H. J. Kilpatrick's Last Charge

H. J. Kilpatrick's last charge at Waynesborough, GA December 4, 1864 (during Sherman's March to the Sea); published in Harper's Weekly January 14, 1865.

John C. Calhoun's Tomb

This is what John C. Calhoun's tomb looked like when the Federal Army passed through Charleston during the Civil War:

This is what it looks like today:

John Ingraham's Grave

at the Chickamauga Battlefield, just south of Chattanooga.

The National Park Service is selling this notecard at the museum store. I don't know why, but there were fewer of this card left than the other choices on the rack.




From Roger Linton's fascinating book...
...which he was kind enough to sign for me in 2006.

Kilpatrick's Raid

At the Nash Battlefield south of Atlanta.

Captain Andrew Cowan

of the 1st New York Light Artillery who was at Gettysburg.













The quotes are taken from an article that appeared November 12, 1908 in the National Tribune entitled "Cowan's New York Battery".

Dr. Abner Wellborn Calhoun

I couldn't figure out why I had some trouble finding this article in my own blog until I realized it was originally published within the first post where I reproduced the most recent newsletter of the time three years ago without its own heading. We'll fix that right here by reproducing Callie's article along with some pictures of Dr. Calhoun's mausoleum at historic Oakland Cemetery. There's a stain glass window in the mausoleum of Jesus healing the blind.

ABNER WELLBORN CALHOUN 1845-1910
FIRST OPTHAMOLOGIST IN THE SOUTH

by A. Calhoun Witham, Jr.

Abner Wellborn Calhoun was born in Newnan Georgia on April 16, 1845. He was the son of a prominent local physician Andrew B. Calhoun MD. During his formative years he was helped his father in his practice and was educated in the town of Newnan. His childhood was typical of a young person of that era until the war of Southern Secession broke out in the spring of 1861. Young Abner volunteered for duty in the Confederate army in that same year just before his sixteenth birthday. He served in the Army of Northern Virginia and fought in every major campaign for the entire four years of the war. He was wounded on four separate occasions and finally through the knee fighting in the trenches outside of Petersburg Virginia. He obviously had seen a great deal of field hospitals and physicians by the end of the war. Once Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House in 1865 he walked home with what remained of his company to Atlanta where began his studies under his father. Once his preliminary studies were completed, Abner left Georgia to study medicine in earnest at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA. He graduated with his M.D. in March of 1869 and returned to Georgia to start his own practice. During his early days of practicing medicine he took a great interest in the plight of the blind and as well patients with various ailments of the eye. In early 1871 he traveled to Europe to study the diseases of the eye which was relatively specialized and new field of medicine. He learned fluent German and studied with the brightest medical minds of the age in Vienna, Berlin, Paris and London. He returned to Atlanta four years later and began to practice and teach his specialty. He was the first to perform cataract surgeries in the South which must have seemed miraculous to the hundreds of patients whom he returned sight.
Dr. Abner W. Calhoun, was the region’s first specialist of the eye and ear, first taught at the Atlanta Medical College, which was originally established by his father, Andrew B. Calhoun, in 1854. He founded the college’s medical library with his own volumes (most written in German). This college later became the Emory University School of Medicine in 1915.
As the only scientifically trained ophthalmologist south of Maryland, Dr. Abner Calhoun was the specialist of choice for many a Southerner who had a serious eye problem before the turn of the century. He served as faculty president from 1900 until 1910. He and industrialist Andrew Carnegie provided funds to construct a medical college building that later became part of Grady Memorial Hospital, still a training ground for Emory residents. Unfortunately the only physical memorial to this pioneering southern physician was the medical library that was originally named in honor of Dr. AW Calhoun’s contributions to medicine and ophthalmology. The library was renamed in the late 1970’s during one of Emory University’s quests for wealthier benefactors. Although the library no longer bears his name there is a small room named after Dr. Abner W. Calhoun where you can see an exhibit of his original text books and instruments which started a great medical tradition that carries on to this day.

Grandfather Mountain 1999

After talking with some others, I'm pretty sure of the year. If you think it's wrong please let me know. Also, feel free to use the comment section of these posts at any time. If it weren't for Sitemeter I wouldn't have any idea if anyone was looking at this most of the time. Just so you know, we've had over 5,000 hits from all over the world since the blogs conception. A lot of people will spot an image on Google and take a gander. A lot of them don't even use the same alphabet we do! Welcome, everyone!
Best friend Richard Halliley (twice President of US Clan Davidson) and I are about dead center in the above photograph.


Some kind of weird weather pattern invaded us that Sunday morning at the Parade Of Tartans. It was chilly, too. Grandfather Mountain, NC in July doesn't usually get weather like this although we have had some cold rains before. It's the elevation that kind of lifts us up out of the "Deep South" for July. We're half a mile up in MacRae Meadow; the peak of the mountain is a mile up. Supposedly the area attracted immigrant Scots and Scot-Irish to settle there because it reminded them of home. My ancestors (also from NC) hugged the coast. Even my MacMillan "Texas Bells" ended up outside of Galveston on the Gulf Of Mexico.
I'm pretty sure this is Stephanie Fox and Danny Potter. Stephanie is a nurse and always works the MacMedic tent at the games. I appreciate that she wears her Colquhoun scarf and takes time when she can to jump in the Parades with us!

Danny, who passed away a few years ago, was a bit of a legend at all the Mid Atlantic games. The Johnson City, TN native had been coming to GMHG since he was a lad when his parents first brought him. Danny parked a well used, small RV right at the place where the shuttle bus lets visitors out. It was known as Fort Potter. I primitive camped at Fort Potter in front of his RV the season before he died, something I told him for years I wanted to do, and have always been thankful I made the effort that year.

Drum Major Jim Thompson.





Color guard of a Scottish American Civil War reenactment group. I think it's a NY regiment.





In the middle is the extended family of T. Randolph Kirkpatrick. They always get their own tent each year and participate in athletics. One of his grandchildren has run The Bear the last several years. On the left is probably Whitfield County (GA) county commissioner Mike Cowan. Mike wears his Air Force jacket and beret with his kilt which looks really sharp. I'm on the right.