I love American history and will find, purchase, and read anything remotely related to it. Todays post will supply you lovers of history with a few facts you may not be familiar with. The first section will list the normal necessities of the early American soldiers.
A flintlock musket and bayonet.
A bayonet and spontoon (a large metal spearhead on a wooden pike).
A sword for Infantry officers and a heavy saber for Cavalry.
A Tomahawk or Axe if no bayonet was available.
A Cartridge bag containing cartridge paper, lead balls, and black powder. Riflemen carried powder horns and shot bags.
A Flint and tinderbox for staring fires.
A hunting knife, knapsack and blanket.
A canteen with folding eating utensils, scissors, and fishhook.
A sundial compass.
AND NOW YOU’RE READY TO FIGHT
A Serious Footnote
In those days women weren’t permitted in combat but here’s a story of one determined woman named Deborah Sampson. Her ancestors arrived on the Mayflower and she spent most of her childhood as an indentured servant. At the age of 21 she disguised herself as a man and enlisted in the Massachusetts militia as a infantry soldier, fighting as “Robert Shurtleft” (her deceased brother) for almost 2 years. When rumors of her deception spread in her hometown, she was excommunicated by her Baptist church for “dressing in men’s clothing”. Badly wounded at Tarrytown, she treated herself. Later when she contracted a fever in Philadelphia, an Army doctor discovered her secret and General George Washington may have been advised. Neither man betrayed her, and under her assumed name, she received an honorable discharge as “Robert Shurtleft”. Her subsequent efforts to receive a military pension were championed by no less than Paul Revere.
Now that all of my technology issues have been resolved I decided to go off in a different direction for todays post. Since we’re in the middle of a war with Iran I decided to read up on the Civil War for stories and facts of that conflict that might help to further prove that all wars suck. As I was reading my way though the Civil War notes I discovered these three short stories I found interesting. Maybe you will too.
If the Civil War had a champion soldier, he must have been George Barnhart Zimplemen, of Terry’s Texas Rangers CSA, a private by choice, who went through more than 400 battles and skirmishes up to May, 1865, he led his regiment in the number of horses shot from under him, and suffered two wounds, one of which maimed him for life. He survived the war.
Two brothers, Jack and Jasper Walker, of Charlotte, North Carolina. Jasper, fought at the battle of Gettysburg with the 13th North Carolina regiment. Jasper was wounded on July 1st, as the fifth color-bearer of his regiment to be shot. He was captured and a surgeon amputated his right leg and then sent him to a Northern prison. On the retreat from Gettysburg, Jack Walker was also shot and lost his left leg by amputation. He also was sent to another northern Federal prison. The brothers returned home after the war to become prosperous citizens, familiar in the town as they stumped about on cork legs. On Jaspers wedding day, he accidently fell and broke his artificial limb, he then borrowed the leg of his gallant brother which fit perfectly. This, as Confederate veterans were fond of telling youngsters, was the only case on record in which one man was married while standing on the leg of another.
Paul A. Futz, who enlisted as a Confederate private in 1861 at the age of fifteen, was caught with two other soldiers smuggling quinine through the Federal lines. The smugglers chewed up their papers but their captors still shot the older two. The tradition is that the pardoning of Futz was President Lincoln’s last official act.
The more I dug into the Civil War the more weird stories I discovered. Be warned, I’m against any wars except those that threaten my way of life and that of my family. If you do that then your ass is in trouble.
I’m feeling a little calmer and relaxed after resolving all of my recent computer woes. What better way to begin another week than with a few limericks from one of my favorite limerick writers, John Ciardi. He was renowned far and wide for his limerick wars with Isaac Azimov. Enjoy some of his work.
It’s almost too effing hot to do anything. I’m hiding in the man-cave with the fans roaring and it sounds more like an airport runway than a man-cave. It’s as good a day as any to post more of my favorite things: limericks. I normally post limericks by category but not today. Here are a few chosen totally at random from the archives.
Today I thought I should step away from all of the excitement connected with the World Cup. The endless supply of Tik-Toker’s are doing a fine job of informing the world about the USA and I’m sincerely happy about that. Reality will return soon enough, so enjoy our time in the sun as best you can. Todays post is a collection of thoughts and opinions by one of my favorite writers and philosophers, Oscar Wilde. He was a figure both loved and hated due to his many writings and personal exploits. I’ve always appreciated his Irish sense of humor and skilled and vicious use of sarcasm. A warning for those of you (myself included) who wield the sharp sword of sarcasm at every turn. It’s always a hazardous hobby even on the good days. Let’s get started.
ON WOMEN
“American women are pretty and charming: little oases of elegant unreasonableness in a vast desert of practical common sense.”
“Women are meant to be loved, not understood.”
“A woman will flirt with anyone in the world, as long as other women are looking on.”
“I like men who have a future, and women who have a past.”
“If you really want to know what a women means, which is dangerous, always look at her but never listen.”
ON MEN
“Men become old, they never become good.”
“I sometime think that God, in creating man, rather overestimated his ability.”
“If a man is a gentleman, he knows quite enough, and if he is not a gentleman, whatever he knows is likely to be bad for him.”
“A man can be happy with any woman, so long as he does not love her.”
ON LOVE & MARRIAGE
“London is full of women who trust their husbands; one can always recognize them because they look so thoroughly unhappy.”
