The Irish in America – with giveaway By Donna Schlachter

Photo by Serinus from Pexels

When we think of Irish immigration to America, we often think of the 1845 Potato Blight and the subsequent years through the 1860s as the prime time when folks from Ireland fled to America. However, the Irish came to America during colonial times, too. Charles Carroll emigrated in 1706, and seventy years later, his grandson, also Charles Caroll of Carollton, signed his name to the Declaration of Independence, a brave move by men from any nation, as that act alone could place a price on their heads.

Photo by Monstera from Pexels

 

Between 1820 and 1860, over one-third of immigrants to the US originated in Ireland. In the 1840s specifically, that number climbed to almost half of all immigrants. Prior to the Potato Famine, almost all immigrants from Ireland were male, but during and after the Famine, entire families sought a better life in America.

Courtesy of Pixabay.com

 

The majority of Irish immigrants left a rural lifestyle, and they found it difficult to assimilate into a primarily east coast urban setting, including the latest in industry and technology. Most larger cities on the east coast of the US were specialized, which meant families were sometimes separated because of occupation. While the poorest could never escape Ireland because they couldn’t raise the needed boat fare, the middle class arrived in America with little more than the clothes on their backs. As a result, they accepted whatever work they could find, and they crowded together in tenements to be able to keep a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs. As a result, cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis, and mental illness ran rampant. They sometimes faced hostility because they were accused of carrying or starting these epidemics.

Irish immigrants often entered the workforce at the bottom of the pay scale, which meant that everybody in the family had to work so they could survive. Many women became servants, while many men labored in mines or built railways and canals.

Photo by Enric Cruz López from Pexels

 

As Irish immigrants moved inland, they found themselves in competition for jobs they often had no experience in. However, employers hired them because they’d work for less than anybody else. This then resulted in complaints, strikes, and outright battles from other workers trying to keep their jobs.

Most Irish immigrants stayed true to the Catholic upbringing and faith, which didn’t always set well with a primarily Protestant America. From verbal abuse to mob attacks, the Irish struggled to survive in their new land. In particular, in the 1840s, anti-immigration and anti-Catholic groups formed strong alliances which rejected “foreign influences” and promoted “traditional American ideals”, a notion now considered ironic considering the majority of those living in America at the time had been born elsewhere, or were first or second generation immigrants themselves.

Photo by Gotta Be Worth It from Pexels

 

Added to these problems was the Conscription Act of 1863, which made all white men between twenty and forty-five years of age eligible for the draft by the Union Army. Free men of color could volunteer if they chose. Monied white men could buy their way out of the draft, while the less affluent couldn’t. Into this latter category is where more Irish fell. Racial tensions increased, and several cities fell victim to draft riots. Enrollment officers and free men of color were targeted, primarily by Irish men.

Photo by PrathSnap from Pexels

 

By the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, however, Irish Americans became a powerful political force in the US. As they had done in Ireland, they formed strong alliances that created political groups that focused on raising the Irish presence at all levels of politics. For example, New York’s Tammany Hall was under Irish American control for more than fifty years, and the city boasted its first Irish American mayor in 1880. In 1884, Hugh O’Brien added Boston to that prestigious club. These alliances enabled Irish Americans the open doors needed to get better job, deal with naturalization issues, and also rewarded supporters with political appointments.

While Irish Americans might have had a rocky start, those who came to America were changed by this country, and they changed this nation. They and their descendants contributed through politics, industry, labor, religion, literature, and art. 

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-harris-jones

For example, Mary Harris, also known as Mother Jones, spent more than fifty years unionizing works throughout the country. Trained as a schoolteacher and seamstress, she was arrested, personally attacked, and faced with many hardships, but she earned an audience with United States Presidents from McKinley to Coolidge.

Regardless of the difficulties these early immigrants from Ireland faced, they came to America in hopes of finding a better life than the one they left behind. They set the example for chain immigrations, bringing family and relatives to the US, because they still believed in the American dream.



Leave a comment, and I’ll enter you into a random drawing for a free print (US only) or ebook (winner’s choice otherwise) of “Time Will Tell.” Don’t forget to cleverly disguise your email address so phishers can’t steal it: name AT email provider DOT extension For example, donna AT livebytheword DOT com

About “Time Will Tell”:

After Sadie Bauer inherits her father’s watch and clock repair shop in Pueblo, she soon learns that Fate conspires against her.

