OnThisDay in history we know that three Englishman who returned to the country of their birth after the Civil War were assembled among other “noble spartans” in the ranks of the 111th Pennsylvanian Volunteers. They were being addressed by a senator in Chattanooga, Tennessee beneath the heights of Lookout Mountain.
December 9th marks the moment where George Denham Co F, Frank Albemar ( Co E) and William Bray (Co E) were given their badges of honour as,"Spartans who climbed Lookout Mountain".
The trio, (who later returned to England where they died as old men), were assembled with the men of the 111th PA Volunteers in Chattanooga. Stood before them was Senator William Francis reflecting on what the Bluecoats had achieved in the Chattanooga campaign.
On Wednesday 9th December 1863, in the drive for reenlistment Senator William Miller Francis, of Lawrence County Pennsylvania stood before the men of the 111th assembled with the tattered remains of their flags, bearing the scars from battle and bullets. Francis was there on behalf the Governor of Pennsylvania, Andrew Gregg Curtin. Several years later by a twist of fate Curtins’ role as Governor would be performed by one of very men present that day. His son Edward had died in his arms after been killed at Wauhatchie – General John White Geary. At the conclusion of the civil war Geary would go on to serve two terms as the Republican governor of Pennsylvania, from 1867 to 1873.
Senator Francis was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland in 1810, the son of Andrew and Elizabeth Francis, he had arrived in Baltimore in 1828. By October 1857 he had been elected to the Pennsylvania Senate, he had sought to avoid the impending civil war, but was still an ardent abolitionist, and in 1861 had been appointed by Governor Curtin, “Special Relief Commissioner for the State’s Sick and Wounded Soldiers” of Pennsylvania. The Irishman looked upon the war weary men gathered, “Officers and men of the 111th Pennsylvania infantry I see before me a tattered, faded, bloodstained flag which I personally saw presented to you by Governor Curtin less than two years ago and if it is the same standard, how fully and nobly you redeemed the promise made that day by your Colonel. Noble soldiers! Brave men! I cannot express my emotions, as I stand before you and look into the faces of the Spartan band who scaled those heights yonder on Lookout-mountain.
I have visited those rugged well nigh inaccessible heights and I cannot understand how it was possible for you and your intrepid comrades to capture them. I have conversed with officers and men on the subject and yet I utterly fail to comprehend how it could be done”.
“If you had not already done it, I would say it was impossible. Nature has reared there a pile that so long as the earth endures, so long as man exists, will a glorious monument, brave man, to your valour, your skill and your patriotism. My friend General King has said that he would tell the people at home what you have done. I’m glad he made that a promise, for I am sure that I could never tell them how fortresses like those were ever captured from armed troops by mortal men”.
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(Adapted from ,” The Spartan that climbed Lookout Mountain” by Gina Denham available on Amazon - The Spartan who climbed Lookout Mountain: The American Civil War ... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spartan-who-climbed-Lookout-Mountain/dp/1399921169 )
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