Civil War News February 2019

UNC Trustees Told to Create New Plan for “Silent Sam”

By Stephen Davis Special to Civil War News

On December 14, the University of North Carolina System Board of Governors rejected a proposal from University trustees at Chapel Hill to move the Confederate soldier’s monument on campus to a more secluded site, inside a building on the school’s southern fringes.

The Board of Governors cited cost as a chief reason in rejecting the university’s proposal to move the bronze soldier, nicknamed “Silent Sam.” The cost of moving and reinstating the statue was estimated at $5.3 million. The UNC trustees were directed to come up with a new plan for Silent Sam by mid-March 2019.

The issue was brought about by a protest rally at the statue, sited on McCorkle Place at the university’s entrance, last August. Protesters pulled Silent Sam down from its pedestal. University authorities then removed the bronze statue to a secure location, but left the pedestal and inscription plaques in place.

A week later, the University System Board of Governors called on UNC Chancellor Carol Folt to develop a long-term plan for the statuary. In public statements, Folt made it clear that

trustees did not want Silent Sam on campus, but a 2015 state law prohibits moving historical monuments from public places except to new sites of similar prominence and visibility. The Chapel Hill trustees’ proposal to move the statue, from a prominent walkway at the center of the university, to the south campus and a new building housing relics from the university’s history, clearly did not meet that criterion.

The statue that stirred the rumpus on the campus actually originated more than a century earlier. In 1907 the North Carolina Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy resolved to raise a monument at the University of North Carolina memorializing students who fought for the South in the Civil War. It was said that forty percent of the male student body volunteered for service, a record not equaled by any other Southern college.

The university approved the UDC’s request in 1908. Fundraising for the monument came from UNC alums, the Daughters, and the university itself.

When it was dedicated on June 2, 1913, “in memory of all University students, living and dead, who served in the Confederacy,” not only did North Carolina governor Locke Craig address the thousand or so onlookers, but so did University president Francis Venable. In his remarks the governor extolled the bravery of the young men who took up arms. “Nearly all the boys who left this institution to follow the flag of the Confederacy were killed or wounded in battle,” he declared; “the statue is a monument to their chivalry and devotion.”

The bronze itself presents a young, uniformed Confederate soldier, walking with musket as if into battle. The brim of his hat is jauntily folded to its right; a blanket roll is tied over his shoulder. Below the statue on the pedestal is a metal plaque showing a frieze: a robed female warrior, holding a sword, lays her hand on a seated lad who is reading a book. The message is clear: she is calling the student to war.

Given the substantial support

for Silent Sam from UNC and its alums a century ago, I find peculiar the written statement released by Chancellor Folt: “We are the only university in this state that has anything closely resembling this statue….No university today would even consider placing such an artifact on their campuses….Put here more than one hundred years ago, our community is carrying the burden of an artifact, given to us by a previous generation in a different time.” I view in the chancellor’s statement a strained effort to forge a presentist disconnect from what was a genuine historical connection in 1908–13 between the university, its alumni, and the Confederate monument. Silent Sam did not stand in a void. Of ninety monuments

“Unveiling of the Confederate Monument, June 2, 1913” in Orange County, North Carolina Postcard Collection (P052), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill.

A postcard photograph of the unveiling of the Confederate Monument Silent Sam at the University of North Carolina on June 2, 1913. The postcard was sent by “Drew”, on the very day of the unveiling, to Mrs. M.F. Patterson in Winston-Salem, N.C., and says: “My dear Mother, This is a photo of the unveiling of our new monument to those who left the Univ. to enlist in the army in 1861. The parade yesterday was a fine one, & Mary & the other looked very picturesque in your dresses. We’ll

Drew.”

Statue of a Confederate soldier on the campus of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (Yellowspacehopper at English Wikipedia)

take good care of them & thank you for them. All well. Love to all. Affectionately,

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H Silent Sam

. . . . . . . . . . . from page 1

erected in North Carolina from the end of the war throughout the Centennial, Ralph Widener counts more than half, fifty, as dedicated during the first two decades of the last century, 1900–1919 (Ralph W. Widener Jr., Confederate Monuments: Enduring Symbols of the South and the War Between the States, 1982).

The “silent” part has different stories. The North Carolina Division UDC hired a Massachusetts-based sculptor, John A. Wilson, to make its Chapel Hill statue. Wilson had already created a statue of a Maine soldier killed in the war; the sculptor did not include a cartridge box. When contracted by the North Carolina ladies, Wilson repeated the scene: the Confederate held his rifle, but he carried no cartridge box. Hence the “silent” soldier who never fired his weapon.

Despite its silence (the campus newspaper, the Daily Tar Heel, began calling it “Silent Sam” in 1954), the statuary started provoking protests in the 1960s. In 1965, the Tar Heel published a letter complaining that the sculpted Confederate soldier was a racist symbol. In April 1968 it was vandalized with paint after the assassination of Dr. King. The university Black Student Movement began holding protests at the statue.

Silent Sam was spray painted again in July 2015. Three months later, addressing students on University Day, Chancellor Folt was interrupted by shouts of

“Tear it down!”

Then came the Charlottesville riots of Aug. 11-12, 2017, which thrust that city’s monuments to Confederate heroes into the national spotlight. On August 14, the Confederate statue in Durham, N.C., home of Duke University, was torn down by an angry crowd. A week later, UNC officials warned North Carolina governor Roy Cooper that the same thing could happen at Chapel Hill. “It is only a matter of time,” the statement read, “before an attempt is made to pull down Silent Sam in much the same manner we saw in Durham.” Campus police began guarding the monument, even forming a barrier around it when protesters talked of tearing it down.

But the protection could not prevent the inevitable. On Aug. 20, 2018, protesters pulled Silent Sam down from its pedestal. Several days later, the North Carolina Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans placed flowers around the base that had held the soldier’s statue.

In recent years, a group calling itself “the Real Silent Sam Coalition” had begun to

hold protests at the statue. The Coalition posted this notice at the site:

“The Real Silent Sam”

September 1, 2011

The Confederate Monument at Chapel Hill was erected in 1913 during a white supremacist movement in which similar statues were built throughout the South. This memorial to Confederate soldiers who left the university perpetuates an incomplete and inaccurate history—one that intentionally neglects the vast number of North Carolinians who opposed secession and the Confederacy. The original supporters of the movement, both town and university leaders, were motivated by racism and were colluders in a statewide campaign to establish white dominance.

This statement from the Real Silent Sam Coalition goes a long way toward explaining why there developed such local antipathy to the Confederate soldier’s monument on the university campus.

New York State Militia/Hiram Roosa’s Collection

By Leon Reed

So, when did the Civil War “start?” Well, when I taught U.S. History, the Virginia Standard of Learning stated the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter, S.C., on April 12, 1861. The SOL also mentioned that the first “significant armed combat” happened at First Manassas, on July 21, 1861. I doubt any state standard mentions the event that arguably marked the beginning of the fighting and the moment the country recognized we were stepping into something big. This event came almost half-way between the “first shots” and the “first battle” and is today almost forgotten. Thanks to the early involvement of the New York State Militia and the interest of a key NYSM official in souvenirs, a fresh reminder of this event is available.

NYSM Mobilizes

Of all the northern states, New York was the one that took military affairs most seriously in the years preceding the Civil War. The New York State Military Association, parent organization for state militia units, was also politically active. Early in the secession crisis, NYSM approved resolutions denouncing secession, calling on Federal authorities to defend Federal arsenals and other property in Southern states, and specifically endorsing plans for defense of Fort Sumter.

No state had a more effective militia organization. Unlike most Northern states, many NY militia units had at least partially full rosters, some training, and had been issued some equipment in peacetime. As a result, New York militia regiments were among the first units organized, equipped, and dispatched to Washington, D.C., at the start of the crisis. At least eleven NYSM regiments responded to Lincoln’s April 15, 1861, call for 75,000 volunteers, leaving New York for Washington between April 19 and May 7, to serve for three months.1 Four additional New York State

Militia regiments volunteered for three years’ service.2 On May 23-24, 1861, NYSM regiments played a leading part in the first offensive operation of the war, the move across the Potomac River to occupy Alexandria and Arlington.

Roosa and His Collection

The corresponding secretary of the Military Association was Hiram Roosa. As the corresponding secretary of one of the most prominent pro-Union organizations, he had a wide acquaintance with politicians and military officers. During the first year of the war, Roosa was also an avid collector of Civil War souvenirs. An album he kept has passed down through Roosa’s descendants. It sat unseen in a bag for at least 50 years before resurfacing recently.

The scrapbook contains some of his correspondence (with, among others, Maj. Robert Anderson, commandant of the U.S. garrison at Fort Sumter, and Horatio Seymour, a prominent New York state politician), a superb collection of several hundred envelopes with printed cartoons and sayings on them, and several keepsakes of early war incidents.

The Death of Col. Elmer Ellsworth, first Union officer to die in the Civil War

Elmer Ellsworth worked in Abraham Lincoln’s law office and accompanied him to Washington for his inauguration. Some years before the war, Ellsworth introduced the Zouave concept in the United States. His first unit, the Chicago-based United States Zouave Cadets, put on precision drills and exhibitions in the United States.3 His first unit, the Chicago-based United States Zouave Cadets, toured 20 cities before the war, including West Point and Washington, D.C. When the war broke out, he formed and was the first commander of the First New York Fire Zouaves (11th New York

Volunteers), one of the early regiments to arrive in Washington during Lincoln’s initial crisis.

On May 24, 1861, the day after Virginia voted in a referendum to ratify the articles of secession approved earlier by the legislature, Ellsworth’s regiment took part in the first offensive operation of the war. The New York Times listed nine NYSM units (including “Ellsworth’s Zouaves”) as making up about two-thirds of the Union force that crossed the Potomac River to occupy Arlington County and Alexandria. While the 69th New York (later a stalwart component of the Irish Brigade) led a column of troops across the Long Bridge (near today’s 14th Street Bridge) into Virginia, Ellsworth and his Zouaves took a steamer down the Potomac to the Alexandria city dock. Most Confederate troops had fled and the occupation of the city was relatively smooth.

An 8- by 14-foot Confederate flag flying from the roof of the Marshall House, an Alexandria hotel, had been an irritating presence to those across the river for several weeks. Ellsworth led a squad to get it. Ellsworth was accompanied by only four soldiers as he approached the Marshall House. There was no resistance and he easily reached the hotel’s roof and took down the flag. According to one account, as Ellsworth and his escort descended to the ground floor, “Ellsworth just happened to meet the one person he didn’t want to meet,” innkeeper James Jackson. Jackson was a strong defender of secession and also was reportedly a violent man.

Jackson accosted Ellsworth and fired a shotgun at him. Jackson’s shotgun blast killed Ellsworth instantly; Jackson in turn was gunned down by Cpl. Francis Brownell, one of Ellsworth’s party. Ellsworth became the first Union officer killed during the war.

The reaction to Ellsworth’s death was instantaneous. The New York Times reported that night that his regiment was camped on a steamer in the river

“to prevent them from avenging the death of Ellsworth.” The city was reported to be quiet. “The citizens are in great fear.”

The New York Tribune and other papers published accounts of the incident and news traveled fast. In death, the friend of Lincoln and “martyred hero” reached celebrity status. His body lay in state at the White House and then was taken to New York City, where thousands lined up to view Ellsworth’s cortege.4

Early in the war, before the number of heroes began to mount, “Remember Ellsworth!” became a rallying cry and his name and face and descriptions of his heroics appeared on stationery, envelopes, and other ephemera. The 44th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, which was forming at the time, took the nickname “Ellsworth’s Avengers.”

The incident galvanized the south as well. Not only Jackson’s martyrdom but the broader events of the day became rallying cries. The entire Federal troop movement into northern Virginia was condemned as an illegal invasion and occupation. The day’s events did much to convince doubters that war was inevitable.

Writing in 1864, New York Times editor Horace Greeley commented on the significance of this small event. “Jackson’s deed, which, at the North, was shudderingly regarded as assassination, at the South was exulted over as an exhibition of patriotic heroism; and a subscription was at once set on foot for the benefit of his family. The incident was widely regarded by many as indicative of the terrible earnestness of the contest upon which the American people were now entering.”

The newly-discovered souvenir in Roosa’s collection contains a brief handwritten account of Ellsworth’s death; items identified as a fragment of the stair Ellsworth was standing on, presented to the adjutant of the 20th NYSM by Cpl. Brownell; a “Southern Rights, Don’t Tread on Us” card removed from Jackson’s pocket; a fragment of the oil cloth that Ellsworth was laid on; and an envelope commemorating Ellsworth.

After the action in Alexandria, Ellsworth’s regiment was heavily engaged at First Manassas, was involved in the Seven Days campaign in the spring of 1862, and was then sent back to New York City to muster out.

View of Fort Sumter in ruins after the war ended. (Library of Congress) Confederate flag card taken from Jackson’s pocket.

Fight Through Baltimore:

Albert Kent, drummer

Roosa’s second interesting souvenir concerned another event with national significance that happened a month earlier than the Federal advance into Virginia. It concerned Albert Kent, a drummer boy with the 6th Massachusetts Infantry. Kent was killed April 19, 1861, during the Pratt St. riots in Baltimore. The riots happened when the 6th Massachusetts, one of the first regiments to reinforce the national capital, marched through downtown Baltimore.5

Due to the lack of through rail links, passengers for Washington were forced to transfer 10 blocks from the President St. station to the Camden station. The 6th Massachusetts arrived in Baltimore only six days after the surrender of Fort Sumter and pro-secession feeling ran extremely high. Members of the “Copperhead” (anti-war Democrat) and pro-Confederate factions blocked efforts to pull the rail cars from station to station and surrounded a group of soldiers walking through town.6

Shots were exchanged and at least 4 soldiers and 12 civilians died before the mayor dispatched police who quelled the riot and escorted the soldiers on to the Camden train station.

The Federal government reacted swiftly to the riots and the threat of secession in Maryland. In the aftermath, a new route to Washington from the north was established via Annapolis, allowing Federal reinforcements to bypass Baltimore. The 8th Massachusetts and 7th New York occupied Annapolis; the New York regiment then moved to Washington, breaking the siege and ensuring the survival of the nation’s capital.

Baltimore was occupied by Federal troops and President Lincoln declared martial law, arresting most of the political leadership and imprisoning them without charges, later ignoring a Supreme Court ruling that his declaration was unconstitutional. When the legislature met in September to consider secession, Lincoln had a third of the legislators arrested, ending discussion of secession in this critical state.

The riots were one of the first violent events involving U.S. troops to occur during the secession crisis. The souvenir contains a brief account of Kent’s death and a fragment of his drum, given to Roosa by a drummer from the 20th New York State Militia. The Roosa collection also contains an envelope honoring another 6th Massachusetts soldier shot during the march through Baltimore.

William Tillman Saves the S.J. Waring

The third event celebrated in Roosa’s collection didn’t have the national implications of the Ellsworth killing or Pratt St. Riots, but it provided an important morale boost for the Union public at a time good news was desperately needed.

William Tillman was a black steward on the S.J. Waring, a northern merchant schooner headed toward Montevideo. On July 9, 1861, the ship was seized by Confederates from the privateer Jefferson Davis. The Confederates dropped most of the white crewmen off in Cuba to await a ship back to New York and then headed for port in South Carolina with Tillman, a prize crew, and a few of the Waring’s original crew. The privateers told Tillman that he was Confederate property and he knew his ultimate

Fragment of the Elsworth Flag and the stair step Col. Ellsworth was standing on “when he received his death shot.”

Fragment of cloth wrapped around Col. Ellsworth’s body.

Envelope in praise of Col. Ellsworth.

“On to Richmond … Remember Ellsworth” envelope.

Fragment of Albert Kent’s drum.

Envelope in honor of Luther Ladd, shot in the Pratt St. riots.

destination was enslavement on a southern plantation.

To their ultimate regret, the privateers continued to allow Tillman to have the run of the ship, believing him incapable of hatching or carrying out a plot. While en route, Tillman and one of the original crew members overpowered and killed the privateer’s leaders, locked the other Confederates below deck, and, assisted by the original crew members, sailed the ship toward New York. When additional crew was needed he brought the Confederates up on the deck and promised to shoot them if they disobeyed in any way. With his makeshift crew, Tillman arrived in New York, beating the captain and other crewmen who had been left in Cuba.

The souvenir in Roosa’s collection includes a handwritten account of Tillman’s story, a photo of Tillman, a newspaper article describing the adventure, and a fragment of the flag that flew over the Waring.

A country just recovering from the shocking loss at First Manassas earlier the same day hailed this maritime triumph. Tillman received $6,000 in prize money for recovery of the

“Waring” and enjoyed a brief period of celebrity. Black writer William Wells Brown wrote in 1867 that “the New York Tribune said of this event ‘To this colored man was the nation indebted for the first vindication of its honor on the sea.’ Another public journal spoke of that achievement alone as an offset to the defeat of the Federal arms at Bull Run. Unstinted praise from all parties, even those who are usually awkward in any other vernacular than derision of the colored man, has been awarded to this colored man.” Tillman even got the equivalent of a reality show: “At Barnum’s Museum he was the center of attractive gaze to daily increasing thousands.”

Roosa’s scrapbook is in excellent condition and provides a fascinating glimpse of early Civil War activity. The scrapbook contains a few dozen letters, most concerned with the routine business of the Military Association, a few more souvenirs of early Civil War events, and more than 100 illustrated envelopes. Some celebrate early Union victories (“McClellan, Liberator of West Virginia”) and leaders (most notably President Lincoln and General Winfield Scott) while

others heaped scorn on Jefferson Davis or other Confederate leaders. I am grateful to Hiram Roosa for assembling this Civil War history and to my cousins, Mary Reed and James Reed, for taking such good care of this collection for a combined 80+ years.

Endnotes:

1. 1st Fire Zouaves, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 12th, 13th, 20th, 25th, 28th, and 71st New York State Militia. Although these were initially three month regiments, many of them re-enlisted upon the expiration of their term or formed the nucleus of a new New York volunteer regiment.

2. These were the 2nd state militia (later the 82nd New York Volunteers), 9th (83rd), 14th (84th), and 69th (later a component of the Irish Brigade). Much of this information is abstracted from https://dmna. ny.gov/historic/reghist/civil/ infantry/20thInfNYSM/20thInfNYSMMain.htm.

3. Timothy Marr, “The American Zouave: Mania and Mystique,” Military Images, Autumn 2016, p. 22.

4. “Very Important News: the War for the Union Commenced in Earnest,” New York Times, May 25, 1861, p. 1, “Exciting News: the War Commenced,” Baltimore Sun, May 25, 1861, p. 1, and Greeley, Horace,

The American Conflict. Vol. 1 (Hartford, OD Case, 1864).

5. https://www.nps.gov/articles/ the-pratt-street-riot.htm

6. The secession crisis was very much a current event at the time. The first seven states seceded between December 1860 and February 1861 following the election of Lincoln. The scrap at Fort Sumter not only triggered the reinforcement of Washington but also brought renewed discussion of secession to the eight slave states that had remained with the Union. Virginia seceded two days before the Baltimore riots, and discussions were underway in Arkansas (seceded May 6, 1861), North Carolina (seceded May 20, 1861), Tennessee (seceded June 8, 1861), Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky. (Delaware had earlier rejected secession and was never considered a threat to secede.)

Leon Reed is a former congressional aide, defense consultant, and U.S. History teacher. He lives in Gettysburg and writes military history books.

Photo and narrative about William Tillman.

Antietam Centennial, Sharpshooter Info & Whitworth Ammo Specs

Antietam 100th

As most readers of this column know, I have been acquiring original news photos of twentieth century battle reenactments. A recent acquisition, showing a Confederate scramble at Antietam, is published along with this column.

In 1962, the Civil War Centennial was well underway, and the Antietam/South Mountain Centennial Association invested $300,000 in staging a reenactment of the battle of Antietam on the original battlefield. The result would differ dramatically from the 1937 seventy-fifth anniversary show that was conducted by

National Guardsmen in modern uniforms.

The 1962 “one half hour production” was intended to re-create “only the Sunken Road” segment of the battle, and “makeshift bleachers” were provided for the thousands of tourists who came to view the show. The participants, described by a reporter as “more than 1,500 from 21 states” included “men and boys and even some girls, in Union Blue and Confederate Gray.”

The script called for a series of advances, flank attacks, and retreats by both sides, but a rehearsal on Sept. 14 “didn’t work.” According to a report, “some of the troops did not know where they should be or which way to move.” One problem was that “somebody forgot the walkie talkies, which were used to cue the units.”

The “commanding general of the production, Rhonda Rohold,”

Vin Caponi Historic Antiques

described as “an energetic blonde attired in toreador pants and a sloppy shirt” by a reporter, ran around the battlefield “commanding her troops,” and concluded that they needed another rehearsal.

One reenactor compared the chaos of the scene to the Battle of Bull Run staged the previous year, saying: “there was a really mixed up situation.” The photo is of the actual reenactment held on Sept. 17. It still looks “mixed up.” If I recall correctly, it was the last Centennial reenactment staged on a National Battlefield Park.

An interesting sidelight to the Antietam Centennial reenactment is provided by the memoir of North-South Skirmish Association member Ross Kimmel, who describes himself as a “teenage Civil War zealot” at the time of the Centennial. Kimmel’s unit was involved in some early reenactments, including Bull Run, as well as N-SSA shooting, but had not registered for the Antietam event. Kimmel decided to go anyway, however, and, with a couple of friends, linked up with the Second North Carolina.

Kimmel recalled that the Second spent the morning of the reenactment “working out a system of battle maneuvers we were going to use in the battle… It was a series of facings and charging at a quickstep staying in step.” Following that brief training exercise, the unit marched to the rear through the cornfield by the Sunken Road and sat down to wait in a small woodlot, where, shortly afterward, the Second was surrounded by “a group of about 20 or 30 state police with a hound.” The police detachment did not arrest the reenactors but escorted them off the field, offering no explanation for the action. The unit and its guard detail marched in step along the Sunken Road while spectators and other reenactors looked on in bewilderment. When the Second’s commander finally halted his troops and demanded an explanation, he was advised that the action was taken to “prevent trouble during the reenactment.” The bizarre parade ended on the Sharpsburg road where the police took the names and addresses of the reenactors and they waited until cars and trucks arrived to take them home. It was later learned that someone from a rival unit, who held a grudge against the Second North Carolina for some reason, had “tipped” the police that the Second was planning to set Piper field afire and start “a riot.” This was, of course false, and no evidence was ever produced.

For more on this and other fascinating stories of the dawn of modern reenacting during the Centennial years, see Ross Kimmel’s work online at http:// wesclark.com/jw/kimmel.html

The Shooter in the Tree

An interesting point came up in a discussion I was having with friends regarding Winslow Homer’s famous painting and subsequent print of the Union sharpshooter in a tree. I always wondered how the soldier lugged that heavy barreled scoped rifle up there, but the more interesting point is how he would reload up in the branches. The type of target rifle he is using required a false muzzle, measured powder charge, paper patched bullet, and bullet starter to load. In order to do that up in the tree, the shooter would have had to be a gymnast. Although Homer was obviously familiar with sharpshooter weapons, he may have let his artistic sense take over, or the guy climbed the tree for just one shot.

