"Does this look shiny enough to you?"
" Oh shut up....."

Mail the Editor with Submissions for the Regular or if you have a good picture you'd like to see on this site.

Wanted: Used rifle for new Recruit!

Field Commander’s Report

Don Rivera,
Brigade Field Commander
(FourthUS@aol.com)

Written by the Editor

Message from El Presidente’

Craig.Mastapeter

Advice from a Veteran

Written by Patrick Henry Taylor
1st Minnesota Volunteers,
Good sound advice from a Veteran.

Continuing in our exploration of the Crimean War as the precursor to the American Civil War this is......

Balaclava:
The Charge of the Heavy Brigade; and, The Thin Red Line

On September 14, 1854, Allied troops landed in the Crimea and began a twelve-month struggle with the Russian Imperial Army. Culminating in the siege and capture of the Naval Base at Sebastopol in September 9, 1855, the Crimean War was rampant with glory and stupidity. For the British, glory came to the Heavy Brigade of Cavalry, and to the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, from this campaign on known as the Thin Red Line.
Throughout the campaign in the Crimea to this time, the British Commander-In-Chief, Lord Raglan, had held his cavalry in reserve, and had only used them as scouts, and as couriers. In fact, as a result of this inactivity, Lord Lucan was known to the troops as Lord Look-on. With this in mind, in our mind’s eye let us picture the battlefield.
Looking at an imaginary map of the region, we note that Sebastopol is to the west, with Balaclava, the port of supply for the British Expeditionary Force, to the South. The Russians are occupying the Fortress of Sebastopol and have a large force in the field to the north of Balaclava. The terrain slopes upward from Balaclava as one would expect and there are two valleys running east and west ringed by ridges. On the southern ridge known as the Causeway Heights, is the Woronzon Road running east and west, which the British have been using to bring supplies and reinforcements from Balaclava to the encircling forces around Sebastopol. On both ridges are Russian artillery, and just south of this position between the Russians and Balaclava are the 93d Argyle & Sutherland Highlanders, and a small contingent of Royal Marines, under Sir Colin Campbell. On the North ridge, known as Fedioukine Heights, are Russian infantry, artillery, and cavalry. At the extreme eastern edge of the valley are the Don Cossack Field Battery, and the main Russian cavalry. Thus, on our imaginary map we have a rectangle with Sebastopol to the left, Balaclava to the bottom, a road above Balaclava, and a valley above the port which is ringed by hills on which the Russian have guns on three sides, North, East, and South. With this picture we now await the British cavalry who will soon enter from the Western end.
Place yourselves there. It is 25 October, 1854 and the large field force on the Fedioukine Heights move forward. Soon, the 1,100 Turks manning the outposts guarding the Causeway Heights are attacked by the overwhelming Russian forces numbering five battalions of infantry with another six battalions in support. This force quickly captures the redoubts which anchor the outer defenses of the port and thus threaten Balaclava itself. All that stand between the Russians and Balaclava now are Campbell’s men. From afar, watching the fall of the redoubts, Lord Raglan sends a message to Lord Lucan urging him to support Sir Colin Campbell. In response, Lucan sends an order to the Heavy Cavalry to support the 93rd.
Slowly the Russian force comes. Opposing them, five hundred and fifty of the Highlanders and another hundred Royal Marines await their fate. They are the only British forces in position to slow the enemy as the Heavy Cavalry have not yet received the order. Meanwhile, the Russians have now reached the highest point of the Causeway Heights and are about to begin their decent to the harbor below. To the Russian cavalry the hill looks innocent enough, as both sides exhibit poor intelligence during the campaign. Outriders, that would have given the Russian commander warning, were not employed. Now suddenly, from out of the ground it would seem, the British spring up two deep of Highlanders in red coats, giving birth to the immortal thin red line, and open fire on their startled enemy.
The battle that ensues is both fierce and deadly. None of the Highlanders expect to survive the onslaught. Their sole intent is to slow the enemy until relief, from somewhere, could stop the Russians. The Russian infantry and cavalry halt, and from the thin red line comes murderous fire. Volley after well placed volley of rifled musketry crash into the Russian force. Not being able to determine the total number of British troops in front of him, and fearing a trap, with his men using smooth bore muskets and being both confused and in disorder, the Russian commander orders a withdrawal. The Thin Red Line has stopped the Russian advance on Balaclava.
And what of the Heavy Brigade? Finally receiving Lord Lucan’s order, and believing that the 93rd has probably been overrun by now, the Heavy Brigade nevertheless advances toward the Russian column. This action is the culmination of his military life for General Scarlet. For, at 55, this is his first battle. The Heavy Brigade advances in support of whatever remains of the 93d. It is at this moment that the Highlanders repulse the Russian advance. Now, Scarlet swings into action. As he advances on the Russian right flank, Scarlet sees two regiments of Russian infantry with Cossacks covering their flanks. Sensing danger, the Russian commander halts his command. Immediately, the Cossacks are ordered into battle against the 300 men of the outnumbered Heavy Brigade. For some reason unknown to this day, after advancing, the Cossack commander halts his command and seemingly waits for directions. Seeing a large body of cavalry alone and stationary, Scarlet now leads his small group consisting of the 4th Dragoon Guards, The Royals, the 5th Dragoon Guards, Scots Grey, 1st Squadron Inniskilling Guards, and the 2d Squadron Inniskilling Guards in an attack that smashes into the stationary Russian cavalry. The shear force of their charge, and the ensuing fight, seem to unnerve the Russians and within minutes they too are in hasty retreat. The unexpected nature and fury of Scarlet’s assault have caught the enemy completely off guard. The whole action, from the time that Scarlet began his charge to the enemy retreat takes only eight minutes.
After the charge, a French general declared, “The victory of the Heavy Brigade was the most glorious thing I ever saw”. The cheers of the 93d are carried on the wind, and Sir Colin Campbell says to Scarlet, “Greys, Gallant Greys, I am 61 years old, and if I were young again I should be proud to be in your ranks.” To Scarlet, Raglan sends a short message, “Well done!”
In a campaign where much went wrong for the British, these two actions represent glory and professionalism to the fullest. Next month, we shall see glory of another kind. In May’s issue, The Charge of The Light Brigade.