Will O’Reilly longs to help this beautiful damsel in distress, but she’s about as prickly as a porcupine.

Can Sadie overcome her mistrust of men in general, and of a certain suave salesman in particular? Can Will get past his former betrothed’s infidelity? And can both learn to trust the God who makes all things beautiful in His time?

Check out the book here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MNX4SKV



About Donna:

A hybrid author, Donna writes squeaky clean historical and contemporary suspense. She has been published more than 50 times in books; is a member of several writers groups; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; ghostwrites; edits; and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, traveling extensively for both.

www.DonnaSchlachter.com Stay connected so you learn about new releases, preorders, and presales, as well as check out featured authors, book reviews, and a little corner of peace. Plus: Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!

www.DonnaSchlachter.com/blog

 

Check out previous blog posts at www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com and www.AllBettsAreOff.wordpress.com

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter

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Etsy online shop of original artwork: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Dare2DreamUS

Resources:

https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/irish/irish-contributions-to-the-american-culture/
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-harris-jones

History of Mother's Day by Donna Schlachter

Photo by Simon Berger from Pexels

Mother’s Day, although past for this year, has a long and varied history. Attributed to the ancient Greeks and Romans, the celebration of their mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele is believed to be the first references to setting aside a specific day to remember and honor the contributions of not only goddesses but also of the women in our lives.

Photo by Javier Cruz from Pexels

Early Christians, wanting to reach these pagan cultures, initiated their own festival called “Mothering Sunday”, designed to draw believers and seekers alike into local churches or ‘mother church’, and was held on the fourth Sunday in Lent.

Photo by Sharefaith from Pexels

As with most religious celebrations, eventually secularism took hold. In the 1860s, Ann Reeves Jarvis started “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs”, where women were taught the skills needed to maintain their households, including cooking, cleaning, sewing, needlework, child-rearing, and so more. Following the Civil War, the group changed its name to “Mothers Friendship Day”, where women from both sides of the conflict were encouraged to befriend each other in hopes of aiding the country to reunite.


By 1870, Julia Ward Howe, with an eye on world peace, instituted her Mothers Day Proclamation and set June 2nd as the date for the celebration of the work of the women in her group.

Photo by Eva Elijas from Pexels

In 1905, Ann Jarvis died, and her daughter, Anna Jarvis, who never married, worked tirelessly to set aside a day each year to honor the sacrifices made by women for their children and their families. By 1908, the day was being celebrated in many towns and states, often with the support of a local department store. In 1912, the government officially set aside the second Sunday of May as Mother’s Day.

However, by 1920, Ann Jarvis was disgruntled at the commercialization of the holiday, and spent the rest of her life (she died in 1948) trying to undo all her hard work.

Photo by Giftpundits.com from Pexels

Today we celebrate Mother’s Day with cards, flowers, gifts, and oftentimes a day off from cooking and other household chores.


Celebrating Around the World

In Thailand, the day is celebrated on the birthday of the current queen, which currently is in August.

In Ethiopia, a multi-day celebration is held in early Fall.



No matter its source or how you celebrate, mothers are certainly important. None of us would be here without a mother. And regardless of the number of children borne, mothers are molders, those tireless individuals who fashion us into the productive adults we all strive to become. As women, we all have an important job to do—setting the example for the next generation, and teaching other women how to fulfill their God-given calling to impact and change lives.



Resources:

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/mothers-day

https://www.shutterfly.com/ideas/mothers-day-bible-verses/

Donna lives in Denver with husband Patrick. As a hybrid author, she writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas, full-length novels, devotional books, and books on the writing craft.





 

 

 

 

 

www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com Stay connected so you learn about new releases, preorders, and presales, as well as check out featured authors, book reviews, and a little corner of peace. Plus: Receive a free ebook simply for signing up!

www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/DonnaSchlachter

Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2gZATjm

Etsy online shop of original artwork, book folding art, and gift items: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Dare2DreamUS

Hospitals in Nashville During the American Civil War

By Michelle Shocklee

Like most of us, when I think of a hospital, I think of a building specifically created for the care of the sick and injured. I picture clean sheets, sterile instruments, surgical areas, and plenty of beds for all who need them. And while those images may describe some hospitals that existed in the 1860s, most "hospitals" used during the Civil War looked very different. 