Whitworth Ammunition Details

Last month I reported on the, to me, surprising lack of uniformity in British Enfield ammunition. Ammunition for the Whitworth rifle used by select British army units and Confederate sharpshooters was evidently a different story. My friend and expert on all things British, Bill Adams, provided the following specs for Whitworth cartridges:

• “Projectiles are all .442" – these are “regulation” cartridges

• 530gr hexagonal bullet; 85grs powder; 3.9" total length (there were some longer hex cartridges)

• 530gr cylindrical bullet; 85grs powder; 3.88"

• 530gr cylindrical bullet; 70grs

Store: 516-593-3516

Cell: 516-353-3250

rampantcolt@aol.com

http://www.vincaponi.com

We carry a very large inventory of Colt and Civil War firearms including muskets, carbines, rifles and accoutrements. Our inventory of historic antiques and firearms begin at the early collectors level and range all the way up to the advanced collector and investors level.

Confederate charge at the Antietam reenactment of 1962 (Joe Bilby collection)

powder; 3.6"

• 530gr cylindrical bullet; 60grs powder; 3.4"

• 480gr cylindrical bullet; 75grs powder; 4.5" – this is listed by Lewis as a regulation 1865 Royal Lab service cartridge for the Rifle Corps with a grey wrapper and a total weight of 574grs."

Joseph G. Bilby received his BA and MA degrees in history from Seton Hall University and served as a lieutenant in the 1st Infantry Division in 1966–1967. He is Assistant Curator of the New Jersey National Guard and Militia Museum, a freelance writer and

historical consultant and author or editor of 21 books and over 400 articles on N.J. and military history and firearms.

He is also publications editor for the N.J. Civil War 150 Committee and edited the award winning New Jersey Goes to War. His latest book, New Jersey: A Military History, was published by Westholme Publishing in 2017.

He has received an award for contributions to Monmouth County (N.J.) history and an Award of Merit from the N.J. Historical Commission for contributions to the state’s military history. He can be contacted by email at jgbilby44@aol.com.

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Saturday May 4th – Sunday May 5th 2019

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Camp Chase Fife & Drum & 73rd OVI Regimental Band

Gettysburg Address Presented by President Lincoln

By Shannon Pritchard

The beautiful clip point Bowie knife shown here is pure Confederate. The maker of this ultra-rare Bowie knife is the Memphis Novelty Works, Thomas Leech & Co. Thomas S. Leech had moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1854 to establish a cotton dealership.

It was financed by his partners: his brother John B. Leech, Thomas Harrison, Sir Arthur Forwood, and Sir William Bower Forwood of Liverpool, England.

Leech opened the firm of Thomas Leech & Co., Cotton Broker, at 35 Front Row Street in Memphis.

As war became imminent, Leech and his partners began to expand their business to include war material. The military items were sold under the name of “Memphis Novelty Works, Thomas Leech & Co.” Under this name Leech manufactured swords, side knives, belts, and buckles. An advertisement in the Sept. 18, 1861, edition of the Memphis Daily Appeal listed Bowie knives in bold among the various swords and cutlasses made by the company.

The following March, Leech formed a partnership with Charles H. Rigdon, renamed the partnership Leech & Rigdon,

Leech & Co. Bowie Knife

and opened a new manufacturing facility in Columbus, Miss. On May 1, 1862, the Appeal once again listed the company’s products in an ad, but this time did not mention Bowie knives. A few days later on May 8, Thos. Leech & Co. began closing up business at the Memphis Novelty Works storefront.

During the following summer in Columbus, Ga., no knives are recorded as being made and in the fall Messrs. Leech & Rigdon began moving out of sword manufacturing and into revolver production. Once out of the edged weapon business, there is no record of the company having returned to that particular niche of arms making. The foregoing would strongly suggest that no knives were manufactured at the Columbus facility.

Only five of these rare clip point Bowie knives are known to exist. Furthermore, the only known markings are: “Memphis,” “Novelty Works,” and “Thos. Leech & Co. Memphis Tenn. C.S.” These various known facts indicate to me that these large 20 inch knives were only produced in Memphis during 1861, and perhaps only early fall of 1861.

Though it is sheathed in an original, period scabbard, it is not this knife’s original scabbard.

The knife is in the best condition of the five surviving specimens; it has been published, along with this scabbard, in Confederate Bowie Knives, by Jack Melton, Josh Phillips, and John Sexton, and in The Bowie Knife by Norm Flayderman, without the accompanying scabbard.

Of especial interest is the wire wrap; Leech used two strands of iron wire twisted together. With the exception of other examples of this same maker’s products, there are no known Confederate knife or sword makers who used twisted iron in their edged weapons.

Shannon Pritchard has authored numerous articles relating to the authentication, care and conservation of Confederate antiques,

including several cover articles and is the author of the definitive work on Confederate collectibles, the widely acclaimed Collecting

the Confederacy, Artifacts and Antiques from the War Between the States, and is co-author of Confederate Faces in Color.

Note the stop filed into the blade near the ricasso.

Full length reverse of Thomas Leech Bowie.

Full length obverse of Thomas Leech Bowie.

Top right: Obverse and reverse (below) of the Leech & Co. Bowie knife. All

A Few Thoughts On Canteens

One of the basic needs for human survival is water. You can survive longer without virtually anything else except air. Although essential, water proves heavy to carry for long distances. Consider the load of the average Civil War infantryman… Riflemusket and bayonet (14 lbs), 60 rounds of ammunition (6 lbs), short rations (4 lbs), blanket or overcoat (5 lbs), canteen (4 lbs), shelter half (1.5 lbs). The soldier might also carry a knife, fork, spoon, cup, plate, diary, pencil, Bible, skillet, razors, letters, and a housewife (3 lbs)…the total amount of mass a soldier might haul could be 36 to 46 pounds. This was tiring to say the least and American soldiers of the

Civil War period were notorious for discarding equipment during long marches, hot weather and/ or approaching battle. The loss of equipment ran as high as 50% on some campaigns.

Carlton McCarthy’s memoirs

(Detailed Minutiae of a Soldier in the Army of Northern Virginia) notes, in the chapter called “Romantic Ideas Dissipated,” that the knapsack alone was fifteen to twenty-five pounds sometimes more and quickly discarded, while a canteen was indispensable and at the outset thought prudent to keep full. Of course, a number Civil War soldiers carelessly discarded their canteens as an unnecessary burden on the march, or else disliked wearing one.

McCarthy thought that a tin cup would serve equally well for a

drinking vessel, and thus thought he could dispense with the canteen, though probably only in cooler weather. He came to have a different opinion. McCarthy later notes during a hot summer march, that no one who has not had experience of it knows the thrill of gratitude...when the cool stream gurgled from the battered canteen down their parched throats. He also recalls (with a touch of envy) one enterprising Confederate soldier who did not trouble himself to carry a canteen, but never went thirsty. When he found a good canteen he offered to present it to a comrade with the sole condition being that he could share a drink from theirs when he was thirsty. He had his choice of drinking from any one of about forty canteens in the company.

Other soldiers who discarded canteens in warm weather also came to regret the decision. McHenry Howard in Recollections of a Maryland Confederate Soldier (1914) regretfully admitted, “I had no canteen for I never liked wearing anything on my shoulder. I tried to borrow one, but that was unsuccessful…”

Additionally, the canteen was a practical appliance with a variety of uses. There are accounts of canteens used to hold many liquids other than water. McCarthy states that foraging parties filled them with “buttermilk, sorghum, apple cider, etc” to bring back to camp.

The “Federal” model 1859/62 canteen is the single most popular variety of water carrying vessel used during the Civil War-era. Federal soldiers were, of course issued their U.S. model canteens through the Quartermaster procurement system.

$39.95

Just as Confederate soldiers swapped their old smoothbores for more modern rifle-muskets when they could, Federal canteens were commonly acquired the same way. One Confederate veteran recalled years later that his equipment included “a greasy cloth haversack and a flannel covered canteen captured from the Yankees.” McCarthy notes

to be an early Lafacheux pinfire. It is likely a photographer’s prop or a private purchase as the only pistols documented in Co. C were five Whitney revolvers. (Library of Congress)

that a wood or tin canteen of Confederate manufacture in the ranks was something of a rarity. It is worth noting that McCarthy’s observations are from late in the War, and no doubt that, over time, soldiers improved their equipment through acquisition of Federal supplies. The Confederate Army marched off to war with a greater diversity of equipage; this was certainly reflected in the canteen and canteen straps found in use. Aside from the common six-inch tin drum (some with

flat, others with a convex face), there were eight-inch round and oval varieties, odd looking double-spouted versions, and, of course, round wooden drum canteens. A wide variety of canteens are displayed in the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia. The current collection contains a leather covered glass flask, a redware (pottery) ring canteen, a vulcanized rubber canteen, as well as a filter canteen and the bullet that pierced it at Frazier’s Farm in 1862,

Early war image of Private David C. Colbert, “Pigg River Invincibles” Co. C, 46th Virginia Infantry Regiment, with secession badge, tin drum canteen, revolver, roller-buckle waist belt, and Bowie knife. Note shortened sling of ticking material and height at which he wears the canteen. The revolver appears

Closeup of the canteen worn by Private David C. Colbert.

killing the owner. The two most common Confederate issue canteens are the smaller (six-inch) tin drum which was inexpensive to produce, and some wooden varieties with iron bands and tin sling brackets which are attractive, but also more expensive. There is no doubt that cool water from a cedar canteen is sweeter tasting than the water from a tin canteen, which imparts a slightly metallic flavor. The Nuckolls and Gardiner pattern wooden canteens are the most often reproduced today. The major difference between the two was that the Nuckolls was two pieces of wood sealed and nailed together with a wooden spout, whereas the Gardiner had two wooden sides with slat-like pieces of wood between them banded together using a metal band with a spout of wood or tin on top. The Gardiner canteen was a little larger, wider and heavier than the Nuckolls and it held more water. Neither holds as much water as the standard U.S. 1858/62 tin canteens, which were prized possessions of those Confederates who had them. A question comes up about whether Union soldiers had wood canteens or if they were just

period accounts of Union soldiers picking up Confederate wooden canteens off the battlefield (after Gettysburg) for souvenirs, and sending them home. It is doubtful that any soldier who depended on the water in his canteen for survival would trade down to a canteen that was heavier to carry, held less water, and was more prone to leaks.

Were there Union produced wood canteens in use during the Civil War? All Federal canteens produced during the Civil Warera were made from tin coated sheet iron. There could have been a few surviving 1840s U.S. “cheese-box” wooden canteens, and they may have been in use by one or two pre-war state militias. It is possible but unlikely that a few state militiamen marched off in 1861 with 1840s vintage wood canteens. These first volunteers were issued other equipment dating from the Mexican War-era such as flintlock muskets, cartridge boxes, etc, so who knows?

There are one or two references to early war militia and (ninety day) recruits being issued surplus Mexican War gear that was on hand but the exact type canteen is not specified. And by the way, no known Civil War-era canteens

were stamped “US” on the front or came painted with “US” on the cloth cover. The only place where the letters “US” were found on a Federal soldier were on his cartridge box and waist-belt plate. The tin drum canteen with raised “US” letters on the front dates from the Mexican War.

Confederate six-inch tin drum canteens were widely used and there were several variations on this particular design from the Mexican War-era. Research into Confederate records for this information is more difficult than it is for Federal items. Canteens were classed as Ordnance by the Confederate Government rather than as Quartermaster stock, as with the Union. The procedure for re-ordering canteens would have been similar to the procurement process for getting slings, cartridge boxes, or new muskets; hence the canteen was not an item that was re-issued at regular intervals. Many examples of Confederate canteens show no method of cork attachment. If surviving specimens are any indication, a variety of stoppers (besides cork) are found fitted to the spout of tin drum canteens. The question comes up about the practice during the Civil War of coating the inside of the canteen with beeswax. This step was not

necessary nor is there any evidence that it was it done at the time.

Of the canteen’s usefulness, Wilber Hinman noted in Si Klegg and His Pard (1888) that a peculiarity of the [tin] canteen was that its usefulness did not end when it was no longer fit to serve in its legitimate sphere. When a lot of them became battered and leaky, and the company commander wanted to drop them from his monthly return of government property for which he was responsible, he would have them duly condemned by a board of officers appointed to hold a solemn inquest upon them. These regulation forms having been complied with, old canteens were then eagerly sought after by the soldiers, who were now at liberty to make such use of them as their ingenuity might suggest. The necessities and deprivations of active campaigning developed among the veterans a wonderful fertility of resource. Under such circumstances men become intensely practical. Everything that could in any way contribute to human welfare and comfort was brought into play, and the makeshifts resorted to were often startling and ludicrous. The old canteen was thrown into the fire and the heat soon melted the

solder by which the halves were joined, and the soldier found himself in possession of two tin basins eight or ten inches across and in the center about two inches deep. One of these he carried day after day in his haversack. It was not often that the latter was so full of provisions that there was not plenty of room for it. Its weight was nothing, and he found it useful in ways that the man who made it never thought of.

Craig L Barry was born in Charlottesville, Va. He holds his BA and Masters degrees from the University of North Carolina (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) and three books (soon to be four) in the Suppliers to the Confederacy series on English Arms & Accoutrements, Quartermaster stores and other European imports.

“Corporal Si Klegg and his “Pard.” Wilbur F. Hinman, p. 56, (1895). Original caption read “Useful career of the canteen.”

A Tale of Two Forts

“It is a strange situation. The Federal Government, afraid to speak, and unable to act, is leaving its soldiers to do as they please.” –

London

William Russell,

Times reporter

Due to conflicting orders, Fort Sumter, S.C., not Fort Pickens, Fla., went down in history as an enduring symbol of the Civil War. Pickens, situated on Santa Rosa Island, protected Pensacola, the largest deep-water harbor on the Gulf Coast.

On Jan. 7, 1861, it came to the attention of Lt. Adam J. Slemmer, 1st U.S. Artillery, Barrancas Barracks, Fla., that Florida and Alabama troops were planning on marching against the forts protecting Pensacola Harbor. Lacking guidance from above, Slemmer, with his fellow officer 2nd Lt. Jeremiah Gilman, considered their options. Fort Barrancas was situated on a hilltop near the naval yard. Fort McRee was located on a sandy barrier island. The key was Fort Pickens, the

largest brick structure on the Gulf of Mexico. It was dilapidated, had not been occupied since shortly after the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, and suffered damaged from a fire in 1858. Without orders, Slemmer concluded it was “best” to remain where he was stationed but moved the powder and the men from the Barracks into the fort.

After midnight on Jan. 8, about 20 men came to occupy the normally deserted Fort Barrancas. They were greeted by fire from the guard and were run off, “their footsteps resounding on the plank walk as the long roll ceased and our company started for the fort at double-quick. This, I believe, was the first gun in the war fired on our side,” wrote Gilman. On Jan. 9, Slemmer received orders from U.S. Gen. Winfield Scott to “prevent the seizure of public property and to cooperate with Commodore James Armstrong at the yard.”

In preparation to consolidate their position at Pickens, the

Federals destroyed over 20,000 pounds of gunpowder at McRee and spiked the guns at Barrancas. Armstrong was to provide the transportation; his challenge was that many of the naval officers were secessionists. Slemmer had to repeatedly twist his arm to get the use of boats to convey the 51 soldiers, 30 sailors, “provisions, brass field-pieces, ammunition, tools, and whatever public property was most needed and could be carried, including, I remember, an old mule and cart (which afterward proved of great service to us)” to Pickens. The move was accomplished about 10:00 a.m. on Jan. 10, the same day Florida seceded from the Union. On Jan. 12, to the frustration of the 38 marines vs. 400 militia, Armstrong relinquished the Navy Yard, Barrancas, and McRee. Slemmer refused to surrender.

The men labored in torrential rain on the “flank casemate guns, loading with grape and canister such as could be worked, and at other points closing the

embrasures.” On Jan. 15, C.S. Col. William Henry Chase, who designed and built Pickens as a Federal officer, came to request the surrender of the Fort as he believed, “it right and necessary to save bloodshed.” Chase’s “voice

shook, and his eyes filled with tears” as he tried but was unable to read his prepared statement. Gilman instead read it aloud. The conversation turned to the option of taking Pickens by force. Chase acknowledged the possibility that half the approximately 800 men he could gather for an attack might be lost, but he also pointed out that, “with your small force, you are not expected to, and cannot, hold this fort. Florida cannot permit it, and the troops here are determined to have it; and if not surrendered peaceably, an attack and the inauguration of civil war cannot be prevented. If it is a question of numbers, and eight hundred is not enough, I can easily bring thousands more.”

On Jan. 21, U.S. President James Buchanan and future C.S.A. Sec. of the Navy Stephen Mallory came to an agreement; as long as the Federal government did not land troops to reinforce Pickens, the Confederates would not take it by force.

On March 10, C.S. Gen. Braxton Bragg, Louisiana planter and former career military officer, arrived in Pensacola. He laid out camps and conducted drills on the sand. Bragg lined the beach with a few big guns and four miles of troops as his army swelled with volunteers. As part of his efforts to turn the mob into an army, Bragg prohibited the sale of alcohol to soldiers. His inexperienced

A.J. Slemmer Colorization © 2018 civilwarincolor.com courtesy civilwarincolor.com/cwn. (Library of Congress)

volunteers became more robust than when they had arrived. Each man believed that “he can whip the world” and nothing was more necessary then to just go and take Pickens. However, when asked, Bragg made clear he intended to keep the truce. He didn’t mention that he lacked the trained artillery officers to fire his few guns, specialists, transports, and money needed for an assault. Or that the C.S.A. War Department insisted

that he come up with an attack plan.

“I want that fort saved at all hazards,” decided U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. On April 6, he ordered Lt. David Porter to command the Navy’s most powerful warship, the USS Powhatan, on a secret mission to reinforce Pickens. Unaware of the secret orders, U.S. Sec. of the Navy Gideon Welles ordered the Powhatan to reinforce the supply

(NARA 51300)

ships for Sumter. Lincoln had signed both sets of orders. When it was realized that the Powhatan wasn’t on her way to Sumter, U.S. Sec. Of State William Seward and Welles brought the conflicting orders to Lincoln’s attention. Seward was told to send Porter orders redirecting the Powhatan to Sumter. Porter, considering the President’s orders superseding Seward’s, ignored Seward, who was not in his chain of command anyway.

On April 17, the Powhatan arrived at Pensacola. She was able to safeguard landing the men to reinforce Fort Pickens. The Marines stayed a month to improve the defenses. Each man filled and placed 40 sandbags a day. A reporter from the New York Times called the Marine Corps the “bright spot in the Navy. … “Oh, that we had ten thousand Marines!”

On the April 12, the Battle of Fort Sumter began. On the same day, the 121 Marines aboard the USS Brooklyn, USS Sabine, USS Wyandotte, and the USS St. Louis were ordered ashore to bolster Pickens’s defenders. “In his exuberance to be the first ashore, Marine drummer George Gardner stepped overboard when he thought they were in shallow water. Surprised to be in over his head, he held his drum tight, used it as a float and as he kicked his way to shore.”

Sources:

• Gilman, J. H. ‘With Slemmer in Pensacola Harbor’. In Johnson, Robert Underwood and Clarence C. Buel, eds. Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, vol. 1

• McWhiney, Grady, Braxton

Bragg and Confederate Defeat, Vol. 1

• Russell, William Howard, My Diary: North and South, Vol. 1

• Godwin, Doris Kearns, Team of Rivals

• www.navyandmarine.org, The Navy in the Civil War “This

Stephanie Hagiwara is the editor for Civil War in Color.com and Civil War in 3D.com. She also writes a 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.

Drawing of the USS Powhatan.

The Atlanta Papers

Working to offset a deficit in published material on the Atlanta Campaign of 1864, former U.S. Army officer Sydney C. Kerksis compiled The Atlanta Papers, which Morningside Bookshop published in 1980. Drawing from various Federal sources, Kerksis collected 29 first-person accounts, and closed with one of his own – ‘Action at Gilgal Church, Georgia, June 15th–16th, 1864.’ Researchers of this military action in Georgia will receive help from the information found in the Papers. In the introduction to the compilation, Kerksis lamented the lack of published material on this campaign (thankfully, since

1980, several historians have published accounts, and more have narratives in the works), and praised the opening recollections of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Stone as “…the best and most accurate coverage of the campaign written.”

Stone’s account does not disappoint. In four parts, covering 150 pages, Major General George Thomas’s former staff officer began with ‘Opening of the Campaign,’ where he recounted action from the opening salvos through the Battle of Resaca.

The title of Stone’s second paper, ‘From the Oostanaula to the Chattahoochee,’ follows the armies after Resaca, to General Joseph E. Johnston’s occupation of the Chattahoochee River Line with his Army of Tennessee. This writer often researches the Chattahoochee River Line and found Stone’s description of the Confederate defensive position quite interesting. “The high ridge…was most elaborately fortified…a formidable obstruction…the most difficult position yet encountered….” The next paper in Stone’s series, ‘The Siege and Capture of Atlanta, July 9 to September 8, 1864;’ he closed

with a look at ‘The Strategy of the Campaign.’

Few photographs populate this book; images of various contributors (most as older gentlemen) along with a Lee A. Wallace Jr. penned biography of each, supplement a small number of maps; the best of the maps, the Kennesaw Mountain Line (shown).

Lieutenant-Colonel John C. Palfrey authored Paper No. 5, ‘General Sherman’s Plans After the Fall of Atlanta.’ Colonel Robert N. Adams of the 81st Ohio Infantry penned ‘Campaign for Atlanta,’ followed by Captain James Compton of the 52nd Illinois Infantry, and his recollections of ‘The Second Division of the 16th Army Corps, in the Atlanta Campaign.’ Major Stephen Pierson supplied an insightful account in Paper No. 9: ‘From Chattanooga to Atlanta in 1864…A Personal Reminiscence.’ Of note, one citation in Pierson’s story beckons remembrance today. In quoting another officer, Pierson suggested the blue and the gray fought, doing “…all that is possible for soldiers to do, fighting their way to a mutual respect which is the

solid foundation for a renewal of more than the old regard and affection.”

Next month, we will resume our look at The Atlanta Papers, and examine the various sources Kerksis consulted to compile this volume. Remember to check WorldCat www.worldcat.org for help in finding this book in a local library; search The Atlanta Papers + Kerksis. Continued good luck in researching the Civil War!

Michael K. Shaffer is a Civil War historian, author, lecturer, instructor, and a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, the Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, the Georgia Association of Historians, and the Georgia Writers Association. Readers may contact him at mkscdr11@ gmail.com, or to request speaking engagements, via his website www.civilwarhistorian.net. Follow

Michael on Facebook www.facebook.com/michael.k.shaffer and Twitter @michaelkshaffer.

Kennesaw Line map.

The Atlanta Papers cover and spine.

Walt Whitman in the Civil War

By Joseph F. Wilson

In Pfaff’s dimly lit beer cellar in New York City’s Greenwich Village, Walt Whitman sipped his beer trying desperately to stave off the wave of depression washing over his soul. A melancholy companion followed the moody poet down the steps night after night into the subterranean saloon where a musty odor of stagnant alcohol mingled with the mindless banter of self-styled writers debating mundane and seemingly minor issues. Life still had no direction for the unemployed Whitman. Things weren’t going so well for the aspiring poet; then came the outbreak of the Civil War. As Whitman brooded about the streets of New York, he never suspected how the Civil War was about to bring about a seismic change that drastically changed the direction of his life and career. Whitman would later write, “the Civil War saved me.”

