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Folmar - Siegelman House

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Montgomery
Constructed in the early 1900s, the Folmar - Siegelman house stylistically combines elements of both Victorian and early bungalow design. Its high gables, wide eaves, projected bay window and secluded entry reflect the desire of most Americans at that time for a home environment with a “cozy” and “picturesque” feel.

The house has been occupied by several distinguished Montgomery families. Bibb and Mirian Folmar, parents of Montgomery Mayor Emory Folmar, resided here from 1955 until 1979 when the house was sold to then Secretary of State Don Siegelman. Don Siegelman and family continued to live in the house while he served as Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor and when elected Governor, November 3, 1998.

(Notable Buildings) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Breckenridge Landing

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Florida, Brevard County, Melbourne
Following the Civil War, Confederate Secretary of War, John C. Breckenridge, and his entourage came down the Indian River in a sailboat on their journey to Cuba where Breckenridge knew he would be safe from prosecution by the United States Government.

After leaving Titusville, his boat sprang a leak. Breckenridge saw John C. Houston’s dock, which was located about where the dock at Ramshur Tower is now located. Breckenridge stopped to ask Houston’s assistance in caulking the leak and making repairs. Houston, a Confederate sympathizer, gave his assistance. Breckenridge made his escape to Cuba.

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Hodgson Home and Drugstore

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Florida, Brevard County, Melbourne
The Hodgson Brothers (John, Alexander and Henry) settled in Eau Gallie in 1883, coming here from Canada. They operated a general store and boat ways at the south end of Houston Street and at one time ran a small steamboat line. This building was erected about 1910 by John E. M. Hodgson for his second wife, Dr. Sarah Hodgson. She had her offices and examining rooms upstairs and a drugstore downstairs. Florence Hodgson, a niece, later remodeled the building to make it her retirement home. The large drugstore window overlooking Young Street was removed as were the heavy corner doors of the drugstore.

(Notable Buildings) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Maza sa Protected His Village

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Minnesota, Lac qui Parle County, near Montevideo

Experience showed Dakota Chief Maza sa (Red Iron) that it did little good to stand in the way of the U.S. government. He had opposed the 1851 Treaty of Traverse des Sioux but, in the end, had little choice when he and other Dakota leaders signed it, selling most of their homeland.

In 1854 Maza sa led his people to a small reservation on the Minnesota River and established a village near this spot, where families planted corn and the children attended school. Here, he worked to protect them and their way of life.

When Dakota from other bands began the war in August of 1862, Maza sa did not support it. He did not want to risk the life he and his people had built in their village. On September 6, as the fighting spread, he told a gathering of Dakota leaders, "My friends, I cannot bear the thought of everything of mine being destroyed. Therefore I will stay here."

Maza sa did more than protect his village. He and other Dakota risked their own safety to protect from harm hundreds of captives taken during the war. He even turned away some of the warriors of Taoyateduta (Little Crow) when they tried to enter the village. After the fighting ended, Maza sa's people helped to hand the captives over to the U.S. military.

In the end, although Maza sa and many other Dakota had not joined the war, they all suffered its consequences. Maza sa lost his home. His family and others who had not taken part in the fighting were removed to a concentration camp at Fort Snelling, where they awaited an unknown fate. Dakota warriors who had not already left were arrested, tried and convicted. Maza sa and his brother Akipa (To Meet), assigned to accompany the prisoners to South Bend near Mankato, helped care for the condemned men.

"You commenced the outbreak and must do the fighting in your country. We do not want you here to excite our young men and get us into trouble."
Chief Maza sa (Red Iron) to warriors of Taoyateduta (Little Crow), as quoted in Samuel J. Brown's journal

"Your course was condemned at the time, but now you see your wisdom. You were right when you said the whites could not be exterminated, and the attempt indicated folly.... Today you are here at liberty, assisting in feeding and guarding us. And 39 men will die in two days because they did not follow your example and advice."
Tazoo (Old Buffalo) to Chief Maza sa at the prison camp near Mankato, quoted in "Through Dakota Eyes" (Minnesota Historical Society Press)

U.S.-Dakota War of 1862
• August 18, 1862    War begins at the Redwood (Lower Sioux) Agency, led by Taoyateduta (Little Crow).
• August 19−25    Attacks on New Ulm and Fort Ridgely; New Ulm is evacuated. Sibley is appointed to command troops and scouts.
• September 1–2    Battle of Birch Coulee.
• September 23    Battle of Wood Lake.
• September 26    Captives are released and some of the Dakota who had been fighting surrender at Camp Release.
• September 28    Military trials begin for Dakota who had fought.
• October 24    Sibley moves his camp, along with all Dakota prisoners, from Camp Release to the Redwood Agency.
• November 4    Trials end; 303 Dakota are sentenced to death.
• November 7–13    Removal of 1,658 noncombatant Dakota to Fort Snelling.
• November 9−10    Sibley moves those sentenced to South Bend near Mankato.
• December 6    Number of Dakota sentenced to be executed is reduced to 40 by authorization of President Lincoln.
• December 26    38 Dakota are executed by hanging at Mankato.
• Spring, 1863    Forced exile of most Dakota from Minnesota begins.
• 1863–    Battles between some Dakota and U.S. military forces continue for years in the West.

