Civil War News June 2019

154th Anniversary of Lee’s Surrender at Appomattox

By Professor Earnest Veritas Special Correspondent to Civil War News – Eastern Theater –

The 154th anniversary of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia by General Lee was solemnized again at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park over the weekend of April 12 through the 14, 2019.

General Lee met General Grant in the McLean house at 3 o’clock in the afternoon of Saturday, April 13. After their meeting, he walked across the wooden porch, went slowly down to the last step and waited there as Traveler was brought around from behind the house. Lee pulled on his gauntlets and quietly, almost absent-mindedly, softly smacked his right fist into his open left hand while he waited for the gray, dappled horse. General Grant and his staff had walked out of the two-story brick house behind General Lee and his aide-de-camp Colonel Marshall. General Grant waited on the steps for Lee to leave. No one was speaking; Grant’s staff lined up along the porch railing, watching the moment unfold and knowing that history was being made. The substantial crowd was silent throughout the event.

General Lee mounted and, as he turned about, saw General Grant raise his hat to him. Lee lifted his own in acknowledgment of Grant’s respectful gesture. With great dignity, he rode Traveler through the gate of the white picket fence that surrounded the yard; reined him about and turned toward the Confederate encampment. He rode slowly out of sight amidst the loud silence of the crowd gathered at the fence along the lane that led to the Confederate camp. It was over. A silence hung over the spectators and no one spoke for a few minutes.

The scene was repeated at 3 o’clock, on the afternoon of Sunday, April 14. The crowd was almost as large as the Saturday gathering and equally as silent. The gravity of re-creating the effective end of the war and all that it meant seemed to be felt by all who saw it.

Appomattox Court House

National Historical Park was extremely busy with these two events and six other Living History programs. The programs included talks by Park Rangers and Living Historians in the park for the weekend, as well as non-firing programs such as camp life and drill demonstrations by both Federal and Confederate soldiers. Also delivered for visitors was the program “Appomattox: The Last 48 Hours,” presented by Thomas Jessee as General Lee and Curt Fields as General Grant. That program was done live on the front porch of the McLean house for spectators sitting in the front yard. There were 35 Ranger programs, five Historic weapons demonstrations, parole pass printing, and demonstrations conducted constantly throughout the weekend.

Other numbers of interest about the 154th Appomattox are that there were: 35 Ranger-led programs given for 934 visitors; the parole pass demonstrations were attended by 1,001 visitors; the eight Living History programs drew 765 visitors; the Visitor Center counted 1,602 visitors who came into the Center for the exhibits and the film “With Malice Toward None;” 30 volunteers worked at anything

Part of the crowd watching “Appomattox: The Last 48 Hours.”

Appomattox Court House, Va. McLean house. Period photograph by Timothy H. O’Sullivan. (Library of Congress)

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CANFIELD, Ohio—On April

8, 2019, renowned historian and author A. Wilson Greene was honored as the first recipient of the Hugh G. Earnhart Civil War Scholarship Award presented by the Mahoning Valley Civil War Round Table. Named after one of the round table’s founding members, the award is presented to a recipient for their outstanding contributions in the field of Civil War historiography. Mr.

Greene recently completed his triumphant work, A Campaign of Giants: The Battle for Petersburg from the Crossing of the James to the Battle of the Crater. The study is the first of a three volume series focused on the Petersburg Campaign that culminated in the Confederacy’s collapse in the Eastern Theater. Mr. Greene’s crisp writing style and extensive research led to his recognition throughout the Civil War

field as the final word on the opening stages of the Petersburg offensive. Greene was one of the founders and initial president of the American Civil War Preservation Society that was so pivotal in preserving the hallowed Civil War battlefields threatened by development.

His groundbreaking work led to his appointment as CEO of Pamplin Park, scene of the Union breakthrough at Petersburg leading to the Confederate retreat to Appomattox.

Founded in 1982 by Professor Hugh Earnhart, the Mahoning Valley Civil War Round Table has grown into a nationally recognized roundtable leading to this initial recognition of scholarship in the Civil War field. The Mahoning Valley Civil War Round Table has been in existence since the early 1980s. Throughout the years, the MVCWRT has enjoyed the company of many renowned local, regional, and national speakers, including Ed Bearss, Chief Historian Emeritus with the National Park Service; former Executive Director of Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier, A. Wilson Greene; Wayne Motts, Chief Executive Officer of the National Civil War Museum, and scores of others. The MVCWRT has also spent dozens of hours volunteering throughout the years on the Gettysburg battlefield, as part of the Adopt-aPosition at Gettysburg National Military Park, as well as building trails at Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park. For the past ten years our organization has also donated raised funds to over twenty different historic sites and their mission of preservation and interpretation.

Letters to the Editor: Please email: mail@civilwarnews.com Civil War News 520 Folly Road, Suite 25 PMB 379 Charleston, SC 29412

L to R: Dave Frank, Award Committee Chairman; A. Wilson Greene, historian and author holding the first Hugh G. Earnhart Civil War Scholarship Award; Professor Hugh Earnhart, founder of the Mahoning Valley Civil War Round Table and award namesake.

H Appomatox

. . . . . . . . . . . from page 1 and everything that needed to be done.

Weather was a plaguing factor, because rain constantly threatened, keeping visitor numbers lower than hoped for. While some rain fell, it was never enough to completely deter visitors from coming and the attendance, overall, was gratifying.

The weather on Saturday was off-and-on sprinkles, but cleared up in the evening for the performance of “Appomattox: The Last 48 Hours.” Some severe weather warnings were issued on Sunday afternoon, but did not materialize to stop the event.

The Living Historians were vital to the atmosphere and enjoyment by the spectators who came to the park. They included Union and Confederate Infantry, the U.S. Christian Commission, and their red three-stacker coffee wagon, Lincoln’s Generals with 15 officers giving talks in their camp next to the McLean house, and Giles Light Artillery. These units and their some 75 participants established elaborate camps demonstrating life for spectators to see and walk through to learn and ask questions about life in camp and on campaign.

The firing demonstrations brought large numbers of troops together to give a realistic appearance to the firing of artillery and small arms. The Confederate firing demonstrations had 44 men; the Federal demonstrations had five. There was one gun for

the artillery demonstration. The stacking of arms was done both Saturday and Sunday afternoons. A note of interest regarding the stacking of arms is that the Federals receiving the arms were commanded by Ted Chamberlain, a descendant of Joshua Chamberlain, who commanded the original ceremony.

A dramatic and touching program done on Saturday afternoon was the placing of luminaries along the lanes in the village. 4,600 white paper sacks, with a battery operated candle in each, were put out by the volunteers and staff to represent the slaves in Appomattox County who were freed by Lee’s surrender. Each sack had the hand-written name of a slave. The scene was poignant; the impact significant.

The program “Appomattox: The Last 48 Hours” is derived from an analysis of messages sent between Grant and Lee from 5 p.m. on April 7, to the note Lee sent Grant at approximately 10 a.m., on April 9, requesting to meet him for the purpose of surrendering the Army of Northern Virginia. The surrender terms offered by Grant and Lee’s acceptance statement are also discussed. The Generals performed on the McLean house porch to a crowd of over 200 seated in the front yard. The setting became picturesque as the moment of surrender approached; the sun broke through the clouds and began to set. The slanting sunlight illuminated the porch and the Generals as they stood and talked

about what they were writing to the other and trying to fathom what the other was thinking as they replied to the messages. The Generals did their presentation as a fund-raiser for the Appomattox 1865 Foundation, the friends of the park group for Appomattox Court House National Historical Park. They were pleased to help such a worthy organization and purpose.

A unique part of the weekend was the United States Christian Commission attending with their three-stacker coffee wagon. They served coffee to everyone who wanted a cup, all day, for two days. The coffee wagon is a reproduction of an original patented in 1863 and made by Chase and Sanborn Coffee. This reproduction was built for the Centennial and was at the Appomattox 150th. Reverend Alan Farley, of the Re-enactor’s Missions For Jesus Christ, is restoring it and uses it as a key part of his portrayal of the United States Christian Commission. Reverend Farley also portrays a period chaplain and provides period correct Gospel tracts and sermons at re-enactments. More information about the portrayal of the United States Christian Commission and Reverend Farley’s efforts, Re-enactors Missions for Jesus Christ, may be found at: rmjc.org

Another unique facet of the weekend was the ball held Friday night. It is sponsored by the Appomattox 1865 Foundation as a fund-raiser. It is held at the Appomattox Park Inn ballroom and is routinely a sell-out.

