The American Civil War Museum Magazine SUMMER 2022
GENERAL FOR A DAY
FROM THE CEO
WELCOME TO ACWM
Dear Friends Greetings from Richmond, Virginia. As always, we have been busy across all three of our sites. In this edition of our magazine, you can read a synopsis of our public programs, see some of the latest and most interesting additions to our already peerless collections, and also embellish your own knowledge of the Civil War with some particularly interesting articles. As well as all of our usual public endeavors, behind the scenes we have been busily working on a new strategic Photo: Caroline Martin plan. This plan adds form, focus, and action steps to a broad strategic direction that has long informed and underpinned this organization’s work. Staff, members of our Board of Trustees, as well as representatives from our wider constituency and our partner organizations, worked diligently, in small groups and collectively, on a document that will guide our activities for the next five years. The American Civil War Museum is at a natural inflexion point. The successful amalgamation of two great historical organizations, the American Civil War Center and the Museum of the Confederacy, created a brand new entity and something greater than the sum of its constituent parts. The first order of business was to plan and build our magnificent flagship museum at Tredegar and then create our permanent exhibition, A People’s Contest. In just the last couple of weeks, the final element of that exhibition, the state-of-the-art Robins Theatre, opened to great acclaim. With that final component now added, we can turn our attention to further enhancing the story we tell and, also, crucially, to raising the profile of all of our museums and generating greater national interest in what we do, both by taking the ACWM to the wider nation as well as bringing the nation to the ACWM. Our reasoning for this route is simple and clear: what we say about the Civil War—its causes, course, and consequences—is innovative and engaging for all visitors, whatever their interest levels in history, in general and the Civil War in particular, may be. Also, I’m delighted to welcome David Flood as our new CFO and, from August 1, 2022, Cara Sisson as our new Director of Development. We have a long way to go but we are well on our way. We look forward to engaging all of you in this journey!
Dr. Rob Havers President & CEO
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David Flood Chief Financial Officer David joined the Museum on June 13 and directs the budgetary process, day-today financial operations, and also human resources for the Museum. Prior to joining ACWM, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Averhealth. With over thirty years of national and international experience in financial strategy and leadership roles, David has led major corporate financial restructurings and established financial policies and controls. David holds an MBA from the Stern School of Business of New York University and a BS in Economics with a concentration in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Cara Sisson Director of Development Cara will join the Museum on August 1 to direct development strategies, fundraising, and membership cultivation. She has over 25 years experience in fundraising and development for a number of arts and culture organizations, including Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, Additionally, Cara spent over fourteen years with The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation where she managed Major and Planned Giving Programs. Most recently, she was the Chief Advancement Director at James Madison’s Montpelier. Cara holds a bachelor’s degree from Hollins College and a master’s degree in Arts Administration from Virginia Tech.
FROM THE FOUNDATION CHAIR The American Civil War Museum
Greetings
Magazine Publisher
Rob Havers, Ph.D. ACWM President & CEO
The American Civil War Museum Foundation is happy to report a successful year ending June 30, 2022: membership, donations and visitation are up; another $500,000 has been awarded from the Commonwealth of Virginia to fund our outreach to schoolchildren; the 17th Annual Symposium held live at Tredegar for the first time in three years was a huge success; our brilliant new film, “A People’s Contest: America’s Civil War & Emancipation,” opened successfully and will be a tremendous draw; and a new Strategic Plan, the product of months of work, has been completed.
Managing Editor Robert Hancock
Art Director/Designer John Dixon
Editorial Review Stephanie Arduini Ana Edwards Kelly Hancock
In the coming year, comprehensive renovation of the White House will begin; we will explore the viability of an additional facility in another state as a means to an end of the ACWM’s national aspirations; increased cooperation with Gettysburg, the American Battlefield Trust, the Nau Center at UVA, and the National Park Service will be pursued; and our new Strategic Plan will guide the Museum’s activities with the goal of cementing the Museum firmly in the national consciousness as the premier destination and resource to explore, promote and inspire understanding of the Civil War, its causes, course, and consequences.
Museum Board of Directors Daniel G. Stoddard, Chair Claude P. Foster, Vice Chair Walter S. Robertson III, Treasurer Mario White, Secretary J. Gordon Beittenmiller Hans Binnendijk, Ph.D. Audrey P. Davis George C. Freeman III Hon. David C. Gompert Bruce C. Gottwald, Sr. Monroe E. Harris, Jr., D.D.S. Rob Havers, Ph.D. Richard S. Johnson Donald E. King John L. Nau III William R. Piper Lewis F. Powell III O. Randolph Rollins Kenneth P. Ruscio, Ph.D. Thomas L. Saunders III Leigh Luter Schell Julie Sherman Roderick G. Stanley Ruth Streeter
To implement the new Strategic Plan, we will initiate a new capital campaign, both to fund new initiatives and activities and also to support current programs. To that end, we will add an endowment component with the specific aim of ensuring our financial position in perpetuity. Thank you and “well done” for the past year to all of our donors, board members, and staff, including the excellent leadership of CEO Dr. Rob Havers. Looking ahead, expect continued hard work and momentous success.
Don King Chair, ACWM Foundation
Foundation Board of Directors Donald E. King, Chair J. Gordon Beittenmiller David C. Gompert Walter S. Robertson III Kenneth P. Ruscio Ph.D. Jeffrey Wilt The magazine of the ACWM is published quarterly by The American Civil War Museum, 490 Tredegar St., Richmond, VA 23219 The contents of this magazine may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the American Civil War Museum.
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CONTENTS
SUMMER 2022
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Two Deaths part two
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Letter from the CEO Letter from the Foundation President High Bridge Trail Kinckknackery
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James Jones
A Life’s Journey and an Unexpected Kinship
ACWM NEWS 6 Robins Theater Opening & Film Premiere 7 Spring Programs 9 Wargame: Norwegian-German School Visit
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Projection Project at the White House
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Rawdon’s Sketches Witness to War in Watercolor
SHOP 34 New books and products for sale through the Museum Shop at ACWM.org
ON THE COVER: Students from the NorwegianGerman School discuss war game tactics during their visit to ACWMTredegar. The accompanying illustration: “Battle of AntietamArmy of the Potomac: Gen. Geo. B. McClellan...” by Kurz & Allison (1888), Library of Congress.
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Robins Theater Opening and A People’s Contest Film Premiere Photos by John Dixon, ACWM
The opening of the Robins Theater is a significant moment for the American Civil War Museum, as it completes the final component of our permanent exhibition, “A People’s Contest.” We were privileged to welcome Museum members, donors, and community leaders to our grand opening reception in June. The evening was a celebration of accomplishments and a vision realized at our amazing Tredegar site.
Ed Ayers, Ph.D. (former ACWM Board member)
Ryan and Danielle Ripperton
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Theater opening attendees in the Museum’s lobby.
(L-R) Stephanie Arduini (ACWM), Marvin-Alonzo Greer, Emmanuel Dabney
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Cynthia Torp (Solid Light, Inc.)