“The only real tragedy in a woman’s life is that her past is always her lover, and her future is invariably her husband.”
“There is nothing in the world like the devotion of a married woman; it’s a thing that no married man knows anything about.”
“Men marry because they are tired, women because they are curious: both are disappointed.”
❤️❤️❤️
ONE OF MY FAVORITES
“No great artist sees things as they really are; if he did, he would cease to be an artist.”
With the world of sports, mainly soccer, currently ruling this country I felt a sports related post would keep the good will flowing and possibly put a smile on a few faces. Lets see . . .
🏀🏀
“When I played pro football, I never set out to hurt anybody deliberately . . . unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something.” Dick Butkus
“Baseball would be a better game if more third basemen got hit in the mouth by line drives.” Dan Jenkins
George Steinbrenner is the salt of the earth, and the Yankee players are open wounds.” Scott Osler
“If your caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a one-iron. Not even God can hit a one-iron.” Lee Trevino
🏈🏈
“Skiing combines outdoor fun with knocking down trees with your face.” Dave Barry
“I bet on a horse at ten to one. It didn’t come in until half-past five.” Henny Youngman
“I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.” Possibly by Yogi Berra
“No Comment!” Coach Doug Moe on hearing he’d been voted the most quotable coach.
🏌️♀️⛳🏌️
My Fav:
“That’s getting a little close to home.”
Bob Feller on hearing that a foul ball had hit his mother.
I’ve just spent almost two solid days online listening to assorted visitors from Europe showing their appreciation of this country. I knew in my heart that the media in Europe was doing what the Media in America always does, attempting to direct how we should think and feel about damn near everything. I’m no soccer fan and probably never will be but any sport that has such a rabid fan base is a wonderful thing to witness. I feel even more patriotic than usual and that’s difficult to imagine. I’m also having much better thoughts about the European people themselves but not their governments. So today’s post is an limerick alert of a sort with the following collection of limericks that are sports related. Enjoy…
I really and truly hate the media. Even before the term “fake news” appeared, I was well ahead of the game. I was raised during a time when there were only three networks and the main voice for America on any subject was Walter Cronkite. Whatever he said was immediately believed as information that came down from the Mount with the Ten Commandments. Now that we’ve progressed a little (LOL) we’re beginning to find out what fools our parent’s generation was and unfortunately they passed some of that foolishness along to their kids. Eventually the rest of the country finally figured all of this out because of a few thousand regular folks taking to the airways armed with a new term called “Podcasts”. Thanks also to people like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg for maintaining freedom of speech on their social media platforms. With that being said todays post contains misquotes and misstatements from numerous and varied celebrities experts and media outlets. Enjoy . . .
“If it weren’t for electricity, we’d all be watching television by candlelight.” George Gobel – comedian.
“The crime bill passed by the senate would reinstate the federal death penalty for certain violent crimes: assassinating the President, hijacking an airliner, and murdering a government poultry inspector.” Published by Knight Ridder News Service
Retraction: The “Greek Special” is a huge, 18-inch pizza and not a huge, 18-inch penis, as described in an ad. Blondie’s Pizza would like to apologize for any confusion Friday’s ad may have caused. Correction in the Daily Californian (real fake news)
As a prize – a beautiful riding mower with optional ass scratcher. Announcer on TV who meant to say “grass catcher”.
“To say this book is about me (which is the main reason I was uncomfortable – me, me, me,. me . . . frightening) is ridiculous. This book is not about me.” Kate Moss, model, on her book, Kate: The Kate Moss Book
“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” Decca Recording Company turning down the Beatles, 1962
I really and truly hate the media. Even before the term “fake news” appeared, I was well ahead of the game. I was raised during a time when there were only three networks and the main voice for America on any subject was Walter Cronkite. Whatever he said was immediately believed as information that came down from the Mount with the Ten Commandments. Now that we’ve progressed a little (LOL) we’re beginning to find out what fools our parent’s generation was and unfortunately they passed some of that foolishness along to their kids. Eventually the rest of the country finally figured all of this out because of a few thousand regular folks taking to the airways armed with a new term called “Podcasts”. Thanks also to people like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg for maintaining freedom of speech on their social media platforms. With that being said todays post contains misquotes and misstatements from numerous and varied celebrities experts and media outlets. Enjoy . . .
“If it weren’t for electricity, we’d all be watching television by candlelight.” George Gobel – comedian.
“The crime bill passed by the senate would reinstate the federal death penalty for certain violent rimes: assassinating the President, hijacking an airliner, and murdering a government poultry inspector.” Published by Knight Ridder News Service
Retraction: The “Greek Special” is a huge, 18-inch pizza and not a huge, 18-inch penis, as described in an ad. Blondie’s Pizza would like to apologize for any confusion Friday’s ad may have caused. Correction in the Daily Californian (real fake news)
As a prize – a beautiful riding mower with optional ass scratcher. Announcer on TV who meant to say “grass catcher”.
“To say this book is about me (which is the main reason I was uncomfortable – me, me, me,. me . . . frightening) is ridiculous. This book is not about me.” Kate Moss, model, on her book, Kate: The Kate Moss Book
“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” Decca Recording Company turning down the Beatles, 1962
everyuselessthing.com 