Id’d Homespun Mid-Seam Blanket of Private Ernest M. Copp Co. K 2^nd Massachusetts Cavalry – This blanket, constructed of homespun, coarse linsey-woolsey (combination of wool and cotton or linen) is an example of a typical, homespun blanket from the first half of the 19^th century; loomed at the weaver’s home, these homespun blankets, referred to, in Civil War soldier parlance as “sheeting”, due to their light weight, were constructed of two panels, hand sewn together and therefore referred to as “mid-seam blankets”; home looms, in the 19^th century, were not large enough in width to weave panels wider than about 32” or 36”*. Accompanying the blanket is an old, handwritten note that states:

“Linsey-Woolsey

Blanket = 2 piece

Seam middle

Called “Sheeting”

5’ by 6’

Ernest Copp

Boston 23    ?

Co. E, 2^nd Reg’t

Ma. Vol. Cav.  ?

Jun. 26, ’63. Wounded

Sept. 10, ’64 Berryville

Va. Dis_ June

28, ‘65”

Private Copp was “accidentally” wounded in Berryville, on September 10, 1864. Copp would die shortly after the war, in 1867. The 2^nd Massachusetts Cavalry was denoted as the “California Battalion” as several companies in the regiment were composed of volunteers from the state of California who had made the long trek east, to join in the war effort. The 2^nd Mass. Cavalry regiment would see action at the Third Battle of Winchester, Fishersville and Cedar Creek.

A series of decorative blue stripes, alternating in width, appear at either end of the blanket; both ends are hand-bound with blue yarn. The blanket remains in superior condition, exhibiting no holes, either insect induced or stress pulls; it appears that it may have been laundered, relatively recently, and is in near useable condition.

Measurements: L – 72”; W – 72”

* Because most looms were narrow, coverlets were often made of two woven panels joined with a center seam. Many geometric coverlets have two seams — three panels joined. That is to say, the weaver had to weave the entire length of the coverlet twice, or three times, and hand sew them together next to each other in order to create a textile that was wide enough to cover the bed! (The National Museum of the American Coverlet)

Ernest Copp

2nd MA Cavalry
( 3-years )

SECOND REGIMENT MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER CAVALRY
Three Years

2nd Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment

The 2nd Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was a regiment of cavalry troops in the Union army during the American Civil War. It consisted primarily of men from the states of California and Massachusetts, and served in the Eastern Theater, despite its western roots.

History

Politicians at the start of the Civil War began raising volunteer troops in response to President Abraham Lincoln‘s call to arms to force the return of the Confederate States of America to the Union. Owing to political divisions at the time of the Civil War and to the limited transportation facilities for moving troops great distances, the Lincoln administration did not request California troops for Eastern battlefields but instead called for volunteers to replace regular troops stationed at western garrisons. In the late summer of 1862, a small number of men in California who had been raised in the East decided to enlist in the army, but wanted to serve in the Eastern Theater. They contacted Governor John Andrew of Massachusetts in the late summer of 1862 and offered to raise a company of 100 cavalrymen to serve in a state regiment. Andrews agreed on the condition the Californians would provide their own uniforms and equipment and pay for their own passage to Boston.

The so-called “California Hundred” was organized in San Francisco on December 10, 1862, and took a ship to the East Coast, arriving at Camp Meigs in Readville, Massachusetts, on January 4, 1863.^[1] They were designated as Company A, and soon were joined by seven companies of Massachusetts. The Californians and four of the local companies were moved in mid-February to Baltimore, Maryland, then to Fort Monroe and numerous other locations in Virginia, where they primarily engaged in picketing, scouting, and outpost duty until July 1863. Commanded by James Sewall Reed, the Californians first took to the field near Yorktown, Virginia. From July 1863 to July 1864, the California Hundred engaged in numerous skirmishes with John S. Mosby‘s Confederate partisan rangers in the Loudoun Valley.