On a blustery day in February 1861, the stagecoach Walt frequently rode up and down Broadway suddenly halted as crowds poured into the streets in a fit of excitement. He rose up to investigate the disturbance. Emerging from another coach at the Astor House was the newly elected president, Abraham Lincoln, going to Washington for his inauguration.

Whitman watched intently from his perch atop the stagecoach at the man he’d grow to love. With the assassination of Lincoln in 1865, Walt’s poems memorializing the President, “O Captain! My Captain!” and “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” brought instant recognition to Whitman.

Only a few days before New York hosted Lincoln, Jefferson Davis took the oath as President of the Confederate States of America. In a few months, the cauldron that had been simmering for years finally boiled over.

On the night of April 12, 1861, the cry of newsboys echoing through the streets of New York announced the attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

Although most expected the coming war, the opening shots still provoked anger in the New York poet. A still evolving young country locked horns in a deadly Civil War that touched the lives of millions of Americans, including Walt Whitman.

The disastrous defeat at Bull Run prodded Whitman to write his first Civil War poem. The poem “Beat! Beat! Drums!,”

was a popular recruiting poem and a call to arms that urged all Americans to rise up to save the Union. Newspapers rushed the piece into print.

Whitman himself toyed with the idea of enlisting, but quickly cast aside the thought after telling a friend, “I could never raise a sword or fire a gun at another man.”

Walt’s entrance into the Civil War was pure happenstance. The impact of the war on his life wasn’t immediate; the moment came in December 1862, while reading a newspaper at home. The New York newspapers listed the dead and wounded from the recent battle at Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Although Whitman had no appetite for war, that wasn’t the case for George Whitman, Walt’s younger brother. George had enlisted with the 51st New York Infantry. Listed among Fredericksburg’s wounded was George Whitman. That paved the way for the poet’s entry into the worst aspect of the bloody Civil War.

A panicked Walt immediately packed his bags and set out to find his injured brother. The sojourn south immersed the poet on a journey of self-discovery. Only as a visitor did he ever return to New York. The poet left behind what he termed his “New York Stagnation.”

Arriving at Fredericksburg on Dec. 19, Walt was relieved to learn George only suffered a slight wound. For nine days Whitman ate, slept, and lived amongst soldiers. The firsthand look at war resulted in a wealth of material for his collection of Civil War poems, “Drum Taps,” published in 1865.

Following his experience in Fredericksburg, Whitman went to Washington where he only intended to stay for ten days before going home. After witnessing badly mutilated soldiers arriving in Washington, he knew he must stay. At last, Walt found purpose in his life.

The poet reclaimed his rudder and righted the ship thanks to the brutal Civil War that shook the nation. For three years he made it his ministry to visit the sick, wounded, and dying soldiers in the many Washington hospitals. It was a duty he said, that “gave me the greatest privilege and satisfaction of my life.” A bold statement considering his life, but the ten days he intended to stay in Washington turned into ten years.

For three years Whitman

canvassed the many hospitals visiting thankful soldiers. A favorite pastime was writing letters home for illiterate soldiers or those too severely wounded to grasp a pencil. On many occasions, Walt gently held the hand of a dying soldier who was all alone and far from home.

Walt’s heartfelt letters to his mother told of gruesome scenes he experienced daily in the hospitals that eventually took a toll. In a revealing letter he told her, Oh Mother, I could not keep the tears out of my eyes. What an awful thing war is. My feelings are kept in a painful condition. Things are getting worse as to the amount of suffering. My head feels disagreeable from being in too much. Walt’s being “in too much” brought about a nervous breakdown in 1864 from what would today be called PTSD.

During the Civil War years, Walt did as much as anybody in contributing to the war effort. Friends up north thought he deserved a pension of 25 dollars a month for all he did for the boys in blue, and many gray clad

soldiers as well. Walt said, “I don’t deserve it.” The bid reached Congress but died on the floor. Historians believe Whitman himself killed the bill.

After the war Whitman remained in Washington working in the District Attorney’s office. In 1873, he suffered a stroke that ended his stay in Washington and brought him to Camden, N.J., to live with George for 11 years before he purchased a home on Mickle Street. It was at home on Mickle Street where Walt died in 1892.

Walt Whitman is an American treasure and one of our finest writers to ever put pen to paper. Many are well aware of his popular published works including, “Leaves of Grass,” “Specimen Days,” “November Boughs,” and many other writings, but Americans should learn more about the man whose love of humanity and well of compassion ran deeper than most. Walt’s tireless work in the hospitals for three years caring for wounded soldiers is often a backstory of the American Civil War too often overlooked. Few

Portrait of Walt Whitman taken at Mathew Brady s studio in Washington, D.C. between 1865 and 1867.

men witnessed the trauma of battle on a more personal level than Walt Whitman.

Joseph F. Wilson’s upcoming presentation titled, “Walt Whitman in the Civil War,” will take place on April 1, at 7 p.m. in Civic Hall at Camden County College in Blackwood, N.J. Contact by email at joef21@aol.com.

A Navy Man Writes on the Fall of New Orleans

By Bruce Allardice and Wayne Wolf

Dr. Aaron Shimer Oberly (1837–1918) studied medicine at Yale University. He was appointed assistant surgeon, USN, in 1861. During the war he served as surgeon on the USS Kineo and USS Santiago de Cuba. He remained in the navy after the war, finally retiring in 1889.

During the war he penned numerous wartime “love letters” to his future wife Anna Maria Woodford (1844–1944), daughter of State Representative Chester R. Woodford and his wife Harriet Webster.1 The letter published here, addressed to Mrs. Woodford, touches on his vivid experiences of the 1862 capture of New Orleans.

The 691 ton gunboat Kineo was launched on Oct. 9, 1861. Under the command of Lt. George M. Ransom, she was sent to join the forces then gathering to attack New Orleans. On April 24, 1862, Kineo was one of the Union navy steamships that battled their way past Forts Jackson and Saint Philip. Though hit by cannon fire, she was able to continue up the Mississippi River and participate in the capture of the Confederacy’s largest seaport. The mutiny of the Confederate garrisons at Forts Jackson and St. Philip embarrassed the Confederate government. The soldiers were largely Irish-born and, according the Confederate sources, had little inherent loyalty to the Confederate cause. When Farragut’s fleet passed the forts and cut off their supply line, most of the soldiers concluded further

resistance was of no use. As Dr. Oberly observes, the mutineers disarmed their officers and surrendered. It is clear that later in the war, Confederate troops in much worse circumstances resisted until the bitter end. The loss of the forts also meant the doom of the unfinished, immobile ironclad CSS Louisiana, which had been moored at the forts to serve as a floating battery. Its crew blew the ironclad up, in a spectacular explosion that Oberly relates.

U.S. Gunboat Kineo

Mississippi River May 2d 1862

Dear Friend, Mrs. Woodford

Your letter dated Feb. 25th came to hand this morning and as I have the time & opportunity it will afford me pleasure to give an immediate reply. I was expecting to hear from you before, as I noticed that no mention was made concerning you in Maria’s. I must not however forget to mention that I received day before yesterday a letter from Maria which contained a note from you dated March 27th.

A long time had elapsed until we received any mail from the North & then it came in packages in such a manner that the last were first and the first last. I received also another with the postage stamp March 22d. Thus our letters came for three consecutive days and trust they will continue coming in though we cannot reasonably expect it so. We are all very much rejoiced to have it announced that mail has arrived even though the dates

have passed by for some time. All news are [sic] welcome, as they tend to cheer the monotony which so frequently falls to our lot. We have things mostly in extremes either very exciting or else very dull. But as we are unable to arrange things to suit our tastes we are obliged to take things as they come & which we do & make the most out of them at that.

The Kineo is steaming down the river at present en route for South West Balize [near the mouth of the Mississippi River] and at which place we have nigh arrived. We left New Orleans this afternoon at about one o’clock at which place we were stationed yesterday & would have remained had we not required some necessary appendages to our vessel. We are ordered to return immediately which we will no doubt do tomorrow. Since the morning of the 24th [the night Admiral Farragut’s Union fleet steamed past Forts Jackson and St. Philip] we were employed a short distance above Forts Jackson & Philip transporting troops, prisoners & deserters from one side to the other, excepting the last two days when we were engaged elsewhere on other duty. On the night of the 27th or the morning of the 28th of April some two hundred men deserted from Fort Jackson causing the forts to surrender on the 28th. They kept the officers under guard and spiked the guns pointing in the direction of the way they intended to flee. They were stopped by our troops to which they willingly surrendered parting with their arms. The forts weakened by desertion feared

their ability to hold out and as it was merely a matter of time since we had cut them off from receiving supplies, they came to the conclusion that they had better surrender immediately.2

They destroyed their vessels and iron clad battery [the CSS Louisiana] so that they would not be turned against them. The battery which contained about a ton of powder made a beautiful explosion whirling the iron plates through the air killing and wounding a number in the vicinity. We had several Confederate Naval Officers aboard our vessel held as prisoners which formerly were attached to our service. They

apparently were still full of fight and wished to be exchanged so that they could continue their occupation. They said they expected to be whipped wherever our fleet could pass but that inland with their army they expected to conquer. Also they mentioned that the war had but just begun. I fear they are mistaken at any rate. We are satisfied if they are.

I presume that the number of killed and wounded on the Confederate side in the forts and vessels will not fall short of one thousand.3 They acknowledge in their papers that between two and three hundred were killed and wounded in the forts while we

The Kineo is the ship on the right.

(Library of Congress)

The USS Kineo is in the foreground, 4th ship from the left, in this famous lithograph of Farragut’s fleet passage of the forts. (Naval History and Heritage Command, photo NH 76369-KN.)

Dr. Aaron S. Oberly. (Naval History and Heritage Command, NH 79241)

know that the loss was far greater on their vessels. On our side I understand there were thirty two killed and one hundred and nine wounded.4 When our fleet arrived at New Orleans all the vessels belonging to the place were fired, wharves and docks destroyed and whatever [else] might be turned to any account by us.

About-nine miles above New Orleans at a place known as Carlton [Carrolton, La.] there was a battery or strong fortification intended to resist Flag Officer Foote on his downward passage. They could make no resistance to us as their guns were all pointed up stream. We intend moving onward in about twenty four hours towards Memphis to meet Flag Officer Foote and have a grand reunion. What resistances we shall meet I am unable to say but do not entertain any idea of seeing anything equal to what we passed.

New Orleans is very quiet at present—all kinds of business has stopped making it appear like one long holiday. The merchants refuse to sell and take Confederate scrip for pay as in future it will be a worthless article. Everything sells at a high price excepting those things raised in the immediate vicinity & not possessing any market. Flour sells at a very high rate and very scarce at that making it impossible for the poorer classes to purchase any—indeed they had a regulation that none

could be obtained except by those enlisted in war.

The last few days [Union General Benjamin] Butler’s troops are being landed on both sides of the river at New Orleans and when all are arrived which will be 13,000 they (inhabitants) will conclude it best to surrender to the U.S. Government and not submit as they now do to a military authority. At present the stars & stripes floats; or waves to the gentle breeze from the Custom House, Post Office, Mint &c.

The people look cold and apparently have a bitter enmity in seeing our fleet off the city. There are no Confederate flags seen anywhere though the Louisiana flag can be seen at some places. There is said to be a strong union sentiment suppressed which will likely return when we have everything under military control.

I will come to a close by stating that I am well. Remember me to Maria and inquiring friends. Very respectfully your friend

A.S. Oberly Address Western Gulf Squadron via New York.

Endnotes:

1. Oberly letters are at Auburn University; the University of Maryland; the University of Florida; the University of South Carolina; and The Maritime Museum. The letter published here is not part of these collections.

2. For more on this mutiny, so embarrassing to the Confederate cause, see Michael D. Pierson, Mutiny at Fort Jackson: The Untold Story of the Fall of New Orleans (UNC Press, 2009).

3. Total Confederate casualties were 782.

4. Total Union casualties were later figured at 229.

Bruce S. Allardice is Professor of History at South Suburban College in Illinois. He is a past president of the Civil War Round Table of Chicago.

Wayne L. Wolf is past president of the Lincoln-Davis Civil War Roundtable.

From Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, v. 2, p. 54.

Union sailors land in New Orleans. From Samuel M. Schmucker, The History of the Civil War in the United States (Philadelphia, Jones & Co., 1865).

Battlefields Foundation Announces

Preservation Victory at McDowell Battlefield

Property Includes Site Where Neighbor Fought Neighbor

During Battle in the Mountain Highlands

STAUNTON, Va.—The

Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation (SVBF) announced preservation of a critical 19-acre parcel on the McDowell battlefield. Fought on May 8, 1862, during the Civil War, the Battle of McDowell was the first victory of Confederate Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s famed Valley Campaign. The newly preserved property is situated along the historic Staunton and Parkersburg Turnpike (US 250), and was one of last parcels in the

heart of the battlefield that had not yet been preserved. With this success, over 1,000 acres of the McDowell battlefield have now been preserved.

Speakers at the announcement included Hugh Sproul, Vice Chairman of the SVBF Board and former mayor Staunton; Keven Walker, CEO of the SVBF; and John Hutchinson, Director of Conservation for the SVBF. The announcement was made at the Staunton Train Station to emphasize the important connections between Staunton, the railroad, and the battle, both historically and today. Today, Staunton also serves as a gateway for heritage tourists visiting McDowell and Highland County.

During the Battle of McDowell, Union Generals Robert Schenk and Robert Milroy sent the 82nd Ohio and the 3rd (West) Virginia

Infantry regiments along the Parkersburg Pike, across the target property, in an attempt to turn the Confederate defensive line on Sitlington’s Hill. The 82nd Ohio turned south, leaving the pike, and headed up a long draw toward the top of the hill. The Union 3rd (West) Virginia advanced further east along the pike and across the property. Near the eastern end of the preserved property, they encountered the Confederate 31st Virginia Infantry, sent there by Jackson to block just such an advance. Ironically, both regiments had companies originally formed around Clarksburg, Va. When fighting ensued, these opposing units came so close to one another that soldiers recognized old friends; friends who were now mortal enemies. According to one account, “The [31st Virginia Infantry] came close to the 3rd, and saluted them, and called them by name, and proceeded with the slaughter.”

Staunton’s strategic importance made it a prized location for both sides throughout the Civil War. During the conflict, troops, supplies, wounded men, and prisoners were all shipped to and through Staunton. Holding the city was critical to the Confederate war effort; capturing it was a key to Union efforts to control the Shenandoah Valley. The importance of Staunton led to the Battle of McDowell. In March 1862, when a Union army’s approach from the west threatened the city, Stonewall Jackson hurried much of his army to the city by train; gathered and assembled his

forces here; and then raced west into the mountains of Highland County to confront the Federals. On May 8, 1862, the two sides clashed at McDowell, where Jackson earned the first victory of his famed Valley Campaign. It was a tide-turning victory for the Confederacy that provided the “first blush of...triumphs after a season of gloomy disasters.” After the battle, casualties were brought to Staunton.

“Staunton’s importance to the Civil War is often overlooked,” said Walker. “But no city in the Valley was more important to both sides during the war—for the Confederates to hold, and for the Federals to capture. We plan to bring much greater attention to that history, and to Staunton’s Civil War sites, in the years to come.”

About the Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Foundation (SVBF)

Created by Congress in

(Library of Congress)

1996, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District encompasses Augusta, Clarke, Frederick, Highland, Page, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren counties in Virginia and the cities of Harrisonburg, Staunton, Waynesboro, and Winchester. As authorized by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation serves as the community-driven non-profit manager of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District, partnering with local, regional, and national organizations and governments to preserve the Valley’s battlefields and interpret and promote the region’s Civil War story. Visit their website at www.ShenandoahAtWar.org.

Map showing preserved property in yellow.

Private Elijah S. Leach of Co. B, 31st Virginia Infantry Regiment in uniform with musket, cap box, and haversack.

Let Them Rest Ed Wenschhof Jr.

By Gould Hagler Cenotaph

noun. A sepulchral monument erected in memory of a deceased person or persons buried elsewhere. < Greek kenos, empty and taphos, tomb

In the summer of 2017 a friend sent me an email with a link to an NBC news show in which Confederate monuments were discussed. A journalist, Joy Reid, stated that no one even thought about erecting Confederate monuments until the 1960s, during the Civil Rights movement. That is beyond strange, I thought. Later, I saw that the Pundifact Truth-O-Meter rated Reid’s statement as “Mostly False.” This judgment was, in its own way, even stranger. Mostly?

In the state of Georgia, the number of Confederate monuments erected between 1954 and 1968 was two, one, or zero, depending on how you count them. In Alabama the numbers are exactly the same: two, one, or zero, depending on how you define Confederate monument and other factors. While I am not as familiar with other states’ monuments as I am with Georgia’s and Alabama’s, I am confident that their stories are the same. Mostly false?

More recently I read an article on the subject in the Smithsonian. This article includes a statement that one of the three peaks of monument building was the 1950s and 1960s, but no examples are provided. The magazine collaborated with The Nation Institute to produce this study. (Readers familiar with The Nation Institute may wonder, as I do, why the Smithsonian is teaming up with this organization.) Anyway, regarding Confederate monuments, the article stated that “these memorials were created and funded by Jim Crow governments to pay homage to a slave-owning society and to serve as blunt assertions of dominance over African-Americans.”

Funded by Jim Crow governments? That assertion would astonish the United Daughters of the Confederacy and other organizations that labored for years, sometimes decades, to raise the money to build these statues and obelisks. Didn’t they know that their state governments were footing the bill? Why were they holding all those bake sales, concerts, and other community events? Why were they constantly begging for dimes and quarters? What happened to the government checks? Did the monument companies get paid twice?

And “to pay homage to a slave-owning society.” Note the sly verbiage. Not “pay homage to slavery,” but to a “slave-owning society,” i.e., a society in which slavery existed. See the difference? I have been to the Smithsonian museums. I saw some Greek sculpture on my last visit and was especially impressed with a bust by Praxiteles. I was inches away from this 2,400-year-old work of art, a work of art produced by a “slave-owning society.” Perhaps a plaque has since been installed next to the bust to interpret Praxiteles’ slave-owning culture; or maybe the bust has been removed. Or, more likely, the curators understand that all societies are flawed, and that the existence of such flaws does not mean that we not admire the good things a society produces.

Well, let’s move back to the present millennium. The first Confederate monuments were built soon after the war, in the 1860s, not in the 1960s. The earliest ones were usually the work of ladies’ memorial associations, volunteer societies that undertook the doleful task of recovering the dead from temporary graves and re-interring them in decent burial grounds. They erected modest obelisks to honor the dead soldiers and to express their families’ grief. The monuments’ surfaces contained mournful inscriptions, usually simple, and laconic phrases such as “Our Confederate Dead,” or the even sadder “To the Unknown Confederate Dead.”

The busiest time of monument-building in the South—and in the North too, for this monumentalization was a national movement—was roughly between 1895 and 1915, as the old soldiers moved from middle age to senescence and began to fade away. In this period the United Daughters of the Confederacy took over the work of the earlier generation and erected numerous memorials. In the newer generation’s efforts the monuments often differed in character from the ones built earlier. Some contained inscriptions praising the martial attributes of the citizen-soldiers who fought and died in defense of their country. Some bore a message to these men’s descendants in the hope that they would emulate the qualities of their forebears. Some also praised the Confederacy itself, and articulated the principles the builders believed justified secession and the struggle for independence. However, virtually every one of these memorials still bore an inscription saying “Our

Confederate Dead” or a similar expression.

The dead so honored and remembered were the grandfathers of children born at the turn of the century. The living veterans were aged men nearing their final days. The men had suffered; their families had suffered; their communities were still recovering from the effects of the war. Paying tribute to the veterans was right and honorable.

I have read and transcribed every inscription on every surface of every Confederate monument in two states. I have read many contemporary accounts of the fundraising efforts and dedication ceremonies. Nothing I have read leads me to believe that the builders of the monuments were motivated by racial animus.

I would not deny that these turn-of-the-century monuments were built in the Jim Crow era or that the people who built them were segregationists. They did not believe in racial equality. They did not favor equal political and civil rights for all citizens regardless of race. To claim otherwise would be false. (Or perhaps Pundifact would say “mostly false.”) However, not everything that happened in the Jim Crow era was a statement of Jim Crow repression. Over 250,000 Confederate soldiers and sailors died in that war. Tens of thousands more were wounded, maimed, and suffered the rest of their lives because of their service. Their families’ and their communities’ loss is unparalleled in American history. Their daughters and granddaughters loved these men and honored them with these works of stone.

In 1874, just nine years after the war’s end, a monument was erected to “Our Confederate Dead” in Mobile’s Magnolia Cemetery. An officer of the United States Army participated in the dedication and presented a wreath. He spoke these words: “This floral offering is tendered with the kindly and sympathetic greetings of surviving Federal soldiers…who honor the brave and heroic dead of the late war, and desire your acceptance of the same as an humble tribute to the valor and unselfish devotion to a cause held dearer than life.”

The soldiers of the United States who warred against these Confederates could honor them and help their families mourn. Why can’t we?

Let their graves be undisturbed. Let their cenotaphs stand. Let the Confederates who died in the war, and after, rest in peace.

Acting Superintendent at Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site

GETTYSBURG, Penn.—Ed

Wenschhof Jr. has arrived as the acting superintendent of Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site. He will serve in this position until approximately April 5, 2019.

Wenschhof currently serves as Chief Ranger at the C&O Canal National Historical Park, which follows the route of the 184.5 mile canal along the Potomac River from Washington D.C., to Cumberland, Md. He has a wide depth of experience in management roles including serving as Acting Superintendent at Antietam National Battlefield and Catoctin Mountain Park.

“I am very appreciative of the opportunity to serve as acting superintendent for Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site; they are the parks where I started my National Park Service career in 1984,” said Wenschhof. “I look forward to working with my NPS colleagues, park visitors, partners, and the local community.”

Wenschhof worked eight years at the Gettysburg parks, and then transferred to Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg, Md.,

where he served for many years as chief of natural resources management and law enforcement. Since 2013 he has served in several positions at the C&O Canal National Historical Park and is currently the Chief Ranger. He is active in special event operations and served as incident commander for the 150th anniversaries at Manassas and Antietam, and assisted with the Gettysburg 150th as well.

Gettysburg National Military Park preserves, protects, and interprets for this and future generations, the resources associated with the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, during the American Civil War, the Soldiers’ National Cemetery, and their commemorations. Learn more at www.nps. gov/gett.

Eisenhower National Historic Site preserves and interprets the home and farms of the Eisenhower family as a fitting and enduring memorial to the life, work, and times of General Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, and to the events of far-reaching importance that occurred on the property.

To learn more visit www.nps. gov/eise.

Ed Wenschhof Jr.

Winter Quarters 1862–1863

This occasional column highlights prints and printmakers from the Civil War. It discusses their meaning and most importantly, the goals of the print maker or artist.

Salvatore Cilella

The Civil War was seasonal. In essence, the weather dictated military action. Most important action occurred between spring and late autumn. By late fall both armies usually withdrew to a comfortable, stable, and secure location. Although this lithograph portrays Battery 3 of Martin’s Massachusetts Volunteers from Nov. 1862 to May 1863 near Potomac Creek, the Battle of Fredericksburg occurred but a few miles south in mid-December.

