Lieutenant Robert F. Massie and Edgar Allen Poe

  

  Edgar Allan Poe, the famed poet and author, served briefly in the military as a teenager, under the alias “Edgar A. Perry,” and was stationed for five months at Fort Independence in Boston harbor.  Poe, who was born in Boston but grew up in Richmond, joined the military in 1827 at the age of 18, although he listed his age at the time as 22.  He lied about his age so he could avoid having to obtain his parent’s consent to join the military. Other sources indicate he concealed his real age, as well as his real name, to avoid the numerous gambling debts he had accrued.

  After enlisting, Poe was sent to Fort Independence in Boston harbor in the summer of 1827.  During his short stay at the fort, Poe saw a memorial to Lieutenant Robert F. Massie.  Asking about it Poe was told about a duel that occurred there in December of 1817 during which Lieutenant Massie was killed.

  The legend says that Massie was so popular among his fellow soldiers that they attacked his killer, Lieutenant Gustavus Drane, and sealed him up within a vault in the fort.  Rumor has it that this story later served as the inspiration for Poe’s short story “The Cask of Amontillado.”

  It is a fact that a duel occurred there at the fort in 1817 and it resulted in Massie’s death. Massie was buried at the fort and his grave was marked by a marble tombstone, although his grave was later moved to Fort Devens.

  Yet the story of Drane being walled up inside the fort is pure fiction. In fact, Drane actually continued his military career after the duel and later rose to the rank of Captain. He passed away in 1846 and his death was recorded in the U.S. Army Register that year

  Although Drane was never walled up in the fort, several sources, such as “The Complete Illustrated Guidebook to Boston’s Public Parks and Gardens” indicate that during renovations at the fort in 1905, a skeleton was found chained to the wall of an abandoned casement inside the fort.  The skeleton was reportedly wearing scraps of an old military uniform.  As the fort was used as a state prison from 1785 until 1805, it is highly possible the skeleton could have belonged to a former prisoner, although it was never officially identified.

  Should you visit the military cemetery at Fort Defend today Lieutenant Robert F. Massie original monument and his more modern tombstone can still be seen.

Fox Pups

 

  We were very excited to see that a family of foxes set up under the shed next door.  We have seen one fox in the area regularly over the past two years.  But looks like he and the misses set up housekeeping.  There are three Pups or kits (babies) and recently we caught them running and playing outside.

Painting and Home Repairs

 

I have been out of action for the last couple of weeks.  We are having our driveway repaved and the inside of the house painted.  In addition I am redoing the outside deck and other needed home repairs.  I will be working on resetting up my war game area in the basement once done.

We are also getting rid of "stuff" and redecorating.  This is taking more time them we thought it would and is causing chaos.  Our dog, Fritz is especially upset at all that us going on.  To show us his displeasure the other day he sat out on the deck in the rain for an hour refusing to come back in.  Yorkies can be incredibly stubborn.

This means no time for setting up games or such.  Modern life gets in the way I am afraid.  

North Bridge Diarama Updated

 

  As I have mentioned earlier I love dioramas and they have instilled in me my love of model soldiers.  While the Lexington Green one will always be my sentimental favorite this one of the North Bridge fight is up there with it.  Because it was local whenever I was in Concord I would try and stop by to visit it.

   This great diorama is at the Concord Museum in Concord Massachusetts.  It was commissioned by the historian Allen French and built by  Guernsey and Pittman in Cambridge Massachusetts in the 1930's.  Allen French provided the historical research for the builders.  If you are not familiar with him,  his books, "Day of Lexington and Concord" and "General Gage's Informers" are the foundation of any study of the battles.  While working at Minute Man National Historical Park I took some time going through the Allen French papers.  Included was his  correspondence about the diorama and notes to the builders.  After all these years I was curious how it held up and what shape it was in.  I am very happy to say it still looks great!

   Guernsey and Pittman are famous for their quality of dioramas.  They had a office in Harvard square In Cambridge Massachusetts.  Both men had been professors at Harvard University.    I plan on doing a blog posting about the in the future in which I will showcase some of their work.  Here is a picture from the Concord Museum of the two men bring the finished diorama into the museum in 1930.

British Light companies in street fighting position.  

    

Nice detail of the fight.

The front rank of British soldiers are retiring to the rear to reload after firing.  Note the soldier leaning on his file mate and standing in his tip toes to get a better view!

Although the miniatures are very crude by today's standards they are still works of art. Each figure us individually made.

There are neat little details in the diorama that reward multiple viewings.  Note the planks pulled up on the bridge.  

Or the man knocking the cap off the head if his file mate.

  In the picture here Lt. William Sutherland calls for volunteers to join in him to flank the Americans.

Congratulations Nathaniel

 

Good news and a celebration for my family.  My son proposed to his girlfriend Adriana and she accepted.  This is very good for us all.  Congratulations Nathaniel! 

 Here we all are at the party;  Alexandra, Nathaniel, Adriana, Janine and myself.