Death And The Civil War

I just had a chance to watch the PBS documentary Death and the Civil War and I wanted to recommend it to all of you. 

Anyone who has read this blog or has a familiarity with 19th century baseball knows the important role that the Civil War played in the history of the game.  We can disagree about what that role was and how the war impacted the evolution of the game but what is undeniable is the profound effect the war had on the nation.  Inspired by Drew Faust's This Republic of Suffering, Death and the Civil War takes an unique look at this by focusing on the 750,000 men who died in the war and the toll their deaths took on their families and the nation.  It tells an amazing story about how 19th century America thought of and dealt with death and how an infrastructure had to be developed to physically deal with the number of Civil War dead. 

It is extraordinary to realize but the nation was still dealing with the problem of getting the fallen a proper burial well into the 1870s.  Think about the photos you've seen of the dead at Antietam or Gettysburg.  Think about the number of people who died at Vicksburg and Shiloh.  Death and the Civil War tells the story of how the nation dealt with this.  It tells how the families dealt with it emotionally and how the nation dealt with it physically.  It tells us the story of how the soldiers themselves dealt with it.  It's just a fantastic documentary and I encourage you to watch it.

Of course, being who I am, I was thinking about baseball the whole time I was watching it.  I was thinking about Edward Bredell and his father and the story of how Bredell ended up being buried in St. Louis.  I was thinking about all these pioneer baseball players who went off to war and saw the horrors of battle.  I was thinking about how Peter Morris, in But Didn't We Have Fun?, wrote that, when these guys came back home, they simply no longer had time for baseball and moved on with their lives.  I was thinking about the post-war outbreak of baseball fever and how it may have been a reaction to all of the death that the nation had been subjected to.

I've written before about how we need to place 19th century baseball in its proper context and how understanding the history of the Civil War helps us to do that.  I firmly believe that you can not understand the history of baseball in the United States without understanding the history of the Civil War.  In St. Louis, specifically, the origins and early development of the game in the city are intertwined with people and events surrounding the war.  Some of our earliest clubs break-up because of the outbreak of the war.  People like Jeremiah Fruin move to St. Louis because of the war.  People like Merritt Griswold leave St. Louis because of the war.  The development of the Empire Club as the best baseball team in St. Louis is directly tied to the war.

I can not emphasize enough how important it is to put these people and events into their proper context.  The Civil War was the biggest event in these peoples lives and it had a profound impact on them.  Death and the Civil War does a fantastic job of showing how the war changed people.  It shows us how they had to change in order to deal with the terrible events of the war.  And, as a historian, this helps me to understand Edward Bredell, Sr., Jeremiah Fruin, Merritt Griswold and the rest just a a little bit better.

As I said, I encourage you to watch it and I'm certain that you'll enjoy it.                     

More On Bredell's Parole And Exchange

WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington City, December 5, 1863.

Mr. President:  A general summary of the military operations of the past year is furnished by the report of the General-in-Chief, herewith submitted...

Exchanges under the cartel are now stopped, mainly for the following reasons:

First.  At Vicksburg over 30,000 rebel prisoners fell into our hands, and over 5,000 more at Port Hudson.  These prisoners were paroled and suffered to return to their homes until exchanged pursuant to the terms of the cartel.  But the rebel agent, in violation of the cartel, declared the Vicksburg prisoners exchanged; and, without being exchanged, the Port Hudson prisoners he, without just cause, and in open violation of the cartel, declared released from their parole.  These prisoners were returned to their ranks, and a portion of them were found fighting at Chattanooga and again captured.  For this breach of faith, unexampled in civilized warfare, the only apology or excuse was that an equal number of prisoners had been captured by the enemy...

Respectfully submitted.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.

I found Stanton's letter, explaining how the exchange cartel broke down following Vicksburg, in a PDF at the Villages Civil War Study Group website. 

As far as Bredell's situation is concerned, I think we have enough evidence to state that he was captured (or surrendered) at Vicksburg on July 4, 1863, signed his parole form, stating that he would not take up arms against the United States until such time as he was exchanged, that same day and was most likely shipped to Mobile, Alabama, where he arrived no later than the middle of August 1863.  The Confederates then unilaterally declared that he, and the other Vicksburg parolees were exchanged and he was, in the view of his government, free to rejoin the fight. 

The Terms Of Bredell's Parole

I'm trying to figure out how Edward Bredell joined up with Mosby's men because I think it's interesting that this staff officer - a college educated, wealthy, city boy - ended up with one of the most celebrated units of the Civil War, who also happened to have been an extremely tough bunch of hombres.  While, at the moment, I'm not sure how Bredell got from the western theater to the Shenandoah, I have learned a bit more about what happened to him at Vicksburg.

According to the Civil War Prisoner of War Records, 1861-1865, Bredell was captured at Vicksburg on July 4, 1863 and paroled the same day.  U.S. Grant had made an agreement with John Pemberton, the commander of Confederate forces at Vicksburg, that, if Pemberton would surrender the city, Grant would parole all Confederate prisoners.  The rationale behind this was that Grant did not want to be responsible for the care and feeding of 30,000 prisoners of war.  So it appears that most of the Confederate forces were paroled rather quickly, between July 4 and July 8, although I've seen records that the parole regime continued through July 15.  Most of these men were shipped to Mobile, Alabama, and records suggest that they were still arriving in that city in the middle of August 1863.  So Bredell was most likely in Mobile in August.

I made a point earlier this week about the idea that Bredell would have survived the war if he had honored the terms of his parole and then stated that I wasn't exactly certain what those terms were.  I assumed, based on my general knowledge of Civil War-era prisoner paroles, that he had promised not to take up arms against the United States.  But I also think it's possible that he promised not to take up arms again as an officer and that was one of the things that led him to join up with Mosby as an enlisted man.

The image above, that I found at the National Park Service Confederate Parole Records Index, shows the general parole form used at Vicksburg in July 1863.  It states clearly that the paroled prisoner promised to "not take up arms again against the United States, nor serve in any military, police or constabulary force in any Fort, Garrison or field work, held by the Confederate States of America, against the United State of America, nor as guard of any prisons, depots or stores nor discharge any duties usually performed by Officers or soldiers against the United States of America, until duly exchanged by the proper authorities."  One has to assume that Bredell signed this form, or a form similar to it, and, therefore, had given his word that he would not take up arms against the United States until he was officially exchanged for a Union counterpart.  

There is a gap in Bredell's service record from his capture at Vicksburg until he joined Mosby in June 1864.  Based on the above information and this gap in his service record, I think it's possible that Bredell waited until he was officially exchanged before joining Mosby in Virginia.  If that is true than Bredell kept his word and the terms of his parole.    

Measure For Measure: The Death Of Edward Bredell

Asby's Gap

 

Although the campaign between [Union General Phil] Sheridan and [Confederate General Jubal] Early ended with the Union victory at Cedar Creek, the Federals had remained in the lower Shenandoah Valley.  Sheridan had not forgotten about Mosby nor Mosby about Sheridan.  Raids and counterraids still characterized the duel that had never really ceased.  On November 7, for instance, Colonel William Powell's cavalry division, entering Fauquier through Manassas Gap, rode through Markham, Piedmont, Rectortown, Upperville and Paris, collecting cattle and horses and burning crops and a few barns.

