom is fairly easy. Birth statistics are clear. In America, the demographic birth boom was from 1946 through 1964. Evaluating this generational cohort in a cultural sense is much more difficult. Some scholars believe that it’s nearly impossible to define a “generation” at all. But this one, maybe more than others, is defined the by events occurring during their prominence and by their values. This is especially true since the proceeding and trailing generations were markedly different.

Characterization

People point to the superfluous things and think they have a handle on who the Boomers are. It’s not that simple. Tie-dyed clothes, Barbie, and singing Kumbaya couldn’t be further from their core culture. Even symbols like carrying peace signs, flag burning, and “make love, not war” don’t come close.

There was widespread rejection of traditional values or at least a redefinition of those values. The bitter conflicts with the “establishment” by college-age Boomers against the Vietnam military draft, free speech, women’s rights, and civil rights could be seen on TV nightly. Some counter-cultural movements advocated personal freedom (usually without responsibility), universal love, and rejection of monogamy.

Boomers had a profound sense of privilege. Parents of the Baby Boomers were encouraged to give their children positive reinforcement, full time parental devotion, and affectionate child-raising. This environment of permissiveness without limits would prove to be a double-edged sword.

As a result, many Boomers had a self-perception as a special generation. Many of the traditions of the prior generation (called the “Greatest Generation” by some), were no longer appreciated, or followed. Rules could be rewritten. The birth control pill was available, abortion was legalized. There was a sense of a person’s right to free expression whether it was about hair, music, clothing, or drugs.

There was, of course, the huge economic impact that Boomers had on America. It was the new medium of television that first recognized the potential bonanza of catering to the youth culture, and Boomers eagerly embraced this carefree consumerism.

Popular Perceptions

In the Economy

By the late 1950’s, mass media marketers had discovered the Boomers. The consumers targeted for clothes, toys, and convenience foods were the children and early teens; not their parents as it had been with the earlier generation. Do you remember the time when the televised Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade was sponsored chiefly by the toy manufacturers?  

During the 1960’s and 1970’s, “Boomer Brands” became popular. Whole companies had been created or transformed to satisfy the desires of young Boomers. Pepsi was the “choice of a new generation.” Levi’s, especially Bell Bottoms for a while, were on everyone’s shopping list. VW Beetles became the first cars of many Boomers. And who could ignore the Harley’s of “Easy Rider”?

(Believe it or not, today Boomers are the fastest growing group on “facebook.” A New York Times article indicates that women 55 and over have an increase of 175% in usage, men of the same age a 138% increase)

In Music

The Boomers cultural identity was tied to their music. Boomers liked what today is referred to as “mainline” rock and roll. Elvis, the British music invasion, surfing songs, and Motown all contributed to the immense commercialization of musical entertainment. According to a CNBC Poll, 65% of all Boomers still name the Beatles as their first choice.

Sometimes the musical culture and the political culture overlapped. In August of 1969, Woodstock or “Three Days of Peace and Music”, became a cultural phenomenon. It seems that today every film made about the 1960’s has a soundtrack of oldies. 

In Media

The Baby Boomers were the first generation growing up by the light of the TV screen. And when times got tough, Boomers turned on the TV both then and now. According to a 2007 poll, the two most meaningful cultural and historical events in the formative years of a Boomer were (#1) introduction of cable television (45%) and (#2) introduction of color television (40%). I have to admit that this is pretty shallow.

Whether it was Hoody Doody, Captain Kangaroo, Leave It to Beaver, The Mickey Mouse Club, The Twilight Zone, or Saturday Night Live, TV was a central part of their lives.

“In many ways, it’s not surprising that the first generation of Americans to grow up alongside television would embrace the TV Generation moniker more so than the Baby Boomer label” (Tanya Giles, Sr. V.P., MTV Networks). I’m not sure I believe that.  

Of the many landmark films relevant to the Boomer generation, two stand out. One was the coming of age comedy, “American Graffiti”, and the other an intense tour-de-force saga of Vietnam, “Apocalypse Now.” These two films differ in many ways, of course, but one difference is the age generation of the principal cast and crew members, an interesting anomaly.