Submitted by Major R. Fitzhugh-D’Arlyn, Her Majesty’s 23d Foot

Bugle Call!

Jonah:
Fortunately there is no Jonah of the month this month as the only event we have had thus far is the ‘shoot’ and that is not a place for a jonah.

Songbooks:
Don’t forget the official Regulars Songbook is now available containing songs of the Civil War era and other songs of the soldier in three volumes. Contact Jim Wassel (610-258-3774) or jwass@nni.com) or Tank Nickle (301-662-2649) or jnickle@fred.net)

Company Roster:
Included in this month’s Regular is the current roster of Sykes’ Regulars and Sykes’ Civilians. Please check the information and make sure it is correct. If corrections need to be made contact: Don Rivera at, FouthUS @aol.com or Jim Wassel (See phone & email above)



The Regular Division
(Continuation of article from last month’s Regular)
In Missouri, at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, eight companies of regulars from the 1st and 2nd U.S. infantry, plus six guns from the 2nd U.S. Artillery, anchored the federal line on Bloody Hill.
During the summer and fall of 1861, “Old Army” regular infantry companies from all over the country continued the trek toward Washington to join the army being formed in the East. Simultaneously, “New Army” regiments were recruited and trained.
Out West, a brigade of “New Army” regulars consisting of battalions from the 15th, 16th, 18th and 19th Infantry, plus a battery of regular artillery, became the Fourth Brigade, First Division of the Cumberland of XIV Corps.
In the East, Scott’s vision became reality for Gen. George McClellan’s Peninsular Campaign of 1862. Consisting of two solid brigades of regulars ( a mixture of both Old and New Army regiments) and a third brigade of choice volunteers, this nucleus became the 2nd Division of the V Corps, Army of the Potomac, better known as Sykes’ Regular Infantry Division.
Sykes’ Regular Division distinguished itself in all major campaigns in the East through the Petersburg Campaign. Unfortunately, these well-trained troops were often called upon to hold perilous flank positions, held in critical reserve, or fought rear-guard actions after the day had been lost.
At Gettysburg and the Wilderness, the Regular Division incurred losses from which it never recovered. The Western Regulr Brigade participated in battles from Murfreeboro (Stones River) through the Atlanta Campaign, including the storming of Missionary Ridge. By fall 1864, there were few regular infantry regiments anywhere with the strength for combat duty.
But what if the regulars had been used differently? Let’s revisit the critical decision Scott made in 1861. Fred Albert Shannon, in his definitive work, "The Organization and Administration of the Union Army 1861-1865:" argues that it would have been possible to have appointed all the general officers and their aides and at least the colonel for each volunteer regiment from the commissioned officers in the Regular Army.
Of the more than 15,000 privates and noncommissioned officers remaining, a large majority would have proved valuable as captains, lieutenants, and sergeants; not that they were trained for this work but they were familiar with army life and discipline, knew how to take and execute orders, and could adapt themselves to the change in rank more readily than could a person who had never before worn a military uniform Mr. Shannon writes. To have supplied a cadre of officers in this way would have meant breaking up the Regular Army. Many, including McClellan, the great organizer, believed this would have been preferable. McClellan felt it would have been wise either to "break it up, as a temporary measure, and distribute its members among the staff and regiments of the volunteer organizations, thus giving the volunteers all possible benefit from the discipline and instruction of the regulars, or to fill the regular regiments to their full capacity and employ them as a reserve at critical junctures."
Finally, from the memoirs of Gen. William T. Sherman, assessing troops from Wisconsin, a state that adhered to a policy of filling existing regiments rather than raising new ones: "We estimate a Wisconsin Regiment equal to an ordinary brigade. I believe that 500 new men added to an old and experienced regiment were more valuable than a thousand men in the form of a new regiment, for the former, by association with good experienced captains, lieutenants, and non-commissioned officers, soon become veterans, whereas the latter were generally unavailable for a year."
Since the Civil War, we have learned a great deal about how to organize, train and equip or military forces. Today, all of our services have headqrts. staffs dedicated to this mission. We can only speculate on the results if Scott’s decision had been different.
The long arm of Union Artillery provides an example. One thing we must do, however, is remember the selfless dedication to duty and sacrifice of the 67,000 men who served in the Regular Army during the Civil War. There were far too few regulars left to tell their own story.

