Decoration Day Observance in Los Angeles

This photo from the Veterans Administration archives shows a California Decoration Day observance in the 1930s. The veterans would march down the pier and toss memorial bouquets in the ocean to commemorate their fallen comrades.

Sgt. James Eby, 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry

Photo from the Richard K. Tibbals
Collection of the United States
Army Military History Institute

James Eby was a 29-year-old telegrapher from Horsetown in Shasta County when he joined Company M of the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry in March 1863. He rose through the ranks to become commissary sergeant and was discharged at Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia, on July 20, 1865.

After the war, Sgt. Eby moved around a bit. In 1880, he was selling supplies at Fort Thompson Indian Reservation in the Dakotas, and he applied for a pension in 1890 as a resident of Illinois. By 1900, he was living in the National Military Home in Marion, Indiana, and by 1910, he had relocated to the Danville National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Illinois.

Civil War California Referenced in TV Show

The Brother Jonathan, which ran aground off Crescent City in 1865, was mentioned in last week's episode of "The Mentalist," whose storyline focused on a marine salvage company in the fictional town of Santa Marta, California. (We'll look at the wreck in greater detail later this summer.)

More on the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry

The Military Museum in Sacramento, California, has a wealth of information online regarding California's involvement in the Civil War, and the staff onsite was quite informative about the topic when I visited the facility in the mid-1990s.

Since I've started on the topic of the California 100, it seemed only fitting that I refer my readers to more information, which can be found by clicking here. I find the GAR photo at the bottom of the page particularly fascinating since I would have thought many of the men might have stayed in the East post-war, but they returned to my home state and their lives in the West.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

The Battle of Puebla

Although Cinco de Mayo is often just a good day for tacos y cervezas for many of us, I was surprised to learn recently that the holiday has a tie to the Civil War that I hadn't heard about before.

The holiday was first celebrated in Los Angeles in 1862 to commemorate the victory by Mexico over the French forces at the Battle of Puebla. The celebrations carried as far north as the mining town of Columbia, where Mexican miners made speeches, shot off fireworks and and sang patriotic songs.

By defeating the French forces, the Mexican army helped keep France from providing supplies and assistance to the Confederacy. Although much of southern California leaned toward the southern point of view before the war, Los Angeles was pro-Union, which gave the residents a reason to celebrate 150 years ago.

Despite its widespread popularity in the western U.S., Cinco de Mayo is, at best, a regional holiday in Mexico. It does not commemorate Mexican Independence Day: that holiday is observed nationally in Mexico on September 16.

An Amazing Site Dedicated to the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry

Since the next few posts will focus on photos of Californians who served with the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry, it seemed only fitting to point my readers to a remarkable resource: Reunion Civil War Antiques' site for the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry.

Reunion founder Earl Robinson has compiled photos of about 12 percent of the regiment, and he's assembled biographies for some members of the unit, including Henry Fillebrown, the first man to enlist, and Andersonville survivor Abraham Loane.

Gilbert Merritt of the 2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry

Sergeant Gilbert R. Merritt, 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry, recuperates at Camp Meigs from a broken leg he received while breaking horses. The leg did not heal properly and left Sgt. Merritt with a lifelong disability. He received a medical discharge and later filed for a invalid pension in August 1868. Photo from the Richard K. Tibbals Collection at the United States Army Military History Institute.