Shea Klein, of the Appomattox 1865 Foundation, said, “During the anniversary week, soldiers

camp in the village and enhance an authentic feel that transports visitors into April 1865 with the smell of campfires, sounds of marching, and military demonstrations. During the year’s other 51 weeks, the foundation works hard to support the park mission with living history, ranger talks,

and special presentations by authors, artisans, and performers to assist in creating a truly amazing experience for every visitor all year long. We try to incorporate aspects of daily life to help honor the past, educate in the present, and prepare the future generations for a continued interest

Lithograph titled: The room in the McLean House, at Appomattox C.H., in which Gen. Lee surrendered to Gen. Grant. (Library of Congress)

The United States Christian Commission wagon with Grant and Rev. Farley

John Griffiths a descendant of both Grant and Longstreet.

“Appomattox: The Last 48 Hours.” General Lee’s immaculate uniform and appearance are in sharp contrast to that of Grant; mud-spattered, no spurs or hat cords, wearing a privates’ blouse. (Thomas Jessee as General Lee and Curt Fields as General Grant)

in the preservation of this great place.

This year the park presented the foundation with a wish list including a new interactive sign for the visitor’s center. This piece of equipment helps answer the important question of “Why Appomattox?” Each year approximately 75,000 visitors walk these grounds and that is their first question. This map shows the progression of each army as they approach Appomattox Court House. The cost for a sustainable and up to date sign is over $10,000. We are a few thousand dollars short of this goal still. Any donation helps and membership helps.

To become a member you merely pay the membership fee, no volunteerism is required. In fact, we have members as far away as California and even Japan! The foundation will provide you with quarterly email updates on how we spend your membership dues as well as special member perks at various events. Please visit Appomattox1865foundation. org for more details. You can pay online via card or send a check with the appropriate amount: Individual $25/Couple $45/

Family $65, $10 Student with copy of valid ID.

Shea A Klein PO Box 63 Appomattox, VA 24522 (434) 664-0012 aa1865foundation@gmail.com

Once again, the event was graced with the presence and participation of John Griffiths, great great grandson of Ulysses S. Grant! John is energetic and dresses in uniform for the event. He is a delight to know and be in his company. It is a rare privilege to be in the presence of direct blood kin of a great person in our history. John is also a descendant of James Longstreet.

Planning for the 155th anniversary is already underway. It is scheduled for April 8 through 12, 2020. Make YOUR plans accordingly to enjoy our history at such hallowed ground.

“We have the privilege of sharing the stories of the Appomattox Campaign, the surrender of Lee to Grant, and the impact on the civilians in the very place it happened on a daily basis. Yet, there is an energy in the village for our annual anniversary events. The sights, sounds, and smells of the village for the 154th Anniversary Event bring the stories alive for our visitors. We are grateful to

our volunteers, the Appomattox 1865 Foundation, Union and Confederate reenactors, and to Curt Fields and Thomas Jesse who portray Grant and Lee respectively who understand the power of place and demonstrate this living history. We invite the public to join us in commemorating the 155th Anniversary at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park next April!”– Robin Snyder, Superintendent Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.

Professor Veritas wishes to acknowledge the diligent assistance in writing this dispatch from:

• Robin Snyder, Park Superintendent

• Brandon Chamberlain, Lead Park Ranger and Education Coordinator

• Beth Parnicza, Chief of Education and Visitor Services.

• Shea Klein, The Appomattox 1865 Foundation

• All photos, except those identified as “courtesy of the 1865 Foundation” are by Joe W. McFadden.

Any omissions or errors are the sole responsibility of the correspondent

“Simply put: tell the simple truth, simply.”

Professor E. Veritas

Lee salutes Sgt. Tucker.

(Thomas Jenson)

The Ball.

(Courtesy of the 1865 Foundation)

Lee and Grant shaking hands on the porch of the McLean house. (Ben Summers)

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

Kristina Heister acting superintendent at Gettysburg

National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site

GETTYSBURG, Penn.—

Kristina Heister has arrived as the acting superintendent of Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site. She will serve in this position until approximately August 10, 2019.

Heister currently serves as the Superintendent of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, a unit of the National Park Service that extends 73.4 miles along the Delaware River from Hancock, N.Y., to Port Jervis, N.Y.

“I am very appreciative of the opportunity to serve as acting superintendent for Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site. I feel truly honored to assist, even for a short time, with protecting sites that are so important to the preservation of the United States, telling the American story, and that are loved and treasured by the American people,” said Heister. “I look forward to working with my NPS colleagues, park visitors, partners, and the local community.”

Heister began her National Park Service career as a biologist at Valley Forge National Historical Park (NHP) in Pennsylvania. Since then she has served in a variety of natural resource management positions in parks and regions throughout the country, including Appomattox Court House NHP. She then spent six years with the inventory and monitoring program working collaboratively to design a long-term

monitoring program for parks in the Great Basin and Mojave Desert. In 2006, she returned to Valley Forge NHP as the Chief of Natural Resources where she led an interdisciplinary effort to develop a highly controversial White-tailed Deer Management Plan and created a complex network of partnerships that integrated work with local non-profit organizations, youth programs, volunteerism, teachers, and students. Heister also served as the Chief of Natural Resources for the Northeast Region and led a multidisciplinary team of subject matter experts to promote science-based management in parks and increased park involvement in decision-making between 2012 and 2014.

Heister graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Salisbury State University in 1989 and in 1995 received her Master of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Pennsylvania State University.

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

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Kristina Heister, Acting Superintendent, Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site.

Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States, and to the events of far-reaching importance that occurred

the property. Learn more at www. nps.gov/eise.

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.

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

A Rifle-Musket, A New Mold and a Caution

My Favorite Firearm

If I were asked to choose my favorite firearm among the many I own, there is no doubt I would instantly select my Model 1863 Springfield .58 caliber rifle musket. The gun and I, or at least parts of it, go back a long way. When I was a seventh grader in Newark, N.J., back in 1956, I badgered my father to take my friend Ron and me to New York City’s Polk’s Hobby Shop, an iconic model soldier store. After leaving Polk’s we were walking back up Broadway to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, where my father had parked after driving in from New Jersey. Ron and I looked left and suddenly stopped. There, in a store window, was a uniform and a Gatling gun. It was the famed Bannerman’s military surplus nirvana.

After that fateful day Ron and I used to take a bus into New York City and walk down to Bannerman’s to rummage through

hundred-year-old leather goods, buying Civil War percussion cap boxes for forty cents and McKeever cartridge boxes with “NJ” brass plates for half a dollar. Bannerman’s had a bargain table, and one day I purchased, for a hefty three dollars, a M1863 rifle musket lock. I brought it home and kept it for over twenty years as a souvenir.

In the 1970s I worked part time in a sporting goods store, largely because it gave me the opportunity to buy guns, ammo, and fishing tackle at wholesale prices. Around that time, I learned that a guy named Mike Yeck was making stocks and barrels to original specifications for Springfield rifle muskets. I bought a barrel, ramrod, and stock from Yeck, picked up some additional original parts, including a butt plate, barrel bands, and screws, and voila, I had a complete gun.

I subsequently joined the 69th New York, a North-South Skirmish Association, team and shot thousands of rounds through my M1863 over twenty years, even picking up a few team medals over that time. I also took

by Joe Bilby

it hunting, and it accounted for three New Jersey deer. The gun is in semi-retirement now but holds an honored place in my home.

Richmond Sharps Mold

Last month I mentioned Eras Gone Bullet Molds, a small company dedicated to designing molds to reproduce original bullet configurations of the Civil War era. This month I am returning to the subject, as Eras Gone has announced a new bullet, a copy of the .54 caliber Richmond Sharps carbine design.

Eras Gone founder Mark Hubbs notes that there were thousands of Sharps carbines in Confederate hands at the start of the war, and that these were later supplemented by captures and production of a Confederate version of the classic firearm. These guns needed ammunition, and “the Confederate government was faced with production of its own ammunition…early CS Sharp cartridges were copies of the old ring tail bullet. As the war progressed, however, the Richmond Laboratories adopted more advanced projectiles.”

The Eras Gone bullet is “the culmination of that development and is almost identical to the bullet produced by the English cartridge maker, Ely.” The mold is, as with all Eras Gone products, a double cavity one. The bullet it casts is .544. diameter and weighs 510 grains. Its long heel provides surface area for attaching a paper or linen cartridge tube. The original Confederate cartridge was paper with a folded tail. The photos here, supplied by Eras Gone, show Confederate style cartridges with the Richmond Sharps bullet, made with a regulation sized trapezoid piece of paper and, once assembled, dipped in lubricant. Mark Hubbs says these cartridges “are amazingly easy to assemble. Much easier than a rifle musket cartridge.” He adds that he loads 45 grains of powder although the Ordnance manual calls for 50 grains and the result is a perfect fit in his Garrett reproduction,

although he thinks a Pedersoli may permit a bigger charge.

