Memorial Day 2009

Today, after singing the Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America at the at the Canton, Michigan Memorial Day ceremony, I made my annual trip to Clarenceville Cemetery in Livonia, Michigan to place a flag and memorial on the grave of my hero, my Great Great Grandfather Abner Delos Austin, in whose honor I created this blog.

God bless all of our American heroes.

"Faded Coat of Blue" Now Available!

At long last, the first song on my new CD, "Daughter of the 24th Michigan" has been released. The song is available for purchase now at iTunes, Amazon.com, CDFreedom.com, and NimbitMusic.com, and will be available soon at Rhapsody, Napster, Livewire, Groupie Tunes, and eMusic.

In the meantime, you can click below to listen in streaming audio.



I was inspired to record this song after visiting Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in the summer of 2008, during the 145th anniversary of the famous American Civil War battle that took place there on July 1 - 3, 1863. 51,000 Americans were casualties in three days of the bloodiest fighting in our nation's history. This was the place where, as teenage boys, my Great Great Grandfather and his brother fought bravely for the Union and tracing their footsteps across those killing fields had a tremendously profound impact on me. I was struck by the magnitude of their good fortune to have survived yet burned indelibly into my mind were the images of the thousands of those who were not so fortunate ... many of whom still lie in nameless graves.

"Faded Coat of Blue (The Nameless Grave)" was originally written by John Hugh McNaughton in the later days of the Civil War in 1864. The song relates the grief of a mother whose son, a Union solider, has been killed in battle and buried on the field by his comrades. The lyrics of this song will seem to some, at first glance, remarkably maudlin if not downright morbid. But one must understand that this song poignantly reflects an America in mourning and the utter despair that gripped our nation, both north and south, during and after the Civil War.

Walt Whitman said: "Future years will never know the seething hell and the black infernal background of (the Civil War); and it is best they should not — the real war will never get in the books." It is, however, through old songs such as this that we get at least a partial glimpse of what it was like to lose a loved one among the nearly 700,000 dead ... more than all other American wars combined. "Faded Coat of Blue" is not a modern-day songwriter's interpretation of the horrors our ancestors faced as the Civil War was winding to a close. This is THEIR experience in THEIR own words.

"Faded Coat of Blue" was first recorded on January 1, 1928 by Kentucky ballad singer Buell Kazee and was later popularized by The Carter Family, who recorded it for Victor in 1934. However, the Carter version is not the actual "Faded Coat of Blue" that appears in the original 1864 McNaughton composition. Instead, the Carter recording uses the melody from the "Darling Nelly Gray" folksong for the verse and another obscure folk-tune for the chorus.

Most recordings of "Faded Coat of Blue" after 1934 have followed in the tradition of the Carters' version. My version is based on the original composition, with the addition of the final "Long years have vanished" verse that appears in the 1928 Buell Kazee recording. I also added strains of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", a Union rallying tune, in the intro and outro. With my arrangement, I felt it was important to stay true to Mr. McNaughton's postbellum sentiment by including all of the original lyrics but presented within a 21st century musicality that I hope might attract new listeners. Lest we forget: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." (George Santayana, 1905)

Words and Music by John Hugh McNaughton. Copyright 1864 / 1865 Penn and Remington (in the public domain).

Recorded, mixed, and mastered at Daystar Recording Studio, Starke, FL and Snowdog Studio, Canton, MI. Arranged, produced, and engineered by Alex Coleman and Kristina Austin Scarcelli.

Kristina Austin Scarcelli - Lead and Background Vocals, Flute
Alex Coleman - Piano, Guitars, Bass and Drums

(Verse 1)
My brave lad, he sleeps in his faded coat of blue
In a lonely grave unknown lies the heart that beat so true
He sank faint and hungry among the famish'd brave
And they laid him sad and lonely within his nameless grave

(Verse 2)
He cried, "Give me water and just one little crumb
And my mother she will bless you through all the years to come
Oh! tell my sweet sister, so gentle, good and true
That I'll meet her up in heaven, in my faded coat of blue"

(Chorus 1)
No more the bugle calls the weary one
Rest, noble spirit in thy grave unknown
I'll find you and know you among the good and true
When a robe of white is given for your faded coat of blue

(Verse 3)
He said, "My dear comrades, you cannot take me home,
But you'll mark my grave for mother, she'll find me if she come,
I fear she'll not know me among the good and true
When I meet her up in heaven in my faded coat of blue."

(Verse 4)
No dear one was nigh him to close his sweet blue eyes
And no gentle one was by him to give him sweet replies
No stone marks the lonely sod o'er my lad, so brave and true
In his lonely grave he sleeps in his faded coat of blue

(Chorus 2)
No more the bugle calls the weary one
Rest, noble spirit in thy grave unknown
I'll find you and know you among the good and true
When a robe of white is given for your faded coat of blue

(Verse 5)
Long years have vanished, and though he comes no more
Yet my anxious heart will start with each footfall at my door
I gaze at the hilltop where he waved his last adieu
But no gallant lad I see, in his faded coat of blue

(Chorus 3)
No more the bugle calls the weary one
Rest, noble spirit in thy grave unknown
I'll find you and know you among the good and true
When a robe of white is given for your faded coat of blue

Source: Lyle Lofgren, "Inside Bluegrass", August 1998

Happy Birthday, President Lincoln!

