bucktails

Pennsylvania played a key role during the Civil War.It was a state that had the most of the would be bleeding hearts of the republican dream.below is one of my early conversions, just add the bucktail. In reality they treated their free workers worse than the Southern slave. In the bucktail state you were free to die of fatique or hunger, thats what freedom was in the North.in short like the Neo Lib of present day the scum of the earth.below miniature minion bucktails
 The industrial enterprise and natural resources were essential factors in the economic strength of the northern cause. The railroad system, iron and steel industry, and agricultural wealth were vital to the war effort. 
The shipbuilders of Pennsylvania, led by the famous Cramp Yards, contributed to the strength of the navy and merchant marine, including the Civil War's first submarine, Alligator, was built at the Neafie & Levy Shipyard in 1861-1862. Thomas Scott, as Assistant Secretary of War, directed telegraph and railway services. Engineer Herman Haupt directed railroad movement of troops. Jay Cooke helped finance the Union cause, and Thaddeus Stevens was an important congressional leader.

Administration of military affairs during the war was directed by two Pennsylvanians: first by Simon Cameron, who resigned his seat in the U. S. Senate to become President Lincoln's first Secretary of War; he was succeeded by Edwin M. Stanton of Pittsburgh.

A total of 427,286 Pennsylvanians served in the Union forces, including 8,600 African-American volunteers.  This number includes enlistees responding to President Lincoln's calls for Volunteers for the Union army, recruits, drafted men, substitutes, and recruits for the regular U. S. Army for a total of 362,284 men. Adding the 25,000 Pennsylvania militia men who were called out in 1862, brings the grand total to 387,284 men, who served in 270 regiments and several detached companies of the Volunteer Army. Adding the 40,002 Pennsylvanians who enlisted in the United States Navy raises the total to 427,286.

Three days after the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter, President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling out the militia of several States. abve is a boer rider from my collection but easily convertible as a reb or union irregular, its in metal.

Later that same day, Governor Andrew G. Curtin received a telegram from the Secretary of War requesting that Pennsylvania provide 16 regiments, and 2 regiments were wanted within 3 days. A sudden dash upon the Capital was strongly threatened, and the city was entirely unprotected. Five militia companies were called up and sent immediately to Washington. These companies later became known as "The First Defenders" because they were the first military units to reach the Nation's Capitol.
President Lincoln's initial call for 16 regiments of volunteers was answered by 25 regiments. In May 1861, the Assembly, at Governor Andrew G. Curtin's suggestion, created the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps of 15 regiments enlisted for three years' service. They were mustered into the Army of the Potomac after the first Battle of Bull Run, and thousands of other Pennsylvanians followed them. Camp Curtin at Harrisburg was one of the major troop concentration centers of the war. Admiral David D. Porter opened the Mississippi and Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren made innovations in ordnance which greatly improved naval fire power. Army leaders from Pennsylvania were numerous and able, including such outstanding officers as George B. McClellan, George G. Meade, John F. Reynolds, Winfield S. Hancock, Andrew A. Humphreys, John White Geary, David McMurtrie Gregg, and John F. Hartranft.
Pennsylvania had forty-eight general officers and fourteen commanders of armies and corps, namely:  George Gordon Meade, (below another Conversion of mine)George B. McClellan, Winfield Scott Hancock, John F. Reynolds, Andrew A. Humphreys, David B. Birney, John Gibbon, John Grubb Parke, Henry Morris Naglee, Charles Franklin Smith, Goerge Cadwalader, Samuel G. Crawford, Samuel Peter Heintzelman, and William Buel Franklin. Generals David McMurtrie Gregg and Benjamin H. Grierson were distinguished cavalry commanders, Washington L. Elliott was chief of cavalry in the Army of the Cumberland, and commanded a department. Admiral David D. Porter, the heroic naval commander, was a native of Chester. Galusha Pennypacker, of Chester County, was the youngest general in either army during the war. Born June 1, 1844, he was only 20 when appointed Brevet Brigadier General U. S. Volunteers on January 15, 1865; Brigadier General U. S. Volunteers on February 18, 1865; and Brevet Major General U. S. Volunteers on March 13, 1865. He led the assault on Fort Fisher and was wounded seven times in eight months.
Private Richard Montgomery of the 155th Pennsylvania Volunteers was the last enlisted man killed in the fighting in Virginia. He was killed at Farmville, on the morning of April 9, 1865, shortly before General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant.
Oliver Wilcox Norton of the 83rd Pennsylvania Volunteers, a Brigade bugler, assisted General Daniel Butterfield modify the Infantry bugle call for Lights Out, thereby creating the hauntingly beautiful "Taps".
Pvt. William Henry Christman, Company G, 67th Pennsylvania Infantry, was the first military service man interred in Arlington National Cemetery on May 13, 1864. Pvt. William Blatt, 49th Pennsylvania Infantry, was the first battle casualty interred at Arlington on Saturday, May 14, 1864.   Pvt. William H. McKinney, age 17, of the 17th Pennsylvania Cavalry was also interred on Friday, May 13, 1864. He was the first soldier to have family present at his funeral.
Seven commissioned officers of Company C of the 148th Pennsylvania Volunteers were killed in the line of duty---more than any other company in the Union Army.
The 6th United States Colored Troops, recruited in Pennsylvania and trained at Camp William Penn, lost 62 percent of its men during an assault on New Market Heights near Richmond in 1864. Two of its members received the Medal of Honor for gallantry.^*The 13th Pennsylvania Reserves, the "Bucktail Regiment,"was recruited in the timbering counties of northwestern Pennsylvania. The Bucktails sported white-tailed deer tails on their caps as a symbol of their skilled markmanship.^{*most of the models here are my creations or my painted jobs, some conversions and some fuck ups like the starlux rider}
In the western theater, the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry, assigned to the Army of the Cumberland, was the only eastern cavalry participating in Sherman's March to the Sea.