In February and March 1863, another 400 Californians were recruited and sent to Massachusetts to form Companies E, F, L, and M (the “California Battalion”) of the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry. They arrived in the Bay State on April 16, 1863, completing the full complement of the regiment. They moved to Washington, D.C., in May and Colonel Charles Russell Lowell was given command.

In August 1863, the regiment was combined in Centreville, Virginia, and became a part of King’s Division in the XXII Corps. They later served in the Army of the Shenandoah under Philip H. Sheridan during the Valley Campaigns of 1864. Among the many actions that the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry participated in were the battles of Fort Stevens, Opequon, Tom’s Brook, and Cedar Creek. The following spring in 1865, by now under command of Colonel Caspar Crowninshield, it participated in the Siege of Petersburg. In the subsequent Appomattox Campaign it pursued elements of the retreating Army of Northern Virginia, then marched in the Grand Review of the Armies in Washington on May 23. The men were mustered out July 20, 1865, at Fairfax Court House, Virginia, before returning to California and Massachusetts in the weeks that followed.

The regiment lost during its service 8 officers and 82 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded, and 3 officers and 138 enlisted men by disease for a total of 231. Of the original California Hundred’s 3 officers and 101 enlisted men, 40 were present the day the company disbanded. About 12 had died, others were discharged because of sickness or wounds or were transferred to other units, and 10 deserted, a greater desertion rate than from any other Massachusetts regiment.^[2]

Two men of the regiment were awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry in the Valley Campaigns of 1864. The two men were:

• Private Philip Baybuttat Luray, Virginia
• Captain Henry H. Crockerat the Battle of Cedar Creek

Many Patriotic young men on the West Coast had followed the War in the newspapers and were anxious for a chance to join in the fight. But, they knew that if they joined a California State unit, they would be stationed in the West, fighting Indians, guarding commerce trails, or doing garrison duty.

In the late summer of 1862, a group of Californians, all originally from the East Coast, had contacted Governor Andrews of Massachusetts and proposed to raise one hundred volunteers to form a separate company in a cavalry regiment that was being raised in Massachusetts. The Governor agreed with the condition that the Californians would provide their own uniforms and equipment. Officially they became company A of the Second Massachusetts Cavalry, but were more popularly know as the “California Hundred”.

The Californians used their enlistment bounty to pay for their passage and set off aboard the Golden Age by sea from San Francisco, December 1, 1862. At the Isthmus of Panama they debarked, transited the Isthmus by rail, then boarded the Ocean Queen for the eastern seaboard. The men arrived at Camp Meigs, Readville, Mass. on January 4, 1863. After spending several weeks of basic training at Camp Meigs, the Company was transported to Fortress Monroe, Va. and placed on active duty at Gloucester Point on February 22, 1863.

This first contingent was so appreciated that it was followed by 400 more California volunteers. They arrived at Camp Meigs during March and April of 1863 and soon after receiving their basic training joined Company A and the rest of the 2^nd Mass. Cavalry as Companies E, F, L, and M. This second group of Californians were known as the “California Battalion”.

California Sabers is the story of the California Battalion and Hundred, a group of 500 select men who were the only organized group of Californians to fight in the East during the Civil War. They volunteered their enlistment bounty to pay their passage across Panama and on to
Massachusetts, where they became the cadre of the Second Massachusetts Cavalry.

From mid-1863 to July 1864, the Second Massachusetts fought a bloody guerilla war in northern Virginia against John S. Mosby, the confederacy’s “Gray Ghost.” In July 1864 the regiment became part of Sheridan’s Army of the Shenandoah, and that fall it played a major role in the decisive battles of Winchester, Toms Run, and Cedar Creek.

In early 1865 the regiment was in the column that marched across Virginia destroying the vital railroad and canal that carried supplies from the Shenandoah Valley to the besieged Army of Northern Virginia. In late March, the Second Massachusetts was in the forefront of the battles at Dinwiddie Courthouse and Five Forks, the two actions that finally broke the stalemate at Petersburg and forced Lee to retreat to the west. In the ensuing chase, the regiment was the part of the cavalry spearhead that finally blocked Lee’s army at Appomattox Courthouse.