 “Apocalypse Now” was released 15 years AFTER the last Boomer was born. Yet of all the key cast members and important crew members (director, writer, cinematographer, etc.) only two out of 15 were members of the Baby Boom. They were Laurence Fishburne and Sam Bottoms. All the rest were older. I realize that one explanation is that the primary characters would have been older when the story took place in 1968, but come on.

In “American Graffiti” released six years earlier, ALL of the principal cast were Baby Boomers except for Harrison Ford. Even writer-director, George Lucas missed being a Boomer by only 18 months.

Not A Monolithic Group

Baby Boomers were not a unique American phenomenon. Almost all countries in Western Europe and Australia/New Zealand experienced their own post-war Baby Boom. These countries report that it began for them in 1946 for all except for Germany which had a nine year delayed start (beginning in 1955). While most saw an end to the boom around 1965, France, the UK, and the Netherlands continued until about 1974; an Ireland until 1982, a 36 year boom. Canadian soldiers were repatriated later than American servicemen so this country’s boom was from 1947 to 1966.

Divisions Within the Generation

Howard Schuman and Jacqueline Scott, both sociologists from the University of Michigan, put forth a new theory in 1989 that split the generation into two sub-groups, early and late Boomers.

The Early Boomers, born from 1946 through 1955, more closely fit the characterizations discussed above. These early Boomers are also known as “Core Boomers” and as “Cohort #1.” They represented the cultural change of the 1960’s that many people associate with the Boomer generation as a whole.

Schuman and Scott drew the distinction between the sub-groups primarily based on each group’s “collective memory” of events, especially from adolescence to early adulthood. Early Boomers grew up with the threat of nuclear war (Cuban Missile Crisis), the war in Vietnam, the draft, man’s landing on the moon, rock and roll, and assassinations of notable Americans (Martin Luther King and the Kennedys).

These Boomers displayed a heightened awareness of social causes and were inclined to experiment socially and politically.

The Late Boomers, born from 1956 through 1964, are different than the Early Boomers to some degree. Late Boomers are also known as “Generation Jones” and as “Cohort #2.” American society at large and their parents seemed to have changed somewhat in their upbringing. There was less permissiveness and they were not seen as quite the “ideal children” their older siblings were.

Late Boomers grew up in the era of Watergate, Nixon, the Cold War, oil shortages, high inflation, disco/punk/new wave, and MTV.

This group withdrew from assertive political activity. They turned slightly inward and looked for peer groups to which to belong. Sexual liberation and the women’s movement had some influence in moving these Boomers toward new social issues that included minority rights, gay rights, and the environment. Recreational drug use increased. Many displayed cynicism about their future.

Boomers Today: A Half Century Later

In present day America, Boomers can still be divided into two sub-groups. There are the working Boomers (still in the labor market) and the “Golden Boomers” now retiring.

Frequently, the Boomers (once the culture of “youth”) are accused of denying their own mortality. Their lack of planning for the retirement years and the worsening worldwide economic crisis will dramatically alter their lifestyle, which is just over the horizon. Almost half (42%) are planning to delay their retirement, and 25% will never be able to retire as self-sufficient. This group will depend almost completely on government assistance.

A Mixed-bag Legacy

It seems that Baby Boomers have always accelerated societal changes, both for the good and the bad.

There is no question that during their prime, individual freedoms and civil rights were advanced probably more than at any other comparable time in our history.

The American economy grew at an enormous rate fueled greatly by the consumer driven demand of the Boomers. Home construction and other major purchases, such as automobiles, have increased employment for decades. A stable American middle class reached its apex during the prime of the Boomers as well.

But, according to columnist Paul Vallely of The Independent (UK) he states, “Some say the Baby Boomers are the most spoiled generation in history. They squandered what their parents left to them and they seem intent on leaving little behind to their offspring. . . By contrast, the younger generation is paying for its university education, building up high levels of debt, finding it tough to get a job, even tougher to get on the property ladder and not even thinking about building up a pension.”

