Yankee Puzzle Quilt Block

This 12" Yankee Puzzle quilt block is the seventh block of my Irish Great-Grandpa Sampler Quilt.  It was originally published in 1929 by Ruth Finley in her book Old Patchwork Quilts and the Women Who Made Them.  This pattern also goes by other names - Hour Glass, Pork and Beans, The Whirling Blade, and Big Dipper.  The pattern plus in-depth historical information by Barbara Brackman can be found here.  Her directions are for an 8" finished block.  I made my block 12" by starting out with 7-1/4" squares of each color instead of her 5-1/4" squares.  Each square is then cut twice diagonally to create the four triangles of each color.      

While my maternal grandmother was still in high school, she interviewed her father, James Lynch, at the urging of her older brother Will, who was living in China at the time.  (Read his letter to her here.)  Later, she wrote a biography of her father from the notes she'd taken during the interview.  Following is the seventh part of this biography:

"On August 12, 1862, James enlisted and joined the Company G of the Illinois Volunteer 74th Infantry on the side of the North in the Civil War.*  His commander was General Thomas, whom he liked.  Some of the battles he fought in were:  Cableorchard (the first one), Peachtree Creek, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Francisville, Liberty Gap, and Perryville.  He was never wounded, but a bullet hit his canteen and he lost all of his drinking water.  He and his comrades were hungry many times.  They were sent out to forage from the farms around them.  Once he and another soldier tried to rob a bee tree, with many stings and little honey.  After the war, he was discharged at Nashville, Tennessee on June 10, 1865."
   
  - by Hazel Lynch Skonberg, James Lynch's daughter 

* Very specific details about Company G of the Illinois Volunteer 74th Infantry and the battles they fought in may be found here on pages 228-233.

James Lynch, Private in Company G of the 74th Illinois Infantry
Union Army, Civil War

Hardtack was a biscuit made of flour with other simple ingredients, and issued to Union soldiers throughout the war.  Hardtack crackers made up a large portion of a soldier's daily ration.  Large factories in the North baked hundreds of hardtack crackers every day, packed them in wooden crates and shipped them out by wagon or rail.  If the hardtack was received soon after leaving the factory, they were quite tasty and satisfying.  Usually, the hardtack did not get to the soldiers until months after it had been made.  By that time, they were very hard, so hard that soldiers called them tooth dullers and sheet iron crackers.  Sometimes they were infested with small bugs the soldiers called weevils, so they referred to the hardtack as "worm castles" because of the many holes bored through the crackers by these pests. Soldiers were usually allowed six to eight crackers for a three-day ration.  There were a number of ways to eat them - plain or prepared with other ration items. Soldiers would crumble them into coffee or soften them in water and fry the hardtack with some bacon grease.

Union Hardtack Recipe
2 cups of flour
1/2 to 3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon of Crisco or vegetable fat

6 pinches of salt

1.  Mix the ingredients together into a stiff batter.  Knead several times and spread the dough out flat to a thickness of ½” on an ungreased cookie sheet.
2.  Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.
3.  Remove from oven, cut dough into 3-inch squares, and punch four rows of holes, four holes per row into the dough.
4.  Turn dough over, return to the oven and bake another 30 minutes.
5.  Turn oven off and leave the door closed. Leave the hardtack in the oven until
cool. Remove and enjoy!

James Lynch's Discharge Papers from the Union Army

Illinois Civil War Detail Report
Name:  James Lynch
Rank:  Private
Company:  G
Unit:  74 Illinois US Infantry

Personal Characteristics:
Residence:  Monroe, Ogle County, Illinois
Age:  28
Height:  5'11-1/2"
Hair:  Dark
Eyes:  Blue
Complexion:  Light
Marital Status:  Single
Occupation:  Farmer
Nativity:  Clonmel, Tipperary, Ireland

Service Record:
Joined When:  August 12, 1862
Joined Where:  Linnville, Illinois
Joined By Whom:  E. F. Dutcher
Period:  3 years
Muster In:  September 4, 1862
Muster Out:  June 10, 1865
Muster Out Where:  Nashville, Tennessee
Muster Out By Whom:  Captain Chickering

 Are you interested in reading more about my Irish Great-Grandpa Sampler Quilt?  You'll find it all right here.

You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post