Old Blood and Guts

The George S. Patton Collection at Fort Knox

As was discussed in the previous post from our History Trip, Fort Knox, Kentucky is not only home to the gold depository but also the Patton Museum, home of one of the largest collections of historic tanks and the largest collection of artifacts relating to the life of General George Smith Patton, the famed WWII commander of the 7th, 3rd, and 15th Armies of that conflict. Born in San Gabriel, California on November 11, 1885, Patton was accepted at the Virginia Military Institute and then West Point. He was infamous for his aggressive behavior and tactics throughout his career. His younger days in the Army were with General John Pershing in the campaign to capture Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. It was there in Mexico where Patton was in his first gunfight and killed his first man. During WWI, he served on Pershing's staff and later as a tank commander in France.

As many of you may know, Patton came from a celebrated military tradition. Several of his family members attended the Virginia Military Institute. These Civil War artifacts belonged to the original George S. Patton, a colonel in the 22nd Virginia Infantry. He was killed on September 20, 1864 in one of the many battles for Winchester, Virginia. Patton's great uncle, Waller Tazewell Patton, was killed in Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg while in the 7th VA Infantry. The brothers George and Waller share a common grave in Winchester's Stonewall Confederate Cemetery. Waller was played by mogul Ted Turner in Gettysburg. It was on this saddle that George Patton III (the WWII general) would learn to ride. The military career did not end with his death, however. George S. Patton IV served as a general in the Vietnam War and lived until 2004.

This somewhat freaky-looking 1901 Remington Target Pistol was Patton's first pistol. To the right is one of his childhood toys amongst other artifacts from his youth. Guns and toy dolls compliment each other, right?

On December 9, 1945, Patton and General "Hap" Gay were driving back from pheasant hunting when a large Army supply truck collided with the front of this Cadillac. Patton was the only one in the car who was injured...

...His head smashed into the metal partition dividing the front seats and passenger seats. He had severe spinal injury and was paralyzed. Having trouble breathing, he died from an embolism four days before Christmas 1945. He is buried in the American Cemetery in Luxembourg with many of his men. To survive two world wars and several gunfights only to die from a Cadillac crash is indeed a sad irony. As you can see, the car has been refurbished and still probably gets four miles to the gallon.

And this is the famous leather coat and helmet he wore during the Battle of the Bulge, which I consider perhaps his finest hour. The photo below the coat shows Patton decorating Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe for his defense of Bastogne, Belgium with the 101st Airborne. The coat, actually an Army Air Corps jacket, was made world famous due to the above photo. Now with four stars on it, Patton had the old insignia unstitched and replaced with four evenly spaced stars when promoted. (He was always concerned about appearances.)

His four star helmet from the 3rd Army and his holster.

And then of course there are his famous ivory-handled pistols. Some staff and high command (except maybe Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery) tried to discourage Patton from wearing these for fear that he would make a better target for Nazis. Never one for subtlety or to wince from danger, Patton sported these Colt pistols throughout the entire war. Click to enlarge.

Understandably, Patton always had a taste for the romantic cavalier image. In this photo you can see his early fencing equipment as well as some interesting "in action" poses he made for the camera.

This small flag flew from Patton's car. He signed it as a souvenir for the 6th Army in 1945.

Here is an interior shot of Patton's field headquarters - the granddaddy of the RV I suppose you could call it. Inside was a sink, a changing area, a map table/wall, a desk, and a comfy-looking chair tucked in the corner. On that chair are his "riding" gloves and riding crop. In front are his briefcases with his name inscribed on them.

An exterior view of Patton's field headquarters truck.

Pardon the poor photo quality, but this is the dog tag of Willie Whiffle...Patton's dog.

This video is a segment from the TV series Patton 360...when the History Channel still produced historical programming. The remainder of this episode can be found on YouTube.