Danita Roundtree-Green and Bill Martin
Martha and Randy Rollins (ACWM Board member)
Laura Cameron and Elisabeth Wollan (former ACWM Board member)
SPRING & SUMMER PROGRAMS @ ACWM Programming was in full swing this past spring. As COVID receded and the weather warmed to pleasant temperatures, the ACWM participated in two annual commemorative events.
In Richmond, the ACWM provided two days of dance-centered programming
as we partnered with local sites to commemorate Civil War and Emancipation Day. On Saturday, April 2, the Shenandoah Valley Dancers enticed visitors to dance in the lobby, and the City Dance Theatre showcased their talents through a choreographic interpretation of the song “Enough.” On Sunday, the Elegba Folklore Society performed a special 90-minute program, “African-American Reflections on the Civil War.” Concurrently, Free Bangura of UnTold RVA welcomed visitors to an ancestral portal. continued on the next page
(Top) Shenandoah Valley Dancers and Museum visitors dance (Middle) City Dance Theatre performance in the Museum’s lobby (Bottom) Elegba Folklore Society perform in the Foundery Photos: John Dixon
Summer programs will include several Book Talks, and in the fall we will host discussions with Joan Waugh on the life and legacy of U.S. Grant—commemorating his 200th anniversary.
acwm.org/events/
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In Appomattox, we joined with the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park and the Carver Price Museum to launch a “Civil War to Civil Rights” art contest. ACWM Appomattox displayed the artwork of the middle and high school participants; while, the park showcased that of the elementary students. The first place elementary, middle, and high school winners were Addison Flamm, Alliyah Parker, and Christine Hamilton, respectively. Avery Wilderson was awarded best in show for the lower grades and Peyton Garrett captured the prize for the upper grades. We hope that this will become an annual event.
SUMMER PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
7/28 Book Talk with Dr. Angela Elder Love and Duty: Confederate Widows and the Emotional Politics of Loss
8/14 & 20
Civil War to Civil Rights art contest winners. (left) Christine Hamilton won first place in the High School division and (right) Peyton Garrett won Best in Show for the upper grades category.
For the Commemoration of
the Surrender and Freedom Day in Appomattox on April 10, President and CEO, Dr. Rob Havers led Drs. Caroline Janney and Elizabeth Varon (both from UVA’s John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History) in a discussion of Appomattox and its legacies. The program also served to kickoff ACWM Appomattox’s ten-year anniversary celebration.
Book Talk with Dr. Kenneth R. Rutherford America’s Buried History: Landmines in the Civil War
9/21 & 22 Grant’s Life and Legacy: A discussion with author Joan Waugh, UCLA Professor of History
(Left to Right) Dr. Caroline Janney, Dr. Elizabeth Varon, and Dr. Rob Havers at ACWM-Appomattox.
Visit the ACWM website for complete information including event times and locations. Plus, History Happy Hours will be returning to Richmond in the fall.
acwm.org/events/ Ellen Jamerson cuts the cake to celebrate the 10th anniversary of ACWM-Appomattox.
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Kriegsspiel
Returns to the Museum By Ana Edwards Photos by John Dixon
On a Friday afternoon last April,
Oslo, Norway
fourteen students from the Deutsch-Norwegischen Schule (German-Norwegian School) in Oslo, Norway, completed a morning’s worth of programs at our Tredegar campus. They had a semester-long survey of US history from settlement to Reconstruction and in English class had studied the African American experience. Their trip to the US included visits to Jamestown, Williamsburg, and The American Civil War Museum, followed by Monticello, Montpelier, and Gettysburg, where they did a project on Civil War memory and monuments.
Katharina Schlichtherle, an English and History teacher at DeutschNorwegischen Schule, brought her first students to visit ACWM in 2018 for an immersion in Civil War history. She was so pleased that in this post-pandemic visit, Schlichtherle requested as close to the same itinerary as possible. This group spent the morning on a Brown’s Island tour followed by self-guided explorations of A People’s Contest, Greenback America, and Southern Ambitions. After lunch they were treated to one of our youth groups’ favorite programs, Medical Practices of the Civil War.
Kelly Hancock entertains questions from the students on 19th century disease and medicine.
The culminating experience was the utterly hands-on, all-in activity called Kriegsspiel, the German word for “wargame.” This game was designed as a training tool for young officers in early 19 th century Germany and eventually continued on the next page
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adopted in the United States. As an umpire moderated game with very few rules to remember, it exposes present-day participants to Civil War strategy, tactics, and the art of command using 19 th century techniques. The goal of the activity is to help players gain a better understanding of how the battles were fought, the importance of clear communication, and a greater appreciation for the demands placed upon Civil War generals commanding large armies without the communication technologies we take for granted.
During the students’ visit to ACWMTredegar, they toured the exhibits (right), learned about medicine and disease during the war (below), and participated in a simulated wargame.
Robert Hancock, ACWM Director of Collections and Senior Curator, is also our resident master strategist and umpire for this game. He started with an orientation to the game and then divided the group into Union and Confederate forces. The target of the simulation was one small bit of farmland in rural Maryland just north of Antietam. The Union troops were to push southward and capture the town, while the Confederate forces were to hold the town and prevent Union progress. Each side held a War Council to determine their strategy for accomplishing the task and then, deployed to the field (the Lobby) after which no further direct communication was permitted. There were no instant messaging services on the 19 th century battlefields, and, even today, technologies can break down. Commanders and their officers relied on scouts and runners to get written communications to and from decision-makers. Since it was a dangerous job, not all messages made it through, so these men had to assess situations and make their decisions–sometimes snap decisions–whether or not they had all the intel they would have liked. Four members of the education staff acted as runners between the student-generals and their officers “in the field,” though all messages went first to the umpire before being released, at his discretion, for delivery to its intended recipient. Like a game of blind chess, the umpire tracks the movements of both armies and supplies the relevant commanders with information or intelligence based on the situation.
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(Left) Robert Hancock explains the background, context and rules of the wargame before offering the students name tags with their roles in the game (right).
Over the next two hours, everyone had a fun, thoroughly engaging experience. Initially the action was cautious and unsure, but as their movements were reported to the umpire and their respective positions and progress revealed, commands and responses increased in frequency and pace until not a runner was still. There were gains and losses throughout, but few could be sure which side was winning until the game was called by the umpire. At that point, the teams came together and clustered around Robert for the better part of an hour, each wanting to see the impacts of their various decisions and how they contributed to the outcome.
With battlefield maps in-hand, Robert Hancock (standing) points out some last-minute strategy hints before the game starts.
Cheyanne Woodward (right), ACWM-Education Outreach Specialist, served as a messenger in the game. She listened to instructions from the game’s generals to deliver to the umpire, Robert Hancock, and would then return to report the outcome.
