Sign Up  /  Login

Martial Music, War of the Rebellion: We've Drunk f LbNA #55443

Owner:Connfederate
Plant date:Aug 31, 2010
Location:
City:Columbia
County:Tolland
State:Connecticut
Boxes:1
Found by: taylors
Last found:Aug 17, 2014
Status:FFFFFFFFFFOFFa
Last edited:Aug 31, 2010
Martial Music, The War of the Rebellion:
We've Drunk from the Same Canteen

(One in an occasionally expanding series…)


“THE SAME CANTEEN”

Written by Charles Graham Halpine (Miles O'Reilly)
[Music by: James G. Clark-from: “Singing Solders” P. 276,
by Paul Glass and Louis Singer, Grosset and Dunlap, 1964]

There are bonds of all sorts in this world of ours,
Fetters of friendship and ties of flowers,
And true lover's knots, I ween;
The girl and the boy are bound by a kiss,
But there's never a bond, old friend, like this,
We have drunk from the same Canteen!

It was sometimes water, and sometimes milk,
And sometimes apple-jack "fine as silk;"
But whatever the tipple has been
We shared it together in bane or bliss,
And I warm to you, friend, when I think of this,
We drank from the same Canteen!

The rich and great sit down to dine,
They quaff to each other in sparkling wine,
From glasses of crystal and green;
But I guess in their golden potations they miss
The warmth of regard to be found in this,
We drank from the same Canteen!

We have shared our blankets and tents together,
And have marched and fought in all kinds of weather,
And hungry and full we have been;
Had days of battle and days of rest,
But this memory I cling to and love the best,
We drank from the same Canteen!

For when wounded I lay on the center slope,
With my blood flowing fast and so little hope
Upon which my faint spirit could lean;
Oh! then I remember you crawled to my side,
And bleeding so fast it seemed both must have died,
We drank from the same Canteen!

From the International War Veterans’ Poet Archives: http://iwvpa.net/halpinecg/index.php#bio
____________________________________________________________
"Private Miles O'Reilly," a purported member of the 47th New York Infantry (the Washington Grays), was actually the pseudonym of Charles Graham Halpine (1829-1868), an Irish emigrant whose various occupations included journalist, copywriter, and Army officer.

Halpine was born in County Meath, Ireland, the son of a Church of Ireland clergyman whose first love was the written word. The elder Halpine served as editor of the Dublin Evening Mail for many years, so it was only natural that his son should follow in his footsteps when he enrolled at Trinity College. Although he studied medicine and later law, young Halpine's spare time was spent writing for the newspapers. He eventually left Trinity and sought permanent employment as a journalist, first in Dublin and then in London. When his father died in impoverished circumstances, Halpine determined to try his luck in America and emigrated in 1851.

When Halpine first came to this country, he wrote advertising copy in verse and later worked as a private secretary for P.T. Barnum. After leaving the circus impresario's employ, he moved back into journalism, becoming the co-editor of The Carpet-Bagger, a weekly humour publication. From there he moved to The New York Herald as its French translator and then to The New York Times as the correspondent assigned to cover William Walker's Nicaraguan expedition. He served briefly as the Times' Washington correspondent and then became an associate editor. In 1857 he became the principal editor of The Leader after acquiring a financial interest in the publication. His interest in the political scene, which had begun in Dublin, was rekindled, and he eventually left the newspaper to act as private secretary to politician Stephen A. Douglas. He became a member of the general committee of Tammany Hall and began a gradual drift into New York City politics, to which he would return as a reformer after his military career had ended.

On April 20, 1861, shortly after the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter, Halpine became the lieutenant of Company D of the 69th New York State Militia, which would later become the 69th New York Volunteer Infantry and gain reknown as part of the famous Irish Brigade. After serving only a few months, Halpine mustered out but enlisted again on September 5 in the General Volunteers. He eventually rose to a staff position with General David Hunter in South Carolina, where he drafted for Hunter's signature orders authorizing the raising of the Army's first black regiment.

Drawing on his vast newspaper experience, Halpine wrote and sent (under assumed names) a barrage of letters to Northern newspaper editors whose support of the Union cause was deemed less than exemplary. He also wrote as Private Miles O'Reilly, an ignorant Irish enlisted man who was free to express opinions to which Halpine, as an officer and a gentleman, could not give voice. He was twice breveted for gallantry and distinguished service and ended the War as a brigadier general. Halpine resigned from the service on July 31, 1864, when his eyesight began to fail.

Halpine returned to New York City and assumed the editorship of The Citizen, a reform newspaper, and built up the Democratic Union, a fierce opponent of political corruption. Despite his involvement in local politics, he still found time to write, publishing Miles O'Reilly His Book (1864) and Baked Meats of the Funeral (1866), a collection of war tales and various essays. He died in 1868, the victim of an accidental overdose of chloroform intended to cure a severe headache.

The Dictionary of American Biographies adds that Halpine suffered from a nervous stutter and characterizes him as "versatile, impetuous, and of a tremendous and restless energy."

From Civil War Poetry.org: http://www.civilwarpoetry.org/authors/oreilly.htm
____________________________________________________________
“There appeared in The New York Herald a series of satirical lyrics in the assumed character of an Irish private in the Union Army who rapidly became famous. These were written by Charles Graham Halpine (1829-68), a versatile Irish journalist and poet who had been with General Hunter in South Carolina, and were published subsequently in two volumes as Life and Adventures, Songs, Services and Speeches of Private Miles O'Reilly (1864). The best of this collection is the amusing account of the visit of the hero to the President, the members of the Cabinet, and foreign ministers at the White House.”

From Bartleby.com—Great Books On-line: http://www.bartleby.com/226/1011.html
___________________________________________________________
BYOInk: there is no pen, bring a black stamp pad or marker.

Letterbox Difficulty Rating:
Difficulty Rating = 2
Terrain Rating = 2.25
Thanx to Silent Doug; see: www.letterboxing.info/rating/

All directions are magnetic and a pace equals two (2) steps.
___________________________________________________________

Find Parker Bridge Rd. off U.S. Rte. 6 in Andover, CT. Park at the trail head for the Hop River Rail Trail. Please don’t block the gates or park on the private driveway adjacent to one of the gates.

Head East on the rail trail, passing by “Old Pursy” (Martial Music, The War of the Rebellion: The Invalid Corps). You will pass across a viaduct over a low, swampy area. Eventually you will come to a small wooden bridge spanning a creek.

From the end of the bridge, walk ~81 paces. Look right for a multi-generational family group of (Swamp?) Maples. Look for the SPOS behind the Acer Clan.
___________________________________________________________
Please stamp in away from the hiding place, and carefully avoid making or at least try to conceal social trails to the letterbox--especially in mud or snow! Kindly reseal the Lock-n-Lock type box, and re-hide the letterbox exactly where it was placed, covering it well and contact the placer if you find any problems.

Thank you, Connfederate