What’s Ahead

Beginning this year, the post-war Baby Boomers are retiring and there are fiscal and cultural implications of this.

As of July of 2011, 47 years after the last one was born, Boomers are still responsible for more than half of all consumer spending in America. They also control 80% of personal financial assets and 50% of discretionary spending power.

As more Boomers begin to retire, some experts see this as a factor in slowing down the economies of Europe and North America as consumer spending will decrease significantly. In the United States alone, 10,000 Boomers will reach retirement age every day.

Even more ominous, the tensions between ageing Baby Boomers and the generations after them, that will have to fund Boomer retirement, may become “the” huge political divide, even more than class, race, or religion.

So, while we celebrate the past, we also have concern for the future.

Snakes of the Revolution

Symbols are very important to Americans. Every state has its own nick name, animal, flower, dinosaur, and especially its own flag.

Before America had the Stars and Stripes, patriots used a succession of other symbolic banners. The principal historic flags were the “Unite Or Die” flag, the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag, and the “First Navy Jack” flag. Each had several variations but all three displayed a single strong symbol of colonial American union and defiance - the SNAKE.

America’s first political cartoon

The first recorded use of snakes as symbols of the American colonies’ discontent was in Benjamin Franklin’s satirical commentaries published in 1751. He suggested that a fair exchange, for all the criminals banished from England and sent to America, would be a shipment of rattlesnakes which could be let loose in London.

Three years later, Franklin created the first American political cartoon in the Pennsylvania Gazette. It was a woodcut showing a twisting snake that was cut into eight sections. Each section was labeled to represent a British American colony. The four New England colonies were represented by a single head section (combining Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire), and for some reason both Delaware and Georgia were excluded.

The cartoon titled “JOIN or DIE” was used to illustrate the accompanying Franklin editorial about the lethargic attitude of the colonies. At this time, it had nothing to do with liberation from Britain. Franklin was warning Americans about the mounting tensions between France and Britain on North American soil.

“JOIN or DIE” becomes a rallying cry against the French

Benjamin Franklin’s warning was prophetic. Open warfare erupted between the French and British in 1754. The colonists, even though British subjects, were divided about fighting the French and their Indian allies for control of the territory west of the Appalachian Mountains. “JOIN or DIE” became the symbol needed for the colonists to work together to stop the threat posed by the French.

Franklin set down his fears in writing, “The confidence of the French in this undertaking seems well grounded on the present disunited state of the British Colonies,  and the extreme difficulty of bringing so many different governments and assemblies to agree in any speedy and effectual measures for our common defense and security; while our enemies have the very great advantage of being under one direction, with one Council, and one purse.”

The British and their revitalized American colonists succeeded in defeating the French in what is known to us as the French and Indian War (1754 - 1763). This conflict was part of a larger struggle in Europe called “The Seven Years War.”

But for the next dozen years, things were not going well in the colonies. As the colonies began to move further away from England politically, the snake became a more prominent symbol. In 1774, Paul Revere added a snake to the title of his newspaper (The Massachusetts Spy) showing it in a fight with a British dragon.

Americans patriots identified with the snake as a symbol of vigilance. British loyalists interpreted its use differently. They saw it as a biblical reference  representing deceit and treachery. 

Snakes as symbols

In late 1775, Franklin stoked the fires of rebellion by publishing an article in the Pennsylvania Journal in which he suggested that the rattlesnake might be a fitting symbol for American spirit. It reads in part:

“I recollected that her eye excelled in brightness. She may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance. She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders. She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. As if anxious to prevent all pretensions of quarreling with her, the weapons with which nature has furnished her, she conceals in the roof of her mouth, so that, to those who are unacquainted with her, she appears to be a most defenseless animal; and even when those weapons are shown and extended for her defense, they appear weak and contemptible; but their wounds, however small, are decisive and fatal. Conscious of this, she never wounds till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of stepping on her.”

