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Sunday, May 31, 2015

Lake Life

GUEST COLUMN

The Citizen, Auburn, New York
DAVID WILCOX, Lake Life editor
Phone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (315) 282-2245
Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . david.wilcox@lee.net
Twitter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . @drwilcox

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Battle flag has extensive, meaningful history
Slash Dot

The rediscovery of history can often come from
the most unlikely places.
Recently, I had the opportunity to purchase a
badge from the 9th Heavy
Artillery Veteran Association reunion held at the
Port Byron Opera House in
1901. With the event taking place in my hometown
and
having an
ancestor, Pvt.
George
Kilmer
of Company
Dawn
C, who
served
Roe
as a
regimental teamster, it was
a must-have artifact.
While it is not known to
whom the original badge
was issued, anyone attending would have received
a red badge like the one
shown with this article.
The ribbon, worn from
the ages, clearly shows
the date of Oct. 18, 1901;
I then set off to see if I
could learn more. Much to
my surprise, the Auburn
Weekly Bulletin dated
Oct. 22, 1901, revealed the
most unusual account of
a battle flag that was recovered from a battlefield
and united with the old
soldiers for the first time
since the war. Their former
commander, Brig. Gen.
William H. Seward Jr., of
Auburn, was the presenter.
I had vague recollections
of hearing of such a flag
from previous tours of the
Seward House Museum, so
I reached out to Executive
Director Billye Chabot. It
wasn’t long before Billye
and Collections Manager
Matt Mac Vittie confirmed
they had the very same flag
in their collection, which
is part of their military
exhibit. The flag has an
unusual history.
“The battle of Winchester, Virginia was
fought on Sept. 19, 1864,
between the Army of the
Shenandoah, under General P.H. Sheridan and the
Confederate Army, under
General Jubal A. Early, and
on or about the third or
fourth day after the battle,
I was sent to Berryville,
Va., with some important
dispatches and I returned
to Winchester, by the Berryville Pike, and when
near the Lime Kiln, I rode
across to the Winchester
Pike, and in doing so, I
passed directly over the
battle field aforesaid, when
I saw this Guidon lying on
the ground, I rode over to
it, dismounted and picked
it up. It had several bullet
holes in it and two stains
of blood, and on the staff
was cut, ‘9th N.Y.H.A.’ I
saw immediately that it
would be a rare and unusual war relic and I tore it
from the staff: there was a
grave quite close to where
the flag was lying, in fact

there were several graves
and some 2 or 3 horses.
This part of the field had
been occupied by the 9th
New York Artillery” said
James B. O’Neil in his certified account of how he
acquired the flag.
O’Neil, of Philadelphia,
also said, “I tore off a portion of the flag, to place
in a cabinet of war relics,
otherwise the flag is in
the same condition when
found, with exception of
some small evidence of
moths, but the bullet holes
and blood stains are genuine and easily recognizable
to an old veteran, and I
never saw a comrade from
the 9th N.Y.H.A. since the
war until I met Comrade
R. E. Mansfield and recognized him as one of the 9th
by the medal he wore.”
O’Neil is speaking of
Rupert E. Mansfield of
Charleston, South Carolina,
whom he met at a reunion
in Philadelphia in 1899.
Rupert served as a private
in Company L, enlisting at
Syracuse, and moved south
after the war, where he
was employed as a railroad
postal clerk, having died
in 1929 at Zephyyrhills,
Florida. According to the
newspaper article, Rupert
held the flag until passing it
to Lt. S.R. Lamoreaux at an
encampment in Cleveland,
Ohio. Sullivan Lamoreaux
enlisted into Company F
from Auburn, and ended
his military service with the
rank of major and died at
Cleveland in 1919. Lamoreaux made the last and final
transfer of the battle flag
to Brig. Gen. William H.
Seward.
One can only imagine
the energy created when
this flag was brought before the surviving soldiers
at Port Byron in 1901. Flags
played a vital role as they
signified their location on
the dangerous, noisy and
chaotic battlefield. The
flags helped soldiers to
maintain formation among
other regiments as they
advanced in combat. The
following men had registered to attend the event:
OFFICERS
Colonel: William H.
Seward, Auburn; Lt. Col.
William Wood, Westbury; Quartermaster H.P.
Knowles, Palmyra; Adjutant V.A. Kenyon, Dresserville
PRIVATES
Company A: Samuel E.
Bancroft and N.V. Bigelow,
Westbury; G.W. Brinkerhoff, Red Creek; Lewis
DeMott, Seneca Falls;
David H. Dyer, Watervliet;
N.J. Fields, north Wolcott:
A.S. and A.F. Hall, Savannah; P. McWiggin, north
Wolcott; William Mitchell,
Macedon; Jonathan Neale,
Fair Haven; M.B. Nichols,
Cazenovia; Alfred S. Roe,
Worcester, Massachusetts;
Milton Shaft, Martville;
Samuel Snow, north Wol-