According to The Union Army, the Third Battery, Massachusetts Light Artillery, was recruited in the summer of 1861, by Dexter H. Follett, from among the

friends of Senator Henry Wilson, colonel of the 22nd Mass. Infantry. It was mustered into the U.S. service Oct. 5, 1861, and left for Washington on Oct. 8, in company with the 22nd. It passed the winter of 1861–62 in and around Washington and took part in the advance of the Army of the Potomac into Virginia in the spring of 1862. One-half of the battery was engaged April 5 in front of Yorktown, and again at Hanover Court House, May 27. It was held in reserve at Mechanicsville, but took part at Gaines’ Mill and Malvern Hill, July 1. Accompanying the V Corps, it reached Fredericksburg the day after the battle, took part in the “Mud March” in Jan. 1863, and was in position, but not actively engaged at Chancellorsville. The unit was not again in action until Gettysburg. During the remainder of 1863 it was in no serious engagement.

The battery went into its second winter quarters at Bealeton Station, Va., remaining there from Dec. 1863, to May 1, 1864, when it joined the V Corps at Culpeper, and fought with it in the Wilderness, being one of the few batteries engaged. On May 8 it went into position at Laurel Hill, where it remained for five days, frequently in action. It was engaged at the North Anna River, and Shady Grove Church, Va., from May 30 to June 3. It sustained no loss at Cold Harbor, and moved on to Petersburg on June 18, being almost continuously in action until Aug. 13, 1864.

It accompanied the 2nd Division, V Corps, in the expedition against the Weldon Railroad, and on Aug. 23, 1864, relieved the 11th Battery near Globe Tavern, remaining there until its term of service expired. At the end of that month, the reenlisted men and recruits were transferred to the 5th Mass. Battery, and the remainder of the command, 3 officers and 86 men reached Boston, Sept. 9. They mustered out on Sept. 16. The battery carried on its rolls 11 officers and 250 enlisted men.

Its loss during service was 1 officer, 11 men killed or died of wounds, and 11 men by accident or disease.1

From its history, the unit did not fare as badly as other artillery batteries and enjoyed two relatively mild winter quarters. The print by the famed Boston lithographic firm of J. B. Bufford featured here is magnificent in composition in comparison to other artists/lithographers. Its idyllic setting belies the sometimes-harsher elements of winter. It is extremely well executed and is reminiscent of earlier 19th century, New England, folk art paintings. It is very much unlike the hurried production of other publishers of battle scenes like Currier and Ives. The groupings of men and officers are well balanced and seem to be choreographed. The scene in the right, lower corner, with men and animals cavorting contrasts with the serious council of war going on in the left-hand lower corner. Those vignettes contrast with the rigid and orderly rows of cannon, caissons, and timber-tent capped soldier’s quarters. At the top right is another vignette showing stables and men attending to horses. Each section could be a separate painting.

John H. Bufford enjoyed a long career as a lithographer. From 1835 to after 1871 he operated from Boston and New York. He was in New York during the war where he collaborated with many famous artists and lithographers like Nathaniel Currier. He gave Winslow Homer his start. Bufford tackled every conceivable topic—city views, whaling, sailing, and temperance to name a few. Among his other well-executed Civil War prints, subjects revolved around camp

scenes and battlefields. His view of the camp of the 37th Massachusetts at Brandy Station depicts an almost carefree life of games including baseball. Another, more serious work featured the Army of the Potomac en route to the James River during the Seven Days battles in 1862, which he published the following year. One of his most ambitious prints was of the Gettysburg Battlefield in collaboration with John Bachelder.2

As lithographic historian Harry Peters pointed out “because [Bufford’s] volume was so great, and the prints so various” any selection of one over another would be “largely by chance.”3 His Civil War output was mostly concerned with naval engagements, which makes this particular print so different and unusual.

Endnotes:

1. The Union Army. Madison Wisconsin: Federal Pub-lishing Company, 1908, I, 221

2. The American Civil War: A Centennial Exhibition. Washington, Library of Congress, 1961, 9, 14, 18, 20, 34.

3. Harry Peters. America On Stone: The Other Printmakers to the American People. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1931, 119.

Salvatore Cilella is retired after 43 years in the museum field. His last position was President and CEO of the Atlanta History Center. He is the author and editor of several articles and books including Upton’s Regulars: A History of the 121st New York Volunteers in the Civil War (U. Press Kansas, 2009) and The Correspondence of General Emory Upton, 1856–1881 (U. Tennessee Press, 2017).

“Winter Quarters of 3d Battery, Martin’s Massachusetts Volunteers, Near Potomac Creek, Virginia from November 24th to May 29th, 1863.” (Courtesy The Old Print Shop, New York City.)

February 2019

Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable Announces its Distinguished Book Award

GETTYSBURG, Penn.—The Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable is pleased to announce that its Distinguished Book Award for the best work published on the Gettysburg Campaign during 2017 goes to Jeffrey William Hunt for his book Meade and Lee After Gettysburg: The Forgotten Final Stage of the Gettysburg Campaign: From Falling Waters to Culpepper Court House.

Jeffrey William Hunt is the Director of the Texas Military Forces Museum at Camp Mabry in Austin, Texas, and an Adjunct Professor of History at Austin Community College, where he has taught since 1988. For 11 years previously, Mr. Hunt had been the Curator of Collections and Director of the Living History Program at the Admiral Nimitz National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Government and a Masters

Degree in History, both from the University of Texas at Austin. In 2013, Mr. Hunt was appointed an honorary Admiral in the Texas Navy by Governor Rick Perry, in recognition of his efforts to tell the story of the Texas Navy during the period of the Texas Revolution and Republic. He is a veteran reenactor, with 35 years of experience participating in, conducting, planning, running, and hosting a wide variety of events ranging from the War of 1812 through the Viet Nam War.

In addition to Meade and Lee After Gettysburg, Mr. Hunt is the author of Meade and Lee at Bristoe Station and is preparing the final book in his post-Gettysburg Trilogy, Meade and Lee at Mine Run. His list of published works also includes The Last Battle of the Civil War

In addition to the award-winning book, two other works receive Honorable Mention, namely: Gettysburg Rebels: Five Native Sons who Came Home to Fight as Confederate Soldiers by Tom McMillan; and, Top Ten at Gettysburg, edited by Jay Jorgensen.

Jeffrey William Hunt will be honored and will address the March 28th meeting of the Gettysburg Civil War Roundtable at 6:30 p.m. at the GAR Hall located on East Middle Street in Gettysburg. All interested persons are encouraged to attend.

Harpers Ferry Civil War Round Table makes Donation to Harpers Ferry Park Association

Civil War News

Harold Holzer Elected Chairman Of Lincoln Forum; Group Names Frank J. Williams Chairman Emeritus

GETTYSBURG, Penn.—The advisory board and some 300 attendees at the Nov. 18 Lincoln Forum’s 23rd annual symposium at Gettysburg elected Harold Holzer as the 900-member group’s new Chairman. Holzer, a Lincoln Prize-winning historian who has authored, co-authored, or edited 53 books on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War era, had served as founding vice chairman of the Forum since its creation in 1994.

Chosen to work alongside Holzer on his new team were historian Jonathan W. White of Christopher Newport University as vice chairman; the Library of Congress’s Civil War and Reconstruction specialist Michelle Krowl as Secretary; and Elaine Henderson of Gettysburg as Administrator (with the retirement of Betty Anselmo, who will remain on the advisory board). Businessman and longtime Forum photographer-of-record Henry Ballone continues as Treasurer, and Thomas A. Horrocks, author of Lincoln’s Campaign Biographies and former director of the John Hay Library at Brown University, joins the executive committee alongside its re-elected members: Lincoln reenactor George Buss and historians Edna Greene Medford of Howard University and Craig L. Symonds of the U.S. Naval War College.

The Forum also named outgoing, founding Chairman Frank J. Williams as Chairman Emeritus. Williams is the retired Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

“Frank Williams is a tough act to follow,” commented Holzer, “although the fact that we have worked in tandem all these years will make the transition seamless and the commitment to excellence as strong as ever. Frank has been an outstanding, inspiring leader, and will continue to be a major presence at our annual events for many years to come. I am honored to succeed him, and we are all thrilled to honor his long and distinguished Forum service by naming him Chairman Emeritus.”

that Harold Holzer is energized would be an understatement. His commitment to our Lincoln Forum family is a constant in his life. As such, he will, I am positive, continue our traditions and policies and will initiate more as Chairman, including programming which continues to exceed every attendee’s expectations. As a co-founder and Vice Chairman for 23 years, it is only right that Harold should serve as our Chairman as we move into the future.”

In first announcing his plans to retire in 2017, Williams said: “I’ve loved every minute of my work in Lincoln organizations, but have concluded that the time has come to transition to a new generation of leaders who will continue the work that we began so long ago and have worked so hard to sustain. I’m enormously grateful to the executive committee, our loyal membership, the enthusiasts who attend and enjoy the annual symposia each year, and the historians who have made the Forum such a prime destination for scholarship and engagement.”

Holzer, who received the National Humanities Medal in 2008, has also served as co-chairman of the U.S. Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission and chairman of the Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation. A longtime (1992–2015) senior vice president of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Holzer currently serves as the Jonathan F. Fanton Director of the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College in New York City. He won the Lincoln Prize and additional awards from Harvard and Columbia for Lincoln and the

Power of the Press (2014), and is the author of the forthcoming illustrated biography Monument Man: The Life and Art of Daniel Chester French.

Dr. White is Associate Professor of American Studies at CNU in Newport News, Va., and author or coauthor of eight books, including the award-winning Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln and Midnight in America: Darkness, Sleep, and Dreams during the Civil War. His latest, coauthored with Anna Gibson Holloway, is ‘Our Little Monitor’: The Greatest Invention of the Civil War. White also serves as President of the Board of Directors of the Abraham Lincoln Institute and as a member of the board of the Abraham Lincoln Association.

Dr. Krowl, a former assistant professor of history at Northern Virginia Community College and a research assistant for Doris Kearns Goodwin, has written several articles and books, including Women of the Civil War (2008); For Better or Worse: Black Families and “the State” in Civil War Virginia (2000); and entries on the Black Codes and the Emancipation Proclamation for Civil Rights in the United States.

Ms. Henderson, who served for more than two decades as executive editor of encyclopedias at Grolier, Inc., currently operates Gettysburg’s Lincoln into Art gallery with her partner of nearly 40 years, painter Wendy Allen. She was a 2005 Jeopardy! champion.

For information about the Lincoln Forum visit their website at www.thelincolnforum.org.

(Ed Wheeless)

At the December 12 program of the Harpers Ferry Civil War Round Table, President Steve French presented a donation to Harpers Ferry Park Association Director Cathy Baldau for the 75th Anniversary Celebration of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, June 28-30. Baldau outlined plans for the celebration, which will include scholarly presentations, music and other entertainment, commemorative hikes, and more. You can keep up with Anniversary Celebration plans at www. harpersferryhistory.org. Learn more about the Round Table and its programs at www.harpersferrycwrt.org.

Added Holzer: “I look forward to working with our expanded executive committee, our board of advisors, and our new officers Jon White and Michelle Krowl, as well as my friend Henry Ballone. This team is poised to build on our record of success and attract yet more members, attendees, and superb speakers and programs.”

Commented Williams: “To say

Frank J. Williams & Harold Holzer (David Walker)

Preservation of Major Phillip Preston Johnston’s Uniform

By Jessica Hack

Major Phillip Preston Johnston

(1840–1925) was a Confederate Army veteran who served in the command of Gen. J.E.B. Stuart. He joined the First Stuart Horse Artillery Battalion in 1862 as a second lieutenant, where he served with the legendary John Pelham. After interim promotions to first lieutenant and captain, Johnston was promoted to major in Feb. 1865. He was wounded twice, once in the shoulder at Spotsylvania, and again at Buckland Farm where he took shrapnel to his hip.

Last year the current owner of Major Johnston’s uniform contacted us, requesting that we restore the uniform, which included a shell jacket and trousers.

The uniform was received in poor overall condition. It had significant areas of burn damage, as well as moth and age damage throughout. Large original pieces of wool material were burned away. The trousers had major loss to the front panels of the legs.

The waistband was missing large sections of the original wool as well. The coat had several areas burned out along the right back panel. A large portion of the right sleeve (as worn) was missing. There was a bullet hole in the right sleeve, close to the armpit, a relic remaining from Johnston’s injury at Spotsylvania. The lining around the bullet hole is stained with blood. The back center section of the collar was missing. A section of the left breast panel of the coat (as worn) was burned away along the closure edge by the buttonholes. The coat was missing all its original buttons.

The coat and trousers are made of a heavy blue/gray wool twill material. The coat features a red wool standup collar with metallic rank bars and red cuffs. The back of the coat is made of four panels of fabric, hand sewn together in a cylindrical shape, to form

the back of the coat. The lining is a brown and cream wool pin striped textured material. The inside panels of the coat are padded with wool flannel.

Our immediate attention went to cleaning the filthy and charred materials, and replacing large areas of missing fabric in both the coat and trousers. It was also the wish of our client that we stabilize damage to the body and the right arm of the coat around the hole made by the bullet, while retaining the holes the bullet made in both the coat and coat lining.

By now, our regular readers have learned that many general procedures we use in our conservation treatment and restoration work are essentially the same from project to project. The unique element in each project lies in the diversity of the damage and the condition in which these artifacts are brought to the studio

for treatment.

As always, we began with hand vacuum cleaning the uniform with a low suction HEPA filtered cleaner. The uniform was then hand washed in a solution of sodium lauryl sulfate, a neutral pH surfactant, and water.

After cleaning, the singed perimeters of the burned areas were trimmed and cleaned up.

New wool twill material was hand dyed to blend with the original color of the uniform. Small holes were darned closed with cotton thread. Patches of the dyed wool were positioned, and pinned under the holes throughout. The larger missing areas throughout the uniform were fitted with panels of new wool. The holes and larger insets were then hand stitched to the new support wool with 2 ply crepeline silk thread. The front closure area of the left breast panel of the coat was

rebuilt, and the missing buttonholes re-stitched by hand with cotton thread.

Original Maryland and Virginia Confederate dome buttons were acquired for the front of the coat and the cuffs. Flat metal buttons were acquired for the trousers. All were hand sewn to the uniform with brown linen thread.

One additional challenge with the project lay in the fact that the owner wishes to continue to share the uniform on exhibit, traveling with it to a variety of locations, several times a year. To this end, we procured a lightweight table top torso mannequin form, and dressed the coat on the form, so it will be easy to transport and set up.

If any of the readers have any information on Johnston; photos, letters, diary, equipment, the owner would love to know about it. Please contact me through CWN, and I will forward the information.

Jessica Hack founded her company, Jessica Hack Textile Restoration in 1979. A 1972 graduate of Newcomb College of Tulane University in New Orleans, with post graduate studies in dye chemistry (Louisiana State University) and Textile Conservation (University of London; London, England), Ms. Hack was awarded Professional Associate status with AIC (The American Institute of Conservation) in 1995.

Coat, front, before treatment.

Bullet hole in right arm of coat.

Bullet hole in arm lining.

Back of coat, during treatment.

New wool panels, inset into damage areas, before stitching to back of coat.

Trousers, front, before restoration.

Upper part of trousers, front, before treatment.

Torn lining of sleeve, before stabilization.

Coat, front, after restoration. Coat, back, after restoration.

Trousers, front, after restoration.

Upper part of trousers, front, after restoration.

Sleeve lining, after treatment.

Last month we looked at the background and evolution of Thomas Wilson’s Breechloading Rifle. This month we will look more deeply into Confederate acquisition of these guns.

While no official Confederate order for Wilson rifles has yet been discovered, correspondence and other period documents indicate that at least a few rifles were purchased and delivered to the Confederacy. According a sworn statement, made by Archibald McLaurin, agent for the firm of J. Scholefield, Sons & Goodman in New Orleans, on July 10, 1862, the blockade runner Bamberg was carrying a sample Wilson’s breechloading rifle, destined for that firm’s showroom. McLaurin

specifically refers to the gun as a “pattern rifle” and noted at the time of his interrogation by General Benjamin Butler, the rifle was still in Havana and had not (to his knowledge) reached the Confederacy. The Federal blockading squadron may well have captured the rifle after it finally left Havana. It is my belief that the rifle referred to by Mr. McLaurin is the 1861 dated brass mounted rifle #221, made by Wilson himself as a sample piece for the Confederacy.

Additional documentation comes from an April 23, 1863, letter from CSN Commander James North to G.B. Tennent of Courtney, Tennent & Company of Charleston. In the letter, North complains about the tight fit of the bayonet on a sample Wilson rifle that he had examined. I surmise that this may reference an initial delivery of bushed cutlass bayonets, and that there after standard

saber bayonets were provided.

North goes on to say “If I have not ordered 200 rounds of ball cartridges to each rifle, you will please do so for me. Get me the form for making them, also the receipt for lubricating the wads.” This suggests that at least some Wilson rifles were in use by the Confederate Navy (or had been ordered by them) as the Southerners not only needed ammunition for the rifles, but also the forms for making cartridges, and the formula (“receipt”) for the wad lubricant. It would not make sense for the Confederate Ordnance Department to go to the trouble of obtaining the material to produce patent cartridges that could only be used in Wilson rifles, if there were not a number of the guns in service.

A post-Civil War piece of evidence for the purchase of the guns exists as well. A catalog from the Feb. 11, 1880, New York U.S. Ordnance Department sale held in New York lists “1 Enfield, altered Wilson’s, caliber .577, unserviceable, broken.”

It is not clear if this listing was indeed a .577 Enfield altered by Wilson (possibly submitted when the US was trying out breech loading designs), or if the caliber was given incorrectly, and this was really a captured Southern purchased Wilson rifle. We will probably never know.

In their seminal work Firearms of the Confederacy, Claude Fuller & Richard Steuart note that some Wilson rifles saw service in the Charleston defenses. This seems possible, as Courtney & Tennent of Charleston appear to have accepted delivery of at least some rifles.

Pictured with this article are two Wilson’s Patent Breech Loading Rifles that I have had the pleasure to offer for sale. One is a “late” Wilson rifle. It is brass mounted, dated 1863 and has the serial number 2A5025 on top of the breech. The other two examples are late Wilson rifles numbered 2A5048 and 2A5059. Both guns now reside in museum collections, with the first having been part of the C.A. Huey collection now at the South Carolina Relic Room & Military Museum

in Columbia, S.C., and the second having been part of the Richard D. Steuart collection now part of the Virginia Historical Society collection in Richmond.

When the second rifle was found, the fish tail operating lever at the rear of the bolt was missing and had been replaced with a perfectly made copy of the lever that is on rifle 2A5059 from the Steuart Collection at the Virginia Historical Society. Unfortunately, the lever on the Steuart rifle was incorrect! When this rifle, 2A5025, was discovered in 2003, the gun was damaged, with the bolt frozen in the breech, some wood around the breechblock and lock damaged, and the fish tail lever missing. At the time, the only other known brass mounted Wilson Rifle was 2A5059 at the Virginia Historical Society. As the two guns were only 34 numbers away each other, the owner assumed the configurations were identical. He had the bolt handle of the Steuart gun copied exactly, with the restoration performed by renowned historical arms restoration gunsmith Louis Parker. At the time, it was assumed that this type of simplified breech lever was typical of the “late” Wilson Rifles, and that the checkered fishtail lever of 1860 dated iron mounted rifles and the transitional 1861 dated rifle had been abandoned in favor of this new, simpler lever. About a decade later rifle 2A5048 was discovered that it had the same checkered fishtail lever as the earlier guns, disproving the theory about a simplified bolt lever. As such, both the Steuart gun and the one pictured in this article have an incorrect bolt handle.

Why the handle on the Steuart gun was replaced is unknown, but the part is somewhat fragile and may well have been prone to breakage in use. The replaced lever may be an example of some Confederate arsenal engineering to keep the gun in service. In the case of the other rifle, I believe that this may well have been the gun described in the February 1880 New York Ordnance Department sale. Since that gun was described as “1 Enfield, altered Wilson’s, caliber .577, unserviceable, broken” as the gun was missing the fishtail, had a seized bolt, and had some wood damage around the breech, it seems quite likely that this may be the same gun. This rifle is one of the .551 rifles (28 bore) and actually gauges about .565 inch at the muzzle due to wear. It would have been very easy for the Ordnance Department cataloger to glance at this gun and assume it was .577 caliber.

The other Wilson Rifle depicted is another gun that I believe we have a period account about. This is the finest extant example known; the only example of a “transitional rifle” known, and I firmly believe it is the “pattern rifle” referred to by Archibald McLaurin in his testimony. The gun remains in absolutely stunning condition throughout. The gun first came to light in 1952, when John George purchased it from a collector in Portland, Ore., for the princely sum of $70. At that time, the gun had a paper label on the stock that read in large script US ORD DEPT WASH DC. When Mr. George purchased the gun, he soaked the label off the stock, folded it, and placed it under the upper barrel band for safekeeping. Unfortunately, over the ensuing 60 years, the label completely disintegrated, leaving only some remnants of paper under the barrel band, pressed against the stock. The majority of the label’s remnants were lost when the gun changed hands in 2007, passing from Mr. George to another collector privately. At that time, it was partially disassembled to document any markings, and a piece of oily paper marked “US” was found under the band.

I believe that this gun was almost certainly McLaurin’s “pattern rifle” because of the condition of the gun, the documented story about the Ordnance Department tag, and the fact that this is an actual Wilson produced Wilson rifle. It appears that most Wilson pattern arms were actually produced by other contractors, but McLaurin’s testimony infers that the pattern rifle came from Wilson himself. It seems more than reasonable that this Wilson rifle was in transit to New Orleans and was captured by the blockading squadron and then spent most of the 19th century in a U.S. Ordnance warehouse. When you take into account the quality of the gun, the condition, the paper label it bore in the 1950s, and McLaurin’s testimony, it all makes sense.

Tim Prince is a full-time dealer in fine & collectible military arms from the Colonial Period through WWII. He operates College Hill Arsenal, a web-based antique arms retail site.

A long time collector & researcher, Tim has been a contributing author to two major book projects about Civil War era arms including The English Connection and a new book on southern retailer marked and Confederate used shotguns. Tim is also a featured Arms & Militaria appraiser on the PBS Series Antiques Roadshow.

Wilson’s Patent Breechloading Rifle –Part 2

Overall view of Wilson Rifle #2A5025, which was found with the bolt seized and the fish tail missing from the lever; likely the gun sold at the Ordnance Department auction. (All photos by Tim Prince)

Late Wilson #2A5025 showing the incorrectly replaced “fish tail” and the Wilson’s Patent breech markings.

Late Wilson with bolt open. Breech area of Wilson #221, showing correct fish tail lever.

Overall view of Wilson Rifle #221, likely the “pattern gun” never delivered to McLaurin in New Orleans, that was found with the U.S. Ordnance Department label on it.

Late Wilson #2A5025 lock view with 1863 date.

the case. McCausland issued the demand—$100,000 in gold or $500,000 in greenbacks, or he would burn the town; the demand was refused; McCausland immediately ordered the fires lit; and McCausland was acting under Early’s express orders.

Was this retaliation, or pure barbarism?