We have a better understanding of how American students might approach engaging with the American Civil War, but it is always with a bit of anticipation that we host an international group. How much do they know of American history, and how does it intersect with their own country’s history? What stories will appeal to them? Our goal was to meet their teacher’s desire for her students to travel to Virginia– so often the centerpiece of significant events in American history–and have a rich and immersive experience with authentic artifacts and knowledgeable staff. What we were able to provide, even as we are managing shifting pandemic protocols for in-person engagement, was a day that grew from quiet and reflective exploration of the exhibit themes to direct learning with our Civil War medicine program to the highly competitive yet highly collaborative 19 th century field training. They had a blast! And so did we. Hopefully, the students also took away an appreciation of the difficulties of true leadership and the importance of communication for a group trying to achieve a single goal. They had a contagious enthusiasm, and we look forward to hosting another group from the Deutsch-Norwegischen Schule. END Ana Edwards is the ACWM Education Programs Manager
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Racing West
In the Footsteps of Lee’s Retreat
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Civil War Outdoors Series Many sites, in addition to being places of history and memory, have also been preserved as spaces of natural significance that can be enjoyed recreationally. Often, one of the best ways to gain a better understanding of historical events is to be in the places they happened. Getting outside and walking where people in the past walked, experiencing the topography, and seeing the landscape can help us connect with the past in new and different ways.
By Samantha Barrett FOR MYSELF, as someone who loves both history and the outdoors, visiting historic sites in person and moving across that landscape helps me visualize what happened and understand the choices people made in relation to their geographic surroundings. I would like to encourage people to get out and visit various Civil War historic sites and experience history while also enjoying nature. In this first installment of Civil War Outdoors, we are focusing on Lee’s Retreat from Petersburg, so we will start with walking or cycling the High Bridge Trail. Spring is typically a time of new life and rebirth, but in the spring of 1865 the Confederacy and its armies were experiencing a decline towards death. Supply shortages, rising inflation, military defeats, hunger, and loss of manpower created a growing cancer infecting the Confederacy, demoralizing the military and civilian populations. The final straw for the Army of Northern Virginia, which had been entrenched at Petersburg since June 1864, was the loss of the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, and the Union Army’s breakthrough of the Confederate lines on April 2, 1865.
High Bridge across the Appomattox River, Lee saw an opportunity to slow the Union advance by having his army burn the bridge. However, Federal troops were right behind them, and the small Confederate contingent left to guard the bridge was unable to prevent the Federals from stopping the spread of fire across the entire span. Accounts from Confederate soldiers detail days of almost constant walking with little sleep and food to fuel them onward. One story related in Michael E. Haskew’s Appomattox: The Last Days of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia mentions a young soldier even falling asleep while marching. Failing to completely secure and destroy the High Bridge was a serious blunder that kept Lee’s men from getting much needed supplies and rest. It also made Lee feel the need to cross back over the Appomattox River to the north, hoping to use it as a shield against Union attacks from the south. (Top) Aerial view of the High Bridge Photo: Virgina Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Yet, almost immediately they were facing a Union attack around Cumberland Church just north of Farmville. With no reprieve, with the loss of more and more men to exhaustion and desertion, and with the way of escape blocked at Appomattox Court House, Lee ultimately lost the race.
(Opposite) A “ground-level” view of the Gen. Robert E. Lee knew that his only chance High Bridge over the Appomattox River. of continuing the fight was to escape west Photo: Sam Barrett and south to meet Gen. Joseph Johnston’s army in North Carolina. He had his army evacuate west across Running for about thirty-one miles between the tiny Virginia the Virginia countryside in an attempt to outrun Gen. Ulysses S. towns of Pamplin and Burkeville, the High Bridge Trail is a gravel Grant’s Army of the Potomac. To achieve his goal, Lee needed rail trail perfect for a leisurely walk or for anyone looking to supplies, so he had to stay as close as possible to the railroad crush major miles cycling or running. If you want to specifically running from Petersburg to Lynchburg. The Union troops, check out the Civil War-related section of the trail, park at the however, did not give Lee much chance to use the railroad. Camp Paradise parking lot, and go left, heading northwest on They were able to capture and control key points along the way, the trail. For a fun day out, I suggest riding or walking the 5.2 constantly harassing the Confederates as they marched. miles from the Camp Paradise parking lot into Farmville for lunch. There are multiple restaurants, a brewery, and a wine As the Army of Northern Virginia raced west, Lee planned to tasting cellar just off the trail in town. resupply at the railroad depot in Farmville. After crossing the
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First, you will encounter Camp Paradise, a small Confederate earthwork “fort” built to defend the High Bridge and manned by the Donaldsonville artillery unit from Louisiana. Then, about a quarter of a mile from Camp Paradise is the High Bridge itself. If you’re just interested in doing a short walk, from Camp Paradise parking to the end of the bridge is 0.8 miles, and there is a one-mile hiking trail around Camp Paradise you could add as well. For those of you who want a little more of a challenge, there are also some fun, easy single-track bike trails about half way between the bridge and Farmville in the Rochelle Area directly off the High Bridge Trail. Besides connecting you to the past in new ways, seeing and experiencing historical sites in person can prompt more questions. For example, after I visited the High Bridge and Farmville, it made me wonder why Lee decided to cross the Appomattox River at all when his goal was to reach North Carolina to the south. It made me want to do more research into those final movements towards Appomattox, and as a result, I have a much better understanding of why Lee did what he did and just how reduced his army was at the end. Then, there is always the question of would things have turned out differently if he hadn’t gone towards Appomattox? Some of his generals certainly thought they would have had a better chance of beating Grant by staying on the south side of the Appomattox River and following the railroad out of Farmville. Looking at the situation now in hindsight, though, even if Lee had managed just barely to slip past Grant by taking the southern route, it still would have taken many more days of relentless marching with little rest to reach North Carolina with no guarantee of supplies along the way. That would have been a tall order for even the most dedicated, fit army, much less a decimated, demoralized one. END Samantha Barrett is an ACWM Education Outreach Specialist.
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(Top) Walking trails at Camp Paradise near the High Bridge. Photo: Sam Barrett (Below) The reconstruction of the High Bridge after the Confederate destroyed part of it in an attempt to slow the U.S. Army’s pursuit. Photo: The Library of Congress
CURIOSITIES FROM THE MUSEUM’S VAULTS Knickknackery
(Noun) Miscellaneous curios
By Robert Hancock
People save items for a variety of reasons: they may want to own something that is unique or peculiar, significant in their own life, or associated with a famous person or event. When the owner no longer knows what to do with these “knickknacks” or wishes to offer them to the public at large, they donate them to a museum.
Bulldog’s head made from macerated Greenbacks 0985.15.1
gold, some not. Instead of borrowing from the banks in order to pay for the war, the government printed their own money. This led to heated debates around inflation, public trust, and government overreach.
