The War of 1812 . . . Year Three, Part 1 . . . Don't Give Up the Ship!

Our full first day of War of 1812 immersion year three was centered around Erie, Pa. and a good deal of that was related to Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.  

Specifically what brought us to Erie was the US Brig Niagara . . . sunk, raised, sunk, raised and restored for the centennial in 1913 and yet restored a couple of more times.  What remains original of the Niagara is not much.  Still, it is grand to at least have what exists today.  I should add that it was intentionally sunk all those times (the first time being in 1820) for preservation.  Atop the mast flies Perry's famous battle flag emblazoned with "Don't Give Up the Ship, " which had been James Lawrence's dying words during the USS Chesapeake action against the HMS Shannon earlier in the war.  Malc was really dismayed that I appropriated and bastardized the quote by continually exclaiming "Don't Give A Sh!t" for much of our trip.

Now, when I say what brought us to Erie was the US Brig Niagara, I need to elaborate on that and explain that we sailed on the blasted thing!  We were on the ship for just over six hours, going up and down Lake Erie.  It was amazing to watch all of the rigmarole that ensues to sail the ship.  There is a complex (what appears to be) tangle of ropes and such . . . far too much for my feeble brain make sense of.

And the trip was very much participatory.  The man who appears to be passed out drunk in the top-left of the above photo is actually the captain of the ship.  Fortunately he was not drunk, but only scanning the crew climbing around up above us amongst the sails, or maybe he was just observing the wind.  What I can unequivocally state is . . . he was not reenacting the actions of the captain of the Exxon Valdez.  

I should mention that the Niagara was not Perry's flagship . . . that being the Lawrence.  Now ensconced into US lore, Perry had his battle flag removed from the disabled Lawrence during the battle and was transported at great daring and risk to the Niagara where he took command and made it his relief flagship.  There is a bit of controversy surrounding all of this, especially regarding the Lawrence's actual captain (Jesse Elliott), but I am not gonna get into that.  That can be your homework.  As you can tell from the sky, we had great weather for it.

. . . HUZZA! for the brave Yankee boys 

Who touch'd up John Bull on lake Erie 

Who gave 'em a taste of our toys, 

From the fleet of brave Commodore Perry . . .

At one point, the crew fired off a round from the carronade.  Fortunately for the rich folk out sailing in their puny (compared with our massive warship!) sailboats it was only a blank.

Malc very excited to view Perry's personal compass.  During the trip, we actually got to view many items attributed to him.

The Perry Monument at Presque Isle State Park.  During the war, six of the nine ships in Perry's fleet were constructed at the Presque Isle Naval Base, which no longer exists.  However, there is this 100' monument which commemorates Perry and his base of operation. The plaque on the monument states, "Erected by the State of Pennsylvania to commemorate the victory of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry in the Battle of Lake Erie. September 10th, 1813."

The monument is situated next to Misery Bay, so named because of the many hardships endured by Perry's men during the winter of 1813-1814, many of which suffered from smallpox.  Misery Bay was also the location where the Niagara and the Lawrence were sunk for preservation.

The War of 1812 . . . Year Three

Dear gentle reader,
Well, the Fife clan has just returned from another epic week and a half trip pertaining to the War of 1812. Last year we traveled to War of 1812 sites in New York, and Ontario, Canada.  The year before that, we visited sites in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan.  And it is our plan to have one more War of 1812 trip next January, which will coincide with the 200th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans (along the way we plan to visit several sites pertaining to the auxiliary Creek War).  However, for this year, we journeyed back to Canada (mostly Quebec, but we also returned to a bit of Ontario), and we traveled to the Lake Champlain area of New York. As always, it was a non-stop action packed trip that will take several entries to cover. Hopefully, you all will enjoy following our adventures, and maybe find something of interest.

The Canadian perspective of the War of 1812 . . . 

The Culhanes Go To The Big City

This is the last entry for our trip to Atlanta and the National History Bee . . .

Room with a view . . . this is looking outta our hotel room.

Same view, but during the day.  You could see both Kennesaw Mountain and Stone Mountain off in the distance.

Looking down into the guts of our hotel . . .

OK, here are the Culhanes I was referring to in the entry title.  They acted like had never been on a dag-blasted elevator before.  Granted, the thing was glass and zoomed at a pretty good speed up to our floor some 40-something stories up.  Dudeboy was apprehensive about getting on the thing at first, but after that first time he didn't want to exit it!

