Captain Neville's Cigar Case
This is a cigar case, containing four cigars, the property of Captain the Honourable H. C. Neville, 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, the Grenadier Guards.
The Grenadier Guards landed at Kalamita Bay in the Crimea in September 1854, as part of the Guards Brigade, 1st Division, English Army of the East. These were Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s elite personal household guard. In the Crimea, the Guards Brigade consisted of Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards and Scots Fusilier Guards. The Guards battle honours include Alma, Inkerman, and the Siege of Sevastopol.
In 1854, cigarette smoking was definitely not in fashion. Many enlisted soldiers chewed tobacco, but this was not a thing done by the officer class. Most British officers preferred a pipe or a good cigar. This cigar case is sufficient to hold six cigars, three on each side behind the canvas. If you are a cigar smoker today, you can find very similar cases in any tobacconist.
The cigar case in this photograph is typical of those used to protect cigars from being crushed on campaign. It, and the four cigars within, were carried by Captain Neville, Grenadier Guards, during the Crimean War. As can be seen, one of the cigars is wrapped in paper. The paper reveals the sad truth. It contains the following hand-written note:
Capt. Hon. H. C. Neville
3 Bn Gr. Guards
Killed at Inkerman 5 Nov 54
Judging from the responses, I guess many of you enjoyed the Ram’s Head Snuff Mull, so I thought I’d add a few more photographs from “Crimean Memories: Artefacts of the Crimean War.”
Black Watch Bonnet
The Highland bonnet shown here was worn at the Battle of the Alma, Crimean War, by Captain Sir Peter Halkett, 42nd Highland Regiment of Foot. The 42nd is more commonly known as The Black Watch.
The officer’s bonnet is cocked and feathered with six black ostrich feathers, ten inches deep, according to regulations. The skull is blue cloth fastened at the back with black ribbons. It has a check band of the regimental pattern, and a silver regimental badge bearing the name ‘Egypt’, surmounted by a Sphinx on the left side. There is a scarlet vulture feather, eight inches long, above the badge on the left side. The black ribbons can be seen, but a black leather chin-strap is missing.
Thanks for enjoying the photographs.
This artifact was photographed courtesy of The Black Watch Museum, Perth, Scotland.
Ram's Head Snuff Mull - 42nd Royal Highland Regiment of Foot
So many of the 1500 photographs I took in the UK for our recently released book, “Crimean Memories: Artefacts of the Crimean War,” were unusual, with interesting histories, but this snuff mull is one of my absolute favorites. It is a silver mounted ram’s head snuff mull, which had a home in the Officer’s Mess of the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment of Foot until the Crimean War.
The Crimean War took place between 1854 and 1856, primarily on the Crimean Peninsula in today’s Ukraine. Imperial Russia had for some time been exhibiting expansionist ambitions which were threatening established trade routes to India. Under what was perceived as a veiled attempt to further these ambitions, Russia invaded parts of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Britain, France, and eventually Sardinia joined Turkey and declared war on Imperial Russia.
The 42nd Royal Highland Regiment of Foot, more commonly known as The Black Watch, landed at Kalamita Bay in the Crimea in September1854, as part of the Highland Brigade, 1st Division, of the English Army of the East. Their battle honours include Alma, and the Siege of Sevastopol.
The snuff mull in this photograph is the head shoulders and horns of a ram, and is about two feet square. It currently rests in a fine case in The Black Watch Museum, Perth, Scotland, where we found it. It was originally in the 42nd Regiment Officers’ Mess, and contained snuff in the round silver jeweled tray on its top between the horns. There was a ritual-like ceremony attached to the snuff use that each officer was bound by mess tradition to follow.
According to the Black Watch Museum records, this particular mull was brought to the Crimea by the Highland officers to be used in their mess, but upon arrival, they found no source for proper snuff. Thus, the commanding officer used the snuff mull as an inkpot. On close examination you can see the ink stains inside the round tray on top of the mull.
After the war, the mull was lost. It literally disappeared for 75 years. It was found under odd, but interesting circumstances. There is now a silver plate added on the front of the snuff mull which reads: “This Black Watch snuff mull was discovered in a saleroom by H.M. Queen Mary who presented it to the Black Watch in 1932.”
Thus, this superb artefact found its way to its rightful home, and I found an amazing story to attach to my photograph of this noble creature. There’s something endearing about the way he is looking at you – almost as though he’s looking across the ages.
Page from Corporal D's Diary - Crimean War
A good friend of mine, the Archivist NCO of the Scots Guards, Wellington Barracks, London, and I are working on publishing the hand-written diary of a Scots Fusilier Guards corporal (who will merely be called “D” until we publish), who was in the Crimean War (1854-1856). It is an amazing document.