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Bath; Thomas Fairweather,
Cheshire, Massachusetts;
S.E. Hartenbiss, Labadie,
Missouri: Milton Jones,
Newsvine
SlideShare
Google
GoogleLansing;
Talk
Rupert E. Mansfield, Charleston, South
Carolina; Jared W. Wicks,
Syracuse; G.W. Robertson,
Yahoo
Yahoo Buzz
Netvibes
AOL
Lincoln, Nebraska; and
Robert C. Worthington,
Fowlerville, Michigan.
Microsoft
MSN
Apple
MobileMe The battle of Opequon
Creek, better known as the
Third Battle of Winchester,
is recounted by many as
App Store
Amazon
Last.fm
Mister Wong
the most important conflict of the Shenandoah
Valley, due its size, intenQik
Vimeo
Viddler
Virb sity and result. To see such
an important battle flag
Photos provided
after all those years had
A Guidon battle flag from the collection of the Seward
A 1901 red reunion badge
to fill people with mixed
Tumblr
WordPerss
House Museum in Auburn.
from former Blogger
Port Byron his-Posterous
emotion: excitement that
torian Dawn Roe’s collection. the flag found its way
cott; A.L. Sprague and
J.H. DeVoe, Harvey, Ilhome, followed by grief as
Charles Ulrich, Weedsport; linois; John Depew,
Syracuse;
Patrick
were reminded
Behance north
Design
Float
Deviant ArtCurren,Designcomrades
Bump
C.S. Van Ostrand, Newark Wolcott; Abram Egnar
Rochester; W.G. Duckett,
of the tremendous loss of
Company B: Orin Carey, and William Henry, WolWashington, D.C.; Andrew life for those who carried
Ontario Center; F.M. Elcott; Isaac Knapp, Port
Hutchins, Clyde; John
this flag and for those that
Friendster
Bebo
Squidoo
mer, west Walworth; D.P.
Byron; J.H. Marvin,
Fair
Kevand, Weedsport;
Oba-Share This
had fallen defending the
Gamble, east Palmyra;
Haven; J.S. McMaster,
diah King, Auburn; Valen- values that this flag repreFrank Holsom, FurnacevHomer; Patrick Rogers,
tine Kline and M. Moriarty, sented. The same emotions
ille; L.B. Rice, Port Huron, Seneca Falls; C.H.
Sand- Email
Clyde; Edgar C. Petty,
are stirred today when
RSS
Michigan
ford, Marion; Irvine Scott, Syracuse; John Southard,
looking at its rugged conUpdateC.B.
#1
Company C: Walter
north Wolcott;
Tracy, Cato
dition. While the New York
Blass, Spring Lake; HiWeedsport; F.M. WoodCompany L: John A.
State Military Museum in
ram Blakeman, Emerson;
ruff, Syracuse; A.L. Wood, Barber, Mottville; George
Saratoga Springs has flank
G.O. Horn, Jordan; D.J.
Clyde
Cooper, Throopsville
flags of the 9th Heavy ArGoogle Buzz
Picasa
Bing
Meetup
Crounse, Meadowdale;
Company H: R.E.
Company M: Aldice W. tillery, this is the only GuiJacob Crounse, Wolcott;
Burton, Syracuse; Carlos
Brower, Sodus Center
don flag of the 9th known
David Edminster and Frank Brown, A.J. Sloan and C.S.
Letters of regret at their to have survived the war.
Ebay H.P.
Feedburner
WordPress
(blue)wereDrupal
Jetty, Weedsport; George
Groesbeck, Clyde;
inability to be
present
Cayuga County is lucky
Kilmer, Port Byron; F.
Howard, Rose; Charles
read from Morton F. Tripp, to have such an artifact unLamphere, Waterloo; A.
McGralo, Pultney; J.J. See- of Salamanca; Wm. H.
der the stewardship of the
McKnett, Weedsport; Pe- ley, Rose; Hiram
Taylor,
O’Flynn, Madoo,
Canada; Yelp Seward House Museum.
Gowalla
ICQ
Metacafe
ter Miller, Rochester; W.
Wolcott
Charles L. Lyon, Brooklyn; We are reminded that such
Smith, Macedon; Sidney J.
Company I: Willard
Charles M. Wooley, Bridge- collaborations between
Westfall, Auburn
Anthony, Fleming; George port, Michigan; Royal R.
museums and local historiXing
Paypal
Heart
Company D: Lewis
Anthony, Throopsville;
Clemens, Manhattan,
Kan-Star ans and history enthusiasts
Barton, Grand Lodge,
Andrew Bulkley, Auburn;
sas; Sylvester M. Foster,
is a viable way to become
Michigan; E.H. Button,
J.H. Burch, Dryden, Michi- Dryden; Nathan Woodma- reconnected to the history
Syracuse; D.C. Clark,
gan: James Graham, Syra- nsee, Ann Arbor, Michiof our rich past.
Podcast
Button Blue
Button Orange
Green
Tyrone; Homer C. Dunn,
cuse; L. Merry, Fleming; C. gan: Joseph Pym, Lynden,
Lyons: George Hoeltzel,
McNamara, Auburn; EdWashington; Franklin
Dawn Roe is the former
Newark; Richard Pudney,
ward Powers and Thomas
Plank, Pipestone, Minnehistorian for the village of
Lyons; Fred Stell, Fairville; Miles, Union Springs;
sota;
Frank B.Button
Raze,
Button Red John Button
White
Light Albany;
Blue
ButtonPort
Yellow Byron and an associate
Pierce Shane, Syracuse;
J. Negus, Hartford; D.P.
Sidney T. Colvin, Lake
member of the Association
L.H. Storrs, Tyrone; James Reid, John D.
Robinson
and View, Oregon; W.H. Coon, of Public Historians of
Update
#2
K Taylor, Port Byron; John James Renahan, Auburn
San Angelo, Texas; Edwin
New York State. She can be
V. Warden, Clyde
Company K: C.R. Blake, Powers, Sioux Rapids,
reached at portbyronhisCompany E: Charles
Palmyra; Thomas Burke,
Iowa; Charles A. Morgan,
tory.com.
Ember App
IconDock
Foursquare
Cater, Weedsport; W.J. Evans, Auburn; Francis Flynn, Merrifield; John Lee,
Syracuse; John Lansdown,
Hyves
Identi.ca
Apulia; Warren Pickens,
Waterloo; T.C. Tallman.
Auburn; F.A. Tallman,
Syracuse; Frank Tallman,
Auburn; John Van Liew,
Mapleton
Company F: Henry
Alfreds, Port Byron; F.D.
Barnard and Conrad Bostler, Weedsport; H. Gifford, Fayetteville: Charles
Greenfield, Niles; George
H. Hacker and Fred Hunt,
Auburn; Charles E. Jones,
Clyde: J.J. Lane, Auburn;
G.W. Marsh, Port Byron;
Lewis Pitcher, Chicago, Illinois; David Pitcher, Coldwater, Michigan; James
A. Porter, Clifton Springs;
Edward Sincerbox, Moravia; the Rev. C.L. Shurger,
Chemung; Clarence Ware,
Port Byron; G.W. Wolcott,
Cortland
Company G: William
Blaisdell, Martville; James
Boyd, Wolcott; Jabez
Carter Jr., Fair Haven; Lt.
T.J. Chaddock, north Rose;
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COMMUNITY ACTION