Franklin’s 1754 cartoon was resurrected, as were the “JOIN or DIE” flags that it spawned. Americans that had used the snake as a symbol of defense against the French, now used the snake as a symbol of unity against the British. In many colonies, the “JOIN or DIE” cry was changed to “UNITE or DIE.” So were the flags.

“Don’t Tread on Me”

Probably the most famous historic banner was the Gadsden Flag, more widely known as the “DON’T TREAD ON ME” flag. This dramatic flag depicts a rattlesnake in a coiled position ready to strike, placed on a bright yellow background. Below the snake is the warning “Don’t Tread On Me.”

Christopher Gadsden, a South Carolina representative to the Continental Congress and a military officer, was assigned to the Marine Committee which was responsible for outfitting naval forces. The first marine companies were organized in Philadelphia in 1775. They carried drums painted yellow, displaying a coiled rattlesnake with thirteen rattles, and bearing the motto “Don’t Tread On Me.”

Before the first naval mission of the Revolutionary War was launched, Gadsden presented the Navy’s Commander with a flag patterned after those marine drums. It was immediately hung on the mainmast of the flag ship. The flag was also the first flag ever carried into battle by the Marine Corps, during the Revolutionary War.

The Gadsden flag becomes the “First Navy Jack”

Shortly afterward, a new flag was designed based on the Gadsden flag. It was a flag with horizontal, alternating red and white stripes and showed an uncoiled rattlesnake in the process of striking. Beneath the snake was the familiar “Don’t Tread On Me.”

It was called the First Navy Jack. This version of the Gadsden flag was the fore runner of the current American flag, “Old Glory,” which continued the use of red and white horizontal stripes.

Other Variations

Several versions of the Gadsden flag were used during the Revolutionary War including one by the South Carolina Minutemen and one by the Culpeper Minutemen (Virginia militia).

By 1861, new versions of the “Join or Die” flag were used by both sides during the Civil War. The pieces of the rattlesnake re-identified with the names of the states involved in the conflict.

Snake flags today

Over the next 200 years, the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag (the Gadsden flag) has been brought out repeatedly as a symbol of patriotism, support for civil liberties, and as a protest against the federal government. It has been used as the symbol of the “Tea Party” since 2009.

The original “First Navy Jack” has been flown on all U.S. Navy ships since the World Trade Center disaster on 911.

HBO’s excellent historical series “John Adams” prominently features, in its opening, the “Join or Die” and “Don’t Tread on Me” flags, along with the “Appeal to Heaven” flag (symbolized by a tree, rather than a snake).

Are snakes still used on American flags?

Eighteen U.S. States (36%) have animals on their flags. The eagle appears on the flags of Illinois, Iowa, Utah, and North Dakota. The bear on the flags of California and Missouri (which has two). The buffalo on the Wyoming flag. Farm animals (cows and horses) on the flags of Delaware, Kansas, Minnesota, and New Jersey. A moose on Maine’s flag, a deer on Idaho’s flag, and a pelican on Louisiana’s flag.

Four states have multiple animals on their flags. They are Michigan (eagle, deer, and moose), Pennsylvania (eagle and two horses), Vermont (deer and cow), and finally our friends in Oregon, who march to their own drum, an eagle on the front and a beaver on the back.

But amazingly, NONE have used the snake on their flags.

Why doesn’t anyone salute the animal that was so symbolic and so admired by our forefathers during the Revolutionary War? It’s a national shame.

The Civil War History of the 57th Indiana (#1 of 52)

Raw Recruits Get Used to the Military

“Roused from our slumbers at the dawn of the day by fife and drum, each soldier bounded from his rude couch to his place in the line, answered to his name, and engaged with deep interest in the squad-drill before breakfast, which would often close with a “double-quick” around the circle; and after a hearty ablution he could appear at the breakfast table with ruddy cheeks and hearty appetite.

“Everything was done with order and dispatch. After breakfast came the drawing of rations, when you might have seen filing out from the quarters of each company ten or a dozen men in two ranks, headed by a sergeant, carrying buckets and pans, all moving towards the commissary. . .Thus for more than a month, we lived and enjoyed the pleasant routine of camp-life, within our own state.”

