March 2015

Fort Concho Museum
March 2015
Non Profit Org.
Fort Concho Dispatch
U.S. Postage
Paid
San Angelo, Texas
Permit No. 60
National Historic Landmark
630 South Oakes
San Angelo, Texas 76903
Sgt. Major’s Desk
SEND TO:
“ Too many people spend money they
haven't earned to buy things they
don't want, to impress people
They don't like.”
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Questions and comments can be directed to the above personnel by calling Fort Concho at —
325-657-4443 or 325-657-4444.
E-mail—[email protected]//WEB:: www.fortconcho.com
The Fort Concho Dispatch may also be viewed on our website.
Look for us on Facebook.
Sic Semper Tyrannis
Robert Bluthardt……….….Sgt.Major//Site Manager
Christopher Morgan….…Ordnance//Quartermaster//Artillery//Education
Paul Cook……………………..…Staff Liaison//Buffalo Soldiers//Stable Sgt.
Cory Robinson…………….…Staff Liaison//Cavalry//Baseball
King Walker…..….……..…...Sgt//Company F, 16th
Ron Perry………...………..….…1st Sgt//Company D, 4th
Rick Brown……………………...1st Sgt//Company A, 10th
Will Rogers
Upcoming Events
March 13-15//Ladies LH Conference
Fort Concho
March 27-28//Fort McKavett
April 10-11//Fort Richardson
Jacksboro, Texas
April 25//Frontier Day
Fort Concho
May 1-2//Fort Chadbourne
Bronte, Texas
Our great thanks to ALL troops who took
part in the annual Stock Show and Rodeo Parade on Saturday, February 14. We put together one of the largest groups in twenty
years. Our friends at Fort Chadbourne sent
some cavalry to join our cavalry; we had a
color guard from the ASU ROTC at Angelo
State University who donned our reproduction
infantry dress uniforms of the 1870s; our Buffalo Soldiers attended and we had a big contingent of the 16th Infantry, supplemented by the
Youth Military Heritage Program. And we had
several civilian participants. In all, we fielded
thirty-five in 1800s attire. Mayor Dwain Morrison was pleased to lead our entry on foot and
Council member Charlotte Farmer and a new
family member rode in the wagon. Thank you
all!!! We call to your attention a new living history event to be held in Richards Park in
Brady, Texas on Friday and Saturday, April 17
and 18, hosted by the McCullough County
Historical Commission. Called “ McCullough
County Early Days”, the event organizers have
planned for two days of living history camps,
firing and riding demonstrations, period baseball, Native American crafts and dances and as
they always say, much, much more. Free
breakfast and lunch both days. Wood and water available on site. The event will be dedicated to long-time re-enactor and former
McCullough County Historical Commission
Chair and area resident, Greg Hector, who
passed away last year. The organizers will be
mailing out and making available on line a registration packet. We hope to see you there.
( continued on page 2 )
( continued from page 1 ) Meanwhile, our March calendar sees events at Fort Clark on the 6th and
7th; the Ladies Living History Conference on the 13th to the 15th; a Texas Rangers memorial dedication at Fort Chadbourne on the 21st ( at 1pm ); and the annual Fort McKavett event of the 27th
and 28th. Shake off the winter doldrums and attend one or more. Fort Worth’s annual Frontier
Forts in the historic Stockyards will occur on May 8 and 9. Always good food and hospitality and
many wisitors to whom you can interpret and promote your site and program. Thank you for your
service; see you on the grounds and across the territory.
The best darn cookie ( EVER)
2 cups Butter
Measure oatmeal and blend in a blender to a fine powder.
4 cups Flour
Cream the butter and both sugars.
2 tspns Baking Soda
Add eggs and vanilla.
2 cups Sugar
Mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder and baking soda
5 cups blended Oatmeal
Add chocolate chips, grated Hershey Bar and nuts.
24 oz Chocolate Chips
Roll into 1 inch balls and place 2-inches apart on a cookie sheet
2 cups packed Brown Sugar
Bake for 10 minutes at 375 or until golden-brown.
1 tspn Salt
Hide some for yourself cuz they wont last long.
1 ( 8-oz ) Hershey Bar ( grated )
4 large Eggs
2 tspns Vanilla
3 cups chopped Nuts ( your choice )
Presidential Trivia: William Howard Taft
was the 27th president of the United States. He was
born on September 15, 1857 near Cincinnati, Ohio.