Retaliation, Reprisal, and Retribution

How the people are to live this winter God only knows. Valley Spirit, Chambersburg, Penn., August 31, 1864

Their will be suffering times in the valley this winter as the yanks have burnt all of the barns from hear down & all of the mills except one occasionly. Letter from David J. Schreckhise to his brother, Oct. 17, 1864

Last month’s column explored the Valley Project’s online archive to see what newspapers in Staunton and Chambersburg had to say about John Brown’s Raid and the election of Abraham Lincoln. We now move forward to 1864. The war has turned hard for the people in the Great Appalachian Valley. In both Augusta County, Va., and in Franklin County, Penn., armies are waging war against civilians as well as against each other. By reviewing the Valley Project’s newspapers and, to a lesser extent, its letters and diaries, this column allows the people who waged this hard war, and those affected by it, to tells us what they did and what was done to them.

Union forces under Gen. David Hunter operated against Lee’s communications in the Valley as

Grant’s Overland Campaign began in May. Hunter left much devastation in the upper Shenandoah Valley before retreating to the northwest. The July 8 Staunton Vindicator summarizes the results and lists mills, factories, workshops, stables, and railroad facilities wrecked by the order of “hen-roost Hunter.” The Federals also destroyed private dwellings, complains the Vindicator—as well as the paper’s presses and those of its competitor, the Staunton Spectator, which was out of commission until June 1865. After Staunton, Hunter’s forces “acted in the same fiendish manner. At Lexington they burned the V.M. Institute and Professors’ houses…the private residence of Ex. Gov. Letcher, and destroyed the office of the Lexington Gazette.”

According to a letter written by Letcher, published by the Vindicator on July 22, Hunter had assured Mrs. Letcher that her home would not be burned, a trick, Gov. Letcher claims, to prevent Mrs. Letcher from saving its contents from the flames. The Letchers’ daughter tried to save some garments, but an officer “fired the clothing in her arms.”

The July 6 edition of the Franklin Repository reports that Hunter’s movements had been “carried out on a grand scale” and “produced a consternation in

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Lynchburg that the rebels of that vicinity will never forget.” The paper further advises that “Rebel accounts agree that the damage done…was very extensive. They say that the scene of desolation and ruin in the neighborhood…is positively appalling. All available supplies for the rebel army was [sic] destroyed, and grain, cattle and other stock confiscated.”

As they withdrew to Charleston, W.Va., the Federals left “nothing behind them which they [could] not consume, carry off, or destroy.” The following edition quotes the Lynchburg Virginian, which complained that “The people were stripped of everything… and every species of vandalism that savages could think of was practiced” and that everywhere “the same scenes of plunder and robbery were enacted.” But was the campaign conducted under the rules of civilized warfare?

Of course, say the Repository’s editors. “General Hunter has simply subsisted upon the rebels— taking their stock, provisions, and the other articles essential to his army. Just as did Jenkins, Imboden, Jones, Stuart, and other rebel raiders in this section….”

The memory of the Virginia editors was short and their arguments were specious and disingenuous. As the Repository puts it, “The case being altered alters the case.”

Hunter’s withdrawal opened the Valley as a route for Gen. Jubal Early’s invasion of the North. What does the Repository have to say about Early’s methods of waging war? On July 20 the Repository notes the immense damage done to Maryland by the invaders, and advocates measures to protect the border area of Pennsylvania. Just 10 days later a Confederate force under Gen. John McCausland would put Chambersburg to the torch.

Not until the August 24 edition could the Repository report on the conflagration, as its own facilities were burned by “the Rebel fiends” along with the rest of the town.

There no significant disagreement about the basic facts of

“It is untrue, wholly, maliciously false, as broadly stated or insidiously intimated by several journals in this State, that the Union troops have furnished any precedent for the burning and plundering of Chambersburg,” write the editors in the first postfire edition. For various reasons detailed by the Repository, Hunter’s actions were justified “by well-established rules of war.”

The government must “bring the rebel authorities to the strictest account” for the atrocity. Lee must “disavow the actions of his corps commander [Early], and bring him to proper punishment….” Otherwise “all mankind [should] hold Lee individually responsible…and no possession of his should be spared.” The Repository does not stop with the commanders: every officer continuing to serve under the “vandal chiefs” should suffer the same fate.

“The case being altered alters the case.”

As one would expect, the newspaper in Staunton has a

different view, as expressed on August 12. “The burning of Chambersburg by McCausland meets with the universal approval of the Confederate press. Just retaliation, though long delayed, has commenced at last, and will continue to be practiced until the corrupt dynasty, which rules at Washington, shall direct its minions in the field to cease their Vandalism, and return to that mode of warfare practiced by all civilized nations.”

The Valley Spirit, a Democratic paper in Chambersburg, focuses less on the question of justification and more on the question of blame. The fault lay with the Lincoln administration, which left Chambersburg exposed and undefended, says the paper when it resumed publication on August 31. “To the stupidity of the War Department must we lay the blame for the destruction of Chambersburg. There is no use mincing terms about it.” The tragedy was due to the national government’s “culpable negligence.” Letters and diaries in the Valley archive provide additional information and perspective. One Confederate soldier who was present, Malcolm Fleming, describes the chaos in a letter to his mother. “The scene…baffles all description. Shrieking children & panic stricken men & women running in [every direction] begging assistance.”

Another Confederate writes

Maj. Gen. David Hunter. (Library of Congress)

in his diary that McCausland gave the inhabitants two hours to remove belongings from their doomed homes, but that few took advantage of the opportunity. (Perhaps the townspeople thought McCausland was bluffing; perhaps they thought Union forces would arrive in time to save them.) J. Kelly Bennette records that “The burning…was generally condemned by our Regt. at first…but when reason had time to regain her seat I believe that they all thought as I thought at first; that it was Justice & Justice tempered with mercy.” The retaliatory act was “not only justifiable but…a duty.”

M.T. Norman expresses a different attitude in a letter to his wife. “I never witnessed sutch a site in all my life – Nancy the poor women and children…[and

old] men was running in every direction.” The wretched townspeople “were crying and screaming skarsly any of them had time to remove any of their property.” Norman refused to participate. “I never set a fire nor took any thing.”

A Franklin County letter-writer, Eliza Stouffer, tells us that “many had only 10 to 15 minutes time given them to leave their houses” and that “some saved a few clothes, some nothing at all….” Stouffer states further that some were prevented from removing their money and clothing even though they were packed and ready. One rebel cruelly tore up a silk dress a woman was carrying out of her house, but “others again were more merciful, & helped the women to carry out things….” Stouffer notes too that

one soldier refused orders to set the fire and was arrested: “They took him & handcuffed him.”

This hard war would become harder still for people of the Shenandoah. In the fall of 1864, Federal forces under Gen. Philip Sheridan would wreak havoc far more destructive than the damage done by Hunter.

The October 21 Vindicator tells us that Sheridan’s actions were of a different character than Hunter’s. The campaign was more prolonged and the damage more widespread. Moreover, Sheridan’s methods were fully sanctioned by the highest authorities in the United States. “[T]he order of Grant required Sheridan to burn barns, wheat and hay-stacks, to drive off or kill all live stock and to carry off the negroes – in fact to make the Valley a barren waste.”

Why did the Union resort to such tactics? “Grant, wearied and sick of fighting the veterans of Lee with no avail has turned his arms against the women and children of our land….” And, says the Vindicator, there will be justice.

“Let not the North then cry out when Southern Barbarians are let loose upon them, but remember that we can point to the campaigns in the Valley of the Shenandoah for precedents for all the acts our soldiery may commit.”

Sheridan’s work was not universally approved of in the North.

The Valley Spirit on October 19 reprints a piece in the New York World describing the horror of the deliberate policy of destruction in the Valley. Barns and granaries destroyed, farm machinery wrecked, all provisions carried away, the people made homeless when their houses are burned

with all their contents. And this account comes with a warning: “Citizens of Franklin county, what think you of the prospect before you? If the rebels should again invade our State…in what condition do you suppose they would leave our beautiful Valley with its fine farmhouses and magnificent barns and mills?” The Democratic paper continues: “It makes the blood run cold in our veins to contemplate the accumulation of sorrow our misguided rulers are bringing upon this distracted land.” Of course, the Confederates were unable to mount another offensive down the Valley and into the North. The Spirit’s fears were not to be realized.

Back in the Shenandoah, the Staunton Vindicator makes a prediction in the November 18

edition. With the re-election of Lincoln, the Valley and the South could expect that “The unbridled licentiousness of the past four years will be continued for the next four….”

The Confederacy’s defeat in the spring would mean that this fear also would not be realized.

Gould Hagler is a retired lobbyist living in Dunwoody, Ga. He is a past president of the Atlanta Civil War Round Table of Atlanta 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. He can be reached at gould.hagler@gmail.com.

Franklin County Courthouse destroyed by McCausland Troops. (Library of Congress)

Hard War in the Shenandoah Valley. (Alfred R. Waud artist. Library of Congress)

Polish Ceremony Honors Heros von Borcke, Prussian Cavalryman who Fought for the South

By Piotr “Smednir” Narloch, sergeant, 14th La. Regt. (Polish Brigade) and Marcin “Walter” Białek, private, 58th NY Regt. (Polish Legion)

Edited by Joe Bordonaro

Gizyn is a small village located in northwestern Poland. For several years, thanks to the hospitality of its residents, and the passion of Polish American Civil War reenactors, Gizyn has become known for regularly held ceremonies pertaining to, and reenactments of, battles of the Civil War.

Until recently, no one in this town had ever heard of Colonel Heros von Borcke (1835–1895), a Confederate hero, and an officer who served on the staff of General J. E. B. Stuart, the renowned Army of Northern Virginia cavalry leader. No one in town paid any attention to the decaying brick mausoleum overgrown with bushes that was the burial site of Colonel von Borcke.

The von Borcke family palace was located in Gizyn, then part of Prussia, where Heros was brought up. Every year at the end of July, Gizyn becomes a secessionist village and is visited by reenactors wearing the blue and gray of

the American Civil War. These reenactors come from Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Austria, and Sweden!

It is interesting to learn the many reasons that people in these various countries came to become Civil War reenactors. Each reenactor had his own reasons for becoming involved. For many, a primary motivation was the participation of their countrymen in the war. Sometimes, the reason for becoming involved was the result of meeting similar history enthusiasts and learning many details of the war’s history and the weapons and uniforms that pertain to it.

An American Civil War reenactment has been occurring in Gizyn for ten years. The event usually lasts from Thursday to Sunday. The event includes many combat reenactments as well as a ceremony at the mausoleum where reenactors, Blue and Gray, combine to pay tribute to Colonel von Borcke. The ceremony includes honorary volleys, speeches, and the placement of flowers and wreathes. Plans for the next event include the placing of an event-long guard at the mausoleum.

Each year skirmishes are reenacted in the village of Gizyn and in backwoods areas nearby.

Every year, the event’s guiding focus is one of the important battles of the American Civil War. This year, episodes of the Battle of Chickamauga were reenacted. The culmination of every event is a spectacular battle in front of a large audience. For several years, ramparts and field fortifications have been built near the camp areas that are then used during reenactments of other battles of the Civil War.

Among the guests at this year’s reenactment, two Americans deserve special mention. The first is Chris McLarren, adjutant of the European Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Association. Chris is a Texan living permanently in Berlin. He usually does not participate in reenactments of historic events but he always visits Gizyn in a Confederate captain’s uniform. The other distinguished American visitor was Richard J. Cicero, who portrays Confederate Colonel Heros von Borcke. Mr. Cicero is a member of a group of reenactors who portray Lee’s lieutenants and travel across the ocean every year to participate in the event at Gizyn.

The people of Gizyn are the reenactment hosts and provide the food for the reenactors. Between events, they also take care of the mausoleum and the battle reenactment site. Villagers have helped with the fortification construction over the years. Each year, they invite local authorities and guests from nearby communities to the ceremony.

Participants at each reenactment experience their wonderful hospitality throughout the event. Every year, on the highest flagpole of the village, the flag of the Confederate States of America flutters in the wind. Reenactment participants appreciate the effort

of the local authorities to preserve the mausoleum and the care taken to preserve the memory of the person who is undoubtedly the community’s most famous historical figure.

Thanks to the active involvement of the inhabitants of Gizyn, Richard Cicero, and the Polish and foreign reenactors, the mausoleum now has a chance of being preserved and rebuilt. Appropriate legal and administrative steps have been taken to secure the mausoleum and the adjacent area. The mausoleum has been added to the list of monuments and thus is now under the protection of Polish law.

Huge thanks for organizational effort are due to the members of the Volunteer Fire Brigade and the women of the Country Housewives’ Club. Without their support and enthusiasm the event could not be undertaken.

This year’s event, “Gizyn 2018,” was once again very successful. The number of participants has increased every year as news about it spreads through the units of American Civil War events in Poland and in other European countries. The organizers of the event are the 14th Louisiana Regiment and the 58th New York Regiment. The reenactor guests from other countries also contributed to the success of the event.

Biographical Note:

Johann August Heinrich Heros von Borcke was born on July 23, 1835, into an old, noble Prussian family. Following the family tradition, he took up military service in the Prussian cavalry. He left this service in 1861 to move to the Confederate States. Slipping though the U.S. Navy’s blockade, he arrived in Richmond and began looking for

a way to serve with the Southern army. Assigned as an adjutant to the staff of General J.E.B. Stuart, he became a valuable member of the Confederate cavalry. General Stuart and von Borcke developed a close friendship and working relationship. Both were inspired by, and seemed to personify, the cavalier tradition. Von Borcke proved himself in battle, as an adjutant, and as a liaison to General Robert E. Lee’s staff. On June 19, 1863, he was severely wounded in a cavalry clash near Middleburg, Va., during the Gettysburg Campaign. After a long convalescence, he managed to return to duty, but he did not recover enough to perform the duties of a cavalryman and serve in the field. The Confederacy rewarded von Borcke with a promotion to colonel and also the praise of the Congress. In the spring of 1865, Colonel von Borcke was sent with a diplomatic mission to London, where he was to represent the “right and noble cause,” but unfortunately this cause was already lost. The “knight errant,” as he was called by American historian Ella Lonn, returned to Prussia and settled in his estate in Pomerania, now a part of Poland. The Confederate flag was proudly flown over his palace in Gizyn. In 1877, von Borcke published a memoir of his service in the American Civil War. He returned to America in 1884 and visited the Southern states, where he was feted as a hero. He died on May 10, 1895, and his mortal remains were buried in the family mausoleum in Gizyn.

Confederate reenactors present the colors. (Piotr Narloch)

Federal reenactors fire a salute during a ceremony to honor Heros von Borcke. (Piotr Narloch)

Heros von Borcke was portrayed by American Richard J. Cicero. (Piotr Wojtowicz)

Heros von Borcke. Photo from original wet plate image by E. O. Higgins, 1914. (Library of Congress)

Hidden Evidence

A Look Inside Civil War Artillery Projectiles

"Through Jack’s superb photography; the collector and professional can now view an extensive exposure to sectioned projectiles. This is new for the average person in that for the first time since radiography; one can examine the internal makeup of a shell."

CWO4 John D. Bartleson

What do they say?

Jack Melton’s latest endeavor, Civil War Artillery Projectiles – The Half Shell Book, is a remarkable addition to Civil War artillery ammunition literature. For archaeologists and collectors the clearly written text and the excellent photographs provide a wealth of information to properly identify recovered shells and burst fragments. For bomb squad and EOD specialists this book should be on every units’ shelf. The material found in these pages will help EOD personnel identify what has been found, whether or not it is dangerous, and how to inert the round without the necessity of destroying an important historic object. This book takes Civil War artillery ammunition studies to a new level.

Douglas Scott Adjunct Research Faculty, Colorado Mesa University. Author of Uncovering History: Archaeological Investigations of the Little Bighorn.

Wow. I have been reading a lot of different books on ordnance from this era, but this one takes the cake. Most of the other books drift off in directions that are not helpful with the ordnance specific information I am usually looking for. But this book stays on task and topic from start to finish.

flame’scommunicationchannel.Theblackpowderburstingchargewaspouredinloosearoundthebullets.Thismethoddid notworkverywellandoftenonlysucceededinblowingthefusesout.Projectilesfilledwithbulletsusedascaseshotarerare. Thisspecimenwasrecovered,alongwithotherConfederateandUnionprojectiles,fromthepost-CivilWardumpsitelocated neartheConfederatePowderWorksinAugusta,Georgia.

Inthisexample,riflebulletswereutilizedasthecaseshotmaterialincluding3-ring.58caliberbullets,3-ring.69caliberbul lets,andU.S.ring-tailSharpsbullets.IthasabrassBormannsupportplug(underplug)thatiscountersunkonbothsidesof

Tom Gersbeck

MFS, Graduate Faculty, Arson-Explosives Investigation (AEI), School of Forensic Sciences, Oklahoma State University

Jack Melton’s new book Civil War Artillery Projectiles – The Half Shell Book, promises to be one of the most important volumes on Civil War artillery in recent times. Anyone who has studied the wide variety of Civil War projectiles knows that what is inside is just as important, and maybe more so, than what is outside the shell. In this book, cutaway shells are graphically explained with superb color photographs and detailed notes. They reveal important details and differences in a variety of similar projectiles that tell us U.S. from C.S. and between type variations, in a way that no other approach has ever done. It is supremely helpful in explaining to others just how a shell works, whether it is still dangerous or not, and why.

Les Jensen

Former Curator of the Museum of the Confederacy

An alphabetically organized quiz where answers are not linked except by their first letter. This is intended as an imitation of the Trivia questions focusing on a single topic.

By Larry Babits

A as in …

1. This Maryland-born leader was the first Army of Northern Virginia general captured after Robert E. Lee took command (hint July 1, 1863)

2. These two Confederate ironclads both held their own against Union flotillas. Name them.

3. This heavy English rifled cannon with multiple bands served in Charleston and other Southern seaport defenses.

4. Lincoln conspirator who failed miserably in the task but was hung along with two other men and Mary Surratt.

5. This Kentucky born soldier commanded, and

surrendered, Fort Sumter to the Rebels, was promoted to general but resigned due to illness in 1863.

6. Union ship, formerly the blockade runner Caroline destroyed by fire and sunk by sabotage below New Orleans Feb. 27, 1865. A more famous vessel of the same name is a national memorial.

7. Northern name for the Battle of Sharpsburg

8. Elvis took this Civil War-era tune and made it his own “Love me Tender”

9. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania arsenal

10. Most successful Confederate commerce raider.

42nd

Answers:

1. James J. Archer

McElroy Sword

Dear John:

I acquired the following sword from a 77 year old gentleman who said the sword originally belonged to his great, great grandfather who was from Kentucky. He said that he remembers playing with it as a boy and getting “the switch” for getting caught cutting corn stalks with it. He is going to send me his great, great, grandfather’s exact name so I can research his war records which should be interesting. Anyway, I’d like to get your initial evaluation of the sword from the attached photos.

Dan

Dear Dan:

I am sorry to inform you but the only thing that might be real in his story is that he might be 77 years old. I have seen similar scams over the years when usually an older person would run an ad in local newspaper (before the internet) and offer some rare Civil War item, often a sword that they would swear was from ancestor and was the only valuable object they owned. The scammer generally stated they needed money for medicine or funeral expenses for their spouse. Social media makes it easier to reach more people with same scams. This fake sword and style of etching is not that old, so the story is either a lie or maybe someone scammed the seller out of his real family sword and replaced

it; I have seen this happen before too. I rarely, if ever, have heard of a refund, so maybe the seller is honest, but he never played with this sword when he was a child as the story relates. Regardless, the sword in the photos here, as far as I know, was first introduced by a Conyers, Ga., import company in the 1980s–1990s, but not with the “McElroy” markings which I have only seen much more recently. An original marked Confederate officer’s sword with etched blade in fine condition starts at $20,000. You can buy this exact same India made reproduction sword with identical markings today discounted from $149 to $89 from Hunterdon Import Company (website shopcivilwar.com, or visit their retail store in New Market, Va.) without the artificial aging or “story.” Caveat Emptor

John is an certified appraiser with International Society of Appraisers specializing in Civil War memorabilia. He authenticates and evaluates other rare and valuable historic items as well. His website is www.civilwardealer.com.

He is coauthor of the book Confederate Bowie Knives (2012) by Jack Melton, Josh Phillips and John Sexton, that was published by Mowbray Publishing, Inc. Send “Ask The Appraiser” questions and photographs to civilwarappraiser@gmail.com.

Fantasy Confederate sword pattern similar to several makers, but this one made overseas quite recently and artificially aged.

McElroy of Macon, Ga., made no infantry officer’s swords with “CS” in hilt.

The etching pattern, above and below, is not close to original McElroy patterns. There are much better fakes out there that emulate several Confederate makers’ etching styles and have sold for prices as if they were original.

From the Editor

I sit by the multi-colored lights of our family Christmas tree as I write this, but I’m thinking of soldiers here in Fredericksburg who, 156 years ago, were instead hunkered around fires, trying to stay warm. Perhaps thoughts of home warmed them, too, or perhaps those thoughts only made them feel colder and more lonely.

For me, that’s always the mixed legacy of Christmas in Fredericksburg. The holiday came just weeks after a devastating battle, and men in both armies just wanted to be home. To make it worse for the men of the Army of the Potomac, the season lay like a burden on many of them because of the extent of their recent loss.

New Year’s likewise stirs mixed feelings. It’s a time of year to look forward with anticipation, but 156 years ago, the armies in central Tennessee ushered in 1863 by bleeding each other out at Stones River. How many men didn’t even get to see the new year?

I don’t offer these reminders to dampen anyone’s holiday, trust me! Rather, they are solemn reminders of why we remember the Civil War in the first place; men and women just like us, who would have much preferred a peaceful holiday and a home full of loved ones, instead sacrificed and suffered. May we remember them so that we can better appreciate—and more nobly practice—the true meaning of “peace on earth and good will toward men.”

—Chris Mackowski Editor-in-Chief, Emerging Civil War

Sixth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge

The 2019 Emerging Civil War Symposium is getting closer, and symposium co-chairs Dan Welch and Rob Orrison are hard at work. Did you get your accommodations? A special rate link for a nearby hotel has also been added to the Symposium webpage: https://emergingcivilwar. com/2019-symposium/.

Dan and Rob have also begun our Symposium Spotlight series on the blog. Check out more behind-the-scenes looks at the Symposium with our presenters and more every Wednesday morning.

10 Questions with . . . Terry Rensel

This month, we’re pleased to profile one of the behindthe-scenes folks who help keep Emerging Civil War operating, Terry Rensel. A resident of

New Civil War Artillery Book

Civil War News publisher, Jack W. Melton Jr., will be setup and autographing his new 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 shown here. The limited edition deluxe edition is $125 + $8 media mail.

Homer, Alaska, Terry is posing here in front of the Civil War monument in his hometown of Girard, Penn. The monument was commissioned by Dan Rice, who wintered his circus in town.

CSS Shenandoah: all offer opportunities to learn about others, and ourselves, by the decisions we make.

By day, you work in the radio industry. Can you tell us a little about that?

I am the general manager of KBBI-AM, a public radio station in Homer, Alaska. I’ve been here for almost 12 years now, the first 9 as the program director. Homer’s a small town, at the end of the North American road system. When I look out my office window, I’m looking at mountains and glaciers. What we do here makes a huge difference in our community.

contributed in any major way to the rest of the war?

What one Civil War book do you consider to be essential?

You mean besides EVERYTHING from the ECW Imprint? I found Sherman’s memoir an incredibly modern, and interesting, read.

What’s one Civil-War related question no one has ever asked you that you wish they would?

You serve behind-the-scenes as a member of ECW’s editorial board. Can you tell us a little bit about what you do?