Mosby countered several days later, dispatching Richard Montjoy and Company D to the Valley.  Montjoy raided along the Valley Pike between Winchester and Newtown on the fifteenth.  His men bagged about twenty prisoners and their mounts.  Starting back for Fauquier the next day, Montjoy's men dispersed en route, with the Rangers who boarded in Loudoun County turning northeastward to cross the Shenandoah River at Castleman's Ferry.  Montjoy, with thirty men, proceeded toward Berry's Ferry and Ashby's Gap.  About two miles west of the crossing, a detachment of Blazer's Scouts attacked the Rebels.  The Yankee's gunfire killed Ranger Edward Bredell and scattered the others.  Mountjoy and Lieutenant Charles Grogan rallied the men a mile or so to the east at "Vineyard," the home of John Esten Cooke, one of Jeb Stuart's staff officers.  But the Scouts came on with a relentlessness, gunning down William A. Braxton, wounding five other Rangers and capturing two.  The remaining Confederates splashed across the river and escaped. 

-Mosby's Rangers

The above comes from Jeffry Wert's excellent book and, if you're interested in Civil War history, I recommend you pick it up.

Edward Bredell was killed in action on November 16, 1864, about two miles west of Berry's Ferry, in a skirmish between his company and a group from Blazer's Scouts, a unit that was specifically tasked with finding and eliminating Mosby's guerrillas.  While he died near Ashby's Gap, he did not die in the Battle of Ashby's Gap, which was a seperate engagement that took place in July 1864.  Incidentally, the skirmish in which Bredell was killed took place very near to what is today John Mosby Highway (U.S. Route 50).  Two days after Bredell's death, Mosby would effectively destroyed Blazer's Scouts at the Battle of Kabletown.

Berry's Ferry map from Civil War Scholars.com

While I don't want to get too much into the history of Mosby's Rangers, I think it's important to talk a bit about what was going on in the weeks leading up to Bredell's death, in order to understand the nature of the fight between the Rangers and the Scouts.  Mosby's men were, essentially, a partisan guerrilla band that would attack Union forces or raid behind their lines and then disperse or disappear among the civilian population in northern Virginia.  The Union response to Mosby's effectiveness was severe.  U.S. Grant issued Phil Sheridan rather simple instructions: "[Where] any of Mosby's men are caught hang them without trial".  While Sheridan did not issue general orders to execute prisoners, a series of executions and reprisals did take place.

John Singleton Mosby

On September 23, 1864, Union forces under the command of General George Custer executed six of Mosby's men, captured out of uniform, at Front Royal, Virginia.  The Union troops believed, erroneously, that during the skirmish that had taken place earlier that day, in which the six prisoners were captured, a Union officer had been executed by Mosby's men.  Four of the men were shot, one in the presence of his mother who had begged that his life be spared, and two were hanged.  On one of the hanged men, a note was pinned that read "Such is the fate of all of Mosby's men."

While Custer did not order the execution, Mosby held him personally responsible for the conduct of his men and Wert wrote that Mosby "instructed his men that whenever a member of Custer's command was captured, the prisoner should be separated from other captives and not forwarded to Richmond.  Mosby told Robert E. Lee in a letter of October 29 precisely what he had decided: 'It is my purpose to hang an equal number of Custer's men whenever I capture them.'  Lee gave his approval..."  By the time Mosby received word of Lee's approval, on November 6, another of his men had been executed by Union forces.

On November 6, at Rectortown, Virginia, seven Union prisoners, who had served under Custer, were selected by lot.  Four were ordered to be shot and three to be hanged, just as Mosby's men had been.  Of the four who were to be shot, two escaped and two were shot in the head but survived their execution.  The other three were not so lucky and were hung, one with a note pinned to his chest that read "These men have been hung in retaliation for an equal number of Colonel Mosby's men hung by order of General Custer, at Front Royal.  Measure for measure."

Capt. Richard Mountjoy

It is almost certain that Edward Bredell was at Rectortown that day because his commanding officer, Captain Richard Mountjoy, played a prominent role in the executions.  According to Wert, "As the condemned were being led to the place of execution in the Shenandoah Valley, the Ranger guard detail met Captain Richard Mounjoy and Company D in Ashby's Gap.  As was his custom, Montjoy was dressed fastidiously with a Masonic pin on the lapel of his coat.  Lieutenant Disosway, a member of the order, flashed the Masonic distress signal to Montjoy.  The Ranger captain convinced Edward Thompson, the Ranger in charge of the detail, to swap Disosway for a Custer trooper Montjoy had with him.  Thompson agreed, and Disosway was released to Montjoy for a cavalryman.  When Montjoy later told Mosby of the trade, the latter reminded the commander of Company D that the 43rd Battalion 'was no Masonic lodge.'"  It's an odd moment in a dark tale but the fact remains that Bredell most likely saw the execution party on November 6.

Interesting, Mosby, after the botched executions, did not seek to execute more of Custer's men, deciding that he had made his point.  On November 11, he wrote a letter to Sheridan, delivered under a flag of truce, stating what he had done and why he had done it.  He also stated that he would not execute any more prisoners "unless some new act of barbarity shall compel me reluctantly to adopt a course of policy repulsive to humanity."  The execution of prisoners in the Shenandoah Valley, by both Union and Confederate forces, ended at that point.  However, when Mosby's Rangers and Blazer's Scouts fought on November 16, the executions must have been fresh in the minds of all who took part in the battle and those engagements that took place around that time must have been desperate affairs.  In the back of Bredell's mind, and that of his comrades, must have been the thought that they would be executed if taken prisoner.   William Barclay Napton actually heard that Bredell had been executed and wrote as much in his journal. 

Some of Mosby's Rangers

This was the world that Edward Bredell was living in when he was killed just west of Berry's Ferry.  It's difficult for me to imagine the pioneer ball-player, the science student at Brown University and the business manager of the Missouri Glass Company involved in a nasty, dirty, brutal partisan guerrilla fight in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864.  But Bredell was one of Mosby's men and, after his capture at Vicksburg and his parole, he actively sought to join the Rangers.  Ulysses S. Grant, if he had the chance, would have hung him for that.  A bullet fired by one of Blazer's Scouts, however, saw to it that an execution would not be necessary.    

The Captivating Stories Of Freedom

Another Slave Stampede - Supposed Work of Abolitionists. - A few days since five negroes belonging to Mr. Edward Bredell, disappeared very suddenly from their master's farm, some six miles from this city, on the Clayton road.  The runaway party consists of a woman, aged about sixty, her two two sons and daughter, aged respectfully seven, twelve, and twenty-one years, and a young girl, closely related to the family.  the negro "Ike," twenty-one years old, was Mr. Bredell's coachman, and enjoyed the most unlimited confidence of his owner.  Mr. Bredell, himself, is on a visit to the East, the slaves at the time of their stampede, being in charge of an overseer.  The mother, it seems, devised the plan of departure from the farm, though there are circumstances which lead to the belief that the negroes had previously been tampered with by white men.  The old woman, having prepared her children for the journey, approached the overseer, as it was customary for her to do, with the request for permission to visit some colored neighbors.

This request was promptly granted, though we are informed the negroes had scarcely left the premises, before the suspicions of the overseer were awakened.  So strong indeed was his impression that all was not right, that he soon after went to the house which they pretended to visit, only to find that so far from being, or having been there during the day, their whereabouts were unknown.  The conviction was at once established that the slaves had run away.  Thus far they have eluded pursuit, though we understand no very extraordinary exertions have as yet been made to capture them.  The slaves had a most comfortable home - were well cared for, and well protected - and nothing, it is supposed, but the captivating stories of freedom, and life in Canada, breathed into their willing ears by some Abolitionist, could have induced them to take the step they have.  Mr. Bredell, a few years since, it will be remembered, emancipated thirty or forty slaves in Baltimore, property left him by will, and these who have now absented themselves, might possibly in the course of time have been served in the same way. - St. Louis News, Saturday.