Taft attended Woodward High School in Cincinnati
and later attended Yale College where he was a member
of the Linonian Society, a literary and debating chapter
of the Psi Epsilon fraternity. He was given the nickname
“ Big Lub “ because of his size while he was Yale's
heavyweight wrestling champion. Taft graduated Yale
second in his class in 1878. He then attended Cincinnati
Law School , graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in
1880. Taft married his longtime sweetheart, Helen Horron, in 1886. In 1904, Roosevelt appointed Taft as Secretary of War. On September 29, 1906, Taft became
the Provisional Governor of Cuba while US troops were
there to restore order during the revolt by General Enrique Loyanz del Castillo. Taft won the 1908 election
against William Jennings Bryan, handing him his third
defeat at a presidency. He was the first president to
throw the first ball of the baseball season, beginning a
tradition that continues today. The game was between the Washington Senators and the Philadelphia
Athletics with the Senators winning 3-0. Taft was a big man at over 330 pounds and he once got stuck
in the White House bath tub and required six aides to pull him free. The tub was replaced with one
large enough to hold four men. He suffered from hypertension with a blood pressure over 200.
Within a year of leaving office he lost over 80 pounds and his blood pressure dropped by 50 points.
Undoubtedly, this weight loss extended his life. He also suffered from sleep apnea and often dozed
off during conversations. Taft was the first president to own a car and he converted the White House
stables into a garage. He also kept a cow named Pauline at the White House to provide him with
fresh milk. Taft was tone deaf and had to be nudged whenever the national anthem was played and
he was the last president to sport facial hair. In 1909, Taft and the president of Mexico, Porfirio Diaz
planned a summit in El Paso, Texas, an historic first meeting between the two countries leaders and
the first time an American president would cross the border into Mexico. This meeting was done to
help secure Diaz’s eighth run at the presidency of Mexico and to protect the multi billion dollars of
American investments there. On October 16, the day of the summit, Frederick Bunham, head of
security and Private C R Moore, a Texas Ranger, discovered a man with a hidden palm pistol standing at the El Paso Chamber of Commerce building along the procession route. They captured and
disarmed the man within a few feet of Diaz and Taft. In his bid for re-election in 1912, Taft only received 8 electoral votes, the worst defeat of an incumbent president seeking re-election. On July 11,
1921, Taft became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the only president to do so and the only former president to swear in a president ( Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover ). Five weeks after retiring as Chief Justice, William Howard Taft died on March 8, 1930 and became the first president to
be buried in Arlington National Cemetery and the only Chief Justice to get a state funeral.
Gras Fusil modele 1874
The Gras was an single-shot 11
mm caliber rifle with an overall
length of 51 inches. It weighed
over 9 pounds and was the first
metallic-cartridge bolt-action rifle
utilized by the French army. The
Gras was manufactured in response to the development of a
metallic cartridge designed by
Colonel Boxer in 1866 and the
British 1870 Martini-Henry rifle.
The Gras ‘ design employed the
same basic design as the earlier
Chassepot rifle but with significant differences to utilize a metallic
cartridge as opposed to a consumable one. Like the Chassepot, the
Gras had no safety, French orthodoxy being that rifles would be
loaded and fired on command. The 11mm cartridge was a bottlenecked type which contained a 90 grain charge of black powder
that propelled a 386 grain, paper-patched bullet to 1,493 fps and
the muzzle energy of 1,903 foot pounds. This was on par with the
Martini-Henry but better than the German Mauser and the Austrian Werndl. Four basic models of
the Gras were manufactured; the Infantry Fusil, the Carabine de Cavalerie, the Gendarmerie a Pied
and the Mousqueton. The bolt of the cavalry carbine and the Artillery Mousqueton had turned
down bolts as opposed to the straight bolt of the Fusil. With the exception of the cavalry-carbine, the
Gras could be fitted with the 20.5 inch-bladed Model 174 epee bayonet with a wooden grip or the
earlier brass-handled Chassepot yataghan. 400,000 Gras rifles were produced and were used by several countries like Chile, Russia and Greece. The Gras was officially replaced in 1886 by the Lebel
rifle in France but was still in service with the Hellenic army of Greece as late as 1941. France also
converted 146,000 Gras rifles to fire the 8mm Lebel in 1914 and saw use through WW II with a
hodge-podge of units including the Parisian Fire Brigade.
Stock Show and
Rodeo Parade 2015
Ordnance Sergeant
Each military post may have an ordnance sergeant, whose duty it is to take charge of all surplus ordnance at the post. He is enlisted for the position and belongs to the post and is not removed when
the troops are changed. His pay is twenty-two dollars per month, one ration and allowance for clothing. Ordnance sergeants do not belong to the Ordnance Department but to the non-commissioned
staff, unattached of the regiment or post.