Mark C. Vlahos 2nd US Infantry Sykes’ Regulars

Get the Led Out!
From the Western Farmer and Gardener: Mobile Alabama, July 17th 1842
TO DR. M.W. PHILIPS
– About a month ago a number of negroes on the plantation of James G. Lyon, near Mobile were seized with violent pains and cramp in the stomach, fainting fits, irritability of stomach, obstinate constipation, some with convulsions and palsy of the limbs, little or no fever, $c; in short all the symptoms which belong to what has been called Lead, or Painter’s Colic. In a short time nearly every negro on the place was seized with similar symptoms, and it became evident that there must be some extraordinary cause at work. On investigation, the corn meal which they had been eating, was found to contain lead which had been ground up with it, -- half a pint of lead was picked out of a bushel and a half of meal.
On going to the mill and examining the stones, it was found that the miller had, for the purpose of balancing and fixing it, poured several pounds of melted lead into the eye of the runner stone, and this had worked loose, got between the stones and was ground up with the meal! The whole mystery was solved at once.
Now sir, I am informed that it is a very common thing for millers to use lead in this way, and I have no doubt that very many persons have been poisoned without ever being able to account for it, and the symptoms have been looked upon and treated as bilious colic, or some other disease.
I have just met with a similar fact, recorded in one of my foreign journals— a whole family had symptoms like those I have enumerated above, and on analysis, the flour they had been eating was found to contain lead. Mr. Lyon has already lost four valuable hands, and a considerable number of others are almost entirely helpless from palsy in their limbs, some of whom will either die or remain useless for life.
When I say to you that every man, woman, and child is in daily danger of being poisoned by such ignorance or negligence, I have, I hope said enough to impress upon your reader the importance of inquiring closely into this matter.