Nashville newspaper article, 1863

My novel Under the Tulip Tree takes place in Nashville and includes scenes from the Battle of Nashville that took place December 15-16, 1864. While researching the book, I was surprised to discover that most of the hospitals that sprang up after this battle, as well as the Battle of Franklin (November 30, 1864), were not hospitals at all. The vast majority of injured soldiers were carried to private homes, businesses, hotels, schools, and churches where doctors, nurses, and an army of volunteers--both white and black--did their utmost to care for the gravely and mortally wounded men from both sides. 

Nashville was a Confederate-held city until Federal troops took control of it in February 1862. In March 1863, a list of Union hospitals was published in the local newspaper. Wounded or ill soldiers would have been brought to one of these reinvented businesses, depending on the soldiers' rank, color, and the level of nursing skill required to meet their particular needs. 

For more than a century, it has been estimated that about 620,000 Americans died in the conflict, with more than half of those dying off the battlefield from disease or festering wounds. That enormous number means that thousands upon thousands of men needed a hospital at some point during the years between 1861 and 1865. 

At least two Nashville hospitals were housed in former Confederate gun factories. Others took over schools where learning came to an abrupt halt and students were replaced with men suffering from dysentery, venereal diseases, infections, and fevers. If a patient was diagnosed with small pox, they were immediately taken to a hospital for that specific disease in order to prevent spreading. Separate hopsitals were also created for prisoners of war as well as black patients.  

If an officer was wounded or fell ill, he was taken to the Planter's Hotel to recuperate. The neighborhood was quiet and the hotel offered lovely grounds where the men could get some fresh air and exercise. The same was true of hospitals located in Howard high school, Hume high school, and Hynes high school. All provided excellent grounds and even views of the city. 

Hospital Number 19, Nashville, TN, 1863

But in December 1864, these hospitals would overflow with gravely injured and dying men after the Battle of Nashville. In fact, despite the seemingly large number of hospitals set up in the years prior to the battle, the number of wounded far exceeded the preparations. Approximately 10,000 casualties resulted from the two-day battle. Every bed was occupied with wounded men. Blood-soaked floors were lined with bodies. Men even had to wait outside in the bitter cold before room could be found inside, usually because another poor soul had died. 

Today, most of the buildings that once housed these makeshift hospitals are gone or have been transformed into businesses and condominiums. Several private homes that were used as hospitals remain intact, including Carnton Plantation in Franklin. I've had the privilege of spending time in an 1840s private home outside of Nashville where wounded Union soldiers were taken after the battle. As I walk the halls and climb the stairs, I can't help but wonder what sights and sounds those old brick walls witnessed.  

Hospitals aren't my favorite place to go--either as a patient or a visitor--but I'm truly thankful for the modern medical facilities available to us these days. If we've learned anything during the pandemic of 2020, it's how incredibly vital fully staffed and fully equipped hospitals are!  

Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels. Her work has been included in numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books, magazines, and blogs. Married to her college sweetheart and the mother of two grown sons, she makes her home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about. Visit her online at www.michelleshocklee.com.

UNDER THE TULIP TREE

Sixteen-year-old Lorena Leland’s dreams of a rich and fulfilling life as a writer are dashed when the stock market crashes in 1929. Seven years into the Great Depression, Rena’s banker father has retreated into the bottle, her sister is married to a lazy charlatan and gambler, and Rena is an unemployed newspaper reporter. Eager for any writing job, Rena accepts a position interviewing former slaves for the Federal Writers’ Project. There, she meets Frankie Washington, a 101-year-old woman whose honest yet tragic past captivates Rena.

As Frankie recounts her life as a slave, Rena is horrified to learn of all the older woman has endured—especially because Rena’s ancestors owned slaves. While Frankie’s story challenges Rena’s preconceptions about slavery, it also connects the two women whose lives are otherwise separated by age, race, and circumstances. But will this bond of respect, admiration, and friendship be broken by a revelation neither woman sees coming?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085F4YQ11/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Fort Negley: From the Civil War to the Works Progress Administration of the 1930s

 By Michelle Shocklee

 

As an admitted history nerd, there's nothing I enjoy more than poking around old ruins. Homes, towns, forts, plantations. You name it, I'll poke around in it.