Potential barrel failure with original guns

There are lots of videos on YouTube and groups on Facebook. A number are useless, but some are excellent and well worth your attention. One of the latter is the “Rifle-Musket Shooters Club.” In a recent post on that site, John Holland wrote about shooting original Model 1816 muskets and the potential hazard of doing so.

I was immediately engaged, since the first musket I acquired, before the days of readily available reproductions, was a smoothbore M1816. I bought the gun at Karl Krueger’s little gun shop on Day Street in Orange, N.J., with money I earned by picking up and delivering laundry by bicycle for Frank Torchia’s laundry on 6th Avenue in Newark. I shot the gun regularly with no ill effects on either it or myself.

John, commenting on a recent discussion thread that discussed firing original M1816 muskets, noted, however, that “some M1816 Muskets are still being shot with live rounds. Just as a reminder for those who shoot these original U.S. M1816 Muskets: They all have a barrel that was made by wrapping and forge welding a piece of soft sheet iron around a mandrel. Therefore, all of these M1816 Musket barrels have a seam that can be of questionable integrity today some 170 years later.”

He added that “a large number of the M1816 Muskets were rifled prior to and early in the Civil War. When these rifled muskets are fired today with a Minie ball they will have a substantially higher breech & barrel pressure than with just a round ball, be it either a bare ball or patched,” which would potentially pose an additional problem He stated that he was aware of one such catastrophic failure that had injured a shooter.

So, what happened to my original M1816 musket? Well, while a senior in college I sold it for cash to take my girlfriend to her prom. I have not seen the musket or her since. There is a lesson there as well.

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.

Cartridge made with Eras Gone Richmond Sharps bullet. (Eras Gone)

The author with his rifle musket at the NSSA Nationals back in the 1980s.

Identified 1st Regiment Virginia Volunteers Cross-Belt-Plate

By Shannon Pritchard

In 1851, the Virginia legislature made an attempt at forming regiments of volunteers but made little headway. The earliest regiment was the First Regiment Virginia Volunteers, organized on May 1, 1851. The 1st Regt. Va. Vols. was made up of men from the old militia system companies, including the Richmond Howitzers, Montgomery Guard, Richmond Light Infantry Blues, Virginia Rifles, Richmond Grays, and the Fayette Artillery. These pre-War units were composed of the flower of Virginia’s aristocracy.

The 1st fought in all the major battles of the Army of Northern Virginia from 1st Manassas to Five Forks. The regiment saw its last day as a unit at the Battle of Sailor’s Creek.

This particular plate was worn by John W. Burnett. I have known his descendants my whole life, having gone to school with them. Having no heirs, the plate was sold to me in March 2019. John Burnett is buried here in Hanover County on the family farm.

John Burnett was a 21 year old gun maker and a member of the Richmond City Guard when he enlisted in the newly formed 1st Regiment Virginia Volunteers on April 21, 1861. John’s skill as a gun maker was recognized and he was placed on detached service to the Confederate Ordnance Department on July 29th, where he contributed his talents for the remainder of the War.

The plate the regiment wore is made of sand cast brass. The letters on the face were cast in, but

were then chased by an engraver. Afterwards the letters were filled with a black substance similar to dried pitch to accentuate the letters against the brass background. The pin affixed to the plate’s back was intended to pass through the white web bayonet and cartridge box belts that crossed at the wearer’s breast and held them in place.

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.

The engraved and highlighted face of John Burnett’s cross-belt plate. (Photos courtesy OldSouthAntiques.com)

Reverse of the 1st Regiment plate, showing the pin that joined the crossed belts.

John and Harriet Burnett on their farm in Hanover County, Virginia.

Snuff

“Most of the Southern women chew tobacco or ‘dip snuff’ as they call it.”–

Thomas P. Nanzig, From Shiloh to Surrender with the 18th Wisconsin

The differing ways of consuming tobacco have often mirrored larger cultural trends. One of the more curious aspects of 19th century material culture was widespread use of tobacco by women, particularly in the South. It was not just that the genteel women from below Messrs. Mason and Dixon’s boundary line used tobacco more often than the women from the North, but also the curious methods employed by them to enjoy it.

To start with, the Southern states had the climate and soil tobacco requires and, soon after

colonization, tobacco was a chief money crop exported to Europe.

The earliest uses were, of course smoking, mostly in clay pipes or else chewing, both of which pre-dated American colonization.

After the colonial era in America (1776), the use of ground or pulverized tobacco called “snuff” became popular among the European elite. Snuff was considered by many in America to be an aristocratic luxury for “dandies” and somewhat effeminate.

American men in general overwhelmingly preferred their tobacco in other forms. For American women, though…it was another story, they preferred snuff and to a lesser degree, cigarettes which were just coming into vogue.

On the home front, while entertaining guests after dinner, men might relax with a good cigar while the women would retire to the parlor and dip snuff together.

It was said you could tell a great deal about a lady from her snuff box, apparently the more ornate the better. In the mid-19th century much more than today, social behaviors followed strictly along the lines of gender roles. The prevailing attitude that snuff (like cigarettes) was “not manly,” combined with the pleasant effects of nicotine seem to be the main factors by which Southern women came to partake in it. Snuff can be primarily used two ways; first it can be insufflated or sniffed. When fine powdery snuff is insufflated, it often causes the user to sneeze repeatedly. This was of course, not ladylike. In addition, some women claimed that “sniffing” gave them headaches. Instead coarser, moist snuff was “dipped” or used orally placed between the cheek and gum with a stick tooth brush to dip it out of the can. A period account describes the process:

The usual mode is, to procure a straight wooden toothbrush— one made of the bark of the hickory-nut tree preferred—chew one end of the brush until it becomes soft and pliant, then dab back into the mouth again with the fine particles of snuff adhering; then proceed to mop the gums and teeth adroitly, to suck, and chew, and spit to your heart’s content.”

As noted above, using snuff resulted in the need to expectorate a stream of brown saliva on a fairly regular basis. For those not normally exposed to the sight of women spitting tobacco juice, it took some getting used to. Some women used snuff only in private or when not among men in a social setting, others simply did not care. In the Diary of Caroline Seabury (1854–1863,) she noted,

…after dinner the men were smoking and drinking and the women were dipping snuff. I was asked to join in, but responded that I did not take tobacco (in any form) and they stared at me incredulously.

Columbia, Mississippi, to teach school there, which probably explains it. Charles Willis, an Illinois gentleman traveling in the South noted the following about an attractive young lady on the train from Atlanta to Dalton, Ga., in a letter to his sister:

I noticed that she was constantly spitting some dark colored fluid from her mouth. I thought she had a toothache, and had perhaps something in her mouth to cure it. I looked on the floor and there was a great puddle at her feet, by George it was tobacco juice...I ‘wilted.’ A soldier sitting near me remarked, ‘she is mighty good looking but awful on dipping tobacco’...

The practice of tobacco use among women also varied by region and population density in the South, with pipe smoking and chewing (the socalled Virginia habit) more commonly encountered among the less affluent living in rural communities. A Northerner traveling in the South just after the Civil War noted of the class and gender habits of tobacco use that:

…seven-tenths of all persons above the age of twelve years, both male and female, used tobacco in some form. Women could be seen at the doors of their cabins in their bare feet, in their dirty one-piece cotton garments, their chairs tipped back, smoking pipes made of corn cobs into which were fitted reed stems or goose quills. Boys of eight or nine years of age and half-grown girls smoked. Women and (older) girls “dipped” in their houses, on their porches, in the public parlors of hotels and in the streets.

The description of Southern women smoking corncob pipes on cabin porches is particularly vivid and tells of their social standing. Women of higher social standing would be very unlikely to enjoy tobacco in the manner described above, and much more inclined to “dip” snuff in private. Apparently women who did enjoy snuff were somewhat protective of the habit or at least defensive about male disapproval of it. The following, which appears to be written by a man (perhaps on behalf of his wife) appeared as an anonymous letter to the editor in an 1862 Houston, Texas, newspaper.

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Mrs. Seabury was a native of Massachusetts who relocated to

Pimlico Snuff Mills and Smoking Tobacco Factory ad.