de Lesseps

Ferdinand de Lesseps was born on 19 November 1805 into a family of French career-diplomats. He went into the same profession, and during his early career was posted to Tunisia and Egypt. In Egypt, he became friends with Said Pasha, son of the viceroy. De Lesseps became fascinated with the cultures of the Mediterranean and Middle East and the growth of western European trade. After postings to Spain and Italy, in 1849 he retired after a disagreement with the French government. In 1854, his friend Said Pasha became the new viceroy of Egypt. De Lesseps immediately returned to Egypt, where he was given a warm welcome and, soon afterwards, permission to begin work on the Suez Canal. De Lesseps had been inspired by reading about Napoleon's abandoned plans for a canal that would allow large ships wishing to sail to the east to go directly from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, thereby cutting out the long sea journey around Africa.

De Lesseps' scheme was backed by an international commission of engineers, but failed to win the support of the British government, despite de Lesseps making a number of trips to London. He persevered and eventually attracted financial backing from the French emperor Napoleon III and others. De Lesseps was no engineer - his achievement lay in organising the necessary political and financial backing, and providing the technical support necessary for such a huge project. Construction began in April 1859, and the Suez Canal was opened in November 1869. British attitudes changed when the canal was seen to be a success and de Lesseps was treated as a great celebrity on his subsequent visit to Britain. In 1875, the Egyptian government sold its shares in the canal and the British prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, bought effective control of the Canal Company.

In his 74th year, de Lesseps began to plan a new canal in Panama. In 1879, an international congress was held in Paris, which chose the route for the Panama Canal and appointed de Lesseps as leader of the undertaking. Work began in 1881, but the canal proved much more complicated to build than the Suez Canal. After eight years, little progress appeared to have been made (it was eventually finished in 1914). A French court found de Lesseps and his son Charles guilty of mismanagement. Both were heavily fined and sentenced to imprisonment. In the event, de Lesseps did not go to jail, but his son paid for his elderly father's misjudgements with a year in prison. De Lesseps died on 7 December 1894.

THE ITALIAN PLASTIC SOLDIER COMPANIES

The production of toy soldiers (toy soldiers) in the pulp, plastics and rubber in the years 50-70 was of considerable size, and many firms are geared towards this market segment. We have therefore chosen to illustrate in this site and in the book that follows only the most popular brands and those of which you can find information documented. The peculiarity of the Italian production, as we never tire of emphasizing, is that he has portrayed a variety of subjects (from the Musketeers to western characters inspired by comic books, from science fiction to medieval times, etc..) Products not found in other countries with the exceptionPerhaps the French production.The images you find on the site as representative of the various brands testify to this versatility in the choice of subjects, not just military, and for the materials used for the production of toy soldiers.For each of the companies listed here provide brief information that will be better explained in the text to be published that will contain, where possible, play the catalogs of various brands.NardiThe company operates in Milan from 1946 to 1980, has produced toy soldiers, animals, figures civilians, figurines of the nativity scene and then paste resin and plastic. In the photo below depicts a rider in plaster paste large (12 cm) and another very rare, smaller size plastic like vinyl acetate, sold in the transition period between the production in the pulp and plastic . In the other picture shows a beautiful Indian jumping the obstacle and is probably the finest soldier produced by Nardi for the plasticity of the modeling.
 Rovello PorroThis company that operated in the province of Como, curiously chose as its trademark the name of the country, precisely Rovello Porro, where the production plant was located. The Rovello and Porro, who occasionally reported in the base of the soldier also the initials "AP", has started its activities in the early fifties with pasta and production entities are larger than the usual standard (12cm). The image of the pair of hired guns, Pecos Bill and Calamity Jane, belongs to the production of the sixties soft rubber, while the other image is a Roman centurion struggling with a medieval crossbow is unlikely to prove of great creativity and imagination of the artisans Company.




