What a terrible blogger I am! It's not that I've slacked off on my research, on the contrary, I've made some very notable discoveries of late, but having the time to sit down with a clear head, and blog about these finds... well, that's where I'm having problems!
However, today being the 4th, and everyone's minds being on all things American, I've been thinking about the number of ancestors I've had who quite literally fought for the freedoms that we so take advantage of, and often abuse. I've thought about my Mayflower grandfather, William Brewster, who helped forge a new nation; my frontiersman grandfather, Richard Malone, who came to Ohio when it was still considered wilderness. Then there's James Hamilton Cummons, the confederate soldier, who ended up fighting for the union army.
I recently came across this photo from the Library of Congress website. It's description was as follows:
Washington, Disctrict of Columbia, Hancock's Veterans Corps on F Street, NW Washington, DC. 1st US Volunteer Infantry. You can see a larger version of the image
here at the Library of Congress.
You can imagine my thrill when I looked at this picture at thought, "It is very possible that my great, great, GREAT grandfather is staring back at me from somewhere in this picture." This picture was taken in March of 1865, and according to muster rolls, James wasn't mustered out until July of '65. If you remember from an earlier post, the 1st US Volunteer Infantry was also known as the Galvanized Yankees. These were men who had enlisted in the confederate army, been captured, and sometime after being taken to a union prison camp, swore allegience to the north, and were placed far away from the war, usually in western forts.
James was just 17 when he enlisted, possibly the son of an Irish immigrant, but when the call came, he answered. I could go on listing grandfathers who fought in the Great War, and World War II, uncles who fought in Korea and Vietnam. Just in my own family tree, there are dozens of men and women who fought, struggled, and died to make a home in America. I hope and pray I never abuse those freedoms they held so dear.