Dear Sir:--

Two letters of your “Local” have within the past few weeks appeared in your paper ridiculing and execrating the habit of “dipping snuff.” I do not pretend to excuse or defend a practice which is of no earthly benefit to the ladies who indulge in it, although it is said that it preserves and purifies the teeth. But I should desire to know what caused the virtuous indignation of “High Private” or “Local” to vent itself of a sudden on “snuff dipping.” “Local” can see the motes in the ladies’ eye, whilst he is not aware of the beams in those of the gentlemen. Before preaching to the ladies, Mr. Local, you ought to reform the gentlemen first; but chewing tobacco is a necessity of life, whilst “dipping snuff” is a nasty, filthy habit. You are aware, Mr. Editor, that smokers find solace and comfort whilst smoking, and ladies ease their mind in the same manner by dipping snuff; it is very hard not to allow them one bad habit, whilst we gentlemen have so many…I, therefore, would suggest that all the ladies who wish to indulge in “snuff dipping” be permitted to do so peaceably and without any interference from the male population, and I am backed up by

the opinion of a married friend of mine, who says the only time his wife doesn’t quarrel with him, is when she has got her tooth-brush between her teeth.

As far as “bad habits,” snuff usage by women was largely superseded by cigarette smoking by the turn of the 20th century. However, there are still a few people living, especially those with rural Southern backgrounds who may recall “Granny” sitting on her front porch with a tin of snuff and a stick in her mouth spitting brown saliva into a Mason jar. Tobacco related diseases may not have been recognized as such, or may have not been as common as today. There are some possible reasons for this; the mid-19th century smoker was not inhaling chemically treated, nicotine enhanced, and genetically modified tobacco grown in polonine enhanced soil and the wrapper was free from burn rate modifiers. Whatever the case, the broader question remains, “Would it have made a difference?”

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.

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Harvey Warrner

Fort Monroe National Monument Hosts Garrison Life Living History Event

By Bob Ruegsegger

Scores of living historians and reenactors from New York to Georgia, assembled at Fort Monroe National Monument to participate in the site’s largest living history event since the venerable old fort has been a part of the National Park Service.

“I’m very pleased with how the event is turning out. It is, in fact, the largest encampment event the park has ever hosted,” said Aaron Firth, park ranger at the Fort Monroe National Monument. “Certainly, the fort has seen many more men than this during its operational period,” Firth observed. “Since the National Park was established in 2011, this is the largest living history event that we’ve ever fielded.”

Firth was not dressed in his National Park Service “gray and green.” He got into the spirit of the event by donning a replica of the uniform worn by Ordnance Sergeant John Livers, the post ordnance sergeant in 1862.

“The post flag we raised this morning at morning colors is a brand new garrison flag that we’ve just acquired with 35 stars,” said Firth. It is very appropriate for this event and we’re very happy to have it.”

The event interpreted garrison life at Fort Monroe while

General McClellan’s Army of the Potomac was gathering at Old Point Comfort in Hampton, Va., to begin the 1862 Peninsula Campaign.

“It is, and has been, an annual event. We anticipate it will continue,” said Firth. “In fact, it is scheduled for the same weekend next year, the last full weekend in March,” he noted. “We hope to have many of these same soldiers return.”

McClellan landed his troops at Fort Monroe and marched northwest up the Peninsula toward Richmond in the spring of 1862. It was the first large scale Union operation in the Eastern Theatre of the Civil War. While McClellan had some success early, his ill-fated campaign failed to achieve its goal to capture Richmond.

Newport News resident Kevin Ritton serves as the bugler for the 99th New York Infantry Regiment. Ritton is no stranger to Fort Monroe. “We’re actually trying to promote Fort Monroe as a venue for Civil War re-enacting,” said Ritton. “This is an A-number one site. The post was actually in use during the Civil War. McClellan had his quarters here,” he said. “Just outside the fort, where the town of Phoebus is now, was Camp Hamilton. This

is a very important site.”

Artillerist Chris Hoggard, a Hampton native, has been familiar with Fort Monroe his entire life. He relishes the opportunity to come out to the fort and participate in the artillery demonstrations with the 4th U.S. Artillery, Battery K. Hoggard was engaged as a gun crew member firing a 3-inch ordnance rifle.

“This is a great place. Just look at the quad here. This is a great place to do demonstrations. It’s just built for that,” said Hoggard. “It’s great being on an historic site where they allow stuff like this,” he said. “Some battlefields allow demonstrations, but there are not too many places with the history of Fort Monroe.”

Living historian Tony Gabrielli brought Major General Benjamin F. Butler back to life during Garrison Life at Fort Monroe: A Gathering of Steel for the Peninsula Campaign 1862.

“You look around and you see the walls and the buildings that were here during the Civil War,” said Tony Gabrielli. “Over there is Old Quarters Number One where General Butler sat in his headquarters.”

When three enslaved men fled to Fort Monroe to escape their bonds, Gen. Butler learned they had been involved in constructing

fortifications for the Confederates at Sewell’s Point. Butler declared the men to be contraband of war and refused to return them as required by the Fugitive Slave Act.

“Somehow word of what Butler had done had gotten around,” said Gabrielli. “From then on thousands of enslaved people came to Fort Monroe. They were set up in contraband camps under the protection of the army,” Gabrielli said. “Fort Monroe became known among them as ‘Freedom Fort’.”

Tom Reed of Cockeysville, Md., made the 4 ½ hour drive to Fort Monroe and exchanged his Fort McHenry Guard uniform for that of an artillery artificer to participate in the event. It was his second visit to the historic site.

“I love it. This is a great fort. We could probably fit four Fort McHenrys in here,” said Reed. “This is a wonderful fort, and it has a real moat around it. Ours is a dry moat.” “Aaron [Ranger Aaron Firth] did a good job this year with increasing the number of people. Last year, there weren’t too many,” said Reed. “This year, he’s looking at 100 to 150 people so we have a larger crowd which is impressive.”

Missy Polonsky of Gloucester, Va., was among the very few women engaged in the

weekend event as a costumed living historian. “Women,” explained Polonsky “would not have traditionally been in camp. There were a few exceptions, usually paid laundresses attached to the units or married to one of the men.”

“Soldiers wrote letters home asking their mothers not to visit them in camp because they didn’t want their mothers exposed to the coarse language,” said Polonsky.

“Camps were rough, very, very rough,” said Polonsky. “Most people who came to visit [Fort

Fort Monroe is completely surrounded by a water-filled moat. The president issued a proclamation that designated portions of Fort Monroe as a National Monument on November 1, 2011.

Union cavalry provided a tactical demonstration at Fort Monroe.

General Benjamin Butler was portrayed by Tony Gabrielli. Butler has been remembered for his “contraband decision.”

Reenactors drill in the footsteps of untold numbers of American soldiers who have marched on this parade ground over the last 19 decades.

CWH Brigdon casket maker,

Saporito is interested in marketing his classic Weber wagon as a working kitchen for wedding shoots, western shoots, or church cookouts.

“I cook for re-enacting units as well,” said Saporito. “If they don’t have a cook or they’re looking for someone to cook for the weekend, I’ll provide that service.”

Chuck Veit and his associates with the Navy and Marine Living History Association and the U.S. Naval Landing Party re-enacting group came from as far away as North Attleboro, Mass., to share their expertise in naval history and ordnance with event visitors. Veit is also the author of “five

different books on unique naval research.”

“We’ve been at it about 20 years now,” said Veit. “I’m just happy to get a patch of grass. That’s all we need a patch of grass and people who are interested in learning the history,” said Veit. “We’ve never done anything here at Fort Monroe before. It’s a bit of a haul.”

Veit’s unit represented a landing party of sailors put ashore to carry out a variety of missions. They would’ve been engaged in rescuing fleeing Unionists, participating in slave raids to free people, or attempting to capture Confederate officers.

“Typically, the Navy would not

be in ranks with the Army. We let the Army set up the battle, and we come in from the flanks,” said Veit. “Sometimes we stumble into a battle. That’s something the Navy did that all of the time.”

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

Few women visited army camps during the Civil War. The environment was “very, very rough” according to Missy Polonsky, a living historian from Gloucester, Virginia.

Monroe] would have stayed at the Hygeia Hotel,” she said. “It was originally constructed around 1822 when they were first building the fort.”

The Proud Hound Commissary, proprietor John Saporito, was set up on the edge of the parade ground. It offered visitors and living historians an enticing look at an important means used by the Union Army to supply soldiers with the necessary provisions,— the chuck wagon.

John Saporito of Newport News seized the weekend event as an opportunity to draw public attention to his vintage wagon manufactured by the Weber Wagon Company in Chicago circa 1870. Saporito purchased the wagon from a cowboy in Texas and brought it east. It has a military carriage.