Eventually, the government realized that old bills taken out of circulation needed to be destroyed. First, they tried burning them. Then they decided The Museum’s collection is rich with U.S. “greenback” to put them through a shredding objects that are visually interesting, have The reverse side of the paper money was green machine with water creating a pulp unique stories associated with them, or because of the use of chromium oxide. Its green which was then discarded. Someone are just plain quirky. Ranging from the color was intended to prevent counterfeiting via came up with the idea of turning this sublime to the ridiculous, all of these photography. pulp into souvenirs and selling them items are rare or one-of-a-kind and have to tourists at the nation’s capital. All seldom been seen by Museum visitors. Photos: ACWM Collections manner of macerated sculptures were created: busts of famous presidents, the With the ever more ubiquitous use Washington Monument, the Capitol of credit cards and crypto-currency, building, cats, and this five-inch bulldog’s head complete with the term greenback will soon be relegated—if it hasn’t been already—to the dark recesses of the cabinet of archaic words glass eyes. The label on the bottom states: “Made of U.S. greenbacks, redeemed and macerated by the U.S. Government alongside zozzled (inebriated) and groovy (cool in a hip way). at Washington D.C. estimated at $100,000.” END Government-issued paper currency, popularly known as “Greenbacks,” didn’t exist before the Civil War. Before that, Robert Hancock is the ACWM Senior it was….um, complicated. Hundreds of different banks printed Curator and Director of Collections. the money that was in general circulation, some backed by
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Part Two
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By Dr. John M. Coski
FROM PART 1 James Agee’s 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Death in the Family, chronicles a father’s death in an automobile accident and his family’s emotionally wrenching reactions, as revealed through his six-year-old son. The posthumously-published novel comes to mind in reading through a collection of letters and diaries donated to the Museum last year. Even before the outbreak of a civil war that took more than 750,000 lives, death was a way of life in mid-19th century America, as historian Drew Gilpin Faust detailed in her 2007 study, This Republic of Suffering. The scale of death in the Civil War can inure us to the countless human tragedies those numbers represent. The news of two deaths that the Paden family of Trumbull County, Ohio, received from a Washington, D.C., military hospital humanizes the numbers and offers a poignant story worthy of Agee’s novel. In Part 1 (2022 Spring issue) we learned that the Paden family had just been informed of the death of their son and brother, William, as the result of a wound sustained in battle on May 23rd, 1864. While he was recuperating in Finley Hospital in Washington, D.C., his sister, Millie, wrote to him saying: “I have always had a desire to go to the Hospital & do something for the soldiers & I think that now is the time to go while you are there. Oh if I could just go & take care of you.” Our story picks up with Millie Paden’s arrival at Finley Hospital.
" I have just arrived to hear the sad & awful news" Millie, the emissary from the family in Orangeville, arrived too late to see her brother alive. “I have just arrived to hear the sad & awful news,” she wrote her family on Thursday, June 30 th. “Oh my God have mercy on us. My brain reels I cant write The nurse has just been giving me the particulars about his death and I supose the chaplain has written. The nurse said he had and you have got it before this reaches you” She related the details about William’s last hours and about the disposition of his body. He is to be “buried in a beautiful place with thousands of soldiers” on Arlington Heights – “they are going to make a soldiers cemetery of it…” She described Chaplain Winchester and Nurse Clark, who had been so sympathetic and attentive toward William. Miss Clark “has been sick ever since his death. How she cried when we met. She is now crying and she is constantly talking about him” Unlike brother James, Millie wrote often to her family, recounting her visits with James and describing the places where William had camped when his unit was stationed in the nation’s capital. On July 5th, the day after the family finally received the letters bearing the news of William’s death, Millie wrote with more distressing news. “I had intended starting home but alas how soon our calculation can be upset by the hand of God,” she began. “[Y]esterday James was taken with a severe headache & bones aching” Perhaps compensating for her inability to help brother William, Millie threw herself into caring for brother James, and kept her family informed of his condition. “James may be better in a few days but we dont know,” she wrote. “Mother I dont want you to be alarmed about him the Docs coming” He was suffering from a fever, “but I think he will be better soon he shall not go to the Hospital so long as his Brother Soldiers & your humble servant keeps their heels & stomach….” Two days later, she was in her element, busy taking charge of “a young Hospital” – James and several of his comrades who were ill. “[T]his morning James is some better I feel quite encouraged as he was a very sick boy yesterday & last night….” James had pleaded with her not to return home until he was better and she was finding fulfillment in caring for him and others and interacting with Nurse Clarke in an official capacity. On Sunday, July 21st, she told her family that she expected to be home by the end of that week. continued on next page
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" I have not been very well myself" Meanwhile, she had mentioned in passing that “I have not been very well myself but yesterday I took some medicine & I feel much better this morning….” Back in Ohio, sister Mollie wrote in her diary on July 19: “letter from Mr Deland James better Millie not verry well at the Finly Hospital” The letter, dated July 15, from R. C. Deland, a soldier serving as steward at the same hospital where William had died, informed Mollie that her sister had been suffering from fever and diarrhea, contracted when she was at James’ camp. “You need not feal conserned about her,” Deland assured her. “She has a good Dr & the best of care Miss Clark is tending her I was in Her room [T]his morning She Said She was feeling much better I think She will be able to return to her home about the last of the month You had beter write her & advise Her to stay until She has regained her strength wich hope & trust will not be long” A few days later, Deland wrote again to “Friend Mollie.” He described Millie as “on the gain,” but advised that she should not
leave for home too soon. James, too, was “gaining fast.” Deland commiserated with Mollie and her family: “this War is causing you a greatdeal [sic] of trouble it seams hard but what else can we expect while our Country is involved in such a bloody War oh when & where will it end” Mollie received the welcome news of her sibling’s improvement on July 27th, and wrote a letter to Millie on the 28th. That same day, R. C. Deland sent his condolences to Mollie and her family, assuming that they were aware of what had occurred three days before. “Once more I take my pen in hand to write you a few words of comfort I suppose ere this reaches its destination you will here of your Sister death,” he began. “[O]h what will be the fealings of that poor Mother & the rest of You when the sad news are born to you She was so Young & kind She had won the essteam of most evry one here by Her kind & patient manner She bore Her sufferings without one word of complaint & even the Dr was spprised when called in the knight she died”
Deland was shocked to receive Mollie’s letter of July 28th. “[C]an it be that you are still ignorent of your Sisters death?” he wrote on July 31st. “I should of writen you amediately after Her death but Mrs Harris said She had writen them I thought it best for me to wait until I could learn all the particulars” Their letters had, of course, crossed in the mail. Mollie and her family received notification of Millie’s death on July 29th. First came a letter addressed to Sarah Paden from Sarah Harris, a nurse at Finley Hospital. “It is with deep regret, that I am compelled, to announce to you, the sad tidings of the death of your daughter Millie, she died this morning, about 5 oclock easily, She was prostrated from an attack of dysentery….” Miss Clark had attended to her “with the affection of a sister.” Four days later, another nurse, Phebe Evans, wrote Mrs. Paden with “particulars,” with the hope that “our sympathy will serve to lighten your continued on page 20
(Left) William Paden’s headstone in Arlington Cemetery. (Right) Arlington Cemetery in 1865. Images: FindAGrave.com and The Library of Congress
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Millie’s letter to Mollie. In the first line, she writes about not feeling well. Image: ACWM Collection
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sad heart.” Millie had received the best care from excellent doctors. “After her death we raised a contribution among the soldiers in the different wards of the Hospital all gave very cheere fully and mourned her sad fate.” She would enclose the money, “along with some rings and other treasures,” with Millie’s body. Evans had also arranged for a furlough for brother James to return home. “Sarah gon to junction received a dispatch that Millie was dead also a letter from a lady nurse stating that which is true she is gon to rest,” Mollie wrote in her diary on July 29th. “Oh my god why hast thou taken her from us Oh! my heart will break” As she had after William died, Mollie added a note in her diary – outlined with a black mourning border – on July 25th: “this morning at five oclock the dear Millie breathed her last away in Washington & we knew it not can it be so oh how can I endure it” On August 7th, she “[a]ttended the solemn Sermon of Wm & Millie J. Brother & sister Preached by Elder Pratt Text – “He changeth their commence & sendeth them away”
" Oh! such letters full of love & sympathy" Considering the number of deaths that occurred in the spring and summer of 1864, the solicitousness shown to the Paden family after the deaths of William and Millie was remarkable – and touching. The two young Padens seem to have touched the hearts of hospital personnel who could be excused for calloused emotions. Nurse Clark and the steward, R. C. Deland, were among those who asked sister Mollie Paden for photographs of her deceased siblings. The circumstances of Millie’s death – and her youthful beauty – made a particular impression on Deland and several other young men who crossed her path during her brief and fatal mission of mercy. Her sister Mollie was the recipient of ardent expressions of grief and a kind of transference of affection from the deceased sister to the surviving one.