Scenic Byway Minnesota River Valley
mnrivervalley.com

(Native Americans • Wars, US Indian) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Korean War

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Alabama, Madison, Huntsville
The Korean War opened on 25 June 1950, when the armed forces of communist North Korea invaded South Korea and marked the first crisis faced by the newly formed United Nations. Led by the United States, a caution of eighteen UN Nations provided troops to fight the North Koreans and restore peace to the Korean Peninsula.

With victory almost assured in November 1950, Communist China forces intervened driving UN forces south. By mid 1951, the lines had stabilized around the original border along the 38th Parallel and peach negotiations had commenced but an armistice ending the war was not signed until 27 July 1953. By the time nearly 140,000 Americans had been killed or wounded.

Allen, James R. • Alverson, R.C. • Burchfield, Edward E. • Buchanan, Ernest • Campbell, Charlie Ardwell • Cowan, Don A. • Crabtree, Morgan L. • Davis, Edgar E. Jr. • Gates, Thomas V • Gunter, William Howard • Heard, Delbert E. • Johnson, Herbert C. Jr. • McGamie, Kenneth E. • Mefford, Jake Jr. • Michael, William L. • Pogue, James F. • Posey, Nolan • Reese, Leon • Root, Voorhees S. Jr. • Spivey, Bobby • Spragins, Robert E. • Wance, Ralph R.

(War, Korean) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Participants in the Battle of the Thames

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Ontario, The Municipality of Chatham-Kent, near Thamesville
Shabbona 1775-1859: A Potawatomi chief, grand nephew of Pontiac, and veteran of Tippecanoe, Shabbona was an accomplished warrior and strong supporter of Tecumseh. He persuaded many natives to join the confederacy.

Sou-veh-hoo-wah, Split Log, 1765-1825: Huron chief and veteran of the River Raisin and Fort Meigs, Split Log helped defeat Brigadier General McArthur's American force at the Grand River in October 1814.

Tecumseh 1768-1813: Leader of the First Nations confederacy.

Tenskwatawa, The Prophet, 1775-1836, Religious leader and Tecumseh's brother.

Teyoninhokarawen, John Norton: John was a Mohawk chief born in Scotland to a Cherokee father and a Scottish mother. He came to North America and worked as an interpreter for the Indian Department before being adopted by the Mohawks. He fought at Tippecanoe and served as a major in the Indian Department during the War of 1812.

Wahsikegaboe, Firm Fellow: Shawnee chief and Tecumseh's brother-in-law.

(Colonial Era • Native Americans • War of 1812) Includes location, directions, 11 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Bloody Sunday

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United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, County Londonderry, Derry-Londonderry


On 30 January 1972, a massive British military operation in Derry's Bogside ended in the murder of thirteen unarmed civil rights demonstrators and the wounding of fifteen others - one of whom died later of his injuries on 16 June 1972.

The British army labelled the victims gunmen and bombers. They claimed their soldiers had met a "fusillade of fire". No soldier or vehicle was hit.

Derry Coroner Hubert O'Neill later declared the killings "sheer unadulterated murder". The hundreds of civilian eyewitnesses agreed.

On 1 February, a public inquiry headed by Lord Chief Justice Widgery was announced by the British Government. Widgery refused to take evidence from the vast majority of civilian eye-witnesses. Soldiers testified anonymously and in disguise. It later emerged that their statements were altered to suit the British version of events.

Widgery exonerated the Army. For Free Derry, Widgery confirmed that the entire British establishment stood behind the Bloody Sunday killers.

The Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign (BSJC) was founded on the 20th anniversary to demand the repudiation of Widgery; the formal acknowledgement of the innocence of the victims; and the prosecution of those responsible. The relentless family-led BSJC forced the establishment, in 1998, of the new inquiry chaired by Lord Saville.

The Bloody Sunday Inquiry published its report on 15 June 2010. Its main conclusion, that all of the dead and wounded were innocent, was greeted with soaring relief and uproarious applause from the thousands gathered in Guildhall Square.

A statement on behalf of the Families declared: "The victims have been vindicated. The Parachute Regiment has been disgraced. The truth has been brought home at last. Widgery's great lie has been laid bare."

Some in Derry were dismayed that all blame was ascribed to one officer, Derek Wilford, and a number of rank-and-file soldiers. The Tribunal had followed long tradition in averting its eyes from the possible role of the military and political elite. It was also beyond belief that the report did not clearly find that the nail bombs found on the body of Gerald Donaghey were put there after his death by a member of the security forces.

But nothing can diminish the sense of joy that has lifted a darkness from Derry, nor dull the golden success of the Families over seemingly impossible odds.

Bloody Sunday wounded Derry deeply. We may hope that our city has now begun to bind up those wounds.

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Domhnach na fola 30ú Eanáir 1972
Ar an 30ú Eanáir 1972, ag deireadh mór-oibríochta míleata Arm na Breataine, dúnmháraíodh 13 léirsitheoir neamharmtha cart sibhialta agus gortaíodh 15 eile - a bhiuair duine acu sin bás de bharr a ghortaithe ar an 16ú Meitheamh 1972.