When we moved to Nashville in the fall of 2017, one of the first historical sites we visited was Fort Negley. The fort itself is no longer there, but there are ruins that give visitors a solid idea of how the fort was laid out and what Federal soldiers, former slaves, and others would have seen from high atop Saint Cloud Hill.

But first, a bit of history.

Capital building in Nashville, TN; circa 1864

When the Civil War erupted in April 1861, Tennessee was as divided as the country. While some Tennesseans wanted to join the southern states and secede from the Union, others felt it was important to keep the United States united despite differing opinions on slavery and states rights. On July 2, however, the decision was made and Tennessee joined the Confederate States of America. With several railroads and major roads intersecting in Nashville, it was an important city for the Confederacy. 

But in February 1862, with several recent victories in other parts of Tennessee, Federal troops marched into Nashville and remained in control of the city until the end of the war. They lost no time building fortifications around the city, including several forts. 

 Drawing of Fort Negley

At the time the fort was built, it was approximately two miles south of the city center. It's location on top of Saint Cloud Hill gave Federal soldiers a clear view of Nashville and the surrounding vicinity. Enormous limestone blocks, mined from nearby, were laid out in a star pattern with a wooden stockade in the center. Although soldiers were undoubtedly put to work constructing the fort, most of the labor was provided by former slaves. An estimated 2,700 conscripted men and women who'd escaped slavery were, in some instances, forced into the difficult and often dangerous work of building the fort.    

  Impressing Former Slaves to Work on the Nashville Fortifications, Annuals of the 

Army of the Cumberland, John Fitch, 1864

In my latest novel, Under the Tulip Tree, the character of Frankie, a former slave, tells of living in a contraband camp in the shadow of Fort Negley. There isn't an exact number of how many former slaves lived in the camp, but it would have been several thousand. Many of them, like Frankie, took refuge behind the fort's walls in December 1864 during the Battle of Nashville. At the end of the two-day battle and Union victory, Fort Negley and its occupants were still standing. 

Following failed efforts to preserve Fort Negley as a national military park, St. Cloud Hill once again became a popular picnic area. The City of Nashville purchased the property in 1928. In 1936, 800 men working for the Works Progress Administration--like Alden in my book--reconstructed Fort Negley at a cost of $84,000. The Fort reopened to the public in 1938. However, in the 1960s, the deteriorated stockade was removed for safety measures and the fort was closed to the public. Vegetation soon hid what remained of this historical site. 

Fort Negley, 2011

But thankfully, it wasn't left hidden. In 2002, the City of Nashville appropriated funds to restore the area. The project remains the largest expenditure of city funds in the nation for the preservation of a Civil War site. Fort Negley reopened to the public on the 140th anniversary of the Battle of Nashville in December 2004. A visitors center opened in 2007.

  Me at Fort Negley with downtown Nashville in the background. 
Behind me, down the hill, is where the contraband camp was located.

If you live near Nashville or visit Music City on vacation, I hope you'll make time to visit Fort Negley. For readers of Under the Tulip Tree, you'll definitely want to hike up the hill and look out over the same landscape Frankie and Sam would have seen as they awaited Freedom. 

Your turn: What's your favorite historical site in your area?

Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels. Her work has been included in numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books, magazines, and blogs. Married to her college sweetheart and the mother of two grown sons, she makes her home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about. Visit her online at michelleshocklee.com.

  UNDER THE TULIP TREE

Sixteen-year-old Lorena Leland’s dreams of a rich and fulfilling life as a writer are dashed when the stock market crashes in 1929. Seven years into the Great Depression, Rena’s banker father has retreated into the bottle, her sister is married to a lazy charlatan and gambler, and Rena is an unemployed newspaper reporter. Eager for any writing job, Rena accepts a position interviewing former slaves for the Federal Writers’ Project. There, she meets Frankie Washington, a 101-year-old woman whose honest yet tragic past captivates Rena.