I am part of a team who make up the Editorial Board. We go over guest pieces submitted for publication on the blog, provide feedback to the authors, and decide if they meet the high standard to be published on the site.

Do you have an area of Civil War history that’s of particular interest to you?

I am very much a generalist. I tend to find things that interest me and follow them wherever they lead, which usually leads me to something I had not previously known about, which leads me down another rabbit hole.

Aside from your background in history, you also have a degree in professional leadership. I suspect you could look at the Civil War as being a huge collection of leadership lessons.

That’s a very good point. Whether it’s civilian, or military, it is all about leadership and the lessons from that. Joe Hooker losing faith in Joe Hooker; Grant making his HQ in the field with the Army of the Potomac; Sherman cutting his lines and heading for the sea; Captain Waddell and the

Word is you’re Chris Mackowski’s “evil twin” (or he’s yours). How did that misfortune befall you?

Well, Dr. Mackowski and I met as college freshmen in the same orientation group. We found out that we share a birthday (day and year) and we were both Yankees fans. He went from communications into history and I went from history into communications. It started as a joke that, when he first became a college professor, he became an “upstanding member of his community,” which left me to be the dark side of “our” personality, a.k.a. the “evil twin.” Of course, as we are all the heroes of our own stories, from my perspective maybe he’s the “evil” one!

Lightning-Round (short answers): Most overrated person of the Civil War?

All the major commanders and political leaders. Throughout history we place these figures on pedestals and turn them into mythical figures. They were men of their times, some of them achieved a level of greatness, but all were flawed in some way. None of them are as great as their biographers, or history, makes them out to be.

Favorite Trans-Mississippi site?

I have never visited any of the Trans-Mississippi sites, but the most interesting “battle” to me was the Red River Campaign. The Union was lucky that their misadventures didn’t cost them a significant setback in either the short, or long, term.

Favorite Regiment?

Being from Erie, Penn., originally, I’d have to say 83rd Penn. Inf. Sometimes I wonder what might have been different if Vincent hadn’t died at Gettysburg. Would day 2 have gone differently? Would he have

I’ve never really thought about that. I’ve been spending some time recently reading about the Founders, and they saw that slavery was an issue that would eventually divide the nation. So, I guess a good question would be, “Was it all inevitable?”

ECW News & Notes

Emerging Civil War was pleased to bring aboard two new regular contributors in December: Jon-Erik Gilot and Kristen Pawlak. Both have written as guest bloggers for us for a while. We’re glad to be featuring their work on a more regular basis!

Sean Michael Chick is putting the finishing touches a biography of P. G. T. Beauregard and is working on the final edit of Grant’s Left Hook: The Bermuda Hundred Campaign, an upcoming title in the Emerging Civil War Series set for release in spring 2019.

Steve Davis, author of two ECWS paperbacks on the Atlanta Campaign, continues to focus on the subject. His book review of Earl J. Hess’s The Battle of Peach Tree Creek will be published in Louisiana History, fall 2018. Steve’s article on the battle of Pickett’s Mill, fought May 27, 1864, is scheduled to appear in America’s Civil War in May 2019.

Meg Groeling is trying to avoid her own Civil War by planning holiday visits very carefully and remembering to play nicely with others, especially those who drive her nuts with their political and historical opinions. She is also reviewing books for Civil War News and Louisiana State University, and will soon increase her duties at Civil War News by doing some editing of other people’s book reviews. In between these time-consuming activities she is anxiously awaiting the return of Game of Thrones, trying to raise her armor level to 365 in World of Warcraft, and petting cats. Her New Year’s Resolution is to get her new ECW book—Binding Up the Nation’s Wounds—done by this time next year. She adds, “Happy Holidays to everyone!”

Terry Rensel

Civil War Artillery Projectiles –The Half Shell Book cover.

February 2019

From Steward Henderson: “My fellow living historians and I will be representing both the 54th Massachusetts Co. B and 23rd USCT regiments in an Emancipation Program at the Israel Metropolitan CME Church, in Washington, D.C., at 10 a.m., on Jan. 1, 2019. This church, formerly Israel Bethel AME Church, organized in 1820 under the leadership of Reverend Henry McNeal Turner, is one of the oldest black churches in Washington. Rev. Turner later became an AME Bishop and was the first African American Chaplain chosen by President Abraham Lincoln. He was the Chaplain of the 1st United States Colored Troops. Dr. Frank Smith, Founding Director of the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum (Washington, D.C.) will be the keynote speaker.”

Dwight Hughes, ECW’s Civil War naval scholar, has been requested by the U.S. Naval Institute Press in Annapolis to review and endorse a new book due out next year on the lives of officers and sailors in the Confederate Navy. Works have been published covering Union seamen, but this will be the first for the Rebels. Dwight’s book, A Confederate Biography, The Cruise of the CSS Shenandoah was published by the Naval Institute in 2015.

Frank Jastrzembski just had two articles published: one in the March 2019 edition of America’s Civil War on the feud between generals John Gibbon and Joshua T. Owen and the other in the January 2019 edition of Military Heritage on General Edward O.C. Ord.

On another note, Frank says, “I just had the satisfaction of seeing a tombstone erected over the unmarked grave of Lt. Colonel William Montrose Graham, killed at the Battle of Molino del Rey during the Mexican War. The staff

at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. was kind enough to send me a photo of the recently erected marker on Monday. I realized Graham was buried in an unmarked grave while doing research for my next book. I felt compelled to do something about it. I gathered the proper documentation and submitted it to the National Cemetery Administration to put in the request. The marker was then sent to the cemetery to be installed. It’s been a long process, but very much worth it.”

Finally, Frank is wrapping up his second book, Admiral Albert Hastings Markham: A Victorian Tale of Triumph, Tragedy, and Exploration, scheduled to be released in 2019, and he received a sample of its cover from his publisher.

Civil War News

Center. In November, Kevin made a visit to the Berks County Historical Society to research George Durell’s Battery D, Penn. Light Artillery’s role during the Maryland Campaign. “I went through some of his letters and was even able to see a saber of his, his wartime sashes, and his escutcheon,” Kevin says.

Dave Powell, while conducting new research, came across a newly digitized collection. If you have not visited in person Michigan State’s collection of Civil War letters, diaries, and memoirs, now you can look at them online. A great find, Dave! You can access the collection here: http://civilwar.archives. msu.edu/collection/

ECW Bookshelf

Eric J. Wittenberg’s latest, Holding the Line on the River of Death: Union Mounted Forces at Chickamauga, September 18, 1863, is the first monograph to focus on the determined stands by the cavalry brigade of Col. Robert H. G. Minty at Reed’s Bridge, and Col. John T. Wilder’s legendary Lightning Brigade of mounted infantry at Armstrong’s Bridge on Sept. 18, 1863, the first day of the battle of Chickamauga. Although Minty’s Brigade

Chickamauga that followed on September 19 and 20.

The book features 19 maps by master cartographer Mark Anderson Moore and approximately 50 illustrations. The book features Wittenberg’s usual deep research and understanding of cavalry tactics. An appendix goes into great detail to explain the sort of tactics employed by Minty and Wilder. The book also includes another popular feature found in many of Wittenberg’s books: a detailed walking and driving tour that features not only driving directions but also GPS coordinates. This book was intended to complement Wittenberg’s award-winning 2014 book, The Devil’s to Pay: John Buford at Gettysburg. A History and Walking Tour.

The Emerging Civil War Podcast

In December, the Emerging Civil War Podcast featured conversations between Chris Mackowski and co-hosts Dan Davis and Chris Kolakowski. Dan talked about a family ancestor, Levi Bowen, who served in the 7th Pennsylvania Reserves. Chris talked about the oft-overlooked but vitally important Tullahoma campaign.

Subscribe to the Emerging Civil War Podcast through our Patron page for only $1.99 per podcast: https://www.patreon. com/emergingcivilwar.

of the next two volumes of the Emerging Revolutionary War Series (ERWS), due out in 2019. The Battle of Trenton helped revive the American effort for independence when Washington struck the Hessian garrison in the New Jersey town on Dec. 26, 1776. ERW Historian Mark Maloy spoke at the Old Barracks Museum on December 6 as part of their Fall Lecture Series. On the way, he took some time to do a few Facebook Live videos. Check them out on the Emerging Revolutionary War’s Facebook page at the link below. His book, Victory or Death, The Battles of Trenton and Princeton, December 25, 1776 – January 3, 1777, is one of the first two volumes of the ERWS and is available for a holiday present to that history enthusiast on your list.

To see the Facebook Live videos of Trenton, go to the link below, click “videos” and see the Trenton playlist: https://www. facebook.com/emergingrevwar/

As always, continue to check out the blog for new content on the American Revolutionary War Era: www.emergingrevolutionarywar. org.

Chris Kolakowski is hard at work on his next book, Nations in the Balance: The India-Burma Campaigns, December 1943 – August 1944. December 24 kicked off the 75th Anniversary of the beginning of the North Burma Campaign.

Rudely Stamp’d has performed three shows to date with their new two-man show Now We Stand by Each Other Always, featuring an engaging conversation between generals Grant and Sherman in March 1865 at City Point, Va. ECW contributor and professor of history Derek Maxfield portrays Grant while Gen. Sherman is played by English professor Tracy Ford. Both teach at Genesee Community College in Batavia, N.Y. The next shows will be March 22nd at the Morgan Manning House in Brockport, N.Y., at 7 p.m. The play is available to any groups interested in hosting it. Contact Derek Maxfield at ddmaxfield@ genesee.edu.

Authors Kevin Pawlak and Rob Orrison recently did a book signing of their new book To Hazard All at the Antietam National Battlefield Visitor

was outnumbered by 10-1, his troopers held off nearly 10,000 Confederate infantrymen for an entire day. Wilder’s Lightning Brigade made a similar stand against similar odds later in the day at Armstrong’s Bridge. The stands by these two brigades forced Braxton Bragg to change his entire plan for what became the Battle of Chickamauga, and also alerted Union commander, Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans, that his army was in danger of having its lines of communication, supply, and retreat to Chattanooga cut off. Their stands bought time for Rosecrans to realign his army to meet the threat, leading to the bloodletting at

Emerging Revolutionary War News

The month of December in American Revolutionary War history conjured up two important places: Valley Forge and the Battle of Trenton. The former, where the Continental Army entered winter quarters on Dec. 19, 1777, was a period of transition and transformation accompanied by deprivation, starvation, and political intrigue. Valley Forge is also the subject of one

Headstone of Lt. Col. William Montrose Graham.

Civil War News book reviews provide our readers with timely analysis of the latest and most significant Civil War research and scholarship. Contact Stephen Davis, Civil War News Book Review Editor. Email: BookReviews@CivilWarNews.com.

History, with a Touch of Fiction

Rising in Flames: Sherman’s March and the Fight for a New Nation. By J. D. Dickey. Maps, photos, notes, bibliography, index, 413 pp., 2018. Pegasus Books, www.pegasusbooks.com. $29.95 hardcover.

Reviewed by Stephen Davis

history, biography and fiction. Through his publisher, I e-asked the author if he saw his work as a blend of these three. He answered, “although there are certain novelistic and biographical elements to the book, I intended Rising in Flames as a work of narrative nonfiction—a history of selected participants in Sherman’s march and people who supported them on the home front.”

Dickey thus follows Sherman’s campaigns not as a traditional historian would, but through the experiences of eight characters: Sherman, Gens. Jefferson Davis and John Logan, Capt. Charles Wills (103rd Illinois), the Rev. John Hight (chaplain of the 58th Indiana), “Mother” Mary Bickerdyke, Mary Livermore (publisher of a religious newspaper in Chicago), and John McCline, an 11-year-old escaped slave.

I found Rising to read rather as impressionistic history (although the author’s research is extensive, judging from his notes and bibliography). And as a novel will, the narrative is not sustained and linear; we jump from Fort Donelson to Chickamauga in four pages.

I read his treatment of the Atlanta Campaign with greatest interest. When Dickey writes that at Kennesaw Mountain “Logan bellowed at his men to follow him into a blizzard of gunfire and minie balls,” I suppose he can be forgiven for a bit of novelistic hyperbole (as XV Corps commander, Logan’s place was properly in the rear, as shown in Thure DeThulstrup’s famous painting of 1887).

Similarly, referring to the Northern bombardment of Atlanta, July 20–August 25, he writes, “anywhere from 100 to 150 civilians had died in the shelling, though no one could be sure since many bodies were vaporized or severed into countless pieces by the blasts.” I found this particularly odd, as Dickey cites my article in Atlanta History from back in 1999, when I estimated only twenty civilian lives lost to Sherman’s shells.

Rising in Flames follows Sherman through Georgia and the Carolinas to the end of the war in its colorful, interesting fashion. But, as you can infer from these few instances, when I want the facts on the Atlanta Campaign and the march to the sea, I’ll turn to Castel’s Decision in the West and to Trudeau’s Southern Storm.

Hawkeyes Go To War

Iowa and the Civil War, Volume I: Free Child of the Missouri Compromise. By Kenneth L. Lyftogt. Maps, photos, notes, index, 416 pp., 2018. Camp Pope, www.camppope. com, $40 hardback.

Reviewed by Jeff Patrick

state, and Iowan Barclay Coppoc served with Brown at Harpers Ferry.

With the start of the war in 1861, the citizens of Iowa and Governor Samuel Jordan Kirkwood enthusiastically responded to President Lincoln’s call for troops. Iowans played an important role in some of the war’s early fighting, particularly the 1861 battles of Athens, Wilson’s Creek and Belmont, Missouri. In early 1862 Iowa infantry, cavalry and artillery units helped secure southwest Missouri and greatly aided fellow Iowan Samuel R. Curtis’s victory at Pea Ridge, Ark.

J. D. Dickey, a writer who lives in the Pacific Northwest, is author of Empire of Mud, a history of Washington, D.C. in the 1800s. In Rising in Flames he offers a colorful narrative of Sherman’s Georgia and Carolina Campaigns of 1864–65.

It’s an interesting take on these important events, as I saw in Dickey’s book elements of

I asked Mr. Dickey how he chose his characters. He answered, “I chose these characters because each represented something intrinsic to what Sherman’s campaign was about….Each was fascinating in his or her own right (especially such an amazing person as Mother Bickerdyke).”

But because he chooses to view events through Northern characters, he essentially omits the Confederate side of the story.

With its focus on individuals,

Recounting a state’s participation in the Civil War is a daunting challenge. This is particularly true in the case of Iowa, for the Hawkeye State contributed much to the Union war effort, and reminders of the state’s Civil War heritage can be found in many communities and on many battlefields.

Author Kenneth Lyftogt has not only accepted the challenge, but is planning to produce a three-volume study detailing Iowa’s role in the war—the first comprehensive history of the subject to appear in more than a century. This first volume begins with an examination of Iowa politics and abolitionism in the 1850s, and concludes with the 1862 Battle of Shiloh.

Lyftogt argues that although the state’s residents leaned toward the Democratic Party in the years immediately following statehood in 1846, the new Republican Party soon posed a significant challenge to Iowa Democrats, and by the late 1850s Republicans were firmly entrenched in state offices. In the 1860 election, 69 of the state’s 97 counties went for Abraham Lincoln. Abolitionist John Brown found support in the

Iowa regiments gained glory east of the Mississippi River as well. The state’s soldiers assisted Ulysses S. Grant in the capture of Fort Donelson, Tennessee, in February 1862. On the first day of the battle of Shiloh on April 6, 1862, several Iowa units fought bravely in the legendary Hornet’s Nest and elsewhere on the field, and according to one estimate, nearly a quarter of the casualties suffered by Grant’s army that day were Iowans.

Lyftogt’s prose is a delight to read, with interesting details and a refreshing lack of jargon that would put off readers unfamiliar with Civil War history. He avoids digressions and minutiae that would slow the pace of the narrative.

Although not intended to be an exhaustive study of all aspects of the state’s history during the Civil War period, Lyftogt’s excellent overview of Iowa’s role in the first year of the war is required reading not only for Hawkeyes, but also for anyone wanting to learn more about the war in the Western and Trans-Mississippi Theaters. This reviewer looks forward to the other volumes in the series as Lyftogt follows the Iowans to Corinth, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Atlanta and beyond.

Jeff Patrick is the museum curator at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield in Republic, Missouri. He is currently working on a history of the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry (83rd U.S.C.T.)

The Role of Media in the Civil War

The Most Complete Political Machine Ever Known: The North’s Union Leagues in the American Civil War. By Paul Taylor. Illustrations, index, notes, bibliography, 322pp., 2018. Kent State University Press, www. kentstateuniversitypress.com. $45 hardcover.

Reviewed

by Wayne L.

Wolf

Redemption Under Fire

Constitutional silencing of antiwar protestors.

The efforts of the Union Leagues were responsible for reversing the malaise in the North, rallying reluctant enlistees and creating a voting bloc that ultimately saw Republican dominance for decades to come. They likewise successfully mitigated resentment towards the Emancipation Proclamation, the suspension of habeas corpus, and the Enrollment Act of 1863. They shaped public opinion to accept these means as justified to win the war and save the Union.

Under the Crescent Moon with the XI Corps in the Civil War – Volume 2: From Gettysburg to Victory, 1863–1865. By James S. Pula. Photos, maps, footnotes, appendices, bibliography, index, 369 pp., 2018. Savas Beatie, www.savasbeatie. com. $34.95 hardcover.

Reviewed by Robert L. Durham

attacked at their post on East Cemetery Hill. They faced greater numbers again, but this time they slugged it out with the enemy until the Rebs were forced to retreat. It was a hard-fought battle and their actions won several commendations. One would think this would have redeemed them, but the balance of the army still thought they were not equals to the rest of the Army of the Potomac.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in the Civil War. The XI Corps served in both major theaters of the war and James Pula does a brilliant job of telling its story. His battle accounts are unparalleled.

The North’s initial enthusiasm for crushing the secessionists waned by the summer of 1862. Repeated Federal battlefield losses fueled an antiwar sentiment at home. What was deemed necessary was an organization to shape pro-Union public opinion. This gave rise to the creation of various Union Leagues, which became the most powerful propaganda tools for the Lincoln administration to attack Copperhead sentiment and shape antiwar positions as treasonous.

Begun as a series of secret societies, by the end of 1863 onefourth of adult Republican males were members of an organized pro-Union loyalty group. From this time until Lincoln’s reelection in November 1864, the Union Leagues distributed millions of pamphlets, wrote thousands of newspaper editorials, and gave countless public speeches equating patriotism with the policies of the Lincoln administration. Loyal opposition by Democrats became treason and justified the questionable

In today’s political climate, the central question of “Do the means justify the ends?” is still hotly debated. During the Civil War the Union Leagues answered this question in the affirmative. The perceived threat from the Knights of the Golden Circle, the Sons of Liberty, and the Order of American Knights energized the Union Leagues into the most effective political action committee the country has ever experienced. In the end, their victory transformed the United States from a plural to a singular noun, began the process toward AfricanAmerican equality, and preserved the original Union.

Paul Taylor has produced a thoroughly researched tome that finally removes the Union Leagues from an historical footnote to an essential tool in winning the minds and hearts of Northerners to save the Union. His work is essential for an understanding of not only its role in the Civil War and Reconstruction, but how the media today can shape public opinion. It is highly recommended for historians and political scientists as well.

Dr. Wayne L. Wolf of suburban Chicago is Professor Emeritus at South Suburban College in Illinois and Past President of the LincolnDavis Civil War Roundtable. He is the author of numerous Civil War books and articles and is currently researching previously unpublished soldiers’ letters to increase our understanding of the common soldier.

This book is the second and final volume of James S. Pula’s history of the Union XI Corps. I reviewed Volume 1 and found it to be an exceptional, well-written book. This volume lives up to its predecessor’s terrific standards. The first book ends with the battle of Chancellorsville, where the Federal right flank was attacked and surprised by overwhelming numbers of General Stonewall Jackson’s force, and only collapsed after putting up a noble fight. The rest of the army did not see it that way, and blamed the XI Corps for the loss of the battle. This second volume picks up where the first leaves off and provides the XI Corps’ experiences in the battle of Gettysburg. There, on the first day of the battle, they are again attacked by superior numbers (General Richard S. Ewell’s Corps). The ground they held had few natural defenses and, to top it off, one of their divisions moved forward, against orders, leaving both flanks in the air.

Pula’s description of the XI Corps defense of the area north of Gettysburg is one of the most exciting I have read. He excels at describing the battle action; one almost feels he is there. Again, after a fearsome fight, the unlucky XI Corps is forced to retreat from the field. And again, even though the I Corps was also driven off the field, blame was placed on the XI Corps for losing the battle of July 1.

On the second day, they were

After Gettysburg, they were separated from the Army of the Potomac and sent to Chattanooga to aid in lifting the siege of that city by the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Being in another army, in another section of the country, should have changed their luck. I advise obtaining this book to find out.

Robert L. Durham of Centerville, Ohio, has been a devoted history buff for many years and is finally getting a history degree online. Bob has written articles for publication in various historical magazines and internet blogs, as well as CWN. He is retired from almost 40 years of service with the Defense Logistics Agency, where one of his roles was to install communications systems for Foreign Military Sales countries. This gave him an opportunity to travel all over the world.

Civil War Catalog

Featuring a large assortment of Civil War and Indian War autographs, accoutrements, memorabilia, medals, insignia, buttons, GAR, documents, photos, & books. Please visit our fully illustrated online catalog at www.mikebrackin.com

Free copy mail catalog

Mike Brackin

PO Box 652, Winterville, NC 28590 • 252-565-8810

A Texan Writes Home

Many of us are practicing scholars and writers, even if we’re “amateur” ones—strictly defined by the academicians as not earning our financial livelihood from our work (as college professors do).

Nonetheless, we all share the joy of research—gaudium investigationis, as they used to say. One of my particular pleasures is to come upon a soldier’s letter that has not made its way into the literature. The experience is made sweeter when the archival repository holding that epistle is beyond one’s beaten path.

I credit my friend Brad Butkovich, in his book The Battle of Pickett’s Mill (History Press, 2013), for putting me onto the letters held at the library of Pickett’s Mill State Historic Site. I drove out there recently, and Kelly Miller of the staff kindly provided me copy of the fourteen-page typescript of the missive written by Lt. Sebron G. Sneed, Jr. of the 6th/15th Texas Infantry (Consolidated) to his wife, “Fannie,” dated June 7, 1864. In his writing, he refers to a diary he kept during the campaign, so his recollections for Fannie strike me as particularly well informed.

Sneed was the son of a wealthy

farmer and slaveowner in Austin. Born at Fayetteville, Ark., in Sept. 1836, he attended college in Galveston and, after traveling to Rome in 1858, he studied for the priesthood. Sneed returned to Texas in 1860, and when war broke out he enlisted in Co. G, 6th Texas Infantry. The regiment became part of Brig. Gen. Hiram

B. Granbury’s Brigade in Pat Cleburne’s famed division.

“Seb” liked to write long letters. His to Fannie of June 7 is quite extensive. Here I draw from it that portion having to do with the battle of Pickett’s Mill, fought about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta on May 27.