“The only thing that might be different here is that this is a postwar configuration in terms of the cabinet,” said Saporito. “The army had various cabinets in the backs of their wagons.”

Artillery living history units provided firing demonstrations on the parade ground. This unit is firing a Parrott rifle.

Chuck Veit, naval historian and author, participated with the U.S. Naval Landing Party, a reenactment unit that recruits members nationally.

Bugler Kevin Ritton is a living historian with the 99th New York Infantry.

General Sherman Never Gets Drunk

(The Battle of Rocky Face Ridge –Part 2)

“Well, Mac, you have missed the opportunity of your life.” –William T. Sherman

The first fight of the Atlanta Campaign, the Battle of Rocky Face Ridge, Ga., was fought on May 7–13, 1864. U.S. Gen. William T. Sherman planned to push past C.S. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of Tenn. headquartered in Dalton, Ga. As the bulk of Sherman’s armies distracted Johnston, U.S. Gen. James B. McPherson’s Army of the Tenn. rapidly advanced towards Resaca, Ga., through Snake Creek Gap. On the evening of the 8th they made camp inside the Gap. By 6 a.m. McPherson’s army was marching towards Resaca.

C.S. Col. John Warren Grigsby’s 6th Ky. Cavalry had spent May 8 holding off Union attacks at Dug Gap, Ga. Realizing that the heavily wooded Snake Creek Gap had been left undefended, Johnston’s headquarters sent Grigsby’s cavalry that evening to guard it. The men arrived after dawn to find the Federals approaching the Gap’s eastern entrance.

The cavalry fired, momentarily slowing the blue coats. Union skirmishers drove “the enemy like sheep before them.” The 66th Ill., Birge’s “Western Sharpshooters,”

led the way. The sharpshooters, selected for their marksmanship, were armed with 16-shot Henry repeating rifles purchased with their own funds. A few miles outside Resaca, skirmishers from the 37th Miss. slowed McPherson’s approach.

This was McPherson’s first significant assignment. Graduated at the top of his class at West Point, he was a protégé of both Sherman and Grant. Both sides considered McPherson one of the most able officers of the War. It was close to 5 p.m. when the over six-foot-tall McPherson scrutinized Resaca’s defenses from a tree stump. The Confederates shot at the officer peering at them through a glass. McPherson could see artillery in the well-fortified line above the swampy ground and presumed the Confederates had a greater force. He anticipated that Johnston would sweep down and cut off his army, “as you cut off the end of a piece of tape with a pair of shears.” In a decision that would later be debated, McPherson decided that, with only an hour of daylight remaining, to retreat to the mouth of the Gap.

On May 10 & 11, it rained while Sherman moved most of his army through Snake Creek Gap. U.S. Gen. John Schofield realized that from “a bald hill just in rear of our line” a partial view of the Confederate’s defense could be seen. Sherman and his generals, including George “Rock of Chickamauga”

Thomas, Joseph Hooker, John Newton, and staff officers came

to look. The gathering of officers attracted fire, causing a “scatteration.” Schofield noticed, “All save two had disappeared, even Thomas having abandoned the field, probably for the first and only time in his life. Still there, were … Sherman and Hooker, … striding round the ground, appearing to look at nothing in particular and not conversing with each other, but seeming at least a foot taller than usual, each waiting for the other to lead off in retreat. After quite a long continuance of this little drama, which greatly entertained Newton and me, the two great soldiers, as if by some mysterious impulse,— for they did not speak a word,— simultaneously and slowly strode to the rear, where their horses were held.”

On the evening of May 11, C.S. Gen. Leonidas Polk arrived in Resaca with 10,000 infantry, his 4,000 cavalry having already arrived. Johnston greeted Polk at his headquarters in Dalton, Ga., and, grasping his extended hand and warmly shaking it, said, “How can I thank you I asked for a division, but you have come yourself and brought me your army.” Polk, a cousin of the late President James Polk, had been a cadet with Johnston at West Point. Instead of a military career, Polk rose to become a bishop in the Episcopal Church.

Gen. John Bell Hood, who accompanied Polk to Dalton, disclosed that he was interested in being baptized in the Episcopal Church. Hood had lost the use of

Gen. James McPherson, Colorization © 2019 civilwarincolor. com courtesy civilwarincolor.com/cwn (Library of Congress)

his left arm and his right leg was amputated four inches below the hip from wounds suffered in separate battles. By midnight in a simple room, lit by a single candle, Hood supported by his crutches, was baptized by the Bishop. Six days later, at the request of Mrs. Johnston, her husband too, was baptized by Polk.

On May 13, part of Sherman’s army advanced towards Resaca while U.S. Col. Thomas W. Sweeny, 16th Corps., marched miles upstream to cross the Oostenaula River at Lay’s Ferry. Johnston having realized that Sherman had abandoned attacking the Ridge, moved his army to Resaca, anchoring his line between the Oostanaula River on the left with his right on the Connasauga.

Sweeny’s men arrived at noon and stood, under fire, as they waited for boats. The 66th Ind. was

tasked with exchanging fire with the Confederate sharpshooters. Pvt. Asahel M. Pyburn spotted the flag of the 47th Ga. Infantry planted at the river’s edge. As his comrades wildly fired at the rebels to keep their heads down, Pyburn stripped off his clothes and swam the 100-yard-wide river. Reaching the opposite side, Pyburn “snatched the flag and swam back” as the enemy blasted the water with their bullets. On his return, flag in hand, and without a scratch, Pyburn was promoted to color bearer. Johnston reviewed the reports of the Federal movements. He knew that he did not have the troops to protect both Resaca and his rear. He met with his commanders to order a scheduled line of retreat. All artillery was removed except four old iron pieces that “were not worth the sacrifice of the life of even one

Rocky Face Ridge 2016. (Jack Melton)

man.” They were the only guns left behind in any of Johnston’s campaigns. Overall, it was one of Johnston’s signature “clean retreats.”

On May 14, Sherman, who had spent the night making plans, was dozing on a log underneath a shady tree. “Is that a general?” asked a solider spotting him as he marched. “Yes,” replied the nearby orderly. “A pretty way we are commanded,” the soldier groused, “when our generals are lying drunk beside the road!” exclaimed the soldier, walking off in disgust. “Stop, my man,” said Sherman, jumping up. “I am not drunk. While you were sleeping last night, I was planning for you sir; and now I was taking a nap. General Sherman never gets drunk, sir.”

Sources:

• Govan, Dr. Gilbert E., A Different Valor: The Story of General Joseph E. Johnston, C.S.A.

• Time-Life. Battles For Atlanta: Sherman Moves East

• Woodworth, Steven E., Nothing But Victory: The Army of Tennessee 1861 – 1865

• Polk, W. M. Leonidas Polk, Bishop and General

• Schofield, John McAllister. Forty-Six Years in the Army

• Conyngham, David Power. Sherman’s march through the South. With sketches and incidents of the campaign

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.

Gen. Leonidas Polk, C.S.A. (Library of Congress)

loved ones at war, perhaps even a bad image served better than none. As a note to researchers, use caution, as the value of Leslie’s work rests more strongly on the illustrations than with the narrative. Borrowing from his mentor Barnum, Leslie encouraged sensationalism among his writers.

The adage of ‘making a mountain out of a molehill’ perhaps served as their style guide. Amid the desire to excite readers, inaccuracies, or less than ideal descriptions occurred. Note the caption above actually refers to the Battle of Kolb’s Farm fought on June 22, 1864. Another section recounting

Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper

A name without a face, a battlefield absent terrain features, or accounts of pivotal events, all created confusion when reading printed stories. Frank Leslie solved each of these dilemmas. Born Henry Carter in England, as a young man, he gained valuable experience working with the London Illustrated News Fearing his father would not approve of the son’s newfound livelihood, Carter wrote under the pseudonym, Frank Leslie. After immigrating to the United States in 1848, and officially changing his name to Frank

Leslie, he created illustrations for the famous showman P.T. Barnum. In 1855, Leslie launched his weekly illustrated newspaper, which continued publication until 1922. For this story, we focus on the war years and the coverage the Illustrated News provided a growing subscriber base. Folks possessed such eagerness to “see” the people and places of the war, Leslie’s circulation doubled after the first year of the conflict. Operating under Leslie’s motto, “Never shoot over the heads of the people,”—the newspaper’s proprietor hired many writers to create stories to accompany the various illustrations. Leslie also pioneered a new, faster technique for carving artist’s drawings

or photographs onto blocks of wood, which enabled quicker reproduction on the printed page. (During the war, the technology to print photos in newspapers did not yet exist.)