-Louisville Daily Journal, August 28, 1860


Never underestimate the power of the idea of freedom.

I can't remember if I ever mentioned the fact that the Bredells owned slaves but this story about the escape of several of their slaves made the papers across the country.  This particular story from the Louisville paper has much more detail than I've ever seen and I figured I'd pass it along, since I'm in the mood to talk about the Bredells.

Knowing the various political leanings of the members, how would you have liked to have been at the next Cyclone Club practice day following the escape of the Bredell slaves, with the insinuation that it was the work of abolitionists?  I'm sure it made for an interesting conversation.  And it's important to note that it was instances like this that divided the country and the Cyclone Club.  The country didn't just wake up one day and decide to have a civil war.  It was one step forward after another until the situation was broken beyond repair.  There were people who believed it noble and proper to help slaves escape, just as there were others who saw it as accessory to theft and a violation of property rights.  Those kind of views could not be reconciled, regardless of whether you were fellow countrymen, family, friends or clubmates.  Step by step, incident by incident, they grew ever farther apart, hardening in their beliefs, until all that was left was war.      

Edward Bredell, Sr., And The Missouri Glass Company

There is a very nice biographical essay of Edward Bredell, Sr., in the Encyclopedia of the History of St. Louis: A Compendium of History and Biography for Ready Reference (1899), pp 218-219, that includes the picture above and some of the following information:

In 1834 [after graduating from Yale law school] he returned to St. Louis with the intention of practicing his profession here, but after being admitted to the bar, the delicate state of his health caused him to change his plans, and he engaged in commercial pursuits.  With the patrimony he had inherited, he embarked in merchandising in St. Louis, as a member of the firm of Sweringen & Bredell.  Later he associated with himself his brother, J.C. Bredell, under the firm of Edward & J.C. Bredell.  Both these houses were wholesale and retail establishments, and both were prosperous ventures in a financial sense.  Subsequently Mr. Bredell retired from mercantile pursuits and engaged in mining operations, smelting and shipping copper ore on Meramec River from Franklin County.  The Perrys, who were distinguished citizens of Missouri at an early day, and to whom Mr. Bredell had become related by marriage, were pioneers in the lead business in this state, and when one of the leading members of the family died, Mr. Bredell took charge of the interests of the estate and thus became identified with the working of lead mines and the manufacture of lead in St. Francis County.  These mines were known as the "Perry Mines," and the operations there were on a very large scale for many years.  Eventually Mr. Bredell retired from the conduct of this business and built the Missouri Glass Works for his son.  He became president of the corporation operating this enterprise, and remained at its head, or was connected with it as director, until he retired from business...The only son of Mr. and Mrs. Bredell was Edward Bredell, Jr., who was born August 3, 1839.  At the outbreak of the Civil War the younger Edward Bredell joined the Confederate Army, was commissioned captain and was assigned to duty on the staff of General Charles Feifer, in command of a brigade of Missouri troops.  After the battle of Corinth, Mississippi, he was transferred to General Mosby's command, and served in the famous "Black Horse Cavalry," until killed at the battle of Fredericksburg.  He was a gallant soldier and distinguished himself for bravery on numerous fields.

Leaving aside what I think are some obvious errors in the Civil War record of Edward Bredell, Jr., the most important piece of information that I take away from this is that Bredell, Sr., built the Missouri Glass Company for his son.  Also, I found it interesting that the writer of the essay whitewashed Bredell, Sr.'s pro-Southern political leanings and the difficulties he suffered in St. Louis during the war - difficulties that include the confiscation of his property and imprisonment.  

Edward Bredell's Military Record

As I stated yesterday, I was looking around for more information about Edward Bredell's military record and I found a couple of decent sources that give an outline of what Bredell was doing during the war.  The first was Civil War Record of Brown University (1920) - and now you know how I figured out that Bredell went to Brown.  That work gave the following summary of Bredell's Civil War service on page 28:

Edward Bredell.  First Lieutenant and Aide-de-Camp on the staff of General J.S. Bowen, April 23, 1863.  July 4, 1863, he was made a prisoner at Vicksburg, Mississippi, and paroled.  Later he enlisted as a private in Company D (Mosby's Cavalry command), Captain R.P. Montjoy's Company, organized in 1864.  He was killed in action...

The fact that Bredell was at Vicksburg was news to me.  The day after Vicksburg surrendered and Bredell was taken prisoner, the Commercial Club was celebrating the Fourth of July by playing a baseball game at Lafayette Park, the former grounds of Bredell's old ball club.  I imagine that the events of Gettysburg and Vicksburg were the big news of the day and you have to wonder how many of Bredell's old ball-playing friends learned about his capture that day.

The other source I found was a website called ranger95.com, which has some fantastic and detailed information about Civil War units.  Bredell is listed with the 43rd Cavalry Battalion, Company D, under the command of Captain Richard Paul Montjoy:

Enl. at age 22.  Occ. gentleman.  Pvt. in Co. of light art.  1st Lt. and ADC 6-10-62 to 8-30-62 Phofer's 3rd Brig., Maury's Div. Army of the West.  Recommended 1-7-63 as 1st Lt. & ADC to Gen. John S. Bowen.  Trans. 4-23-63 to staff of Gen. Bowen.  Capt. 7-4-63 at Vicksburg, Par. (date unknown).  Inv. in battles at Grand Gulf, Port Gibson, Baker's Cr. and Big Black.  Filed application 6-6-64 for appointment to A & IG Dept.  Joined the 43rd. Va. Cav. (date unknown).  KIA. 11-16-64 in the "Vinyard Fight" near Berry's Ferry.  Bur. originally in the Shenandoah R. but later removed to Cool Spring Methodist Church Cem, Delaplane, Fauquier Co.  Remains later removed to the grounds of his father's home in St. Louis, Mo. on Laffayette Ave. between McNair and Missouri streets.  B. 1839, son of Edward Bredell and Angeline C. Perry.  

The June 10, 1862 date of Bredell's enlistment seems reasonably accurate, given that the Missouri Republican (June 20, 1864) stated that he had left St. Louis to join the rebellion on June 17th.  However, I would argue that Bredell's occupation should be listed as engineer, rather than gentleman.  Also, I think it's interesting to note that he had only been with Mosby's Rangers a few months before he was killed and most likely would have survived the war if he had honored the conditions of his parole.  And having said that, I don't know what the conditions of his parole were and he may have honored them by not serving as an officer with Mosby's outfit.  But, I think it's safe to say, if Bredell had honored the spirit of his parole and did not take up arms again against the United States, he would have survived the war.       

Edward Bredell, Class Of 1859

I got a copy of Jeffry Wert's Mosby Rangers in the mail this week.  Although I've read bits and pieces of the book before, I wanted to take a closer look at the battle in which Edward Bredell was killed, as it never seemed too clear as to what happened.  Wert's book is an excellent history of John Mosby's guerrilla unit and does have a great account of the battle, which I'll pass along shortly.  But, while looking for more information about Bredell's military record, I made a rather important discovery:  Edward Bredell attended Brown University.

Bredell, according to various sources, was a member of Browns' class of 1859 and was certainly at the university during the 1855-56 term.  According to A Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Brown University, 1855-1856, Bredell was a first-year student, staying at University Hall and studying science.  His course load included classes in mathematics (geometry and algebra), chemistry, physiology and a foreign language (either French or German).  The 1857-58 catalogue does not list Bredell as a student at Brown and the Historical Catalogue of Brown University (1914) lists him as someone who attended the university but did not graduate.  It's unclear if Bredell was still at Brown in 1856-57 but, if he returned for a second year, he would have taken classes in natural philosophy, rhetoric, history, intellectual philosophy with a choice of electives among civil engineering, practical chemistry, and geology.