In the field near Marietta, Ga. June 7th, 1864

My darling Fannie: * * * * * * *

On this morning of the 27th two batteries of Artillery occupied the front of us where the Calvary [sic] was and our Regiment was ordered to support them. We entrenched strongly. The enemy made no demonstrations against us at this point, but seemed to be attempting something further down towards our left. We lay quiet and lazy in our works. The cannoniers at their guns and our boys occasionally popping at a blue coat as he dodge about in the wood in front. About 5 P. M. our scouts reported a large force had gone further than we extended towards our Right and that they were massing troops at that point. Our Brigade was quietly put in motion as we moved about a mile further to the Right. Here we found a weak line of dismounted calvary [sic] who were a continuation of our main battle line. Our Brigade was not more than halted before the enemy opened a hot fire which rapidly approached us and increased in intensity

every moment. Each Regiment threw forward one company as skirmishers, but they had not advance one hundred yards before they found a main line of battle of enemy advancing. The Cavalry left in a hurry and our skirmishers were compelled to retire at once to their own main line. The skirmish company of our Regt. lost five wounded before they could get in. The enemy advance up under cover of the bushes and trees and poured a terrible fire of musketry on us but they shot too high, or they could not see our position. When our skirmishers got in we opened on them. They came up bravely, but our men kept such a shower of minnies in their faces that flesh and blood could not stand it. Again and again they attempted to charge us and approached their line within five paces of ours, but with shouts and volleys they were forced to retire. The balls flew thick as hail and death stalked around. Our men had no shelter except a few rails from an old fence that ran along our line. It was with difficulty they could be restrained from charging, but we were too weak to risk it, and besides we had no breast works to fall back to in case we had been forced back, nor any reserves to support us. To have charged and had been repulsed would have ruined us. The enemy shot about a foot too high, or they would have wounded or killed half the command. The battle continued thus hot for about two hours when the 8th and 9th Arkansas Regiment[s] came up to reinforce us. All the Cavalry had given way on the Right of our Brigade and our Regiment was on the Right of the Brigade—and the enemy were gradually flanking us. The Arkansas Regiments charged and drove the flanking parties back. The right of our Regiment also charged the flankers and they retreated. We were getting nearly out of ammunition, the men having fired about 50 rounds each. I scared one Yankee awfully. I had a large butcher knife in my hand that I had been using to cut a cartridge Box from one of the wounded men in order to give his ammunition to the others. I had just finished when Sam Piper came to me with a prisoner he had captured. I ran to him with the knife reased to cut his cartridge box off. The poor devil thought I intended to kill him and threw up his hands with the most pitiful face. I could not restrain a laugh at his despairing countenance. The battle continued fierce until 8 o’clock when the enemy retired. About 10 at night we made a right charge in the woods, knowing that they had not retired but a short distance.

We came upon them suddenly and captured about 300 prisoners. They flew in utter confusion. We learned from the prisoners that we had been fighting the whole of Howard’s Corps and part of another and that they had four lines of battle against us which were all repulsed. They had silently taken position and had purposely kept quiet in our front lower down in order to conceil what they were about. They thought they would find only the Cavalry which they could easily drive from its position and thus flank our main line. But our Brigade arrived at the opportune moment to thwart their cunning strategy. The next morning we went over the ground and the light of day revealed what havoc our bullets had made in their ranks.

Over four hundred lay dead in front of our works. Many of the chief officers of the army, Johnson and Hardee, and others said they never saw men piled thicker in all the battle fields they had seen. It was an awful sight. They lay crossed and thrown in every conceivable situation. Most of them were shot in the head. Could some of our women who have been insulted by the ruffian tools of the tyrant and despot, or some of the parents who have lost their idols in defense of their country, have seen the slaughter they would have thought it a retribution for the wrongs the demons have inflicted on us. It was a ghastly sight and I will not sicken you with its horrible details. Our loss was not heavy….

John R. Lundberg’s fine Granbury’s Texas Brigade (2012) informs us that Seb Sneed was wounded in the battle of Jonesboro. General Granbury mentions him in his after-action report: “First Lieut. Sebron G. Sneed, acting assistant adjutant-general, was severely wounded in the breast on the evening of the 1st instant while carrying an order in the most exposed portion of the field. His conspicuous daring won the admiration of the entire command” (OR, vol. 38, pt. 3, 745). Sebron recovered at a hospital in Barnesville, Ga., continued to serve as A.A.G. and, by the end of the war, had been promoted captain.

He returned to Austin to become one of the city’s noted educators. He founded the Austin Normal Military School, was the first treasurer of the Austin School Board, and superintendent of the Travis County Public Schools. After Fannie died in 1867, Seb remarried to Alice Bacon, who sadly passed away in 1881 at the age of thirty.

Sebron lived out his years as a bachelor; death came on Sept. 1, 1894. He is buried in Austin.

Note: next month I’ll write about a cool letter I found at the Auburn University Libraries Special Collections and Archives.

Steve Davis is the Book Review Editor for Civil War News. His article, “The ‘Criminal Blunder’ at Pickett’s Mill,” will appear in the May issue of America’s Civil War.

Maj. General Patrick R. Cleburne. (Library of Congress)

Did the Federal Government Pay Pensions to Ex-Confederate Soldiers?

By Stephen Davis

Special to Civil War News

Even to this day, the U.S. government will provide a headstone for the grave of a Confederate soldier whose descendants meet criteria. The reasoning is that Northerners and Southerners were all American soldiers, right?

So the question follows: did the Federal Government pay pensions to former Confederate soldiers in the years after the war?

The answer is no.

Historian James Marten puts it succinctly: “Southern states, of course, paid for Confederate pensions.”1

While Union veterans after the war could lobby both national and state governments for financial aid in their waning years, ex-Confederates could only turn to their states and localities, as Professor Marten asserts.2

The postwar United States Congress was so vindictive toward ex-Rebels that it enacted, in the words of the late E. Merton

Coulter, “the withdrawal of pensions from all Confederates who were veterans of past wars.” Meaning, if you fought for your country in the Mexican War, but then later joined the Confederate army, you were cut off. Or, if you were the widow of a Revolutionary War soldier, but had a son who fought for the South, you also were denied further benefits.3

Southerners, of course, were outraged, especially as Federal pensions for former Yankee soldiers were being paid by every American taxpayer, including those in Dixie. Worse, it was a whopping amount of money. One writer to Confederate Veteran Magazine in 1898 declared that the annual cost of pensions to Union veterans would total “the entire salary-list of the government in Washington and throughout the country, the expenses of all departments, including the whole judicial system, the cost of the army and navy, post-office deficiencies, public buildings,

fortifications and ships, rivers and harbors, the Department of Labor, and the whole expense of the White House and its salaries.”4

The sources I’ve cited so far are from my personal library (the “Brig. Gen. Clement Anselm Evans Memorial Research Library,” as I call it, to my wife’s perplexity). When Jack suggested that I write a column on this question, I also went online to a source you should check out, too: www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com. There I found Kathleen L. Gorman’s definitive article, “Civil War Pensions.”

• “Union soldiers were covered under the federal system while each former Confederate state had to create and fund its own pension system.”

• Southern states could not even use Federal tariffs to fund pensions. Georgia had to resort to tobacco taxes.

• “Part of the issue was that state officials continually underestimated the number of eligible pensioners and how much those numbers would change annually. It is easy to see why they had such trouble. In 1937 Georgia had 232 veterans receiving pensions, but still 1377 widows, all of whom were eligible for $30 a month even in the depths of the Depression.”

Needless to say, the state struggled to meet its obligations. “In the state of Georgia alone,” Gorman continues, “in 1952 there were still 401 widows receiving aid at a cost of $361,000.”5

To be sure, a federal law enacted in1953 affirmed elibility for federal pensions for spouses and children of all Civil War veterans, including ex-Confederates. But it took nearly a century.

Endnotes:

1. James Marten, Sing Not War: The Lives of Union & Confederate Veterans in Gilded Age America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2011), 16.

2. Ibid., 240.

3. E. Merton Coulter, The South During Reconstruction 1865–1877 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1947), 13.

4. “Fraudulent Pensions,” Confederate Veteran, vol. 6, no. 1 (January 1898), 38.

5. Kathleen L Gorman, “Civil War Pensions.” Essential Civil War Curriculum. www.essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com.

Musical History

1. Even before my father’s fathers They called us rebels Burned our cornfields And left our cities leveled I can still see the eyes Of those blue bellied devils

When I’m walking around tonight Through the concrete and metal

These lyrics, from “Rebels,” a track on his Southern Accents album (1985), were sung by this famed American rock ‘n’ roller and leader of the band The Heartbreakers. Who?

2. As sung by “The King,” lyrics for “An American Trilogy” included lines from “Dixie” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Who is The King?

3. The majestic opening score of this famous 1939 film was written by Austrian-born Maximilian (“Max”) Steiner (1888–1971). What movie?

4. “Till Stoneman’s cavalry came and tore up the tracks again” are lines from this song, recorded by The Band and released on their second album in September 1969. Which tune?

5. In the movie Masked and Anonymous (2003), Bob Dylan and his band perform this famous tune composed by Daniel Emmett two years before the war. Which one?

6. Composed in April 1861, “Maryland, My Maryland” became the state song in 1939. Do you know the name of the Baltimorean who wrote the poem that became its lyrics?

7. “If the South Woulda Won,” this country singer declared, the days Elvis and Patsy Cline died would be national holidays. “I’d probably run for President of the Southern States,” he muses, and if he won, “I’d put that capital

back in Alabama.” He’d ban all Chinese cars, move the Supreme Court to Texas and the national treasury to Tupelo. Who is this performer? Hint: he’s the son of a famous singer-songwriter who died in 1953 at the age of 29, primarily from alcoholism and prescription drug abuse.

8. “When you’re fighting Yankees, a redneck’s a man’s best friend” is a line from the tune “White Trash” on White Mansions, the famously little-known album released in 1978. This concept album—with songs written by an Englishman—tells the story of the Civil War through fictional Southerners. On “White Trash,” electric slide guitar is played by this world-famous guitarist who was given the nickname “Slowhand.” Who?

9. In the movie The Young Riders (1980), Clell Miller (played by Randy Quaid) objects to the saloon musicians playing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and at gunpoint “requests” a Southern tune. The musicians promptly launch into a tune based on the poem written shortly after the war by Innes Randolph (1837–87), who had served as a Confederate major. Know the song?

10. “He freed a lot of people, but it seems the good die young/you know I just looked around and he’s gone.” Thus Dion sang about the 16th president of the United States on this record, released in August 1968 after the deaths of Dr. King and Sen. Kennedy earlier that spring. Remember the name of the song?

Answers found on page 46.

Steve Davis is the Civil War News Book Review Editor.

He can be contacted by email at: SteveATL1861@yahoo.com.

Civil War Widows, 1869. Widows Of Civil War Soldiers Receive Their Pensions At The Sub-Treasury In New York City, 1869.

A Hometown Meeting in Times of War

Two Charlestonians at War: The Civil War Odysseys of a Lowcountry Aristocrat and a Black Abolitionist. By Barbara L. Bellows. Maps, photos, notes, index, 344 pp., 2018. Louisiana State University Press, www.lsupress.org. $38 cloth.

Reviewed by Kelly Mielke

shared love of their mutual hometown of Charleston, according to Barbara Bellows’ dual biography of Joseph Barquet and Thomas Pinckney. Born a mile apart in the very city in which the war began over the diverging ideologies that Barquet and Pinckney represented, their lives intersected only once and briefly in the midst of war. In 1864, Barquet, a sergeant in the 54th Massachusetts and a guard at the prison on Coffin (now Folly) Island, met an imprisoned Captain Thomas Pinckney of the 4th South Carolina Cavalry.

Barquet’s. Pinckney remained a lifelong Southerner, enlisted in what became the 4th South Carolina Cavalry, and believed in a paternalistic view of the institution of slavery.

outsider, including his comrades in the 54th Massachusetts.

What can a free black abolitionist and an aristocratic slaveholder have in common? A

It is Pinckney’s telling of this single encounter in his unpublished memoirs that inspired Bellows to uncover their lives. She explores how their mutual affection for the Charleston of their childhoods bridged for a few moments the insurmountable gulf between them. Barquet, a free biracial man of European ancestry whose father came to Charleston via Santo Domingo, lived most of his adult life in the North, became an abolitionist, and eventually a sergeant in the 54th Massachusetts. Pinckney represents a way of life in many ways opposite that of

This biography provides a microhistory of the factors that developed identity and motivation, providing insight into the diversity of experience for Southerners before, during and after the Civil War. Bellows’ work builds upon two Civil Rights-era books, Who Speaks for the Negro and Who Speaks for the South, that consider the diversity of racial experiences and the importance of both races to Southern culture. Indeed, Barquet’s life illustrates the diversity of black experience in both the South and the North. The reader sees a shift in how Barquet identified himself based upon his geographical location and the racial dynamics present therein, which explains how Barquet transitioned from a slaveholding family in the South to life as an abolitionist in the North. Even as Barquet pursued his new cause, his background and education meant that others sometimes perceived him as an

Pinckney’s largely unsuccessful experience throughout the war, during which he never obtained the honor he sought through service but which in fact ended ingloriously, did not hinder him from becoming a stout advocate of the Lost Cause in his later years. In many ways, Pinckney’s and Barquet’s lives create a back-and-forth dialogue that brings the nation from the foundations of the Civil War through Reconstruction. It is then that the irony of Barquet’s life becomes apparent: had he chosen to remain in his home state of South Carolina, he perhaps could have pursued the political opportunities that Illinois denied him in the decades following the war.

While Pinckney committed himself to living in the new post-Civil War South in which he found himself, he eventually moved to the epicenter of the Lost Cause—Virginia—and became immersed in the literature. Bellows’ acknowledgment of this has the unfortunate effect of undermining the basis of her dual biography—that friendly meeting

of equals on Coffin Island in 1864. Given Pinckney’s devotion to the Lost Cause, his description of the meeting, while still remarkable, becomes suspect. That the book does not consider this is a looming flaw.

In addition to this flaw in argument, Bellows sometimes runs into the risk that befalls many biographers and speculates on inner thoughts or feelings with no real evidence, especially Barquet’s perception of the meeting on Coffin Island, for which there is no record. However, despite these issues, the book is overall a very enjoyable read. Readers may not come away impressed with any real significance of their meeting, but the book’s value lies in providing concrete examples of how identities and ideologies played out in the lives of two vastly different men.

Kelly Mielke resides in Charleston, S.C. Her Civil War interests reside chiefly in social, cultural and political aspects of the Confederacy, especially the use of print culture in the formation of Confederate identity. She has written reviews for several historical publications.

Untold Stories, Unknown Heroes

Five for Freedom: The African American Soldiers in John Brown’s Army. By Eugene L. Meyer. Notes, bibliography, index. 282 pp., 2018. Chicago Review Press, www.chicagoreviewpress.com. $26.99 hardcover.

Reviewed by Tracy J. Revels

are the five African Americans who accompanied Brown in his quixotic quest. Journalist Eugene L. Meyer brings them back into the picture in Five for Freedom, a highly readable volume that considers the diverse motivations and undeniable courage of these men, restoring them to their rightful place in history.

Brown’s small but stalwart band of revolutionaries consisted of nineteen men, among them three of Brown’s sons and several veterans of the violence in “Bleeding Kansas.” Five black men committed themselves as well. They were a diverse lot.

Charleston, South Carolina, who had lived for a time at the home of Frederick Douglass. Each man brought a different level of education and experience to the plot, and each carried personal motivations—for rescue, for revenge, for sacrifice—to the cause. By the time the raid came to its sanguinary conclusion, two of these men were dead, two were captured (and later executed), and one escaped.

who mourned him.

Meyer takes the stories of these men beyond their deaths, into the period of remembrance and commemoration after the Civil War. The lone survivor struggled to have his voice heard, publishing an account of the raid in 1861, but dying a pauper in 1872.

“faithful slave” and became a hero to “Lost Cause” partisans, who erected a monument to him at Harpers Ferry.

Everyone remembers John Brown, the fiery abolitionist whose plan to incite a slave rebellion came to a bloody end at Harpers Ferry. Brown’s trial, and his willingness to sacrifice his life for his cause, inspired some Americans just as it horrified others. Lost in this famous story

Dangerfield Newby had been freed from slavery, but was in a relationship with a slave woman, the mother of his children. Despite a lifetime of toil, he was unable to buy the freedom of his family. John Anthony Copeland and Lewis Sheridan Leary were free men of color and residents of Oberlin, Ohio, where they had participated in the dramatic rescue of a fugitive slave. Osborne Perry Anderson, another free person of color, was active in aiding runaways in Chatham, Canada. Newby, Copeland, Leary, and Anderson were all of mixed racial heritage. In contrast, Shields Green was a fugitive slave from

Meyer brings a journalist’s flair and sensibility to this project. The story of each participant is woven with Meyer’s personal journey of research. Readers discover not only these five men, but the worlds they lived in and the places their descendants inhabit. Meyer explores how their stories were forgotten and how they were, in essence, consumed by the long shadow of John Brown. Meyer includes another story as well, that of Haywood Shepherd, a free black man who had the great misfortune to be caught in the crossfire of the Brown raid. A baggage handler and porter at the Harpers Ferry railroad station, Shepherd most likely was killed by one of the raiders when he either raised an alarm or simply walked into their path. Like the raiders, he left behind a family

Founded in Harpers Ferry after the war, Storer College, West Virginia’s first institution of higher learning for African Americans, helped to keep the legacy of the five raiders alive for almost a century, but the college’s financial collapse in the early 1960s extinguished another light of remembrance.

Ironically, Shepherd was erroneously portrayed as a

In an era filled with controversy over monuments and memorials, Meyer’s thoughtful and well-written book, aimed at a general audience, will help students of the war dive deeper into the story of the raid and its repercussions. By including the details of the raiders’ descendants, Meyers demonstrates that the story of John Brown’s revolutionaries is not an isolated incident, but part of the connective tissue of the American experience.

Tracy J. Revels is Professor of History at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C.

The Union Envisioned as White Christian America Excellent History of the Remarkable Individuals Who Built and Restored This Iconic Structure

Our Country: Northern Evangelicals and the Union during the Civil War Era. By Grant R. Brodrecht. Notes, index, 278 pp., 2018. Fordham University Press, www.fordhampress.com. $40 paperback.

Reviewed by Sean A. Scott

politics—at times Lincoln, Johnson and Grant all fit the bill of providential instruments chosen to carry out the evangelical agenda—similarly bends the narrative toward a history of elites.

Although evangelicals typically favored Republicans, Brodrecht’s account would benefit from acknowledging evangelical backing of Democrats. He categorizes Boardman as representative of “the moderate to conservative portion of the Republican spectrum,” but in September 1864 the Presbyterian cleric congratulated George McClellan on his nomination for president and expressed hope that God would allow him to win election. Three months later Boardman’s letter of consolation underscored that the general’s defeat was a national tragedy. Including evangelical Democrats most certainly would modify yet enrich the analysis.

The phrase “Christian America” likely engenders associations with the culture wars and religious right of the 1980s. However, as historian Grant Brodrecht demonstrates, during the Civil War and Reconstruction most evangelical Northerners championed Republican policies and affirmed their belief that the Union must be preserved at all costs in order to sustain and further their goal of a Christian nation.

Brodrecht approaches his topic through the sermons and writings of preachers. Well-known figures such as George Cheever, Gilbert Haven, Henry Boardman and George Peck dominate the account with lesser ministerial lights filling in the gaps. While it can be argued that clerical commentary reflects the predominant views of the laity as much as shepherds shape the opinions of their flocks, Brodrecht gives careful attention to gradations of Republican support among more politically conservative, moderate and radical clergy, especially regarding their stances against slavery and for racial equality. For example, Haven consistently worked to obliterate all distinctions based on caste, but during Reconstruction many evangelicals forgot about or neglected freedmen and instead turned their rhetoric and energies into unifying the nation around a white Christian culture. The book’s focus on presidential

The thesis that Northern evangelicals cloaked the Union in sacred garb fits nicely with Gary Gallagher’s assertion that unionism remained a constant motivation for Northerners and was never eclipsed ideologically by emancipation (The Union War, 2011). By tracing how evangelical pastors equated the Union with Christian America in their sermons, letters, and editorials, Brodrecht essentially offers theme and variation on works ranging from James Moorhead’s analysis of clergymen who saw the United States as essential to furthering millennial conditions (American Apocalypse, 1978), to my own work that highlighted how the Northern laity’s patri otism politicized the church (A Visitation of God, 2011). Nuances aside, these studies all underscore how evangelicals of the Civil War era viewed the American nation as indispensible to God’s work ing out his providential designs in the world.

Perhaps Brodrecht’s greatest contribution lies in enlarging the story to include Reconstruction, a period characterized by histor ical neglect of evangelicals. His point that evangelicals contribut ed to its failure rings true in the sense that many denominational leaders prioritized white unity over black inclusion. However, the American Missionary Association and various denomi national freedmen’s aid societies, which are largely absent from these pages, continued to work in educating and evangelizing

African Americans long after mainstream popular opinion embraced a reconciliationist rather than emancipationist memory of the war. Highlighting national politics and those preachers who sought audiences with presidents—with expectations that they would carry out evangelical policies—raises questions about how, why and when men and women on the front lines in the South gave up the fight. To be sure, evangelicals, Northerners, Southerners—practically any generalized category of people —either failed to live up to the nation’s lofty founding ideals or actively undermined African American equality as citizens. Yet without the efforts of numerous Northern evangelicals during the war and Reconstruction, freedmen and women would have been substantially worse off. With over eighty pages of notes that highlight Brodrecht’s masterful command of the secondary literature, Our Country makes a welcome contribution to the growing literature on religion during the Civil War era.

A specialist in Civil War era religion, Sean A. Scott teaches U.S. History at the Indiana Academy in Muncie. He recently completed a research fellowship at the Methodist Archives at Drew University.

September Mourn: The Dunker Church of Antietam Battlefield. By Alann D. Schmidt and Terry W. Barkley. Maps, photos, footnotes, appendix, index, bibliography, 156 pp., 2018. Savas Beatie, www.savasbeatie. com. $19.95 hardcover.

Reviewed by John Michael Priest

stands as a monument to peace on what became one of the United States’ bloodiest fields. September Mourn is an excellent history of the remarkable individuals who built and restored this iconic structure. But it is much more.

Anyone familiar with the Maryland Campaign and the battle of Antietam has seen or heard about the whitewashed brick building on the west side of the Hagerstown Pike just north of the Visitor Center. Built by pacifist Anabaptists, known as the German Baptist Brethren, it

Besides serving as a thorough description of the Brethren and their various sects, the book succinctly describes the German influence in the settlement of western Maryland. This book filled in many of the gaps in my own knowledge of Sharpsburg and Washington County, Maryland. I discovered that individuals, whom I had been told were Brethren, were not; that the majority of the Germans in the area were Reformed or Lutheran; that the Brethren allowed other churches to conduct funerals from the church; and that the African American who returned the Bible to the church in the early 1900’s was one of the Brethen. I had never known that the Brethren were integrated at that time. They genuinely practiced their belief that all men were equal in the sight of God.

While the book has a chapter devoted to the church’s role during the battle, in its last part it details the seemingly insurmountable struggle to rebuild and preserve the building for future generations. That was a separate

An Underwhelming Argument

General Grant and the Rewriting of History: How the Destruction of General William S. Rosecrans Influenced Our Understanding of the Civil War. By Frank P. Varney. Images, maps, 312 pp., 2018. Savas Beatie, www.savasbeatie. com. $19.95 paperback.

Reviewed by Louie P. Gallo

Creation of a National Cemetery

make the argument that he was a manipulative, deceitful and self-aggrandizing person.