Focusing on June (the cover date of this edition of Civil War News), a few of Leslie’s examples covering June events during the war seems in order. First up, the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain; usually spelled as ‘Kenesaw’ during the war. The illustration of Major General William T. Sherman’s troops attacking below, while not depicting the terrain very accurately, certainly provided readers with a mental picture of the battle. For those on the homefront concerned over

Frank Leslie

Illustration of the Battle of Kolb’s Farm, Marietta, Ga.

(Left) a reproduction of his 1895 Frank Leslie’s Illustrated History of the Civil War; (Right) a 2006 Smithsonian/HarperCollins title – Witness to the Civil War.

Illustration of U.S. Grant.

the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain lists Sherman’s casualties as 1,000 (actual app. 3,000) and General Joseph E. Johnston’s as unknown (actual app. 1,000); the narrative also states the Federals

turned Johnston’s flank during the battle…untrue.

Leslie’s work covered both the Eastern and Western Theaters. The illustration above of Cold Harbor serves as one example from the east. Note this illustration came from the sketchbook of noted artist Edwin Forbes. Placing faces with names - sometimes fairly accurately, on other occasions not so much—Leslie offered readers a glimpse at the military leaders of the war. This illustration of General Joseph E. Johnston gives a reasonable likeness; the image of Major General Ulysses S. Grant less so.

Researchers can benefit from digitized pages at https://archive.org/details/franklesliesilluv1112lesl or via the searchable database at https://www.accessible-archives.com/collections/

frank-leslies-weekly/. One will need a subscription to use the second; however, many local libraries have subscriptions allowing access. Readers can locate, and purchase copies of the two books pictured at the beginning of this column—Frank Leslie’s Illustrated History of the Civil War (ISBN 9780764339967) and Witness to the Civil War (ISBN 9780060891503) – at various online bookstores. Remember to check WorldCat http://www. worldcat.org/ for help in finding either of these sources in a local library. Conduct a search using the ISBNs provided above. Next month, we will explore another

primary source. Until then, 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.

Cold Harbor , Va., illustration.

Illustrations of Joe Johnston.

General Court-Martial Proceedings

From the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion

By Joan Wenner, J.D.

She has a special interest in Civil War Courts Martials and Courts of Inquiry.

The Court Martial of Brigadier General Henry H. Sibley, CSA

Brigadier General Henry H. Sibley, CSA, (1818–1886), a Louisiana native West Pointer, and longtime soldier, had charges of Disobedience of Orders and Unofficer-like Conduct brought against him during the Civil War.

Before the war Sibley served in the Second Seminole War and Mexican-American War. Early in the Civil War, he was a leader in the New Mexico Campaign and the 1862 Battle of Valverde.

Ship names are italicized here but were not in the original text. * * *

Findings of a General CourtMartial in the cases of Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley and Capt. Alexander Grant, C. S. Army.

GENERAL, ORDERS, HDQRS. DEPARTMENT

TRANS-MISSISSIPPI, No. 47.

Shreveport, La., September 25, 1863.

I. At the general court-martial

convened at the Headquarters District of Louisiana, pursuant to Paragraph I, Special Orders, No. 91, current series, from these headquarters, and of which Maj. Gen. John G. Walker, Provisional Army of the Confederate States, is president, was arraigned and tried,

1st. Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley, Provisional Army of the Confederate States, in the following charges and specifications:

Charge 1st.—Disobedience of orders.

Specification 1st.—In this, that Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley, Provisional Army of the Confederate States, was, on the night of April 12, 1863, at Camp Bisland, ordered by Maj. Gen. R. Taylor, commanding District of Western Louisiana, to make the necessary arrangements for an attack, and to attack the enemy at daylight on the 13th of April, 1863, below Camp Bisland, and the said Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley did not make the necessary arrangements for said attack, and did not make the attack on the morning of April 13, 1863, as ordered to do. This at Camp Bisland, La., April 12 & 13, 1863.

Specification 2d.—In this,

that the said Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley, Provisional Army of the Confederate States, was ordered by Maj. Gen. R. Taylor, commanding, to remove the sick and wounded officers and soldiers of the C. S. Army from Camp Bisland and transport the same from Franklin, La., to New Iberia, La., in wagons, carts, carriages, and ambulances; but he, the said Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley, ordered the said sick and wounded officers and soldiers of the C. S. Army, and certain prisoners who had been captured from the enemy, to be placed on the steamboat Cornie, and the said steamboat having on board the sick and wounded and prisoners aforesaid, was ordered by the said Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley to proceed up the Bayou Teche, from Franklin to New Iberia, although he, the said Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley, had been informed by MajorGeneral Taylor, commanding, that the enemy was in position on said bayou, between Franklin and New Iberia, and commanded the passage of the same between those points; and by these orders of the said Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley the steamboat Cornie and a large number of sick and wounded officers and soldiers of the C. S. Army were captured by the enemy, and the said Federal prisoners were recaptured by the enemy. All this between Camp Bisland and Franklin, on the 13th and 14th days of April, 1863.

Specification 3d.—In this, that on the 14th day of April, 1863, at Franklin, La., Maj. Gen. R. Taylor, commanding, ordered the said Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley, Provisional Army of the Confederate States, to place himself at the head of the column, then retreating from Franklin toward New Iberia, to conduct and direct the same, to prevent straggling and disorderly conduct by the troops, and to select a suitable encampment for the army for the night of the 14th April, 1863; the said army being closely pursued by a largely superior force of the enemy; but he, the said Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley, without obtaining permission from his commanding officer, without reporting to his commanding officer his intention, without applying for permission to leave his command, and without communicating the orders and instructions aforesaid to the officer next in command with the said retreating column, did leave his command, and retire toward New Iberia by a road different from that taken by the said

troops, and did fail and neglect to execute the order aforesaid, by which said failure and neglect to obey the orders aforesaid great confusion was created, much straggling occurred among the troops, and the safety of the army and its train was seriously endangered. This on the march between Franklin and New Iberia, on the 14th of April, 1863.

CHARGE 2D.—Unofficer-like conduct.

Specification 1st.—In this, that on the 14th April, 1863, Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley, Provisional Army of the Confederate States, having been ordered by MajorGeneral Taylor, commanding, to conduct the retreating column from Franklin toward New Iberia, while Col. Thomas Green, Fifth Texas Mounted Volunteers, in command of the rear guard, was covering the retreat, did send an order by one of his staff officers to the said Colonel Green, to fall back in haste through the town of Franklin, stating that the enemy was advancing on the only road by which the retreat could be made, and this order, given by Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley when the enemy were not advancing as stated by him, was not communicated to the major-general commanding, who was in the rear, and personally superintending the retreat through Franklin; and

by the falling back of the said rear guard, in obedience to BrigadierGeneral Sibley’s orders, the retreat of the force under BrigadierGeneral Mouton, then holding the enemy in check to the right of and above Franklin, was greatly endangered, and Captain [O. J.] Semmes and the other officers and crew of the gunboat Diana were captured by the enemy.

Specification 2d.—In this, that the said Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley, Provisional Army of the Confederate States, having been ordered by Major General Taylor, commanding, to superintend and conduct the retreat of the forces from Camp Bisland, and the removal of the train, and to give his personal supervision and attention to the same, did fail and neglect so to do, but went to his bed and remained in it during the greater portion of the night, without giving his personal management to the movement. This at Camp Bisland, on the night of the 13th of April and the morning of the 14th of April, 1863. To which charges and specifications the accused pleaded “Not guilty.”

FINDING.

The court, after mature deliberation on the testimony adduced, finds the accused, Brig.

Brig. Gen. Henry H. Sibley. (Library of Congress)

Gen. H. H. Sibley, Provisional Army of the Confederate States, as follows:

Of the 1st specification of the 1ST CHARGE, “Specification proven, and although the court are of opinion that Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley (the accused) did not display that promptness in making the necessary arrangements for the attack that he should have done, and is to that extent censurable, yet they are of the opinion that the evidence shows a train of circumstances that relieve him from the consequences of a deliberate disobedience of orders.”

Of the 2d specification of the 1ST CHARGE, “Specification proven (except as to that portion relating to the Federal prisoners), but attach no criminality thereto, inasmuch as the evidence shows that there was no other possible means in Brigadier-General Sibley’s control to save the sick and wounded from capture by the enemy than by using the steamer Cornie.”

Of the 3d specification, of the 1ST CHARGE, “The facts set forth in the specification proven, and although the court do not acquit the accused of having done all that he should have done in conducting the retreating column, and in the selection of the camp, they are of opinion that the apparent disobedience of orders arose from a misconception of the orders of his superior.”