Heavy Guns and Thick Armor

At the Patton Museum in Fort Knox, KY

The second day of our history extravaganza took us to Fort Knox, Kentucky; more specifically the Patton Museum. The museum was a veritable treasure trove of armored tanks and vehicles ranging from WWI to the present, including American and enemy tanks. The photo above is a huge life-size diorama featuring an original Mark 4 Tank from 1917. Just below the gun turret on the left side of the tank, you may notice a small whole where a German shell plowed through the armor. (Also take notice of the German grenade "flying" in mid air.)

The FT-17, known as the first "modern tank," was designed by French car manufacturer Louis Renault during World War I. On average, it could move at the swift speed of 4-5 miles per hour! A young Captain Dwight D. Eisenhower trained with such tanks (without the machine guns) at Camp Colt on the Gettysburg Battlefield.

Here is a schematic of the FT-17 which shows its spacious design. Makes you claustrophobic just thinking about it!

Here is a very large, captured Nazi flag (NSDAP standing for Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei). It was captured by the 761st Tank Battalion sometime in the early spring of 1945. These flags were much sought after as souvenirs, and the new owner of the flag, wanting something to remember his service, had his fellow soldiers sign it. After the end of WWII, the members of the battalion kept in contact and the owner of the flag made it a point to bring it to several of the unit's annual reunions, where additional members signed the flag. In total, there are over 150 signatures, including most of the battalion officers and a number of Silver Star and Bronze Star winners from the unit.

This is the Mark 4 Tank shown in the first photo as seen from the rear. There are a number of hatches that were utilized as firing holes or escape exits. This sucker was massive, the approximate size of a tractor trailer in length. It weighs 29 tons and carried eight crewmen. Approximately 400 of this model were constructed and included six pounder guns and Hotchkiss machine guns. Don't ask me how the got the thing in the museum...

An inside view of the Mark 4. One of the crewman stood on a platform as a navigator of sorts, using the sight to view no man's land and nearby German positions. The two men in the left background were in the gunners' positions.

As you can imagine, the engine for the Mark 4 was equally gargantuan. With the machinery taking up half the interior, I couldn't even get the thing in one shot. Two of the eight men inside the tank were gearmen responsible for operating and directing the vehicle. It must have been incredibly loud, hot, and smoky.

I took this photo for my brother Mark, who shares the same initial as this cavalry flag for "Motorized Force." Such a guidon would have been used for Army motorcycles 1910-1930s.

This "Green Hornet" tanker's uniform was worn by General George S. Patton. "Old Blood and Guts" believed it was important that armored soldier be given unique uniforms to build "espirit-de-corps," or in his words, "to lead with class to what would otherwise be a bothersome bore." This unfirom was originally designed while Patton was a brigadier general. However, his design and choice of color led to it being nicknamed "The Green Hornet" by local media. (Much like the popular comic book hero of that era.) The addition of a gold painted football style helmet further added to the superhero impression.

The Type 95 Light "Ha Go" Japanese Tank was introduced in 1934. It incorporated the best features of the Type 898 Medium Tank as well as other light cavalry tanks. Although fast and maneuverable, it was still no match for the far superior American armor it faced in the Pacific Theater during WWII. 3,300 of the tanks were built between 1937 and 1943. It had a crew of three and weighs over 8 tons. This particular vehicle was captured by American forces upon their return to the Philippine Islands in 1945.

A large selection of WWII tanks and half tracks filled a large gallery at the Patton Museum. This half track is mounted with a Howitzer cannon and .50 caliber machine gun. Despite my inner child instincts, I followed the rules and didn't climb on or into any of the tanks (although I really wanted to)!

Major General Maurice Rose of the 3rd Armored Division was killed wearing this helmet when Nazi shrapnel tore through it. Click to enlarge the photo and read more about General Rose's story.

And of course, there was a German King Tiger tank, which was absolutely gigantic. Keep in mind, I am 6 feet 3 inches and the tank is actually bigger than what it looks in the photo. The tank's extremely thick armor and very accurate and powerful gun overpowered it against almost any armor the Allies could launch at it. Often, it took three or five Sherman Tanks to knock out one of these. The vehicle could move 25-30 miles per hour.