After 50 years, Head
Start as helpful as ever
On May 18, 2015, Head
Start celebrated 50 years of
providing services to children and families living in
poverty in an effort to help
people become self-sufficient. In recognition of the
50-year
anniversary
of Head
Start,
all Head
Start
programs
Anne
were
asked
NAPPER
to plant
a rose
bush in a special place that
will remind everyone of
the commitment that was
made in the Rose Garden
50 years ago in 1965. Locally, this planting took
place at the Head Start
center located at 1 Brookfield Place in Auburn.

As the new early childhood program director
for Cayuga/Seneca Community Action Agency’s
Early Head Start and Head
Start/UPK programming, I was excited to be
a part of this celebration.
I started my career with
Head Start 20 years ago
as a preschool teacher
while pursuing my degree
in psychology/child life.
After graduating and going to work in the public
school system, I realized
that working in early
child education and helping families was where I
needed to be. I returned
to Head Start in 2007 as a
site supervisor in Onondaga County. I am looking
forward to my new position and embracing the
changes ahead. As the year
is winding down, there
have been some exciting
new ventures.

RENOVATIONS:
Renovations were made in
the fall 2014 to the reception and office areas of our
Auburn center. A major
part of this renovation was
the conversion of office
and storage space into a
new children’s library. We
are proud to have such a
beautifully designed, open
and bright space for families and children to visit!
They can get cozy and
share a book in the covered
reading nook or select a
puppet from the custommade tree bookshelf to use
for props in storytelling.
We anticipate the installation of a Smart Board
for children and teacher
use (summer 2015). There
is also space in this room
for an adult learning/work
station equipped with
computers and Internet
See Head Start, C6

Whether it’s craftsmanship, construction or something
completely unique, you may be surprised at how many jobs
are connected to the things you love. So bring your passion
to auburnpub.com/jobs and start searching. Who knows,
you might find the perfect opportunity to put your passion
to work. Monster. Find Better.®