Mollie’s diaries in the ACWM Collection.
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Deland, a soldier in the 9th New York Cavalry, had been detailed to the hospital as he recovered from a wound. He was the first person there to attend to William Paden when he arrived there. In nearly a dozen surviving letters, Deland sought to comfort and console Mollie about her brother and sister, and offer her the hand of friendship that she accepted with gratitude. In her diary on September 5, 1864, she noted the receipt of two letters: “Oh! such letters full of love & sympathy from Mr Deland & Miss Clark speaking with love of the dear departed ones they had learned to love” On the 1st of October, she received an unexpected letter “from a Mr Moats addressed to the departed one Oh, that she was here to read it but alas she is no more on the earth.” William Ellsworth Moats of Washington County, Maryland, had met Millie on the train in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, as she traveled to Washington, D.C., and he traveled home. Distraught over William’s condition, she asked Moats to accompany her, but he declined – much to his subsequent regret. Moats then fell seriously ill with typhoid, and wrote to Millie two months later hoping to learn of her brother’s fate and to kindle their passing acquaintance into a deeper friendship. Over the next 20 months, Mollie received at least ten “kindly good letters” (as she described them) from “my friend Ellsworth Moats.” Although he, too, consoled the grieving sister, Moats seemed more intent on exorcising his own strangely obsessive affection for a girl he knew only briefly. In reply to Mollie’s query about how far Moats and Millie traveled together, he confessed that they had met in Harrisburg waiting for their respective connections; “we maid each others acquaintance our discourse were about four hours long But alas the shortness of the time was well improved I could of conversed with her for hours hers were pleasure to me…. I confess i never took such an active part in any persons welfare as i did in hers She was so much taken up with me and me with her I could hardly leave her; she appeared to be very much [hert?] about her deare Brother she wept I done all i could to console her afflictions. My heart was touched very much by Millie.” “I am happy to know that you[r] simpethy Is so kindly tendered to me for I am a greate lover of kind friends,” he told Mollie in a subsequent letter. “Oh could you be here I could a great deal Better extend my simpethy as regards you triles and tribulations in Behalf of your Dear and lovely sister Millie for so she was her loveliness would of attracted any person. I do confess I was much taken by her lovely appearence. It was no wonder her loss was so deeply felt by you for her very countenance appeared kindness Oh you may rest asshured I was not a little hurt when I received the sad news of her death not onely did I feel sad But wept”
gase on the face of Deare Millie & wish I could see the oridgeonel & converce with her for I do think she was a lovely Girl,” Moats waxed in a subsequent letter. He reciprocated with a photograph of himself, then, for more than a year, Moats (like Deland) pleaded with Mollie to send a photo of herself. She dissembled and apparently never complied with their requests. Despite hints of friction and evasiveness about her photograph, corresponding with Deland, Moats, and Clark proved therapeutic for Mollie Paden. The deaths of her brother and sister left her feeling exceedingly “lonesome.” Upon arriving home from a short trip, she observed to her diary: “Oh! how changed no Millie no Wimmie no Mail verry lonely” Although Mollie lived in Orangeville and saw her mother often (usually to do large loads of washing), she evidently lived with another family as a domestic servant. She was seldom completely alone and she “went to singing” and attended church regularly, volunteered with the Soldier’s Aid Society, and enjoyed sleigh riding with friends, but she was obviously emotionally fragile. She complained often in her diary of being “tierd” and suffering from frequent “severe headaches.” Her spirits rose and fell with the daily mail: “Oh! dear me no Mail no one to write to me what a lonely winter I anticipate,” she wrote on September 13th. After a short visit from her mother and younger sister, she was “alone all day with my own sad thoughts Oh! how they revert to the past & what might have been how dark my future looks” By the end of 1865, the dark clouds lifted a little – even if the severe headaches continued. Brothers James and Frank returned home safely from war and the social life of Trumbull County, Ohio, became more carefree. The correspondence with her “friends,” R. C. Deland and Ellsworth Moats, dwindled, then ceased. Mary Ellen “Mollie” Paden never married. In her later years she lived with the family of her youngest sibling, Robert West “Westy” Paden (1859-1937) in Rock Creek, Ohio. She died there in October 1911, a month shy of her 68th birthday. The Paden family papers came to the American Civil War Museum through Westy’s descendants. The letters and diaries highlight an extended family and their friends living on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border in the mid-19th century. But the central drama involves the deaths of two siblings and how their sister came to terms with those deaths. END Dr. Coski served as the Museum’s staff historian and the Director of the Eleanor S. Brockenbrough Library and Archives for more than 30 years.