Fellow Penn State student Eric Sral crawls to avoid carnage of the impregnable Tiger Tank.

There weren't only tanks at the Patton Museum, but historical and military artifacts from throughout the world. This post was a border post along the Iron Curtain in Europe. Enlarge image to read the full text.

This is a German Flak 88, which was actually much bigger than I imagined. Once again, I couldn't fit the whole weapon in a single snapshot. This anti-aircraft gun was the most used and most dangerous weapon against B-17 and B-24 bombers during Allied bombing raids over WWII Europe. These guns would illuminate the sky with black, smoky bursts of explosives and shrapnel so often depicted in war movies. Nasty business.

I try my hand at tank driving in the armor simulator.

Student Justin Shope does the same.

My esteemed history professor, Dr. Steve Andrews, trained at Fort Knox in the 1970s and drove tanks in Cold War Germany. His insights into this aspect of the trip added a unique perspective to our visit to the fort.

Dozens of WWII tanks and beyond adorn the museum and base's grounds. More photos from the Patton Museum and Fort Knox to come soon!

On the Fields of Perryville

We returned from our fantastic history road trip during spring break on Friday. I hope to share photos and video from many of the historic sites we Penn State students visited over the week. After a full day of driving from Pennsylvania to Kentucky, our first stop was Perryville Battlefield State Park, located in the rolling hillsides of rural Kentucky. Other than three or four other people we encountered during our visit, we had the battlefield entirely to ourselves. It was a pleasant change of pace when pondering the frequent congestion of battlefields like Gettysburg. This will be the first of at least a dozen posts on our trip.

Perryville was the largest Civil War battle to take place in Kentucky. By early fall of 1862, the ever-troubled Confederate commander Braxton Bragg and his southern forces entered Kentucky to both lure Federals away from the Nashville, TN area in addition to foraging and recruiting. By late September and early October, the pursuing Union Army of the Ohio under General Don Carlos Buell forced the Confederates through the town of Bardstown and eastward toward Perryville, KY.

The path to Perryville. Map by Steve Stanley and the Civil War Preservation Trust. Click to Enlarge.

According to a brochure at the park, the 16,000 Confederates planned to launch an offensive against the pursuing Federals, not knowing that northern forces numbered in excess of 58,000 men. Some 20,000 of these would be deployed in the sloping terrain west of the town of Perryville. Around 2 p.m. on October 8, Bragg's men charged into the Union defenses in a battle that would continue past 7 p.m. Both flanks of the northern positions were compromised but were preserved at the last moment thanks to reserve troops. In the end, nearly 8,000 men became casualties. The Commonwealth of Kentucky was lost for the Confederacy.

On the fortieth anniversary of the battle in 1902, a Confederate monument was dedicated in the Confederate cemetery begun by Henry P. Bottom at the center of the field, and a smaller Federal memorial was erected nearby in 1931. The Perryville State Battlefield site was established in 1954 by the Kentucky State Conservation Commission, and a museum and visitor's center were opened near the monuments on the battle's one hundredth anniversary in 1962.

A close-up view of the Confederate monument dedicated in 1902. The Confederates lost 532 men plus another 437 missing. Because their outnumbered force had to withdraw quickly from the field, their dead remained on the field and became victim to hogs and buzzards. One unknown Union soldier commented that:

"All around us was evidence of the death and struggle of the day before. Bodies of men were scattered about. In the field and by the roadside every house and barn was filled with the maimed and dying...Many of them were in the most horrible condition that the mind can conceive. Some were shot through the head, body, or limbs. Others mangled by fragments of shell and all suffering the greatest torments."

There were very few tombstones in this small cemetery, but I assume there are more buried in there. There are no Union burials on the field that we know of. One of the few graves here was that of Sergeant Harris Bradford Cope of the 16th Tennessee Infantry. Unfortunately, I could find no biographical information on the man besides what is on his tombstone. 33 years of age, older than most soldiers, but still too young.