Lipéadaigh Arm na Breataine na híobartaigh gunnadóirí agus buamadóirí. D'éiligh said gur caitheadh "ruathar piléar" ar a gcuid saighdiúirí. Níor bualadh aon saighdiúir nó aon fheithicil.

D'fhógair Cróinéir Dhoire Hubert O'Neill níba dhéanaí gur "dúnmhárú glan íon" a bhí sna máraithe. D'aontaigh na céadta finnéithe sibhialtacha súl.

Ar an lú feabhra, fógraíodh fiosrúchán poiblí agus an Tiarna Príomh - Bhreitheamh Widgery ina bhun ag Rialtas na Breataine. Dhiúltaigh Widgery fianaise a ghlacadh ó mhórchuid na bhfinnéithe sibhialtacha súl. D'fhianaigh saighdiúiri go diaimn agus faoi bhréagaíocht. Nochtaíodh níba dhéanaí gur athraíodh a ráitis chun cloí le leagan na Breataine den scéal.

Shaor Widgery an tArm. Do Dhoire Saor, dheimhnigh Widgery go raibh Bunaíocht iomlán Shasana ag seasamh go daingean taobh thiar de mharfóirí Dhomhnach na fola.

Bunaíodh Feachtas Cheartas Dhomhnach na Fola (FCDF) i 1992 chun a éileamh go mbeadh séanadh Widgery; admháil fhoirmeálta ar neamhchiontacht na n-íobartach agus ionchúiseamh díobh siúd a bhí freagrach. Mar gheall ar fheachtas gan staonadh na dteaghlach, bhrúigh FCDF bunú fhiosrúcháin nua i 1998 agus an Tiarna Saville mar chathaoirleach air.

D’fhoilsigh Fiosrúchán Dhomhnach na Fola a thuarascáil ar an 15ú Meitheamh 2010. Thug na mílte bailithe i gCearnóg na Cathrach gáir mholta chroíléiseach don phríombchonclúid go raibh na marbh agus gortaithe neamhchiontach.

D’fhógair ráiteas thar cheann na dTeaghlach “Saoradh na híobartaigh. Tá an Reisimint Pharaisiúit náirithe. Tugadh an fhírinne abhaile faoi dheireadh. Tá mórbhréag Widgery lomnocht.”

Bhí díomá ar chuid daoine i nDoire gur taisealbhadh an milleán ar fad d’oifigeach amháin, Derek Wilford agus do chuid gnáthshaighdiúirí. Chloígh an Binse le traidisiún fada a shúile a iompú ó ról féidearthach an phlúir mhíleata agus pholaitiúil. Bhí sé thar chreideamh fosta nach bhfuair an tuarascáil go soiléir gur cuireadh na buamaí tairne a fuarthas ar chorp Gerald Donaghey air i ndiaidh a bháis ag ball de na forsaí slándála.

Ach ní fhéadfadh aon rud an mothú lúcháire a thóg dorchadas 6 Dhoire a laghdú ná éirí órga na dTeaghlach in aghaidh chorrlach a raibh cuma dosháraithe orthu a mhaolú.

Ghoinigh Domhnach na Fola Doire go smior. Beidh dóchas againn go bhfuil ár gcathair ag tosnú anois breid a chur ar na cneácha seo.

Bloody Sunday Monument

This monument was unveiled by
Mrs. B. Bond of Derry C.R.A.
on the 26th January 1974
to the memory of

Patrick J. Doherty .. aged 31 years
Gerald V. Donaghey .. aged 17 years
John F. Duddy .. aged 17 years
Hugh P. Gilmour .. aged 17 years
Michael G. Kelly .. aged 17 years
Michael M. Mc Daid .. aged 20 years
Kevin G. Mc Elhinney .. aged 17 years
Bernard Mc Guigan .. aged 41 years
James G. Mc Kinney .. aged 34 years
William A. Mc Kinney .. aged 27 years
William N. Nash .. aged 19 years
James J. Wray .. aged 22 years
John P. Young .. aged 17 years
And to John Johnston .. aged 59 years
who died later as a result of injuries received that day

who were murdered by British Paratroopers on
Bloody Sunday 30th January 1972

Their epitaph is in the continuing
struggle for democracy

(Civil Rights • Disasters • Patriots & Patriotism) Includes location, directions, 7 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Civil Rights

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United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, County Londonderry, Derry-Londonderry


This mural captures the mood of a typical civil rights march in the years up to 1972. Inspired by the civil disobedience campaign of Martin Luther King in the United States, young and old, Catholics and Protestants, politicians and mothers took to the streets to march for their democratic rights.

Our intention was to describe it as it was, a happy, almost festive occasion conducted by people who were content that they were standing up, at long last, against prolonged injustice.

