Civil War News August 2022

Weather Hot, Competition Hotter

N-SSA 145th Nationals

by Bruce W. Miller

WINCHESTER, Va.—While temperatures soared into the 90’s, the North-South Skirmish Association (N-SSA) held its 145th National Competition May 18 through 22, 2022. Member units competed in livefire matches with original or authentic reproduction Civil War period muskets, carbines, breechloading rifles, revolvers, mortars, and cannons. It is the largest Civil War event of its kind in the country.

The first two days of competition are individual matches. Members pre-order targets for seven different firearm matches. As an example, one match combines 50-yard musket, 100-yard musket, and the aggregate of the two targets. They can order only one target per match so there are no second chances. The next three days are for seven team matches where 480 teams participated; 79 teams participated in the cannon and mortar matches.

Keeping track of all the scores is the responsibility of the skirmish staff statistics office under the

49th Annual Gettysburg Civil War Collector’s Show

watchful eye of the National Statistics Officer, Jeff Knauss, and his deputies. Jeff, a retired engineer from Verizon, has served in this position for over 30 years and literally wrote the book on N-SSA scoring management. At a typical national, scoring requires approximately 45 target scorers and an oversight staff of 10. At this spring national, almost 2,000 individual targets were scored. Competitors are classified based on skill level, and this year 332 medals were awarded. For the 480 team matches, also classified by skill level, 812 medals were awarded. Scoring, checking, handling protests, and getting medals in the right hands takes a great deal of skill and effort and under Knuass’ leadership it looks a lot easier than it really is. After two days of individual competition, the seven team matches were held over the threeday weekend. The Shenandoah Valley was hot, pushing into the 90’s. Sunday’s Rifle-Musket Team match, the N-SSA signature event, was particularly exciting. The clay pigeons, ceramic tiles, and pot silhouettes were blasted

by Eric Champigny GETTYSBURG,

This uniformly-garbed team fires at the pigeon board through the hazy, warm morning air. Temperatures at the 145th National pushed into the 90s, setting a heat record for this May event. (Lis Cole)

Penn.—The 49th Annual Gettysburg Civil War Collector’s Show sponsored by the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association and Brendan Synnamon of the Union Drummer Boy kicked off the weekend of June 25-26 at the AllStar Sport Complex. Hundreds of Civil War collectors and dealers gathered from across the nation on a hot, humid summer weekend so familiar to the soldiers of 1863. The well-organized 300-table event showcased a vast array of artifacts and memorabilia for sale and provided ample opportunity to learn from some of the most knowledgeable people in the Civil War collecting field. Artifacts were available for all interests and budgets, from excavated bullets to buttons, firearms, edged weapons, uniforms, headgear, and flags. Many items had direct provenance to the Battle of Gettysburg. The event was an excellent opportunity to view, and even own, a true piece of history.

Jeff Matix displayed the frock coat worn at Gettysburg by the 19th Maine Infantry’s 1st Lieutenant Edward R. Cunningham who was wounded on the battle’s second day. Allen Wandling of Midwest Civil War Relics presented the frock coat of Colonel John P. Taylor, who led the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry during the battle. Next to Taylor’s jacket was the Confederate overcoat of Samuel G. Bonn, a lieutenant in the 1st Maryland Cavalry and a Gettysburg veteran. Existing uniforms with Gettysburg provenance are some of the most desirable Civil War collectibles.

Rare Civil War artifacts at this premier show were too numerous to list on these pages. One fired .58 caliber three-ring Minié ball, the most common of all Civil War artifacts, was finely displayed in a glass case with a brigadier general’s shoulder strap and a carte de visite photograph of General Philip Kearny. Kearny had stated that “the Rebel bullet that can kill me has not yet been

molded.” Despite his boast, the bullet that killed the general September 1, 1862, in the Battle of Chantilly was extracted by his embalmers and presented to his widow. Now it is a poignant reminder that even the lowliest of Civil War relics have a story to tell. Perhaps a loftier looking piece was housed in a vintage oval frame surrounded by period paper notes; Confederate President Jefferson Davis’ personal tobacco pouch was used during his imprisonment at Fortress Monroe.

The Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association presented award plaques for outstanding exhibits the morning of the show’s last day. The following collectors received Appreciation Awards. Paul Loane for “Rations and Utensils of the Civil War,” an excellent collection of original soldiers’ hardtack and patent eating utensils. Elizabeth

Eager collectors explore a vast array of rare Civil War memorabilia on the first morning of the show.

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Letter to the Editor from North Carolina Department of Transportation

There were some mistakes in the article on the Kinston Bypass and its impact on the core area of the Wyse Fork Battlefield, a National Register District.

The CWN reported that the proposed highway work would “eliminate or relocate the historic Cobb House, the Union headquarters” and that “Right of way acquisition is slated for 2023 so the final decision on impacting Wyse Fork has not yet been made.”

A NCDOT spokesman wrote on June 14, 2022, that “We are not eliminating or moving the Cobb House – the house will not be impacted … This project will not impact or eliminate any historically significant buildings.”

In response to a CWN sentence about the right-of-way acquisition beginning in 2023, NCDOT pointed out that “right-of-way acquisition is scheduled to begin in2026 for the section between NC 148 (Harvey Parkway) to US 70 East of NC 58. The Right-ofWay from East f NC 58 to near Dover has not been funded.”

Finally, in response to CWN stating that Federal funds were being used elsewhere on the

project but not in the Wyse Fork section, NCDOT noted that they “will not be using any federal dollars to construct this project” and that “NCDOT plans to ban or prohibit any borrow pits within the battlefield.”

Civil War News regrets the errors.

As an addendum, a 106 consultation meeting was held in Kinston, N.C., on June 15. At this meeting, the NCDOT and State Historic Preservation Office representatives stated the route’s right-of-way decision has been made and is final. The June 15 meeting was to discuss mitigation of adverse impacts.

There were several mitigation suggestions including moving the planned route farther south, a decision that has already been rejected in finalizing the rightof-way. There was another mitigation option that seemed to be creditable. The second option was to move the interchange about a mile to the east where it would not impact the core area. This was not rejected out of hand. There was also discussion about the mitigation of the adverse impact on non-renewable archaeological resources and several suggestions were made about how to proceed archaeologically. These will be worked up and decided upon

at another meeting prior to a memorandum of understanding between the governmental bodies and the consulting parties.

TO THE EDITOR:

Your recent article on “Memoirs and First Hand Accounts” is most interesting. We are frequently cautioned to be skeptical of stories told years after the events and your reference to Sam Watkins of “Company Aytch” is very apropos to your thesis. I would guess that this reticence to accept almost any historical account should apply across the board even to include the Holy Bible. But then what are we left with? It seems to me that stories, fables, and creative license have a place in our lives.

Years ago I was talking with a World War II vet about his experiences as an Army infantryman fighting across Europe in 1944-45. He recalled with clarity several traumatic events that affected himself and his comrades. ‘’Frank,” I asked, “how can you remember all those details after sixty plus years?”

After a short pause he replied, “Bob, how can I forget?” How indeed!

Keep up the good work. Regards from another Charlottesville lad, Bob Tatum

Charleston Gun & Knife Show

Exchange Park Fairgrounds 9850 Highway 78 Ladson, SC 29456

Sept. 10 & 11, 2022

Asheville Gun & Knife Show

WNC Ag Center 1301 Fanning Bridge Road Fletcher, NC

Oct. 8 & 9, 2022

Myrtle Beach Gun & Knife Show

Myrtle Beach Convention Center 2101 North Oak Street Myrtle Beach, SC 29579

Oct. 29 & 30, 2022

Charleston Gun & Knife Show

Exchange Park Fairgrounds 9850 Highway 78 Ladson, SC 29456

Nov. 26 & 27, 2022

H Show

from page 1

Topping for “Heroines of the Hearth,” an exquisite ensemble of civilian items with a patriotic flair. Tim and Debbie Sheads for “The Carrie Sheads House,” a trove of items and photographs relating to their historic 1862 Gettysburg home. Jim Crane for “The 15th New York Cavalry,” a wonderful collection of artifacts from a hard riding regiment. Jeff Matix for “Through the Valley of Death: Lieutenant Edward Cunningham,” displaying his excellent Gettysburg worn frock coat. The Judges Choice Award was presented to John McAden for “Confederate Navy Swords,” a selection of truly rare Confederate blades. The people’s choice award went to Gerald Roxbury for “Antebellum Navy Swords,” a collection of fine pre-war edged weapons. Last, but certainly not least, the coveted Best of Show Award was presented to Jim McCoy for “Tiffany Presentation Swords,” an exceptional display of high-grade officer swords

from Tiffany & Company of New York.

The author of this article couldn’t resist the opportunity to acquire a few quality Civil War pieces; an early battlefield recovered Model 1855 Springfield rifle-musket and artillery shell fragments from New Market, Va., a Confederate imported Austrian Lorenz rifle with personalized lead inlays in the stock, and a cartridge box and assorted items carried by Raymond Clark of the 114th New York Infantry.

The Annual Gettysburg Civil War Collector’s Show is not merely an event “by collectors, for collectors.” All proceeds from ticket sales help fund the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association. Founded in 1959, the 501(c) (3) Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association is the oldest Civil War battlefield preservation organization in the nation. The GBPA has purchased and donated several hundred acres of land to Gettysburg National Military Park. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was an early

member and active supporter; comedian Cliff “Charlie Weaver” Arquette and historian and author Bruce Catton were charter members. The organization has played a critical role in funding conservation and repairs to hundreds of monuments across the Gettysburg battlefield. Since 1999, the GBPA has owned, restored, and operated the historic 146-acre Historic Daniel Lady Farm on the Hanover Road. The farm served as Major General Edward Johnson’s staging area for the Confederate attack on Culp’s Hill and was used as a Confederate field hospital. Bloodstains from wounded and dying soldiers are visible on the floors of the 1820s house. Visitors can see the initials of Confederate soldiers and artillery damage in the original 1842 barn. The Historic Daniel Lady Farm staff offers tours, camping for reenactors and scouts, living history demonstrations, and educational workshops. Please visit the association’s website at gbpa.org to learn more and be sure to visit the Lady Farm.

Jim McCoy holds his Best of Show Award for his exceptional display of Tiffany presentation swords.

Paul Loane received his Appreciation Award for “Rations and Utensils of the Civil War.”

Frock coat worn by 1st Lieutenant Edward R, Cunningham, 19th Maine, when he was wounded at Gettysburg.

Allen Wandling with the Confederate overcoat worn by Samuel G. Bonn.

The bullet that killed General Philip Kearney at the Battle of Chantilly.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis’ personal tobacco pouch.

Jim McCoy’s stunning collection of Tiffany & Company presentation swords.

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Mike Mancuso displaying a variety of excavated relics from Gettysburg and Antietam.

Left: Jeff Matix with his Appreciation Award for his exhibit “Through the Valley of Death.”

Author and collector Paul Loane displays his collection of rare Civil War rations and utensils.

Elizabeth Topping was awarded the Civil War Exhibit Appreciation Award.

Gerald Roxbury and John McAden. Roxbury won the People Choice Award and McAden the Judges Choice Award.

Spotlight on the Emerging Civil War Series

Editor’s Note: Civil War News is pleased to begin a new monthly series highlighting books in the Emerging Civil War Series (ECWS) published by Savas Beatie, LLC. The mission of the series is to offer compelling and easy-to-read overviews of some of the Civil War’s most important battles and issues. Each volume features more than a hundredand-fifty photos and graphics, plus sharp new maps, visually engaging layouts, and thoughtprovoking appendices. To date, forty-three books have been published in the series.

The Army Historical Foundation honored the Emerging Civil War Series with its Lieutenant General Richard G. Trefry Award for contributions to the literature on the history of the U.S. Army, calling it “an invaluable collection of Civil War battlefield guides.”

The series has also served as a fertile starting point for a lot of “emerging voices” in the field, something important to us here at Civil War News.

Richmond Shall Not Be Given Up: The Seven Days’ Battles, June 25-July 1, 1863

by Doug Crenshaw (Savas Beatie, 2017)

About the Book: In the spring of 1862, the largest army ever assembled on the North American continent landed in Virginia, on the peninsula between the James and York Rivers, and proceeded to march toward Richmond.

Between that army and the capital of the Confederate States of America, an outnumbered Confederate force did all in its feeble power to resist, but all it could do was slow, not stop, the juggernaut.

To Southerners, the war, not yet a year old, looked lost. The Confederate government prepared to evacuate the city. The citizenry prepared for the worst. And then the war turned. During battle at a place called Seven Pines, an artillery shell wounded Confederate commander Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. His replacement, Gen. Robert E. Lee, stabilized the army, fended off the Federals, and then fortified the capital.

“Richmond must not be given up!” he vowed, tears in his eyes. “It shall not be given up!”

Federal commander Maj.

Gen. George B. McClellan, confident of success, found himself unexpectedly hammered by a newly aggressive, newly emboldened foe. For seven days, Lee planned ambitious attacks and launched them, one after another, hoping not just to drive Federals from the gates of Richmond but to obliterate them entirely.

In Richmond Shall Not Be Given Up, historian Doug Crenshaw follows a battle so desperate that, ever-after, soldiers would remember that week simply as The Seven Days. McClellan reeled. The tide of war turned. The Army of Northern Virginia was born.

About the Author: Doug Crenshaw is a volunteer historic interpreter for the Richmond National Battlefield Park. A member of the Richmond Civil War Roundtable, he is a speaker, presenter, tour leader, and the author of books on Glendale and Fort Harrison. Doug is a descendant of the Sydnor family, which lived at Beaver Dam Creek during that battle, and the Binford family, which lived behind the Malvern Hill battlefield

Behind-the-Scenes, by Doug Crenshaw

It’s a story familiar to many of us. An uncle took me to a battlefield when I was six, and I was hooked—only it wasn’t Gettysburg! It was Cold Harbor and the fields of the Seven Days battles. Every year for Christmas he sent me a book from the “General” to the “Colonel,” my favorite gift every year! Sadly, he passed away when I was 13, and I moved on to typical teenage interests. It was only later, when I moved to Virginia, that the fever hit me again. I began reading intensely, and when I discovered that my family had owned land at Beaver Dam Creek and Malvern Hill during the battles, I was completely sold.

In 2009, I began volunteering with the Richmond National Battlefield Park, and loved the process of helping people understand the events and places of Richmond during the Civil War. For some reason, the urge to write a book hit me, and Ashley Luskey, then an NPS ranger, said I should attack Fort Harrison. Digging into the research was so interesting and fun! That was

followed by a book on the battle of Glendale.

Shortly thereafter, Bert Dunkerly suggested that I check out Emerging Civil War, so I attended a Symposium and was knocked out. The speakers were really good, everyone was friendly, and I bought some books, which were excellent. I wanted to be part of that! After writing some articles for the blog, I approached Chris Mackowski, and he was very encouraging and accepted my offer to write a book on the Seven Days.

The ECW process was quite different than what I was used to. Over 150 images were needed and lots of maps, but I loved it. This was the perfect vehicle for what I wanted to do: help people understand the campaign in a brief format and include a driving tour.

Writing a book means research, and research leads to questions. Why was Stonewall Jackson really late at Mechanicsville? Why did A. P. Hill attack there without support? Was he really as rash as his reputation leads us to believe? Why did he attack at Gaines’s Mill without support? How could McClellan have

CULPEPER

Cedar Mountain Battlefield, Culpeper County, Va. BUDDY SECOR

possibly escaped? How did Malvern Hill get so fouled up? One question always seemed to lead to another, deeper one. Absolutely fascinating.

I discovered that I really liked the writing process, and Chris M., Chris Kolakowski and Bert Dunkerly were great guides. Chris M. even drove down and helped take pictures and explained how to make them more interesting. Kris White showed up the same day. They were so generous with their time!

If you have never experienced the editing process, it can be a bit humbling. You think you have done your best work, but suggestions come in, and you grow as a historian and as a writer. I have found that people in the field generally are very helpful and want you to succeed, and it’s encouraging! A lot of work goes on in areas most readers don’t think about: re-writing, proofing, and so on. When you are new and turn in your first manuscript, you think you are finished. You’re not. There is much left to do, but the end result is so worth it!

The book was well-received, and a lot of public talks followed. Comments and reviews were very motivating. Of course, this leads to the urge to write again, but that’s a story for another blog….

What got you first interested in the Seven Days?

I grew up in New Jersey, but my family visited Richmond when I was six. My uncle took me to the Seven Days’ fields and showed me where ancestors had lived at Beaver Dam Creek and Malvern Hill during the battles. The stories he told thrilled me. Every year he sent me a Civil War book for Christmas. I was hooked.

What inspired you to translate your interest in the Seven Days into a book?

I am a volunteer for the Park Service, and there was a need for a small book, loaded with maps and pictures, that would help visitors tour the fields. Also, a lot of people don’t want to read a large book on the subject. When I learned about Emerging Civil War, it seemed like a perfect fit. Chris Mackowski and Bert Dunkerly were extremely helpful and supportive.

Were there particular misconceptions about the Seven Days you were hoping to clarify?

Not at the time. I was trying to create a book that would help people understand the campaign. Of course, I came across some misconceptions during the process! I am currently working on a book that discusses the Confederate high command during the campaign. There are a number of misconceptions that I am hoping to clarify.

As you did your research, did you come across any new discoveries? Was there anything that surprised you? There were many. For one, I had never fully realized how much Lee accomplished in the short span of a month. I also didn’t realize how inexperienced all of the commanders were in handling such large bodies of troops. This was a new kind of war, and their inexperience had a great effect on the lives of their men and the results of the campaign.

What was the most challenging part about writing the book? Why?

The writing process itself was challenging…. trying to find the right words to draw the readers in. Trying to get this massive story across to the readers within the limits of a small book. People like Chris, Bert and Bobby Krick of the NPS were great guides!

Who is someone in the book you came to better understand or appreciate? Why?

All of the characters were of great interest, but the ones I learned the most about were A. P. Hill, Jackson, and Lee. Hill is often categorized as impetuous and more than a bit rash. I’m not so sure. Jackson performed poorly, but was it all his fault? I don’t think so, and it’s not entirely due to being exhausted. The most interesting of all was Lee. Faced with an almost impossible situation, he succeeded in driving the enemy from the very gates of Richmond, but his success was not all that it might have been. His inexperience was key, but it’s amazing how quickly he learned!

Is there some part of the battlefield—or some other related historical place—that your book helped you better appreciate or understand? Why?

Glendale (or Frayser’s Farm, as I prefer to call it). The battlefield has only recently been saved and is not currently accessible to visitors. Rangers Randy Cleaver and Bert Dunkerly took me on

separate visits, and then I spent a lot of time there on my own. It is said that you can’t understand a battlefield unless you walk the ground, and nowhere have I found this to be more accurate than at Frayser’s Farm. Hopefully NPS will open some trails there in the not-to-distant future.

What did you learn about the writing process by writing this book?

It’s hard work, but very rewarding. Writing the book is only part of the story. There are hours and hours and hours of research—yu keep digging. You re-write and re-write. Then you ask others to review it and comment. It’s later edited. Writing is a long, challenging process, but I found it to be very enjoyable and worthwhile. You also meet some great people along the way!

What sort of feedback have you gotten on the book since it came out? Is there something people particularly enjoy or are surprised by?

The feedback has been positive, and I have frequently been asked to speak about the campaign and give tours. People particularly like the maps, the driving directions, and the precise tour guide. Others like that the story has been told in an understandable and succinct manner.

Have you had to make revisions since the first draft? If so, what have you had to update?

I have not done any revisions at this time. There are a few I might make on the tour, as more land has become preserved and accessible. A few more maps might be added, but overall, I am happy with the book.

Since the publication of the book, where has your writing career taken you?

I have written a book with Drew Gruber on the Peninsula Campaign that preceded the Seven Days, a book dealing entirely with the Glendale battle, and one on the Battles of Chaffin’s Farm in 1864, particularly the events at Fort Harrison. Bert Dunkerly and I created a tour guide of

Civil War sites in Richmond. I am working on the study already mentioned on the Confederate high command during the Seven Days, and have a few other projects lined up to follow.

What advice would you give to young writers who are thinking about writing their first book?

First, go for it. Take time to study good writing. If it draws you in, why does it? Look for experienced writers who can help you on your way. If you are interested in the Civil War, consider writing articles for blogs like Emerging Civil War, which is always eager to feature the work of new writers. The key is to get more and more experience writing. Seek helpful criticism, and enjoy the ride!

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The Artilleryman is a quarterly magazine for people with an interest in ordnance from the Revolutionary War to World War II with a focus on the American Civil War. Full color 8.5" x 11" magazine featuring content that includes cannon safety, artillery history, projectiles, fuses, places to visit, book reviews, competition shooting events, and how-to articles.

Military Antique Collector, is a new 80-page, bi-monthly magazine printed on quality paper with high-resolution color photographs of some of the world’s most beautiful and unusual military collectibles. Dedicated to both the expert collector and novice alike, each issue will be teeming with informative articles written by leading authorities in their fields of expertise, including distinguished well-known authors, along with prominent museum and auction professionals. Each will spotlight rare and unusual military objects, craftsmanship works, and their relationship to historical figures dating from early American and European history to limited coverage of the post-1898 artifact.