Varney poses thought-provoking questions about Grant’s motives as a leader. He presents arguments that challenge the accepted view of Grant and the validity of his personal memoirs. In each chapter, Varney lays out the basic negative interpretations of Rosecrans’ record, arguing that Grant’s incorrect assessments of Rosecrans fueled those interpretations. Varney attempts to show how Rosecrans has been treated unfairly by historians because of Grant’s assertions. Perhaps the most interesting claim that Varney makes is that Grant intentionally falsified the historical record in order to hurt Rosecrans’ reputation and to bolster his own.

Although Varney raises interesting questions, he fails to provide convincing answers.

Frank Varney’s book General Grant and the Rewriting of History is an attempt to critically examine how the most influential military leader during the American Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant, affected the contemporary reputation of a lesser known general, William S. Rosecrans. Varney also explores how Grant’s characterization relegated Rosecrans to the ash heap of history. Varney’s approach is much different from most of the recent books on Grant. Instead of focusing on the development of Grant as a general or politician, General Grant and the Rewriting of History concentrates on Grant’s character, and tries to

On the surface, his explanations for Rosecrans’ demise appear to be sound, but when they are checked against the record, it becomes evident that Varney tends to misquote Grant, and he takes evidence out of context to reinforce his argument. Just one example is his handling of the battle of Corinth. He argues that Grant intentionally manipulated the historical record with shifting statements about Rosecrans’ conduct during the battle. Varney cites the supposed inconsistencies found within Grant’s original report on the battle and what he later wrote in his personal memoirs. Varney claims that Grant was only “mildly critical” of Rosecrans in his battle report. He includes a portion of Grant’s report to prove this claim, but an examination of the report in The Papers of Ulysses S.

Grant and The Official Records of the War of the Rebellion reveals that Varney omits a significant portion of the quote without noting it in his book. The part he leaves out drastically affects his argument because it includes Grant’s statement that he had given clear orders that Rosecrans did not follow. In the next paragraph, Varney continues to quote Grant in an attempt to show that Grant praised Rosecrans after the battle, but he fails to alert the reader to the nature of the document (he also provides an incorrect citation in this section), which is important because he is quoting from a fairly typical general order by a commanding general that praised every person involved in the victory. Finally, Varney quotes Grant’s memoirs, in which he was critical of Rosecrans’ actions, to show that Grant intentionally changed his views to disgrace Rosecrans. This argument is invalidated by Varney’s mischaracterization of Grant’s original assertions about Rosecrans’ conduct during the battle. The author’s failure to properly contextualize the varying documents used does not lend credibility to the overall argument and leaves his interpretations on shaky ground. This, in conjunction with numerous citation errors found throughout the book and an inability to show why Grant would be so vindictive in the first place, makes it difficult for Varney to mount a convincing argument.

Although one may question Varney’s approach, he does raise an important point about how Rosecrans and his contribution to the war have faded. Even John Y. Simon, a pioneer in the documentary editing field and a renowned Grant historian, praised Varney for making this point (although Simon was apparently commenting on the dissertation the book is based on and not the final product). While Varney rightly brings attention to Rosecrans’ forgotten achievements, his reliance on questionable interpretations to explain the general’s faded fame provides an underwhelming argument.

Louie P. Gallo is Publications Editor at the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library and Association, headquartered at Mississippi State University.

Where Valor Proudly Sleeps: A History of Fredericksburg National Cemetery, 1866–1933.

By Donald C. Pfanz. Maps, photos, index, 253 pp., 2018, Southern Illinois University Press, www.siupress.com/engagingcw. $26.50 paperback.

Reviewed by Phillip S. Greenwalt

cemetery and two chapters later provides background along with images of the development of buildings within the confines of the graveyard, including the Superintendent’s house, which is used by the national park today. An epilogue ties the cemetery with Fredericksburg and Spotysylvania National Military Park and how the park has grown over time yet.

Fredericksburg National Cemetery does not just contain Union soldiers from the American Civil War, but includes burials of soldiers from later wars and their spouses, bringing the total population of burials within the walls to over 15,300. Pfanz captures these stories in their own chapter, entitled “Special Population,” truly showing the breadth and depth of his research into the creation of this final resting place on hallowed ground.

On a hillside overlooking Fredericksburg, Va., resides a national cemetery with the same name. Interred within the walls are the graves of 15,257 Union soldiers, with fewer than 2,500 of those identified. Visitors pass through the gates of the cemetery and can stroll the rows of graves, glance at the various statues that dot the premises, and marvel at the sacrifice the American Civil War took, just in this small geographic area.

Questions lingered however. How did the solders’ remains arrive at this bucolic hillside? How did this become the location of a national cemetery? Of the soldiers’ remains that are identified, who did the identification?

Retired National Park Service historian Donald C. Pfanz has now dug into those questions and uncovered the answers. In the second volume of the Engaging Civil War Series, published by Southern Illinois Press in conjunction with “Emerging Civil War,” enthusiasts and readers now have the answers at their fingertips. This is truly the first in-depth account of the creation of Fredericksburg National Cemetery and fills that void for the avid student of the American Civil War.

In a sweeping narrative, Pfanz provides a complete synopsis of the creation of the national cemetery, from the painstaking approaches by the early United States Army teams that scoured the battlefields of the region, to the more systematic approach that followed. Pfanz moves into the creation of the national

The book is a very in-depth study of a very specific topic that may not appeal to the general masses of Civil War enthusiasts. Painstaking research into government publications and the archives of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park shows in the text. With a very brief overview of the engagements in the surrounding area that caused the casualties that would be interred at Fredericksburg, Pfanz’s history stays true to the subtitle, “A History of Fredericksburg National Cemetery, 1866–1933.”

One of the special programs that the National Park Service holds for the national cemetery is the annual luminaria held on Memorial Day Weekend. Boy Scouts lay out 15,300 candles in the cemetery and at night the hillside sparkles with the flickering of the candle wicks. Park Rangers and volunteers tell the stories of some of the known that lay at rest in Fredericksburg National Cemetery. Now, thanks to Pfanz’s book, we know how these, and the thousands of unknowns came to a place “Where Valor Proudly Sleeps.”

Phillip S. Greenwalt is a full-time contributor to “Emerging Civil War” and co-founder of “Emerging Revolutionary War.” He is the co-author of four books, three on the American Civil War and one on the American Revolutionary War. He is currently working on a publication about Valley Forge for the “Emerging Revolutionary War” series. Phillip currently resides in Florida where he is actively researching that state’s role in the Confederacy and the contributions of Florida soldiers.

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

Deadlines for Advertising, Editorial or Events Submissions is the 20th of each month.

We strive to add all events submitted to us but do not guarantee that your event will be published. There is a 100 word maximum for each event. Email events to: ads@civilwarnews.com

Feb. 15-17, Florida. Reenactment

Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park will host the weekend long 43rd Annual Reenactment commemorating the 155th anniversary of the Battle of Olustee. More than 2000 living historians will give presentations of both civilian and military life during the Civil War. Events will include a wreath laying ceremony, Civil War Memorial Service, tours and medical demonstrations, entertainment, arts, crafts and food booths along with artillery night firing and old-fashioned barn dance. Spectators can visit authentic campsites, watch the parade, view artillery inspections, listen to a period music concert and watch the battle reenactment. Festivities will end with the Battle of Olustee Ball at the Ball Tent. Period attire required. Ball is for participants only. For information; 877-635-3655; www.battleofolustee.org.

Feb. 24-25, South Carolina. Reenactment

See history come alive with cannon, cavalry horses and living history experts. Reenactments, authentic 19th-century military encampments, living history presentations, civilian portrayals, reproductions of medical facilities, etc. Adults: $12, 6-12: $6, 5 and under: Free. For information; www.battleofaiken. org.

March 8-10, Florida. Civil War Reenactment

Join us for the Raid of Fort Pierce. Battles are at 1:30 p.m. Sat. and Sun. Ladies’ Tea is at 11 a.m., Sat. and a Grand Bon Fire Frolic will be held in the Confederate Camp at 7:30 p.m. Sat. If you play a musical instrument, feel free to bring it to the Frolic. Cavalry needed for school day, and artillery is welcome. The Ladies of the Order of Confederate Rose will be cooking dinner for school day participants on Fri. evening, breakfast on Sat. and Sun., and supper on Sat. evening. Bounty for the first Union and Confederate artillery pieces registered. Firewood, water, and hay provided. Persona or officer impressions to speak to school kids are welcome and appreciated. Reenactor Fee: None – Donations welcome. For directions and information; Jim O’Dell at 772- 318-8258 or thejdawg5692000@yahoo.com.

March 23, Pennsylvania. Annual Grand Army Museum

Preservation Luncheon

9130 Academy Rd. Philadelphia, Pa. “Lincoln’s Gamble: The Tumultuous Six Months that Gave America the Emancipation Proclamation and Changed the Course of the Civil War” by Historian Todd Brewster. For information; garmuslib@verizon.net; or 215-289-6484

March 29-30, Virginia. Civil War Show and Sale

The Northern Virginia Relic Hunters Assoc. will present its 47th annual Civil War show at the Fredericksburg Expo Center. The show will feature Civil War and World Wars I & II era relics, memorabilia along with a wide selection of antique guns and swords. Hours are 12 to 7 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. For information; contact Denny Chafin, 703-8552376 or civilwarshow@nvrha.com.

March 30, Pennsylvania. Civil War Preservation Ball

Pennsylvania State Capitol Rotunda, Harrisburg, Pa. 7 p.m. - 10 p.m.. Surrounded by the majesty and history of the Capitol Rotunda, the 16th Annual Civil War Preservation Ball benefits the Pennsylvania Gettysburg Monuments Trust. The trust helps fund repairs and maintenance of the more than 140 markers and monuments that honor Keystone State regiments and individuals on the Gettysburg battlefield. Sponsored by the Civil War Dance Foundation, the ball has raised nearly $100,000 to preserve the Pennsylvania monuments. Admission $35 single, $65 couple. For more information, visit CivilWarDance.org. Email: Info@CivilWarDance.org.

March 30-31, Tennessee. Civil War Show 52nd Mid-South Civil War and Military Show at the Agricenter Showplace

Arena located at 105 S. Germantown Pkwy., Memphis. For info. Sandy Parent at 901-962-7005, Don Harrison at 901-832-4705 or dharrison@aol.com.

April 1, New Jersey. Lecture

Walt Whitman’s enormous contribution to the Civil War will be the focus of this power point presentation. For three years Whitman tirelessly tended to the sick, wounded, and dying soldiers in Washington’s hospitals. The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. on the Blackwood campus of Camden County College. All are invited to the free presentation by Joseph F. Wilson that will take place in Civic Hall. Free parking. For information; joef21@aol.com

March

Public

History Comes Alive

May 10 & 11, 2019

Friday:

Living history for local schools. Come and share your knowledge of the Civil War with Columbia and Montour County school children. Dinner provided for all participants.

Saturday Living history all day.

April 6-7, Mississippi. Civil War Show

The 10th Annual Corinth Civil War Relic Show and Sale sponsored by the Col. W.P. Rogers, SCV Camp #321 will be held at the Crossroads Museum. Located at 2800 S. Harper Road exit on Hwy 45, just 1 mile south of Hwy 72 in Corinth, Miss., this show is expanded, larger and better than ever before. Sat. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For information; Dennis Brown, 662-212-4621/ducksu@frontier.net, Buddy Ellis, 662-665-1419/ bellis@1960@comcast.net or visit www.battleofcorinth.com.

April 6, Park Day at Fort Gaines

This annual event brings history enthusiasts together in an effort to help keep our nation’s heritage not only preserved but pristine. Volunteers will help preserve this important monument to honor the brave soldiers who fought and sacrificed in the American Civil War. Pre-register at the Fort Gaines is located at 51 Bienville Blvd. Dauphin Island, AL 36528, via facebook (fb. com/fort Gaines) or call 251-861-6992.

• Unit bounties paid

• Free registration

• Artillery and Cavalry welcome

• Sutlers welcome

• Large gun show also on the Fairgrounds

For more information and registration forms contact Eric Stahley at ecstahley@gmail.com

Bloomsburg Fairgrounds 620 W 3rd St • Bloomsburg, PA 17815

A House Divided

Dissent, Disagreement & Subversion During the Civil War Era

Shenandoah University McCormick Civil War Institute annual spring conference, Saturday, April 6, 2019, featuring nationally-recognized Civil War scholars Dennis Frye, Jonathan A. Noyalas, Paul Quigley and Jennifer Weber.

Registration information: su.edu/MCWI

Registration fee: $50 includes presentation & lunch

Location: Shenandoah University, 1460 University Drive, Winchester, VA

Questions: contact MCWI's director Jonathan Noyalas 540-665-4501 | jnoyalas01@su.edu

April 6, Virginia. Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute in Winchester will host its annual spring conference from 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. “A House Divided...”: Dissent, Disagreement, and Subversion During the Civil War Era. Conference will focus on such topics as divisions within Jefferson Davis’ cabinet, Copperheads, Unionists in the Shenandoah Valley, and the ways John Brown’s raid created divisiveness. Presentations by historians Dennis Frye (Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, retired), Paul Quigley (Virginia Tech), Jennifer Weber (University of Kansas), and Jonathan Noyalas (Shenandoah University). Registration fee of $50 ($25 for students with valid id) covers all presentations and lunch. For information or to register visit www.su.edu/MCWI, call 540-545-7293, or email jnoyalas01@su.edu.

April 12-14, North Carolina. Symposium

22nd Annual Salisbury Confederate Prison Symposium sponsored by the Robert F. Hoke Chapter 78, UDC. Event begins on Friday with Friendship Banquet, 3 lectures, music, and recognition of veterans. On Saturday there will be 4 lectures, lunch, door prizes, displays and books. Sunday there is a 10 a.m. Memorial Service for prisoners at the Salisbury National Cemetery and an 11 a.m. Service for guards at the Old Lutheran Cemetery. Tour of Prison site after lunch. $70 per person when postmarked by Mar. 22, $80 afterwards. Send checks to Robert F. Hoke Chapter 78, UDC, PO Box 83, Salisbury, NC 28145. For info; Sue Curtis 704-637-6411, southpawsagain@gmail.com

April 14, Pennsylvania. Annual Symposium

General George G. Meade - Life & Legacy will be held at the Conservatory at West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd. For information; Jerry McCormick 215-848-7753; ged-winmc@msn.com.

April 27-28, Alabama. Thunder on the Bay 2019

Come celebrate the upcoming 155th Battle of Mobile Bay Sponsored by the 6th Alabama Cavalry and the Alabama Division of Reenactors. Event will be held at Fort Gaines Historic Site, 51 Bienvile Blvd, Dauphin Island, Alabama 36528. Battle will be held Sat. at 2 p.m. and a surrender ceremony at 3 p.m. On Sunday, there will be a 1 p.m. tactical. For information; 251-861-6992, via facebook (fb.com/fort Gaines) or call 251-861-6992.

April 27, Illinois. Civil War Show and Sale

Zurko Promotions presents The National Civil War Collectors Spring Show and Sale which will be held at the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton. Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $9 – includes admission to the CADA Collector Arms Dealers Assoc. Show. For information; www. chicagocivilwarshow.com.

May 1-4, Maryland. 6th Annual National Ed Bearss Symposium on Military Leadership & Combat

Featuring Ted Alexander, Steve Bockmiller, Dr. Richard Sommers, Martin West & others based in Chambersburg, Pa. Special guest Edwin C. Bearss will also join us. Exploring American military history! Tours of the following: Civil War sites in southern Pennsylvania including Monterey Pass; military history sites in Washington County, Maryland including the Hagerstown Aviation Museum; the Forbes Campaign of 1758 featuring stops at Fort Ligonier, Bushy Run Battlefield and more. Talks also given by the historians listed above. The full itinerary & pricing available on www. CivilWarSeminars.org.

May 4-5, New York. Artillery School

The 31st Annual Artillery School will take place, at Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown, New York. Open to all branches of service, both Federal and Confederate. Registration fee is $7. Sponsored by the National Civil War Artillery Association and Reynolds’ Battery L. For information; Rick

February 2019

Civil War News

Lake, rlake413@aol.com or 585-208-1839. Registration Forms and additional information can be found at: www. reynoldsbattery.org

May 4-5, Ohio. Civil War Show and Sale

42nd Annual Ohio Civil War Show & 25th Annual Artillery Show at Richland County Fairgrounds, Mansfield, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-3. Living history, cannon firing, field hospital, music, demonstrations. $7 ages 12 up. Seven buildings – One Gate Admission, Food and Handicapped Facilities, 30-Gun Artillery Show – Indoor/Outdoor, 6-Gun Battery Firing Demonstrations, Sutler’s Row, Civil War Field Hospital by the Society of Civil War Surgeons. Period Church Service Sun. Morning with Period String Music, Abe Lincoln Live Presentations, Living History Campfire by Brigade of American Revolution, 8th Pennsylvania Regiment, Period Music by Camp Chase Fife & Drums, 25th Annual Civil War Veteran’s Historical Association Encampment. For additional information; call 419-884-2194; or visit the website www.ohiocivilwarshow.com.

May 17-19, Georgia. Reenactment

The 155th Anniversary “Battle of Resaca” reenactment will be held on over 650 acres of the original battlefield. This event will have main camps located within the original US and CS lines. Camping allowed in or near the breastworks. Amenities include straw, hay and firewood; food and ice on site. The planned activities include main battles both days at 2 p.m., period dance, medical demo’s, cavalry competition, ladies’ tea, civilian refugee camp, period church services and a memorial service at the Confederate cemetery. Handicapped parking is available. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the preservation efforts of the Friends of Resaca Battlefield, Inc. A $150 bounty will be paid to the first fourteen 57-inch cannon and crews registered by May 1st. Reenactor registration fee is $10 due by May 1. For more information, www.georgiadivision.org or Battle of Resaca, P.O. Box 0919, Resaca, GA 30735-0919.

May 17-19, Virginia. Period Firearms Competition

The North-South Skirmish Association 139th 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 live-fire event in the country. Free admission, large sutler area, and food service. For information; www.n-ssa.org.

May 26, Pennsylvania. Annual Memorial Day Observed at Historic Laurel Hill Cemetery Recreating the Original G.A.R. Decoration Day Service of 1868: The traditional Decoration Day service of the Grand Army Meade Post #1 will be recreated at Historic Laurel Hill Cemetery, 3822 Ridge Ave. Philadelphia at 12 noon. For information; 215-228-8200.

Deadlines for Advertising or Editorial Submissions is the 20th of each month. Email to ads@civilwarnews.com

Small Talk Trivia

Answers

1. Tom Petty (1950–2017). Here’s the refrain: I was born a rebel

Down in Dixie on a Sunday morning

Yeah with one foot in the grave

And one foot on the petal I was born a rebel

2. Elvis Presley (1935–1977). The song was adapted by Mickey Newberry and released on the Elvis: As Recorded at Madison Square Garden album (1972).

3. Gone With the Wind. When David O. Selznick, the film’s producer, hired Steiner, he knew the composer would work slowly, so he had several other composers working on alternative scores for the movie. In mid-November 1939, Steiner was still not finished, so Selznick started talking with still another Hollywood composer. The pressure worked; Steiner delivered his score in time for GWTW’s premiere in Atlanta on December 15, 1939.

4. “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” written by Canadian Jaime Royal “Robbie” Robertson (b. July 5, 1943). Levon Helm, the group’s drummer, sings as Virgil Cain, a poor white Southerner who “served on the Danville train” in the last days of the war. Helm took Robertson to the library near Woodstock, New York, so he could research the background story, which alludes to Maj. Gen. George Stoneman’s raid against the Piedmont Railroad between Danville, Virginia, and Goldsborough, North Carolina.

“I took the train Richmond had fell” in some versions online appears as “By May the 10th, Richmond had fell.”

Joan Baez recorded the song in 1971. She didn’t have the printed lyrics, and only got them by listening to The Band’s record. As a result, “Stoneman’s cavalry” becomes “so much cavalry” in her cover. (Good grief! A Canadian gets what a New Yorker doesn’t!)

5. “Dixie,” of course. (Or maybe, not “of course”; I’ve always wondered why Bob wanted to play “Dixie” for the movie.) Joining him (with Bob playing acoustic) in a crude warehouse performance (an Abraham Lincoln impersonator listens in) are Charlie Sexton and Larry Campbell on guitars, his longtime accoustic bassist Tony Garnier, and George Recile on drums (check that: he’s really playing inside a cardboard box). In the movie, director Larry Charles later said that everything was shot in one take. Proof: at the start of the second verse of “Dixie,” Dylan stumbles over the words, and looks to his acoustic guitarist Campbell, hoping for a cue.

6. James Ryder Randall (1839-1908). Randall was teaching English literature in Louisiana at the start of the war. After learning of Baltimoreans’ riot against the 6th Massachusetts on April 19, 1861, Randall wrote the poem in one night. It was soon published in the New Orleans Delta and elsewhere under the tiles of “Maryland” and “My Maryland.”

In June 1861, Hetty and Jennie Carey, Southern sympathizers in Baltimore, entertained the city’s glee club in their home. When someone suggested setting Randall’s poem to music, Hetty suggested “Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum” (“Christmas tree, O Christmas tree”). The second and fourth lines of each stanza in Randall’s poem read simply “Maryland!,” which did not fit the meter of the tune as well as the stanzas’ last line, “Maryland! My Maryland!” So the Baltimore singers used the latter line throughout the song as they performed it.

A month or so later, General Beauregard invited the sisters to his headquarters at Fairfax, Virginia. With the Washington Artillery band behind her, Jennie sang “Maryland, My Maryland” for the general. Soldiers joined in so fervently that Beauregard had the lyrics printed and distributed all around.

Before long, the song had joined “Dixie” and “The Bonnie Blue Flag” as the most popular airs in the Confederacy.

7. Hank Williams Jr. (b. May 26, 1949 in Shreveport, La.). The last stanza goes:

If the South woulda won we’d a had it made Olay, he hee hee, I said, if the South woulda won We would a had it made might even be better off

8. Eric Clapton. White Mansions was conceived by Paul Kennerley, who wrote the songs and performed them on a demo tape that won over Glyn Johns as producer (the same Glyn Johns who produced the Rolling Stones, the Beatles’ Get Back sessions, Led Zeppelin and, incidentally, Clapton’s Slowhand album). Kennerley ended up moving to Nashville and marrying Emmylou Harris.

9. “Oh, I’m a Good Old Rebel,” an early version of which was sung during the war by Randolph himself at the Mosaic Club in Richmond. Randolph clearly added some verses after Appomattox, as reflected in this stanza:

Three hundred thousand Yankees

Is stiff in Southern dust,

We got three hundred thousand

Before they conquered us.

They died of Southern fever, And Southern steel and shot, I wish they was three million

Instead of what we got.

10. “Abraham, Martin and John,” performed by Dion DiMucci (b. July 18, 1939) and written by Dick Holler. The last stanza goes:

Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?

Can you tell me where he’s gone?

I thought I saw him walkin’ up over the hill

With Abraham, Martin and John.

Civil War Encampment & Living History

July 20-21, 2019

Union Mills Homestead, Union Mills, Md. Commemorating Civil War History along Meade’s Pipe Creek Line Where Citizen Meets Soldier

Infantry and artillery drills, living history, skirmishes both days at encampment sites of Stuart’s Cavalry & Sykes’ U.S. V Corps.

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