This is extremely significant for a couple of reasons.  First, Bredell was studying science and this was a course of study that would have a practical application in his life.  In May 1859, Bredell was named the business manager of the Missouri Glass Company, a company co-owned by his father.  If you look at the operations of the company, it's obvious that a great deal of practical scientific and engineering knowledge was necessary to run a company like that.  Bredell gained that knowledge at Brown University.  Also, Merritt Griswold, who also worked at the Missouri Glass Company, was an engineer and it appears that the two men shared a love of science, as well as a love of baseball.  We know how the two men, being co-workers, met and, with their shared science background, we can begin to imagine how they may have formed a friendship that had a significant impact on the history of St. Louis baseball.

More importantly, to that history and friendship, it's likely that Bredell had been exposed to the New York game while at Brown, which is located in Providence, Rhode Island.  Brown University played a significant role in the history of collegiate athletics and, specifically, in the history of collegiate baseball.  Providence, itself, had a history of ball-playing that dated back, at least, to the 1820s, a baseball club was formed there in 1857 and Brown had baseball clubs by the early 1860s.  I have little doubt that baseball was being played in Providence and at Brown when Bredell was there and, given his baseball activities in St. Louis a few years later, it's likely that he first played the game while a university student.  At the very least, Bredell most likely saw the New York game being played while a student in Providence.

This information completely changes the story of how the Cyclone Club was formed in the summer of 1859.  Previously, it always appeared that Griswold instigated the formation of the club.  We knew that he had played the game in Brooklyn and there are several sources that state that he formed the club.  Based on the information that we had, it was obvious that Griswold introduced the New York game to St. Louis and was behind the formation of the first club.  We also know that Bredell played a role in the formation of the Cyclones and he has been credited as the club's co-founder but I always assumed that it was Griswold who was behind everything and he had just talked his friend into starting the club with him.  However, with the information that he had either seen or played the New York game while a student at Brown, Edward Bredell assumes a much more prominent role in this story.

In the April 21, 1895 issue of the St. Louis Republic, Leonard Matthews and Ferdinand Garesche, two members of the Cyclones, gave a brief history of the club.  The writer of the article (most likely E.H. Tobias) stated that "In the summer of 1859 a meeting was held in the office of the old Missouri Glass Company, on Fifth street between Pine and Olive.  M.W. Griswold, a clerk in the company's store, who had lately moved to St. Louis from Brooklyn, N.Y., an enthusiast on baseball, aided by the exertions of Ed Bredele, had gathered together the nucleus of a club..."  Reading this again, it sounds like Griswold and Bredell were working together to put together a baseball club and that makes sense.  If Bredell had played baseball at Brown and gained an appreciation of the game, it must have been a wonderful thing for him to meet Griswold and learn of his love of the game.  There couldn't have been many people in St. Louis, if any, with a practical knowledge of the New York game and here were two of them working together at the Missouri Glass Company.  I can imagine the two men forming a friendship over this rare, mutual interest and deciding, together, to form a baseball club.  The Cyclone Club was formed out of the friendship of Griswold and Bredell and their mutual love of the New York game.

Also, I think we have to be open to the idea that it was Bredell, rather than Griswold, who introduced the New York game to St. Louis.  We assumed that it was Griswold based largely on his letter to Al Spink and on our knowledge of his background.  But, if Bredell had seen or played the game while at Brown, he would have brought his knowledge of the New York game to St. Louis several years before Griswold arrived in the city.  However, the extent of Bredell's ball-playing activities at Brown and in St. Louis prior to forming the Cyclones is unknown so I think the most we can state is that it is very likely that there were people in St. Louis, specifically Edward Bredell, that had a knowledge of the New York game prior to Merritt Griswold's arrival.  Putting it another way, it no longer appears that Griswold's knowledge of the rules of the New York game and his experience playing the game was unique in St. Louis in 1859.                      

The Seizure Of Ed Bredell's Property

I, Joseph G. Easton, United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Missouri, do hereby give public notice that I have seized, and now detain in my custody, in the suit of the United States against the property, moneys, credits and effects of Edward Bredell, junior, under a warrant issued by the United States District Court of said District, the...property and effects alleged to belong to said Edward Bredell, junior... 

Also, all the property, moneys, credits and effects in the hands of Edward Bredell, in which said Edward Bredell, junior, had any right or interest. 

And I hereby give notice that an information has been filled in said Court against said property, moneys, credits and effects, in the case of forfeiture and confiscation, under the act of Congress approved July seventeenth, 1862...in which information it is alleged that said Edwards Bredell, junior, since the 17th day of June, 1862, or before, departed from his home in the State of Missouri, and joined himself with persons engaged in armed rebellion against the Government of the United States, and has, since said 17th day of July, 1862, aided and abetted said rebellion...

-Missouri Republican, June 20, 1864


All of this legal maneuvering became irrelevant after Bredell was killed in action in November 1864.  But the important thing here is that this reference gives us specific information about when Bredell left St. Louis to join the Confederate Army.  Also, it should be noted that the choices our pioneer ballplayers made during the Civil War had real consequences.  Bredell had all of his substantial property seized and then lost his life in battle.  He literally gave everything he had to the cause he believed in.

Tomorrow, I promise to get back to the memoirs of Basil Duke and finish up his story.  And then it's back to the 1884 Maroons for awhile.  

A Short Biography Of Edward Bredell, Sr.

Edward Bredell was born near Snowhill, Worcester County, Maryland, Oct. 21, 1812.  His father's ancestors were French, his mother a daughter of Peter and Catherine Collier of that place. 

In the year 1820, when eight years of age, his mother being dead, and his grandmother, Mrs. Collier, having settled in St. Charles, he was brought to Missouri by his uncle, John Collier, and remained with his grandmother at St. Charles until 1823, when he returned to his father's residence in Maryland to receive his education, which being completed, he returned to St. Louis in the year 1833, and was admitted to the bar at the age of 21 years. 

Soon thereafter in 1834, concluding to change his vocation, he entered into partnership with James T. Sweringen, as Dry-goods Merchants, on North Main Street. 

In 1838, he associated with him, his brother John C. Bredell, as Dry-goods Merchants, at the southwest corner of Main and Market Streets.  About the year 1850, Mr. Bredell retired altogether from business, and removed his residence to the south side of Lafayette Park, where he continues to reside to the present day. 

April 6, 1835, Mr. Bredell was married to Miss Angeline Cornelia, the only daughter of the late Samuel Perry, Esq., of Potosi, Washington County, Mo., born Oct. 12, 1818; she died June 28, 1887, at the age of 68 years and 8 months. 

Lieut. Edward Bredell, Jr., the only child they raised, born Aug. 3, 1839, was killed in the Confederate service at Ashby's Gap, Virginia, Nov. 16, 1864, at the age of 25 years, 3 months.

-Annals of St. Louis in its Territorial Days, from 1804 to 1821

The Louisa Kearny Letter

Louisa Kearny's grave

In their Civil War Collection, the Missouri History Museum has a letter, dated August 28, 1862, written to Edward Bredell, Jr., by Louisa Kearny.  

This is interesting for several reasons.  First, Louisa Kearny was the daughter of Stephen Watts Kearny and the sister of Cyclone Club member Charles Kearny.  Obviously, there was some kind of relationship between Louisa Kearny and Bredell or, at the very least, between the Kearny and Bredell family and this helps explain how Charles Kearny ended up in the Cyclone Club.  Second, Louisa Kearny mentions several of Bredell's old club members in the letter.  While detailing the goings-on of their mutual friends, she mentions Joseph Fullerton and John Riggin in the letter.  She also mentions one of her brothers and, given the way she writes about him, I believe she's talking about Charles.  Lastly, the letter gives an interesting account of what life was like in St. Louis during the Civil War from the point of view of a Southern sympathizer and is worth reading just for that.