(Civil Rights • Man-Made Features • Patriots & Patriotism • Politics) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Bloody Sunday

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United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, County Londonderry, Derry-Londonderry


On 30 January 1972 the ‘elite’ British Parachute Regiment opened fire on a peaceful civil rights march along this street, killing 14 unarmed marchers and wounding 14 more. The dead and wounded were labelled gunmen and bombers by a partisan British judicial inquiry, and it was to be another 38 years before a second public inquiry forced the British government to admit what everyone else already knew, that all those killed and injured were innocent, and the shootings were “unjustified and unjustifiable.”

Domhnach Na Fola
Ar an 30 Eanáir 1972, thosaigh scothReisiment Pharaisiúit na Breataine ag lámhach ar mhórshiúl síochánta na gceart sibhialta feadh na sráide seo, ag márú 14 mhórshiúlóir neamharmtha agus ag gortú 14 eile. Lipéadaíodh na marbh agus na gortaithe gunnadóirí agus buamadóirí ag fiosrúchán breithiúnach páirtíneach Breataineach, agus chuaigh 38 bliain thart sular chuir dara fiosrúchán poiblí iallach ar Rialtas Shasana admháil cad a bhí ar eolas ag gach duine eile go raibh cách a máraíodh agus a gortaíodh neamhchiontach agus go raibh na lámhaigh “éagórach agus dochosanta.”

Photos: (from top to bottom)
British soldiers chase protestors towards Rossville flats (Colman Doyle); a strip of images of the Paratroopers involved on Bloody Sunday taken just after the shootings; a soldier continues the chase after hitting a protestor in the head with the butt of his rifle (Colman Doyle); Fr Daly leads a group of men carrying the dying Jackie Duddy (Fulvio Grimaldi) and below, thirteen coffins in St Mary’s Church, Creggan.

(Civil Rights • Disasters • Patriots & Patriotism) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Hunger Strike

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United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, County Londonderry, Derry-Londonderry


This mural depicts one of the surviving hunger strikers as he looked after 53 days without food. He was one of seven men who went on hunger strike at the Maze prison in Belfast from 28th October, 1980 in protest against loss of their rights as political prisoners. His image was beamed around the world on television. He is joined by one of the women from Armagh jail who went on strike in sympathy. Both are wrapped in blankets marking their refusal to wear prison uniform.

Ours is a commemorative art. Raymond McCartney’s photograph smuggled out of ‘the Maze’ seemed to tell the whole story of the grief and suffering of the inmates.

This Mural Is Dedicated To
The H Block Armagh Prison Struggle
And In Memory Of

Bobby Sands • Frank Hughes • Raymond McCreesh • Patsy O’Hara • Martin Hurson
Kevin Lynch • Kieran Doherty • Tom McElwee • Michael Devine • Joe McDonnell

Ni neart go cur le chéile

(Civil Rights • Disasters • Man-Made Features • Patriots & Patriotism) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Barbary Coast Wars

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Alabama, Madison County, Huntsville
I am Sergeant Michael Dunn of the 1st Marine Battalion. I fought in the First Barbary War, also known as the Tripolitan War, because we battled pirates off the coast of Tripoli. The Mediterranean coast of North Africa had been a hotbed of piracy for a long time. Our country and many others had to pay bribes to the rulers of the Barbary States of Morocco, Algiers, Tripoli and Tunisia to keep pirates from attacking our ships and ransoming captured sailors. We sent Navy ships in 1801-1804 to fight them and had a few victories, but in 1803 in the Tripoli harbor the Philadelphia was grounded, captured, and used as a gun station against us. The night of February 16, 1804, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a small contingent of Marines including me in a captured ketch and boarded the ship, overpowered the pirates, and set fire to her, denying her use to the enemy. The British Admiral Horatio Nelson called this “the most bold and daring act for the age.” On July 14, 1804, we fought a series of battles. Lieutenant Richard Somers sailed a fire ship packed with explosives to destroy the harbor and the enemy fleet. Unluckily, it blew up too soon killing Somers and his crew. President Thomas Jefferson finally had enough and declared, "MILLIONS FOR DEFENSE BUT NOT ONE CENT FOR TRIBUTE!” so in 1805, we went back to the Barbary Coast “sinking, burning or destroying their ships & vessels wherever we find them.” We blockaded Tripoli harbor and General William Eaton and Marine First Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon marched me, seven other Marines, and 500 Greek and Berber mercenaries across the desert from Alexandria, Egypt successfully capturing the port of Derna. This was the first time that the United States flag was raised in victory of foreign soil. Broken by the blockade and raids the Dey, the King of this area, signed a peace agreement on June 10, 1805.Our actions proved that the U.S. could fight and win far from home. Now you know why our Marine Corps Hymn has this words- “to the shores of Tripoli.”