H N-SSA

from page 1

by Minié balls at ranges of 50 and 100 yards. The nearly unbeatable 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI) dominated the match once again. They won the team musket match with an excellent time of 443.5 seconds for the five-event program, finishing ahead of the next closest unit by almost two minutes. This win marks an amazing 27 rifle-musket championships since the year 2000. Two OVI shooters, Mike Rouch and Jerry Smith, have been on all 27 winning teams. A total of 138 eight-member teams participated in this classic competition.

The 110th also won Saturday’s Carbine Team match with a time of 455.4 seconds edging the 8th Virginia Infantry by a narrow 5.2 seconds. One hundred fourteen teams participated in this match of speed and accuracy. Smith carbines are a favorite in this match and many are valuable originals. Skirmishers are also fond of Sharps’ carbines and you will often see Burnside’s, Maynard’s, and even muzzleloading carbines and musketoons on the firing line.

Friday morning dawned overcast and humid as 55 teams squared off in the Revolver Team match. The four-member teams

participated in the four-event match; breaking 12 clay pigeons on a cardboard backer; eight hanging 6-inch x 6-inch ceramic tiles; eight hanging clay pigeons, and eight hanging 4-inch x 4-inch ceramic tiles. The Nansemond Guards finished first and claimed their gold medals with a time of 197.7 seconds. Remington and Rogers & Spencer revolvers are the primary hand gun of choice, but the classic Colt 1860 Army is also seen on occasion.

Harlan’s Light Cavalry won the gold in the Smoothbore Musket Team match, besting 119 other units to finish first with a solid total time of 178.5 seconds. This match is a really great test of skill. Competitors participate with many different firearms, including the Model 1842; Confederate Macon arsenal conversions of the Model 1842; the Hewes & Philips conversion of the Model 1816 (which features a rear sight), and the occasional European Potsdam in .72 caliber. The smoothbore match consisted of four events, including the extra challenging silhouette of a tiny clay pot at 25 yards and 6-inch x 6-inch ceramic tiles at 50 yards. Three additional shoulder arm team matches were held. In the Single-Shot Rifle Team match, the 149th Pennsylvania Infantry finished first. In the Breech-Loading Rifle Team

match, the 8th Virginia Infantry just barely edged out the 21st Virginia Infantry by a miniscule 1.8 seconds to capture gold; in the Spencer Team match, the 1st Maryland Cavalry took the firstplace medals. Forty-five units participated in the Mortar Team match. Each mortar team fires seven shots at a stake 100 yards down range. Officials then carefully measure the distance and tally how far the best five shots were from the stake for score. The overall winner was the 1st Maryland Cavalry with a terrific five shot aggregate score of 28 feet-6 inches; only nine inches less than 1st Pennsylvania Artillery.

The Artillery Team matches are a spectator favorite; 42 guns participated in a variety of classes. The range is reconfigured so cannon fire perpendicular to the small arms firing line. The guns are classified by type: smoothbore, rifled, howitzer, and rifled howitzer. Target frames with paper targets mounted on drywall backers are set at a range of 200 yards for both rifled and smoothbore guns and 100 yards for howitzers. Rifled and smoothbore guns fire 12 solid projectiles, with a maximum of seven shots allowed on two targets: a bull’s eye and a silhouette of a cannon facing them that represents counter battery fire. The best five shots on each target count for a maximum of 25 points per target; a perfect score is 50-5V. Howitzers each fire a maximum of 12 projectiles at their single bullseye target, with the 10 best shots counted; a rare perfect score is 50-10V.

In the Smoothbore class, the 1st Virginia Cavalry (gun #1) was the winner with 50-2V. The 3rd U.S. Infantry won the Rifled class with a perfect score of 505V. In the Howitzer class, the Rowan Artillery, won, shooting an impressive 50-5V. The 15th Independent Battery, Ohio Light Artillery, took the Rifled Howitzer competition, scoring 33-2V. Civil War cannon are quite accurate and N-SSA gun crews work hard to get the most out of them.

The N-SSA is the country’s oldest and largest Civil War shooting sports organization with 3,000 individuals making up some 200 member units. Each team represents a particular unit or regiment and proudly wears the uniform they wore over 150 years ago. At the 145th National, fifteen competitors were recognized for 50 years of membership; quite an accomplishment.

Engineers and Mechanics, with an aggregate musket and carbine score of 128-0X; the Senior Skirmisher (over 65) award went to Gary Bowling, Nansemond

with a 182-0X.

The 146th National Competition is scheduled for October 7-9, 2022, at Fort Shenandoah, just north of Winchester, Va. For more information about the N-SSA visit the web site www.n-ssa.org.

The NRA award for the top Young Skirmisher (under 19 years of age) went to Jacob Walters, 1st Michigan

Hanging clay pigeons placed at 25 yards from the firing line shatter as they are hit by revolver fire. (Lis Cole)

A crewman with Hardaway's Alabama Battery watches his teammate pull the lanyard to fire their mortar at a stake placed 100 yards down range. Despite the intense heat, this unit prides itself on historical accuracy and remained in full uniform for the match. (Ericka Hoffmann Curley)

Hardaway’s Alabama Battery fires their Tredegar 12-pounder field howitzer at the bullseye target at 100 yards. A total of 42 guns competed in the Saturday afternoon artillery match, including rifled cannons, smoothbores, and howitzers. (Niki Bethke)

A member of the 8th Regiment Virginia Volunteer Infantry deftly fires his Maynard during the carbine team match. Sharps, Smith, and Burnside carbines are also favorites in this match. (Niki Bethke)

Guards

Costume Committee judge Marylou Wells signs in a competitor, Elisa Harris, who proceeded to win first place in the Matron’s Best Visual category with her sunny yellow gingham dress. (Brittany Cole)

Three generations of the Rouch family, who are members of the 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, compete in the musket match. Teams in this family-oriented organization often include multiple generations of family members. (Ericka Hoffmann Curley)

Left: Shooting isn’t the only competition in the N-SSA. Here, judges review Emily Laskas’ project, which won first place in the Young Ladies Informal Visual category. Members of the Costume Committee judge the authenticity and accuracy of the competitors’ projects. (Niki Bethke)

N-SSA Gallery

Right: What remains of a percussion cap flies away as this competitor fires his Rogers & Spencer revolver. Safety is a priority, and skirmishers wear proper eye and hearing protection when participating in all N-SSA matches. (Lis Cole)

The Mosby’s Rangers musket team carefully aims and fires at four-inch hanging tiles during the musket match. A total of 138 eight-member teams competed in the 145th National Skirmish musket match. (Ericka Hoffmann Curley)

Members of the 1st Regiment Virginia Volunteers fire at the targets on the “pigeon board,” a signature event in the musket match. Eight-person teams compete to clear the board in the least amount of time. (Ericka Hoffmann Curley)

Right: Competitors aim through a cloud of black powder smoke that hangs in the warm, humid, morning air, which compounds the amount of skill needed to accurately shoot a Civil War era revolver. (Niki Bethke)

Left: Juanita Leisch and Sharleen West discuss their projects at the 145th National. The Costume Committee holds several events and competitions and conducts workshops teaching proper construction of mid-nineteenth century clothing. (Brittany Cole)

Many generations of skirmishers have grown up in this sport. In this photo, Katie and Tim Scanlan stand with their son Colin to shoot clay pigeons on a cardboard backer at the start of the musket competition. (Ericka Hoffmann Curley)

A Confederate unit loads, aims, and fires at 16 hanging clay pigeons at 50 yards. Skirmishing brings members of all ages, genders, ideologies, professions, and walks of life together through a common love of history and this unique shooting sport. (Ericka Hoffmann Curley)

Left: This team fires down range at six-inch hanging tiles placed at 100 yards from the firing line–the final event in the N-SSA National musket competition. National Skirmish targets consist of all breakable targets, hanging or mounted on a cardboard backer. (Niki Bethke)

Left: Breech-loader competing team members start each relay with a full magazine. Skirmishers in this match shoot mostly Henry rifles, and can empty their 16-shot magazines very quickly. But after participants empty that first full magazine, they must single load for the rest of the relay. (Ericka Hoffmann Curley)

N-SSA Gallery

Right: N-SSA members pre-order targets for seven different firearm matches. Almost 2,000 individual match targets were scored at the 145th National. Ties are broken by the shortest total distance of the shots from the center of the bullseye. (Ericka Hoffmann Curley)

At every National skirmish, one of the host teams oversees the artillery competition. At the 145th National, 3rd Maryland Artillery had that responsibility and scored a total of 76 targets from the Saturday artillery match. (Ericka Hoffmann Curley)

The 110th Ohio Volunteer Infantry (OVI) consistently wins first place in the N-SSA National Skirmish musket match with their skill, practice, and ability to clear targets quickly. Once again, they took first place at the 145th National, finishing nearly two minutes faster than the closest competitor. (Ericka Hoffmann Curley)

Right: The First Florida Cavalry competes in the Single Shot Rifle match. Skirmishers shoot breechloaders, and Sharps and Ballard rifles are the most popular. (Niki Bethke)

At a typical National skirmish, the scoring staff requires approximately 45 target scorers and an oversight staff of 10, along with the National Statistics Officer and nine deputies. (Ericka Hoffmann Curley)

A Lost Diary Finished by Both Finder and Loser. And Both Survived

by Carl L. Sell, Jr.

This amazing story is about a lost diary that turned into competing reports about Gettysburg, a capture that brought an enforced tour of Confederate Prisons, an escape, recapture, and release. Finally, the war ended, and the lost diary returned.

Robert Douglass of the FortySeventh Virginia Infantry Regiment wrote in a letter after the war that he had been involved in every major battle fought by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the entire Civil War. He added there were about 500 skirmishes; he escaped unscathed.

Forty-Seventh Virginia Infantry Regiment wrote in his diary that he was wounded twice, including at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, as well as captured, escaped, recaptured, and then released before he was exchanged two months before the war ended.

The paths of these two soldiers crossed at Chancellorsville on May 4, 1863, when Douglass picked up a diary that belonged to Owen. Owen, along with others in his regiment, had left his knapsack, containing the diary, behind as they advanced to the battlefield to close the break in their lines caused by Lieutenant General Stonewall Jackson’s famous flank attack.

The Confederates, including Douglass, pushed back the Federals. Douglass and his comrades collected the knapsacks and anything else left behind, a standard operating procedure for soldiers on both sides. Instead of tossing the diary aside, Douglass decided to continue recording entries, albeit from a Confederate standpoint. Ironically, Owen decided to start a new diary. Both documents survived the war.

After the war, Douglass decided to write to the family mentioned in the diary he had taken, asking if the writer had survived the war. He offered to return the original diary to the owner. According to Douglass, Owen replied that he had survived and would like to receive his diary. Douglass

mailed it with a note referring to Owen as “once an enemy in one sense of the word but now a friend.”

The two armies returned to their respective camps after Chancellorsville, the Federals to regroup and the Confederates, under General Robert E. Lee, reorganizing from two corps to three following Jackson’s the death. The Confederates soon moved north toward Maryland and Pennsylvania. It didn’t take long for Major General Joe Hooker’s Union army to follow.

Douglass continued Owen’s diary until the end of 1863. Most of his entries were about marching, cooking, playing ball, taking baths, and writing to his mother. He mentioned very little about combat. Between May 10 and the end of the year, he said he bought two pairs of shoes and was issued another pair.

The Forty-Seventh’s march into Pennsylvania brought little reaction from Douglass, although he did say that it was very pretty country, but the citizens look sour at our “secesh” soldiers. Near Greenwood [sic, Greencastle?], he observed a “hard looking crowd in this country, mostly Dutch.” He also mentioned eating cherries and drinking lemonade.

Nearing Gettysburg, Douglass said Colonel John Brockenbrough’s Brigade, and the Forty-Seventh, supported Brigadier General [J. Johnston] Pettigrew’s Brigade on

June 30. Pettigrew’s troops went on to drive the Yankees toward Gettysburg and then returned to camp near Cashtown without firing a shot.

On July 1, the Forty-Seventh marched toward Gettysburg and helped Heth’s Division drive the enemy back through town, then was detailed to cook rations and was not engaged on July 2. The regiment was part of the Pettigrew-Pickett charge on the afternoon of July 3, losing twenty-three percent of the 209 who attacked Cemetery Ridge.

Douglass wrote that his regiment was “drawn up in the line of battle ready to charge the enemies’ breastworks. The boys are busy throwing up dirt with their hands for shelter.”

He continued “heaviest cannonading going on I ever heard in my life. Our line advanced on the enemy but soon [sic] repulsed.” Douglass’ description of the attack paled in comparison to what happened. Brockenbrough’s Brigade included the TwentySecond, Fortieth, Forty-Seventh, and Fifty-Fifth Virginia regiments, was badly mauled by the Union defenders on Cemetery Ridge, many when the regiment was fully enfiladed by the 8th Ohio’s volley fire.

On July 4, the Forty-Seventh engaged in picket firing before receiving orders to fall back. They began to retreat back toward the Potomac about 8

p.m. and marched until sunrise the next day, Douglass wrote. Things were quiet, according to Douglass, for the rest of the year. Owen a new blank diary and started anew. Although Owen lost his diary on May 3, 1863, he backdated the new one to April 24 when Union forces broke camp and marched toward Chancellorsville. He wrote that on May 4, the day broke with a terrible thundering of artillery. At 8 a.m. the Eighty-Sixth New York went into battle, and he was wounded slightly in the shoulder and left the field. He thought his brother Cortland had been killed or taken prisoner. William was treated and released after three days and returned to camp. On May 21, he heard from Cortland, that he’d been captured and paroled.

Owen and the Eighty-Sixth spent their time in camp, serving on picket duty and standing inspections until June 16, when the troops began the march north. Owen wrote he covered 16 miles that day and 17 on June 17. By June 30, the unit was camped at Emmitsburg, Maryland. The next day, the troops marched toward Gettysburg. Owen said he was sick and “rode in the ambulance for the first time.”

On July 2, the Eighty-Sixth, along with the rest of Ward’s Third Brigade, III Corps, fell in line soon after daylight and went into battle at 3 p.m. Owen wrote that he fired five rounds before he was wounded in the side. “The same ball wounded my comrade,” Owen wrote. The action took place at Devil’s Den and the slope of Little Round Top. The EightySixth was flanked and pushed back by Texas and Alabama units, but the Union forces were able to blunt the advance.

Owen was taken to the division hospital and remained there until July 7 when he was transferred to “our hospital up on a hill. Was able to go into Gettysburg to pray in a church on July 14.”

On July 15, Owen took the train to Baltimore and arrived at McKim’s Mansion hospital on South Charles Street. He would remain there until September 30. On July 21, Owen wrote he “obtained a pass & went to town. Got a good dinner of ham & eggs.” He also went into town on several other occasions.

On August 10, Owen wrote that he had “done nothing but read. Report that Gen Grant is to take command of the Army of the Potomac.” On September 30, he was transferred to Patterson Park Hospital and stayed there

Robert Douglas.

until October 3. The next day, he took the train to Alexandria. On October 9, he went by train to Culpeper and two days later was on picket duty along the Rappahannock River.

On December 23, Owen put his name on the list for reenlistment and was mustered into service for three more years on December 31. “Duty calls & duty speaks louder tones than pleasure,” Owen wrote.

On January 7, 1864, Owen wrote: “Relieved picket ten AM to go to camp to get pay and prepare for home. Marched to Brandy Station, took cars 8 PM, road [sic] all night. Arrived in Washington at daylight in the morning.” The next day, he rode to Baltimore, stayed the night and then took the train to Elmira. He then took the cars to Cameron and walked home to a “hearty welcome” at 3 p.m.

He stayed in the area until Feb 26, visited relatives, friends, and his old school, went to church. Owen left Elmira for Baltimore, arrived the next morning. He continued on to Washington on the 27th, spent the night and left for Brandy Station at 3 p.m. on February 28.

After Owen rejoined it, the Eighty-Sixth remained encamped, serving on picket duty, playing ball, chopping wood, attending church services, writing letters, standing for inspection, etc. “Nothing or exciting or entertaining,” Owen wrote. On April 22, he saw General Grant for the first time at a grand review.

When the Overland Campaign began at the Wilderness on May 5, the Eighty-Sixth went into battle at 3 p.m. “Fought all the PM, drove the enemy some distance through the woods. Lost very few of our men. Stayed in battle all night.” He continued, “Charged them through the woods, drove them all the AM.” That afternoon a Union corps on the Eighty Sixth’s left “broke and the Rebels surrounded us. Marched out by the right flank through a perfect hail of bullets. PM engaged again, the most terrible musketry I ever heard. Rebs charged out breastworks & were repulsed with terrible slaughter.”

The two armies marched, fought, and marched some more until the Confederates beat the Federals to Spotsylvania Courthouse. The Eighty-Sixth crossed the Pamunkey River on May 9 and fighting became heavy the next morning lasting until dark. During this time, the Confederates charged the enemy breastworks. The loss was heavy, and Owen was captured. He was held temporarily near

General Lee’s headquarters, then marched for two days before reaching Gordonsville, where the prisoners took a train to Lynchburg. He reported they arrived in Danville on the morning of May 21 and were sent to a prison. The next day, they were back on the trains again and rode all night to Charlotte, N.C., where they changed trains for Chester, S.C. The prisoners changed cars again in Augusta, Georgia, before arriving at Andersonville prison on May 25. He remained there until September 13.

Owen read in a Macon paper that an agreement for a prisoner exchange had been made. On September 7, three detachments of prisoners were sent on their way to be exchanged. Owen left later, going with a group on September 13, destination unknown.

Two days later, he was in a prison camp in Florence, S.C. The next day, Owen and some comrades slipped past the guards and began a march toward Union lines. They marched at night and hid during daylight until October 8, when they were recaptured, taken to jail, and then put in Salisbury Prison the next day. Along the march, Owen reported the men were treated kindly by people along the way and that he hid in a haystack one evening.

On November 25, 1864, Owen participated in an ill-fated prison break and suffered a slight wound to his arm. He was finally released from Salisbury on February 27, 1865, reached Union lines on February 4, and was exchanged. On March 4 he boarded a steamer at Wilmington, N.C., and arrived at Annapolis, Md., on March 10. The war ended less than a month later.

Owen mustered out on May 30, 1865, at Elmira. He went back to farming and a little over two years later received a letter from Douglass saying he had the diary and wondered if the writer was still alive. It arrived at a fortunate time because William was getting ready to move west. Owen answered and Douglass sent him the diary in August.

On April 12, 1868, Owen married Nancy Calkins in Hancock, Ill. The couple moved to a farm in Lincoln, Clarke County, Mo. They raised three boys, Francis, Henry, and William, and a girl, Minnie. They moved back to Illinois where Nancy died on April 22, 1920, and William on May 20, 1924. Both are buried in Kahoka County Cemetery.

Robert Douglass went back to Lancaster County, Va., after the war and lived there the rest of his life. He worked as a Deputy Treasurer and Commissioner of

Revenue for Lancaster County. He married Virginia A. McNeale in 1868 and they had six children. He later married Eunice Blanche Roane in 1891. Robert died on November 24, 1913, and is buried at the White Marsh Methodist Church Cemetery in Lancaster County.

The diary found by Douglass, plus his additions, was provided by Robert Weaver of Hanover, Penn., and Daniel Oullette of Detroit, Mich. They are the great-grandchildren of Timothy Edwards (Fortieth Virginia Infantry) and his wife, Virginia Ann, who was Robert Douglass’ sister. Sometimes, stories travel a strange route to the Civil War News. The Owen diary after Chancellorsville came from the history of the Eighty-Sixth Regiment. Authentications came from military records and the efforts of genealogist Karen Connair.

It was especially interesting to the author, a baseball fan, that both Douglass and Owen said they played ball in camp in 1863.

Carl Sell is a frequent contributor to Civil War News, concentrating on the soldiers and families of those who fought the war. Ideas are welcome. Sell can be reached at sellcarl@aol.com or 703-971-4716.

The Bayonet as a Weapon

“On the Civil War battlefield, the bayonet turned out to be a relic, responsible for few battlefield wounds. Though there were many mass charges in Civil War battles, there were few hand-to-hand bayonet fights, and those were usually of short duration. Although infantry soldiers were issued bayonets and received bayonet drill, they found the weapon most useful for other purposes. Bayonets made excellent tent stakes and candle holders, and when a charge petered out they were useful for digging a hole to hide in.”(Kevin Eisert, civilwar.bluegrass.net)

Unlike the knife, which was often carried for defensive purposes by civilians and

soldiers alike, the bayonet as a weapon has always been strictly military in nature. Civilian rifles typically have no provision for a bayonet. In fact, the U.S. Model 1841 percussion rifle was the exception to the general rule for military arms taking bayonets.

