1st Regiment Illinois Light Artillery
De Gress’ Battery
Next Meeting
January 12, 2007
7:30 PM
White Court, Buffalo Grove
The next scheduled meeting will be on January 12th at the Home of Adjutant Brown. Please mark your calendars. To be discussed is the upcoming schedule of events which include the 2007 Lincoln Birthday Party.
Elections Results
At the November 10th meeting the battery held elections for all the offices for the year 2007. There will be some slight changes but most of the offices will continue to be held by the same members.
The following is a list of the offices and those that now hold them.
Commander: John V Matuszek
Secretary/Adjutant: Bob Brown
RSO Wayne Blatherwick
Asst. RSO Matt Koch
Paymaster Dick Koch
Quartermaster John Thatcher
Historian John V Matuszek
Board Members Jack Hubbell
Frank S Matuszek
By-Law Changes
To help with meeting the 2006 Board of Directors got together to address the situation of the number of members to make up an official meeting. It was stated that an official meeting be made up of 50%+1 of the membership. Due to the fact that there are several members who live over 50 miles away from the normal meeting places, it has been getting harder to get the numbers for an official meeting. For this reason it was voted upon at the November meeting that the By-laws be changed to state an official meeting be made up a majority of the board of directors and three volunteers. This was voted upon and passed.
Happy Holidays:
As the newly elected Commander of the Battery I hope that all of you had a wonderful Holiday and are looking forward to the New Year. It always amazes me how fast the years pass but and that we have survived all the trials and events of the past year. I look forward to doing my best to strengthen and improving the Battery. There are some areas that we need to focus on and by working together we can handle whatever may come our way.
I would like to thank Bob Brown for his past several years of service as our Commander. I am sure Bob will being the commander and will make a great Adjutant. I doubt I will be as organized as Bob was and I hope that you will understand if some miscues occur. I also would like to thank all of those that are still in office and thank you for your time spent in those duties as required. I look forward to a wonderful 2007 shooting season.
Commander John
2006 In Review.
The following is a list of accomplishments that the Battery did in 2006. They are in no particular order.
- Two Fourth of July Parades
- The 3rd Annual Frank V Matuszek Memorial Skirmish at Sandy Ford
- 2nd place in Mortar Team at Spring Nationals
- 9th Place in Mortar Team at Fall Nationals
- LaGrange Pet Parade
- Artillery Display at Sandy Ford for the 2006 Camp of Instruction
- Recruitment Displays at the Kane County Gun Show
- Lincoln Birthday Party
- Civil War Display at the Wheaton Relic Show
- The Battery’s first 1st place regional Carbine Team medal
- Individual Metal winners in many events.
- Four Regional Skirmishes attended.
- Founder’s Day Parade
Cannon on the Disable List
As you know the battery decided not to participate in the 2006 annual Long Range Match in Graying Michigan, sponsored by Loomis Battery. The main reason is that many felt it would be a waste of time and money. For over 25 years the cannon has been stored outside exposed to the elements and several bird nests. The Battery has tried changes to the projectile and powder charge with no improvement in the accuracy. After some discussion at the August meeting, a motion was made and passed to purchase a new liner. This liner was bought from Kenny Kirk from New York and delivered to Southbend. Dick Kock transported the cannon tube to Southbend so the work can be stared sooner than later.
The cannon needs further work to replace rotting wood and repainting of the wood and metal. Work parties will be needed in the near future. The Cannon committee members will contact you for your help as needed. Do not be upset if you are not called. There are some jobs that need only a few people to do.
The Battery hopes to have the cannon ready in time for any early parades or shows. They hope they can compete in the 2007 Long Range Match with the confidence that they can hit something more than the backstop. All of this work has depleted the Battery’s treasury.
The costs may seem high but the alternative is to buy a brand new tube that would cost about $5000 to $6000 or to scrap the idea of firing the cannon. Neither of these options is believed to be feasible at this time.
FOID Cards
Please check your Illinois Firearms Identification Card. It has been reported that the Illinois State Police are behind in notifying card holders of the need to renew their cards. It would be a shame to get into hot water because of someone else’s error. So check your cards expiration date.
2007 Events
Jan 12th Membership Meeting
Feb 17-18 Springfield 114th
April 28-29th Sandyford 46th
May 17 -20 Spring Nationals
June 23-24 Sandyford Battery H
July ? Long-Range Grayling Match
Aug 18-19 Springfield 114th
Sept 15-16 Bristol 6th
Oct 4 - 7 Fall Nationals
It was last reported that the Rumor Mill had generated that the Battery will be asked to help run a National in the year 2008. This has not been confirmed. It was suggested that we try for the last task we had last time, which was latrine duty. The Battery has the experience and it did a very good job
The Battery is always looking for new members. It is proud to have welcomed Stan into the Battery even if he is over 700 miles away, suffering in the rolling hills East of the Shenandoah Valley. Yet we need more members in this state of Illinois. The recruitment officer is looking for 2 to 3 people would be willing to represent the Battery at the Kane County Gun show December 10th.