As Frankie recounts her life as a slave, Rena is horrified to learn of all the older woman has endured—especially because Rena’s ancestors owned slaves. While Frankie’s story challenges Rena’s preconceptions about slavery, it also connects the two women whose lives are otherwise separated by age, race, and circumstances. But will this bond of respect, admiration, and friendship be broken by a revelation neither woman sees coming?

https://www.tyndale.com/p/under-the-tulip-tree/9781496446077

Nursing in the 1860’s – with giveaway -- By Donna Schlachter

Often, when we think back to medicine in history, leeches and bleeding comes to mind. And while those techniques were used for centuries, we do see great strides made and progress in surgeries and the understanding of how the human body works.

One of the major reasons for advancements in medicine in general, and nursing in particular, was the American Civil War. Hundreds of thousands of men died in combat, but more died on the operating tables and in the field hospitals that popped up near every battle, major and minor.

Often, the only answer to the catastrophic injuries sustained on the battlefield was amputation. Nurses were often soldiers pressed into service to hold the patient down, or to administer chloroform directly from a bloodied rag that had been used for a dozen patients or more prior. Camp followers, accustomed to cooking meals and doing laundry, were often asked to carry damaged and diseased appendages outside the camp and burn them.

Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton, highly trained nurses themselves, were appalled with this situation, and resolved to make changes. After the war ended and the country entered into an uneasy truce with itself, they petitioned government to set up training schools for young women to learn anatomy, biology, physiology, and pharmacology.

However, in the uneasy years immediately after the war, when nurses were still needed to care for those recovering from their wounds, as well as to offer assistance in hospitals and medical practices, others set up shorter-term training schools which trained nurses in the rudiments of medicine, encouraging them to spend extra-curricular hours of learning and apprenticeship under trained doctors, to graduate and send them out into the cities and towns where they were sorely needed.

Many industrious young women, or older spinsters and widows, undertook this rigorous training. These informal schools filled the gap until the longer, more formalized schools admitted students in the late 1860’s and early 1870’s.

By this time, the Lister method of sanitary surgery, which included sterilizing instruments and sanitizing the patient, the doctor and attending staff, and the operating theater, were much in discussion. While American doctors initially decried the extra work, it soon became apparent that their mortality rate was much higher, and the time spent fighting infection soon convinced them to adopt the method.

Research into breathing issues such as asthma was also generating alternatives. While initially the cause of asthma was thought to be excess exercise or cold air, studies soon proved there were other causes, including allergies. Several new treatment options were adopted, including the guarded use of belladonna, and strong coffee, both of which proved successful in many cases.

Nurses were often employed in small communities that did not require the services or could not support a full-time doctor. They carried basic instruments, common medicines, and could as easily deliver a child as remove tonsils or pull a tooth.

While the role of nurses has changed a great deal since then, no doubt there are many who would never have survived without the basic medical skills taught these brave women in our history.

Leave a comment and be entered into a drawing for an eBook version of A Nurse for Caleb, as a special pre-release gift.





Resources:

Two Centuries of American Medicine: 1776-1976—Bordley and Harvey

On the Pathology of Asthma—Dr. Henry Salter

About A Nurse for Caleb (releases September 3, 2020):

In 1868, Tessa, a Mennonite nurse graduates from nursing school and is assigned to the Amana Colonies in Iowa because of her expertise in treating asthma and other breathing problems. As a former student at a women's medical school, she knows more than most about respiratory diseases. She's also had her fair share of heartbreak when, upon her mentor's death, she was forced to abandon her dream of becoming a doctor. Will she be able to use her skills? Or will her gender keep her from helping those who truly need her?

Seth, a widower in Amana, is still nursing a broken heart from his sweetheart's passing two years before. Now raising their invalid son Seth on his own, he wonders why God didn't listen to his prayers for healing for his family. Caleb has been afflicted with the same form of asthma that killed Anna, and Seth stands by helplessly as his son fades away. Can he trust God and trust medicine, or is faith in one mutually exclusive of faith in the other?


About Donna:

Donna writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas, full-length novels, and non-fiction books. She is a member of ACFW, Writers on the Rock, SinC, Pikes Peak Writers, and CAN; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; ghostwrites; edits; and judges in writing contests. www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com

The Battle of Glorieta Pass, New Mexico

By Michelle Shocklee

When I was a kid growing up in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the American Civil War wasn't something I was interested in. I mean, it all took place back east a gazillion years ago, right?

Wrong.