1801 - 1805, 1815
I am Gunner’s Mate Jack Jolitar assigned to the USS Guerriere, a 44-gun frigate. That’s a good size ship, folks! My job is to man gun #32 as a loader. After the First Barbary War, we got into a big fracas with Great Britain again called the War of 1812.While our attention was on the British, the Barbary pirates went back to their old ways of attacking Americans, as well as Europeans ships, in the Mediterranean Sea and holding their crews and officers for ransom. On May 20, 1815, Captain Stephen Decatur set sail for the Barbary Coast again, with a squadron of 10 ships including the Guerriere as his flagship. This was the start of the Second Barbary War. We met up with and fought the Algerian flagship Meshuda off Cape Gata. I declare that below decks it was the hottest and sweatiest work I ever expect to do this side of Hades, but it paid off and we captured her! Not long afterward off Cape Palos, we also captured the Algerian brig Estedio. By the final week of June, the squadron had reached Algiers and had the Dey by the scruff of the neck. When Captain Decatur demanded compensation and threatened destruction of the city, the Dey gave in. A peace treaty was signed on Guerriere in the Bay of Algiers on 3 July 1815. Decatur agreed to return the Meshuda and Estedio while the Algerians returned all 10 American hostages, and a large group of European captives were exchanged for about 500 Algerians we had captured. We also made him cough up $10,000 in payment for seized shipping. The treaty guaranteed no further tributes and granted the United States full shipping rights. Although the Europeans had trouble later on by Heaven, the pirates never messed with the U.S. again!

(Patriots & Patriotism • War of 1812) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

War of 1812

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Alabama, Madison County, Huntsville
I am Private Darbin Abolt of the 7th US Infantry Regiment, part of which is commanded by Captain Zachary Taylor, our future president. I was already in the Army when he declared war on the British in June 1812. We were fed up with the British interfering with our trade with France, whom they were already at war with, attacking and boarding our ships and impressing our sailors into their Navy, and supporting the Indians against our settlements. It was insulting to our national honor and we were ready for another war with the British. In my first action I fought the Shawnees. The Chief was Tecumseh who sided with Britain because settlers were moving into his ancestral land. We were outnumbered, but under Captain Taylor we held the fort and claimed victory. The US Army gained control over Lake Erie in 1813 and seized parts of western Ontario. Both campaigns ended the Indian confederacy and an independent Indian state in the Midwest under British sponsorship. In the Southeast, in 1814, General Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek nation at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend ending its bid for independence. However, the British, having defeated Napoleon, now had enough men to send three large invasion armies to New York, Baltimore, and the Gulf coast. They captured and burned Washington in September 1814 but later failed to take Fort McHenry guarding Baltimore. A man named Francis Scott Key witnessed the bombardment of the fort and wrote a right catchy poem about it which we sing using an old British drinking song. It’s called “The Star-Spangled Banner” and became our national anthem. By January 1815, all three invasions were defeated. The 7th Infantry was in New Orleans when the Redcoats marched forward. We held our positions and killed many of them in vicious fighting. It was the greatest defeat they had ever suffered. This victory ended the fighting but a peace treaty had been signed in Belgium six weeks before. After this battle, the 7th was proudly called “Cottonbalers” and still is to this day.

1812 - 1815
I am Private Louis Drolet, New Orleans Militia, 1st FMOC (Free Men of Color) Battalion. I’m proud of Louisiana because it was the first state in the Union to commission a military officer of African descent and in 1812 was the first to authorize our black volunteer militia with black line officers. The First and Second Battalions of Free Men of Color have over 600 men. We fought with General Jackson against the British in New Orleans in December 1814 and January 1815. I wore civilian cloths, but I was issued and trained with a smooth-bore, flintlock musket like the Regular Army. I could load and fire three times a minute but the musket being unrifled could only hit a man at under 100 paces. The Tennessee and Kentucky militia had mostly hunting rifles and could hit a man at 200 paces or more. As a result, the British were usually out of my range and I was angry that I could not fire more effectively! However, the rifle takes a bit longer to load and does not have a bayonet. So when the British charged, I could repel them with my faster firing musket and bayonet! During the morning, the British attacked along three routes and the action was hot and heavy. We held our part of the line, but the British got through near the river. They were pushed back in some vicious bayonet and hand-to-hand fighting by the Marines and the 7th and 44th US Infantry Regiments. The British retreated from the scene of the battle and later boarded ships and left. We surveyed an awful scene of slaughter on the fields beyond our ramparts. The whole plain and the side of the river from the edge of the water were covered with fallen British soldiers. When the butcher’s bill was tallied we had 71 casualties and the redcoats had over 2,400! We had won a great victory, securing the Gulf Coast and New Orleans for America, and awakening a strong sense of nationalism in our country. General Jackson praised an adjacent battalion of French-uniform clad men of color with the following – “The battalion of city militia realized my anticipations and behaved like veterans.” However, the U.S. government still did not allow the general arming of men of color until almost 50 years later.

(African Americans • Patriots & Patriotism • War of 1812) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Civil War

