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10 Year Anniverary & New Releases Winners: Carrie Fancett Pagels' Butterfly Cottage - Melanie B, Dogwood Plantation - Patty H R, Janet Grunst's winner is Connie S., Denise Weimer's Winner is Kay M., Naomi Musch's winner is Chappy Debbie, Angela Couch - Kathleen Maher, Pegg Thomas Beverly D. M. & Gracie Y., Christy Distler - Kailey B., Shannon McNear - Marilyn R.

Friday, January 30, 2015

Hannah Snell – Woman, Soldier, Sailor, Actress 1723-1792



 The more stories I read about women in the past, particularly in the Colonial period, the more I realize what a wimp I am!! Meet Hannah Snell. If I wrote a novel based on this woman’s life, no one would believe me. 

When Hannah’s husband left her penniless and pregnant, she did what any woman would have   After the child died, Hannah Snell disguised herself as a man and enlisted in the army as “James Gray”. Nobody suspected “James” of being a woman until, for neglect of duty, she was sentenced to receive 600 lashes. Being stripped to the waist to receive her punishment didn’t stop the officer meting out the lashes because she took nearly 500 of them before another officer interceded. Whether or not it was due to her gender is unclear, but apparently, she was a good enough soldier for she was allowed to remain in the army, but having not found her husband, she deserted a month later.


You would think that would have been enough of a lesson for the lady, but Hannah Snell turns up again in history. This time as a regimental marine. She was appointed assistant-steward and cook to the officers’ mess on the sloop ‘Swallow’, and sailed to the East Indies on attachment to Admiral Boscawen's fleet,

The officers were pleased with “James’s” skill at cooking, washing, and mending, but they soon discovered that she was equally good in battle. At the siege of Pondicheery, Hannah was part of a first invasion group which crossed a chest-high river while being fired on by the French. She was on guard duty in the picket ground for seven nights and in the trenches for two weeks. 

Eventually, however, Hannah was wounded—one shot in the abdomen and six bullets in her right leg and five in her left. She allowed the surgeon to repair her legs but kept her abdomen wound a secret and tended to it herself along with a black women who had become her friend.

After a full recovery, Hannah made Ordinary Seaman and set sail first aboard the Tartar Pink and then the Eltham. It was aboard the latter where she was suspected of stealing a shirt and spent five days in irons. Otherwise she got along well with the other sailors, who still not knowing her gender, teased her about her smooth face and called her “Miss Molly”.

Whilst in Lisbon, Hannah finally heard some news of her husband, but, unfortunately, he had been executed in Genoa. Her efforts to find him had been in vain, so in 1750, Hannah Snell retired from the navy and took to the stage where she was engaged to play various military and naval heroes. Afterward, she opened a Tavern called The Female Warrior

Wow, real life is indeed stranger than fiction sometimes, eh?

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

The Uniform of an Expert Marksman

by Roseanna M. White
British lines during the Battle of Bunker Hill
To 18th century England, war was a civilized endeavor. It was a matter of politics, of wearing the uniform, of showing one's bravery to the nobility that came out to watch a battle. Guns weren't meant to be too accurate. Weaponry ought to be gleaming. The reasons for fighting...well, often only the king knew what they were.

When the Colonies went to war in 1775, they introduced England to a new kind of battle. The kind where men actually took aim at the opposing force--and aimed at the officers. The kind where each man was fighting to defend his home. The weapons were often dirty, they had no uniforms. But those weapons were more than shiny muskets that couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. They were rifled. They were accurate.

And the Americans knew how to use them.

More, their leader knew how to fight on more than one front. In 1775, a month after he took command, General Washington had an idea. Being well acquainted with how the British military thought, he called for an exhibition of marksmanship in Massachusetts. He urged the men--who still had no Continental uniforms, mind you--to wear their hunting shirts and breeches. These were often made of buckskin, with fringes. Almost every man had such an outfit, and they often wore them on campaign since they were the most practical clothing for long treks.
Concord Minute Man

So these men gathered, raised their rifles, and had some fun. Target practice, nothing more. But they actually hit the target. More, the bulls-eye. These men, with their guns that didn't look so dissimilar from the Brown Bess that the English soldier carries, appeared to be expert shots, every one of them.