To the martial mind of the 19th century, the bayonet was seen as a fourth form of fencing, along with foil, epee’ (dueling sword), and dueling saber. It was, according to General George McClellan, “the brave man’s weapon.” The first official training bayonets were issued in 1858. Soldiers learned to affix and remove it on command and how to guard against cavalry and infantry using the rifle mounted with bayonet as a pike. They also drilled the motions of bayonet fighting as a group drill using the actual blades. When it came time to practice bayonet fighting,

soldiers would wear a plastron, or jacket, mask, and fencing gloves. The blades were mounted to old service rifles, rather than risk damage to newer long arms. How often and how exactly were bayonets used? Postbellum there was a tendency to downplay the role of the bayonet in closequarter fighting. The 1870 Surgeon General’s Medical and Surgical History of the War of Rebellion (1861–1865) contained a table that listed the type(s) of wounds treated in Federal hospitals. Fewer than 1,000 bayonet wounds were noted there. Connecting the dots, historians concluded that the bayonet was little but an impediment to soldiers who were issued them and that not all soldiers were issued bayonets, that were used primarily as candlestick holders or cooking implements as noted somewhat erroneously in the heading. This is not necessarily a conclusion that can be drawn.

The Surgeon General’s information can be interpreted another way: only the wounded were treated in hospitals and the casualties from bayonet wounds were primarily dead on the battlefield.

There is some weight to the argument since the weapon was primarily used in hand-to-hand fighting. Close-quarter fighting provides a ratio of mortal bayonet wounds to recoverable injuries that is, expectedly, very high indeed. Some period accounts state that few bayoneted soldiers survived the trauma due to the heavy loss of blood that resulted in such a short time. Perhaps if there were cause of death or autopsy reports from burial details we would have a different perspective of the damage done by the bayonet, but none are known.

There are first-person accounts of soldiers discarding their bayonets as excess weight while on the march; but soldiers also discarded other essential pieces of equipment including their canteens and blankets which they later regretted. There are estimates of up to 50 percent of

the equipment issued to soldiers as discarded on the march. However, when one lends weight to the letters and diary entries that mention use of the bayonet in battle, a clearer picture emerges.

Sam Watkins wrote in Company Aytch, “We gave one long, loud cheer, and commenced the charge. As we approached their lines...

Officers with drawn swords meet officers with drawn swords, and

man

Jonathan Newcomb in the 3rd Maine Infantry noted during the Peninsula campaign, “We rose up and fired a volley, then pitched into them with bayonets and clubbed muskets and drove them back for nearly a mile.”

Perhaps

to man meets man to man with bayonets and loaded guns.”

most famously, Joshua Chamberlain at Little Round Top carried the day and perhaps

Union soldier in uniform with Company H hat insignia holding bayoneted musket. Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).

Confederate soldier wearing a frock coat, forage cap, accoutrement set with belt, percussion cap box, leather bayonet scabbard, bayoneted musket, and holstered revolver. Also is a sling for cartridge box hidden behind him. Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).

saved the Army of the Potomac by ordering that famous bayonet charge at Gettysburg. He noted in his report the following:

“My ammunition was soon exhausted. My men were firing

their last shot and getting ready to “club” their muskets. It was imperative to strike before we were struck by this overwhelming force in a hand-to-hand fight, which we could not probably

have withstood or survived. At that crisis, I ordered the bayonet. The word was enough. It ran like fire along the line, from man to man, and rose into a shout, with which they sprang forward upon the enemy, now not 30 yards away. The effect was surprising; many of the enemy’s first line threw down their arms and surrendered. … we made an extended ‘right wheel,’ before which the enemy’s second line broke and fell back, fighting from tree to tree, many being captured, until we had swept the valley and cleared the front of nearly our entire brigade.”

Private in Confederate uniform wearing a Georgia frame buckle and holding a bayoneted musket. Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).

The day of the bayonet was far from over. One must also consider the well-documented effect on morale of a phalanx of gleaming bayonets advancing steadily on defenders. The British Army command for fixing bayonets features a movement where the blade is held overhead for an instant, to communicate the threat which it represents. It was especially effective to control civil unrest as well, often dissipating a crowd of rioters without firing a shot. Rather than concluding that the bayonet was obsolete by the time of the Civil War, it is fairer to say that the tactic of charging an entrenched position with bayonets alone should have ended with the Civil War; yet it did not. Because of its usefulness in hand-to-hand

fighting no matter how infrequent or impractical, the bayonet remained a valuable part of the infantry soldier’s equipment well into the twentieth century.

Craig L. Barry was born in Charlottesville, Va. He holds his BA and Masters degrees from UNC (Charlotte). Craig served The Watchdog Civil War Quarterly as Associate Editor and Editor from 2003–2017. The Watchdog published books and columns on 19th-century material and donated all funds from publications to battlefield preservation. He is the author of several books including The Civil War Musket:

A Handbook for Historical Accuracy (2006, 2011), The Unfinished Fight: Essays on Confederate Material Culture Vol. I and II (2012, 2013). He has also published four books in the Suppliers to the Confederacy series on English Arms & Accoutrements, Quartermaster stores and other European imports.

The War for the Union, 1862 – A Bayonet Charge. (Harper’s Weekly, Vol. VII, July 12, 1862)

Civil War triangular socket bayonet.

The “Heart and Soul” of the Fredericksburg Battlefield is Finally SAVED FOREVER

An effort that has helped define the American Battlefield Trust as a top-tier force in battlefield preservation, the largest private battlefield purchase in America’s history was fully paid off in May 2022

Once billed as the most desirable property for industrial development in Virginia, the Fredericksburg Battlefield’s Slaughter Pen Farm is now saved forever following a 16year, $12-million fundraising campaign to ensure its protection. “When we began this journey, the goal was beyond audacious,” said Trust President David Duncan. “But the unparalleled historic significance of this land demanded that we stretch beyond what had then been considered possible.”

Although the Battle of Fredericksburg is most famous for the doomed Union assaults on Marye’s Heights, the battle was won and lost in intense fighting farther south where many of some 9,000 casualties fell in an area dubbed the “Slaughter Pen.” Historian and Fredericksburg Campaign expert Frank O’Reilly calls this “the very heart and soul” of the field, “the point where the battle was won and lost.”

In the 1930s, the Confederate line along Prospect Hill was added to Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, but the open plain remained a dairy farm, gradually hemmed in by a highway, a railroad and a small airport. Again and again, developers came calling but never struck a deal. When the longtime owner died in September 2005, his preservation-averse niece made plans to sell, prompting Trust leaders to contact Tricord Homes, a local firm they had worked with previously at nearby Chancellorsville Battlefield. Working together, they secured a contract for the property. The $12 million campaign to pay for

the Slaughter Pen Farm began in March 2006. Closing occurred in June thanks to the Trust’s banking partner, SunTrust, now Truist, agreeing to fund the entire acquisition. The Trust was able to reduce the loan by taking advantage of land preservation tax credits available in Virginia and by refinancing the balance of the original loan into a long-term bond issue.

The project received a $2 million matching grant from the American Battlefield Protection Program. Meanwhile, the Commonwealth of Virginia contributed $300,000 toward the acquisition, a process that directly led to the creation of a first-in-the-nation state matching grant program for battlefield preservation.

Ultimately, nearly half the $12 million raised came via private funds, mostly from Trust members. The loan’s terms required an annual payment of $400,000, and many donors scheduled a recurring gift to

help pay down the balance. The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust completed its hefty $1 million pledge in 2011.

Since taking ownership of the property, the Trust has focused on landscape restoration and interpretive initiatives. It has gradually removed several derelict farm outbuildings and, in 2009, installed an almost two-mile educational walking trail that is popular with locals, students of history, and military units participating in staff rides.

The Trust was on track to complete the Slaughter Pen Farm fundraising campaign in 2024, when a longtime supporter who wished to remain anonymous issued a remarkable matching challenge: If individual donors could supply the next $400,000

annual payment, he would contribute the entirety of the $800,000 then remaining on the loan, paying it off two years early. Once again, Trust members answered the call and the final payment on the debt was made to Trust in May. With Slaughter Pen Farm now owned free-and-clear by preservationists, the Trust and its many partners now turn toward celebrating the milestone. “More than once I’ve said, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, that after the property was paid off, I’d fire a copy of our mortgage out of a cannon,” said the Trust’s Duncan. “I think they might hold me to it.”

The Trust’s “Preserved Forever” signage at the Slaughter Pen Farm, Fredericksburg Battlefield, Fredericksburg, Va. (Chris Landon)

Slaughter Pen Farm. (Buddy Secor)

Coming Soon: Culpeper Battlefields State Park

In early June, the Virginia General Assembly adopted a two-year compromise budget, including authorization for the creation of Culpeper Battlefields State Park. As a final step, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin ceremonially signed the budget on June 21, 2022.

The Trust has spent decades protecting thousands of acres in Culpeper County, and this action allows the organization to donate the park’s initial 1,700 acres to the state outright. This sets the stage for the state park’s opening to the public July 1, 2024. An additional $3 million appropriation in the budget will allow the Trust to pursue even more land, up to 800 acres, that, once preserved, will enhance the park’s visitor experience.

The park’s creation from these Trust-protected landscapes is the culmination of a tremendous vision shared by not only elected officials across the Commonwealth, but also the preservation community and Culpeper residents.

Land allocated for the new park is primarily associated with the battles of Brandy Station (June 9, 1863) and Cedar Mountain (August 9, 1862), but also includes elements of the battlefields at Kelly’s Ford (March 17, 1863) and Rappahannock Station (November 7, 1863). Moreover, Culpeper was not only a place of massive strategic importance in the Civil War but also a stop for thousands of enslaved peoples as they hurried northward to freedom; many crossed the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers there.

American Battlefield Trust is Recognized for Video Excellence in 43rd Annual Telly Awards

The Trust announced it was the recipient of two Silver awards in the 43rd Annual Telly Awards in late May, recognized for Carved in Stone, in the General NonBroadcast category, and How We Became America: The UNTOLD History in the online series group. Honoring excellence in video and television across all screens, the Telly Awards are judged by leaders from video platforms, television, streaming networks and production companies.

Carved in Stone, filmed by Francisco Aliwalas of Pinatubo, Inc., and created in

partnership with the Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail, tells the story of how two French officers, who died fighting for American freedom, finally received permanent headstones nearly 250 years later.

How We Became America: The UNTOLD History is part of an ever-growing series that celebrates that not everything worth knowing exists inside history textbooks. The series is associated with the Driving Force Institute’s larger Untold initiative, which is produced and distributed by Makematic and the University of Southern California’s Center for Engagement-Driven Global Education.

Longtime Leaders in Battlefield Preservation Recognized

Although retired since the fall of 2020, Trust President Emeritus Jim Lighthizer took to the stage to be recognized for his two decades of leadership and to bid an official farewell to Trust members at the organization’s 2022 Annual Conference in May. “Being your president was the great honor of my very full career,” he said.

In a tribute twice delayed as events were postponed and shifted throughout the pandemic, current Trust President David Duncan presented his friend, mentor, and predecessor with the organization’s Edwin C. Bearss Lifetime Achievement Award. Even as he praised past recipients, Duncan noted that Lighthizer’s impact was the furthest reaching of all.

Also recognized was Charlie Crawford, who was presented with the Trust’s Shelby Foote Preservation Legacy Award for his decades of work in battlefield preservation and interpretation, especially in Georgia.

Help Battlefields Fulfill Their Destiny as True Outdoor Classrooms

A rusting, weed-infested, abandoned auto repair shop and former gas station. An old, dangerous, and derelict tract house. Long-neglected, rotting, and unsafe farm buildings, shacks, and sheds. These non-historic and often hazardous structures are ruining the battlefield landscape of properties the Trust has protected at Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Harpers Ferry. So, this year, amidst the 160th anniversary of

all three battles, the organization is embarking on significant restoration projects.

This work is pivotal, as the Trust is often required to restore the land before it can be transferred to another entity. In fact, when these lands were purchased, it was agreed that all non-historic structures would be removed, and the properties restored to their original appearance within 3 to 5 years. In total, the three restoration projects face a total bill of $240,000 and are required to be completed by the end of the year.

At Fredericksburg, where elements of Union Gen. George

Meade’s Pennsylvania Reserves penetrated Gen. “Stonewall”

Jackson’s lines on December 13, 1862, five houses must be removed to help restore the hallowed ground to its 1862 appearance. However, this comes with a price tag of $125,000.

Meanwhile at Harpers Ferry, the site of a vital Union garrison and a key fight in Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Antietam Campaign, an auto repair shop, former gas station, and a commercial office building must be removed. The project’s approximate cost is $90,000.

Finally, at Antietam, a nonhistoric house and outbuildings

are currently standing on the heart of the battlefield. There, the restoration work will require $25,000.

These efforts will receive support from the same federal government matching grant program that matches the Trust’s gifts for land preservation; this time, it will match, dollar-fordollar, all gifts for battlefield land restoration.

To learn more about these battlefields and the Trust’s special Battlefield Restoration Fund, visit www.battlefields.org/ restoration2022.

Jim Lighthizer (left) is presented with the Edwin C. Bearss Lifetime Achievement Award by successor David Duncan (right). (Buddy Secor)

The sun sets at the Brandy Station Battlefield in Culpeper County, Va. (Buddy Secor)

Not On The 4th of July John Hunt Morgan’s 1863 Raid – Part I

“It seemed as if so small a band as ours had been stationed there [Tebb’s Bend, Ky.] as a bait … If Col. Moore could be captured there, it would seem to satisfy his superior officers, who would then be rid of him for a time.” –U.S. Lt. Benjamin F. Travis, 25th Michigan Infantry

On December 14, 1862, C.S. Gen. John Hunt Morgan married his second wife, 21-yearold Martha Ready. Episcopal Bishop, General Leonidas Polk performed the ceremony and generals, Braxton Bragg, William Hardee, Benjamin Cheatham, and John Breckinridge were among the guests. Morgan and the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment were famous for the 1862 Kentucky and Christmas Raids.

In the spring of 1863, Morgan approached Bragg, Commanding, Army of Tennessee, with the idea

of a raid into Kentucky to destroy Federal supplies and then cross into Indiana and Ohio to incite “scare and clamor” in those states. Bragg sanctioned Morgan to go “wherever he pleased” in Kentucky and perhaps “attempt the capture of Louisville” to create chaos in the streets and telegraph messages sent to Washington. Bragg disapproved of crossing the Ohio River.

Bragg needed Morgan to keep the Federals distracted by action in Kentucky, because the raid would ease pressure on his move to Chattanooga, Tenn.

On June 10, Morgan launched the “Ohio Raid” from his Alexandria, Tenn., headquarters.

Morgan was sporting a new uniform with the gold braid of a general; horses had been rested, supplies were on hand, and two cannon were available, stockpiled from his Christmas Raid.

On June 11, Bragg diverted Morgan to intercept a Federal raiding party in East Tennessee. Morgan spent three weeks wearing out horses, men, and supplies on bad roads, in pouring rain searching for Federals who

had already left the area.

On July 2, Morgan resumed the original raid by crossing the Cumberland River into Kentucky by using canoes to ferry 2,460 men, supplies, and dismantled wagons while the horses swam. The Federals considered the rain swollen river a natural barrier and hadn’t posted scouts. Soon, they were chasing after Morgan and skirmishing.

U.S. Gen. Jeremiah Boyle, District of Ky., commanded Louisville, Kentucky’s largest city, on the Ohio River across from Indiana, and some 200 miles from the front lines in Tennessee.

On April 5, U.S. Col. Orlando Moore, 25th Mich., returned to Louisville to take charge of a military prison holding Confederate prisoners as well as patrol for straggling soldiers. Moore was also appointed provost marshal of the city.

Moore, 36 years old, had received his commission in 1856 and had served on the Pacific coast until he requested a transfer east. He was appointed colonel to the newly formed 25th Michigan on August 18, 1862.

Colonel Orlando Hurley Moore, U.S. Army, 1865. Colorization © 2022 civilwarincolor.com, courtesy civilwarincolor.com/cwn. (University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library)

General John Hunt Morgan and Martha Ready. Colorization © 2022 civilwarincolor.com, courtesy civilwarincolor.com/cwn. (University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections and Research Center)

Soldiers of the 25th Michigan Infantry repulse John Hunt Morgan’s cavalry on July 4, 1863, at the Battle of Tebbs Bend. (Illustrated Battles of the Nineteenth Century, volume 2)

As provost marshal, Moore “ordered a slave auctioneer to sell no slaves at a sale then advertised. He also directed a city paper to cease its attack upon the [Federal] administration.”

Boyle knew meddling with the legal ownership of slaves would strain the delicate mission of keeping Kentucky in the Union and replaced Moore as the city’s provost Marshall. Moore protested his removal with a note in the Louisville Journal

Boyle’s solution was to order Moore to guard the Columbia Turnpike Bridge over the Green River at Tebb’s Bend between Lebanon and Columbia which was a vital supply line. The bridge had already been rebuilt twice, after being burned by Morgan during his Christmas Raid, and damaged by a flood on June 28, 1863. On June 11, Moore departed Louisville.

On June 29, hearing rumors of Morgan’s approach, Moore began to prepare for the inevitable attack. He erected a fortified position with an abatis on top of a knoll, inside the bowl-shaped bend in the river. The bridge was at the tip of the bowl. The riverbanks were steep and covered with a thick wood. Moore’s men dug a trench about 125 feet long across the lower field.

On July 4, 1863, the Battle of Tebb’s Bend began at 4:35 a.m. when Confederate fire drove in Moore’s pickets. After C.S. Capt. Edward Byrne fired a Parrott rifle 600 yards into the rifle pit, Morgan sent men under the flag of

truce to demand an unconditional surrender. Moore had to have considered that the battle was the first for his 174 men, armed with English imported Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled muskets, a few pistols, and swords. He knew he was outnumbered and outgunned.

Moore told C.S. Col. Robert Alston, “As it was on the Fourth of July, he could not entertain the proposition … I have a duty to perform to my country, and the presence of this day supports me in my decision.” The men shook hands and “the rebel officer said, ‘Goodbye, Col. Moore, God only knows who may fall first.’ They then turned their horses and galloped away.”

The fighting resumed. About 7:30 a.m. Byrne’s two 3-inch Parrott rifles and two 12-pounder howitzers opened fire on the trench line. Moore’s sharpshooters mowed down the artillerymen from their position on the knoll. About 9:30 a.m. Morgan dismounted Col. David Chenault’s 11th Ky. and Col. John Huffman’s 7th Ky. in an attack on the trench; the rebel yell filled the air. The 75 Federals fled through the woods.

Morgan and Col. Adam Rankin “Stovepipe” Johnson entered the rifle pit to view the Federal defense. Johnson, “begged the general not to attempt it.” C.S. Col. Basil Duke considered Moore’s defenses “the strongest natural position, I ever saw, and had fortified it with a skill equal to his judgment in the selection.”

Morgan did not want Moore left

in his rear and ordered the men to attack the fortification without artillery support.

At the double-quick across the field, the Confederates charged forward until reaching the abatis. “The bullets flew from all sides,” wrote U.S. Pvt. Dirk Van Raalte. “Sometimes we and the Rebs were only six or eight feet from each other.” The attackers retreated into the woods.

Morgan ordered Chenault to make a flank attack. Up the slope on foot went the 5th, 6th, and 7th Kentucky. Duke reported, “The first rush carried the men close to the work, but they were stopped by the fallen timber, and dropped fast under the close fire of the enemy. Colonel Chenault was killed in the midst of the abattis [sic]—his brains blown out as he was firing his pistol into the earthwork and calling on his men to follow. … [The men] would give way, rally in the thick woods, try it again, but unsuccessfully.”

Thwarted, the Rebels retreated as Moore, serving as his own bugler, sound an advance and the false cry of reinforcements was shouted along the Federal line.

At 10 a.m. the Confederates attacked at the bridge and were unhorsed by the defenders. Morgan accepted that he would have to cross the Green River

elsewhere. At 10:30 a.m. Morgan sent a flag of truce to attend to the wounded and dead. In less than 30 minutes of total combat, Morgan’s loss was 36 killed, 45 wounded including some twenty experienced officers; 32 were captured. Moore’s loss was six killed and 23 wounded.

After his first battle, U.S. Lt. Benjamin Travis, 25th Mich. noted, “The completion of the work at this time of the day made it only a before breakfast duty, although that meal was deferred to a later hour, as the cook became a little excited and let the coffee boil over; but it was ready about mid-forenoon.”

Sources:

• Travis, B.F., The Story of the Twenty-fifth Michigan:

Kalamazoo Publishing Company, 1897

• Duke, Basil W., History of Morgan’s Cavalry: Miami Printing and Publishing Company, 1867

• Mowery, David L., Morgan’s Great Raid: The Remarkable Expedition from Kentucky to Ohio: Arcadia Publishing 2011

Stephanie Hagiwara is the editor for Civil War in Color.com and Civil War in 3D.com. She also writes a weekly column for History in Full Color.com that covers stories of photographs of historical interest from the 1850’s to the present. Her articles can be found on Facebook, Tumblr and Pinterest.