One place we always wanted to visit, but never had a chance is the Martin Luther King National Historic Site.  Well, we thought this would be a perfect tie-in with the history bee.

Dudeboy on MLK's boyhood home.  Unfortunately, tours of inside the home were booked solid. Word to the wise, if you want to tour the home, go early in the day and get a reservation (it can only be done in person).

The funeral carriage for M.L. King.

 The gray rectangle in the back at the top of the photo is the tomb for M.L.K and his wife Coretta.

"What'll ya have!"

One last stop for us before leaving Atlanta . . . the Varsity, which claims to be "The World's Largest Drive-in Restaurant."  I daresay it has to be one of the busiest, as that place was hoppin'.

Kennesaw Mountain

On the way down to Hotlanta for the National History Bee, we stopped by Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield as Dudeboy had never toured the battlefield.  The view in the photo above is from atop Kennesaw Mountain and you can see Atlanta on the horizon in the blue distance.

One of the Confederate artillery placements atop Kennesaw Mountain . . . near the overlook.

Original Confederate earthworks still visible on Pigeon Hill.  This was where one of the two attacks by Sherman was repulsed.

Atop Pigeon Hill . . .

The Dead Angle on Cheatham Hill.  It was at this protruding angle in the Confederate lines that the worst of the fighting raged.  The Union troops attacked from across the field in the background to the entrenched works of Johnston's troops.  For the most part, the Union advance was mowed down.  However, amazingly, some reached the earthworks and actually engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

This is the Illinois Monument dedicated in 1914 and is the largest monument on the battlefield.  At the bottom of the photo is the entrance to a tunnel that was being constructed with the intention of setting off a bit of explosives under the Confederate lines.  However, the Confederates withdrew before the tunnel was completed.

The mounded area in the forefront of the photo was where some Union soldiers were caught in a kinda no-mans land.  They threw up a bit of earthworks to help shield them from the Confederate line which was situated just behind where the Illinois Monument is located.  It would have been suicide for many in this situation to retreat, so many suffered out here in the open for a good while.
 

The grave of an unknown Union soldier near the Dead Angle. 

A 9th Kentucky Wedding . . .

An original ferrotype by Wendell Decker (see here and here for our previous sittings with Wendell).

Another original ferrotype by Wendell Decker.

Father and son on Father's Day weekend . . .

Dudeboy in line at one of the demonstrations for our Old Mulkey Meeting House living history event.

Apart from our annual Old Mulkey Meeting House living history event another important occurrence transpired this weekend  . . . an antebellum-themed wedding involving two 9th Ky. members Todd W. and Tara.  They met at the Old Mulkey event two years ago and fell in love. (Photo taken by Cousin JoAnne)

(Photo taken by Cousin JoAnne)

Artemisia! . . . Boom! . . . the National History Bee National Finals

Well, we have just returned from Atlanta and the National History Bee National Finals, and we are very proud and pleased to relate that Malcolm did great! There were just under 700 students from 47 states that participated. We met and talked with several families from all over the country . . . California, Texas, Connecticut. There were even kids who journeyed from Alaska and Hawaii for the event!

As I said Malcolm did great. He outright won or tied for first in each of his preliminary rounds (I should add that there were ten children in each preliminary round).  And by doing so, he qualified for the Championship Rounds. There were three championship rounds . . . the first consisting of 128 students divided into 16 sections. The top two from each section moved on into the next round where the final eight advanced to ultimate championship round. Well, Malcolm made it into the first championship round.

To show how hard it is when you get to this point in the competition, the boy who won the Nashville Region (the last two years no less) was also eliminated in Malcolm's section. Apparently some kids even have personal "history coaches." So, compared to some, we didn't really put much effort into reviewing for the event which impresses me even more knowing he was mostly relying on his existing general knowledge. (Above photo . . . to give you some idea of how large the event was, this picture was taken when I was positioned only about 2/3rds back).

Malcolm pointing to his name which signified that he was moving on to the Championship Rounds.

It was a thrill to watch Malcolm throwing out names like Eugene Debs, Samuel Gompers and events like the Bonus Army, the Prague Spring and that Artemisia was a reference to the Persian War. I must say the last eight kids in the final were amazing to watch. I was a history major and they would have blitzed me.

Our New Neighbors

Here is one of the five baby skunks (I just looked it up . . . a baby skunk is called a "kit") that live in or near our yard.  This guy was very friendly and obviously wanted to check me out, but like so many people unaccustomed to beings not like them I was a little leery.  These guys are pretty damn cute . . .