The British were watching too. And what were they to assume but that General Washington had put together an entire company of the best marksmen in the world? And their uniform must be those fringed buckskin outfits--because no company could possibly be without a uniform, right?

The tales spread among the British. Fear spread with it. And any time a soldier (or hunter or farmer) was spotted in this attire, the British panicked. Which, as it happens, was often.

To make matters even worse for the British, one of these rifled men was taken prisoner and shipped to England, where they thought it would be great fun to show the English populace what their trophy could do. The American obliged them.

The result--suddenly no one wanted to enlist in the British military to fight against the Americans anymore. This is why King George had to resort to hiring Hessians!

All because George Washington took advantage of a preconceived notion about uniforms...and made use of a newfangled hunting rifle owned by many American farmers.

Monday, January 26, 2015

The Bells of St. Michael's Church, Charleston, SC

Susan F. Craft
Author of The Chamomile and Laurel

        The bells were cast in London and installed in St. Michael's Church in Charlestown (Charleston), SC, in 1764.
        At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the patriots painted the church’s steeple black to keep it from being a beacon to the British fleet. Instead, it made it an even better landmark than before.
        In 1780, Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton attacked Charlestown with 14,000 soldiers. American General Benjamin Lincoln was trapped and surrendered his entire 5,400-man force. The Siege of Charleston was thought to be the greatest American defeat of the war.
        The British retained control of Charlestown until December 1782, and when they gave up the city, they took the bells back to England.
        At the end of the war, a Charleston merchant visiting England bought the bells and shipped them home to America.
        In 1823, cracks were found in some of the bells, and they were returned to London to be recast. 
        In 1862, during the siege of Charleston during the Civil War, the bells were moved to Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, for safekeeping, but Sherman's army set fire to the city. Only fragments of the bells were found and were sent to London once more, where the original moulds still stood.
        In February 1867, the eight bells were again installed in St. Michael’s steeple, and on March 21 joyously rang out, Home again, Home again from a foreign Land.
        Here is an excerpt from my post-Revolutionary War novel, Laurel. My heroine, Lilyan Xanthakos, and her brother, Andrew, have returned to the city after being away for two years. Their friend, Mrs. Snead, tells them what’s happened to the bells.

         “When the British hightailed it out of Charlestown, hauling with them everything that wasn’t nailed down, they stole the bells from the tower.”
        “No!” Lilyan gasped.
        “But, that’s an outrage,” shouted Andrew.
        “I’m surprised you didn’t notice them not ringing out the time,” said Mrs. Snead.
        “We were so occupied, trying to settle in.” Lilyan sighed. “But … there was something bothering me all day. A feeling that something was missing.”

Shown in this century-old picture, a chimer uses a clavier device to strike clappers against stationary bells. Chiming is now performed from a keyboard in the choir loft and by a programmed mechanism.

 

        To hear a group of master bell ringers from London ring the bells of St. Michaels, click on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25spIYJr4Ho

Saturday, January 24, 2015

The Need for Making Barrels - by Carrie Fancett Pagels


We have a shortage of barrels in our country, apparently. My husband brought this to my attention recently. Seems certain "beverages" must be aged in casks or barrels and there aren't enough craftsman who know how to make the specific types of barrels needed. Here's a link to a recent article (click here.) In that article reference is made to the fact that there were so many coopers that there was even a Coopers' Union and their own periodical!

Here in coastal Virginia, in colonial times barrels of tobacco were even rumored to be rolled down the hill toward the harbor. We have images, in the area, of tobacco barrels being exported back to England.


With spirits, the flavor of the wood affects the alcohol. So coopering had to take into account what types of trees were available in an area.  Oak is often a preferred wood for whiskey barrels, for instance. There also had to be a supply of water to keep the wood pliant. It should come as no surprise that one of the couple of dozen cooperages left in America, Independent Stave, has operations in Kentucky, known for its production of bourbon and whisky.

Barrels come in all different sizes. For tobacco, for instance, the Hogshead size is the one often note for use with tobacco shipments for the Virginia colonies.