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The walls in Scott Thompson’s office are decorated with an assemblage of Civil War memorabilia, scores of items that Scott has acquired since he started his collection in the 1980s. A visitor giving the framed pieces a brief perusal will see the faces of some famous generals, note some documents that obviously belong to an earlier time, and admire some renderings of battle scenes on land and sea. A more careful examination will reveal that the collection has an unusual theme connected to the industry in which this avid collector has labored for many years. Scott is the president of the American Southern Insurance Company. Nearly all the items relate, in one way or another, to insurance.

Scott is a native of West Virginia and has lived in Atlanta since the 1950s. After high school he furthered his education at Yale and at the Harvard Business School, then served in the Navy, where he was a Supply Corps Officer in the Philippines. Scott worked four years at C&S Bank, then 47 years ago he moved to the company which he has headed for the past 15. If you count another way, Scott’s tenure is more

protracted. “It is really longer than 47. When I was 16, I was the fill-in janitor for the company,” he said. American Southern is a “small specialty company,” Scott explained, focusing on motor trucking and commercial auto insurance. “About 80% of our business has got wheels on it.”

Scott developed an interest in the Civil War many years ago. He viewed ads in Civil War magazines, looked at dealers’ catalogs, and visited a few shows. He began to “pick up some stuff.” The stuff grew into the fine collection that now adorns his office and spills over into some other areas in American Southern’s headquarters.

Scott is aware of only one other person who focuses on Civil War items with an insurance angle. There is not a huge supply of such material but neither are there many collectors driving up demand. “So it doesn’t get terribly expensive,” Scott explained.

In addition to insuring all the things with wheels, American Southern also has a program to insure collectibles. “It is amazing what people can collect,” Scott said. Indeed.

As we began the tour, Scott showed me a letter signed by Maj. Gen. G.W. Smith in 1868, framed along with the general’s picture and a brief synopsis of

GEORGIA’S CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS

In Honor of a Fallen Nation

Gould B. Hagler, Jr.

This unique work contains a complete photographic record of Georgia’s memorials to the Confederacy, a full transcription of the words engraved upon them, and carefully-researched information about the monuments and the organizations which built them. These works of art and their eloquent inscriptions express a nation’s profound grief, praise the soldiers’ bravery and patriotism, and pay homage to the cause for which they fought.

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his career. “Smith ran the Army of Northern Virginia for about a day,” Scott chuckled. Smith took over when Gen. Joseph Johnston was wounded at Seven Pines. Pres. Jefferson Davis put Robert E. Lee in command the very next day. The insurance connection? Smith returned to his native Kentucky after the war and served as the Commonwealth’s insurance commissioner until 1876.

Of course, Gen. Johnston has an honored place in the collection as well. Near Smith’s letter is a framed picture of Johnston with a letter signed by him in 1878. The letterhead reads “J.E. Johnston & Co., Managers, Home Insurance Company of New York, Southern Department.” Scott said that the former general was “trying to get a claim settled.”

These items relate to the first two commanders of the Army of Northern Virginia. Scott’s wall also has a place for the third. A letter signed “R.E. Lee” is set in a large frame with a photograph of Lee, one of the famous series taken in Richmond by Mathew Brady seven days after Appomattox. Lee wrote this letter well before the war. “One with a war date is worth a whole lot more; if it said ‘Robert E. Lee, Commanding,’ it would be worth five times as much,” Scott said. Do Lee’s photo and letter fit with the insurance theme? In a way, yes. In 1865 Lee was offered a lucrative position with an insurance company. The offer was for the use of his name, as he would be only the titular head and would have no other duties. He declined, saying “I cannot consent to receive pay for services I do not render.” Scott has this letter with Lee’s autograph, but in 1885 a man seeking something signed by Lee was not so fortunate. The collection contains a letter written by Maj. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee to a Mr. Lansing. This gentleman had written to this General Lee seeking an autograph of the more famous Confederate general. Fitz first set the record straight: he was R.E. Lee’s nephew, not

“It is amazing what people can collect.”

Scott Thompson and a few of his artifacts. (All photos by Gould Hagler)

Policy covering the USS Paul Jones during its construction.

Pre-war letter signed by Robert E. Lee.

Note for one dollar issued by an insurance company.

his son, as Mr. Lansing thought. Furthermore, he wrote, he had no more autographs to give away. He referred Mr. Lansing to R.E. Lee’s son, Gen. G.W.C. Lee, then president of Washington College, who, Fitz wrote, might be able to help. Whether he did we don’t know, but at least Mr. Lansing got Fitz’s autograph; now Scott Thompson has it.

Next came the money. “Back in the good old days insurance companies could issue money,” Scott said. On his wall are several notes issued by insurance companies during the period, mostly in Confederate dollars. One fine specimen was issued by the East Alabama Insurance Co. in July 1862. The note states that the bearer is due “one dollar in Confederate Treasury Notes, when presented in sums of five dollars or its multiples.” Uberrima fides, as they say in the insurance biz. Scott also displays a government-issued note, for 50 cents, issued in 1864.

Another notable find is a letter written to policy holders by the Charlotte Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Scott explained that this company was an assessable mutual.

“Back in the day a mutual insurance company could have an assessable feature, which means if they got into trouble they could make you pay more premium.”

On April 1, 1863, Charlotte Mutual sent a letter telling policy holders that they had to pay an additional 10 percent, or else. If a policy holder didn’t pay he would soon get another letter cancelling his policy.

Fire insurance policies have a war exclusion, so if the Federals had torched the Queen City there would be no coverage at all. Scott’s collection also contains a document from another fire insurance company. In Atlanta, the Confederate Fire and Marine Insurance Company issued a policy in September 1862 to a Mr. John Bull, whose premium of $30 secured a policy that would pay up to $2,000 for loss or damage by fire; unless, of course, the fire was caused by an invading army.

Another interesting item in the collection is an 1867 letter from the Equitable Life Insurance Society of the United States to Brig. Gen. Horace Porter, a member of Gen. Grant’s staff. The letter authorized Porter to travel to the Southern states, provided he was there pursuant to Grant’s orders. Scott speculates that the policy had a territorial exclusion and Gen. Porter wanted to make sure the former Confederate states were not encompassed by the exclusion.

The Civil War was fought

on sea as well as land. Scott’s collection contains some relics of that part of the conflict. In keeping with his insurance theme, Scott displays a letter written in 1862 by one Richard Nichols to a William Hathaway. Hathaway had apparently inquired about obtaining insurance. “I can obtain the war risk here, but I do not believe that any risk can attach to the Virginia after she has crossed the line,” the letter states. The whaler Virginia sailed from New Bedford on August 26. She was captured and burned by the CSS Alabama in the North Atlantic 20 days after she set sail. This whaler was one of the first captures scored by the Alabama after she was commissioned on August 24.

Another piece of Civil War nautical history is a policy written on the USS Paul Jones The policy covered the ship while it was under construction in Baltimore in 1862. The Paul Jones was commissioned in July of that year and served in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron.

The insurance field was a popular choice of postwar careers for many Confederates. Scott speculated on the reasons. “Insurance was a fairly easy way to leverage on name recognition.”

Plus, insurance is “something you can get into without a whole lot of money,” which would be the situation of many former Confederates. Maj. Gen. George Pickett was an insurance agent after the war, in Norfolk, Scott thinks. “I have never been able to find anything with his signature on it.” For a time, Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon was head of a life insurance company. Scott’s collection contains a policy issued in 1869 by the Southern Life Insurance Company bearing the signature of this Georgian who commanded Lee’s Second Corps from October 1864 until the surrender at Appomattox. The insurance company went under, and Gordon went on to other things: governor of Georgia, U.S. Senator, and commander of the United Confederate Veterans.

Other Confederate generals got into the insurance game,

and so did their commander-inchief. “Jefferson Davis after the war worked for a life insurance company for a brief period of time,” Scott said. Scott once had an opportunity to get a signature of Davis on a life insurance policy but somebody else bought it before he could.

When Scott retires, he, like many other people, will have to decide what to do with all the things in his office. I asked him to name some favorite items he will keep if he finds himself short of space. He mentioned the letters written by Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnston, and the document related to the USS Paul Jones, which was a very meaningful gift. However, it was clear he doesn’t really want to part with any items, a sentiment that any collector will certainly understand.

Gould Hagler is a retired lobbyist living in Dunwoody, Ga. He is a past president of the Atlanta Civil War Round Table and the author of Georgia’s Confederate Monuments: In Honor of a Fallen Nation, published by Mercer University Press in 2014. Hagler speaks frequently on this topic and others related to different aspects of the Civil War and has been a regular contributor to CWN since 2016. Email him at gould.hagler@gmail.com.

General Porter is assured he is covered.

General Johnston tries to get a claim settled.

Fitz Lee had no more of his uncle’s autographs.

Life insurance policy signed by John B. Gordon.

Mathew Brady Photographs of Civil War-Era Personalities and Scenes

enter any search terms. Again, for Second Manassas, this writer used ‘Pope.” The search netted the following images (and more). In honor of Brady’s 200th birthday, spend time searching through the fantastic photographs in the National Archives collection. Researchers will also want to peruse the information at: https://historyhub.history.gov/ community/citizen-archivists/ blog/2022/06/03/photographingthe-civil-war-mathew-bradyat-200. Until next month, continued luck in researching the primary sources from the American Civil War!

Michael K. Shaffer is a Civil War historian, author, lecturer, and instructor, who remains a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, and the Georgia Association of Historians. Readers may contact him at mkscdr11@gmail.com or request speaking engagements at www.civilwarhistorian. net. Follow Michael on Facebook, www.facebook.com/ michael.k.shaffer, and Twitter @ michaelkshaffer.

era – politicians, officers, orators, etc.—also sat in one of Brady’s studios. Now, researchers can search through the 6,071 images digitized and available at the National Archives. One should begin their search here: https://tinyurl.com/brayyhj2 (See screenshot above)

Mathew Brady: the man behind the men behind the lenses! During the Civil War Era, Mathew Brady, the preeminent photographer in the United States, trained many others in the art of capturing still images. After the war’s opening,

Day by Day through the Civil War in Georgia

Brady’s

disciples—George Barnard, Alexander Gardner, Timothy O’Sullivan, and others— visited various battle sites, captured images, and brought the war home to the American people. Noted individuals of the

Until now, a daily account (1,630 days) of Georgia’s social, political, economic, and military events during the Civil War did not exist. In Day by Day through the Civil War in Georgia, Michael K. Shaffer strikes a balance between the combatants while remembering the struggles of enslaved persons, folks on the home front, and merchants and clergy attempting to maintain some sense of normalcy. Maps, footnotes, a detailed index, and bibliographical references will aid those wanting more.

February 2022 • $37.00, hardback

Michael K. Shaffer is a Civil War historian, instructor, lecturer, newspaper columnist, and author. He is a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, and the Georgia Association of Historians. Contact the author: mkscdr11@gmail.com

www.mupress.org

• 866-895-1472 toll-free

Combatants engaged in the Second Battle of Manassas one hundred sixty years ago. This event will serve as one example for searching the Brady collection. Select ‘Search within this series,’ as shown in the image above. A new window will open, and a search bar appears at the top left of the screen. Here, one can

Picking up debris after Pope’s retreat at Manassas.

Brady search page.

Major General John Pope.

Albert Castel: An Appreciation

Quick! Name a prominent historian of the Western theater! If you didn’t think of the late Albert Castel, you’ve been drinking too much Virginiacentric Kool-Aid.

Albert Edward Castel III was born in Wichita in 1928. At the age of thirteen he went to a theater to watch Gone With the Wind. As he wrote decades later, he fell in love with the movie, to the point that in the next few weeks he saw GWTW five times and read Miss Mitchell’s novel twice. From there it was to the library. He checked out the fourth volume of Battles and Leaders and gorged himself on the Atlanta Campaign.

other books in between. And considerable education: Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees (1950, 1951) from Wichita State University, and the doctorate from the University of Chicago (1955). Clearly Dr. Castel was headed for a career as a professor of American history; but his hobbies involved drawing and classical music (Renaissance Man!). After a stint in the Army, he taught at UCLA a few years, then in 1958 settled into Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, where he taught until retirement in 1991.

I count at least a dozen books in Dr. Castel’s curriculum vitae, not to mention a hundred articles and 250 book reviews in professional journals. In college I used his essay on Fort Pillow (Civil War History, March 1958) for a term paper I wrote for Dr. Wiley at Emory. His observation that Forrest did not order a massacre there because he didn’t need to (given the composition of the Union garrison, half blacks and half Tennessee tories) has stuck with me all these years.

His first book, A Frontier State at War: Kansas, 1861–1865 (1958) stemmed from his doctoral dissertation. In a new edition (1997), the author explains how he researched his topic in the fall of 1954:

lunch, until the society closed at 5 P.M., whereupon I returned to my room, took a short nap, and then hustled over to the Senate Cafeteria for supper. Usually I spent evenings sorting notes before going to bed where I would fall asleep while listening to a portable radio.”

The young scholar’s work stayed mostly out west. William Clarke Quantrill (1962) and Sterling Price and the Civil War in the West (1968) were followed by a study of Andrew Johnson’s presidency (1979). His opus, DITW (as he liked to call it) consumed years of research. Albert sent me chapters to read; years later he thanked me for informing him that the town southwest of Atlanta was Newnan, not “Newman.”

Albert and I were friends, corresponding frequently in the early 90’s (he typed his letters; I handwrote mine). After I contributed a review essay for the Georgia Historical Quarterly in mid-’93 on four recent works on Sherman,—including my high praise for DITW—I sent it to him. This, from his letter of August 22: “In the note attached to the copy of your review essay, which arrived yesterday, you say ‘l hope you’re satisfied.’ No, I am not. I am in contest for the title of ‘The World’s Greatest Egomaniac’ and by not being satisfied with what you say about DITW I will be almost sure to win it!”

June 27.

(Castel’s “Prevaricating” draft was so red-hot that the editor of CWH arranged for it to be accompanied by a rebuttal from Dr. John Marszalek, author of a recent (1992) Sherman biography. Albert wrote me that he thought this was the first time that the esteemed journal, edited by John Hubbell, had published “a rebuttal along with the article being rebutted.” He added that in a visit to Starkville, Mississippi, and staying with the Marszaleks, he had discussed his planned “prevaricating” piece; Marszalek agreed that Sherman suffered from “selective memory.”)

Dr. Castel rounded out his publishing career by repackaging some of his published essays: Winning and Losing in the Civil War (1996) and Articles of War (2001). In the former, there appeared one of my faves, “Mars and the Reverend Longstreet” (Civil War History, June 1987), in which he pointed out the four essentials of a successful Civil War flanking attack—and because these factors so rarely came together in battle, Castel thus explained why so many hoped-for flank attacks turned into bloody frontal assaults.

When I was reading his draft of DITW in the summer of 1990, Albert told me that he had researched beyond Sherman’s capture of Atlanta, into its occupation by Union troops. He had once thought of including in his book the Federals’ two months spent in Atlanta, and had accumulated research material on the occupation; but by then he had sufficient text already for a sturdy volume. Subsequently, in the rarest display of scholarly generosity I have ever encountered, Dr. Castel sent me his photocopies of Union soldier’s’ manuscript letters and diaries concerning the occupation, most from Northern libraries and archives that I could never hope to visit. I used them all in my work on Sherman’s bombardment and wrecking of Atlanta.

Albert was fond of saying it was Gone With the Wind that led him to become a Civil War historian. In other words, Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler (1939) led to Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864 (1992). There were plenty of

“Every morning, Monday through Saturday, I left my room at the YMCA, ate breakfast at a nearby restaurant, and then walked the short distance to the Historical Society where I waited for the front door to open at 8 A.M. Once inside, I worked without pause, not ceasing for

Albert knew he had a reputation as Sherman-basher, based on such pieces as “Liddell Hart’s Sherman: Propaganda as History” in The Journal of Military History, April 2003. More famously he wrote “Prevaricating through Georgia: Sherman’s Memoirs as a Source on the Atlanta Campaign.” In the essay, published in the March 1994 issue of Civil War History, Castel pointed out “careless slips,” exaggerations, and petty denigrations of Hooker and Thomas. Among the convenient omissions in his Memoirs, Sherman didn’t even mention the bloody Federal repulse of the attack he ordered May 27 at Pickett’s Mill—“It is as if it never occurred,” Albert writes—which omission angered more than a few Union veterans, to judge by their complaints published in the National Tribune. Among the flatout lies was Sherman’s claim that Generals Thomas, McPherson and Schofield all agreed with him on the need to launch the frontal attack at Kennesaw Mountain,

While researching DITW Albert found at the Ohio Historical Society the diary of Lt. James E. Graham, 80th Ohio, which he kept from July 1863 to April 1865, including his chronicling of the Atlanta Campaign. In Winning and Losing, he notes, “I have perused hundreds of Civil War diaries, yet never have I seen one like this one” And for good reason, as the twenty-two-yearold Graham confided in its pages how he had courted any number Georgia lasses (and even married women). Here, July 30: “Called on Miss Buckner in the evening, and had no one to bother, spent the entire evening with her, had a splendid time, enjoyed myself bigly.” July 30: “Made love to Jule.” August 5: “Kissed Mollie about eleven or twelve times after supper.” August 13: “Mrs. Mattie Austin came in today, formed her acquaintance & before she left could well & truly say I knew her.”

Much has been made of Southern women’s Confederate loyalties and their hostility toward Yankees. At least in Jimmy Graham’s experiences, this was not the case.

Dr. Castel had indeed read hundred of Civil War diaries.

What I remember best about Albert was his quiet sense of humor. In an article appearing in Dave Roth’s Blue & Gray (June/ July 1996), Castel pointed out the factual inaccuracies in Gone With the Wind. Dave took a lot of flak when readers wrote in to denounce Castel for writing the piece and for being a Yankee. One complainer called Albert out for stating that Margaret Mitchell was wrong: Scarlett could not have made a supper out of just one crayfish. The letter-writer hailed from Louisiana, where he claimed crawdads were so big that one could indeed provide a good meal. “At first I was inclined to believe him,” Castel writes, “as was the editor of Blue & Gray.”

But a phone call by the latter to a famous New Orleans restaurant elicited word from its chef that he never had seen a crayfish of such magnitude, and some research undertaken by me in encyclopedias revealed that while there were giant-sized crayfish, they were to be found only in Tasmania!

Albert Castel died on Nov. 14, 2014, three days after his 86th birthday. I wish he were still alive so I could thank him for all of the ways he touched my life.

Stephen Davis is author or editor of nine books on the war, seven of which pertain to the Atlanta Campaign. His next one, “I Thank the Lord I Am Not a Yankee”: The Wartime and Postwar Journals of Eliza Francis Andrews, will be published later this year by Mercer University Press.

A Frontier State at WarKansas, 1861–1865, by Albert Castel.

Albert Edward Castel III.

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From the Editor

I am an ambitious tourist. For instance, earlier this month, I had the chance to spend a day in Memphis, Tennessee. I mapped out an aggressive schedule, surgical in its precision. I wanted to visit the grave site of Shelby Foote, a writer whose work I appreciate and savor. His writing can be challenging, Mississippi Delta-like in its rhythms and wanderings, but rich and textured in its artfulness, too. His methodology as a historian was flawed, but man, can he tell a story!

Foote is buried in Memphis’s Elmwood Cemetery, the oldest active burial ground in the city. Elmwood is filled with notable historical figures, and a visitor could spend a couple hours there poking around. But not me.

Nope. No time. It was Footeand-out for me. Foote’s grave was only one of three primary spots I wanted to visit. I also wanted to hit the Lorraine Motel, site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, because I taught a class last semester on the Civil Rights Movement and the Media, a fantastic experience I’ll write about on another occasion. I also wanted to see Graceland because, well, Elvis, The King. Who else, in the history of the world, could performed a song called “Big Hunk o’ Love” and not only get away with it but have it go gold?

Sun Records? Did a drive-by. The city park formerly known as Forrest Park, now known as Health Sciences Park? Grabbed a picture from the car window. Cotton Museum? Maybe next time.

I did get a bonus opportunity to stand on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River where the naval battle of Memphis took place on June 6, 1862. I wasn’t expecting that. I had my able and awesome tour guide, Curt Fields, to thank for that one. He also took me to an excellent local BBQ place for lunch—mmmm mmmm—, and Elvis’s original burial location.

Poor Curt. As a native of Memphis, he had so much of the city he wanted to show and share. He did yeoman’s work, and I am grateful. I promised a return trip at a time when I can move around at a more leisurely

pace. As it was, we started early and crammed a lot in. Foote, King, and The King are all men I admire, each for different reasons. My trip to Memphis was really centered on paying my respects. Curt, too, is someone I admire; his work portraying U.S. Grant has been important and uniquely illuminating. To watch him portray Grant is to watch him pay his own respects. I was fortunate to spend the day in the company of such men. — Chris

Mackowski, Ph.D. Editor-in-Chief

Eighth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge

June is our busiest month for symposium ticket sales, so if you’re interested in joining us this year, get ‘em while they last! Join us August 5-7, 2022, at Stevenson Ridge in Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia, for “The Great What Ifs of the Civil War.”

Skeptical about “What Ifs”? We promise, you won’t be disappointed. We’ll help you understand why asking “What if” can help you better understand what really happened and why you shouldn’t make assumptions when you start trying to answer “What if” questions.