He closed by thanking her for the photograph she sent him; “it will be agreate comfort to me keep in rememerence of deare Millie; and also in behalf of you the Breaved sister of Millie” “Oh! I often
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There All Along Reclaiming the Monuments Project
Photos: John Dixon, ACWM
The American Civil War Museum participated in Reclaiming the Monument’s Recontextualizing Richmond project April 22-24. ACWM staff members, Stephanie Arduini, Ana Edwards, and Kelly Hancock joined Dr. Laurenett Lee (University of Richmond) and Justin Reid (Virginia Humanities) for a panel discussion moderated by Stephanie Merlo (Reclaiming the Monument) and hosted by the Valentine Museum. The discussion focused on enslaved Black servants in the Confederate President’s house who self-emancipated during the Civil War and on James Jones, a free biracial man and coachman to Jefferson Davis, who campaigned for equal rights in the decades following the Civil War. After the discussion, through the talents of Dustin Klein and Alex Criqui (Reclaiming the Monument), images were projected onto the Confederate White House. In addition to period photographs and engravings, the slideshow included an original painting, “Vision of Mary Jane Richards,” (right) newly created for the display by local artist Miguel Carter-Fisher. Long purported to have been a spy in the Confederate executive mansion, Richards, according to her own account, came to collect washing and was left alone in a “private office” where she “opened the drawers of a cabinet and scrutinized the papers.”
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The Coachman’s Journey James Jones stands out as a bit of an enigma.
By Kelly Hancock
He worked in the Confederate President’s house as a coachman and body servant from 1862 through the end of the war and appears to have been the only person of color who chose to work there. He was a free man. What motivated Jones to leave his home in Raleigh, North Carolina and come to work for the Davises? And why, as a champion of black equality after the war, did he feel compelled to reconnect with Jefferson Davis, a man who believed wholeheartedly in slavery and the inferiority of black people? continued on next page
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Jones’ relationship with the Davises began in May of 1862. As a result of the threat posed by General McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign, Jefferson Davis sent Varina and the children away from Richmond to Raleigh, North Carolina. There, Varina found herself in need of a servant, and someone recommended Jones. Much of the story of James Jones life comes to us from a biography compiled by Charles N. Hunter, an African-American educator, journalist, and reformer. Where Hunter got his information is unknown; the biography, which is in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University, does not list any sources, but since Hunter also hailed from Raleigh, he may have known Jones in the postwar years. According to him, James Jones was born around 1836 to James H. and Nancy Jones, both of whom were free. James’ father died when he was an infant, but his mother, who may have been part American Indian, was alive when the Civil War ended.
I saw a great deal of the confidential intercourse between Mr. Davis and members of his cabinet and other prominent men. – James Jones
The 1850 census has a record of a James Jones living in Wake County (Raleigh) in the home of a free black man named Thomas Roe whose occupation was that of a bricklayer. It is possible that Jones learned the trade from him. According to Hunter, in the years before the war, Jones worked as a plaster and a bricklayer during the summer and spent the winters “traveling with gentlemen and waiting in large hotels.” Jones himself stated in a 1901 interview that he had been traveling with Mr. Watt Otey as a body servant for five or six years prior to being hired by Varina Davis in 1862. A search for information on Watt (short for Walter) Otey revealed that in 1846 he was joint owner of a Raleigh “house of entertainment” known as the Eagle Hotel. Mr. Otey moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1852 and to Phillips, Arkansas, in 1856. This seems to align with Jones’ testimony, but one thing stands out as strange: Walter Otey was a slaveholder. According to the 1850 U.S. census and slave schedule, he owned eleven individuals, and by 1860, he had enslaved forty-three. With all that enslaved labor, why would such a man pay a free person to be his body servant? Whatever the case, by 1860, Jones was back in Raleigh, residing with his mother Nancy. Perhaps, he still had an urge to travel when he met Varina in the spring of 1862. Certainly, the pay of $28 a month that Varina offered would have been enticing. In a 1901 interview, Jones discussed his role in the Executive Mansion: “I was what you might call an all-around man. I drove Mrs. Davis and the ladies of the family whenever they went out. But this by no means was my only business. The regular butler was Robert Brown…but on the occasions of dinner parties or entertainments I assisted in waiting on the guests. And I saw a great deal of the confidential intercourse between Mr. Davis and members of his cabinet and other prominent men. I was made to feel by Mr. Davis that he placed entire confidence in me. When he had letters or papers of a particular nature to send to members of the cabinet, or to the war office, he very frequently sent them by me.”
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The Eagle Hotel in Raleigh, NC (pictured cira 1887) was partly owned by Watt Otely, Jones’ employer prior to working for the Davis’. Jones was introduced to Varina Davis in Raleigh. Photo: North Carolina State Archives Image colorization: ACWM (Previous page) The executive residence of Jefferson and Varina Davis between 1861-1865. Photo taken in 1865. Photo: The Library of Congress Image colorization: ACWM
After the war, James Jones returned to his hometown of Raleigh and became actively engaged in the fight for equal rights. He joined the Republican Party and served as a delegate to both the first and second Freedman’s Conventions. During these conventions, over one hundred formerly free and newly freed black men gathered to speak on the issues facing them in postwar North Carolina. To understand the role that Jones played, it is necessary to look at the trajectory of Reconstruction in North Carolina. The First Freedman’s Convention was held in response to a state constitutional convention called by William W. Holden, the provisional governor of North Carolina, who was appointed by President Andrew Johnson to prepare for the state’s readmission to the Union. Because only white men were allowed to vote and serve as delegates to this convention, the freedmen held their own convention on September 29, 1865, convening just before white delegates met. The freedmen specified three rights they wanted: the right to testify in court, to serve as jurors, and to vote. To facilitate this, the first Freedman’s Convention formed the Frederick Douglass Equal Rights League (which became the North Carolina State Equal Rights League in 1866) and selected Jones as a Grand Deputy to travel throughout the state and establish subordinate leagues. Later, Jones was appointed as Grand Deputy of the North Carolina Chapter of the Union League of America. By the time that the second Freedman’s Convention met in 1866, Jonathan Worth had been elected governor. Worth opposed the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, which would guarantee citizenship to African Americans. With similar setbacks occurring in other southern states, Reconstruction was in jeopardy. Worried that former Confederates would regain political control, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which divided the South into military districts.