Usually ‘other ranks’ diaries, which are scarce to begin with, are in quite poor English and almost impossible to read … no capitals or too many, no periods between sentences, sentence fragments, no commas, bad tenses, and atrocious spelling. This soldier was the opposite. He was educated, and had a meticulous hand. His writing is legible, even delicate, and grammatically better than most officer diaries I have seen.
We are typing it out as accurately as possible, and adding footnotes to explain such entries as, “Some of the Bashi Bazouks came by…” (The Bashi Bazouks – which literally means ’damaged heads’ – were irregular Turkish cavalry fighting against the Russians. They were recruited from the gutters, badly led, unreliable, and very willing to run when the heat was on. However, on those rare occasions when they did actually engage the enemy, they were reputed to be impressive.)
It is also always interesting to read what was written at the time the battles of the Crimean War were fought, a primary source. Hopefully, we will be able to publish this diary within a year – It deserves to be read.
Bashi Bazouks
Bashi Bazouk Chief
Black Bashi Bazouk
The 2010 calendar is rapidly filling up. I have over the past month or so been gathering dates for various lectures and author events. The entire list will be posted on my web site soon, but it isn’t complete yet.
The year is filled with exciting events, including book signings, book fairs, talks at various collectors groups and Civil War Round Tables, a photography project at the Gettysburg National Park, a book tour in the United Kingdom (May 1 – 16), and taking part in the Gettysburg Festival (June 18-27). In addition, Civil War Round Tables have asked that I present my most recent talk, “Relax Men, It’s Only the President! – Lincoln’s Approach to Personal Security,” on several dates in 2011.
Follow Me to Glory - The Crimean War
The Gettysburg Conspiracy - The American Civil War and Abraham Lincoln
Crimean Memories: Artefacts of the Crimean War
I’m looking forward to two full years of book promotion, rich with opportunities to talk to folks about the Crimean War, the American Civil War, Gettysburg, and Abraham Lincoln. It appears the most difficult part will be finding the time to research and write the third novel in the Ian Carlyle Series, “The Ear Collector,” and work on publishing an extraordinary diary of a Crimean War Scots Fusilier Guards soldier – a project long overdue.
Curling sheets - Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010
So I’m watching Ice Hockey, and it’s the big one … US versus Canada. What a game! I still can’t believe we won, but I’ll damned sure take it. For me it’s almost as much fun as watching Rugby, and in the case of hockey, I can understand why they wear so much padding. Anyway – I’m watching hockey, and they switch on me to “curling.” My first reactions - – - “Giant shuffleboard – come on, get serious – an Olympic sport? Then I began watching it more closely and became mesmerized.
I couldn’t understand much at first, but the air began to clear, and it became very interesting. Of course, being the obsessive that I am, I immediately began researching curling, even as I was looking at it on the telly, and became even more intrigued. Now I have a whole new vocabulary: bump, a slider shoe, free guard zone, hammer, blank end, stealing, a biter, burn, and so many more.
Alas, I know curling has been around in Scotland since like the sixteenth century, in the US since the early 1800s, and an Olympic official sport since 1998, but it never perked my attention until I saw it in the Vancouver Olympic Stadium.
I love learning about new things…at least new to me… Curling – - – who knew?
Lord Abinger seated second row left. Can you identify the others?
A very close friend of mine has given me a challenge, and I am passing it on to you. He sent me the photographic image you see with this blog. It is a group of what appear to be American Civil War officers, one British observer officer (Diced headband on his forage cap), and possibly two other observers or American officers in civilian clothing lying down in front.
My friend is the archivist for the Scots Guards at Wellington Barracks in London. The British chap in the image is Lord Abinger (William F. Scarlett, 3rd Baron Abinger, Lt. Col., Scots Fusilier Guards – former name of the Scots Guards). The image is purported to have been taken at Falmouth, Virginia, in 1863. The challenge is to identify the officers and others in civilian clothing appearing with Lord Abinger in the image.
Can you assist in this worthy cause ?
The Baltimore Plot by Michael Kline
I wrote a few days ago about a plot to kill Lincoln in Baltimore in February 1861. What I failed to mention is a fine book on the subject entitled, oddly enough, “The Baltimore Plot,” by Michael Kline. It was most compelling to me because Kline is an attorney, and approaches the alleged plot from an investigative/intelligence perspective, which you do not see much in history books.
I found the book fascinating and exactly what Michael Kline said it was – - an in-depth investigative look at circumstantial evidence surrounding the possibility of a plot. As a former investigator myself, I found Kline’s methodology, analysis, and information gathering both interesting and thorough.
