Christian Small, Union Army Veteran of Vicksburg

Today I accomplished another milestone in the organization of my new home - a shadow box dedicated to the memory of my Great-great-great Uncle Christian Small, who fought in the Civil War with Company I, 22nd Iowa Infantry.

I already wrote about him and the history of the regiment in an earlier blog entry while I was deployed overseas in May 2009:

Vanishing Footprints

Now I have finally had the time and space to organize the artifacts into a display so they can be properly viewed and appreciated.

This is a photo of Patrick Monaghan, a soldier from Hinkletown, Iowa who was also in the 22nd Iowa Infantry.  Because I don't have a photo of Christian Small in uniform, I include this to show what his uniform and equipment  would have looked like.  Note: The photo was apparently printed in reverse - everything is backwards.

My Christian Small shadow box, mounted on the wall of my study underneath his musket.

The musket is an Austrian Lorenz rifled musket.  These were commonly issued to militia/volunteer units during the Civil War.  They were originally .54 caliber, and some stayed that way in service.  Others, including this one, were bored out to .58 caliber so as to use the same ammunition as the standard issue Springfield rifled musket.  This one has Christian Small's initials neatly carved into the stock, which is a nice personalizing touch.  The musket was probably in better shape when he brought it home, but my dad told me that he and his brother used to play with it as a toy when they were kids. They'd put strike-anywhere match heads on the nipple, and it would make a "bang" when the hammer fell.  I don't think I'll ever try to fire it - it still works mechanically, but is fairly rusted and the wood is not in such good shape.  It's a wall hanger with some neat family history, including the fact that it was carried at Vicksburg!

The artifacts in the shadow box are, clockwise from the lower left:

1. Christian Small's canteen.  I think this canteen may have been modified at some point over the years.  The blue felt cover is moth-eaten and has been sewn back together by hand. The chain holding the cork looks to be of more modern manufacture.  It also has a leather strap, which may or may not be original.  I've read that most Civil War canteen straps were of linen, but as he was in a volunteer regiment, they may have been irregularly equipped.  In any case I didn't want to change it.

2. Photo of Christian Small's grave in Panora, Iowa.  Taken in 1992.

3. Hat Badge (Bugle).  This was the hat badge worn by Union Army Infantry soldiers.  This one is a replica, but I thought it would look nice in the display.  As seen in the photo of Patrick Monaghan above, the 22nd Iowa wore "Hardee hats" rather than the familiar Civil War era forage cap.

4. "The American's Creed".   This card was with some family papers.  It may have belonged to another family member, but it mentions being "indorsed" by the "Auxiliary to the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War" so I thought it belonged here.

5. Photo of Christian Small with my Aunt Lorraine in Panora, Iowa in 1927.  She was one year old, and he was 90.  He lived for five more years, so until my Aunt died, our family had a Civil War veteran in living memory.

Lorraine Foster Jennings with Christian Small, Panora, Iowa 1927

6. A letter from a friend, attesting to Christian Small's service-connected disability.  Dated Sept. 29, 1898, it reads:  "I have know Christian Small before the war and I have been personally acquainted with him ever since the war.  he got his back injured in the army and after his return from the army was nearly blind for several years with sore eyes which injured very much to the present time. he is also troubled with stomach trouble and piles and has not been able to do a full days work for several years on account of the disease contracted in the army.  J. J. Iriggens" (Higgins?).   I think this letter is fascinating - there was no Veterans Administration at the time, so this letter on American flag stationary is apparently an attempt to establish a credible connection between Christian Small's medical problems and his Army service.  I have no idea why, but I did find a PhD thesis from the University of Iowa entitled:

"The harder heroism of the hospital:" Union veterans and the creation of disability, 1862-1910

Apparently the plight of disabled veterans was a hot political issue that helped swing the elections of 1888 and 1896, so perhaps this was in some way connected with an attempt to qualify for benefits.

7. Photograph of Vance Hartzell with Christian Small, date unknown.  Vance Hartzell was my father's uncle, after whom he got his middle name.

8.  Christian Small's Pocketbooks (or Day Books).  These are small leather-bound notebooks, each closing with a flap and having a small pocket for money or papers.  The pockets contained an illegible receipt from 1904 and the photographs above.  The pencilled entries begin in 1867 and run through the early 1900s.  They are sporadic, and are almost all either accounts of things he purchased (groceries, supplies, and occasionally things like boots) or else accounts of work he did for others.  These are accounted for by the day or by the job (cut wood, etc).  There are a few recipes, including one for "varnish remover".  There is also one page with some lines of verse that I once thought he had composed, but later learned were lyrics from a popular song of the day.  The pages are too faded and delicate for me to scan, but they are interesting to look through as a record of someone's daily life 150 years ago.

9. Invitation to the first reunion of the 22nd Iowa Regiment, September 1886.  This is a 12-page document that was apparently sent to all known survivors of the regiment inviting them to the first post-war reunion in Iowa City.  It includes a complete roster of all known survivors, listed alphabetically by company, A through K.  We have no indication that Christian Small attended this reunion, but it's an interesting document nonetheless.  It was important enough to him that he kept it, and I have it scanned as a pdf file.

I also have his obituary, his service record, and the record of the 22nd Iowa Infantry from Ancestry.com.  These documents as well as electronic copies of everything but the pocketbooks are on an SD card that I put in the bottom of the shadow box.

So this is my attempt to preserve some family history.  It makes for an interesting display on my wall, and perhaps someday future family members may do additional research and add to our knowledge.  More likely, however, this is the extent of his legacy, as one of the many hundreds of thousands of Americans who went to war and then came home to quietly live out their lives in small towns and on farms across America.

Mood: Content
Music: "Take Your Gun and Go, John", Bobby Horton, Homespun Songs of the Union Army