Also, I should add that, according to the Missouri Digital Heritage site, the letter "was intercepted by federal forces and published in the newspaper under the title 'Gems from the Rebel Mail Bag.'"  I have to say that the idea of Ed Bredell not getting this letter kind of breaks my heart a bit.  And I can only imagine the horror that Miss Kearny felt upon the publication of her private letter.  I find the whole story of the letter kind of sad.  

I'm posting some of the more interesting parts of the letter below but, if you'd like to read the whole thing, the full letter can be found at the Missouri History Museum's website.

St. Louis, August 28, 1862, 

Capt. Bredell:  You see your letter was appreciated, that I answer it so soon; and I hope this mail will get safely through.  St. Louis is very stupid now.  We have nothing in the way of amusement, and there is not the visiting there used to be, for we have no beaux to visit; indeed, our streets would be deserted if it were not for shoulder-straps.  Your friend, Mr. Fullerton, is fourth sergeant in the Hallack Guard, and went up to Lexington; but succeeded only in burning and sinking some little boats belonging to private individuals, for which the Democrat urges they should have some public demonstration for their personal bravery. 

...Mary and I spent the day last Tuesday with your mother.  She read us your letter, where you thought the young ladies should take care of the "little fellows."  We are very much obliged for the suggestion and think of forming a society immediately.... 

Our neighbor across the street is as savage as ever.  His daughter is Secretary to the "Ladies' Union Aid Society," and her favorite song is "John Brown's bones lie mouldering in the grave," which we have the full benefit of.  How some people fall to their proper level... 

John Riggin is in town again, and I expect there is soon to be a fight, as he always leaves about that time.  He was up here before and brought a negro man that he had stolen from the South. 

Oh! what would we not give to see our old Hero marching through the streets.  We have waited a long time, but I trust that before many months you will all come to release us from the hateful fetters that bind us, for nearly every day they come out with some new order; and this morning a man signing himself "Justice" thinks the women and children should be sent, with all traitors, out of the Federal lines.... 

Remember me to all my friends South, and if that brother of mine is with you, tell him to send me word.  I had a letter from him from Springfield, in which he said he was going back to Mississippi. 

I have set you such a good example that I hope to hear again from you, and with my best wishes and kindest regards for yourself, 

Believe me your friend, 

Miss L.

The photo at the top of the post comes from Louisa Kearny's memorial at Find A Grave.

Edward Bredell In Virginia

Arrivals At Rockbridge Alum From 16th to 22nd Of August. 

...Edward Bredell and wife, St. Louis...

-Daily Richmond Examiner, August 28, 1866

We know that, by 1867, the body of Edward Bredell, Jr., had been returned to St. Louis and buried on his family's property on Lafayette Avenue.  There is a report that his parents went to Virginia and brought the body of their son home.  The above report from the Daily Richmond Examiner shows that Edward Bredell, Sr., and his wife went to Virginia in 1866 and this, most likely, would have been when they retrieved the body of their son.  

The Arrest Of Edward Bredell, Sr.

Edward Bredell, an old resident and a well known and wealthy citizen, was last Thursday arrested by the U.S. Police, by order of Department Provost Marshal General Dick, and committed to the Military prison on the charge of having corresponded with officers of the rebel army, communicating intelligence for the benefit of the enemy, &c.  On Saturday he was released on parole to remain at his residence-in Lafayette avenue, opposite Lafayette Park-and await examination on the charge preferred.  Mr. Bredell has a son in the rebel army. 

The arrest of Bredell, and some others not yet made public, appears to have resulted from the interception of a rebel mail.

-The Daily Southern Crisis (Jackson, Mississippi), March 17, 1863


The above article originally appeared in the St. Louis Democrat on March 3, 1863, and is a reminder that St. Louis, during the Civil War, was a city under Federal occupation and martial law.  It's a difficult idea to comprehend but it's true nonetheless.

Following the declaration of martial law in Missouri by General Fremont, Provost-Marshal M'Kinstry has issued an order forbidding any person passing beyond the limits of St. Louis without a special permit from his office; and railroad, steamboat, ferry, and other agents are prohibited from selling tickets to any one not holding a proper pass. 

-Harper's Weekly, September 14, 1861

One of these days, I'm going to have to write up a long post about what life was like in St. Louis during the Civil War but, as of now, I'll just note that, under martial law in St. Louis and Missouri, there were summary executions, drum head courts martial, arbitrary confiscation of property, restrictions on travel and banishments.  This was the world that existed as baseball began to take root in St. Louis.       

Still More About The Missouri Glass Company

The Missouri Glass Company's Works are situated in the First Ward of the city of St. Louis, west of the Arsenal.  The Company was incorporated by an act of the Legislature and went into operation under their charter on the 29th day of May, and elected Edward Bredell, President, and Edward Daly, Secretary; and  now, having erected their additional buildings and completed their furnaces, cutting and mould rooms, are prepared to furnish the trade of St. Louis with a superior quality of Flint and Green Glassware equal to any manufactured in the United States, and will furnish it on such terms as if will be advantageous to the trade to purchases of them.  Having the facilities for manufacturing their own moulds, will continue to introduce all new styles and patterns that may be desirable.  They will keep on hand a stock of all the staple articles sold by Druggists, Grocers, Glass and Lamp Stores. 

Persons wishing ware made from private moulds are particularly requested to give orders at least 30 days before they wish the goods, to insure prompt delivery. 

A large assortment of Black Bottles, viz.: Hocks, Brandies, Schnaps, Claret, Champagne and Bitters.  They will be continually adding to their stock.  Samples of ware can be seen, and orders left at their office, No. 33 North Fifth street, between Pine and Olive streets, and at their works, corner Lemp and Utah streets, South St. Louis, west of the U.S. Arsenal. 

-Daily Missouri Republican, December 26, 1859


The significant thing, as far as baseball is concerned, that we find in this classified advertisement for the Missouri Glass Company is the relationship between the company and druggists, something I forgot to point out yesterday.  This is significant because Cyclone Club members Maurice Alexander, Leonard Matthews and William Matthews all worked in the apothecary business.  One can image that they met Merritt Griswold and Ed Bredell by buying bottles from the Missouri Glass Company.  

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The Missouri Glass Company

I'm serious.  This article, which appeared in the Daily Missouri Republican on October 23, 1859, is absolutely everything you ever wanted to know (and more) about the Missouri Glass Company.  Since the thing runs three thousand words, I'll give you some of the important information up top:

-The company was founded in May of 1859.  This is interesting because it helps us date Merritt Griswold's arrival in St. Louis.  One would have to believe that Griswold, who went to work for the company when he moved to St. Louis, arrived after the company came into existence.  Griswold coming to St. Louis in the late spring or early summer of 1859 fits with the information that we already have.

-Edward Bredell, Jr., Griswold's Cyclone Club teammate, was actually the company's business manager.  That surprised me a bit.  I knew he worked for the company but didn't know that he ran it.  So, basically, Griswold worked for his teammate.  

-Archibald Gamble, the father of Cyclone Club members Joseph and Rufus Gamble, was one of the investors in the company.  I knew about the relationship between the Gamble and Bredell families and this just supports that.  

