The Civil War Battle Babies of Gettysburg

Scott: 00:00:33

Welcome to Talk with History. I'm your host, Scott, here with my wife and historian, Jen.

Jenn: 00:00:37

Hello.

Scott: 00:00:38

On this podcast, we give you insights to our history Inspired World Travels YouTube channel Journey and examine history through deeper conversations with the curious, the explorers, and the history lovers out there. All right, Jen, so we're still coming out of the new year, and you had a trip back in October to Gettysburg.

And so you went up to Gettysburg and you were on the Addressing Gettysburg podcast.

Jenn: 00:01:05

I think it was the beginning of November.

Scott: 00:01:06

Beginning of November, Right. It was the first week of November, went up to Gettysburg to be on the Dressing Gettysburg podcast.

I think their episode of that still has yet to come out. While you were up there, you did something that was pretty unique that we haven't seen too much of on YouTube, and it's coming out this Wednesday.

If you're listening to this episode when it first comes out, go check out our channel over on Walk with History. But it's a.

You did an episode about Battle Babies, and I thought it was really interesting, not only because the name is catchy, but I didn't really know much about it. But once you started explaining it to me, I thought it was kind of a cool concept.

Jenn: 00:01:40

rd battle of: 1863

I was on the Addressing Gettysburg podcast, champion Strong Vincent. If you know our channel, you know we love Strong Vincent.

I was listening to some podcasts about Strong Vincent a couple days before I was on the podcast, just so I could see what kind of information was already out there about him. And it's not very much. One of them was another Addressing Gettysburg podcast.

I had searched Strong Vincent and that had popped up, and it was a Battle Babies podcast. And that's the first time I ever heard of that word and what that was. And I thought that was very interesting.

There's a lot of stuff done about Gettysburg, but I don't think this gets touched on very much, even though it's very connected to Jenny Wade and the the only civilian casualty of Gettysburg, a Battle Baby is very connected to her story. So I wanted to dive more into that. And why was Strong Vincent's name a part of that? So I learned a lot.

And what's unique is those children that are born in and around Gettysburg, some of them are buried in Evergreen Cemetery. So it made it easier to do this episode at Evergreen Cemetery because I could talk about their coming into the world.

Some of them have what they call their namesake babies. So they're named for people who are connected to the Gettysburg battle. So a lot of them have middle names. Mead.

We'll see how strong Vincent's connected, where their parents are going through this trauma of being in the middle of a major Civil War battle giving birth, and then they name their children in honor of some of those men that are fighting.

Scott: 00:03:29

Yeah. So that's kind of the umbrella term is battle baby.

Once I learned that, I was like, oh, that's kind of cool, because that happens all, I'm sure, all through history.

And one of the points you bring up at the end of the video is people keep living soldiers, and battles happen in cities and towns, and people keep living and pregnant women keep having babies like they're pregnant when it starts, and they're close to end of their term. And that's what happens. And so once I learned. And then there's some subset names like you mentioned, namesake babies.

Jenn: 00:03:57

Yes.

And if you've followed our channel before and you know anything about Gettysburg, there's a national cemetery in Gettysburg after this battle takes place. There's so many men who are killed that they make a national cemetery.

,: 1863

Since: 1853

And actually, some trivia that we talk about is Lincoln is standing in Evergreen Cemetery on a platform when he's delivering the Gettysburg Address, looking over at the new national cemetery.

Scott: 00:04:38

And I think, just to interrupt there really quickly, I think initially, I remember when you did some initial, like where did Lincoln stand when he gave the Gettysburg Address? Didn't they initially get it wrong? So initially, the park service center, that whole area got it wrong. And there was.

I think there was or still is a monument there or a marker there.

Jenn: 00:04:56

Yeah, they kind of correct it, but they have the original there that he stood here, but then they couldn't kind of match the photograph. And that's when they eventually realized it's happening. And he's on a platform in Evergreen looking over it.

Scott: 00:05:08

I think they fixed it not that long ago. Yeah, it might have been like 10, 20 years ago or something like that. But just kind of an interesting aside.