“NEGRO SUFFRAGE” Sketches by James E. Taylor published in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 1867. (Top) “Reading the Government order of Rights and Privileges to the Freedmen.” (Bottom) “Discussing the merits of the candidates.” Image: The Library of Congress
Under military reconstruction, in order to be readmitted to the union, the former Confederate states had to create new constitutions and ratify the Fourteenth Amendment. The right of suffrage was extended to all men twenty-one or older who had not supported the Confederacy. With black men allowed to participate in the elections for delegates to the state convention, Republicans won 107 out of 120 seats. Thirteen delegates of African descent were elected to the convention. Although not a delegate, Jones was elected by the convention to serve as the principal doorkeeper. The new constitution, produced by the convention and then ratified in a statewide election, removed the property requirement for holding office and opened up to election a number of positions that previously had been filled by appointment, including that of sheriff. Taking advantage of the newly created opportunity, Jones ran for and was elected to the office of deputy sheriff of Wake County. He served in this role from roughly 1868 to 1876. In 1873, Jones was elected to serve as a Raleigh city alderman and held his post for eighteen years with one or two intermissions. He helped organize the Victor Hose Company, the city’s first African-American firefighting organization, serving as foreman from 1872 to 1882. Additionally, Jones founded the first black military company in the state. continued on next page
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Beginning around 1886, James Jones worked as a contractor for waterworks, street railways, and street grading for new towns. According to a 1985 article by Dr. H.G. Jones (no relation), who was curator of the North Carolina collection at UNC, Jones oversaw construction of the Raleigh Street Railway, a street car system, which began as a horsedrawn line in 1886 and was converted to an electric line by 1891. Jones’ last contract was with the Rockbridge Company of Glasgow, Virginia, of which ex-Virginia governor Fitzhugh Lee was president. Seven miles of streets were graded for the new town of Glasgow, which was created on March 5, 1890. Less is known about James Jones personal life. On April 27, 1876, he married Johanna Falkman (née Turner), a seamstress who, like Jones, was biracial. Theirs was a long marriage that lasted until his death. Together they had two sons, James T. and Willis. James T. practiced law, and Willis became a successful physician in Deanwood Heights, a suburb of Washington, D.C. James Jones definitely flourished in postwar North Carolina. Perhaps that is why he wrote to his former employer, Jefferson Davis, in December 1888, validating his accomplishments. “You will, Sir, I am sure, be glad to know how I have succeeded in life here,” he began before telling of his service as alderman and as foreman of the leading black fire company. Then, too, at a time when the strides made by African Americans where being reversed and Jim Crow laws were beginning to talk hold, Jones may have felt the need to renew his relationship with an influential white man. Or, perhaps, having reached the half-century mark, he was simply feeling reflective. After all, together, they had experienced one of the most epic events in American history. “[Y]ou are never out of my memory and thoughts,” he assured Jefferson Davis, although he had not seen him for over fifteen years. As for Varina, he had not seen her since 1865 when she passed through Wilmington on her way to visit her husband at Fort Monroe. “I have many times almost made up my mind to go to Mississippi, that I might once more see you,” Jones wrote, continuing, “I have always been as warmly attached to you as when I was your body-servant.” Interestingly, Jones felt the need to tell Davis that he was a “republican in politics, but a fair minded one.” He mentioned having bought The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, the book that Jefferson Davis wrote as a defense of secession; however, he made no comment on its content. If he read it, he kept his opinions on Davis’ work to himself. Jefferson Davis responded, expressing the family’s delight upon receiving Jones’s letter. He noted, “Mrs. Davis you know was always your particular friend. We have all rejoiced when we have heard of your honorable prosperity & have felt that it was due to your integrity and fidelity. The many years since we have come and gone since we parted have in no way diminished my regard for you and interest in your welfare.” Davis also noted that on Christmas day he had mailed Jones “the last photograph taken of me in order that you might see me as I am now.” Davis signed the letter “Truly your friend.” When Jefferson Davis died the following year in New Orleans, Jones wired the city’s mayor explaining, “As the old body servant of the late Jefferson Davis, my great desire was to be the driver of the remains of my old master to their last resting place. Returning too late to join the white delegation of this city, I am deprived of the opportunity of showing my lasting appreciation for my best friend.”
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The current logo of Victor Company in Raleigh. Founded in 1870, Jones helped to organize the first African-American firefighting company in North Carolina. Image source: Facebook.com /victorfirecompany/
You will…be glad to know how I have succeed in life here. – James Jones to Jefferson Davis
We have all rejoiced when we have heard of your hourable prosperity. – Jefferson Davis in response to James Jones
Four years later, in 1893, Varina had Jefferson Davis’ remains reinterred in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy, at Hollywood Cemetery. Jones, who was temporarily living in Alabama, returned to Raleigh to drive the hearse to and from the state Capitol where Davis’s body lay in state for the day. James Jones’ last job was as a messenger in the United States Senate Stationary Room. Ironically, the position was secured for him by General William Ruffin Cox, a former Confederate and Democrat, who had helped to wrest political control of North Carolina from the Radical Republicans. In a letter to Varina, written in October 1893, Jones noted that Jefferson Davis had dined with Cox while in Raleigh. Apparently, Jones’ connection to the former Confederate president proved beneficial. Additionally, his connection with the Davises kept Jones in the spotlight. He was sought out by the newspapers whenever key events related to Jefferson Davis occurred: Jefferson Davis’ death and reinternment, the veteran’s reunion in Richmond in 1896 along with the laying of the cornerstone of the Jefferson Davis monument, and Varina’s death in 1906. Jones seems to have enjoyed the attention. Even after Varina’s death, he continued to attend veterans’ reunions, and he stoked speculation about where the Great Seal of the Confederacy was hidden, refusing to tell the secret of its burial. When James Jones died at the age of 90 on April 8, 1921, a number of newspapers made mention that the location of the Great Seal died with him and would never be revealed. Unbeknownst to them, the seal had been on display since 1915 at the Confederate Museum in Richmond. Was Jones secretly smiling at them or, in his old age, had he simply forgotten the particulars about the events of the past?
James Jones, circa 1900, continued to correspond with the Davis, Jefferson and Varina, after the war. Jones died in 1921 at the age of 90. Image: ACWM Collection Image colorization: ACWM
The letters that James Jones and the Davises exchanged read as genuine and heartfelt. Only a month before her death, Varina wrote, addressing him as “My good friend James.” Expressing “distress” about his rheumatism, she speculated that it could be caused by his underwear. She congratulated him on his son’s career, wishing, “may your children treat you as honorably as you did me during the time you were with me. I am very sympathetic with you in your anxiety about your good wife. I hope God will bless you and your family with health and abundant prosperity as well.” James Jones’ life reveals the complexities of the era. Born free at a time when few people of color were, he engaged in the typical work of a laborer and servant. The fall of the Confederacy and Reconstruction brought about new opportunities. Jones flourished, yet still existed within a world where black men held little power and where having been the coachman of the Confederate President carried some weight. Jones made the most of this and often was featured in the newspapers. Of course, the reporters who sought him out had their own agendas in the era of the Lost Cause. Why James Jones reconnected with the Davises cannot fully be answered. Relationships between individuals were no less complex, then, than they are today, and the letters Jones wrote to the Davises provide only a narrow lens. END Kelly Hancock is the ACWM Public Programs Manager.
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Recent Donation
On the Road to Atlanta The Wartime Sketches of Horace Rawdon By Robert Hancock When war broke out, Horace Rawdon was living in Warren, Ohio, with his wife, Ann, and their two children, Ralph and Emma. Horace was a painter by profession or, more specifically, an embellisher of carriages and buggies. According to the Western Reserve Chronicle which ran a human interest article on three local artists, Rawdon “indulges his taste for the higher branches of his art only during the short intervals he can snatch from the time necessary to support a family by his labor. One of his paintings, The Storm in Harvest, has been in Adam’s Book Store for the last two weeks, until it was purchased a day or two since, by a gentleman from Cleveland.” In August 1862, Rawdon was just shy of his 40 th birthday when he decided to enlist in the army as a musician. The 105th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was mustered into service for three years at Camp Taylor in Cleveland. It was not long before the 105th Ohio had its first opportunity to “see the elephant.” As a drummer in the regimental band, Rawdon was technically a non-combatant. Though he was not required to carry a rifle, he faced the same dangers as the other men in his regiment. We do not know if Rawdon kept a diary. No letters from him are known to exist. However, he did chronicle some of his travels with the 105th Ohio Volunteers by picking up his pencils and brushes and painting watercolor sketches of select areas along the way.