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Alabama, Madison County, Huntsville
I am Private Patrick O’Hara of the 20th Main Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Before the war I was a fisherman working on a boat out of Bar Harbor, Maine. I didn’t volunteer for the Army until well into the second year of the war because it was way down south and frankly I figured if they didn’t want to be in the Union, let’em go. However, my friends convinced me it would be the adventure of a lifetime. I trained with what would become Company C of the 20th Maine when it was mustered into Federal service on August 29, 1862. I saw the elephant, (my first battle) in September at Antietam Creek, Maryland. Actually I only “heard” the elephant since the regiment was held in reserve. Much worse was the battle of Fredericksburg in December when our foiled attack on the Rebel lines forced us to remain overnight in freezing cold. I saw Lieutenant Colonel, Joshua Chamberlain; shield himself with a dead man so I did too. Next April and May we were unable to participate in the Chancellorsville Battle because of a quarantine prompted by a tainted small pox vaccine that had been issued to us. It was beginning to look like we were not going to see much action! All this changed near the little town of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. The battle started on July 1, 1863 when Lee’s Confederates, moving on Harrisburg, encountered some Union Cavalry west of town. Lee’s leading Division pushed then and infantry reinforcements back through the town into a line from Cemetery Hill at the north end to a hill known as Little Round Top to the south. We were assigned to hold Little Round Top on the extreme left flank of the Union battle line at all costs. We were soon attacked by the Confederate 15th and 47th Alabama Regiments. We continuously fought for hours. Seeing rebel infantry forming again for yet another push at us and knowing we didn’t have enough ammunition left to stop them, newly promoted Colonel Chamberlain ordered a charge! He later said, “One word was enough, “Bayonet!” Whooping and hollering we charged downhill with fixed bayonets, surprising the Confederates and capturing hundreds. If the 20th had not held, we could have lost the battle; and the Confederates could have marched on to Washington D.C. and won the war. For their actions, Colonel Chamberlain and the Color Sergeant Andrew Tozier were awarded the Union’s highest award for bravery, the Medal of Honor. Although we continued to fight bloody battles for almost two more years, this was the greatest. My regiment’s victory has been credited with helping to turn the tide and reunite our country.

(captions)
Representative Shoulder fired Weapons 1861 Springfield Rifle
1855 Springfield Rifle
1853 Enfield Rifle
1850 Colt Revolving Rifle
1860 Henry Rifle
1841 Mississippi Rifle
1862 Richmond Carbine
1860 Spencer Carbine
1859 Sharp’s Carbine
Field Rations: Salt Pork, Hardtack, Sugar, Salt, Vinegar, Coffee, and Tobacco
Chamberlain Charges Down Little Round Top

1861-1865
I am Private Hiram Ledbetter of the 19th Alabama Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Company I, the Cherokee Rangers. My regiment fought in the western theater (west of the Appalachian Mountains). I was trained in the Huntsville, Alabama Camp of Instruction in the late summer of 1861 by colonel Joseph Wheeler. I must admit that being a volunteer I thought patriotism was all I needed to be a soldier. Whew, I was dead wrong! Luckily, Colonel Wheeler was a West Pointer and really knew his stuff. Although I didn’t know it at the time, his precision and discipline kept us alive many times later on in the war. After we were declared fit to be called soldiers, we were sent to Dog Creek just below Mobile. It was a pretty sorry place but the worst thing was that we didn’t even get muskets ‘till February of 1862, which made the boys somewhat ornery. We received English muskets called Enfield’s, model 1853. These were rifle-muskets which were fired using the percussion system. They used small brass cops that were placed over a cone with a hole leading down inside the barrel. When the trigger was pulled the hammer slammed down on the cap sending a tiny bit of fire into the barrel touching off the powder and shooting the bullet. We used conical bullets called Minie balls which with the rifling made the musket much more accurate and waterproof than the old smooth-bore flintlocks. I fought in many battles over the next three and a half years: Shiloh, Munfordville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Tunnel Hill, Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, Jonesboro, Nashville, and finally Bentonville where we surrendered. I don’t know which was the most hellish, but I reckon they all were. The worst things were the death and crippling of my friends and neighbors and the desolation of the countryside. I can remember thinking early on that I was fighting for my state and country but after all this time I don’t rightly know any more. I do know that hell hold no terrors and misery that I and my brothers-in-arms on both sides have been through. The war will always be with me until the day I die.

(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Tried and Sentenced

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Minnesota, Lac qui Parle County, near Montevideo

Just two days after the captives were turned over, the brief military trials of the Dakota who had taken part in the fighting began here at Camp Release on September 28, 1862. The trials moved to the Redwood (Lower Sioux) Agency on October 24 and were completed there on November 4.

In little more than a month, 392 Dakota men and one Dakota woman were brought before a five-man commission appointed by commander Henry Sibley from among officers who had fought against them. Of the 392 Dakota men tried, the commission sentenced 303 to be executed.

The prisoners had been tried for a variety of offenses against soldiers and civilians. And they were judged harshly for what, today, many would consider just causes for warfare — fighting to regain their land, protecting their way of life, providing for their families.

Each trial opened with the reading of charges based on interviews with the freed captives by Reverend Stephen R. Riggs. For prisoners who pleaded not guilty, witnesses were called to testify under oath. The trials moved quickly; as many as 42 were held in a single day, some lasting only five minutes.

In the end, the commission sentenced 303 men to be executed; 20 others were sentenced to prison and the rest acquitted. But by federal law, no death sentences could be carried out until authorized by the president of the United States. After reviewing the cases, President Abraham Lincoln concluded that a line should be drawn between those found guilty of “violating women” and “participating in massacres” and those who had only participated in battles. Of the 40 men who fit the former categories, two were granted clemency and 38 were sentenced to die. All the others were sent to prison.