Keynote speaker Garry Adelman tops an all-star line-up that includes Gordon Rhea, Brian Matthew Jordan, and a dozen other historians. You won’t be disappointed!

ECW News & Notes

From Sheritta Bitikofer: “Pretty quiet over here in the way of history things as we’re working on finishing up our new house. Hoping to move in sometime next month. Readers can check out my article on the Walton Guards in the latest issue of Civil War Times

if they haven’t already!”

On June 8, Neil Chatelain spoke to the Civil Warriors Round Table of Canoga Park, Calif., about his book Defending the Arteries of Rebellion. Members of the round table noted Neil’s presentation “was outstanding: informative, well-constructed and presented in the manner of a good teacher. It was definitely top-notch, one of the best we’ve ever had.”

Bert Dunkerly recently spoke on his research about the victims of the Richmond, Va., Brown’s Island Explosion at the Gettysburg College Civil War Institute. He also had time to explore the great landscape restoration work on the battlefield.

From Meg Groeling: “Getting nice reviews on First Fallen, enjoying life, petting cats. Looking forward to summer!”

Chris Kolakowski just got back from a trip to the Black Hills area, “which was fantastic,” he says.

Chris visited Wounded Knee, among other places.

Chris Mackowski served as a “scholar in residence” for the Williamson County Heritage Foundation in Franklin, Tenn. Chris presented a pair of workshops to teachers on how they can engage Civil War

history in their classrooms despite modern controversies that may make teaching history more difficult. Also among the line-up of presenters was ECW’s friend Steve Phan.

JoAnna McDonald has been taking a break from the Civil War to focus on her book The Liberation of Pointe Du Hoc. She recently did a YouTube interview/ conversation with a British historian, which you can watch here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=NMgxPyTrFkw. “And yes,” she says, “I am one of very, very few women D-Day military historians.”

Dave Powell’s forthcoming book, Decisions at Shiloh, (UTenn Press) is now available for pre-ordering on Amazon. The release date has been scheduled for Jan. or Feb. 2023.

Passing Through the Fire author Brian Swartz spoke about his new book and Joshua L. Chamberlain’s wartime adventures at the Veazie, Maine, Historical Society on May 5 and at the Civil War Round Table of New Hampshire in Epping, on May 20. “Audience interaction was fantastic at both locations,” he says.

Kris White and Chris Mackowski spent a few days in Boston for the American Battlefield Trust as they filmed segments for a Trust-sponsored virtual field trip. Stops included the Boston Tea Party Museum, the Old North Church, Lexington, Concord, and Minuteman National Park, the Old State House, the USS Constitution, the 54th Massachusetts Memorial and Boston Common, and the Massachusetts Historical Society. Plus, there was a bonus lunch at the historic Union Oyster House! Kris and Chris also shot several videos for the Emerging Revolutionary War and Emerging Civil War YouTube pages, so keep your eyes peeled for those in the coming weeks.

Chris Mackowski

Chris Mackowski takes a knee next to the grave of writer Shelby Foote.

Kris White, seated in a library at the Massachusetts Historical Society, talks with a film crew about Revolutionera Boston.

Chris Kolakowski visited the site of the Wounded Knee massacre as part of a recent trip.

Five Questions . . . with Paige Gibbons Backus

We continue our series highlighting staff work being done by ECW volunteers. This month, we begin a three-part series spotlighting ECW’s social media team, starting with our social media manager, Paige Gibbons Backus. You can read her full ECW bio here: https://emergingcivilwar.com/ author-biographies/editors/ paige-gibbons-backus/.

You treat each social media channel a little differently. Can you speak to that a little? - Each social media channel has its own strengths and weaknesses, and each has its own audience. As a result, we have to tailor each post to our different channels.

To do social media right, there is actually a lot of thought and effort that needs to go into curating posts. For example, Twitter is short and sweet. It’s great for sharing news and links for blogs and events. Instagram is very image based. It’s good for sharing images, like travel and history blurbs and sneak peeks for blogs, but not so great for sharing links. With Facebook, you can do it all: share news, sneak peeks for blogs, write short history and travel blurbs, showcase events and more. There is a reason why museums hire social media coordinators!

sharing history! If you are looking for something a little bit different, my research interests include the more social side of history. My interests range from topics on women’s history to the more morbid side of history such as death, disease, and medicine. My presentations range within these broad topics to more specific presentations including “The Hospitals of First Manassas,” “The impacts of the Letterman Plan,” and “The Civilian Experience at the Siege of Vicksburg.” Make sure to check out the Speaker’s Bureau to check out all my available presentations!

ECW Multimedia

On the Emerging Civil War Podcast in June:

Ulysses S. Grant

ECW readers might not see your name on the blog very often, but you’re actually one of ECW’s most active content creators. Just what exactly is it you’re doing there behind the scenes? - Hey everyone! I currently serve Emerging Civil War as the social media manager, and so, while I do create some original content directly onto our social media channels, I think of myself as more of a content curator. I help lead a team of excellent volunteers to make sure that you all get your daily posts of Emerging Civil War on all our channels, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Many posts are sharing the blog articles you all know and love, but the team is currently working on providing much more on our social media channels, from sharing news, places to visit, some great images, and more. So, if you don’t already follow us on our social media channels, make sure to find us online and follow us!

How do you define “social media”? - Social media are places for virtual engagement; places where we can share history and you all can engage, ask questions, and share your thoughts. That’s one of my favorite parts of serving as social media manager!

How have you seen social media impact the world of Civil War studies? - Over the past few years of the pandemic, the world became much more virtual. When the world shut down, people turned to digital platforms for virtual programming, community discussions, and staying connected. Civil War Roundtables went virtual with speakers presenting online. Learning went online with schools, museums, and historic sites increasing their digital presence with programming and social media posts. This allowed Civil War historians to reach a broader audience throughout the world and for history enthusiasts to engage in digital conversations more easily. Even now with schools and museums opening again and travel increasing, people will continue to use digital avenues to share history.

How might ECW readers engage more actively with ECW through social media?

- Engaging with Emerging Civil War through social media is easy! First, if you haven’t yet, make sure to like all of our channels: Facebook (at Emerging Civil War), Twitter (at @EmergingCWBlog), Instagram (at EmergingCWBlog), and YouTube (at Emerging Civil War). This way you’ll always stay up to date. Then, our channels are there for you to engage! Like or share our posts, ask questions, make comments, answer our “Question of the Week.” We always enjoy hearing from our followers.

As a bonus question, if people are interested in having you speak to their roundtable or historical society, what areas of expertise do you bring to the podium? - Great question! I love getting out there and

• We spoke with Brad Gottfried about all the cool stuff going on with the Antietam Institute.

• Sarah Kay Bierle, Doug Crenshaw, and Chris Mackowski talked about Stonewall Jackson of the Valley Campaign vs. Stonewall Jackson of the Seven Days: “A Tale of Two Stonewalls! Check out the Emerging Civil War podcast on places like Apple Podcasts and Spotify. https://tinyurl.com/36n7m7sm https://open.spotify.com/ show/0LjaRP2A8tmgjTArQTLp4Y. You can also subscribe to our podcast through Patreon; where we now also offer exclusive bonus content for subscribers. That’s just $3.99/month, and proceeds go toward defraying podcast production costs. Check us out: https://www.patreon.com/ emergingcivilwar.

Meanwhile, on our YouTube channel, we offered:

• a video tour of parts of Vicksburg National Military Park

• a video chat with Darren

Rawlings of American Civil War & UK History and Gina Denham of the Monuments for UK Veterans of the American Civil War Association

• a shout-out to the awesomeness that is Antietam National Battlefield

• an overview of the battle of Memphis from the banks of the Mississippi

• a visit to Fraley Field at Shiloh to recount the death of Everett Peabody

• a trip up Pine Mountain with Kris White to visit the site of Bishop Polk’s death

• a guest appearance by historian Kyle Carlson to talk about the battle of Kolb’s Farm, the prelude to Kennesaw Mountain

Please don’t forget to like and subscribe! You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

By Phill Greenwalt

June is a month of transition, from spring to summer. It was also a time of transition for the Continental Army under George Washington. On June 19, six months after marching into its

winter encampment at Valley Forge, Washington’s force moved out in pursuit of the British. Nine days later, at Monmouth, N.J., the two forces collided in the last major battle in the northern theater during the American Revolutionary War. This year, Emerging Revolutionary War will visit the sites of Valley Forge and Monmouth for the Second Annual ERW Bus Tour, November 1113, 2022. Limited tickets remain. Prior to the anniversary of Monmouth, Emerging Revolutionary War historians will be traveling to the battlefield and doing Facebook Live videos to commemorate the day. Coming in July, the blog will begin posting speakers who are part of the one-day symposium in Alexandria, Va., on September 24. To secure your spot, head over to the blog for tickets. We hope to see you virtually (as our Rev War Revelries continue every other Sunday night at 7 p.m. EDT), or in person in September and November. To stay current on all that is going on, check out our blog, www. emergingrevolutionarywar.org, or our Facebook and YouTube pages.

In the Southern Theater, General Nathanael Greene tried an assault on Ninety Six, S.C., then broke off his siege to ensure the Southern Army continued to threaten British interests. Less than a month later, Ninety Six was evacuated and the Carolina piedmont and backcountry were finally freed of British garrisons.

You Can Help Support ECW

Emerging Civil War is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. If you’re interested in supporting “emerging voices” by making a tax-deductible donation, you can do so by you can do so by visiting our website: www. emergingcivilwar.com.

By day, ECW Social Media Manager Paige Gibbons Backus manages a historic site operated by Prince William County, Virginia.

An ECW video from the banks of the Mississippi recounted the battle of Memphis, which took place on the same day as D-Day, 82 days earlier.

Portrayed

The Civil War Monument in Vanceburg, Kentucky

by Charles H. Bogart

The city of Vanceburg, Ky., is located in northeast Kentucky on the Ohio River. The city is the county seat of Lewis County. In 1884, the citizens of Lewis County, using only private donations, erected a monument on the courthouse lawn to the men of Lewis County who had served in the Federal Army during the Civil War. It is claimed that this is the only Union monument paid for by private donations and erected on a courthouse lawn that exists south of the Mason Dixon Line. Other Union monuments do exist south of the Mason Dixon Line recognizing Union soldiers; however, they were not erected during the 19th century on local public property and financed by private donations. Interestingly, some fifteen Kentucky courthouse lawns or city parks have Confederate commemorative monuments and fountains. There is something strange about the fact that Confederate monuments outnumber Union monuments in the Blue Grass State because Kentucky was loyal to the Union

and supplied two Union soldiers for every man who joined the Confederate Army. Why Kentucky came to embrace the Lost Cause after the Civil War has been the subject of a number of books. The limestone Vanceburg Civil War monument stands 34-feet tall. The monument’s top displays a statue of a Union soldier dressed for cold weather. He is wearing a kepi and holds a musket, its stock resting on the ground between his feet. On the front of the monument’s pedestal are written the following words, “Erected AD 1884 by the Citizens of Lewis County.” On the base is carved, “To commemorate the bravery and patriotism of our soldiers who lost lives in the war for the preservation of the national unity 1861-1865.” On the righthand side of the monument’s pedestal are the words, “Resaca, Vicksburg, Atlanta.” On the base, the lettering reads, “On fames eternal campaign grounds their silent tents are spread and glory guards with solemn rounds the bivouac of the dead.” On the back of the monument the following is

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boldly proclaimed, “One Country One Flag - The war for the Union was right, everlastingly right, and the war against the Union was wrong, forever wrong”

On the left side of the pedestal is recorded, “Chickamauga, Mission [sic] Ridge, Stone River” and on the base, “Nor shall your glory be forgotten while fame her records keeps or honor points the hallowed spot where valor proudly sleeps.” Just below the statue on all four sides of the column are listed the

names of 107 men from Lewis County who died during the war.

In 1860 Lewis County had a population of 8,361. These dead are listed as having served in the following Kentucky regiments, 10th Cavalry, 4th , 16th , 22nd , 23rd Infantry, 40th, 45th and 54th Mounted Infantry.

In front of the Civil War monument is a smaller monument recognizing the men from Lewis County who died during World War I and off to the right is another smaller monument listing

those from Lewis County who died in World War II. Vanceburg was home of the Rousseau GAR post, named for Major General Lovell Harrison Rousseau.

The Lewis County Court House with the Civil War monument. Flanking the flag pole are the World War I and World War II monuments.

Houston Civil War Round Table’s “Frank E. Vandiver Award of Merit”

Presented to Dr. Timothy B. Smith

Troiani, David E. Roth, James “Bud” Robertson, Eric Jacobson, Ed Cotham, Gordon Rhea, James McPherson, Brian Steel Wills, and A. Wilson Greene.

HCWRT selected Mr. Smith for this year’s award in view of his contributions to Civil War historiography and his service as an author, National Park Service ranger, tour guide, speaker, and preservationist over a career spanning more than 20 years.

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HOUSTON, TX, June 13, 2022—Continuing a 40-year tradition, the Houston Civil War Round Table (HCWRT) has awarded Timothy B. Smith the Frank E. Vandiver Award of Merit.

The Vandiver Award recognizes outstanding contributions to Civil War scholarship or preservation efforts by an individual or an institution. Presented annually, the award honors the memory of Dr. Frank Everson Vandiver (1925–2005), a renowned Civil War historian and one of the earliest members of HCWRT. Lynda Crist, a long-time member of HCWRT and editor of the Jefferson Davis Papers at Rice University, was the first Vandiver Award recipient in 1982.

Other past winners include Gary Gallagher, Ed Bearss, Richard Sommers, Frank O’Reilly, William C. “Jack” Davis, Don

A native of Mississippi, Dr. Smith now resides in Tennessee where he teaches history at the University of Tennessee at Martin. He received BA and MA degrees in history from the University of Mississippi and a PhD from Mississippi State University in 2001. In addition to many articles and essays, he is the author, editor, or co-editor of some 20 books including: Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg (2004); Corinth 1862: Siege, Battle, Occupation (2012); Shiloh: Conquer or Perish (2014); Grant Invades Tennessee: The 1862 Battles for Forts Henry and Donelson (2016); The Union Assaults at Vicksburg: Grant Attacks Pemberton, May 17–22, 1863 (2020); and The Siege of Vicksburg: Climax of the Campaign to Open the Mississippi River, May 23–July 4, 1863 (2021). His latest work, Early Struggles for Vicksburg: The Mississippi Central Campaign and Chickasaw Bayou, October 25-December 31, 1862 was released this year.

In announcing the award, HCWRT President Gene Boisaubin commented: “The HCWRT was extraordinarily fortunate to have a historian with the acclaimed stature of Dr. Smith as the recipient of our award. His presentation epitomized those same scholarly attributes as well as being quite entertaining.” A large, wooden Minié ball symbolizing the award was presented to Dr. Smith in late May after he addressed the Houston Civil War Round Table at its monthly meeting on March 17, 2022.

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Civil War Impressionists Association Offers Visitors a Plethora of Historical Impressions

by Bob Ruegsegger

The Civil War Impressionists Association’s shared immersion in Civil War research and studies has inspired individual portrayals of a host of prominent Civil War era personae at War of the Rebellion annual event sites throughout the Mid-Atlantic from Gettysburg to Fredericksburg, and beyond. Most recently this diverse ensemble of accomplished interpreters set up camp at Jamestown Settlement and participated in the 38th annual Military Through the Ages event.

Military Through the Ages is a time-line event that features reenactors and living historians who come to the JamestownYorktown Foundation museum at Jamestown Settlement, set up their individual camps, and offer event patrons an opportunity to interact with people and military units of the past.

The CWIA organization musters members from a variety of re-enactment units. It affords members an opportunity to engage in a broad variety of portrayals, events, and venues beyond battlefield reenactments.

The Civil War Impressionists Association has very strict protocols. The individuals who do specific impressions have to bear a resemblance to the individual they aspire to portray. The impressions must be wellresearched. Ideally, the CWIA

wishes the interpreters, “in their hearts,” to be ambassadors to the memories of the notables they portray.

“The period we’re representing is 1864 at City Point headquarters during the Petersburg Campaign after the crossing of the James River,” said Brian Withrow who portrays General Ulysses Grant. “During this period, at least until November, the headquarters was still a tent city.”

in his book Campaigning with Grant

“We have the front area which was the general meeting area. The hospital tent was used as a business office; his personal quarters were in the rear,” explained Withrow. “We have tried our best to faithfully reproduce the setting, as you see here, at City Point.”

Brian Withrow is a retired Air Force officer who has been reenacting and doing historical impressions for 22 years. He started his adventure in historical interpretation as a private in the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regular Army. Withrow remains a member of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment. He began portraying military officers a decade ago. “I still portray a regular private from time to time,” said Withrow. “I do the private or the general-in-chief with equal enthusiasm.”

“You have already gotten many more words out of me than you would have gotten from Grant,” said Withrow. “You saw me sitting in camp at a distance; quiet, reserved, unassuming. By nature, Grant was a very humble man and very quiet.”

Withrow characterized Grant as a man of action. Grant’s military know-how came from his regular army experience with the 4th U.S. Infantry during the Mexican War. Grant reluctantly went to West Point. His father insisted that he get his education there. Grant did not really want to be a military

man. He would have preferred to have been a teacher or farmer, but after completing his military obligation, Grant who excelled at mathematics at West Point, hoped to secure a position as a professor of mathematics.

“Then the Mexican War occurred. It was a war that Grant was opposed to. He didn’t feel it was a just war,” noted Withrow. “He also felt that the American people had paid for his education, and that became his reason for serving in the Mexican War.” Service during the Mexican War greatly influenced the military

CWIA has created an exact replica of the exterior of Grant’s “tent city” headquarters complex based upon a Matthew Brady photograph taken during the summer of 1864 prior to building wooden cabins for winter quarters.

The interior of the CWIA exhibit reflects descriptions of Grant’s quarters made by Horace Porter

Withrow’s career as General Grant began at the beginning of the 150th Civil War commemoration cycle. When the interpreter who was supposed to show up didn’t appear at an event, Withrow was “drafted” to portray Grant. He was convinced by his associatesin-arms that he “did indeed” resemble Grant. No one in Northern Virginia was portraying Grant at the time so, after a “little arm twisting,” Withrow took up the challenge. His career as Lt. General Grant took off immediately. For Withrow, assuming the role has been a phenomenal career enhancing decision.

Brian Withrow portrays Lt. General Grant.

(Left to Right) General Sheridan (James Standard), General George Meade (Gary Carlberg), Captain Nichols (Steve Riordan), Secretary of War Edwin Stanton (Sam Washburn), and (seated) General Grant (Brian Withrow). (Photos by Bob Ruegsegger)

Unloading supplies on the wharf at City Point, (now Hopewell). City Point is located in central Virginia at the confluence of the James and Appomattox rivers, was the site of Union general-in-chief Ulysses S. Grant’s field headquarters during the Petersburg Campaign at the end of the Civil War. It was one of the largest ports in the United States during that time. (Library of Congress)

City Point, Va. Rear view of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s headquarters. Colorization by Adobe Photoshop. (Library of Congress)

campaign was successful; it rendered most of the Shenandoah Valley uninhabitable north of Lexington.

On April 1, 1865, Sheridan’s victory at Five Forks and capture of the Southside Railroad, forced General Lee to abandon Richmond and Petersburg, ultimately ending in Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox eight days later, and the eventual conclusion of the War of the Rebellion. James Standard portrays “Little Phil” Sheridan the cavalry commander.

“He looked after his men well, and looked after the horses. That was number one. Sheridan was always at the front when it came to battle. He was always leading,” he noted. “He earned a tremendous amount of respect from his troops and was able to get a good performance out of them.”

a blue ribbon. This year, the Greek Phalanx unit made a big impression and took the blue ribbon by one vote. Normally, no additional awards are made in the Visitors Choice category.

Gary Carlberg portrays Major General George Meade, commanding the Army of the Potomac, with the press. leaders, North and South, who came to prominence during the War of the Rebellion. Grant, serving in the 4th U.S. Infantry, was assigned as a quartermaster. He didn’t really like the assignment. He would have preferred to have been fighting on the front lines.

“That is where he really learned the trade of what it took to supply an army in the field, and it became invaluable experience during the War,” noted Withrow. “When the War broke out, Grant was adamant that the country should stay united and that he needed to provide his services,” he said. “Ultimately, he ended

up commanding the 21st Illinois Infantry.”

While Grant’s initial engagements led to him being promoted to brigadier general, it was after the assaults on Fort Henry and Fort Donelson that his star really began to rise. Those major Union victories stirred the interest of people in the North. “Grant became one of the first big heroes, the victorious “Unconditional Surrender” Grant, in the newspapers,” said Withrow.

While some Union generals tended to sit on their laurels, Grant looked forward, planning to do whatever was necessary to win the war. Grant was always looking ahead to continue the offensive. “That’s what set him apart. Even when there was a setback, he still looked ahead.” That’s what set him apart.”

Major General Philip Sheridan was part of General Grant’s entourage during Military Through the Ages.