Winding mountain road alongside the Pecos River. I've
traveled this road hundreds of times! Photo on Google

Turns out I lived 22 miles from a bonafide Civil War battlefield. Every time my family drove into the Pecos National Forest for a day of picnicking or camping, we passed through said battlefield. It isn't a well known battle, but the outcome may have played a huge role in the outcome of the entire war.

First, a little history.

In March 1862, New Mexico wasn't a state, it was a territory. The lower half of it as well as present-day Arizona had fallen under Confederate control and was called the Confederate Arizona Territory. The territorial capital was Mesilla, near what is now the city of Las Cruces, NM (where I went to college my freshman year!). Why would the Confederacy--and the Union Army, for that matter--want to occupy land so far away from the battles taking place back east?

The answer can be summed up in a couple of shiny words: Gold and silver. Silver and gold. (Cue a cute singing snowman!)

Apache Canyon, scene of the first phase of the Battle of Glorieta Pass; 
Photo on Google

California and Colorado were both gold and silver producing states. Whoever had control of these states and the trade routes in/out of them would have a huge advantage over the opponent. New Mexico sat right in the middle of it all. Both sides knew this and were doing everything possible to gain and keep control of the territory.

By August 1861, Union troops stationed at Fort Craig (in southern NM) had already suffered defeat by the Confederate 2nd Texas Mounted Rifles as well as another defeat nearby in September at the Battle of Canada Alamosa. This gave the Confederate generals confidence to move forward with a bold plan.

"Sharpshooters ridge" above Pigeon's Ranch where Union troops
hunkered down at one point; Photo on Google

In the cold days of early 1862, Confederate General Sibley was determined to march his army north to capture the capital city of Santa Fe. Once Santa Fe was in Confederate control, they would turn their attention towards capturing the stores of ammunition and food at Fort Union (north of Santa Fe), gain control of the Santa Fe Trail, then turn west toward the gold fields of California. Success was his in February when his army defeated Union troops in the Battle of Valverde, although both sides suffered losses. Sibley continued his northern march and took possession of Albuquerque on March 2 and Santa Fe on March 13. Supplies and ammunition, however, were running dangerously low. Although a supply wagon train was on its way to them, Sibley hoped to capture Fort Union--a fort he'd been personally acquainted with prior to the war--to replenish.

Meanwhile, the First Regiment of Colorado Volunteers marched rapidly down from Denver to reinforce the Union troops at Fort Union. Confederate scouts were captured on March 25, providing invaluable information regarding the location of Sibley's army at the far end of Glorieta Pass preparing to march north the next morning.

Burning of Confederate supply wagons

Unaware that the Colorado troops were in New Mexico, Sibley anticipated little trouble. Mistake. On March 26 and 28, the two armies clashed. Fighting took place among the craggy rocks and evergreen trees, which prevented both sides from using their cavalry. The turn for a Union victory came when the Confederate supply wagon train was captured and destroyed, including, sadly, all of the animals. Without the much needed resources, there was no way for Sibley's men to continue the fight. A flag of truce was offered by Confederate Colonel Slough and was accepted by Union Colonel Slurry.

March 29 was spent burying the dead. The Texans were forced to retreat to Santa Fe and eventually took a long, dangerous march back to Texas. By July 1862, all Confederate Troops had vacated New Mexico Territory and for the duration of the Civil War, New Mexico remained under Union control. It is said that had the Confederates taken control of the gold and silver produced in the West, they would have won the war. What a different country it would be today if that had happened.

A monument at the center of Santa Fe honors the men who fought and died in the various Civil War battles in New Mexico Territory, including Valverde and Glorieta Pass.

Glorieta Pass monument in the center of the famed Santa Fe Plaza
Photo on Google

Your turn: Have you been to Santa Fe? Did you know about New Mexico's role in the Civil War?

                                                                                                      

Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels. Her work has been included in numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books, magazines, and blogs. Married to her college sweetheart and the mother of two grown sons, she makes her home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about. Visit her online at michelleshocklee.com.