 DulcopThis company, founded in 1957 in Bologna is still active on the market and in the sixties and seventies has produced an interesting series of different subjects: Tarzan, Zorro, Robin Hood, Napoleon (see photo), Crusaders, the Zoo and of course the usual Indian and cowboys. Special care in the series, sold in cardboard boxes and paper transparent, complete with many accessories.
 FontaniniThe Fontanini, founded in 1908 in Bagni di Lucca, is one of the few companies still in activity between those operating in the period from the fifties to the seventies. Today the company has limited its activities Fontanini the production of plastic figurines of the nativity scene, but during the pre-war soldiers in paste manufactured mainly with subjects relating to the colonial wars (of which an example is seen in the photo) and then the original series in some small size (4 cm) as seen in the other image. All figures of this company are easily identifiable by a mark depicting a spider who was one of the first products made of paper mache.
  ISAS-EUROISASThe company ISAS - EUROISAS is still active on the market, albeit under the name changed Euromarche, and is now specializing in the production of religious articles, nativity scenes and objects. Founded in 1930, is now in its third generation of entrepreneurs and became particularly popular in the fifties for the number of soldiers latex manicured and finished in detail but had the defect to deform when exposed to temperature changes. The astronauts are seen in the photos were in fact produced with this technique. In the other subjects of the image are made visible with a type of compound and then introduced more resistant.
  TorgianoAnother company that operated in Brianza, Saronno, producing toy soldiers and sketches various since the fifties, first with subjects in the semi-flat vinyl acetate, such as the beautiful pirate photographed below. Subsequently, the figures produced Torgiano very similar to those of the German Elastolin, rigid plastic that is flexible plastic. The variety of subjects that followed the first production inspired by the German company, such as pre-Columbian warrior (curiously with a shotgun!) That you can see in the picture.
  CO-MAMilan-based company that manufactured, in the early fifties, toys, pharmaceuticals and stationery items with thermoplastics. The soldiers were generally produced in Bakelite and one of the most popular and sought after series was one of the astronauts and Selenites (shown here) with the wide range of colors and with the characteristic of being transparent or even fluorescent.
 CaneCompany already operating in Bologna in the thirties, it produced terracotta figures of the crib. Typical family run business in the postwar period began the manufacture of plastic toys in the sixties and later began the production of toy soldiers. The image has just two alpine uniforms of World War I, of considerable interest to other series of the Musketeers and the Black Corsair, which will be presented in the forthcoming book.
 APS-TexasThe toy soldiers produced by this company are known among collectors as the "Texas" because they were marked with this symbol. In fact, the corporate brand was: APS-Politoys Texas, and the symbol was added only for those small soft plastic 3-4 cm high. Among the most common subjects of course cowboys and Indians, pirates, aliens, the Italian army. Also notable is the production of wagons for pioneers and pirates on a larger scale and those products with an oval base on which was printed the brand name of a company of butter.
 TibidaboThe only factory soldiers operating in Piedmont since the sixties, alternating productions of wire-guided cars, dashboards and plastic vessels to a diverse range of soldiers. The models are the most beautiful and cared for the series of the centurions and gladiators, very similar to those of the French Clairet, and where you see a medieval knight in the picture.
 

fort stockton

Fort Stockton is located on the east side of stockton town and consists of original and reconstructed military buildings. Today the site includes Officers' Row, Guardhouse, Enlisted Men's Barracks, and the Parade Grounds. There is a visitor's Center at the west side of parade grounds.

The Guard House, one of the first buildings constructed, was completed in 1868.

Military presence began here with the establishment of Camp Stockton in 1858 by troops of the 1st and 8th Infantry, US Army. It was named for Commodore Robert Field Stockton, a naval officer who distinguished himself during the Mexican War. This first site was southwest of the present location, near the present Courthouse.

