This is fascinating, Jill. He was a couple years older than my mother's great grandmother's son. I had no idea that that the musicians had to tend to the wounded and carry corpses, but it does make sense. When I lived in northwest Iowa, I was close to Spirit Lake. I love how this localizes everything. It makes it easier for me to hook into it.
I'm glad you can hook into the history with local and personal connections. The past doesn't go anywhere, Utah Phillips sang, it's right underneath our feet.
I love the connection between William and Memorial Day you drew. It's neat when we have a way of honoring someone who fought in that war long after it took place, so one less person is forgotten.
I've read enough battlefield accounts and secondary reports that to make the history of the Civil War matter most is to make those connections between people and place. And I like to imagine this community in which Kakaygeesick and William Stewart were contemporaries walking the streets of Warroad in the early 1930s.
I was surprised to meet a Vietnam era veteran whose duty was to play in bands. I believe all stateside. I wonder if the town in Olmsted county named Stewartville is connected to this history?
Good question! I didn't even know there was a Stewartville until you mentioned it. Looks like Charles N. Stewart moved from New York in 1856. Haven't yet found a family connection to William and John Stewart but perhaps there is a familial connection. And perhaps that explains how his John ended up in Olmsted County as he had an uncle there. Thanks for making that connection.
I agree with the importance of local specific place connections. One of my great-grandfathers who homesteaded near our family farm in southwestern MN, was a courier during the Civil War and he had a close friend who played fife during the conflict. Later the two veterans homesteaded just one mile apart in the early 1870s.
How interesting to have a direct family connection between the homestead and the Civil War, George. That your great-grandfather had a close friend who was also a veteran and neighbor seems rare. Rare, in that we don't often know about the friends of our great-grandparents.
There were actually three friends who enlisted together, mustered out together, married mutual acquaintances, moved from IA to MN, and homesteaded within a few miles of each other. I hadn't really thought about how rare it really is to have that level of detail, but you're right!
I had a preoccupation with the Civil War since the Ken Burns series on PBS. It compelled me to purchase many a book starting with the Shelby Foote series and Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels". We were further inspired to travel to a reenactment at Gettysburg called Herr's Ridge. I have often wondered how or if my people intervened in any way in the conflict. Thank you for sharing William Stewart's story and yes, it is fitting for this Memorial Day!
I share your preoccupation. Visiting Gettysburg is an unforgettable experience. Especially if you have read Shelby Foot and Michael Shaara's books. Thanks for reminding me of them.
So "musician" designated a rank in the military? You wrote that Stewart was promoted from private to musician. I had never considered military musicians getting a rank designation before I read this.
Yes, I found this fascinating, too. Military drills were done to music. More than a morale booster, music was a way to communicate orders. When I was in NYC in February at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and in the musical instrument section I saw period pieces on display. That music plays a role in warfare in many cultures isn't surprising. I saw a video clip of Marine Day in Kviv yesterday where uniformed Ukraine soldiers put on a rock concert.
There's a brand new article in The New York Times about Army musicians and includes some history: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/27/arts/music/military-bands-west-point-army.html?unlocked_article_code=1.vE0.GbiA.6VwPcHZ5lmSY&smid=url-share
Thanks for the link! What an interesting article about musicians in the military.
This is fascinating, Jill. He was a couple years older than my mother's great grandmother's son. I had no idea that that the musicians had to tend to the wounded and carry corpses, but it does make sense. When I lived in northwest Iowa, I was close to Spirit Lake. I love how this localizes everything. It makes it easier for me to hook into it.
I'm glad you can hook into the history with local and personal connections. The past doesn't go anywhere, Utah Phillips sang, it's right underneath our feet.
It's a fitting story for Memorial Day, but also for these times since the theft of resources, fighting, and racism go on. "When will they ever learn?"
Learning as fast as I can! And I know you are, too, wise Elaine.
I'm learning to rest and heal out of necessity.
I love the connection between William and Memorial Day you drew. It's neat when we have a way of honoring someone who fought in that war long after it took place, so one less person is forgotten.
I've read enough battlefield accounts and secondary reports that to make the history of the Civil War matter most is to make those connections between people and place. And I like to imagine this community in which Kakaygeesick and William Stewart were contemporaries walking the streets of Warroad in the early 1930s.
I was surprised to meet a Vietnam era veteran whose duty was to play in bands. I believe all stateside. I wonder if the town in Olmsted county named Stewartville is connected to this history?
Good question! I didn't even know there was a Stewartville until you mentioned it. Looks like Charles N. Stewart moved from New York in 1856. Haven't yet found a family connection to William and John Stewart but perhaps there is a familial connection. And perhaps that explains how his John ended up in Olmsted County as he had an uncle there. Thanks for making that connection.
I agree with the importance of local specific place connections. One of my great-grandfathers who homesteaded near our family farm in southwestern MN, was a courier during the Civil War and he had a close friend who played fife during the conflict. Later the two veterans homesteaded just one mile apart in the early 1870s.
How interesting to have a direct family connection between the homestead and the Civil War, George. That your great-grandfather had a close friend who was also a veteran and neighbor seems rare. Rare, in that we don't often know about the friends of our great-grandparents.
There were actually three friends who enlisted together, mustered out together, married mutual acquaintances, moved from IA to MN, and homesteaded within a few miles of each other. I hadn't really thought about how rare it really is to have that level of detail, but you're right!
That's quite remarkable. Strong bonds of friendship and family.
I had a preoccupation with the Civil War since the Ken Burns series on PBS. It compelled me to purchase many a book starting with the Shelby Foote series and Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels". We were further inspired to travel to a reenactment at Gettysburg called Herr's Ridge. I have often wondered how or if my people intervened in any way in the conflict. Thank you for sharing William Stewart's story and yes, it is fitting for this Memorial Day!
I share your preoccupation. Visiting Gettysburg is an unforgettable experience. Especially if you have read Shelby Foot and Michael Shaara's books. Thanks for reminding me of them.
So "musician" designated a rank in the military? You wrote that Stewart was promoted from private to musician. I had never considered military musicians getting a rank designation before I read this.
Yes, I found this fascinating, too. Military drills were done to music. More than a morale booster, music was a way to communicate orders. When I was in NYC in February at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and in the musical instrument section I saw period pieces on display. That music plays a role in warfare in many cultures isn't surprising. I saw a video clip of Marine Day in Kviv yesterday where uniformed Ukraine soldiers put on a rock concert.