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PVT Richard Taylor Camp 53 SONS OF UNION VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR DEPARTMENT OF TENNESSEE HUNTSVILLE ALABAMA |
NEWSLETTER FOR September 2001
Editor: Steve Pearce spearce@knology.net
Camp website: http://pvtrichardtaylor.bizland.com/pvtrichardtaylorcamp53/
Camp Commander, Brother Edward Milam, opened the August meeting of the Richard Taylor Camp #53 SUVCW, at 7:00 pm, 27 August 2001. After opening with prayer, led by Brother Gordon Cottrell, the Camp Patriotic Instructor, Joe Johnson, led the Camp in the Pledge to the American flag and the American Creed.
Old business: Minutes from the previous
meeting were approved and the Treasurer’s report was approved.
Membership certificates was presented to Brothers Glenn Bracken, David
Schnieder and Edison Conner, by Commander Milam.
Discussion on how the Camp could participate in the “September Skirmish,”
to be held in Decatur was discussed.
The participation in the “September Skirmish,” was eventually rained
out.
The Camp discussed how the SUVCW could participate in the Huntsville
Veterans Day Parade. Brother Glenn
Bracken will lead the effort enter the Camp in the parade. Brothers’ Sid Gaddy and Steve Pearce will
head the effort to develop visible material to be used in various parade events. Brother Joe Johnson will lead the effort to
come up with a vehicle to transport the Camp in the parade.
Events for the October 6, 2001, History Day were discussed. Brother Joe Johnson graciously volunteered
to lead the effort to gather materials and develop a schedule to man the Camp
table.
The Committee formed to nominate Camp Officers to serve in the coming
year, presented their report and nominate the following:
Camp Commander: Edward Milam
Senior Vice Commander: Sid Gaddy
Junior Vice Commander: Brian Hogan
Secretary: Steve Pearce
Patriotic Instructor: Joe Johnson Treasurer: Steve Pearce
Camp Guard: Edison Conner Camp Guide: Glenn Bracken
Camp Historian: Geoffery Hintz Camp Color Bearer: Howard Blood
Chaplin: Gordon Cottrell
No other nominations were brought forth from the floor. The office holders will be voted on at the
September meeting.
Discussion of when the formal induction of new officers was discussed and
a tentative date of November 10, 2001 were agreed upon. The ceremony will also include the formal
induction of new members into the SUVCW order.
The Camp is scheduled to be on the Robert Reeves show on September 25,
2001. At present Brothers Steve Pearce,
Edward Milam, and Joe Johnson are definite participants. Discussion about how and what should be
discussed was debated. The Camp has 15
minutes to address who we are, why we are in existence, and what we
represent.
Brother Pearce asked the Camp Brothers to provide write-ups on their
Union Ancestor along with a picture if one is available. Brother Pearce has a scanner if someone has
a picture that needs to be converted into an electronic format.
Sickness and distress:
Brothers’ Rodger Pearce and Steve Pearce lost their Grandmother, Mrs.
Shirley Pearce. Mrs. Pearce was a
member of the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
Brother Edward Nyberg Jr. is recovering nicely from surgery and hopes to
attend the October meeting.
Seeing no additional discussions at 8:40, the Camp Chaplin, Brother
Gordon Cottrell, closed the meeting with prayer.
This month, Pvt Richard Taylor Camp 53 highlights Jerry Wilhelm, a Union ancestor of Brothers Rodger and Steve Pearce
Next Meeting
September 24, 2001, 7pm, Highlands United Methodist Church.
Respectfully submitted in F, C, and L,
Edward Milam Commander
Union Ancestor of Brothers Rodger and Steve Pearce
From The Lincoln Star, Friday June 14, 1935
(copied
exactly as written from newspaper article)
(Special thanks to Mary Wilhelm Holmes for providing the article)
Jerry Wilhelm, Last Gettysburg Survivor Here, Anticipates
Big 91st Birthday Party on Saturday
The only survivor of
his Civil War company of 1500 men, and the only man now in this vicinity who
saw service at the battle of Gettysburg, Jerry Wilhelm, 1310 L. Street, pale
and hearty, is looking forward to his 91st birthday Saturday, when
the Daughters of Union Veterans are planning a little “affair” at his home.
Questioned about the
features of the party, he twisted his mustache, blinked, and replied, “Oh they
are going to have a big table in the back yard, with lights and everything. We
will have a swell time.”
Nebraskan 58 Years
Jerry, as he prefers
to be called, has lived in Lincoln for 16 years, batching it all of the time.
He has lived in Nebraska for 58 years coming to Lancaster County from
Dorchester, where he lived for 46 years, including 22 years, which he put in on
the road as a salesman for the John Deere Plow Company. He was a postmaster for
the Senate for twelve straight sessions of the legislature, and held the same
job during the constitutional convention.
He enlisted in the
Civil War as a drummer boy at the age of 17, joining Company A, Third Maryland
Veteran Volunteers, beating time while his company surged through 17
engagements, including in addition to the Gettysburg fray (which was nearly his
last), the struggles at Cedar Mountain, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Wilderness,
Spotsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and Popular Spring Church.
Severely
Wounded
“Seven thousand of
our men were killed at 11,000 injured in 20 minutes at the battle of Cold
Harbor, June 4, 1864,” he recalled, “and we were driven back twice, but I got
through without a scratch.” He lost the tip of his nose, suffered a scalp
wound, nearly had his left thumb severed, and his abdomen was punctured by an
attacking Confederate soldier’s sword at Gettysburg.
“My bunkmate, George
Snyder, later killed the man who cut me up, and a few years ago gave me the
sword which came so close to putting me out. My boy W.G., has it out in
Alhambra, Cal. now,” he added.
He has a daughter,
Mrs. George A. Roberts, living in Omaha; and a granddaughter, Doris Jarrett,
living in Lincoln.
“I’ve been smoking
cigars and pipes for 70 years now,” he said “but I don’t think that that has
had anything to do with my long life. I guess my orneriness has had something
to do with that,” as he chuckled, puffing away on a dark filler. “I wish I lived a thousand miles from a
cigar store so I could quit smoking,” he confessed.
Although he seldom needs a cane, he has a memento from the Gettysburg battlefield that he frequently carries. It bears a bullet scar, and is engraved with his name and the company, with the dates of the battle “which was fought so close to my home that mother could hear the cannons roaring each day.”
Another experience which he will never forget is the time that his company served as escort for President Lincoln, and he was complimented by the Emancipator for his “alertness,” when he expected to “ketch it” for not waiting for command to roll the drum.