California Civil War Relics

Once upon a time, I had a fairly good collection of California-related Civil War relics. I had CDVs and tintypes of different soldiers from different units, but much of it was resold a few years ago to help finance the purchase of my stepdaughter's first car. I held onto two uniform buttons, two ink bottles salvaged from a trash dump at Benicia Arsenal and a 6-pound solid shot that was part of a display pyramid on the parade ground near the flagpole at Fort Tejon. It serves as the doorstop to my office, which is why it isn't included in this photo.

Capt. Heman Noble, 2nd California Cavalry

Capt. Heman (sometimes rendered as Herman) Noble was born in New York in 1830. He began his service in Company A and was promoted to captain from first lieutenant of that unit. He then served as captain of Company E, where he served for the remainder of his time in the military. During the war, Capt. Noble's troops were active in patrolling the Owens Valley, working from a post in Aurora, Nevada. He and his men were successful in recovering a mortally injured man, Pvt. Gillespie, during a fight with the Paiutes. He settled in Kern County in 1866 and died in Los Angeles in 1884. Photo from the United States Military History Institute.

Gen. Patrick E. Connor: Father of Utah Mining

Patrick Edward Connor (Library of Congress P rints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA)

Gen. Patrick Edward Connor was born, fittingly enough, on St. Patrick's Day 1820 in Ireland. He immigrated to America at age 12 and enlisted in the military at age 18. He served a five-year hitch with the 1st Dragoons in Iowa Territory, then returned to New York to become a merchant. Shortly after, he moved to Texas and served as captain of a Texas volunteer regiment. Connor was wounded at the Battle of Buena Vista.

After the Mexican War, Connor moved to California where he helped capture the bandit Joaquin Murieta. He later worked in construction and road-building and became known as a leading citizen of Stockton.

At the start of the Civil War, Connor volunteered his services to the Union Army and was made colonel of the 3rd California Infantry. This unit was charged with guarding the Overland Mail route. In October 1862, Connor and his command moved to Salt Lake City, where they established Fort Douglas. In January 1863, Connor led his men in the Battle of Bear River. He received his brigadier's star following the battle, and was named commander of the District of the Plains in 1865.

One of Connor's less-successful campaigns was the Powder River Expedition, in which he and his men pursued Lakota, Arapaho and Cheyenne in Wyoming Territory. He was discharged from the Army in 1866 as a brevet major general.

After his military career, Connor turned his attention to mining in Utah and Nevada. He enjoyed initial success, but lost his more valuable properties over time and died in 1891 a fairly poor man

A Tribute to My Favorite Old Soldier

This 1902 photograph from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (Washington, D.C. 20540 USA) shows Civil War veterans participating in a parade in Trenton, New Jersey. I believe visits to my father's school by veterans from this war had an influence on his choosing the military as his career.

Permit me, if you will, this brief diversion from usual topics of discussion to pay homage to the man who started my interest in Civil War history, my father, August J. Rach, Jr., LTC USAR (Ret.)

Tuesday would be my father's 98th birthday, and he had vivid recollections of Civil War veterans coming to Girard School in Trenton, New Jersey, to participate in Decoration Day observances. Perhaps something in their speeches inspired him or the simple, straightforward military look of them subconsciously influenced his choice of the military as a career.

Before joining the military, my father worked as a grocery clerk, a shoe salesman and as a clerk for the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles. He also drove New Jersey Governor Harold Hoffman for a few years, which was the job he talked about most often after his military service.

World War II was the defining moment in my father's professional life. Despite strong (STRONG) objections from my mother and his, he joined the Army in 1942. Twenty-two years and numerous duty stations later, he retired because he could not envision continuing his career, which may have included a tour of duty in Viet Nam, with his infant daughter (me) and his ever-patient wife at home.

Among my father's favorite assignments was his tour as the head of the disciplinary barracks at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. The location offered easy access to Washington, DC, and Arlington National Cemetery.  Dad would eagerly join his fellow officers for tours of Civil War battlefields led by a man who had studied the campaigns in enough depth to be able to set the scene down to day-of-battle weather conditions for those fortunate enough to have him guide them.

Dad would also organize the neighborhood kids into walking tours of Arlington that my sister still remembers today, some 55 years after her last walkabout on the grounds.

Dad was anxious to join me on a Smithsonian tour of Gettysburg in November 1993, led by the amazing Ed Bearss. Unfortunately, I made the trip alone as Taps sounded for my father in June of that year. His ashes rest in a niche overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery near San Diego.

In all the times my father and I discussed the Civil War, I never asked the most obvious question: Why was he interested in this particular war? I did, however, follow right along beside him in being interested in it.

Perhaps I was fated to have a Civil War interest from birth. I am the only child of my parents who was born during my father's military career, and I came into the world at Ft. MacArthur Military Reservation near Los Angeles. My birthplace and my parents' final resting place are both named for Civil War heroes, which is not as easy to accomplish in California as it is in other parts of the country.

New Pages Added

Check the top of the blog for the new pages I added: Union Generals with a California Connection and Confederate Generals with a California Connection.

I've also created pages listing posts established by California troops and posts manned by California troops during the war, and I will be adding to those pages on a state-by-state basis, starting with Arizona.