The post protected travelers and settlers on the numerous roads and trails that made use of the abundant water supply of Comanche Springs. It was here that these trails crossed the Comanche War Trail.

The US Army withdrew from Texas during the Civil War and abandoned Camp Stockton in 1861. Confederate troops briefly occupied the site until they too, withdrew. By the end of the war little remained of this first post. In July 1867, Colonel Edward Hatch, Commander of the 9th Cavalry, re-established Fort Stockton at its present location.

The new fort was garrisoned by four companies of the 9th Cavalry, one of the new regiments created for the black men who sought security in the US Army after the Civil War. These black enlisted men, called "buffalo soldiers" by the Indians, were commanded by white officers.

The post-war fort was occupied for nineteen years (1867-1886). The fort's 960 acres were leased from civilian landowners. An additional 25 acres on Comanche Creek were leased for the fort's garden.

By the early 1880's the "Indian menace" was no longer a threat, and the future of the fort was limited. It was finally abandoned in 1886 as the frontier moved west.

The fort consisted of about 35 buildings. Two of them were built of limestone and the rest were built of adobe. Of the original buildings, only four remain: the Guardhouse and three of the eight Officers' Quarters.

The Guardhouse, one of the first buildings completed, contains jailer's quarters, three solitary confinement cells, and a larger holding cell. A stone set into the south exterior wall is inscribed, "Erected 1868 by Lieut. J.L. Humfreville, Q M" (Quartermaster).

Of the three remaining Officers' Quarters, OQ #7 has been restored to its 1870's appearance. During the restoration, one room was left bare of interior plaster to reveal construction techniques unique to adobe materials.

The City of Fort Stockton is committed to the acquisition, restoration and reconstruction of the Fort. Extensive archeological excavations preceded and documented the reconstruction of the Barracks and their accompanying Kitchen/Mess Halls.

Historic Fort Stockton, listed on the National Register of Historic Sites, is owned by the City of Fort Stockton and managed by the Fort Stockton Historical Society. A support group, Friends of Fort Stockton, assists in fund raising for the continued development of the fort.

Frans Anneessens

Frans Anneessens (Brussels, 1660 - Brussels, 19 September 1719) was a leader of a Brussels guild. He was decapitated on the Grand Place in Brussels, because of his involvement with uprisings within the Austrian Netherlands.

The end of the War of the Spanish Succession saw the Spanish Netherlands be awarded to Austria. In 1716 the Austrians raised new taxes on the Flemish and Brabantian cities to fund the Dutch occupational forces installed by the Barrier Treaty and questioned their old medieval privileges. In 1717 these issues caused riots in Ghent, Antwerp, Mechelen and Brussels. The Italian Marquess de Prié, deputy for the absent governor-general, Prince Eugene of Savoy, suppressed the riots with brute force.

To suppress further rioting and restore order de Prié ordered the arrest of those he saw to be the ringleaders. Frans Anneessens was seen as the most important of these ringleaders and was lured to a business conference with an Austrian colonel to discuss victuals for his regiment. There Anneessens was arrested. Anneessens and four other leaders were kept in confinement for six months. During this period they were denied contact with their family and denied catholic services. On 12 September 1719 Anneessens was condemned to death, the four other guild leaders to perpetual banishment.

On 19 September 1719 Anneessens was to be executed. As the Austrians feared troubles they had forced the priests to remove the rope of the church bells and all major streets and squares were occupied by Austrian soldiery. At 8 o'clock Frans Anneessens was brought from prison, and placed on a cart while bound by his hands and feet. After the reading of the sentence, Anneessens refused to sign it, claiming to be innocent in the eyes of God. He was then brought to the scaffold on the Grand Place where his whig was removed. When Anneesens tried to address the crowd, his words were drowned by drum roffles. The executioner then decapitated the old man with a sword.

After the execution Anneessens body was removed by the Alexian monks and he was buried in the Kapellekerk.

Britains - Herald - Model No' 301 - Khaki Infantry Models Range, circa, 1954, comprising: 5 x Infantrymen in Berets [with full kit & slung steel helmets] at the slope arms [No' 4 Rifle] position. Bases marked with Herald "Made in England" & 1st Issue Trademark. Some minor paint chips otherwise Near Mint overall. Also, From Set No' 4336 [Swoppets Range], comprising: Casualty on Stretcher with Plasma Unit & Medical Chest containing spare Plasma Unit & Stretcher Legs, Near Mint overall. Together with, Herald Infantry [1967 Issues], comprising: 6 x Infantrymen in steel helmets in various combat poses.

When a Britains world Collides

knights

german paras