"This dust was once the Man,
Gentle, plain, just and resolute—under whose cautious hand,
Against the foulest crime in history known in any land or age,
Was saved the Union of These States."

-- Walt Whitman

This past weekend, we attended the 200th Birthday Party for President Abraham Lincoln at the Plymouth Historical Museum in Plymouth, Michigan. Also attending with President and Mrs. Lincoln were Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Michigan Senator Jacob Howard, Mr. Lincoln's Honor Guard of Union soldiers, and even a Rebel. Here are just a few of the pictures we took.

Fife and drum play for President Lincoln's birthday.

Taking a Rebel prisoner.

Marching the prisoner off to the stockade.

Johnny Reb and Billy Yank sharing a laugh.

President Lincoln chatting with some young fans.

President Lincoln giving his famous Gettysburg Address.

Chaplain Mike Gillett, Michigan Senator Jacob Howard, me, and President Abraham Lincoln. Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

24th Michigan Volunteer Infantry exhibit.

Photos of various soldiers from Company C, 24th Michigan Volunteer Infantry.

Austin Families Association of America Features Abner Delos Austin

Today I received word that the Austin Families Association of America has featured Abner Delos Austin's life story on the front page of its December 2008 newsletter. It is a tremendous honor and I am extremely grateful.

On behalf of all of Abner's descendants, my sincerest thanks to Alice Austin Martin, Jim Carlin, and the rest of the AFAOA directors for making this possible!

Movies to Love - "The Colt" (2005)

Now, I am not usually one to cry at movies, but "The Colt" got me big time. Put a big-eyed, helpless, baby animal in a Civil War movie about my ancestor's cavalry brigade, and I don't stand a chance of finishing it with a dry eye.

This somewhat obscure little gem is a real must-see for any Civil War buff, but especially those from Michigan. The scene not to be missed (and I promise there is no spoiler alert warranted but, perhaps, a tear-jerker alert) is when the main character, private James Rabb of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade, gets separated from his unit behind enemy lines. When some Virginia Unionists ask him where he's from, he tells them, "I come from Michigan ... a long ways away from here." When he's asked to tell them about his home, Rabb says, "I can't expect I'd rather live anywhere else," and tries to describe what Michigan is like but ... just can't quite get the all the words out before he breaks down and cries. Uggggggghhh, too much for my heart to take!!!

Check out the trailer below, which really doesn't do the film justice. Do yourself a favor and spend the whopping $2 plus shipping it will cost to order the DVD from Amazon.com and watch the whole movie.



Be prepared to offer up just the tiniest suspension of disbelief here and there with this one but, trust me, it's well worth it. And have the tissues handy!!!

Charles W. Austin - Company A, 5th Michigan Cavalry

When my Great Great Great Grandparents, John Delos (1807 – 1851) and Anna (1813 – 1851) Austin died during the 1851 Detroit cholera epidemic, their two sons, seven-year-old Charles and five-year-old Abner, were orphaned and separated. Charles was taken in by John and Catharine Osmun of Groveland near Waterford, Michigan, who raised him as a son. He was never legally adopted by the Osmuns, however, and retained his birth name.

Charles W. Austin, my Great (3x) Uncle, enlisted at Waterford, Michigan on August 16, 1862 at the age of seventeen. In his military records, Charles was described as being 5’7” tall and weighing 145 lbs. And -- just like his younger brother, Abner (my Great Great Grandfather) -- Charles had brown hair, a light complexion, and gray eyes.

Charles was a private in Company A of the Fifth Michigan Cavalry, part of the Michigan Cavalry Brigade under the command of flamboyant, young Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer. Custer's Wolverines comprised the most famous cavalry brigade of the Civil War, which performed a central role in some of the Civil War’s most important battles. It suffered the heaviest casualties of any Union cavalry brigade.

The 5th Michigan Cavalry regimental flag photographed during a trip with my parents to the Detroit Historical Museum in April of 1979.

Charles Austin was mustered in on August 26, 1862, and saw action in crucial fighting during the Battle of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. He was wounded on July 8, 1863 at the Battle of Boonsboro, Maryland when he was struck in the right side by piece of enemy shell. He suffered three broken ribs and the total destruction of his Hunter Case pocket watch, which took the direct hit of the shrapnel. As eyewitnesses to the event would later report, Charles’s pocket watch undoubtedly saved his life. The force of the blow rendered him unconscious and he was carried from the field by his comrades, who leaned him against a large oak tree and revived him. As Charles was awaiting an ambulance, he insisted that his horse be located so that he could ride out with his company, which he did the very next day.

A very young Federal Cavalry private ... perhaps an indication of what young Charles might have looked like. (Image source unknown.)