On Dec 10th Three Battery Members manned a recruitment display at the Kane County Gun Show in hopes of find some new members for the Battery. Several interested people signed up and our Recruiting Officer is in the process of contacting them. The Recruiting Officer is looking for at least two members to go to the Kane County Shows on February 12th, March18th, April 15th and May13th. John Matuszek is willing to purchase a table but presently is unable to attend all the shows himself. Please check your calendars and let John know if you are willing to go. Yes you can take a break and look at the other wares being offered up for sale.
The Recruitment Officer would like to set up a Battery Muster at the Bristol Range. There are several Battery members who are also a member of that Sportsman’s Club. A date is still needed to be picked were the Battery could invite prospective members out to try the various firearms. As most of you know, it is hard to explain our sport in words. Please think about this and we will try to come up with a date that we can advertise to any prospective members.
Man Found for the Web Page.
Stan Jezior has stepped forward and accepted the role of the Battery’s Website Master. Digital pictures of the Battery at rest or in action are still being accepted. Please check what you have and send them to Commander Brown. Pictures should have members in full uniforms and try to avoid sunglasses and other non-period items unless safety related. Articles and tid-bits are welcome also.
Ghost Tours
Ghost tours have become very popular in these past years. People are no longer afraid of what goes bump in the middle of the night. They are curious of the stories and myths that surround battlefields and the local small towns. Ghost tours can be found in Gettysburg, Leesburg, and Winchester. Some of the members of the Battery went to scenic Harper’s Ferry and has given us this report of that towns ghost tour.
Harper’s Ferry is a wonderful place to visit. Anyone who ever walked the streets and climbed the paths going up the mountains or along the rivers always leave with the feeling that they would like to retire there. It is always peaceful and serene. Yet there are those that are said to have retired there until judgment day. These spirits were the main focus of a tour taken in the late evening. Two members of the Battery paid the low price of $5 each and jointed a group lead by a lady who has taken over narrating the tour from her grandmother who became unable to continue. The narrator pointed out several buildings that held spirits or have held spirits. She discussed some of the towns more interesting history and folklore. The town held a different feeling in the dark. It added to the appreciation and mystique of the town. Give yourself about 75 minutes to drive there from the range. Maybe not a must, but it definitely was not a bust
Battery History 104
In 1861, at the outbreak of the war, Axel Silfversparre, a former lieutenant of the Svea Artillery Regiment in the Swedish Army, left in order to go to the United States to fight for the Union cause. He received his commission from Gen. John C. Fremont, who at once put ht knowledge and experience of the young Swedish artillery officer to good use. Silfversparre was first sent to Fort Fremont, at Cape Girardeau, Mo., to put a number of heavy artillery pieces in place. This duty done, he, burning with an ambition to distinguish himself in the war, went to Illinois on leave, intent on organizing a Swedish battery. On Dec 25, 1861 he secured from the state authorities a commission to that effect and during the next two months, accompanied a John A Anderson of Chicago, he made a recruiting tour of the Swedish settlements in the state, starting with Chicago, and visiting Rockford, St. Charles, Batavia, Geneva, Sycamore, DeKalb, Princeton, Galva, Bisoip Hill, Andover, Moline, Knoxville, Victoria, Galesburg, and other places. Swedish-Americans to the number of fifty joined him, besides a larger number of men of ten other nationalities. These volunteers met in Chicago to complete the organization, when the organizer, Silfversparre himself, was elected captain, while all the subordinate offices were given to men of other than Swedish descent.
Silfversparre ws a scion of the Swedish nobility. His parents were Viscount Gustaf Johan Silfversparre, an ex-lieut.-colonel of the Royal Horse Guards and his wife, Countess Sophie Morner of Morlanda. He was born in the city of Strangnas, May8, 1834, and educated at the Upsala University. After his graduation from college in 1852 he became a non-commissioned officer of the Svea Artillery, and was promoted second lieutenant the following year. He served in the regiment at Stockholm, Vaxholm, and Hernosand until 1858, when he entered the artillery academy of Maireverg, continuing his studies until 1860. He said to have been one on a number of army officers who after having been engaged in a fracas with civilians in Stockholm, wre court-martialed and degraded. Shortly thereafter he came to the United States and was employed in Missouri as army engineer before enlisting in the volunteer army.