At 10 a.m. on December 26, 1862, the 38 condemned men were led to a scaffold in Mankato and hanged. It was the largest mass execution in U.S. history.

Reverend Stephen R. Riggs, who had long worked among the Dakota as a missionary and translator, wrote about the trials in a letter to his son in November 1862:

“I told the members of the commission several times that I should be sorry to have my life placed in their hands.”

Struggles for a Home
The Minnesota River Valley has stories to tell...about the indigenous people struggling to keep their land and their way of life, and about immigrant families who began new lives here. Their stories came together, with tragic consequences for all, in what has become known as the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862 — a war that had repercussions for the whole country.

The Minnesota River Valley Scenic Byway

logos of: Scenic Byway Minnesota River Valley; City of Montevideo; Minnesota Historical & Cultural Grants; Clean Water Land & Legacy Amendment

mnrivervalley.com
This project has been made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008. Administered by the Minnesota Historical Society.

(Native Americans • Wars, US Indian) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Tankersley Rosenwald School

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Alabama, Montgomery County, near Hope Hull
This building was one of fourteen schools constructed in Montgomery County with funding assistance from the Julius Rosenwald Fund. Between 1912-32, Julius Rosenwald, a Jewish philanthropist and CEO of Sears, Roebuck and Company teamed up with Booker T. Washington and Tuskegee Institute to provide matching grants for the construction of school buildings for African Americans in mostly rural areas of the South. This collaborative effort produced more than 5,000 of these buildings in 15 southern states, 389 of which were constructed in Alabama.

This building was placed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 2001.

First Trustees
Frank Supples • Luke Anderson
John Sankey • Edd Dean
Simon Johnson • Arthur Brown
John Oscar Poole
First Principal
Jacob W. Williams

(African Americans • Charity & Public Work • Education) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Seminole Wars / Mexican War

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Alabama, Madison County, Huntsville

Seminole Wars
1814-1858


I am Private Pet Younger of the 4th US Infantry Regiment. I joined the Regular Army in November 1835 at age 15. I was specially trained as part of the light infantry company whose main jobs were scouting and skirmishing. My training was mighty timely because I had stumbled right into the Second Seminole War! The Seminoles were a mixture of original Florida natives, Creeks fleeing Alabama and Georgia after the Creek War, and fugitive slaves. The conflict dates back to May 1814, when British forces landed in Western Florida, armed the Indians and built a fort. When General Jackson chased the British and their Indian allies out of Mobile and Pensacola, fugitive’s slaves took over the fort. Southern whites saw it as a dangerous inspiration for their slaves to run away. In 1817, American squatters and outlaws raided the Seminoles, killing villagers and stealing cattle and the Seminoles replied in kind. They killed a group of American sailors, which led to the First “official” Seminole War. Jackson attacked the Indians and Spanish and in 1819, Spain ceded West Florida to United States. Victory was declared and the Seminoles were allowed a reservation in central Florida. The Second War stemmed from President Jackson’s Indian Relocation Act (Trail of Tears) in 1830, requiring all Indians to move west of the Mississippi River. The Seminoles rebelled and ambushed and massacred most of Major Francis L. Dade’s force of 108 men on 28 December 1835. My regiment immediately went to Florida to begin a miserable, hellish, swampy trek lasting seven years. Regimental line of battle formations completely failed in the swamps. But by 1841, the Army started using light infantry skirmish drill. This succeeded and in 1842, the last 300 starving Indians surrendered. Our exhausted Army declared victory allowing the Seminoles the reservation shown in yellow on the map. However in 1855, with settlers and soldiers moving onto his lands. Billy Bowlegs’ band attacked an Army camp killing four men, which started the Third Seminole War. The Florida Militia was called up but proved worst than useless. In 1856 and 1857, Regulars took over and successfully attacked swamp camps using boat companies. On May 8, 1858 the war was over and the remaining 100 Seminoles in the southern Florida swamps stayed quite permanently. Thus ended a long, costly, brutal, unpopular period of American history.

Mexican War
1846-1848

I am Corporal Lemuel Ruffin the First Marine Battalion. We fought in the war with Mexico. This war was the result of Texas joining the United States. When the Texians (you now call then Texans) won their independence in 1836, Mexico regarded it as a state in rebellion but still a MEXICAN state. So when it was accepted as the 28th state of the United States on December 19, 1845, the Mexicans got down right peeved. They insisted that the border was not the Rio Grande but the Nueces River 150 miles to the north. So they sent troops across the Rio Grande to reclaim the disputed territory. Now President Polk had been trying to buy a big chunk of Mexico to fulfill the idea of Manifest Destiny. That was the notion that our nation was destined to extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific. With Mexican troops on American soil, the US declared war in 1846 and quickly occupied New Mexico and California and blockaded the Pacific coast. General Zachary Taylor and 2,300 soldiers charged into northern Mexico, guns ablazing. Our better weapons and new tactic of using mounted artillerymen, “flying artillery”, helped us overcome the larger Mexican Army and seize northern Mexico. In March 1847, the Marines landed with General Winfield Scott’s Army of 10,000 men near Vera Cruz on Mexico’s east coast without the loss of a single life. We lay siege to the city and bombarded it with field artillery and huge ship’s guns that we moved on shore to take the city. They gave up on March 29 and in April we started a march to the Capital, Mexico City. We were in a number of pitched battles along the way but even thought outnumbered we were better trained, armed, and supplied and always victorious. My toughest fight was storming Chapultepec Castle perched on top of a 200-foot hill south of Mexico City. Five hundred men including me and a company of marines charged forward and were hit with a hail of musketry and cannon balls from above. Through sheer determination and bravery we gained the summit, swarmed over the walls, and drove the enemy out. Scarcely pausing, we pressed on to Mexico City and by nightfall held two gates to the city. At dawn the next day, September 14, the city surrendered and we raised the American flag over the Halls of Montezuma! In February 1848 the United States and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the war. Texas was recognized as part of the United States and a huge part of Mexico was ceded to the United States, extending our boundaries west to the Pacific Ocean. We marines always gave a good account of ourselves in Mexico and added more honor to our reputation. We also added the first line of the Marine Corps Hymn, “From the Halls of Montezuma”.