Despite his injuries, Charles continued to see action at numerous campaigns including Brandy Station and the Wilderness and, at some point later, also suffered a saber wound to his right rib cage very near the location of his earlier injury. Yet, he pressed on and was with his company during the largest and bloodiest all-cavalry battle of the Civil War at Trevilian Station, Virginia on June 11, 1864, where he was captured by the Confederates. (For an animated slideshow about the Battle of Trevilian Station, please click here.)

According to Federal prisoner of war records, Charles W. Austin was confined at Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia on June 20, 1864 and sent to Andersonville prison on June 21, 1864. Interestingly, a subsequent muster out roll also indicates specifically that he was a “prisoner at Florence, Ala” at some point in time as well. Additionally, a pension file medical report dated December 3, 1885, relates that Charles “says he was ten months in Florence and Andersonville prisons.”

"Come On You Wolverines" by Don Troiani, depicting George Armstrong Custer leading the charge of his Michigan Cavalry Brigade. (Used with permission.)

Charles was paroled by the Confederates at Northeast (N.E.) Ferry, North Carolina on February 26, 1865 and was returned to Federal authorities on March 10, 1865 at Camp Chase, Ohio, at which time he was granted a 30-day furlough. Despite his failing health after ten months as a prisoner of war, Charles took this opportunity to travel home to Michigan. While there, he was admitted to Harper U.S. Army General Hospital in Detroit on April 8, 1865. Army Surgeon W. A. Chandler sent a report to the commanding officer of Camp Chase indicating that Charles would be unable to return to his station for a minimum of 10 days due to illness.

After his health improved, Charles reported back to Camp Chase, Ohio on May 3, 1865 but on May 13, 1865, he was transferred to Tripler General Hospital in Columbus, Ohio as a “convalescent from another hospital.”

After serving three years and nine months, Private Charles W. Austin was honorably discharged at Tripler Hospital on May 25, 1865 at age twenty. He was mustered out on June 22, 1865 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Later, in his pension records, Charles was described as "a good soldier and ready for duty."

After the war, Charles returned to the home of his foster parents, John and Catharine Osmun in Groveland near Waterford, Michigan, where he remained until the fall of 1866. In an 1887 pensioner’s affidavit, Catharine Osmun reported that the strong and able-bodied boy that left for the army had returned home very much disabled from war wounds and prison life. She stated that during the year after his return, he suffered constantly and that she “doctored him” back to health as best she could: “being, as it were, one of my family, he having lived with me since he was seven years old.”

Charles married Laura A. Downing (b. September 17, 1848) of Holly, Michigan on July 4, 1867 at age 22. The couple was married by Reverend J.R. Haskins at Fentonville, Michigan. They had one son, Frederick D., born on October 20, 1868. The family lived in Flint, Michigan for 35 years, where they attended the Court Street Methodist Episcopal Church. Charles was a charter member of the Gov. Crapo Post No. 145 of the Grand Army of the Republic and the National League of Veterans and Sons.

After battling illness for a year, Charles W. Austin passed away on June 1, 1908 at his home on Lapeer Street in Flint, Michigan at the age of 64. Laura died on March 10, 1912.

Fred Austin married Lola E. Austin (maiden name unknown) and the couple had a daughter, Mamy (September 9, 1891 – January 13, 1893), who died in infancy. Fred passed away May 25, 1906 at the age of 37.

Charles W., Laura A., Fred, and Mamy Austin are buried in Avondale Cemetery in Flint, Michigan overlooking the National Guard Armory.

Charles's younger brother, Abner Delos Austin, enlisted at Redford, Michigan on August 2, 1862 at the age of sixteen. He was a private in Company I of the 24th Michigan Infantry, part of the famous Iron Brigade of the West, also known as the Black Hats. The Black Hat Brigade was well known on both sides as being among the Federal army's best fighters and, just like the Michigan Cavalry Brigade, it performed a central role in some of the Civil War’s most important battles. It suffered the heaviest casualties of any infantry brigade -- north or south -- in the Civil War. To read my Great Great Grandfather Abner Delos Austin's story, please click here or use the link bearing his name on the right.

Family legend has it that Charles and Abner Austin, brothers orphaned and separated as small children and who, as teenage boys, fought side-by-side without even knowing it during the bloodiest battle in American history, were never reunited until late in life, when they discovered one another’s names on Civil War pension rolls. While this has never been documented, it is our hope that Charles and Abner were indeed able to find one another before they died. It is ironic to consider that the Civil War, which tore countless American families apart, could be singularly responsible for bringing this particular family back together again.

Update on Charles W. Austin of the 5th Michigan Cavalry

Charles's pension file arrived this week and, just as I suspected, it was a wealth of information. The pension affidavits read like short stories of his Civil War service. Absolutely fascinating. And yes, he indeed was at Andersonville.

My two Austin boys have such amazing stories ... and to have ancestors that served with two of the most celebrated units in the Civil War ... I feel very fortunate. Especially since they both survived to tell their tales.

I'm putting together a narrative of everything I have learned to date about Charles and will be posting it soon.

First my Gettysburg reenactment DVD and now THIS. It was been a GREAT week!!