The Men Get Their Rifles

“At last the monotony of our comfortable and quiet life in Camp Wayne was disturbed by exciting war news. . . Up to this time but four companies had been supplied with arms. The two flank and center companies, A, B, C, and H, had received the Enfield rifles heretofore used by the regiment on company and battalion drill. . . It was with a feeling of the deepest mortification that the remaining five companies would be expected to use Prussian muskets, a class of arms of the very largest caliber used in the infantry. . . Two of the companies, D and F, stacked the arms on their company grounds, and refused to accept them. The movement, once commenced, spread rapidly and it soon became evident that the other companies would follow the example.

“The regiment was immediately called into lines, and the order explained by the field officers. It was not the intention that they should be used in action, but that they were issued to be used in drilling, and could probably be replaced by more improved arms before the command was called into the field. With this understanding the arms were accepted, and the affair caused no further trouble. . . Persons unacquainted with the experience of a soldier’s life can have no just conception of the humiliating effect it will produce upon good soldiers to arm them with inferior weapons of defense.”
(Late November/Early December, 1861, Camp Wayne, Indiana)

Excerpts taken from “Annals of the Fifty-Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry: Marches, Battles, and Incidents of Army Life” written by Asbury L. Kerwood immediately after the war. He was a member of the 57^th  Indiana himself.

To read an overview of this series, see the blog posting of August 2nd.

Diaspora: The Darker Side of Human Migration

"Diaspora" is a Greek word meaning "a scattering of people."

It originally referred to a specific historical event. The original source of the term grew out of the exile of the Jews from Israel in 607 B.C. by the Babylonians. During the centuries since, names and places have changed, but the significance of diaspora has not.

MODERN INTERPRETATION

Over the last few decades the term “diaspora” has taken on two distinct connotations.

1. For some, its definition has been expanded to such a degree that it is being applied to any and every population group that has moved, for almost any reason at all. While it used to apply to ethnic or religious group migration, it is now connected to any kind of group including gender-based, political ideologies, and occupations.

2. For others, the term has taken a more conservative connotation meaning forced or compulsory displacement. This is the connotation that I feel is more valid.

Twenty years ago, diaspora had a definition that distinguished it from simple migration. It required that a group maintain a collective memory of their homeland and regard this ancestral homeland as their true home. These people are committed to the restoration of the homeland and plan to return there. These people also relate to the homeland to such a degree that it shapes their lives.

Having a continuing fondness for and identification with Ireland, doesn’t indicate that Irish-Americans are planning to return. Today there are almost 90 million people located in English speaking countries around the world who claim Irish ancestry. What percent of them are returning? During the 1800’s, 50 million Europeans left for the Americas - only a small minority could be considered as victims of diaspora.

I don’t believe that this definition alone addresses the most important aspect of diaspora, the cause of the migration. “Forced or compulsory displacement” is closer to the original meaning of the term. People experiencing direct political expulsion from their home country, refugees fleeing a persecuting regime, and slaves taken from their homeland to a new country, more closely match the definition I support.

Citizens who immigrated to a new land for the purpose of colonization cannot be considered a diaspora. Even those who migrated searching for a better life cannot be considered as victims of a diaspora. Religious differences in their home country (the Puritans) or even the presence of famine (Ireland) does not fit the concept of forced or compulsory displacement.

Temporary forced “relocation” does not represent diaspora either. When the Nazis sent people to death camps during the war years, they were there to die. There was no migration. Those sent to work camps were not going to be returned to their homelands after a German victory, they were going to die as well. As tragic as the Holocaust was, it was not an example of diaspora.

So, using my more conservative definition of forced migration, what are some examples of diaspora throughout history?

The largest and most complete example in history was the capture and enslavement of an estimated 10-12 million people from Africa. For 300 years they were brought to colonized areas in the Americas as slaves. At one time or another, the United States and nearly every major European power was engaged in African slave trafficking.