(Patriots & Patriotism • War, Mexican-American • Wars, US Indian) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

The Bethel Cemetery

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Pintlala
Bethel Cemetery was constituted Feb 13, 1819 and located on Federal Rd. Bethel Church was 1 of 4 churches in the Alabama Baptist Association which was formed on Dec. 13, 1819. On July 22, 1837, the church became the object of a major split in Baptist life. In Oct., Missionary Brethren were excluded from the church and the split became final. A marker memorializing the division between the Primitive and Missionary Baptists was placed in the cemetery by the Montgomery Baptist W.M.U. on Nov. 4, 1923. Pintlala Baptist Church acquired the cemetery in 1998.

(Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Churches, Etc.) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Pintlala School

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Pintlala
Opened in 1923 to consolidate a number of one-, two-, and three-teacher institutions in southwestern Montgomery County including Hope Hull, LeGrand, Mt. Carmel, Grange Hall, Snowdoun, Bethlehem, Fleta, Sankey, and Tabernacle. W.F. Feagin served as County School Superintendent during the planning phase, succeeded by Dr. A.F. Harmon by the time the school opened.

Board of Education members in 1923 were Jesse B. Hearin (Chairman), P.M. McIntyre, Simon Gassenheimer, Dr. William Tankersley, and J.M. Hobbie. 80-acre site purchased through contributions of local citizens. Original principal Ben. S. Copeland succeeded in 1926 by Lee R. Scarborough, who served for forty years. Junior High School discontinued in 1970. Visited by President George Bush in 1991 and 1992. School placed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on April 14, 1992. Marker erected through generosity of alumni and efforts of Pintlala Historical Association.

(Education) Includes location, directions, 3 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Pintlala Grange Hall / Grange Hall School

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Alabama, Montgomery County, Pintlala

(Side 1)
Pintlala Grange Hall

The National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry was organized in 1867 to provide economic, social and cultural improvements for farmers and their families. Pintlala's Grange Hall was erected circa 1875 on land adjacent to this marker. By the 1890s the popularity of the Grange began to wane. On July 21-23, 1891 the last meeting of the Alabama Granges took place in Pintlala. The Federal Land Bank was organized as the National Farm Loan Association of Pintlala on August 17, 1917. Grange Hall was the site of their regular meetings.

(Side 2)
Grange Hall School

From circa 1880 to 1922 school was held in one room of Grange Hall for seven months a year. Pintlala School was built and opened in 1923 and the Board of Education purchased the Grange property. The building was used for home economics classes and, from 1931 to 1952, served as home for Pintlala School caretakers. Over the years it was site of community dances, a meeting place for Boy and Girl Scouts, and the Pintlala Baptist Church (1960). Vacant and deteriorating, the building was given to the Landmarks Foundation and moved in 1978 to Old Alabama Town, Montgomery, Alabama.

(Agriculture • Education • Fraternal or Sororal Organizations) Includes location, directions, 4 photos, GPS coordinates, map.

Hatley Park

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British Columbia, Colwood
This superb example of an Edwardian park was laid out for James and Laura Dunsmuir in the early 20th century. At its centre stands a Tudor Revival mansion, whose picturesque design is enhanced by a rich array of decoration and fine craftsmanship. The grounds, featuring a variety of native and exotic vegetation, unfold from formal gardens to recreational spaces, farmlands and forests. Acquired by the Canadian armed forces in 1940, Hatley Park evolved to meet the needs of Royal Roads Military College in a manner that has preserved its essential Edwardian character.

Conçu pour James et Laura Dunsmuir au début du XXe siècle, ce superbe parc est d'esprit édouardien. Un manoir néo-Tudor, rehaussé d'ornements richement exécutés, s'y dresse au centre. Des jardins classiques, des aires récréatives, des terres agricoles et des forêts l'entourent dans une profusion de plantes indigènes et exotiques. Acquis par les forces armées canadiennes en 1940, Hatley Park s'est transformé selon les besoins du Royal Roads Military College tout en conservant son caractère d'origine.

(Education • Forts, Castles) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
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