Curtiss Museum puts Civil War on Display
By DERRICK EK THE LEADER

PHOTO BY JASON COX/THE LEADER Rick Leisenring, curator of Hammondsport Glenn Curtiss Museum, polishes a musket on display at the museum's Civil War exhibit.

Hammondsport - Joseph Cummin was only 12 years old when he enlisted in the 44th New York Volunteer Infantry, in Elmira, at the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.

A big kid, he was able to pass for a 16 year old, and he became a drummer, taking part in 17 battles.

Drummers were used for more than just keeping cadence while a unit marched into battle. Their drum calls were a primary method of communication during troop movements and combat operations, according to historical accounts.

Later, Cummin joined a heavy artillery unit, and fought in 13 more battles.

Cummin's story is among those included in a new exhibit at Hammondsport's Glenn H. Curtiss Museum, which, along with its aviation focus, also hosts local history exhibits.

Titled "Soldiers of the Southern Tier," the museum's latest offering focuses on area residents who fought in the deadliest war in American history.

It opens earlier this month

There are displays on the regiments that were raised in the Southern Tier, and on three men from the area who earned Medals of Honor. There are firearms, uniforms, photographs, and personal items.

The museum is inviting the public to submit photographs and stories of their ancestors who fought in the Civil War, which will be displayed on a "wall of honor," said Rick Leisenring, curator at the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum.

"Soldiers of the Southern Tier" also touches on the veterans' groups that formed in the wake of the Civil War, particularly the Grand Army of the Republic.

"As it grew, it became one of the most politically oriented and very strong organization," Leisenring explained. "It was responsible for a lot of veterans' benefits that soldiers have today. If it wasn't for the GAR, there wouldn't have been a pension system, and there wouldn't have been a Veterans' Administration as it is today."

The Grand Army of the Republic founded many homes that cared for disabled or aging veterans, Leisenring said, including the former New York State Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, which has evolved into the modernday Bath VA Medical Center.

Robert Yott, a Bath area resident who is a veteran and a history buff, provided materials for the display on the Grand Army of the Republic.

He recently authored a book, "From Soldiers' Home to Medical Center: A Glance at the 125 Year History of the Bath Soldiers' Home," which he says is the first history of the impressive facility that has been published.

In conjunction with the opening of "Soldiers of the Southern Tier," the Curtiss also host a Civil War encampment featuring re-enactors from four living history groups in western New York, two from the North, and two Confederate units: the 140th New York Volunteer Infantry, the 9th New York Cavalry, the 33rd Virginia Infantry, and the 21st Georgia Infantry.

They demonstrated Civil War-era camp life, battlefield surgery and medicine, and musket firing.

For details, go to www.glennhcurtissmuseu m.org or call 569-2160.