A little over 107 years ago, in August 1905, Edward M. Lees of Westport gave the gavel that had been used to call meetings to order at the McDonough G.A.R. Post in Westport to the members of the Buckingham Post…
Author: 17thCVI
150 years ago in Bridgeport
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the date over 1,000 soldiers were mustered into Federal service as the 17th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. For many this was their first service, for some it was their second or even third. On this…
Gettysburg musings
This morning my son and I headed down to Emmitsburg, Maryland so that we could retrace the route of the 17th CVI the morning of July 1, 1863. I did this once already about 9 years ago…but it was in…
What do movie critics understand about Gettysburg? More than you’d expect.
This post is a little off the beaten path from the others in that it has no direct correlation to the 17th CVI. Well, perhaps a little more than is first apparent. The title of this post will become obvious…
150 years ago…
Although the sesquicentennial commemoration of the U.S. Civil War began last year, next month is the 150th anniversary of the organization this site commemorates. On August 28, 1862, the 17th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry was mustered into service at Camp Aiken (now…
The 1870 reunion photograph – anyone know where it is?
According to a reporter for the Danbury News writing about the 1870 reunion of the regiment’s veterans, at the close of the day a photograph was taken by “…one of the best photographers in Stamford.” The subject of the photograph…
The Gettysburg paintings of Frankenstein at the GNMP
There is a reason I include a link to the blog of the Gettysburg National Military Park (besides the fact that I can’t get to the park nearly as much as I’d like). Anyway, the latest post on the blog…
The 17th CVI navy (sort of)
I found this anecdote with some relevance to the 17th in Back “in war times.”: History of the 144th regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry, by James Harvey McKee, a history of the 144th N.Y.V. Infantry published in1903. The 144th served alongside…
Decoration Day – “With the tears a Land hath shed…”
Thomas Bailey Aldrich (born Nov. 11, 1836, Portsmouth, N.H., died March 19, 1907) was a 19th century writer and editor who is known to some, at least, as the father of the American novel. His 1869 The Story of a Bad…
David Blocher and the 17th CVI flagpole
Serious students of the Battle of Gettysburg know that what we now know as Barlow’s Knoll was once Blocher’s Knoll, named after the family that owned that land around it. Serious students of the 17th CVI know that the veterans…