Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

"Before They Were Famous"

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 2
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous 1 2 template Next
  • #1

    "Before They Were Famous"

    I've seen a book titled Famous: 1914-18 which discusses British people who served in the First World War before going on to become actors, writers, etc. The book describes their wartime lives in detail, often attempting to locate the battlefields and other spots where certain events happened (Basil Rathbone in a trench raid, and so on). I got the idea of writing a similar book for the ACW. Does such a book exist, or do any of you think there would be a market for such a work?

    Also, I'm compiling a list of people who served in the war before becoming famous. I'm not thinking about those such as the various presidents, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Ambrose Bierce or the James Gang whose CW service is well-known, but those individuals whose roles in the conflict are not common knowledge. I'll keep adding to the list as I dig up more names. I would also appreciate any contributions to the list.

    Elias Howe (inventor)- Union soldier
    Anthony Comstock (morals crusader)- Connecticut private
    William F. Cody (scout and showman)- Scout and cavalryman
    Henry M. Stanley (explorer)- Confederate soldier
    John "Texas Jack" Omohundro (scout and showman)- Confederate cavalryman
    Virgil Earp (lawman)- Illinois infantryman
    Sidney Lanier (poet)- Confederate soldier
    H.W. Smith (preacher in Deadwood, South Dakota) 52nd Massachusetts Infantry
    Bill Arp (humorist)- Confederate soldier
    Amos T. Akerman (US Attorney General)- Confederate soldier
    Mark Twain (writer) Confederate irregular
    James B. "Wild Bill" Hickok (scout and lawman)- scout
    John Shaw Billings (surgeon and librarian)- Army of the Potomac surgeon
    Lewis Powell (assassination conspirator)- Confederate soldier
    Eli Lilly (chemist and businessman)- Union soldier
    P.B.S. Pinchback (governor of Louisiana)- USCT officer
    Washington Roebling (engineer)- Union artilleryman and staff officer
    Charlie Bassett (lawman)- Massachusetts soldier
    Moses Ezekiel (sculptor)- VMI cadet
    Al Sieber (scout)- 1st Minnesota Infantry
    John Chipman Gray (legal scholar)- Massachusetts soldier
    Joseph Pulitzer (publisher)- New York cavalryman
    John Wesley Powell (explorer and geologist)- Illinois soldier
    Last edited by FortyRounder; 04-11-2009, 09:11 PM.
    Will Hickox

    "When there is no officer with us, we take no prisoners." Private John Brobst, 25th Wisconsin Infantry, May 20, 1864.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: "Before They Were Famous"

    John S. Pemberton (inventor of Coca-Cola) - Lt. Col, 3rd GA Cavalry
    James Vernor (inventor of the ginger ale that bears his name) - 2nd Lt., 4th MI Cavalry
    Lew Wallace (author of "Ben-Hur") - General, U.S.A.
    Marc A. Hermann
    Liberty Rifles.
    MOLLUS, New York Commandery.
    Oliver Tilden Camp No 26, SUVCW.


    In honor of Sgt. William H. Forrest, Co. K, 114th PA Vol. Infantry. Pvt. Emanuel Hermann, 45th PA Militia. Lt. George W. Hopkins & Capt. William K. Hopkins, Co. E, 7th PA Reserves. Pvt. Joseph A. Weckerly, 72nd PA Vol. Infantry (WIA June 29, 1862, d. March 23, 1866.) Pvt. Thomas Will, 21st PA Vol. Cavalry (WIA June 18, 1864, d. July 31, 1864.)

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: "Before They Were Famous"

      Richard Coke (Supreme Court Justice, TX; Governor of Texas) Confederate Captain

      George Washington Littlefield (Cattleman, banker, U.T. board or regents--benefactor) Confederate Major -Terrys Texas Rangers

      Sam Willson (Texas Criminal Court of Appeals, Codified Current Texas State Constitution 1876, Author of Willson's Code of Criminal Law) Captain, 1st Texas Infantry
      Fergus Bell

      "Give a man fire & he will be warm for a day, but set a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life."
      Terry Pratchett

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: "Before They Were Famous"

        With Baseball season in full swing who can forget...

