Category: history

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Commodore Percival Drayton, Union Hero of the Civil War

THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC CIVIL WAR MUSEUM

Presents a New Program via ZOOM

Commodore Percival Drayton, Union Hero of the Civil War and Philadelphia

SUNDAY, October 4, at 1:00 pm

Presented by:  Captain Jack Lieberman (USN, retired)

Please send a request to reserve a virtual seat for this outstanding presentation by replying to this e-mail at  garmuslib1866@gmail.com

Percival Drayton was the son of a wealthy South Carolina Congressman William Drayton. He entered the United States Navy as a midshipman in 1827, and served continuously up to the Civil War, being posted to stations that included the Mediterranean, the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Brazil, Paraguay and at the Naval Observatory, Washington, DC.   His older brother, Thomas Fenwick Drayton, was a West Point Graduate and a United States Army officer who remained loyal to the South and became a Confederate Brigadier General.  When the Civil War began Percival was stationed at the Philadelphia Naval Yard, but was soon given command of the warship “USS Pocahontas.”  He commanded the vessel in the successful Union Naval assault on Port Royal, South Carolina in November 1861.  In that action, he fired upon troops and positions commanded by his brother Thomas who was commanding Confederate troops on shore in a literal, classic instance of the   “BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER” phrase often used to describe the American Civil War.

He was promoted to Captain, US Navy in July 1862, and was assigned to Admiral David Farragut’s West Gulf Squadron and commanded Farragut’s flagship USS Hartford in the celebrated Naval assault and capture of Mobile Bay, Alabama in August 1864. The bay was heavily mined (tethered  mines at that time were called TORPEDOES).   Farragut ordered his fleet to charge the bay. When one of the Union Monitors struck a mine and sank, the other Union ships began to retreat.  Farragut could see the ships pulling back from his high perch, where he was lashed to the rigging of his flagship.   “What’s the trouble?” he shouted through his megaphone to the forward lookout.  “Torpedoes!” was shouted back.   “DAMN THE TORPEDOES” said Farragut, “FOUR BELLS – CAPTAIN DRAYTON, FULL SPEED AHEAD”   The bulk of the fleet then succeeded in entering the bay. Captain Drayton died August 4, 1865 and was buried in St John’s Church in Washington, DC, however his remains were exhumed three months later and he was re-buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery, in Philadelphia, on November 18, 1865, next to his father, William Drayton.

You will be sent a link with a password that will enable you to access the program within 24 hours of the start of the presentation.

As a lover of history, you know how critical it is to keep history alive, especially today!  We very much appreciate your continued support for the GAR Civil War Museum

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Historical Society Presents on Tuesday September 8th at 730 PM

Dark Run University- a presentation of papers read from 1951 on Facebook Live

​Speaker: Vanessa Couvreur

​In June we presented our first ever virtual lecture via Facebook Live with a piece entitled “Swimmin’ Holes I know”.

In that paper, writer W. Hepworth mentions Dark Run University saying, “It ain’t any college- Just where the gang spends a lotta time an has plenty of fun”. In this follow up piece we’ll explore what Dark Run University was in the 1890’s and the area around it.

 

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“DAMN THE TORPEDOES! FULL SPEED AHEAD !”

THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC
CIVIL WAR MUSEUM
Presents a New Program via ZOOM
 
“DAMN THE TORPEDOES! FULL SPEED AHEAD !”
Admiral David Farragut and the Battle of Mobile Bay
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 at 1:00 pm
Presented by:  Paul Prentiss, Historian and Navy Veteran
On August 5, 1864, at the Battle of Mobile Bay during the Civil War, Admiral David Farragut led his flotilla through the Confederate defenses at Mobile, Alabama, to seal one of the last major Southern ports. The fall of Mobile Bay was a major blow to the Confederacy, and the victory was the first in a series of Yankee successes that helped secure the re-election of President Abraham Lincoln later that year.
Paul Prentiss is a retired Navy Captain and Chief Scientist for a national science and technology company.  He is a graduate of the Naval War College in Newport, RI.
 
Please send a request to reserve a virtual seat for this outstanding presentation by replying to this e-mail at
garmuslib1866@gmail.com
You will be sent a link with a password that will enable you to access the program within 24 hours of the start of the presentation.
As a lover of history, you know how critical it is to keep history alive, especially today!  We very much appreciate your continued support for the GAR Civil War Museum.
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Worrell-Winter House

The recently restored historic Worrell-Winter house will be open to the public on August 20 at Noon to celebrate The King’s Highway Day in the Frankford Section of Philadelphia.
Come out and see this 300-year old home, that is a major part in the history of our Country.
Please wear a face covering and keep distance rules.
Share a place in History.
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The Cowden Drum and the Battle of Gettysburg

The Cowden Drum

From the time the first William Cowden immigrated from Ireland in the 1840’s, the Cowden family has played a prominent role in the history of Philadelphia generally, and in the Northeast section of the city in particular.

The elder William Cowden joined the Union army at the outbreak of the Civil War, and his son, also named William, while only in his early teens, enlisted as a drummer boy, as was customary at the time.

During one of the Virginia campaigns in 1862, the marching band of the 114th Regiment, to which the younger William Cowden belonged, after spending the night sleeping in a ditch unseen by the rest of their compatriots, missed the call to evacuate their newly won turf. The band members awoke to the bayonets of their Confederate captors, and were taken to the infamous Libby Prison in Richmond—their instruments confiscated. The 114th Regiment wore the exotic Zoave uniform, as seen in the photograph from 1864.

Marching band of the 114th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers

The imprisoned musicians of war were eventually repatriated in a prisoner of war exchange. The people of Frankford magnanimously took up a collection to replace the instruments appropriated by the band’s Confederate captors. This drum is believed to be one of those replaced instruments, and its later use by the younger William Cowden at the Battle of Gettysburg is documented in our acquisition records at the Historical Society of Frankford (HSF).

The drum was donated to the HSF by the Cowden family in 1963—exactly one hundred years after the Battle of Gettysburg—along with the musket used by the elder William Cowden at the landmark Battle.

The younger William Cowden later went on to join the newly reorganized Philadelphia fire department, and right up to the present, several of his descendants have distinguished themselves as local firefighters. He died in 1913—fifty years after the Battle of Gettysburg— while still a resident of Frankford.

The Benjamin Rush Chapter of Questers visited The Historical Society of Frankford and became aware of this drum and it’s history. The idea of conserving the instrument was discussed and raising of funds began.

The Questers is an organization devoted to studying, preserving, and sharing knowledge of history and antiquities. An estimate of work needed to bring the drum back to it’s former condition was obtained by HSF from Lara Kaplan, object conservator. A matching grant from the Pennsylvania Questers was applied for and received.

On July 1st 2020 the check from Pa. Questers was handed to HSF President Jerry Kolankiewicz from Benjamin Rush Quester Mildred Noonan.

The drum was handed over to Lara to begin the restoration.


It is unknown when the repair will be completed at this time. Many months of detailed restoration work are required. When it is returned to the HSF, It will be on permanent display. The exhibit is being planned and lecture in the future will be scheduled.