He admits that his analysis is rather circumstantial, as there are no witnesses to interview, there are no confessions, and written documents differ and contradict. What Kline did was very much like what is done in the intelligence community today when analyzing bits and pieces of unsubstantiated data from sources of varying reliability. Kline does a masterful job of pulling those bits and pieces together to make reasonable inferences and conclusions.
Other than going back in time, as I’m certain Kline (and I) would love to do, his analysis is as good as it gets. I personally agree that there is a high probability of a plot having existed, and who the perpetrators were
I recommend the book to anyone interested in Lincoln, the causes and political machinations of the Civil War, or anyone who wants to view an excellent word picture of those turbulent times.
Typical photo shoot set up in confined area
I spent much of today getting my camera equipment ready for a photo shoot coming up soon for a good friend, Keith Rocco, a fine historical artist. This means making certain cameras are clean, loaded, and with charged batteries. It also involves cleaning and checking out lenses, exposure meters, lights, backdrop stands, and various other photographic paraphernalia.
This may sound strange, but doing so invariably reminds me of the cleaning and checking out process with weapons and the equipment needed for a military operation or a law enforcement raid of some kind. In my past I’ve done both.
I find guns and cameras a captivating contrast, with interesting similarities. When I was in the military, and later in law enforcement, checking your weapons and equipment was essential to survival. They had to be checked and checked again to be certain, if needed, they would be available and properly functioning. If you had to use a gun, however, the outcome was hardly creative. The results were more distructive.
In photography, your equipment still has to be available and functioning, but the end result is quite different. Rather than possibly destroying something or hurting someone, you are creating images people might enjoy or use productively.
It is the professional tasks of cleaning and functionally checking the tools of your trade where I find interesting contrasts and similitudes. In the long run, I find what I am doing now in photography a more personally satisfying end result – - – but, then, in the past, I wouldn’t have wanted to run into a bad guy in a dark alley when all I had was a camera 
Sunny - Before the snows came.
The snow in Gettysburg has kept me away from the stable where I board my horse. Sunny, a bright-eyed Appaloosa, was inside all this time, a prisoner in his stall – unable to run or play with his best friend, Teddy, a sleek Arabian, in the 40 – 50 inches of snow covering the outdoor ring and paddocks. I knew he would be well cared for at my stable, but felt serious guilt anyway for “neglecting him.
He must be missing me terribly, I thought – lonely, morose, moping about like a lost soul. So today I finally made my way out there, expecting that Sunny might be a bit peeved at my neglect, expecting him to be somewhat hyper after his long confinement, but also thinking how happy he’d be to see me.
Imagine my chagrin, when I found Sunny well-groomed, hooves clean as a whistle, well-fed, warm as toast in the heated barn in his clean stall, and not particularly caring whether I was there or not. Now Sunny is a fairly new horse to me. He has only been mine for six months or so. We’re still getting to know one another, but yet I expected him to be waiting to see me with open affection. This was not to be.
After I stroked him a while, and whispered softly in his ear, he did begin to nudge and niggle at my sleeve. Ah ha, he did miss me. That is what I was thinking until it dawned on me he simply wanted a treat. Yes, there I was, a mere “pez dispenser,” on hand for Sunny’s pleasure, and a slave to his hungry eyes. I was, as you might imagine, very satisfied with the wonderful care he was receiving, but at the same time frustrated that I was not more needed by this great animal I have learned to love…ah well.
I know that Sunny and I are a new match, and I know that there’ll come a time when our relationship will go beyond my being the big human who grooms him, gets on his back, makes him work, then gives him a treat for his trouble. But, alas, I fear my attachment for Sunny is moving much faster than his for me … other than those pez’s … which are in reality an apple or a carrot. Right now I’m satisfied that he knows I’m in charge, which makes it safer when I ride him, but the rest will take more time.
In the hope of speeding that bond along, I groomed him, threw my western saddle gently on his back, and rode him for the first time in many days in the indoor arena. I did some ground work to settle him down. This is a sweet horse – spirited, but sweet. He was hyper from being cooped up a while, but nonetheless responsive, and was being a joy to ride – to a point. He was fine until I tried a little jog – opps!
I was told by the amazed on-lookers that it was a joy to watch. With huge smiles they saw Sunny bunny-hopping across the arena, with me fast in the saddle, but hopping up and down with him just like an old western movie … and a bad one at that. He settled down, and I thanked him for the invigorating ride with a pat on his neck and a few whispered words. He snorted a patient approval of my staying on his back, as if to say, “OK, you passed.” We continued to work the arena, and it was a great ride, if not a close and personal bonding experience.
I’ll keep at it, and I’ll try not to worry about him at the stable pining away without me. Mostly, I’ll continue to reach out for that bonding I know will come in time, at his own speed, when I can graduate from Pez Dispenser to senior partner and faithful friend.