UNDER THE TULIP TREE

Releases September 8, 2020

Sixteen-year-old Lorena Leland’s dreams of a rich and fulfilling life as a writer are dashed when the stock market crashes in 1929. Seven years into the Great Depression, Rena’s banker father has retreated into the bottle, her sister is married to a lazy charlatan and gambler, and Rena is an unemployed newspaper reporter. Eager for any writing job, Rena accepts a position interviewing former slaves for the Federal Writers’ Project. There, she meets Frankie Washington, a 101-year-old woman whose honest yet tragic past captivates Rena.

As Frankie recounts her life as a slave, Rena is horrified to learn of all the older woman has endured—especially because Rena’s ancestors owned slaves. While Frankie’s story challenges Rena’s preconceptions about slavery, it also connects the two women whose lives are otherwise separated by age, race, and circumstances. But will this bond of respect, admiration, and friendship be broken by a revelation neither woman sees coming?

https://www.tyndale.com/p/under-the-tulip-tree/9781496446077

The Unmentionables of the Civil War Lady

by Denise Weimer

Occasionally, I dress in period costume at historical festivals where I’m selling my books, as I did in this photo, taken at the William Harris Homestead near Monroe, Georgia. Doing so definitely requires extra time—and prevents lifting heavy book boxes and setting up a tent!

What would a middle- or upper-class European or American woman have worn under her dress?

A lady would begin by donning her chemise (if she hadn’t worn it to bed), a full but straight-cut cotton gown with a wide, gathered neckline (often with a ribbon drawstring) and enough sleeves to cushion her underarms. The chemise ended

Chemise

around the knees.

Cotton pantalets were worn under the chemise. The legs were sewn to the waistband but split in the middle for … ahem … trips to the necessary. They were often trimmed with lace or ribbon at the bottom.

Proper ladies also wore an under-hoop petticoat, but most living historians I knew felt the chemise provided enough coverage (yes, I have seen some very unseemly spills on the ballroom floor where the hoop flew all the way up!) and chose to go with only stockings, pantalets, and chemise under the hoop.

Pantalets

Our Civil War lady would put on thigh-high stockings, rolling them down over her garter. Stockings were most often cotton but could be silk or wool. They were also most often ecru-colored but could come in other colors or even striped for the lady with a bit of flair. The garter sits right above the knee. Today these are elastic, but during the period, they might have been crocheted, knitted, or ribbon.

When I was wearing my ankle-high, square-toed leather boots for outside rambles, I’d go ahead and put them on at this point. Otherwise, I’d be facing a merciless struggle trying to get my foot in and lace them up once I was fully clad in corset and hoops. If I was attending an indoor event such as a ball, the slippers could be donned last.

Time for the dreaded corset. The boned, Civil War-era corset was not as long as those that evolved later, coming to a point in the front over the abdomen and raising the bosom in the front. It laced in the back, but if your weight didn’t fluctuate, you got it set and left it, just holding your breath and fastening the hooks in the front. The corset is indeed a necessity if you want to properly fit into a dress sewn from a mid-1800s pattern, especially for full-figured ladies.

A short, cotton corset cover served as a camisole to soften the lines of the corset. (I never wore one of these. It was hot enough dancing in this ensemble in Georgia!)

Finally, we add the hoopskirt itself. The garment consists of rings or rungs sewn into cotton fabric. Most modern hoop rungs are constructed of plastic, making them adjustable for fullness and somewhat collapsible, enabling the wearer to fit through narrow spaces with just a press on either side. To sit down, one merely lifts the back of the skirt from the top just a bit and backs onto the chair. Original hoop rungs were made from whalebone or metal. The garment is tied at the waist with a drawstring or buttoned on a band.

Some hoops had ruffles sewn over them to keep the rungs from being visible once the wearer was dressed, but generally, a lady would add one to three over-hoop petticoats for this purpose. You can guess how many I added. 

Well-trimmed over-hoop petticoat

Our mid-1800s lady is ready to don her dress and venture out! If you’d like to see a video of dressing for the 1860s, here’s my seamstress/living historian friend Marie Walker doing so: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C9vjhG1RVXs. Her blog: https://historicalbelle.wordpress.com/. Photos of chemise, petticoat, and pantalets are also courtesy of Marie.

Represented by Hartline Literary Agency, Denise Weimer holds a journalism degree with a minor in history from Asbury University. She’s a managing editor for the historical imprints of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas and the author of almost a dozen published novels and a number of novellas. A wife and mother of two daughters, she always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses!

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