Impressionist James Standard depicted Major General Sheridan, Little Phil, who was most famous for his 1864 campaign that aimed at depriving the Confederate military of vital resources and supplies. Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley campaign was dubbed “The Burning.” He ordered the destruction of barns, factories, and railroads in the Valley. His

“My ancestor rode with the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry on Wilson’s 1865 Raid through Alabama and Georgia,” said Standard. “When I entered the hobby, I started out in a cavalry mode. I was doing dismount initially because I didn’t know how to ride.” Standard soon started riding with a mounted unit and gained some extra experience. He took riding lessons. Six years ago, Grant impressionist Brian Withrow suggested that Standard consider resurrecting Sheridan. “I guess because I’m short. That helps. And with my background in cavalry,” said Standard. “For the last four or five years, I’ve actually been able to do the ‘Sheridan Ride’ at the Cedar Creek battle,” he said. Standard’s wife approves of him staying aboard his big black horse during the Cedar Creek reenactment. As Standard gallantly rides, his Confederate friends wave to him with raised fingers. While there are many period photos of Sheridan wearing a forage cap, Standard prefers outfitting himself with a distinctive civilian porkpie that became Sheridan’s trademark. Sheridan initially graduated from West Point as an infantry officer. At the beginning of the war, he was just a captain. In six months, he went from being a captain to brevet major general. “Sheridan was quite a capable individual. He was recognized for his ability,” said Standard.

Standard regards stepping back into history in the role Major General Sheridan, and portraying him accurately, is a serious undertaking. “Hopefully, if there is a hereafter and I manage to bump into the gentleman, I hope he’s kind to me, and he has a sense of humor too,” said Standard.

The Civil War Impressionist Association brought a unique presentation to the Military Through the Ages annual time line event. Few units are encouraged to offer first-person interpretive camps at MTA because the impressions are so difficult to do well. CWIA impressionists portraying prominent Union officers and leaders spent their time in camp welcoming visitors, talking with their guests, and answering personal questions.

Every year, the Military Through the Ages staff polls event visitors to ask their patrons which interpretive unit was their favorite. Usually, one unit will “pull away from the pack” according to Cindy Daniel, interpretive program manager at Jamestown Settlement.

The unit with the most votes from event visitors receives the coveted Visitors Choice Award,

“This year, surprisingly, we had two contenders at the top who were separated by only one vote,” said Cindy Daniel. “Given how close the contest was, we decided to award an honorable mention to the CWIA for their enthusiasm and accuracy,” she explained. “We think that they’re a great addition to the event.”

Bob Ruegsegger is an American by birth and a Virginian. His assignments frequently take him to historic sites throughout Virginia, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Southeast. His favorite haunts include sites within Virginia’s Historic Triangle— Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg. Bob served briefly in the U.S. Navy. He is a retired educator and has been an active newspaper journalist for the last twenty years.

Meeting Lt. General Grant meets with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and Captain Nichols, USN, at his City Point headquarters.

James Standard portrays Major General Philip Sheridan.

Samuel Washburn portrays Lincoln’s Secretary of War for the CWIA.

Cooper Saloon: Philadelphia

The Graphic War highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War discussing their meaning and the print maker or artist’s goals.

Last August we featured a lithograph produced by artist James Queen and published by Thomas Sinclair. It depicted the Volunteer Saloon of Philadelphia founded by South Philadelphia grocer Barzilla S. Brown who began by passing out food to

transient soldiers on their way to the front lines.

This month, a year later, we devote equal time to another and slightly older Civil War “USO” in Philadelphia, the Cooper Shop Volunteer Refreshment Saloon. Both saloons issued vivid colored lithographs to celebrate, commemorate, and more importantly, raise money to maintain their services to soldiers passing though the city. The operations of both were comparable, their lithographic prints were similar, their missions were identical, and both established rudimentary

hospitals. They were both located near the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad station, an important transportation hub between the North and battle lines to the south during the Civil War

The Cooper Shop print was the work of German immigrant Maurice H. Traubel (or Morris Traubel). He was both the artist and the lithographer/printer/ publisher. Traubel honed his craft in Europe. Born in 1820 in Frankfort-am-Main, by 1850 Traubel found himself in Philadelphia where he started the firm of Traubel, Schnabel

and Finkeldy. Like most printers/artists/lithographers, he and his firm underwent changes throughout the years they operated: 1850–1869. Like the others, he produced advertisements, maps, sheet music covers, portraits, political cartoons, trade cards, and stationery. Sadly, he committed suicide in 1897. When he produced this print, his establishment was at 409 Chestnut Street.

The print consists of two images. The top image, appropriately named “Exterior View,” depicts groups of civilians and soldiers taking advantage of free refreshments and some “rest and recreation” before heading to the front. Several banners denote that this is the “Cooper Shop Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, Free” while also soliciting donations to support the establishment. Above all, in a clear blue sky, the figure of Liberty appears astride an eagle holding an American flag. Behind her is a banner reading, “Unanimitas Hodie Et In Aeterum Virtus, Libertas et Indepentia” (Unanimity today and in the eternal power of freedom and independence).

Below the exterior scene is an interior view of the saloon “with long dining hall with troops at table. Officers dine at a smaller table to the right. Female volunteers attend to the men at tables and at a dining bar, where the men stand. In the foreground is a group of civilians whose names are given below the caption.” Front and center is William R. S. Cooper, to the left is E. S. Cooper. In the rear is one woman, conjectured to be Mrs. Cooper.

The Cooper Shop Saloon, established May 26, 1861 in the cooperage of William M. Cooper & Company, provided meals, hospital care, and facilities for washing, sleeping, and writing to over 400,000 military personnel, refugees, and freedmen during the War. As the saloon’s historian remembered it, “Regiments followed on in quick succession. Morning, noon, and night they came with bands playing, banners

waving, glistening bayonets, and parks of artillery.” The Saloon even fed deserters. In 1863, seven AWOLs from Virginia and North Carolina “rejoiced to be so well fed, as they were not much used to a good meal.”

Both saloons were a huge hit with green recruits. One wrote: “Nowhere that I have been are soldiers treated with so much consideration and respect as there…Every tired and hungry regiment that has marched through there, has been rested and fed, and treated with every attention which the kind hearts of the Quaker City could suggest.”

A Vermonter wrote of “a glorious supper…good enough for a firstclass hotel” when he visited in September 1863.

With war’s end, both saloons closed. As its historian, James Moore wrote: “Like the temple of Janus at Rome, it was open in time of war, and closed in time of peace. It began with war, flourished in war, and in peace its mission ended and the labors of its active and efficient Committee were brought to a close.” On August 28, 1865, the Saloon fed the last meals to the 32nd US Colored Troops and the 104th Pennsylvania.

Endnotes:

1. In fact, the two were so similar that they were often confused. Author Gary B. Nash, in his history of Philadelphia pictures the Cooper Shop and misidentifies it as the Union Volunteer Saloon. See Gary Nash, First City: Philadelphia and the Forging of Historical Memory. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006, figure 108, pp. 245-246. Nash attributes the print to a Robert Newell, when in fact the print is the work of Maurice Traubel.

2. Harry Peters, America on Stone, 389; Cooper Shop Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, the First Opened for Union Volunteers in the United States. 1009 Otsego Street, Philadelphia. https:// www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl. wdl_09448/.

3. https://www.loc.gov/resource/ gdcwdl.wdl_09448/.

4. Nicholas B. Wainwright,

Philadelphia in the Romantic Age of Lithography, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1958, entry 85, p.

121. Depicted committee members include S.W. Nickles; E.S. Cooper; L.W. Thornton; E.T. Hall; Philip Fitzpatrick; J. Coward; Thomas H. Rice; A.H. Cairn; Isaac Plant; Wm. R.S. Cooper; B. Frank Palmer; C.V. Fort; H.W. Pearce; Capt. A.O. Davis; William M. Maull; E. Herety; A.M. Simpson; William Sprole; R.G. Simpson; J.J. Hill; William H. Dennis; L.B.M. Dolby; Jacob Plant; Walter R. Melon; R.H. Ransley; T.L. Coward; Wm. H. Morrison; and H.H. Webb. See also Digital Library Company of Philadelphia, https://digital. librarycompany.org/islandora/ object/digitool%3A36363.

5. Wainwright and https://www.loc. gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_09448/.

6. James Moore, M.D., History of the Cooper Shop Volunteer Refreshment Saloon, Philadelphia, 1866, p.16.

7. Moore, p. 167.

8. Nash, pp. 245-246.

9. Moore, p. 10.

10. Brenna MeKelvey, “Refreshment Saloons in Civil War Philadelphia, Dickinson College Civil War Research Engine, https:// housedivided.dickinson.edu/ essay/essay_philadelphia.html

After 43 years in the museum field, Cilella devotes his time collecting American prints and maps and writing. His last professional position was President and CEO of the Atlanta History Center. His most recent books are Upton’s Regulars: A History of the 121st New York Volunteers in the Civil War (U. Press Kansas, 2009). His twovolume Correspondence of Major General Emory Upton, (U. of Tennessee Press, 2017), received the 2017–2018 American Civil War Museum’s Founders Award for outstanding editing of primary source materials. His latest book “Till Death Do Us Part,” an edit of Upton’s letters to his wife 186870, was published in 2020 by the Oklahoma University Press.

Wheeling, W.V., Receives New Civil War Trails Signs

Last month three new Civil War Trails signs were installed in Wheeling. This effort was the result of a continued partnership between Civil War Trails, Inc., Wheeling Heritage, West Virginia Independence Hall, and Visit Wheeling, WV. This is the first phase of a project focused on updating the Civil War Trails content and improving the visitor experience throughout the city. These new signs replace older versions that have served travelers

from around the world for over a decade. They now offer more engaging text and media to help fuel the imagination of visitors as they stand where historic events which took place. The new signs can be found at the location of Camp Carlile on N. Wabash St., West Virginia Independence Hall at the corner of 16th and Market, and the location of the Wheeling Hospital at 108 Main St.

The Civil War Trails (CWT) program is noted for continually refreshing content on their signs and associated brochures. Drew Gruber, Executive Director of CWT said, “Our program is unique in that the sites are constantly being updated to keep pace with new scholarship, amenities, and as expectations from our dynamic audience change.” Several local historians including Deborah Jones, JonErik Gilot, Betsy Sweeny, and Margaret Brennan brought new research and insight to the project. “Wheeling Heritage is happy to see these signs receive important updates,” said Betsy Sweeny, Director of Heritage Programming for Wheeling Heritage. “We know that many people enjoy learning about the Civil War, and it is our goal to communicate those stories in an accurate, relevant manner. The updated language in the new signs centers the reader, and gives them a sense of the moment in

time that they are reading about. We hope these signs will inspire the reader to dig deeper into the complicated history of the Civil War in Wheeling.”

Each CWT site is networked together with over 1,400 others across six states. Each CWT site is marketed internationally by state tourism offices, destination marketing organizations, and municipal partners. This means that although the signs provide educational content the program helps to drive economic development by promoting travel. “West Virginia’s statehood is a direct result of the Civil War, which makes our many trails, battlefields and reenactments an integral part of our tourism industry,” Secretary Chelsea Ruby said. “We continue to see an interest from visitors looking to experience our rich history, and thanks to the support of the Civil War Trails organization, we’re able to mark and promote these stops to new travelers every day.”

The program’s popularity continues to grow, especially over the past two years, since each CWT site is located outside and the tour is self-guided. According to Gruber the program recently added staff to help respond to increasing visitor inquires and process new site applications.

The West Virginia Department of Tourism is also reprinting the popular Civil War Trails brochure. This is good news for Wheeling businesses. Olivia Litman, Marketing Director for Visit Wheeling, WV said, “Visit

Wheeling has always used our destination’s history as an amenity to our visitors. We were very pleased to be involved with updating the signs that will allow our visitors to learn more about our destination.” The partners hope to complete the second stage of the project early next year. For more information about

the Civil War Trails program or to request a brochure please visit civilwartrails.org.

For more information about Wheeling or for a visitor guide check out wheelingcvb.com. Check out the new sites and snap a #signselfie with #civilwartrails and #visitwheelingwv.

Chris Brown (left) and Drew Gruber (right) pose with the new sign at Independence Hall. That same week they updated over a dozen other signs throughout Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. (Civil War Trails, Inc.)

Chris Brown, Assistant Director of Civil War Trails, levels the new sign pedestal now installed in a more handicapped accessible location in front of Independence Hall. (Civil War Trails, Inc.)

Each sign, like this one at the historic location of Camp Carlile, received new content panels and new aluminum stands earlier this year. (Civil War Trails, Inc.)

The Fredericksburg National Cemetery

by Terry Rensel

In the eighteen months between December 1862 and May 1864, four major battles, Fredericksburg; Chancellorsville; Wilderness; and Spotsylvania Court House, were fought in and near Fredericksburg, as well as the Mine Run campaign. Combined Union deaths from these five actions exceed 8,200 men, most of whom were buried on the various battlefields.

Men who were killed in action were usually buried on the battlefield. Fredericksburg, burials were done on the battlefield’s southern end on December 15, 1862; burials on the northern end took two days, December 16 and 17, 1862. Both burials were done during truces agreed upon for that very reason.

In June 1865 the government decided they would make an effort to inter unburied Union dead in the Wilderness and Spotsylvania, as well as the surrounding area.

Brevet Major James M. Moore was put in charge of doing so, and the First U.S. Veteran Volunteer Regiment was assigned to help.

The work of collecting the

remains began on the northern end of the battlefield on June 12, and then they worked their way south. The first cemetery was constructed near the western edge of Saunders Field, on the south side of the Orange Turnpike. The work continued June 14 along the Orange Plank Road. A second cemetery was constructed just east of the Confederate earthworks where fighting had been heaviest, about a half mile west of the Brock Road intersection.

On June 19, the men started work at Spotsylvania Court House. There were fewer unburied remains there because many of the dead had already been buried. Due to the condition of unburied corpses, many were covered over in place.

In May 1866 work began on creating a national cemetery in Fredericksburg. Land on Marye’s Heights, overlooking the Sunken Road, was selected and engineers began preparing the site. Bodies were originally gathered and reburied by members of the Eleventh U.S. Infantry, but laborers were soon hired to do the job. Called the Burial Corps, they were made up of formerly enslaved men, former Confederates, and Irish immigrants.

The Eleventh U.S. Infantry, and then the Burial Corps, started by relocating bodies buried on the Fredericksburg battlefield. These were mostly found on the old fairgrounds, and in front of the Sunken Road. As work continued, the Burial Corps not only moved remains that had been previously buried in the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House cemeteries; they

also began going further afield. They recovered remains from six battlefields: Fredericksburg; Chancellorsville; Wilderness; Spotsylvania Court House; Mine Run; and North Anna. Remains from the Stafford County Union camps, as well as from other camp grounds throughout the region were gathered and moved to Fredericksburg National Cemetery. By the time the work was concluded in 1868, the remains of over 15,000 soldiers were interned. In 1997 the National Park Service started hosting a Luminaria on Memorial Day Weekend. The luminaria honors those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country. Local Scouts light the 15,300 candles, one for each grave in the cemetery. Throughout the evening a bugler plays Taps every 30 minutes. Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park staff located throughout the cemetery share stories of some of the soldiers buried there.

On May 28 the Luminaria returned to the Fredericksburg National Cemetery for the first time since 2019. In 2019 it was cut short due to severe weather, and in 2020 and 2021 it was cancelled due to COVID. At the end of the night, about five minutes before the final playing of Taps, the bugler played Tattoo. The weather was perfect this year and over 4,000 people attended. If you have never attended one of these events, it is a very somber and moving experience.

The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust’s first land preserved was the tract between the National Cemetery and Brompton on Marye’s Heights, known as

Willis Hill, in 1997. More about the history of the Fredericksburg National Cemetery can be found in Where Valor Proudly Sleeps: A History of Fredericksburg National Cemetery, 1866–1933 by Donald C. Pfanz.

Terry Rensel is the Executive Director of the Central Virginia

Battlefields Trust. The mission of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust is to preserve land associated with the four major campaigns: Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania. To learn more about this grassroots preservation non-profit, please visit: www.cvbt.org.

Civil War Artillery Book

392 page, full-color book, Civil War Artillery Projectiles – The Half Shell Book. For more information and how to order visit the website www. ArtillerymanMagazine.com or call 800-777-1862.

$89.95 + $8 media mail for the standard edition.

About five minutes before the final playing of Taps, the bugler played Tattoo. (Terry Rensel)

Local Scouts placed 15,300 candles on each grave in the cemetery. (Terry Rensel)

Fredericksburg National Cemetery where the remains of 15,300 soldiers were interned. (Tim Talbott)

Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact email: BookReviews@CivilWarNews.com.

Excellent Book Series

Decisions at Fredericksburg.

By Chris Mackowski. Appendix, Notes, Bibliography, Index, Illustrations, Photos, 260 pp., University of Tennessee Press, www.utpress.org, paperback. $29.95.

Reviewed

The Fourth of July and the 1876 Centennial exhibition

Contesting Commemorations: The 1876 Centennial. Independence Day, And The Reconstruction-Era South. By Jack Noe. Notes, Bibliography, and Index. 244 pp., 2021. Louisiana State University Press, lsupress.org. Cloth. $45.00.

Reviewed by David Marshall

book, a comparison is made between the points of view of white Southerners and African Americans utilizing the voices of many.

Aside from Gettysburg, Fredericksburg is my most visited battlefield. I have traipsed over virtually every site and spent uncounted hours at the ‘sunken road.’ I have read numerous books and accounts of what transpired there. However, as time passed, my interests shifted from ‘what happened’ to ‘why it happened.’ This book fulfilled my expectations.

The history presented is well annotated, with an ample bibliography for further study. A multitude of photos and illustrations are interspersed to

assist in identifying participants, events, and sites. Also included is an order of battle.

Each chapter begins with a brief anecdotal account of the participants and actions discussed there. Then the author lists all the options available at a particular time, explaining each option in detail. Next comes the decisions made, and why they were chosen. Finally, we get a thorough explanation of the results of those decisions. It is here that the reader can reflect on whether he is in agreement or not.

I found this to be a wonderful process. For the most part I was in agreement with the author’s conclusions. The one thing I came away with is how political the Army of the Potomac leadership was. Politics and ego permeated all aspects of decisions and, in my opinion, led to some disastrous results. One can lay blame on all the participants, from the generals to Lincoln himself.

I don’t know how I missed this series. It is an excellent tool in understanding the ‘whys’ of Civil War battles. I plan on reading a few more of this series, perhaps all of them! I highly recommend you get one…, or a few…, or all of them, and test your own theories. These books are a must for any serious student’s library.

Joseph Truglio, of Manchester, N.J., is a retired Motion Picture Technician who has a lifelong interest in the Civil War. He is past President of the Phil Kearny CWRT in N.J.

Between May and November 1876, a world’s fair called the International Exhibition of Arts Manufacturers and Products of the Soil and Mine, also known as the Centennial Exhibition or Centennial was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It attracted more than ten million visitors, one fifth of the U.S. population. Its purpose was to celebrate one hundred years of national existence, presenting an opportunity for whites, African Americans, Northerners, and Southerners to reflect and engage with ideas about their identity as Americans. It provided an opportunity for expressions of nationalism, patriotism, healing sectional wounds, or for the white South to reject reconciliation following the Civil War. Together with the 1876 presidential election of Republican Rutherford Hayes, Reconstruction ended partly due to agreements made with representatives from Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina. Contesting Commemoration provides a captivating representation of post-Civil war reunion and reconciliation, using white Southern reactions to and involvement with these celebrations. Jack Noe offers a colorful discourse on the economic, social, and political aspects of reunification, and the difficulties behind the changes that occurred in a postAppomattox American identity. Throughout this well written

Noe spends a considerable number of pages in his six-chapter study linking the recent work of historians such as Gregory Downs, Anne Sarah Rubin, and Richard Zuczek. They suggest that white guerrilla-style terrorism, a defiant white public, and Federal military control of the South, resisted the Radical Republican measures to completely unify and rebuild the New South during Reconstruction. An important argument is suggested by historian David Blight that sectional reunion was achieved at the expense of African Americans, resulting in reconciliation by both north and Southern whites and the beginning of the Jim Crow era.

In The 1976 Centennial, Independence Day, And The Reconstruction Era South readers will gain an understanding of how former slaves used the memory of the Revolutionary War, and its commemoration to demand the status of full citizenship as per the fifteenth amendment. Noe asserts that a reason for the Civil War was the emancipation of African Americans. Additionally, he further extrapolates the challenges between reunion and reconciliation in this deeply researched narrative.

Little has been written on the Centennial. What has been published on the fair itself, and its design is very different than what is examined throughout this study. Noe emphasizes how America experienced and felt about the events and celebration of American history and the meaning of the Fourth of July throughout this title. The writer tells a story that the North and the South were moving away from its agricultural past and into an industrial future with increased importance on the railroad and other inventions for manufacturers, farmers, and people allowing the U.S. to become a world economic giant.