Jenn: 00:05:14

Sure. I just wanted to talk a little bit about Evergreen Cemetery. It is right on that main road right beside the national cemetery.

It's a great cemetery to go and visit, but it was around 10 years, even before the battle. And one of the significant battle babies from that is Elizabeth Thorne's daughter. So who's Elizabeth Thorne? We've covered her before on the channel.

Most people will know there's a statue to her right there in Evergreen Cemetery, right at the front by the gate. She's pregnant, six months pregnant. Her husband, they were both caretakers of Evergreen Cemetery, but he joins the war.

He is an able bodied man and he joins the war. So he's not there when the battle takes place at Gettysburg. She's initially there at the guard house.

And if you know anything about Gettysburg, some of that initial battle takes place on Cemetery Hill right there. And so the, the main, I would say the leadership come to her home to ask for some reconnaissance, like where are the main roads into the area?

How would people get in here? If there's a battle that's going to take place, how do we strategically stop? Logistics.

And so she's able, she speaks English even though her family is from Germany, and she's able to explain the main roads coming in and gives good advice. And then she's told to leave because the battle's gonna be right here. So she actually leaves the area. Her caretaker house is used for a hospital.

She gets back a couple days later and it's basically destroyed. But she's not at that place when the battle takes place. But what happens after she's six months pregnant caretaking the cemetery? She will dig graves.

She'll dig up to 40 graves a day in the summer heat of Pennsylvania.

Scott: 00:06:58

And if you've ever been there in July, it is humid.

Jenn: 00:07:01

Oh, it's so hot. So that statue of her, it's depicting her wiping her brow.

Scott: 00:07:06

I think she's holding the shovel.

Jenn: 00:07:07

Holding a shovel.

Scott: 00:07:08

Kind of why she was recognized. And I think we had done a full video on her specifically, but she was recognized because she was pregnant.

Digging these graves and had helped in that respect.

Jenn: 00:07:18

But we don't really talk. We talk a little bit, but not that much about her pregnancy.

Scott: 00:07:23

Yeah.

Jenn: 00:07:23

st actually, of: 1863

,: 1863

with her, and she was born in: 1863

years old in: 1877

Scott: 00:08:16

Yep.

Jenn: 00:08:17

She's buried there with her family, with her parents as well. So we were able to visit her grave and leave a flag for her. She's considered a battle baby and a namesake baby.

One of those stories connected to Gettysburg.

Scott: 00:08:28

Yeah. Now, one of the next ones that you had talked about was related to Jenny Wade.

If I remember correctly, and it's been a couple weeks since I actually made the video, even though it's about to come out, it wasn't her child, it was her sister's child.

Jenn: 00:08:44

Yes. So why is Jenny Wade at the Jenny Wade house?

,: 1863

She gave birth in the basement. Jenny Wade goes there with her parents and her other siblings to help with the baby. Her. Her husband, George's husband.

Her sister, who's just given birth, is also gone fighting the war. So she needs support having this new baby in the basement.

And if you know anything about the Jenny Wade house in the battle of Gettysburg, it is smack in the middle of the battle from the north and south fronts. And they said it got like 150 bullets a day in the house. So she's there, she's helping, taking care of the baby.

rd,: 1863

And a mini ball comes through the door, hits her in the back and goes into her heart and kills her instantly. You know anything about Gettysburg and artillery? A mini ball is not a ball. A mini ball is a cone shaped bullet named for the inventor Minnie.

We actually have some of them from when we did the metal detecting with the antebellum house here in Tennessee. That is what went through the door and actually killed her. So she's considered the only civilian casual.

Her house has now become a very famous Place to go and visit. Yeah.

Scott: 00:10:18

There's a statue of her out front. We've made a video there.

Jenn: 00:10:21

She's buried at Evergreen Cemetery. There's a statue to her there. And a perpetual American flag will fly over her grave. One of the few locations that happens for a woman.

Yeah, but why is she there? It's the battle baby. Lewis Kenneth McClellan, her nephew, that she is there for. And so they considered him.

When his obituary happens, he dies much later in life. And they call him the youngest veteran of Gettysburg.