Of the 1ST CHARGE, “Not guilty.”

Of the 1st specification to 2D CHARGE, “Not guilty.”

Of the 2d specification to 2D CHARGE, “Not guilty.”

Of the 2D CHARGE, “Not guilty.”

And the court does therefore acquit the accused, Brig. Gen. Henry H. Sibley, Provisional Army of the Confederate States.

2d. Capt. Alexander Grant, serving with the Confederate States gunboat Cotton, on the following charge and specification:

CHARGE.—Disobedience of orders.

Specification.—In this, that the said Alexander Grant, serving with the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, and commanding the gunboat Cotton or Mary T., having been ordered to assist with his said boat in the defense of Fort Burton against any attacks which might be made against it by the enemy, and to remain with his said boat, and, in the event of its being necessary to evacuate the said fort, to remove the garrison guns and stores on the said gunboat Cotton or Mary T., did, although repeatedly ordered and required by Captain Holmes, commanding said fort, to remain, for the purposes above mentioned, on the 20th of April, 1863, leave the said fort and its vicinity with his said boat, without rendering suitable assistance in its defense, and did abandon the fort and its garrison without making proper efforts to assist in their defense or in the removal of the garrison guns and stores.

To which charge and specification the prisoner pleaded “Not guilty.”

FINDING.

The court, after mature deliberation on the testimony adduced, finds the accused as follows: Of the specification, “Not guilty.” Of the CHARGE, “Not guilty.”

And does therefore acquit the accused, Capt. Alexander Grant, serving with the gunboat Cotton.

II. The proceedings, findings, and sentences in the foregoing cases of Brig. Gen. H. H. Sibley, Provisional Army of the Confederate States, and Capt. Alexander Grant, serving with the gunboat Cotton, are approved, and they will be released from arrest.

III. The general court-martial, of which Maj. Gen. John G. Walker is president, is dissolved. By command of Lieut. Gen. E. Kirby Smith: S. S. ANDERSON, Assistant Adjutant-General.

Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor. (Library of Congress)

USS Keystone State in the Civil War

By Joan Wenner, J.D.

“Everything is Ours Now”

…Union soldier to North Carolinian who pleaded to save her Family Bible

Toward the end of the Civil War, Sherman marched from Atlanta to Savannah, through Lee’s beloved South from Columbia, S.C., and on to Fayetteville, N.C., to Averasboro, Bentonville, and finally, Bennett’s Place near Durham Station, where the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston’s troops virtually signaled the end of the war. The efforts of Federal forces to defeat the South began when old warhorse and General-in-Chief Winfield Scott and young Major

General George McClellan jostled for mastery of the Army to begin the process of ‘constricting the windpipe’ of the South, as had been sketched out in Scott’s now familiar Anaconda Plan which, like a colling snake, sought to blockade all ports in secessionist states to restrict the flow of military supplies. Historians agree that both sides understood the importance of controlling the ports, inlets, and coastal waters of the ‘Rebel’ states and, in fact, just a week after the bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861, Scott’s plan was implemented.

Jefferson Davis felt he couldn’t strip the southern coast to reinforce Johnston and Beauregard based on what had happened at Hatteras Inlet, N.C., during early

August 1861, as it was just the beginning. The Federals would ultimately control a good third of North Carolina and a sizable part of the Confederate seacoast, hamper the blockade runners, and eventually command ‘the back door’ to Norfolk. A Southern newspaperman at Raleigh asked dolefully,

What does the entrance of the Yankees into our waters amount to? It amounts to this: The whole of the eastern part of the State is now exposed to the ravages of the merciless vandals. New Berne, Plymouth, Edenton, Hertford, Elizabeth City, are all now exposed, besides the whole of the adjacent country. . . . our state is now plunged into a great deal of trouble.

A ‘great deal of trouble’ was an accurate description. When the Union flotilla took Forts Hatteras and Clark at Hatteras Inlet, from then on the Union held the main entrance to Pamlico Sound, closing it to Southern use and allowing Union resupply for bases it would shortly establish. The Federals soon reached the point of applying an “unendurable pressure.”

Greatly aiding the Union effort was the USS Keystone State, a Union warship that provided valuable service against blockade runners from 1861 until war’s end in 1865. During almost four

years, the USS Keystone State played its part from the beginning of hostilities to the end, enforcing the Federal blockade of the eastern seaboard. This is her story and the theater of war in which she operated. Keystone State was a 1,364-ton side wheel wooden steamer built at Philadelphia in 1853 and employed in passenger and cargo service. In 1861 she was acquired by the U.S. Navy and commissioned the USS Keystone State. Following extensive service in the Civil War, the Federal government sold her in September 1865. Soon thereafter, renamed as the San Francisco, the vessel began a second civilian career that lasted until 1879.

The Ironclads and the Keystone State at Charleston

After two years the war returned to the city where it had begun. General Beauregard was now back in South Carolina, in Charleston, where he had drawn a famous “circle of fire” around Fort Sumter, taken the post after a spectacular bombardment, and for a little while Southern spirits were high with much hope and waving of palmetto flags. But it was now a time to be more practical with the Confederacy’s limited resources; Fort Sumter was Beauregard’s to defend, and the war had a new grimness. The Charleston Courier reported on

July 4, 1862, that a painted board was found near a rebel battery with the inscription: “Six miles from Charleston 16th June, 1862. Five minutes to hell.”

The Federals had assembled a whole fleet of ugly and menacing warships to use in destroying the fort, the city, “and to kill secession in the place where secession began,” reported the Northern press. Rear Admiral Samuel F. Du Pont had nine new ironclads, seven monitors, with one listed as a low-hulled ‘experimental ironclad’ differently arranged than the regular monitor class ships. This was the USS Keokuk, mounting two 11-inch guns in fixed citadels bow and stern. It was clear to Beauregard), that the Yankees were “tuning up for an attack on Charleston.” It was September 1862 and he was right; Du Pont was ordered to capture Charleston though no exact date was set. Beauregard began improving defenses that were badly sited, incomplete, and poorly armed. New guns went into forts and batteries, floating mines were planted in ship channels at the harbor entrance, buoys were anchored so that gunners at Forts Sumter and Moultrie would know precise ranges. By the winter of 1862, all was ready as Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont would soon learn.

On Jan. 30, 1863, a Federal gunboat nosing around the Stono River, a dozen miles south of

Watercolor by Erik Heyl, 1949, painted for use in his book Early American Steamers, Volume I. This steamer served as USS Keystone State in 1861–65. After the Civil War she returned to civilian use as SS San Francisco. Courtesy of Erik Heyl. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 63857)

Map of the defenses of Charleston City and harbor from the Official Records Atlas (Library of Congress)

Stono River

“The Rebel Rams engaging our Blockading Fleet off Charleston, South Carolina, January 31, 1863.” Line engraving published in Harper’s Weekly, January-June 1863, page 117, depicting CSS Chicora and CSS Palmetto State attacking USS Mercedita, with USS Keystone State at right (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 59304)

the entrance to Charleston, was fired upon and badly damaged by Confederate batteries and hastily surrendered. The next day two lightly armored dim grayblue Confederate rams slipped out past Fort Sumter in the early dawn taking Federal blockaders by surprise.

The sortie Beauregard ordered sent the CSS Chicora and the CSS Palmetto State out to target Union ships. This mission occurred on the night of January 30-31, and “became one of the most successful conducted by the Confederate Navy. Its repercussions, the only practical effect of the affair, reverberated for months to come.”

The two Confederate warships overpowered the Keystone State and the Mercedita, “forcing their Captains to strike their flags.” One report said it began with the two ironclads moving out of Charleston Harbor in what was a major attempt to break the Union blockade. It was said that thousands of soldiers watched silently shoreside as the two ships, their lights out and their crews at general quarters, slipped over the sandbar at 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 31.

The vessels were not sighted by the blockading warships until they attacked. The Mercedita was first struck by the Palmetto State’s ram which tore a hole into her side while its bow gun fired a shell that exploded in the engine room, bursting a boiler which left her adrift. When the crew, finding themselves alone as other Federal ships scattered, made temporary repairs, the Mercedita simply left the area returning when repairs were completed.

Meanwhile the Chicora attacked the Keystone State, the wooden merchant steamer ship turned ‘gunboat,’ and hit her setting her afire. The Confederate ironclad was basically impervious to the Keystone State’s four smoothbore guns. As the one-sided fight continued, the Confederate shells created havoc aboard the Keystone State, disabling her engines, and causing many casualties. The recorded history of the clash said the captain considered surrender and

and made their tracks.