Anyway, if you read this whole thing (and I do recommend it), you'll know more about 19th century glass making than 99.9% of the people on the planet.  So, you'll have that going for you: 

  

The Manufacture of Glass In St. Louis—Interesting Visit To The Works—A Morning With The Glass Blowers.—Everybody is acquainted with the transparent, hard and brittle substance which is called glass, for its use is limited to no country, and to no condition of life.  The Knowledge of its properties is universal.  The babe that delights to flatten its nose against the window pane, glories in its translucency, which it soon comes to understand; and it does not require long to find out that glass, though hard and durable, will break, as shown by the careless knocking off a tumbler from the table or the casual displacement of the camphor bottle from the mantel.  We used to think that glass was everywhere, being led to this conclusion by the number of broken bits which found their way into the balls and heels of our youthful trotters when, in summer, we flung our shoes into a corner and “went barefoot.”  But everybody don’t know all about glass, about the way it is made and how fashioned into the beautiful shapes which meet us everywhere we go, and about the people who, if they do not exactly “live” in glass houses at least spend a good deal of time there.

For our own part, until the other day, we had never been inside a glass house, and, except by hear-say, which the lawyers will tell you is poor testimony, knew as little of the manufacture of glass as we did of glaciers.  We take it for granted there are others as ignorant as we, and will be surprised if some notes which we have picked up will not prove both interesting and instructive.

The Missouri Glass Works.

West of Arsenal stand the Works of the Missouri Glass Company, a corporation which was chartered by the Legislature last winter, but which was not fully organized till May last.  The stock of this Company is principally owned by Edward Bredell, Sr., Archibald Gamble and James W. and Samuel Wallace.  The latter two are brothers, and practical men, having been in the business, one twenty-seven and the other twenty-five years.  The Company have five acres of ground, on which are something like $50,000 worth of improvements.  Edward Daily is the Secretary of the corporation, and the business management of the concern is in the hands of Edward Bredell, Jr., who has an office near the corner of Olive and Fifth streets.  The Messrs. Wallace have the general superindendence of the works, direction of the men employed, &c. 

Facilities Enjoyed.

The facilities for making glass here are excellent, and it is said they will compare very favorably with those afforded at any other point in the country.—The great desideratum is sand of the proper quality, and in this particular the Missouri Glass Company avail themselves of very great advantages.  In Franklin county, this State, on the line of the Pacific Railroad, is a bluff of sand of remarkable whiteness and fineness, which is fifty feet in height, a quarter of a mile long and goodness only knows how deep, which probably contains enough to furnish the whole world for a century.  The bank may be said to be inexhaustible.  Such is the fame of this sand that a quantity of it is exported to Pittsburgh, and is thought to be the best for manufacturing glass in the known world.  We have a sample of it which is as fine and white as loaf sugar.  The transportation of the sand to the works is attended with but little cost.  A car is switched off immediately under the “quarry,” which is easily loaded and brought to the city at trifling rates of freight.

Another considerable item is the clay used in making the pots in which the materials of the glass are fused.  The pots must be of such a quality as to withstand the most intense heat without breaking or cracking; and as at best these vessels cannot last more than a few months, their constant manufacture becomes a matter of economic necessity with every glass establishment.  The German clay has long been considered of most excellence to withstand fire in making glass, but it has been ascertained that the clay which is found in large quantities at Cheltenham, in this county, and which for two or three years has been used for fire-brick, possesses all the qualities required for the purpose alluded to, being heavy, ductile, coherent, compact, and showing great lack of fusibility. 

In the particulars of sand and clay, therefore, the Missouri Glass Company may take advantage of natural conveniences which are not enjoyed to the same extent, perhaps, at any other large city in the country.  There are various other facilities found herebouts which make St. Louis an important point for the location of glass works.  The principal draw-backs, as we learn, which place this city behind Pittsburgh in this respect is the difficulty of obtaining hands and the difference, in favor of the latter place, in the price of coal.  But these drawbacks are more than counterbalanced by superior advantages. 

The Premises.

As we have before said, the grounds of the Glass Company embrace five acres, situated west of the Arsenal, in the lower part of the city.  The improvements consist of several buildings, erected expressly for the different purposes for which they are used, being divided off in separate compartments.  We do not intend to describe these buildings, but only to say that they appear to us to have every convenience required.  Piled up about the yard is a great quantity of glassware in boxes-“right side up with care”-awaiting shipment, with here and there a heap of straw or hay to be used in keeping the breakables a proper distance apart when they shall be placed in layers in barrel, hogshead or box.  Elsewhere is a mass of old glass of every shape known to geometry and of rainbow hues-broken tumblers, window panes, bottle necks, inkstands, pitchers, etc., etc., etc.  On the whole, the grounds look as though business was done there, and that of an interesting kind.  The reader will please step with Mr. Bredell and us into

The Pottery.

Here is a long, dry cellar, as it were, paved on the bottom, and appearing as neat and cleanly as a good housewife’s kitchen.  The pots for melting glass are made here.  After the clay has gone through a mill, and been ground into fine particles, it is passed through a sieve, to relieve it of all extraneous substances.  It is then put into a large trough, and water poured upon it, to give it consistency, when it is ready to be mixed like bread.  The dough, for the mixture looks something like that, is moulded and moulded and moulded, day after day, being trampled by a pair of good-sized feet, attached to the lower part of the body of a stout Hibernian, till it becomes smooth and moist throughout, and every particle adheres.  This requires about two weeks, at the end of which time the clay is moulded into the shape of large deep tubs, called pots, which are set aside for six or eight weeks, to become perfectly dry.  The pots are heated to a very high temperature before they are put in the furnace, which is done to prevent their cracking and flying to pieces. 

The Mixing Room.

The mixing room is the place where the materials for the manufacture of glass are prepared.  Flint, or white glass, is made of sand, potash, saltpeter, oxyd of lead, arsenic, manganese, and sometimes other substances.  The sand has to be washed, burned and sifted, to relieve it of all organic matter, which, if left, would give a greenish tinge to the glass.  Everything about the room is kept with most scrupulous neatness and care.  It is necessary in order to turn out superior qualities of work, that this apartment should be at all times perfectly clean; and we opine that no pastry cook in the incorporation of the ingredients of an extra fine cake is more attentive and particular than the workmen in this department. 

In one corner of the mixing room is a place to refine and purify pearl-ash.  The refined quality is used for flint glass and the residue, which is called “slurry,” is thrown aside to be employed for green glass, or the poorer quality.  The oxyd of lead, which forms one of the components of glass is made on the premises in a neat building erected for the purpose.  The process is an interesting one.  There is a sort of oven, containing an iron bath tub into which receptacle pigs of lead are thrown and subjected to the heat of the furnace.  The lead melts, and as a draft of air is allowed to pass over it, forms a scum.  This is pushed back over the inclined rim of the bath tub, where it is baked to more thoroughly extract the metallic substances, and comes out the oxyd of lead.  It may do to state here that the process of oxidation increases the weight of the lead ten per cent, a pig of one hundred pounds producing one hundred and ten of the oxyd. 

The Green Glass House.

We are now ready to enter the green glass house and see the men at work making bottles.  Green glass is the commonest quality, and is made of sand, lime, soda and salt.  The materials are not worked with much particularity and care, as this would add to the cost of the ware.  The color from which it takes its name is produced by the foreign substances, which it requires considerable labor to remove. 