Scott: 00:10:48

Of Gettysburg. And he, like you said, I think he lived a full life.

Jenn: 00:10:51

Yes.

Scott: 00:10:51

Ended up dying in Montana.

Jenn: 00:10:53

In Montana. He's buried in Billings, Montana.

Scott: 00:10:54

Yeah.

Jenn: 00:10:55

He lives until the: 1920

So we go visit her and tell more of the story of Lewis and Georgia, her sister, and why Jenny Wade happens to find herself right in the middle of battle and why she's kind of stuck there because of this newborn baby.

Scott: 00:11:21

Yeah. So it's kind of neat because, like, when I'm looking for. I'm trying to name YouTube chapters and all that stuff, like, it's easy.

This was an easy one. Youngest veteran of the Civil War. He was all of, like, a week or two old.

Jenn: 00:11:32

Yeah, he was one week old. And the Jenny Wade house, you can Visit it now. 548 Baltimore Street. Again, a big tourist attraction.

After she's shot and killed, she's also taken to the basement, and then she's eventually buried at Emmer Green Cemetery. So there's just a lot of history surrounding her since she's the only direct casualty death associated with the battle.

Scott: 00:11:51

Yeah. Now one of the next ones, and we'll get to Strong Vincent and that namesake here towards the end, so stick with us. But the next one is another Mead.

Jenn: 00:12:03

n the year of birth. So I put: 1863

,: 1863

So one day after the battle.

Scott: 00:12:39

Yeah.

Jenn: 00:12:40

So his mother was actually in labor with him. Their house at 141 York street has a plaque. It says, home of the battle Baby.

Scott: 00:12:47

Oh, wow.

Jenn: 00:12:48

going on, and this is life in: 1863

You have babies who are dying of cholera, of diphtheria. Right. This is before vaccines. And so he does. He doesn't. He doesn't live very long. But we visit his grave, we leave him a flag.

He is considered the battle baby of Gettysburg. You can still visit that house today, 141 York St. And see the plaque. The home of the battle Baby.

Scott: 00:13:29

Yeah. So that was another neat one. And if you think about it, we name military forts and bases after these generals.

It makes sense that kids would get those namesakes as well. Now, last but certainly not least is someone named after one of your favorite Gettysburg soldiers.

Jenn: 00:13:49

So this is why his name had popped up on this podcast. There was a man named Strong Vincent Bushman. And I thought, oh, my gosh, what a connection. Bushman.

If you know anything about Strong Vincent and his being injured on July 2nd at the top of Little Round Top, he's taken to the Bushman farm that is considered a hospital, where he will pass on July 7th. He lingers for five days.

He's promoted to brigadier general, and he is tended to by a Caroline Bushman, who is the wife of Lewis Bushman who owns the farm. And she is pregnant at the time. She is pregnant as she's nursing him, and he mutters the Lord's Prayer as he dies.

And she's just so taken with this and how much he means to her.

Scott: 00:14:36

This is Strong Vincent.

Jenn: 00:14:37

Strong Vincent. Caroline is so taken with Strong Vincent and being there and being in his final moments that she will name her son Strong Vincent Bushman.

Scott: 00:14:47

That's pretty cool.

Jenn: 00:14:48

And he is buried at Evergreen Cemetery.

Scott: 00:14:49

So was it like the Bushman. The Bushman farm, like, right, where he was basically promoted to general just before he passed and all that stuff?

Jenn: 00:14:57

Yeah, he will hear it. There's conflicting data. If he understood what was happening, because you can imagine.

Scott: 00:15:03

But they, like, read it to him.

Jenn: 00:15:04

But they read it to him. And Lincoln is the one who will promote him to brigadier general before he passes. He's buried in an Erie, Pennsylvania. We go to his grave.

He's one of our initial stories.

Scott: 00:15:15

Yeah, Strong Vincent was. He's like I think our second video, third video, something like that.

Jenn: 00:15:18

So you can see his learning to do this. Yeah. To be better at this.

