Throwback Thursday 10 MAR 2022 – Coffee Mill Gun

Coffee Mill Gun?

Ordnance Innovation During the Civil War

The Civil War marked a tipping point to new innovations to fight a war.

One of those was the Agar gun developed by Wilson Agar from its appearance, it resembled a coffee mill. The bullets were inserted into steel sleeves which were reusable.

by Brian Bergin (Author), Erin Bergin Voorheis (Editor), Michael R. Ph.D. Fritsch (Afterword), Steve Hammond (Foreword)

ABOUT THE BOOK:

In 1864, residents of Washington, D.C., mourned together at the largest funeral the district had ever seen. In the midst of the Civil War, the poor Irish neighborhood of the Island lost twenty-one mothers, sisters, and daughters. On June 17, dangerous working conditions and a series of unfortunate events led to the deadly explosion of a Federal arsenal at Fort McNair, where the young women made cartridges to assist the war effort. In the wake of the horrific event, a monument was erected at Congressional Cemetery to honor those who were lost. Author Brian Bergin similarly memorializes these women through his book, detailing the poor working conditions, the investigation into the avoidable events leading to the tragedy, and the reaction of a community already battered by the Civil War.

The Washington Arsenal Explosion:

Civil War Disaster in the Capital

 Paperback

Washington Arsenal Demonstration

President Abraham Lincoln attended a demonstration of what some consider one of the first machine guns at Washington Arsenal. Lincoln was so impressed with the gun, that he bought ten of them on the spot.  Several Union Generals also purchased the gun, but it was hardly used since the Ordnance Department thought it used too much ammunition.

Coffee Mill Gun Replica  in action

Use During the Civil War

Ager “Coffee Mill” gun in the hands of the 96th Pennsylvania Volunteer Regiment, Camp Northumberland, northern Virginia, February 1862

OVER 200 HISTORICAL IMAGES, MAPS & ILLUSTRATIONS

The book, Images of America – Fort Lesley J. McNair contains over two hundred historical photographs, images, and illustrations that chronicle the two hundred plus years of history among the acres of this US Army Post.

The book “Images of America – Fort Lesley J McNair”  is “a walk down memory lane” as one reader called it after he turned the last page.  Go beyond

A Slain President is Honored – Lincoln in Springfield

PRESIDENT JOHNSON CLOSES THE GOVERNMENT

The body of Abraham Lincoln, slain president of the United States reached Springfield,  Illinois by train.  On 04 MAY, 1865 he was laid to rest in Oak Ridge Cemetery.  This was after the  1,500-mile trip passing through 180 cities along the way that began on 21 APR 1865 in Washington, DC.

President Andrew Johnson issued an order to close down the United States government to honor the slain president.

THE WAR DEPARTMENT CLOSES –

MINUTE GUNS ORDERED

The War Department also issued an order to close on that day.  Also, at Washington Arsenal, minute guns would be fired from noon until sunset to honor the slain president.

These orders appeared in the 04 MAY 1865 issue of the Washington Star newspaper.  The excerpt is below:

National Salute Fired

The 21-gun salute was adopted as the standard salute for royalty in 1808. The United States fired a “national salute,” on special occasions and during times of mourning, of one gun for each state in the union until 1841, when the salute was standardized at 21 guns.

OVER 200 HISTORICAL IMAGES, MAPS & ILLUSTRATIONS

The book, Images of America – Fort Lesley J. McNair contains over two hundred historical photographs, images, and illustrations. They chronicle the two hundred plus years of history among the acres of this US Army Post.

The book “Images of America – Fort Lesley J McNair”  is “a walk down memory lane” as one reader called it after he turned the last page.  Go beyond the website and read more of the history with your own copy – BUY THE BOOK offers the opportunity to get either a personalized & autographed copy from the author or purchase the book from one of the major resellers.

Walt Whitman – O Captain My Captain

President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on 14 APR 1865 at Ford’s Theater in Washington, DC.  Some call him the last casualty of the US Civil War.  In response to the death of the President,  Walt Whitman, America’s Poet, wrote a poem that was a tribute to Lincoln and his efforts to see the country through the war.

Leaves of Grass

(Leather-bound Classics)

NOTE TO READER: (1865) A poem by Walt Whitman about a captain who dies just as his ship has reached the end of a stormy and dangerous voyage. The captain represents Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated just as the Civil War was ending. The poem is classified as an elegy or mourning poem and was written to honor Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States.

The Lincoln Assassination  Conspirators Hanged

Memoirs of a Lincoln Conspirator

First Woman Hanged by the Federal Government

The Lincoln Conspirators Hanged…

After weeks of listening to the testimony of hundreds of “witnesses,” the military commission’s came to a consensus and the orders were carried out. On July 7, 1865, four conspirators – Lewis Powell, David Herold, George Atzerodt, and Mary Surratt – were hanged by the neck at Federal Penitentiary at Washington Arsenal in Washington D.C.  The remaining conspirators: Dr. Samuel Mudd, Samuel Arnold, Michael O’Laughlen, and Edmund Spangler received other sentences or were later freed when President Andrew Johnson pardoned them.  John Surratt, the son of Mary Surratt who had become a fugitive and first went to Canada then to Europe then Africa was later captured and tried, but got set free on a technicality.

The Lincoln Assassination Conspirators:

Their Confinement and Execution,

as Recorded in the Letterbook of John Frederick Hartranft

Lincoln Conspirators

 Gallows Constructed in the Courtyard

While the trial was being held preparations were made for the outcome with gallows built in the courtyard of the penitentiary to carry out the sentence of the military commission. The actual assassin, John Wilkes Booth, already dead, was buried temporarily within the penitentiary grounds.

Conspirators on-Scaffold

The Lincoln conspirators hanged at the gallows…

The Lincoln conspirators were hanged at the gallows…

When they were dead, Lewis Powell, David Herold, George Atzerodt, and Mary Surratt’s bodies were then placed in coffins and buried temporarily in shallow graves near the gallows.  Within days the gallows were removed and later the entire penitentiary was also dismantled save for one part of the building that stands until today,  Grant Hall, where the trial took place. After the rest of the buildings came down,  the bricks were then used for the walls (and other projects within the fort) that now surround Fort Lesley J. McNair.

Mary Surratt:

The Life of the Alleged Lincoln Conspirator

Who Became the First Woman Executed by the U.S. Government

John Surratt’s Flight for Freedom

Considered to be the last of the conspirators, John Surratt, Mary’s son fled the United States then onto Canada and to Europe.  He thus avoided the fate of the other conspirators, who were hanged. He served briefly as a Pontifical (“Papal”) Zouave but was recognized and arrested. He escaped to Egypt but was eventually arrested and extradited. By the time of his trial, the statute of limitations had expired on most of the potential charges which meant that he was never convicted of anything.

The Last Lincoln Conspirator:

John Surratt’s Flight from the Gallows