My RW Research

[Thulcondar]

Well, folks, first I would like to say thanks for welcoming me into Nyx. I look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with you all.

I thought I would share one of my passions with all of you, in case you are interested. I am a military historian/educator by trade and this year have been working (to the detriment of WOW) on a research project involving a Civil War soldier: Henry C. Robinett. The forerunner of my under grad school, PA Military College, was Delaware Military Academy, Robinett was a cadet there. I teach at American Military University and they were gracious enough to award me a research grant this year. I started a blog so mu student and friend could follow my progress.

If you are interested you can go here:

http://broomstickstobattlefield.blogspot.com/

So, that all being said, until I complete this project in December, my playing time is limited to hit and run. When I am online I am more than will to help anyone with anything, all you have to do is ask. When I am not, well, you know what I am doing.

Keep History Alive
bs

[Asarelah]

Thankee for sharing !

[Eyesore]

Sounds like you have a very interesting position. I wish I had known just how wide the range of employment opportunities actually was back when I was in high school. Yours is one I did not realize existed.

Might I ask if your interest is in a particular time period? Region? Branch of armed forces? Type of warfare? Strategy? Tactics?

I guess I am saying if this were Career Day, I would have a lot of questions. <grins>

Eyesore

[Eyesore]

I just read your blog entries and found them most interesting.

About ten years ago, I did the genealogy for the Butler family, for the museum at General Butler State Park, in Northern Kentucky. The museum had the tassle from a sword awarded to General Butler by Congress after the Spanish American War, but was unsure of the sword's location. While trying to track down living realtives (General Butler died without issue) I found an elderly lady, who lived with her almost as elderly son, in pleasant isolation in the Bluegrass region. They agreed to meet with me, and after about an hour, and sharing a light repast of canned soup and crackers, they revealed they had the sword. The son retrieved it, and when he showed it to me, he was wearing white gloves, like in the photos on your site. He offered to let me hold it, with another pair of gloves, but I declined, feeling that I did not deserve to do so.

Seeing your photos of another sword, and the gloves, brought back the memories of that most curious day. If I recall correctly, Congress only authorized five swords following the war, and their expense was so extraordinary, that after making two or three, they had to reduce expeditures for the remaining ones. I thank you for helping me to recall that day, for I have not thought of it in some time.

Eyesore

[Thulcondar]

"Might I ask if your interest is in a particular time period? Region? Branch of armed forces? Type of warfare? Strategy? Tactics?"

The focus of most of my research and work is in the Civil War. That being said WWII is also one of my interested and well as general military theory/philosophy etc.

I guess most of my work is ground force-centric but joint in nature when necessary. I prefer the operational level fo war and spend little time with grand strategy as too much politics enters into the field.

As for occupations, you are correct, no one told me about all this when I was a kid either. I had to learn on the job. I taught in middle/high school and college for 32 years before finding my current job for the Army. That makes it tough to really do effective, detailed research as unto itself researching and writing can be full time jobs.

[Thulcondar]

I just read your blog entries and found them most interesting.

About ten years ago, I did the genealogy for the Butler family, for the museum at General Butler State Park, in Northern Kentucky. The museum had the tassle from a sword awarded to General Butler by Congress after the Spanish American War, but was unsure of the sword's location. While trying to track down living realtives (General Butler died without issue) I found an elderly lady, who lived with her almost as elderly son, in pleasant isolation in the Bluegrass region. They agreed to meet with me, and after about an hour, and sharing a light repast of canned soup and crackers, they revealed they had the sword. The son retrieved it, and when he showed it to me, he was wearing white gloves, like in the photos on your site. He offered to let me hold it, with another pair of gloves, but I declined, feeling that I did not deserve to do so.

Seeing your photos of another sword, and the gloves, brought back the memories of that most curious day. If I recall correctly, Congress only authorized five swords following the war, and their expense was so extraordinary, that after making two or three, they had to reduce expeditures for the remaining ones. I thank you for helping me to recall that day, for I have not thought of it in some time.

Eyesore

Neat story, what happened to the sword?

[Eyesore]

I was tempted more than once to try to bring the museum and owner together, in hopes that he could have the tassle, honestly, as the museum lacked being even close to being able to provide the level of security it would require to display the sword. When I had these thoughts, I was hoping that a full size photograph would suffice for the museum, as all they had visually, if I recall correctly, was a newspaper photo.

I never acted beyond providing my final genealogy to the museum and mentioning that I had found some living kin. During a visit to the museum a few months later, I was told that there had been contact, but the outcome was ambiguous. I did not tell the museum of the sword, for the same reason I did not enter more specifice information here...showing me the sword was a trust, and I wanted to respect that. I don't know, had I called them back, if they would have consented to disclosing the sword. There was something about this quaint situation that was like reading a romance from another era and I found some satisfaction in not disturbing the status quo. it would be difficult to explain this without more details of their current situation, but there really was something of the feel of entering another reality while I was at their home.

I suspect that by now the mother has passed away. I do not know the fate of the sword. I have not even been back to the museum, which is only about an hour from my home, for close to a decade.

And a side note: I didn't feel like digging back into my notes for more details, but it is easy to recall that General Butler subsequently ran for Vice President of these United States, on the losing ticket.

And another: It was nice to find out Nyx had another member interested in history and...older. <smiles>

Eyesore

[Thulcondar]

And another: It was nice to find out Nyx had another member interested in history and...older. <smiles>Eyesore

Older? So you say!

In the case of my project some of the family (I suspect even VP J. Robinett Biden) was reluctant to talk about Henry because he committed suicide so I know what you mean. I walk VERY carefully when talking to relatives about the project until I see how they fall out on all of it.

[Eyesore]

I am 57. In the three or so years I have been with Nyx, no one has given any indication of being older than me. I am not asking your age, but your length of time teaching left me thinking I may have some company at the "older" end of the age range in the guild. I wrestled with how to word that when I posted and figured the younglings probably weren't going to read the thread anyway.

My interests are varied, and change now and then. For example, with genealogy, I will do nothing for several years, then jump in again for a couple months, then wait a few more years. The age of sail fascinates me...you would find a model of the USS Constitution in my room, and both fact and fiction realted to the era. I drove to Boston a couple years ago just to board Constitution and spent two days there, which remains a high point of my life. And as regards fiction, I got a better feel for the war between the states from reading the historical fiction of Harry Turtledove than I did from any other source. Still, there's something to be said for walking through old graveyards and I have been to the National Museum of the US Air Force, in Dayton, more than a dozen times.

What is interesting to me at the moment, is that I have finally lived long enough to see times I lived through covered as history. A few years ago I glanced through a history book in a middle school classroom I was visiting and noticed that the book's coverage of the Viet Nam War was less than one page. It seemed longer at the time...and no, I didn't serve, but I spent a long year waiting to see if my Selective Service number of 232 would be reached. That wasn't in the book either. Go figure.

Bill

[Asarelah]

Now, you well know that I have seen 50. And while you are my senior, Elder, it is not by much.

*grins and skips away laughing*