Of course, casks, buckets, and barrels made by coopers were made for all sorts of products, e.g., food, milk, gunpowder, flour, etc. So everyday life during colonial time required many objects produced by coopers, who were often highly skilled. You can watch the craft when you next visit Colonial Willliamsburg and in this article it is notated that there were several levels of coopers from a tight cooper who made barrels to hold liquid to a slack cooper whose products held solids such as tobacco.

As I mentioned in a previous article about Middleton Plantation, the larger farms would have had their own coopers and slaves also would have been trained in the skill. Coopers could also be found wherever there was military, to provide for their needs. We don't think about how necessary this storage was because we're so used to our plastic Tupperware and other storage containers nowadays. Packaging has certainly changed.


For farmers and those living away from cities, enjoying country life also meant making ones' own barrels. (See Rebecca DeMarino's post on seasons.) Springtime means the "gathering splintwood for baskets and barrel hoops. Black ash, hickory and white oak were commonly used and after cutting into splints, they were kept in running water, which helped keep them soft and ready for pounding."

Question: Can you imagine having to store barrels of foodstuffs to get you through the winter? Granted there are other storage products during colonial times, but in all likelihood you'd need to have storage space for various sizes of barrels. 

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Laurel -- Susan F. Craft's New Historical Novel!

by Elaine Marie Cooper

I have been a fan of author Susan F. Craft since 2011 when I read her first Revolutionary War novel entitled, The Chamomile. I was completely swept away by the story as well as the intricate research that went into her debut novel. I anxiously awaited the release of the sequel, Laurel, which I am so pleased to say, is every bit as captivating as her first!

Her new novel releases this week and to celebrate, Susan is offering a copy to one of the commenters today at Colonial Quills. Without further ado, let me present Laurel.



What the story is about:


Desperate to rescue their kidnapped daughter, Lilyan and Nicholas Xanthakos trek two hundred miles through South Carolina mountains and backcountry wilderness, fighting outlaws, hunger, sleeplessness, and despair. When the trail grows cold, the couple battles guilt and personal shame; Lilyan for letting Laurel out of her sight, and Nicholas for failing to keep his family safe.

They track Laurel to the port of Charleston as post-Revolutionary War passions reach fever pitch.  There, Lilyan, a former patriot spy, is charged for the murder of a British officer. She is thrown into the Exchange Building dungeon and chained alongside prostitutes, thieves, and murderers. Separated from her husband, she digs deep inside to re-ignite the courage and faith that helped her survive the war.  Determined to free his wife at any cost, Nicholas finds himself forced back into a life of violence he thought he’d left behind.

Following a rumor that Laurel may be aboard a freighter bound for Baltimore, Lilyan and Nicholas secure passage on a departing schooner, but two days into the voyage, a storm blows their ship aground on Diamond Shoals. As the ship founders, both are swept overboard.

Will their love for each other and their faith sustain them as they await word of their missing child? Or is Laurel lost to them forever?



My review of Laurel:

The impeccable research of historical fiction author, Susan F. Craft, permeates every paragraph in the post-Revolutionary Era novel, Laurel.  The story of a young mother whose daughter is kidnapped, and the subsequent search, captivates a reader with both unforgettable characters and adventures that sweep a reader to another time and place. Craft is brilliant in her marriage of both fact and fiction, as she weaves a story that captures your attention from first page to last. Ms. Craft has a gift with her pen, creating words that are both breathtaking and beautiful.

I cannot wait for the third novel in the series entitled Cassia.



Author Bio:

Susan F. Craft writes historical romantic suspense. Her Revolutionary War novel, The Chamomile, won the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Okra Pick.  Susan recently retired after a 45-year career as a communications director, editor, and proofreader.  To assist authors to “get it right about horses in their works,” Susan worked with the Long Riders’ Guild Academic Foundation to compile A Writer's Guide to Horses that can be found at www.lrgaf.org. Forty-five years ago, she married her high school sweetheart, and they have two adult children, one granddaughter, and a granddog. An admitted history nerd, she enjoys researching for her novels, painting, singing, listening to music, and sitting on her porch watching the rabbits and geese eat her daylilies.  She has two post-Revolutionary War novels being released in 2015 by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas—Laurel, in January, and its sequel Cassia in September. She is represented by Linda S. Glaz, Hartline Literary Agency.



Remember to leave a comment with your email address so that you can be notified if you are the winner of Laurel.