Noe found that some southern women, such as Ellen Long of Florida, believed the Centennial would unite America, and restore the South to prosperity. Furthermore, he analyzed how over time that some Southern governments and businesses realized the Centennial was

an opportunity to showcase their great states and benefit economically by participating in the fair. Finally, this tapestry was a focus of national memory and shared identity that used rituals such as the Fourth of July, and the Reconstruction era to portray our sectional identities and differences.

This tome depicts the nationalism fought for by the South between 1861-1865 through commemorative activities such as celebrating our nation’s founding and issues that Southern States had with the Centennial and the Federal government during Reconstruction. During this period, many African Americans were killed or harassed in the South, which resisted any recognition of citizenship for freed people. White Southerners both shunned and engaged with the celebrations of American nationhood. Noe contends that African Americans embraced the opportunity to claim full agency and citizenship. He further postulates that commemorations and historical memory during Reconstruction was intertwined with politics, biased newspapers, partisanship, and racial divisions. While Southern participation in the 1876 Centennial was limited with only Mississippi and Arkansas having any official presence, the Southern States finally had opportunities to market themselves in future fairs in Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta, and Nashville during the late nineteenth century. They were linked to the idea of a New South, progress, and patriotism. The fairs included black exhibits that focused on education. Noe points out that the fairs forged a link between race and progress during the Jim Crow era. In the end, he suggests that the United States was reunited but far from reconciled.

This reviewer recommends this new volume.

David Marshall is a high school American history teacher in the Miami-Dade School district for the past thirty-five years. A life-long Civil War enthusiast, In addition to numerous reviews in Civil War News and other publications, he has given presentations to Civil War Round Tables on Joshua Chamberlain, Ulysses S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Common Soldier.

by Joseph Truglio

Opposition Politics During the Civil War

The Cacophony of Politics: Northern Democrats and the American Civil War. By J. Matthew Gallman. Notes, bibliography, index, University of Virginia Press, www.upress. virginia.edu. 399 pp., 2021, hardcover. $35.00.

Reviewed by Wayne L. Wolf

it was designed. The Democratic response was anything but unanimous. Rather, Democratic views existed along a broad spectrum from supporting the war to preserve the Union (War Democrats) to total opposition to Mr. Lincoln’s war and the trampling of individual liberties (Copperheads). Along these polar opposites were found politicians and citizens whose views were in flux, changing their place on the spectrum as casualties mounted, when Emancipation became a war goal, and when, geographically, they represented a constituency who either supported the war or opposed it. Democrats generally did not believe the war and emancipation should be won at the point of a bayonet but differences settled through compromise and constitutional changes.

geographic, and ethnic. Each of these groups needed to be listened to if success at the polls was to be the eventual outcome.

Visual Aids Help Illustrate the Life of Jefferson Davis

This book encompasses the views and attendant dilemmas of politicians and ordinary citizens as they try to define their position on the Lincoln Administration, the war, constitutional issues, and emancipation. Northern Democrats were the loyal opposition to what they conceived as a radical Republican usurpation of the Constitution as

The Democratic Party had been formed as a people’s protest against the concentration of power in the federal government. Thus, it is not surprising that in speeches, newspapers, and pamphlets Democrats cast themselves as defenders of the Constitution in the face of a radical Republican agenda. Individual Democratic leaders, e.g. Fernando Wood, Clement Vallandigham, George McClellan, George Woodward, etc., occupied different spots on the continuum of views on the war but each realized that politics were essentially local, familial,

J. Matthew Gallman deserves kudos for using a wide variety of personal narratives, e.g. Johnathan Hale, Willie Waller, Francis Sherman, Manton Marble, etc., newspaper articles, private communications, and diaries (including many from women on the home front) to illustrate the vast range of views held by people belonging to the Democratic Party. The vast majority of these individuals, and Democrats in general, were conservative, patriotic, and merely opposing administration policies they believed ran amok from Constitutional restraints. They felt the Lincoln administration ran over civil liberties by suspending the writ of habeas corpus, closing down newspapers, and jailing dissidents, even incarcerating a United States senator and congressman.

This book is filled with primary source material that allows a reader to hear the actual words of the minority party. This is a positive for the reader who wishes to form his own opinion on the validity of each Democrat’s position, but this strength is mildly subverted in the concluding chapter when the author applies 20th Century moral assessments and evokes moral outrage on 19th Century actors. It is difficult for an author to avoid this common tendency to judge politics by contemporary standards but essential for an honest attempt to discern motivations behind political positions 150 years ago.

One historical error is noted. The lyrics to “A New Yankee Doodle” did not glorify the military exploits of Jubal Early. Aside from this minor point, the book is eminently readable, instructive, thoroughly researched, and a welcome addition to understanding the actions of the loyal opposition during America’s most trying fratricidal war.

Following in the Footsteps of Jefferson Davis: Statesman – Soldier – Author – Planter – President. By Stan Cohen. Selected bibliography, 252 pages, Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, Missoula, Mt., www. pictorialhistoriespublishing.com, paperback. $25.00.

Reviewed by Thomas J. Ryan

Richmond, Va., along with their architectural drawings and interior furnishings. In addition, there are marble busts of key players in the Davis administration, historical statues, and structures that played important roles during Davis’s administration, including St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and the Virginia State Capitol.

Wayne L. Wolf is Professor Emeritus at South Suburban College and the author of numerous books, articles and columns regarding Civil War history. He is the past president of the Lincoln-Davis Civil War Roundtable and a frequent speaker on the Civil War circuit.

The author of this publication portrays it as a “pictorial history of Jefferson Davis from his birth, his family, wartime experiences, political life, Secretary of War, his presidency, his capture and imprisonment, and his death and legacy.” Stan Cohen’s objective is to present to “the reader a comprehensive look at one of American history’s most interesting and productive individuals.” In fact, Cohen has put together a remarkable collection of visual aids to illustrate the life and accomplishments of a man who qualifies as one of the most controversial in U.S. history.

Jefferson Davis, in his nearly 90 years on the world’s stage, proved to be a talented, devoted, and energetic performer in a wide variety of significant roles. In fourteen chapters, this study represents Davis as a cadet, military officer, cabinet member, congressional representative, senator, president, prisoner of war, and elder statesman.

Cohen has chosen to devote several pages of visual representations of each stage of Jefferson Davis’s life and career; an effective way to permit the reader/viewer to follow along as they unfold. For example, included are various images of Davis in his role as president of the Confederate States of America, as well as pertinent flyers, posters, maps, notices, photographs, including Davis’s cabinet members and military leaders, pertinent newspaper articles, personal residences in Montgomery, Ala., and

Cohen devotes a chapter to Davis’s vice-president, the enigmatic Alexander Stephens, and multiple chapters deal with the Civil War period, as well as Davis’s eventual imprisonment. A separate chapter covers Davis’s time spent in retirement at Beauvoir in Biloxi, Miss. Throughout this illustrated history of the life and times of Jefferson Davis, the author places the reader at the scene and provides appropriate descriptive narrative. Although this publication is not intended as an analytical history, it does whet the appetite for further knowledge about Jefferson Davis, and those who played important roles in his life.

A selected bibliography provides sources to pursue further the life and times of Jefferson Davis, including William J. Cooper Jr.’s Jefferson Davis, American, and Jefferson Davis, The Man and the Hour by William C. Davis. Other recommendations include Jefferson Davis’s twovolume autobiography titled The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, and Varina Howell Davis’s biography of her husband, Jefferson Davis, ExPresident of the Confederate States of America.

In effect, this pictorial history offers an opportunity to observe Jefferson Davis in a variety of roles during his productive, as well as more controversial, years. Following in the Footsteps of Jefferson Davis is heartily recommended. It serves as a reminder of the reservoir of knowledge still waiting to be discovered about the Civil War era.

Thomas J. Ryan is the former president of the Central Delaware Civil War Round Table, and author of the award-winning ‘Lee is Trapped and Must Be Taken’: Eleven Fateful Days after Gettysburg, July 4-14, 1863 with co-author Rick Schaus, and Spies, Scouts, and Secrets in the Gettysburg Campaign: How the Critical Role of Intelligence Impacted the Outcome of Lee’s Invasion of the North, June-July 1863.

Powerful History of War’s Long-term Consequences

Invisible Wounds: Mental Illness and Civil War Soldiers. By Dillon J. Carroll. Notes, index, 368 pp., 2021. Louisiana State University Press, lsupress. org. $45.00.

Reviewed by Jonathan A. Noyalas

Border States Pulled in Two Different Directions

diligently researched and deftly-crafted volume around the question: how did the Civil War damage “the minds of its participants?” Throughout the book’s eleven chapters the author rightly asserts that a variety of factors impacted soldiers’ mental well-being. In addition to the stresses of combat, Carroll convincingly argues that other factors including lack of sleep, environment, and food shortages took their toll on Union and Confederate troops. In some instances, Carroll notes that the influence of those forces on significant numbers of soldiers adversely impacted an army’s ability to function properly; an argument posited by other historians including one of the most esteemed in the field today, Carol Reardon.

mental health in the conflict’s aftermath, Carroll broadens this book’s scope by examining how the mental health of veterans impacted families. While some families found the behaviors of their veterans an embarrassment and prompted families to hide veterans from the public eye, some behaviors created a dangerous environment in the home. One of Carroll’s subjects, George Bowen, a veteran of the 59th Illinois Infantry, illustrates this point. Bowen, wounded in the head during the war, frequently hit or threw things at his daughter Jennie, behavior uncharacteristic for Bowen prior to the conflict.

A Union Indivisible –Secession and the Politics of Slavery in the Border South, by Michael D. Robinson. 2017, Chapel Hill, The University of North Carolina Press. 294 pp., paperback. $19.95.

Reviewed by Charles H. Bogart

The Civil War proved a transformative experience for Corporal Robert Bradbury, a veteran of Battery D, First Pennsylvania Light Artillery. Decades after the conflict Bradbury’s sister Alice noted that her brother “was a perfectly healthy boy and full of fun until he came back from the army.” Pension records and Bradbury’s writings also indicate the war transformed Bradbury and took him, mentally, to a dark place. Bradbury’s experience, however, was not unique. Untold numbers of Union and Confederate soldiers were forever transformed by the experiences of camp, campaign, and battlefield. While historians such as Brian Matthew Jordan and Sarah Handley-Cousins have contributed much to our understanding of the manner in which the conflict impacted soldiers psychologically, Dillon Carroll’s recent volume offers an essential contribution to this growing and important body of literature.

Carroll, a history instructor at Butte College, centers this

While some soldiers could not manage the conflict’s various stressors, Carroll notes that significant numbers of veterans in both armies employed an array of coping mechanisms throughout the conflict. Taking a cue from historian Kathryn Shively’s notion of “self-care,” Carroll analyzes how mechanisms such as repression, humor, religion, or immersing oneself in letterwriting proved useful. Some soldiers even engaged in the much frowned-upon practices of straggling or shirking duty to cope with the Civil War’s horrors.

Interestingly, however, Carroll asserts that the war’s emotional trauma among United States troops impacted white and African American troops differently. Carroll argues that the experience of combat, the cause of significant mental anguish among white troops, proved a cathartic experience for many who served in United States Colored Troop (USCT) regiments. The opportunity combat offered to engage and kill Confederate troops served as a form of therapy among USCT’s who struggled with the mental anguish of slavery. While Carroll does not suggest that black troops were entirely immune from the conflict’s mental ravages, the author convincingly shows that “far fewer Black veterans became insane.”

Beyond an analysis of the war’s mental toll, an examination of the lack of acceptance of veterans by some communities after the war ended, and an investigation into how poverty impacted veterans’

Some families attempted to deal with their veterans at home, but for others the task became too burdensome and family members made the difficult decision to admit loved ones into institutions. Sadly, as Carroll notes, the places family members believed would aid veterans transformed by the conflict presented another set of challenges. Beyond the limitations of treatment and understanding of mental illnesses at the time, Carroll notes that conditions in these hospitals could be quite violent and endangered a patient’s physical well-being. The author’s evidence reveals that fighting occurred at times between patients, patients and doctors, and patients and attendants.

Carroll’s study, deeply researched and engagingly written, is an important book. It offers a reminder that although armies ceased fighting in the spring of 1865, some veterans and their families fought personal battles for decades after the conflict. For those seeking a deeper understanding of the Civil War’s long-term consequences Carroll’s history is essential.

Jonathan A. Noyalas is director of Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute in Winchester, Virginia, a professor in Civil War Era Studies at Shenandoah University, and founding editor of Journal of the Shenandoah Valley During the Civil War Era. He is the author or editor of fourteen books. Noyalas’ latest book, Slavery and Freedom in the Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War Era, was published by the University Press of Florida.

It has often been said that Kentucky left the Union in 1866 to join the Confederacy. Why this came about is laid out in some detail in this book. While the author examines the political and social turmoil that buffered four of the five Border States, Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware during the winter of 1860–1861, much of his focus deals with Kentucky and Senator John J. Crittenden of Frankfort, Kentucky. All four Border States were slave states, that is, slavery was legal within their borders. Two of the three largest slave owning cities were in the border states, Baltimore and Louisville. However, all four states chose to remain in the Union.

The author’s premise is that the Border States saw the existing Federal government as the best guarantee to preserving the institution of slavery. To them, the United States Constitution protected their rights to own slaves and these rights were guaranteed by numerous federal

laws that further bolstered the rights of slave owners. Lincoln, they held, might have been elected president on a platform of non-expansion of slavery, but the slave owning states controlled Congress. Therefore, Lincoln and his supporters were powerless to make any significant changes in the laws governing slavery. The Border State Unionists, however, were divided into two camps, unconditional and conditional. The unconditional Unionists supported any war effort by the Federal government to preserve the Union, while the conditional Unionists fought to preserve the Union as they understood it to exist on the day before Lincoln was elected president. The Kentucky Unionist who served in the U.S. Congress during the Civil War owned more slaves than the Kentucky Secessionist serving in the Confederate Congress. Front and center in this story were the efforts of Senator John J. Crittenden to preserve the Union. Just as Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky had negotiated compromises that ended various slavery based secession crises during the 1840s and 1850s, Senator Crittenden sought to orchestrate such a compromise during the winter of 1860 and 1861. That he was unable to find a common ground for compromise was due to the fact that the time for compromise had passed. Crittenden, when he was unable to draft a compromise satisfying a majority in Congress, moved for calling a public meeting hosted by the states to find common ground to avoid war. Yet while this move for public meetings generated a lot of positive comments, it also failed to halt the drift to war. With his hope for a compromise settlement in ruins, Crittenden, in July 1861, introduced into Congress a War Resolution Act that did not hint at any change in the Federal slavery policy. Its passage strengthened the Unionist hold in the Border

States, but its noble sentiments were soon forgotten as fighting broke out and confiscation of property held by those in rebellion became the policy of the Federal government.

The heart of the book is how the Border States during the 1860/61 secession crisis were pulled in two directions. They are slave owning states with ties to the south, but they also have strong economic, transportation, and social ties with the free states. Emotion and reason pull the Border States’ Conditional Unionist this way and that, as the situation around them constantly changes in a fluid war time environment. The firing on Fort Sumter and Lincoln’s call for volunteers to put down the secession movement are tipping points in turning a Conditional Unionist into a Secessionist or Unconditional Unionist. There will be other tipping points during the course of the war, the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation and the passage of the 13th Amendment ending slavery were the two greatest tipping points in turning the Conditional Unionist into a Secessionist or Unconditional Unionist. Delaware did not ratify the 13th Amendment until 1902; Kentucky only did so in 1976.

The book ends with twelve tables. These tables need to be studied and reflected upon as they provide a numerical insight into the economic and social makeup of the Border States and show the differences and similarities they shared with their northern and southern neighbors.

This book will stand the test of time and is a must read to understand why the Border States acted the way they did in 1861 and then in 1866. The margin between the Border States remaining in the Union or leaving the Union in 1861 was razor thin at times.

Charles H. Bogart has a BA from Thomas More University and an MCP from Ohio State University. He is employed as a tour guide at the Fort Boone Civil War Battle Site in Frankfort, Ky., past President of the Frankfort Civil War Roundtable, and is a board member of the Kentucky Civil War Roundtable. He has written several books and articles on military and naval history.

COLLECTION

These young ladies are wearing a style of clothing common to girls and young teens. Their dresses open at the back rather than the front; their necklines are somewhat wider, and the sleeves are somewhat shorter than would be expected on clothing of adult women in this period. Both girls wear pendant necklaces emphasized by the photographer with gold overpaint. Gold charms like the ones these girls are wearing were sometimes given as prizes for doing well in school and in academic competitions. The girl on the right has a ring on her pointer finger while the girl on the left has a bracelet. The background is a scene from a wealthy family.

Medium: sixth-plate ambrotype, hand-colored; 9.4 x 8.3 cm (case). Reproduction Number: LC-DIGppmsca-37178. Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).

Sarah Emma Edmonds Was a Self-Made Man

by Bob Ruegsegger

When Sarah Emma Edmonds was seventeen years old, she ran away from her Fredericton home in New Brunswick, Canada. Emma’s father had wanted to marry her off to a recently widowed elderly neighbor. At first she tentatively agreed to the arrangement, but soon reconsidered the proposal and decided that “matrimony was not a safe investment” for her.

that first parting that I became convinced that I, too, had a duty to perform,” observed Emma. While she had no thirst for battle, Emma realized that she would not be content to serve from the periphery.

She decided to enlist in the Flint Grays under her assumed identity feeling that she could “best serve the interest of the Union cause in male attire.” Emma successfully enlisted.

Two weeks after Franklin Thompson reported for duty at Fort Wayne, the 2nd Michigan was ordered to Washington. After three days of travel via steamer and train, the 2nd Michigan Volunteers marched through Baltimore and boarded cars to Washington.

When typhoid fever broke out in the 2nd Michigan camp, as well as in the camps of other regiments, Franklin spent all his off duty time going from tent to tent “ministering to the wants of those delirious, helpless men.” His unsuspecting superiors noticed the interest in nursing and immediately assigned Thompson to permanent hospital detail.

Marching orders came quickly. McDowell’s army marched toward Manassas. Emma’s brigade was kept in reserve at Centreville guarding a crossing to prevent Confederates from attacking the Union rear. The 2nd Michigan was finally called into action to cover the fleeing Union army. That night, the 2nd Michigan stood fast while the rest of McDowell’s forces moved expeditiously toward Washington.

When wounded soldiers began arriving in Centreville during the battle, Thompson volunteered to assist surgeons at a field hospital that had been established several days before in a stone church on the Warrenton Pike. While Franklin was used to caring for the sick, he was quite unprepared for his first confrontation with the frightful consequences of war. The army surgeons performed at a rapid pace; dead bodies, legs, and arms piled up. Thompson spent all day and night cleaning bandages, providing water, and offering dying men any comfort he could. “Oh, there was suffering there that no pen can

ever describe,” he recalled.

Surgeons and nurses at the stone church hospital had been so occupied with caring for wounded and dying men that they were oblivious to their brigade’s departure. Thompson spent an hour trying to locate his regiment; the unit had marched off without him. When the regimental chaplain left, Thompson was unwilling to abandon dying soldiers. He put water within reach of the wounded and reluctantly followed the debris strewn track left by retreating Union army back to Washington. The following morning, in the rain, Thompson found his “lost” regiment camped on the heights above Washington on the Arlington farm of General Robert E. Lee.

of freedom. He was issued his own horse and could travel from camp to camp throughout the Washington area without question as long as the mail was delivered on schedule.

Early the next year, the 2nd Michigan, along with a host of other units, was ordered to board the steamer Vanderbilt bound for Fort Monroe located at the very tip of the Virginia Peninsula. McClellan’s plan, the Peninsula Campaign, was to gather a massive army at Fort Monroe and move up the Peninsula toward Richmond using the York River to supply his army.

In a New Brunswick periodical, Emma saw an advertisement that offered book agents “fair compensation” to solicit for the subscription publishing industry. Emma saw the offer as a great opportunity. It would allow her to travel with frequency. It would require no investment of capital, and it would present her with the potential to make more money than she had ever imagined.

The only problem was that traveling book salesmen had to be men, which Sarah Emma Edmonds was not. Emma Edmonds wrote the subscription publisher in Hartford under the assumed name of Franklin Thompson. While Emma was awaiting the arrival of materials from the publishing company, she began preparing a disguise that would embrace her new identity as a book salesman. Emma initially prospered as Frank Thompson. After a disastrous setback, Thompson traveled to Hartford, the subscription publishing capital of America, and soon found employment with W. S. Williams & Company.

When news of the fall of Fort Sumter reached the North, Thompson was in Flint, Mich., waiting to take a train back to Hartford for additional book samples. Thompson watched friends in the Flint Union Grays, Co. F, 2nd Michigan, leave for Detroit and the war. “It was while witnessing the anguish of

After serving for several months at the Mansion House Hospital in Alexandria, Private Thompson was eager to be relieved of his permanent assignment to nursing duties. Colonel Orlando Poe, who assumed command of the 2nd Michigan, selected Thompson to serve as a mail courier because Poe thought that Thompson, as a soldier, was “effeminate looking,” and he wished to avoid removing an “efficient soldier from the ranks.”