        Abner Doubleday- (falsley credited with inventing baseball, since debunked)- career Army officer-Union General during War- Fired first shot at Ft. Sumter

        Also..

        George Westinghouse- (Engineer and inventor, founded Westinghouse elecric company)-Westinghouse enlisted in the Union Army at age 17 and served from 1862 to 1863. He then transferred to the Union Navy as an engineer. He was discharged in 1865
        Last edited by PetePaolillo; 04-11-2009, 10:57 PM.
        [SIZE=0]PetePaolillo
        ...ILUS;)[/SIZE]

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: "Before They Were Famous"

          Wyatt Earp - Union soldier - lawman

          William B. Sheperd - Confederate soldier - artist

          Clara Barton - Union nurse - Founded the American Red Cross

          Louisa May Alcott - Union Nurse - Author of "Little Women"
          Tom "Mingo" Machingo
          Independent Rifles, Weevil's Mess

          Vixi Et Didici

          "I think and highly hope that this war will end this year, and Oh then what a happy time we will have. No need of writing then but we can talk and talk again, and my boy can talk to me and I will never tire of listening to him and he will want to go with me everywhere I go, and I will be certain to let him go if there is any possible chance."
          Marion Hill Fitzpatrick
          Company K, 45th Georgia Infantry
          KIA Petersburg, Virginia

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: "Before They Were Famous"

            Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley, Grover Cleveland. All became presidents (If I got them right).
            GaryYee o' the Land o' Rice a Roni & Cable Cars
            High Private in The Company of Military Historians

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: "Before They Were Famous"

              Captain Eli Lilly (pharmaceutical giant) 18th Indiana Battery

              Lee White
              Researcher and Historian
              "Delenda Est Carthago"
              "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings, Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

              http://bullyforbragg.blogspot.com/

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: "Before They Were Famous"

                Albert Parsons (Haymarket Riot Fame, Labor Movement Leader) Step Brother of Colonel William Parsons, 12th Texas Cav, Confederate Soldier
                Lee White
                Researcher and Historian
                "Delenda Est Carthago"
                "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings, Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

                http://bullyforbragg.blogspot.com/

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: "Before They Were Famous"

                  What about industrialist Andrew Carnegie, I remember reading that he hired a subsitute when he was drafted.
                  Jake Koch
                  The Debonair Society of Coffee Coolers, Brewers, and Debaters
                  https://coffeecoolersmess.weebly.com/

                  -Pvt. Max Doermann, 3x Great Uncle, Co. E, 66th New York Infantry. Died at Andersonville, Dec. 22, 1864.
                  -Pvt. David Rousch, 4x Great Uncle, Co. A, 107th Ohio Infantry. Wounded and Captured at Gettysburg. Died at Andersonville, June 5, 1864.
                  -Pvt. Carl Sievert, 3x Great Uncle, Co. H, 7th New York Infantry (Steuben Guard). Mortally Wounded at Malvern Hill.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: "Before They Were Famous"

                    Originally posted by Gary of CA View Post
                    Rutherford B. Hayes, William McKinley, Grover Cleveland. All became presidents (If I got them right).
                    The 23rd Ohio Inf certainly has the distinction of producing the most leaders of the Free World, and many other notables (see below). McKinley of course was a commissary sgt (and eventually a major) - which means he was grossly overqualified for the COS job OR, commissary sgts are uniquely qualified to be President :D

                    ...probably the latter. Had the current occupant been in that line of work, instead of communty organizer, I might have voted differently.

                    From http://www.historynet.com/american-c...-regiment.htm:

                    William S. Rosecrans, ‘Old Rosy,’ was a West Pointer and Regular Army man who had resigned his commission and was in the oil refining business in Cincinnati when the war began. Rosecrans had but a short tenure with the regiment. In June 1861, before it took the field, he departed to assume a larger command post, but shortly as an army commander in West Virginia he would see it marching again under his orders. Rosecrans eventually rose to command one of the largest Northern field armies and seemed about to emerge as one of the great generals of the war–before his star sank in controversy and in the red afterglow of Chickamauga. His postwar career was distinguished. He held the offices of minister to Mexico, congressman from California, and Register of the Treasury.