In the United States during the 19^th Century, Native American tribes were continually forced to move westward, usually accompanied by soldiers to guarantee their compliance. Their lands were repeatedly confiscated and used for white Americans.

TWENTIETH CENTURY DIASPORA

Not all examples of diaspora occurred long ago. The 20^th Century has had its share of forced and compulsory displacement.

In 1915, Turkey went through a period of expanding nationalism and took forceful action against its neighbor, Armenia. Although denied by them, the Turks attempted to eradicate the Armenian nation. It is now known as the “Armenian Genocide.” One million Armenians were killed, but another million were dispersed around the world - the Armenian Diaspora.

From the 1930’s to the 1950’s, Joseph Stalin sent millions of Soviets to Siberia. Some went as a punishment (not a diaspora) while most people were forced into migration to work to develop this region.

After World War II, when the Iron Curtin descended across Europe, hundreds of thousands of political refugees were compelled to migrate west. About this same time, the Soviets expelled many thousands of ethnic Germans who had been living in eastern Europe for over 200 years. This was in revenge for the slaughter of Russian civilians by the Nazis.

In 1947 the partition of Pakistan and India forced millions to migrate one way or the other. This was accompanied by almost two million fatalities.

With the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, neighboring Islamic nations forced one million Jewish people living within their borders to resettle in the new state. At nearly the same time, the first Arab-Israeli War displaced 700,000 Palestinians, many of whom have descendants living in the same refugee camps.

After the communist takeover in Cuba in 1959, more than one million people were compelled to migrate elsewhere.

In the mid-1970’s in Cambodia, The Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot expelled 30,000 ethnic French, 364,000 ethnic Chinese, and 244,000 ethnic Vietnamese from the country (then used genocide to eliminate the Muslim Cham people).

In 1972, Uganda expelled 80,000 Asians.

With the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, more than 6 million Afgans were forcefully displaced. This created the largest refugee population in the world.

Not all diaspora results in people migrating outside of a country. During the Sri Lankan Civil War in 1983, more than 800,000 internal immigrants were displaced.

The Rwandan Genocide of 1994 forced hundreds of thousands of people into migrating to neighboring countries.

The practice of forced human migration has been around for a long time, and it is still here and will continue. No single nation or group of nations can make a serious attempt to end it. All we can seem to do is care for the refugees it produces.

Announcing a New Series of Blog Posts

The era of the Civil War has always been a topic of great interest to many Americans. Now, during the 150th  anniversary of the beginning of that conflict, interest is even higher. There is so much attention given to all aspects of the war that we have decided to narrow our focus to a single group of men who fought their way through this transformational conflict. They could be called an early “Band of Brothers.”

Our focus will be on the 57^th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. The men of this regiment were of the most common variety. A majority were farmers from southeastern Indiana. The regiment was raised by two ministers, and many of the soldiers were men of the cloth themselves. At one time they were called the “Preacher” regiment.

The 57^th Indiana had a long and storied military career lasting four years (1861 - 1865). It moved and fought in five major campaigns, including eleven of the bloodiest and most decisive battles of the war. They spent their entire time as part of the Union Army’s western theatre of operations. The regiment fought under Buell, Rosecrans, Grant, Sherman, and Thomas. It crossed the length of Kentucky three times and Tennessee six times. It saw action in eight states including six Confederate states and travelled by foot and railroad nearly six thousand miles.

Our focus will of course be the regiment’s military engagements that included Shiloh, Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, Franklin, and Nashville. But even more telling will be reflections on the tensions, fears, and the patriotism that the men felt. There will be stories of their camp life, marches, and of loved ones at home.  

Each week we will publish a new “mini” blog post in the form of an excerpt taken from the book “Annals of the Fifty-Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry: Marches, Battles, and Incidents of Army Life” which was written by Asbury L. Kerwood immediately after the war. He was a member of the 57^th himself. It was first published by the W.J. Shuey Co., in 1868 (143 years ago).

I have a strong personal connection to their story. My 2^nd Great Grandfather was a soldier in this regiment. He is the man after whom I am named.