Franklin was delighted with the change in duties. As a private, he had an extraordinary amount

McClellan’s strategy allowed his army to avoid confronting steadily strengthening Confederate forces between Richmond and Washington, but the massive movement of troops, supplies, artillery, wagons, horses, and cattle was a logistical nightmare. After weeks assembling troops and supplies at Fort Monroe, McClellan moved to secure the York River by forcing Confederate troops from their formidable defenses at Yorktown, some 25 miles from Fort Monroe. While awaiting heavy siege artillery to be moved into place before Yorktown, McClellan attempted to gather intelligence on the number of enemy troops and artillery the Confederates had behind their Yorktown defenses,

Sarah Emma Edmonds.

Colonel Orlando Poe. Poe’s testimonial regarding Private Franklin Thompson’s exemplary service was a critical factor in having the characterization of “deserter” expunged from his service record.

Sarah Emma Evelyn Edmonds

in part, using hot air observation balloons. The weather was so inclement that the air intelligence effort was unsuccessful.

Although McClellan’s forces outnumbered General Magruder’s troops nearly four to one. Magruder, using smoke and mirrors, fooled McClellan into believing that the Rebels were equal in number to the Union forces by repeatedly marching his men back and forth to exaggerate their strength. Quaker guns lined Confederate earthworks in an impressive display of cannon.

McClellan was reluctant to move without knowing what lay before his mega-army. He needed intelligence. Timothy Webster, a Pinkerton agent and Union spy, had been seized by the Confederates and sentenced to be

executed along with his associates. Thompson, still serving as a mail carrier, volunteered to slip behind Confederate lines and gather intelligence for the Army of the Potomac. It was a dangerous mission, but Thompson willingly accepted the risk.

Donning a disguise was nothing new to Franklin. He disguised himself in the clothing of a male slave, rubbed silver nitrate on his skin to darken it, and borrowed a wig from the quartermaster. By nine-thirty in the evening Thompson had passed through the Federal picket line. At midnight he was within the Confederate lines. Not one sentinel had challenged him. Franklin stayed hidden until morning and then joined a party of slaves returning after delivering breakfast to Rebel soldiers at the picket line. Franklin joined the small band and returned with them to camp. Inside the Confederate camp, Franklin and the slaves were directed to build fortifications. He was furnished a pickaxe, shovel, and a wheelbarrow. The work was laborious. By evening, his hands, from fingers to wrists, were raw and bleeding. By night Franklin, going about as a slave named Ned, had freedom to walk the fort and make a diagram of the type and positions of the Confederate artillery. She listened attentively for the plans of the Rebel army. After three days of spying, Franklin slipped through the Confederate defenses at night and returned safely back to the Union camp. She dutifully reported the intelligence to his superiors. Franklin proved to be very good in the “secret service” of the Union army. Several months later Thompson went back to spying in the role of an Irish peddler called Bridget O’Shea. Bridget sold merchandise to Rebel soldiers and listened for any details about their upcoming battle plans to pass along to the Union army.

Eventually Private Franklin Thompson slipped behind Confederate lines eleven times. Generally, his espionage went undetected but there were some incredibly close calls. Spying was a risky business. Once disguised as a black laundress, with a darkened face and heavy accent, Franklin found official papers in an officer’s coat pocket and hid in the basement of an old dwelling as a battle broke out. She fell to the floor and miraculously escaped the hail of bullets that riddled the house.

Franklin returned to the Union army and serve as a mail courier through the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles. By December 1862, she had become an aide-de-camp for Colonel

Poe at Fredericksburg. Poe’s Brigade was assigned to guard a pontoon bridge that spanned the Rappahannock River in front of Fredericksburg.

Throughout the bloody battle Thompson was “fully occupied in the responsible duties” he had “volunteered to perform.” He was so constantly employed delivering messages and carrying orders that he was “not out of the saddle but once in twelve hours,” and that only to assist an officer suffering from cramps and spasms.

Thompson had developed a reputation for bravery. As Frank, Emma became a hero although no one suspected her true identity. Emma continued to serve undetected until the 2nd Michigan was ordered to Lebanon, Ky., as part of the Army of the Cumberland. Contracting malaria, Edmonds was certain that treatment in a military hospital would reveal her gender, and force her from the army. Emma requested a medical furlough, but the request was denied. Emma left her regiment, going AWOL, sometime between April 1 and 12, 1864. By April 19, Frank Thompson was officially listed as a deserter on the regiment’s muster rolls.

Emma sought treatment in a civilian hospital in Illinois and planned to return to the army after she recovered but never returned to the army. Facing charges of desertion, Emma decided that it would be best to allow Frank Thompson to disappear, permanently. Emma returned to civilian life as a female nurse. She volunteered as Emma Edmonds at a hospital operated by the U.S. Sanitary Commission in Harpers Ferry.

During her free time, Emma wrote a book, Nurse and Spy in the Union Army, about her experiences during her two years of service. She called it a memoir. It was historical fiction, a mixture of fact, a little fiction, and a dash of imagination. Emma camouflaged her identity and that of her unit. She discreetly referenced individuals by initials or by an alias. Initially published in 1864, Emma donated the proceeds from her published book to soldiers’ aid organizations.

In 1867, Sarah Emma Edmonds married Linus Seelye, an acquaintance from New Brunswick. They had three surviving children and two adopted sons. Emma attended a reunion of the 2nd Michigan Volunteers in 1876 and was well received by her former comrades who supported her application for a veteran’s pension and advocated that the accusation of desertion

be purged from the service record of Franklin Thompson. After an eight-year battle with the War Department and an Act of Congress, the charge of desertion was erased and a soldier’s pension was awarded.

Sarah Emma Edmonds Seelye has been accorded the distinction of being the only woman known to have been admitted as a member to the Grand Army of the Republic. She was honored as a GAR member in 1897. Emma was buried with military honors in Washington Cemetery in Houston, Texas.

Note: Sarah Emma Edmonds’ Nurse and Spy in the Union Army was published by W. S. Williams and Company, the subscription bookseller in Hartford. Sarah Emma Edmonds Seelye eventually died of lingering complications from the malaria that she contracted during her military service.

Bob Ruegsegger is an American by birth and a Virginian. His assignments frequently take him to historic sites throughout Virginia, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Southeast. His favorite haunts include sites within Virginia’s Historic Triangle— Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg. Bob served briefly in the U.S. Navy. He is a retired educator and has been an active newspaper journalist for the last twenty years.

Fort Monroe. (U.S. Army photo)

Peninsula Campaign Marker.

Diorama showing Fredericksburg circa December 1862.

General John Bankhead Magruder.

Title page from Emma’s book, Nurse and Spy in the Union Army.

Visit our new website at CivilWarNews.com and it will take you to HistoricalPublicationsLLC.com. The calendar is online and an updated before the print issue. To submit an event send it to: ads@civilwarnews.com

Aug. 13-14, Georgia. Civil War Show and Sale

44th Annual Southeastern Civil War & Antique Gun Show in Marietta at the Cobb County Civic Center hosted by the North Georgia Relic Hunters Association. Cobb County Civic Center, 548 South Marietta Pkwy SE, Marietta, GA 30060. Hours Sat. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Admission $6, veterans and children under 10 are free. Show chairman: Ray McMahan at terryraymac@hotmail.com. For more info visit www.ngrha.com.

Sept. 24, Illinois. Civil War & Military Extravaganza

Zurko Promotions presents The National Civil War Collectors Fall Show and Sale which will be held at the DuPage County Fairgrounds, 2015 W. Manchester, Wheaton, Ill. Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $10, Early Admission $25. Free parking. For more info: visit www.chicagocivilwarshow. com or call Zurko Promotions at 715-526-9769.

September 24, Virginia. Walking Tour

Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute in partnership with the Fort Collier Civil War Center will offer a tour with Prof. Jonathan A. Noyalas, “A Theme for the Poet, a Scene for the Painter”: Fort Collier and the Third Battle of Winchester. The one-hour tour, beginning at 9:30 a.m., will be held at Fort Collier, 922 Martinsburg Pike, Winchester, Virginia. Event is free and open to the public. No pre-registration required. For information; jnoyalas01@su.edu or 540-665-4501

Sept. 30-Oct. 2, Virginia, Annual Conference

Central Virginia Battlefields Trust hosts its 2022 annual conference, “1862The War Comes to Fredericksburg.” This year’s conference kicks off with a Friday evening President’s Reception at the CVBT office. Saturday features a special screening of “Fire on the Rappahannock” in the morning, and river crossings and Prospect Hill battlefield tours during the day. Saturday evening includes a banquet and annual meeting with a keynote address by historian John Hennessey at historic Belmont in Falmouth. Sunday brunch at Stevenson’s Ridge includes a panel discussion moderated by Chris Mackowski with historians Sarah Kay Bierle, John Hennessey, Greg Mertz, and Scott Walker. Full weekend registration is $195.00, or Saturday evening banquet only is $95.00. More information and registration are available at: https://www.cvbt.org/cvbt-annual-conference.

Oct. 1, Pennsylvania. Honor Ceremony

Major Octavius V. Catto Honor ceremony; wreath laying; military salute at the Catto Monument at city hall in Philadelphia at 11 a.m. honoring the great black equal rights and military leader. Wreath-Laying ceremony. All military units, period civilians, veterans and heritage groups are welcome. Colors, wreaths and music encouraged. Following the city hall ceremony, PA National Guard Medal Ceremony at 12:30 p.m. in the Union League for the ‘Major Catto Medal.’ For info: Dr. Andy Waskie awaski01@gmail.com.

Oct. 7-9, Virginia. Period Firearms Competition

The North-South Skirmish Association 146th National Competition near Winchester. Over 3,000 uniformed competitors in 200 member units compete in live-fire matches with muskets, carbines, revolvers, mortars and cannon plus costume competitions and historical lectures. The largest Civil War livefire event in the country. Free admission, large sutler area, and food service. For more information visit the N-SSA web site: www.n-ssa.org.

Nov. 5, Virginia. Seminar & Tour

Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute annual fall seminar and tour with Prof. Jonathan A. Noyalas, “My Mind is Full with Thoughts

of the Past”: The Second Battle of Winchester Through the Eyes of Combatants and Civilians.” $25 registration fee covers morning lecture at Shenandoah University (1460 University Drive, Winchester, VA), lunch at SU, and vehicle caravan of sites, including sites not regularly accessible to the public. Event begins at 10:30 a.m. and concludes at 4 p.m. To register visit su.edu/mcwi. For info; jnoyalas01@su.edu or 540-665-4501.

Nov. 10, Pennsylvania. US Marine Corps Birthday Observance

Laurel Hill Cemetery located at 3822 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia at 11 a.m. at the grave of General Jacob Zeilin, 7th Commandant of the Marine Corps during the Civil War. A special ‘Veterans’ Day tour of heroes ‘killed in action’ and buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery will follow. Co-sponsored by: The Legion Post 405; MOLLUS; General Meade Society For information; 215-228-2800, or 215-423-3930, Dr. Andy Waskie: awaski01@gmail.com, www. thelaurelhillcemetery.org

Nov. 12, Virginia. Civil War Show

Bullet and Shell is proud to present the 41st Central Virginia Military Antique Show (formally Mike Kent’s Capital of the Confederacy Civil War Show). In conjunction with the Central Virginia Civil War Collectors Association, we plan to continue to do everything to make this one of the best shows in the country. The show will host vendors and displays of American military history from the Revolutionary War through WWII. Bring your relics for appraisal or to sell. Over 300 tables! There will be many historical items to add to your collection. Show hours are 9-5 on Saturday, vendor setup on Friday. Parking is free and admission is only $10/adults with children under 12 free. For more information or registration go to www.MilitaryAntiqueShow.com.

Nov. 19, Pennsylvania. Remembrance Day in Gettysburg

General Meade & his Generals and the veterans of the Battle of Gettysburg Honor/Dedication ceremonies during the Remembrance Day Observance. Honoring all commanders and veterans of the Battle. Meet at the General Meade Equestrian Monument at 10 a.m. For information; Jerry McCormick at 215-848-7753 or gedwinmc@msn.com.

Nov. 19, Pennsylvania. Gettysburg Remembrance Day Parade

Sponsored by the Sons of Veterans Reserve, the Military Department of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Parade briefing at the Unity Park Monument on Lefever St. at 12 p.m. Units form up at Noon on Lefever St. between Baltimore St. and E. Confederate Ave. Parade begins at 1 p.m. For information; Major David Hann, Provost Marshal SVR at 609-816-2012, majorsvrprovost@gmail.com.

Nov. 19, Pennsylvania. Civil War Ball

The original Gettysburg Ball will be held 8 p.m. to midnight at the Wyndham Gettysburg Hotel locate at 95 Presidential Circle in Gettysburg. Tickets $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Music by the Philadelphia Brigade Band. Dances led by the Victorian Dance Ensemble. Period dress encouraged, but not required. Door prizes, plus prizes for Ladies Cake Walk. Cash bar. Make check payable to SVR Remembrance Day Ball. Include stamped, self-addressed envelope for tickets. Ticket orders received after Nov. 12 will be distributed at the Ball Mail to: Col. Steve Michaels SVR, 6623 S North Cape Rd., Franklin, WI 53132-1227. For information; 414-712-4655 or Lt.col.sm@gmail.com.

Dec. 3-4, Tennessee. Civil War Show and Sale

MK Shows presents the 35th annual Middle Tennessee Civil War Show and Sale at the Williamson County Ag Expo Park, 4215 Long Lane in Franklin. The nation’s largest Civil War show, featuring 750 tables of antique weapons, artifacts and memorabilia from top dealers and collectors around the country and encompassing all eras of military history from the Revolutionary War through World War II. Appraisers are always on hand to help you identify and value your military collectibles at no cost. Hours are 9-5 on Sat., 9-3 on Sun. Free Parking. Admission is only $10/ adults and children under 12 are free. For information; www.MKShows.com or Mike@MKShows.com.

Dec. 31, Pennsylvania. Birthday Celebration

2022 will mark the 207th annual anniversary of the birth of General George G. Meade, the heroic commander of the victorious Union army at the Battle of Gettysburg. The General Meade Society of Philadelphia will celebrate his birthday at Historic Laurel Hill Cemetery, 3822 Ridge Ave. at noon. A champagne toast and reception will follow the program. For information; 215-228-8200 Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Before making plans to attend any event contact the event host.

Twenty-Seventh Annual Lincoln Forum To Focus On “Lincoln In The White House” Historian-Cable News Stars Jon Meacham and John Avlon Will Featured

After its successful in-person 25th-anniversary symposium in 2021, the Forum will reconvene at the Wyndham Hotel Gettysburg and feature another roster of leading lecturers and panelists. This year’s keynoter is Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Jon Meacham, who will discuss his forthcoming biography, And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle

Two presidential historians familiar to millions as both best-selling authors and cable news commentators, Jon Meacham and John Avlon, will be among the major speakers at the 27th annual Lincoln Forum symposium, “Lincoln in the Civil War White House: The Politics and Personalities of a Union Divided,” November 16-18 in Gettysburg, Penn.

The symposium will feature analysis, discussion, music, and art meant to reimagine and reinterpret the crises that beset the wartime U. S. capital and its most famous resident, Abraham Lincoln.

The book tells Lincoln’s story through the lens of his evolving moral and religious sensibilities. Meacham’s talk, “Lincoln and the Arc of a Moral Universe: The Conscience of a President,” will focus on Lincoln’s leadership in times of turmoil.

CNN senior political analyst, and “Reality Check” commentator, John Avlon will discuss his new book, Lincoln and the Fight for Peace, which Jon Meacham called “an important and absorbing contribution to the literature of the American Presidency.” He will speak to the Forum on: “How Lincoln Helped Win the Peace After World War II.” Avlon has written previously on George Washington and is the only descendant-in-law of an American president ever to speak at the Forum.

“It is with great pride that we

bring another superb faculty to Gettysburg for Forum XXVII,” Chairman Harold Holzer said. “We very much look forward to engaging our audience ‘family’ with another three-day symposium guaranteed to reunite good friends and provide upto-date scholarship and spirited discussion. After our one-year all-zoom session two years ago, it is good to be back in the routine of in-person meetings to mark our 27th anniversary.”

Further information and registration forms can be found on the Forum’s newly redesigned website (www.thelincolnforum. org) or from Forum Administrator Diane Brennan (admin@ thelincolnforum.org).

Among other first-time speakers will be longtime curator and historian John Rhodehamel, author of America’s Original Sin: White Supremacy, John Wilkes Booth, and the Lincoln Assassination (2021). Rhodehamel will discuss “White Supremacy and the Lincoln Assassination.”

Veteran Lincoln Forum member Christopher Oakley will show how art and technology helped him pinpoint the precise location of the speaker’s platform from which Lincoln delivered

Middle Tenn Civil War Show

December 3 & 4, 2022

MK Shows presents the 35th annual Middle Tennessee Civil War Show and Sale at the Williamson County Ag Expo Park, 4215 Long Lane in Franklin. The nation’s largest Civil War show, featuring 750 tables of antique weapons, artifacts and memorabilia from top dealers and collectors around the country and encompassing all eras of military history from the Revolutionary War through World War II. Appraisers are always on hand to help you identify and value your military collectibles at no cost. Hours are 9-5 on Sat., 9-3 on Sun. Free Parking. Admission is only $10/ adults and children under 12 are free. For information visit www.MKShows.com (Scan Me) or Mike@MKShows.com.

The Largest Civil War Show Under One Roof!

his immortal Gettysburg Address 159 years ago this November. Oakley, a professor of new media at UNC-Asheville, previously worked as an animator for both Disney and DreamWorks. His mystery-solving discovery, to be announced for the first time at the Forum, will likely make major news in the historical community.

The 2022 symposium will also feature a host of returning Forum favorites. New York Times bestselling biographer Walter Stahr will discuss his important new biography, Chase: Lincoln’s Vital Rival (2022). Lincoln Prize winner Elizabeth D. Leonard will offer a fresh re-assessment of the Union general some called the “Beast,” based on her brand-new biography, Benjamin Franklin Butler: A Noisy, Fearless Life (2022). Lincoln Forum Vice Chairman Jonathan W. White will discuss African American encounters with Abraham Lincoln, based on his two most recent groundbreaking books: To Address You as My Friend: African Americans’ Letters to Abraham Lincoln (2021) and A House Built by Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House (2022).

The Forum will also feature conversations and panel discussions. Chairman Emeritus Frank J. Williams will engage veteran Wall Street Journal columnist Roger Lowenstein to explore Lowenstein’s highly praised new book, Ways and Means: Lincoln and His Cabinet and the Financing of the Civil War

Lincoln Forum Executive Committee member Edna Greene Medford will chair a panel on “Lincoln, Race, and Citizenship.” It will feature Michael Green, author of Lincoln and Native Americans (2021); last year’s Lincoln Forum Book Prizewinner Professor James Oakes; and Christy Coleman, the CEO of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, who served as onair commentator for recent CNN and History Channel Lincoln documentaries.

Forum Vice Chairman White will lead a panel on “Lincoln and the Democrats,” featuring J. Matthew Gallman, author of the new book, The Cacophony of Politics: Northern Democrats and the American Civil War; Reg Ankrom, a Stephen Douglas biographer and longtime resident of the Lincoln-Douglas debate

town of Quincy, Illinois; Lincoln Forum Chairman Harold Holzer, who has written often on the Democratic press of the Lincoln era; and Elizabeth Leonard, biographer of prominent War Democrats Ben Butler and Joseph Holt.

As a special added attraction, the U.S. Army Chorus will return to the Forum by popular demand for an after-dinner concert of Lincoln-era music. As always, attendees will also enjoy the Forum’s all-author book signing and an array of displays featuring both artists and Lincolniana specialists.

For the first time in three years, the Forum will resume its FirstTimers’ Battlefield Tour, this year featuring legendary guide and historian Carol Reardon of Gettysburg College. Other attendees will select from a list of compelling breakout sessions, including: the ever-popular duo of Professors John F. Marszalek and Craig L. Symonds on the memoirs of Grant and Sherman; Michael Green and Andrew F. Lang on “Lincoln and the Union;” David Kent, author of the forthcoming Lincoln: The Fire of Genius, in conversation with iconic historian Edward Steers Jr., on Lincoln, science, and technology; and the traditional and delicious crowd-pleaser, “Cooking with the Chief and the Chef” featuring Chief Justice Frank Williams in the kitchen with the resident Wyndham Hotel head of cuisine. Publisher Ross Heller will host a breakout session, featuring artist and Forum Advisor Wendy Allen and Huntington Library curator Olga Tsapina, on preserving and interpreting original Lincoln manuscripts. Dr. Tsapina recently guided Heller in producing a forthcoming booklength version of a manuscript in the future president’s hand: By Abraham Lincoln: His 1858 Time Capsule, for which Allen provided the cover art. The Heller volume will be released and sold for the first time during the 2022 Lincoln Forum.

By tradition, the Forum will also welcome student and teacher scholarship winners, present its Richard N. Current Award for Lifetime Achievement; the Wendy Allen Award for Lincoln and Civil War organizational excellence; the Platt Family student essay prize; and the newly renamed Harold Holzer Book Prize.

Jon Meacham

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