                    Eliakim P. Scammon succeeded Rosecrans. He was a West Point graduate and a mathematics professor who would prove to be too fussily insistent on military protocol to be popular with a volunteer regiment. Still, he emerged from the war a brigadier general, and afterwards represented the United States as consul at Prince Edward Island. The third commander of the Twenty-Third was Rutherford B. Hayes, who after the war served his nation as congressman, Governor of Ohio, and President. James M. Comly followed Hayes; in the postwar era he played an active role in politics and became the American minister to Hawaii.

                    Even in the lowest ranks the regiment had a name destined for fame. A frail youth of 18 enlisted in 1861 as a private in the Twenty-Third. He rose to the grade of major, and his name was William McKinley. He would enable the regiment to go Lincoln’s prognostication one better. The Twenty-Third contained not one future President but two.
                    Soli Deo Gloria
                    Doug Cooper

                    "The past is never dead. It's not even past." William Faulkner

                    Please support the CWT at www.civilwar.org

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: "Before They Were Famous"

                      Jesse,Frank James (outlaws)-Quantrill's Raiders.
                      Cullen Smith
                      South Union Guard

                      "Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite, and furthermore always carry a small snake"~W.C. Fields

                      "When I drink whiskey, I drink whiskey; and when I drink water, I drink water."~Michaleen Flynn [I]The Quiet Man[/I]

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: "Before They Were Famous"

                        First, thanks for all your "nominations." I already made mention of Eli Lilly, the James Gang and the various Presidents. Walt Whitman didn't serve in the military (and was already famous), neither did Grover Cleveland or Andrew Carnagie (hired substitutes), and I don't believe Wyatt Earp did either (although he did run away and try to enlist). I wasn't looking for the generals or career soldiers like Doubleday and Wallace, because my aim was to see how many nonmilitary citizens were drawn into the war before they became household names. I hope I don't sound ungrateful for all your help; it's just that my criteria are rather narrow.

                        Secondly, I'm having second thoughts about the book project because I don't think there's a strong market for a book about "Civil War celebrities." The WW1 volume features names like Winston Churchill and JRR Tolkien, who are readily recognizable to a 21st century audience. By contrast a book with 19th century "achievers" such as Joseph Pulitzer and Moses Ezekiel wouldn't have the same "pull." Any opinions on this?
                        Will Hickox

                        "When there is no officer with us, we take no prisoners." Private John Brobst, 25th Wisconsin Infantry, May 20, 1864.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: "Before They Were Famous"

                          Wyatt was only 13, and did not serve, however Newton, James, and Virgil Earp did. Newton served in Co F, 4th Iowa Cavalry; James served in Co F, 17th Illinois; and Virgil in Co C, 83rd Illinois. James settled in Tombstone, AT along with brothers Virgil and Wyatt, later joined by Morgan. James played no part in events that followed.
                          Robert W. Hughes
                          Co A, 2nd Georgia Sharpshooters/64th Illinois Inf.
                          Thrasher Mess
                          Operation Iraqi Freedom II 2004-2005
                          ENG Brigade, 1st Cavalry Div. "1st Team!"
                          Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America

                          Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
                          And I said "Here I am. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: "Before They Were Famous"

                            Dont forget Stanley of Stanley and Livingston

                            Sir Henry Morton Stanley

                            Henry Morton Stanley - Wikipedia
                            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_M._Stanley
                            Thanks,

                            Mark C. Foster
                            Flint, Mi

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: "Before They Were Famous"

                              Originally posted by Uncle Pig View Post
                              Dont forget Stanley of Stanley and Livingston

                              Sir Henry Morton Stanley

                              http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_M._Stanley
                              I did mention Stanley.
                              Will Hickox

                              "When there is no officer with us, we take no prisoners." Private John Brobst, 25th Wisconsin Infantry, May 20, 1864.

                              Comment

                              Previous 1 2 template Next
                              Working...
                              X