131.
131 The Secretary of War selects from the sergeants of the line of the army, who may have faithfully served eight years ( four years in the grade of non-commissioned officer ) as many ordnance
sergeants as the service may require, not exceeding one to each military post.
132.Captains
will report to their Colonels such sergeants as by their conduct and service, merit such
132
appointment, setting forth the description, length of service of the sergeant, the portion of his service he was a non-commissioned officer, his general character as to fidelity and sobriety, his qualifications as a clerk and his fitness for the duties to be performed by an ordnance sergeant. Those reports will be forwarded to the Adjutant-General, to be laid before the Secretary of War.
133.
133 When a company is detached from the headquarters of the regiment, the reports of the commanding officer is this matter will pass to the regimental headquarters through the commanding officer of the post or detachment and be accomplished by his opinion as to the fitness of the candidate.
134.
134 Ordnance sergeants will be assigned to posts when appointed and are not to be transferred to
other stations, except by orders from the Adjutant-General’s office.
135.
135 At the expiration of their term of service, ordnance sergeants may be re-enlisted, provided they
shall have conducted themselves in a becoming manner and performed their duties to the satisfaction of the commanding officer. If the commanding officer however, shall not think proper to reenlist the ordnance sergeant of his post, he will communicate to the Adjutant-General his reasons
for declining to re-enlist him, in time to receive the decision of the War Department before the sergeant may lawfully claim to re-enlist.
136.
136 The officers interested must be aware from the nature of the duties assigned to ordnance sergeants, that the judicious selection of them is of no small importance to the interests of the service;
and that while the law contemplates in the appointment of these non-commissioned officers, the
better preservation of the ordnance and ordnance stores in deposit in the several forts, there is the
further motive of offering a reward to those faithful and well-tried sergeants who have long served
their country and thus giving encouragement to the soldier in the ranks to emulate them in conduct
and thereby secure substantial promotion. Colonels and captains cannot, therefore, be too particular in investigating the characters of the candidates and in giving their testimony as to their merits.
137.
137 The appointment and removal of ordnance-sergeants, stationed at military posts, in pursuance
of the above provisions of the law, shall be reported by the Adjutant-General to the Chief of the
Ordnance Department.
138.
138 When a non-commissioned officer receives the appointment of ordnance-sergeant, he shall be
dropped from the rolls of the regiment or company in which he may be serving at the time.
139.
139 The duty of ordnance sergeants relates to the care of the ordnance, arms, ammunition and
other military stores at the post to which they may be attached, under the direction of the commanding officer and according to the regulations of the Ordnance Department.
140. If a post be evacuated, the ordnance sergeant shall remain on duty at the station, under the direction of the Chief of the Ordnance Department, in charge of the ordnance and ordnance stores
and of such other public property as is not in charge of some officer or agent of other departments;
for which ordnance stores and other property he will account to the chief’s of the proper departments until otherwise directed.
141.
141 An ordnance sergeant in charge of ordnance stores at a post where there is no noncommissioned officer shall be held responsible for the safe-keeping of the property and shall be governed by the regulations of the Ordnance Department in making issues of the same and in preparing
and furnishing the requisite returns. If the means at his disposal are not sufficient for the preservation
of the property, he shall report the circumstances to the Chief of the Ordnance Department.
142.
142 Ordnance sergeants are to be considered as belonging to the non-commissioned staff of the
post, under the orders of the commanding officer. They are to wear the uniform of the Ordnance
Department, with the distinctive badges prescribed for the non-commissioned staff of regiments of
artillery; and they are to appear under arms with the troops at all reviews and inspections monthly
and weekly.
143.
143 When serving at any post which may be the headquarters of a regiment, ordnance sergeants
shall be reported by name on the post returns and mustered with the non-commissioned staff of the
regiment; and at all other posts they shall be mustered and reported in some company stationed at
the post at which they serve; be paid on the muster-roll and be charged with the clothing and all
other supplies previously received from any officer of the company for the time-being. Whenever the
company may be ordered from the post, the ordnance sergeant will be transferred to the rolls of any
remaining company, by the order of the commanding officer of the post.
Ordnance sergeants cannot be reduced to the ranks by sentence of a court-martial; but they can be
discharged from service. The cannot, however be tried by a garrison court-martial, except by special
permission of the department commander.
( 1865 Customs of Service for NonNon-Commissioned Officers and Soldiers )