Yours, &c,
J. C. NOTT, M.D.
Submitted by Lori Amodeo Syke’s Civilians

Another Book Review
As readers of prodigious amounts of historical works, many of us are used to wading through volumes of dry factual accounts of the Civil War. But occasionally one runs across a book that is written with an expression of humanity that provides great insights into the generation that fought that war. One such book is Richard Moe’s ‘The Last Full Measure’, The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers’.
Moe writes this affecting narrative through the eyes of a handful of men who served the first Minnesota from their mustering in as the ‘first volunteer unit’ to their near extinction in a climatic charge to save the Union line on July 2nd at Gettysburg. All accounts are taken directly from diaries and letters written by members of this stalwart regiment.
We follow the regiment through its baptism of fire at First Bull Run where their ‘coolness’ under fire was worthy of the Regular Division and on through each battle with a first hand accounts from diaries of primarily two brothers, Issac and Henry Taylor. Through these brothers eyes we are permitted to view the motivation and the perseverance of the American citizen soldier. We see the trial and frustration of chronic failure of your army to gain victories due to nothing more than poor leadership. The loss of life by disease and the bloody reality of battle in the birth of modern warfare.
We learn of the politics involved in forming the upper echelons of command in volunteer regiments. It should also be noted that the first Minnesota had as its first three colonels, officers of the Regular Army. Including Alfred Sully who was a commander of the 2nd US Infantry.
Accounts of Issac and Henry Taylor’s incarceration as prisoners of war in Virginia are compelling as we wait with them for their exchange. We watch with them as other units march to there annihilation on the slope to Maryre’s Heights. And after marching for thirty miles or more we find that we are the only unit standing between victory or defeat as General Hancock orders the regiment into the breech where General Wilcox’s division is storming Cemetery Ridge. This gallant charge numbers among the top bravest actions by a regiment in history. Richard Moe writes to make our hearts pump as we stand with the brave men of First Minnesota as they define what it is to give the ‘last full measure’.
This book is definitely one that should be in everyone’s library. As I read this book I took a renewed sense of pride in what makes up the fabric of the American character because when the ultimate sacrifice is called for, the American soldier is prepared to make it.

Written by the Editor

A Review
Sharpe's Rifles
If you are fortunate enough to have the History channel on your cable network you recently had the opportunity to watch a marvelous series of films based on the adventures of a fictional British officer during the Napoleonic era by the name of Richard Sharpe.
This television series, based on the series of novels by author Bernard Cornwell is a British production and is worthy just for the attention paid to historical accuracy. But there was so much more.
Having heard of the series from many comrades I was very glad to take the opportunity to watch this uncommon character of Richard Sharpe as he is raised through the ranks for acts of courage and daring. Starting as a Sergeant, he ends the series at the rank of Major. This meteoric rise in rank being unusual was also based on fact and makes for a compelling foundation for the series.
The scene is set in 1813 as Lord Wellington of Waterloo fame begins his career on the Peninsula allying with the Spanish resistance to force Napoleon’s army from Spain.
In addition to the exciting adventure involved in the plots of each episode, an exploration of the class system gives depth to the characters interaction. The British army of the time was separated by a wide gap in that the common soldier was of the lowest classes while the officers were of the privileged class. The officers paid for their ranks and working your way up from the ranks was an impossibility, unless you were raised by a superior officer. (This system is carried onto the Crimean War, See article by D.Rivera) Which is precisely what occurs for Richard Sharpe, by no less an officer than Wellington himself. The men raised from the ranks find themselves in no man’s land as they are not ‘gentlemen’ of the officer’s class and they are no longer ‘one of the men’. Much of the series is watching as the combative Sharpe does his duty and rises above the manipulations of the foppish officers and of the enemy while earning the respect of the men in his command. It is truly a great story of the soldier.
Many of the episodes are based on circumstances easily identified with by any fan of military lore. Matters of duty and honor and chivalry. The importance of the colors. Loyalty to country and king and to your comrades. And of course the glory of battle. We also see the other side where rape, pillage, desertion and treason create clear lines between the heroes and the villains. Once more, the storylines use actual engagements of the French and British armies and provide marvelous examples of the manipulations of spies and the accompanying intrigue. Several strong and beautiful women crop up in the stories to add dimension and of course romance. What’s interesting is that they were also kept in the confines of historical accuracy. There were no doubt female spies and women did accompany the armies of both Britain and France as the soldiers were allowed to have their families with them.
This series is excellent on it’s own virtue but it is also an excellent study for the Napoleonic wars which was the type of warfare our own Civil War was initially based on. With the advent of technology, this type of warfare was forced to change. But the fundamental strategies and tactics that Napoleon was most brilliant for, still remain.
The author created a grand hero in Richard Sharpe and in so doing provides a reflection of the better aspects of our own nature. I often think of the heroes of war and how it is that they become heroes. It often comes down to a set of circumstances, timing and a reaction. Circumstance and timing are up to fate but your reaction is the only thing that you have any control over. And that reaction is determined by who you are. I’m glad to know that when our country was at a pivotal point in history we had men (and women) there that were made of the stuff of heroes.

Written by the Editor

Book Review
by Frank ‘Books’ Hall

The Gettysburg Campaign
A Study in Command
Edwin B. Coddington

Continuation from last month's article: WHY ALL THOSE KNAPSACK STUFFERS?

Written by 1st Sgt. S. Hanson,
2nd US Inf.
Sykes' Regulars