Scott: 00:15:22

We've learned a lot over the past few years. It was really neat to be at see one. The concept was cool, and we knew it was a neat idea. You told me this when you were driving back from Gettysburg.

I think you called me because you were. You had been talking to Matt from addressing Gettysburg, and you were. I think you guys had been chatting with JD From History Underground.

You had mentioned it to jg and JD Was like, oh, that's a good idea. That's a good idea. I can hear the pause. And so that happens all the time with fellow history creators.

We tell each other what we're doing or whatever. Like, they're like, oh, that's. That's a really cool idea.

Jenn: 00:15:53

Yeah. You know, because there's a lot overlap in history. Right. We're doing kind of the same stories and visiting the same places.

When you think of something kind of unique, what's also unique that I stumbled upon as I was doing? The strong Vincent Bushman story is strong. Vincent Bushman's grave wasn't marked in Find a Grave.

So I kind of had to figure out where it was and I had to look at some pictures of it. And I found his father's grave first. And his father is George Bushman. Also the same area, because you can imagine he.

He gave land to his kids and they made their own farm. So it's the same area from Little Round Top. His home was also used for a hospital.

And I found out that Lewis Powell of the Lincoln assassination, the part of the conspiracy. Lewis Powell, one of the men who is ultimately executed and hanged, was wounded at Gettysburg. He was wounded July 2 at 6pm the same time as Vincent.

He is taken to the Bushman farm, but not Lewis Bushman's. He's taken to George Bushman's farm, and that's what he will recover.

And so I just thought, wow, how connected is history that Lewis Powell is at the Bushman farm? John Vincent will pass at the Bushman farm. Like George father, Lewis son, but very much connected to all these stories of American history.

Scott: 00:17:14

For folks listening, if you've ever seen some of the pictures of the Lincoln conspirators, right. Those that went to trial with. What was the gal's name?

Jenn: 00:17:22

Mary Surratt.

Scott: 00:17:22

Mary Surratt and Lewis Powell and some others. Lewis Powell is the one that, if you see his picture like that, is a good looking man. He's a handsome guy.

And the picture is like tack sharp on his face. I was always struck by that, by his picture.

It's like he's sitting against a cell wall with his hands down in his lap and he's looking straight at the camera. If you've ever seen the pictures of him, very, very handsome man. That's Lewis Powell. And so when you said that, I was like, oh, I remember.

Lewis Powell. That's the good looking guy that tried to kill. You know, was one of the conspirators.

Jenn: 00:17:52

He tried to kill the vice President.

Scott: 00:17:53

Yeah.

Jenn: 00:17:53

And he pushed him off the bed. Right. And so he. He got in and he stabbed him. And he did.

But he ultimately survived because he actually pushed him off the bed and wasn't able to complete it and was thrown out of the house. He also is kind of an idiot because he hid and then walks into Mary Surratt's house just as the police are there to interrogate her.

It's kind of how he gets arrested.

Scott: 00:18:11

Yeah. So that's probably how they had the picture of him as well.

Jenn: 00:18:13

I hope you en it. I hope it's a different take on Gettysburg. And like you said, we're celebrating the life, the people. Life goes on even after battle.

Life is happening during battle. Those people of Gettysburg, it's one of those places people love to visit today.

Life goes on there and they all have a story surrounding the location.

Scott: 00:18:30

Yeah, that was a fun one. I'm looking forward to the next time that I can actually get back up to Gettysburg because she's been a couple times without me.

But it for those listening, stick around with us. Make sure you're following because we've got some more. More Civil War content coming up.

If you've heard of the TV show the north and the south with Patrick Swayze way back in the 80s, pretty big miniseries back then. We're going to be doing some Watch with History about north and the south with Matt from addressing Gettysburg. So we're looking forward.

We're going to be recording that coming out with those in the next few weeks. So make sure you're following us here on Talk with History and Walk with History on YouTube. We'll talk to you guys next time.

Jenn: 00:19:03

Thank you.

Scott: 00:19:08

This has been a Walk with History production. Talk with History is created and hosted by me, Scott Benny. Episode researched by Jennifer Benny.

Check out the show notes for links and references mentioned in this episode.

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