The green glass-house is a square building, having in the center a large furnace, provided with five pots.  A fireman for day and night stands pitching lumps of coal upon the fire continually, and we can assure the reader climate thus generated is exceedingly warm, being over a thousand degrees in intensity.  Every one of the pots holds twelve hundred pounds of material, and each is “worked out” every day, thus turning out, independent of waste, six thousand pounds per week.  The pots in the green house furnace last from three to four months before becoming unfit for further use.  In the building are twelve annealing ovens, where the glass is placed after it has gone through the manipulations of the blowers, for the purpose of cooling it gradually to make it less brittle.  The process of annealing, or nealing, as the workmen call it, is one exceedingly simple, but of the highest importance.  We were shown a lump of unannealed glass which looked strong enough to “fell a bull,” but which broke into countless pieces on the merest touch of our pen-knife.  No sooner does a piece of work leave the hands of the blowers than it is taken to the oven, where it remains from thirty-six to fifty-two hours, the heat being allowed to die out slowly beneath it. 

The Glass Blowers.

In the green-house we saw fifteen men and twenty boys at work.  The men were ranged around the furnace, each with his hollow iron rod or stem.  Dipping the end of this pipe into one of the pots containing the molten factitious metal, the workmen twirls it out with a quantity of the white semi-fluid attached.  Keeping the rod revolving he passes the “dip” over a stove plate which serves to roll the glass out.  Then applying his metal to the tube, he inflates the glass with air till it assumes a certain size, when he gently dips it into a mould which opens or shuts with the touch of his foot.  Another blow in the tube presses the glass against the sides of the mould, filling it completely, and after a moment’s pause the mould is thrown open, like waffle irons, disclosing the shape of a soda bottle, Godrey’s cordial vial, castor oil bottle, essence vial, or whatever the matrix is intended to fashion.  It is amusing to witness the contortions of countenance shown by the blowers when filling their tubes with wind.  Their cheeks swell up to a most extraordinary size, as though practice had given them a strange ability to stretch; their eyes appear to sink in their heads, and wear a peculiar wildness which, under other circumstances, would be alarming, and every feature is irresistibly ludicrous.  This remark, however, has not an universal application, for some of the workmen do their blowing with apparent ease.

After the bottle comes from the mould, a rim is adroitly placed upon the neck, and a sudden twitch releases from the tube the new-made vessel, which is caught on an iron prong by a boy in waiting, who takes it off to the annealing oven, the blower meantime having taken another dip into the pot.  We were astonished at the uniform good guessing of the blowers in making these dips and bringing out every time just the required amount of metal.  We were told that, in taking out from the pot, an experienced workman will not vary half an ounce from the proper amount in a whole day.  On inquiring how expert the blowers were in getting out work, we were informed that a deaf and dumb man named William Diamond recently made fifty-two dozen soda bottles in a day!  This was certainly proof that Diamond, though deprived of hearing and speech, is highly gifted in the way of wind.

The Flint-Glass House

Is a very commodious circular building, provided with a large “nine pot furnace.”  Here every kind of flint or white glassware is made, from an insulater for a lightening rod to the most costly globe.—This is the only establishment west of the Allegheny Mountains where plated glass is made.  Even in Pittsburgh and Wheeling, which are somewhat noted for the manufacture of glass, this kind is not made.  The large plated globes which were exhibited at the late Fair by the Missouri Glass Company, and which attracted great attention, were splendid samples, and we doubt if anything of the sort got up in this country could surpass them.  We were shown some tumblers made here which, compared with the celebrated French glass tumblers, are very little, if any, inferior.  A large business is done by this Company in the manufacture of lamp shades, chimneys, &c.  For this work the very best hands are required, men of experience in the business, judgment and taste.  It would be worth the while of anybody to visit the flint-glass house and observe the skill displayed by the blowers in the manipulation of glass.  We cannot undertake to describe the wonders we saw there, nor tell of the many pretty shapes into which we witnessed a mass of liquid glass formed.  While we were there, Mr. Samuel Wallace took off his coat, and in a few moments made an imitation of a pair of bellows, which, combining three colors, white, red and blue, brilliantly interwoven throughout, was exceedingly beautiful. 

The pots in the furnace of the flint house contain twenty-two hundred pounds of “metal,” which are worked up twice a week.  As the fire (which burns day and night) is all underneath, and the flames are not allowed to communicate directly with the glass, as is the case in the green house, the pots last about twice as long, or from six to eight months.

In the flint house is an annealing oven sixty-two feet long, in which pans are fixed on rollers, and the ware to be “nealed” is gradually removed from the heat of the fire immediately under the entrance or “door,” to the rear, where, at the expiration of the allotted time, it is taken out, ready to be packed and shipped. 

Thirty-four men and boys are at present employed in the flint house, which number is to be increased twelve in the course of a couple weeks.

Glass Cutting, The Mould Room, &C.

The cutting room is a kind of finishing department for the finer ware.  Here lamp-globes are “roughed” on the outside by placing them on a lathe and allowing them to revolve against a bundle of small wires dipped in wet sand.  The inside is “roughed” by filling the globe with sand and placing it in a revolving cylinder, lined with straw.  The most interesting work done in this department, however, is cutting designs upon vases, shades, &c., which is performed simply by holding with the hands the article to be cut against a very soft grindstone.  The visitor cannot help feeling astonishment at the proficiency shown by the workmen in this.  It is in this way that emblems, figures and other sketches we see on various articles of glassware are made, and it is this tedious and skillful work which accounts for the costliness of such.

The mould-room is the place where the different moulds for bottles, tumblers, pitchers, and in short for nearly everything that is manufactured from glass, are kept.  The moulds must present the highest degree of polish, and hence those of brass are best.  The reader will form some idea of the importance of this branch of the business when he is informed that less than $20,000 worth of moulds would hardly do to carry on anything but a very limited business.  It requires one man’s undivided time to keep the moulds in a perfect condition of cleanliness.

Near the mould-room is an apartment devoted to the making of flint glass vials, syringes, etc., from tubes prepared into lengths of six or eight feet.  The manufacture of syringes and kindred druggists’ ware is an important feature of the business of the Missouri Glass Company, a large quantity being exported even to Pittsburgh, which place, notwithstanding its reputation in the matter of glass, cannot begin to compete with St. Louis in this particular. 

Concluding Remarks.

We have already used up so much space that we cannot dilate upon other branches of the business of the Company.  The whole number of men employed at present is one hundred and five, which will be considerably augmented in a few weeks. 

The reader who has had the patience to follow us from the beginning of this article, will have probably concluded that the manufacture of glass in this city is likely to become of great commercial importance.  We certainly think it will, for it is already assuming proportions which, a few years ago, would have been deemed almost preposterous to think of.  Any department of trade that promises to be of benefit to the place where it is carried on should be, and is generally apt to be, encouraged. 

By Order Of Sheridan

William Barclay Napton

[December] 20.  An only son of a citizen of this place, Mr. Bredell, was shot by order of Sheridan, as one of Mosby's men, in retaliation.  Mr. Bredell, the father, is one of our wealthiest citizens.

-The Union on Trial: The Political Journals of Judge William Barclay Napton

Napton was a member of the Missouri Supreme Court from 1857 to 1861 and was a pro-southern slaveholder.  His account of the death of Ed Bredell, which comes from an 1863 journal entry, is interesting, if not likely accurate.  We have accounts of Bredell's death that comes from men who served with him and those accounts state that he was killed in battle, rather than executed on the orders of Phil Sheridan.

There is a note to this journal entry that states that "Despite Napton's characterization of the incident, the circumstances of Bredell's death are unclear."  I don't believe that the circumstances are unclear.  Bredell was killed in battle.  Napton's version of Bredell's death speaks to the problems of communication in 1863 and to his own pro-southern sympathies.

Napton, in his journal, also mentioned that Bredell was buried on January 17, 1864.  I can't say if this was the first or second of Bredell's burials.  Like something in a Faulkner novel, the remains of Ed Bredell kept getting buried, dug up and reburied.