Our first stop was Starkweather's Hill, where Union Colonel John Starweather helped prevent the capture of the Union wagon trains.

Col. John Starkweather

Library of Congress Image.

Samuel R. Watkins of the 3rd Tennessee Infantry, who wrote the classic memoir Company Aytch: Or, a Side Show of the Big Show, was a survivor of Perryville. The entire text of his book may be found at Project Gutenberg.

This marker describes the intense fighting on this portion of the hill.

Another view from Starkweather's Hill. This Napoleon cannon is painted gold to look bronze.

In this video, the esteemed Dr. Steve Andrews musters his best southern accent to tell us of Perryville in the context of "the Civil War in a nutshell."

View looking east.

The Union forces were largely composed of soldiers from the Midwest including Illinois and Michigan.


In the far distance of this photo is the H.P. Bottoms House, which was standing at the time of the battle. Members of the the 3rd Ohio Infantry anchored near here against a much larger Confederate force. Led by General Bushrod Johnson, the southerners charged the hill part way before seeking shelter behind a nearby stonewall. Holding against Confederate artillery, the Ohioans withstood another attack led by General Patrick Cleburne. A third assault commanded by General Dan Adams finally pushed the Union line back to a secondary position.

The Bottom House, from a picture taken in 1885. A nearby barn housing wounded Federals caught fire and many of the injured, unable to escape, perished in the flames.

According to Battles and Leaders and Wikipedia, "Perryville's homes and farms were left in shambles by the battle. Henry P. Bottom, a prominent secessionist on whose farm a significant portion of the battle was fought, suffered losses of pork, corn, hay, and wood to Union soldiers who remained in the area for weeks after the fighting. The main force of the Union army had buried most of their dead in long trenches before pursuing Bragg, but most of the Confederate dead were still unburied a week after the battle. Union soldiers finally forced local residents to help them lay the dead in shallow trenches carved in the dry soil. Two months later, 347 were re-buried in a mass grave on Bottom's land. A total of 435 Confederates were buried on Squire Bottom's land-this land was chosen because their dead lay thickest on the eastern slope. Although Bottom claimed that about 100 were identified the only rements of the cemetery was a corner of a stone wall and one headstone-of Samuel H. Ransom of the 1st Tennessee Infantry CSA.

At the end of the war in 1865, Union soldiers reburied the remains of 969 Federal dead in a national cemetery at Perryville with a stone wall, two gates and plans for a monument. The monument was never erected, however, and in 1867 the new cemetery was closed and the Federal dead transferred to Camp Nelson in Kentucky, leaving no identified Federal dead on the field at Perryville."

Captain Peter Simonson of the Light Indiana Artillery soon became embroiled in a desperate artillery duel with opposing Confederate gunners. For more than an hour, the batteries fired back and forth. Because the Union guns had greater range, these gunners had the upper hand. Eventually, many of the rebel guns withdrew and the Federals believed they were in retreat. However, the fields to the marker's front quickly became filled with advancing Confederates. The Northerners had precious few amounts of long-range shells remaining following the duel. It would cost them.

A view looking east from the position of Simonson's Battery. Cleburne's and Brown's Confederates pushed over the hills to our front. Near the far distant treeline was the site of "Sleettown," a post-Civil War African American community composed of ex-slaves.

A south easterly view from Simonson's Battery site. The Bottoms House is at the bottom of the hill just off to the right of the photo's view.

Unfortunately, the visitor center was closed. However, we were able to enjoy the center's Kentucky Native Plants Garden. (Okay, okay. Winter just ended. I know.) The interior of the center was completely renovated in 2009, with brand new exhibits. Luckily, there is an online photo gallery of this new museum.

Although we did not have the time to explore the entire battlefield, we now know more about the battle than prior to our visit. You may visit the park's website here. Two other noteworthy sites are The Battle of Perryville and Perryville Battlefield. Enjoy!

Stay tuned for part two of our spring break history palooza...