A detail of one of Rawdon’s watercolor sketches titled “Green River.”
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HOOVER’S GAP 2021.27.9
On June 24, 1863, there was a sharp fight at Hoover’s Gap, Tennessee. Confederate forces tried in vain to push the Federals back, but Col. John Wilder’s mounted infantry, who were armed with new Spencer repeating rifles, were able to hold the Gap until reinforcements arrived. In Rawdon’s sketch, some of the infantry are following the artillery on the road through the hills, while other units are cutting across county. The houses on the left have been requisitioned for the army’s use, and some of the rail fences have been pulled down either for firewood or to help facilitate the movement of the large number of soldiers. By September 19, Union forces had run the Confederates to ground just south of Chattanooga along a defensive line following Chickamauga Creek (a Cherokee name meaning River of Blood).
only thing preventing a complete rout of the Union army, half of which was already beating a hasty retreat towards Chattanooga. Rawdon and his regiment were at the front all day holding the line against repeated Confederate attacks. That night, the Ohioans retreated with the remainder of the army to the relative safety of Chattanooga. There, they were put under virtual siege by Bragg’s Confederates, who dug in along the high hills overlooking the town. On November 24, with reinforcements sent by Ulysses S. Grant, Union forces emerged from Chattanooga and fought their way up the steep slopes of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. After two days of hard fighting, the Confederate line was broken, and they retreated into Georgia.
Things did not go well for U.S. forces. Major General George Thomas’s command (including the 105th Ohio) was the
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MISSIONARY RIDGE 2021.27.1
In this painting, Rawdon depicts the divisions under Thomas’s command making their way up the wooded slopes of Missionary Ridge. The blue-coated soldiers have broken through the first line of defense and are attacking the second. (The Confederates had three parallel lines of defenses: one at the base of the hill, the next half way up, and the third at the crest of the ridge. Eventually, U.S. forces were able to push the Confederates off the ridge.) In the foreground can be seen mounted couriers and stretcher parties collecting the wounded.
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LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN 2021.27.8
This view of Chattanooga with Lookout Mountain in the background shows Federal army camps with their neat rows of white tents in the middle ground, while covered supply wagons file past in the foreground. Chattanooga became a huge supply base for the Union army, which was about to follow General Sherman into Georgia. Army engineers built military storehouses, barracks, and Chattanooga’s first waterworks.
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ROCKY FACE RIDGE 2021.27.7
General William Tecumseh Sherman began his campaign to capture Atlanta by pushing his forces south into Georgia in pursuit of the Confederates, now under the command of General Joseph E. Johnston, who made a stand at Rocky Face Ridge. Rawdon and the 105th were part of the U.S. forces tasked with outflanking the Confederates. In the foreground, a battery of four cannons are loaded and ready to fire at an unseen enemy. On the right, Union infantry begin their assault on Rocky Face Ridge. However, this is just a feint to keep the Confederates occupied while the bulk of Sherman’s army moves around behind them, forcing them to retreat or be surrounded.
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KENESAW [SIC] MOUNTAIN 2021.27.5
Abandoning Rocky Face Ridge and Resaca, the Confederates headed south and made a determined stand at Kennesaw Mountain not far from Atlanta, General Sherman’s objective. Sherman at first tried a direct frontal assault against the Confederates defenses—miles of trenches and earthworks bristling with cannon—with disastrous results. Three thousand Union soldiers lay dead and wounded on the wooded slopes with the Confederates still firmly ensconced in their trenches. General Schofield’s Army of the Ohio finally outflanked the Confederates south of Kennesaw Mountain, forcing them to retreat once more towards Atlanta. Rawdon’s idyllic scene, with its neat rows of white tents and blue-coated soldiers milling about, shows none of the carnage that was seen on the evergreen-covered slopes. continued on next page
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U.S. forces captured Atlanta in September 1864, and Rawdon and the 105th Ohio took a nice rest before following General Sherman on his “March to the Sea.” With the surrender of Lee’s and Johnston’s Confederate armies, the 105th traveled to Washington, DC, passing through Richmond on the way, and participated in the Grand Review on May 24, 1865. Shortly after the parade, the members of the 105th Ohio were discharged, and Rawdon went home.
By 1900, Rawdon was in his late seventies and living with his daughter, Emma, who ran a hotel in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. His wife had died two years before. Rawdon died in 1908 in Richmond, Virginia, the city Union forces spent four years trying to capture. What he was doing there, we do not know. He is buried in his native Ohio. END Robert Hancock is the ACWM Senior Curator and Director of Collections.
Rawdon went back to painting after the war. It is unknown if he painted these images in the field or did them after returning home based on sketches made at the time and his own memory of events. Most would call his style “primitive,” but it does offer a unique view of the war through the eyes of a soldier in the ranks.
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Black Suffrage: Lincoln’s Last Goal By Paul D. Escott Based on extensive research into Republican and Democratic newspapers, magazines, speeches, and addresses, Escott’s book illuminates the vigorous 1865 national debates over extending the franchise to all previously enslaved men, revealing both the nature and significance of growing support for Black suffrage and the depth of white racism that was its greatest obstacle. Publisher: University of Virginia Press (June 16, 2022) Hardcover: 288 pages; SKU: 154732 Retail: $39.50; Member Price: $35.55
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Publisher: Casemate (February 15, 2022) Paperback: 264 pages; SKU: 154736 Retail: $24.95; Member Price: $22.45
Publisher: Savas Beatie (June 22, 2021) Hardcover: 264 pages; SKU: 154738 Retail: $29.95; Member Price: $26.95
The Broken Constitution: Lincoln, Slavery, and the Refounding of America By Noah Feldman Feldman gives a narrative of Lincoln’s constitutional choices and how he made them. As president, Lincoln broke decisively with many precedents and effectively rewrote the Constitution’s place in the American system. Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (11/02/2021) Hardcover: 384 pages; SKU: 154713 Retail: $30.00; Member Price: $27.00
America’s Buried History: Landmines in the Civil War By Kenneth R. Rutherford Dr. Rutherford demonstrates how these “infernal devices” dealt death and injury in nearly every Confederate state, influenced the course of the war, and set off explosive debates inside the Confederate government regarding the ethics of using “weapons that wait.” Publisher: Savas Beatie (April 6, 2020) Hardcover: 216 pages; SKU: 154691 Retail: $29.95; Member Price: $26.95
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