Griswold Resigns The Presidency Of The Cyclone Club

The game of base ball now so popular in this as in Eastern cities, was ushered in yesterday afternoon, by the Cyclone Base Ball Club, on their old grounds in Lafayette Park, on which occasion they had the pleasure of having united with them in the game, representatives of the Morning Star, Empire and Commercial Clubs.  As was the case last season, a jolly time was had, especially when a member in his eager endeavors to catch the ball would step into some sunken hole, (left to ornament the park,) thereby changing his movement into that of the Zouave drill, or more properly speaking, lofty tumbling of a gymnast.  But we are happy to say this is soon to be remedied, as the clubs have petitioned the Common Council for the privilege of leveling the same at their own expense, which petition has been referred to the Park commissioners, and only awaits their action, when the improvements will be immediately commenced, provided the Commissioners do not delay the matter until it is too late in the season for starting the grass on places that are to be filled.  We notice the Club is composed of the same members as last year, but a slight change has been made in the officers, caused by Mr. M.W. Griswold resigning the Presidency, which is now filled by the promotion of the Vice President, Mr. Leonard Matthews, and the election of Mr. Benteen as Vice President, Mr. M.W. Alexander, Secretary, Mr. F.L. Garesche, Treasurer, and Messrs. Wm. Matthews, J. Riggin, Jr. and E. Bredell, Jr., Trustees.  The Cyclones play every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon.

-Missouri Republican, March 7, 1861


There is some very important information in this brief article from the Republican.  The mention of Lafayette Park as the Cyclones' "old grounds" should lay to rest any debate about whether or not they were playing in the park prior to 1861.  Now that debate was mostly (or only) taking place in my own mind but I'm back to being comfortable in stating that the Cyclones played at Lafayette Park in 1859 and 1860.

More important is the reference to Griswold resigning the presidency of the club prior to March 1861.  There are a couple of secondary sources that state that Leonard Matthews was the club's first president and I always found that to be odd.  I always wondered why Griswold wouldn't have been elected president.  He basically formed the club and introduced the New York game to St. Louis.  Why wouldn't he have been president of the Cyclones?  Now, in any club and election, there is politics involved and I just figured Matthews was a more popular figure among the club members.  But this article implies that Griswold was president in 1860 and that leads me to question whether or not he was president in 1859.  That would make more sense than Matthews being president and Matthews election to the club presidency in 1861 would explain the references in the secondary sources, which date to the mid-1890s at the earliest.  Matthews was remembered as being the president because he was the last president.   

The Gambles And Lafayette Park

More from the Bryan source that was sent to me by Carolyn Willmore:

As soon as the War was over, there was much activity in buying lots in the neighborhood of the Park. Archibald Gamble died in 1866, but his widow, Mrs. Louisa Easton Gamble, continued to lie in the large brick mansion facing what was then called "McNair Avenue" between Geyer and Lafayette (almost facing Geyer on the south).

This peaked my interest because I knew that Archibald Gamble was the father of Cyclone Club members Joseph and Rufus Gamble. The elder Gamble was also a business associate of Edward Bredell, Sr., the father of Cyclone co-founder Edward Bredell, Jr. The elder Bredell was a member of the board of improvements for Lafayette Park and the family lived in the neighborhood. It was this association between the Bredell's and Lafayette Park, I believed, that led the Cyclone Club to establish grounds in the park. But the Bryan source hinted at the idea that the Gambles also may have lived in the Lafayette Park neighborhood in the antebellum era, establishing a stronger link between the club, the neighborhood and the park.

I asked Carolyn about the possibility of the Gambles living in the neighborhood prior to the war and see sent me this information from Lafayette Square: An Urban Renaissance by Timothy G. Conley:

The first residence built on the Square's south side was the Italianate mansion of Archibald Gamble who had retired from his successful law practice in 1842. No construction records are available because the St. Louis city limits at this time extended only to Second Carondelet Avenue or the present Eighteenth Street. We do know that the house was built before 1851 since Virginia Gamble married Charles Gibson there in that year...

So the Gambles, like the Bredell's, were living in the Lafayette Park neighborhood prior to the Civil War, at the same time the Cyclone Club was playing games in the park. This strengthens the argument that the Cyclone Club established their grounds in Lafayette Park because some club members lived in the neighborhood and had an interest in the success of the new park.

The Final Resting Place Of Edward Bredell, Jr.

Before we get to the end of the 1876 season, I need to clear some stuff out of my inbox.

One of the best things about running this site is that I get to meet all kinds of interesting folks who share with me a passion for the history of St. Louis and 19th century baseball. I'm blessed in that I get to have interesting conversations about subjects that I love with very knowledgeable people. I learn a great deal from these conversations and am thankful for the time and effort that these folks spend helping me. Plus, they always send me really neat stuff.

One of the people that I've gotten to talk to recently is Carolyn Willmore, who is an expert on the history of Lafayette Park and who is currently writing a book on the subject that I'm looking forward to reading. Carolyn was kind enough to pass along a great deal of information about the park as it relates to the history of antebellum baseball in St. Louis. I'm going to share some of that information with you over the next couple of days.

One of the things Carolyn passed along helped answer a question that I had been pondering for a couple of years. The following comes from a book called Lafayette Square, the Most Significant Old Neighborhood in St. Louis by John Albury Bryan (self-published, November 15, 1962):

One of the saddest events in the Lafayette Square neighborhood in connection with the War was the death of young Captain Edward Bredell, Jr. who was killed at the battle of Fredericksburg. He had enlisted in the Confederate Army at the beginning of the War, at the age of 22. Being an only son, his distraught parents had his body brought home and buried in the flower garden at the back of their home on Lafayette Avenue (where Simpson Place now opens off the Avenue.) Then in 1871, after neighbors began building closer to the Bredell homestand, his parents had the body removed to Bellfontaine Cemetary. In 1881, when the Lafayette Park Presbyterian Church was built at the southwest corner of Missouri Avenue and Albion Place, a large memorial window was placed in the north wall of the auditorium in honor of young Bredell, since his father was a Trustee and Ruling Elder of that Church. Fortunately the father was spared the agony of seeing his Church very badly damaged by the cyclone of May, 1896, for his death occurred in March of that Year. Mrs. Bredell died in 1887.

While the Bryan source gets some information wrong about Bredell's Civil War service, the information about his remains being removed to Bellfontaine Cemetery was new to me. I knew that Bredell's body was no longer in the Lafayette Square neighborhood but I didn't know where he was finally laid to rest. Now we know and the pictures at the top of the post are of Bredell's grave at Bellfontaine Cemetery and can be found at Find A Grave.

Requiem Aeternam Dona Eis

Killed, on the 16th of November, in a skirmish between Mosby's cavalry and the enemy, Lieutenant Edward Bredell, of Saint Louis, Missouri, in the twenty-sixth year of his age.

This gallant young man left a luxurious home, where he was the idol of his parents, and surrounded by every comfort and enjoyment that wealth could supply, to enter the Southern army.  He bravely unsheathed his sword in the cause of the oppressed, and laid down his life a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom, never faltering or turning aside from the path of honor he had chosen, though it led him to the grave.  He has found his last resting place far from home and kindred, but still among friends, and his best record will be written in the hearts of those in whose defence he fought and died.  For his stricken parents, who have lost in him their one great object in life, let them be assured of earnest, unfeigned sympathy.  Their bereavement is great, yet they have much to comfort them and might say with the Spartan father:

"I am too proud by far to weep

Though earth had naught so dear;

As was that soldier youth to me,

Now sleeping on his bier.

It were a stain upon his fame,

Would do his laurel crown a shame

To shed a single tear;

It was a glorious lot to die

in battle and for liberty."

-Daily Richmond Examiner, December 28, 1864