Breeze-Blocks Obscute the View!

Email: Breeze-Blocks & Boxing Helena! (15.6.2025)

As I sit in my cell today, all hell is breaking loose between two boxers known as the “A-Men” and the “Z-Men”. It is obvious that the crooked Promoters are hell-bent on clearing-house – and any exposure of the ring, its environs, or interior – is met by a fluffy blanket which tucks us all in – nice and snug. This approach prevents anyone on CompressedLetter “seeing beyond the blanket” – and migrating to another promoter – one which possesses a “better view” of the fight-game. Something of a captive audience – as effective counter-punches have been thrown that nobody can see. I believe a number of these devices were sent from the desk of the Titanic as it was sinking – via the new wireless contraption (margelet). Anyway, the fight is fixed and all the Promoters are in on it. To achieve the correct outcome, stories of kittens and puppy dogs are being perpetuated in the media – to take our minds off the injustice that is happening in the ring. I have to go – I hear the rattling of keys…

Volunteers Fought At Harrisburg!

CSA: The Peculiar [1863] Union Defence of Harrisburg! (17.5.2025)

At one-point a thousand White volunteers from Harrisburg joined a large group of Black people to dig trenches and build ramparts around the geographical extremities. After one day, 700 of the White people returned home – saying the labour “hurt their hands” – whilst the other 300 acted as foremen directing the Black labourers (as if they were slaves). Black people built the defences of Harrisburg – but by and large were excluded from defending the place on the grounds that Black men carrying guns (and acting “free”) would scare the women and children. The situation was a little more nuanced than this, however, as NO White person from Harrisburg possessed the courage to join a local militia to defend the place they lived in. This led to the local authorities agreeing to arm a small company of local Black men that everyone knew – who had to drill away from the sight of ordinary people from Harrisburg. Meanwhile, thousands of White volunteers poured into the area to offer their services in defence of the place (risking their lives) – but were met with indifference and hostilities from the locals. Shop-keepers, hoteliers, and bar-owners put up their prices by ten or twenty times (even charging for a glass of water) – asking for excessive amounts of money for the smallest necessity of life.

Battle of Gettysburg - Painting by Paul Philippoteaux

CSA: Confederate Army Uniforms, Hats, Ranks & Badges c. 1861! (27.4.2025)

Sometimes, CSA Units proudly wore “Blue” – whilst certain Union Units proudly wore “Grey”. Both sides also possessed Units that dressed (and acted) like English Red-Coats – a designation that then sent shudders through most people due to the reputation the Red-Coats possessed – namely that of strict discipline and ruthless close-quarter-fighting (all wounded were bayoneted as an act of compassion – due to the lack of any reliable medical treatment). English Red-Coats would march indifferently into enemy-fire – safe in the belief that once the distance was closed – the enemy would pay the price. The CSA Units attempted to replicate this attitude and make the Union pay for the damage its forces inflicted upon the Southern States.

Confederate Museum - Louisiana

CSA: Email – Did Louisiana “Natives” [Creoles] Fight for the Confederacy? (6.2.2025)

I know this must be true, because every so often in the biographies of Union soldiers and Officers, I read that the dastardly Confederates had been fielding Armies of “Negroes” and “Indians”, etc. Furthermore, some of the exploits of these non-White Confederates are well-recorded. On the other hand, there are Civil War authors who state that there was never any non-White Confederate soldiers and what has been mistaken as such – were unarmed slaves forced into Confederate uniform. We know that this cannot be true – because Black Veterans of the Confederate Army campaigned to have their names and exploits recorded on official Confederate War Memorials after the war. My real objective is to work my way into this subject and discover primary sources that record “Chinese” people fighting in the Confederacy – as this is my academic subject (Chinese Studies). My enquiry below is essentially whether the “Louisiana Natives” were the same outfit as the “Louisiana Creoles”? Of course, I might be wrong and could be confusing two separate and distinct formations (the former “Black” – the latter “Mixed”) – as the book above seems to be suggesting that the “Cannoniers” were a well-known Unit. Either way, for the progression of research – no stone must be left unturned!

superb british army soldiers

Historical British Army “Ranks” & “Formations”! (30.8.2024)

There are a number of exceptions to this observation. In 1571, for instance, Queen Elizabeth I raised the “Holland Regiment”. Monck’s Regiment of Foot served the Parliamentary Cause during the English Civil Wars and is today better known as the “Coldstream Guards”.  The “Royal Regiment of Guards” fought for King Charles I during the English Civil Wars and is today known as the “Grenadier Guards”. It seems that early examples of the use of the “Regiment” designation might have included newly formed units with no fighting history or direct links to a British geographical location. These attributes had to be earned through blood and honour. However, eventually very well-establish military units seem to have voluntarily taken on this designation – or been given it by the British government.

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