The main events were the ever-tightening blockade, the fall of New Orleans, and the naval assistance in the campaigns that led to the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson and the opening of the Mississippi. Ships like the

USS Keystone State provided support to Union war operations in the field, through ship-to-shore fire, supply convoys, and landing parties, and while on the water they pursued rebel raiders. The Confederate Navy could never hope to match the Union’s numbers, armament, steam power,

and technological advancements.

Joan Wenner, J.D. has contributed for many years to the Civil War News and The Artilleryman among other history publications and has a law degree. Comments are welcomed at joan_writer@yahoo.com

lowered her flag, but another account said she was able to limp away from the action with about twenty of her crew dead and as many wounded.

With much confusion prevailing, the Keystone State, along with the Mercedita, hoisted their flags again and managed to get away. For a brief time the two rams controlled the sea channel. In short order the blockaders were back on station; the two ironclads, not seaworthy enough to pursue them into offshore waters, returned to Charleston Harbor.

It was a victory, however brief, but a credit to the Union ships’ crews for returning the battered vessels to duty quickly. Nonetheless, Du Pont’s superiors were outraged and ordered him to attack Charleston with all the ironclads he could gather. These orders would become a major factor in the next Confederate attempt to break the blockade.

It seemed to Du Pont that too much reliance was being placed on the monitors by Washington, but he obeyed orders to send all his wooden cruisers, including the Keystone State, to Savannah or the Gulf to open the Mississippi, leaving two monitors at Charleston. The sluggish and cantankerous ironclads would prove Du Pont right. Confederate batteries were waiting for them. Confederate-held Fort Sumter put up a roaring fight and the following day Du Pont, in consultation with his captains, decided that Charleston could not be taken by the navy alone. The monitors might be almost unsinkable but were complicated pieces of machinery. That conclusion would finally cost him his command.

In James McPherson’s 2012 book, War On The Waters, he notes that Lincoln, while praising the Union armies, stated:

Nor must Uncle Sam’s webfleet be forgotten. At all the watery margins they have been present. Not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, and the rapid river, but also up the narrow muddy bayou and wherever the ground was a little damp, they have been,

Reproduction tube was made by Dan McClanahan in Casper, Wy, 2003.

George Washington and the Impending Crisis

This column highlights prints from the Civil War, discusses their meaning, and most importantly, details what the print maker or artist was trying to achieve.

If the United States had a secular saint, it was George Washington. As the country hurtled toward conflict midnineteenth century, voices on both sides counseled against rash action. In doing so, they invoked the image of the father of our country. Both sides eventually felt that not only was God on their side, George Washington was as well. After all, he was a native son of Virginia and the hero of the revolution. Before the war began, Currier and Ives began publishing patriotic prints reminding Americans of our glorious past before, during, and the years after the revolution. The flag and George Washington became abiding symbols of unity, harmony and reason in the increasing hostile atmosphere.1

The tradition of displaying American heroes in print on American walls began immediately after independence. A Russian visitor in 1811 remarked: “Every American considers it his sacred duty to have a likeness of Washington in his home, just as we have images of God’s saints. Washington’s portrait is the finest and sometimes the sole decoration of American homes.”2

By 1860, the meaning of the revolution and the symbol of George Washington became divergent as sectionalism reared its ugly head. Proud Southerners saw their cause as following the spirit of revolution embraced by the father of our country while Northerners saw the birth of the country as a unified entity, blessed by God, and destined for greatness. Both positions became rigid as both sides entrenched.

Northern publishers were quick to recognize the potential of bringing visual impact to their readers and subscribers. Currier and Ives

was no exception. An employee of Currier’s, John Cameron, free lanced with another lithographer, John Walsh. Cameron, according to Currier scholar, Harry Peters, “deserves much of the credit for the N. Currier and Currier & Ives horses, comics and caricatures.” He was a “brilliant lithographer, a hunchback” and an alcoholic. On his own, and with other collaborators, he produced religious, nostalgic, and a portfolio of views of California before the war.3

In 1860, he published with Walsh a print entitled “Spirit of the Union.” If ever there was any doubt that Washington, had been sanctified, the production of prints showing his apotheosis erased it. Apotheosis, from the Greek meaning to “deify,” became a popular motif for Washington and later Lincoln, showing the two heroes united in heaven. In Cameron’s work he shows a military Washington with sword in hand in a heavenly cloud. Above is the Federal capital, in the lower right corner is Mount Vernon, and the left corner, Washington’s tomb.

In the title margin, Cameron quoted lines form a poem by William Ross Wallace, entitled “Union Poem.”

“Lo! On high, the Glorious Shade/ of Washington lights all the gloom/ and points to these words: Americans! Your fathers shed their bloods to rear the Union’s Fame.”

“Americans! O will ye dare/ on mountain, valley, prairie, flood, / by hurling down their Glorious gift/to desecrate that blood?”

It was an obvious play to the better angels of all Americans to resolve their differences peacefully and not through war. It was an appeal to both sides to remember the founding fathers and the sacrifices they made eighty years previously to form a unified country. It was obviously not enough.

Sixteen years later, Currier and Ives re-issued the “Spirit of the Union” under its own company name as the country

There are numerous works on Washington and his symbolism in American material culture. See Margaret Brown Klapthor and Howard A. Morrison, G.

The Other Printmakers to the American People. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1931, 130.

celebrated its Centennial and tenuous “re-union.”

Endnotes:

1. Bryan F. Le Beau. Currier & Ives: America Imagined. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001, 336.

Washington: A Figure Upon the Stage. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982; Patricia A. Anderson, Promoted to Glory: The Apotheosis of George Washington. Northampton: Smith College Museum of Art, 1980; Wendy Wick, George Washington: An American Icon, The Eighteenth-Century Graphic Portraits. Washington: The Smithsonian Institution, 1982; Barbara J. Mitnick, ed., George Washington: American Symbol. New York: Hudson Hills Press, 1999.

2. Harold Holzer, Mark E. Neely, Jr. The Union Image: Popular Prints of the Civil War North, Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2000, 26.

3. Harry Peters. America On Stone:

4. See Noble E. Cunningham, Jr., Popular Images of the Presidency from Washington to Lincoln. Columbia, Mo., University of Missouri Press, 1991.

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 of several articles and books. His most recent books are 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) edited. He is currently editing Till Death do us Part, The Letters of Emory and Emily Upton, 1868–1870 to be published next year by the University of Oklahoma Press.

Titled “Spirit of the Union.”

(Library of Congress)

The “Raphael” Revolver its high price during the war, and the fact that the name we use to refer to the gun comes from the arms seller who provided them to the U.S. government, not its manufacturer or inventor. The correct name for the gun is actually the Model 1860 PidaultCordier Revolver, but these revolvers will be forever known as the “Raphael.”

It is interesting to note that the three most advanced, self-contained metallic cartridge handguns to see use during the American Civil War were French designs. We looked at the most common of these revolvers, the Model 1854 Lefaucheux, a few months ago. At least 10,000 of those revolvers were imported during the course of the war. The second most purchased French cartridge revolver was the Model 1859 Perrin, of which at least 550 were purchased. The revolver acquired in the smallest number and least commonly encountered on the collector’s market is the subject of this month’s article, the socalled “Raphael.”

The Raphael revolver is distinguished among American Civil War used handguns for its rarity,

The gun was a collaboration between Parisian gunmakers Martial Pidault and Charles Cordier. The pair received a French patent for their design on May 28, 1860. Author, researcher, and arms collector Marc Schwalm postulates in his book European Arms in The Civil War, that Cordier (who had helped develop the Thouvenin system for rifled small arms in the French military) was the inventor of the revolver and Pidault was the manufacturer.

According to U.S. Ordnance records, approximately 106 of these French-made, double-action, 6-shot revolvers were purchased for U.S. military use on September 21, 1861. The guns were purchased from the firm of George Raphael & Company; this is where the nickname by which the revolvers are known originates. The guns were rather expensive for the period, with the relatively high contract price of $26.33 per gun. Raphael also delivered 998 Lefaucheux revolvers to the Ordnance Department between Nov. 30, 1861, and March 8, 1862. The price for the Raphael was truly exorbitant, as Colt revolvers were priced between $15 and $25 each and Remington revolvers were being sold to the Ordnance Department for $12 to $15 each. The willingness of the Ordnance Department to purchase a foreign gun, with no track record of reliability that also required special, proprietary ammunition, is an indication of just how desperately the U.S. Ordnance Department

needed revolvers in the field. It also suggests that the Ordnance Department may have actually seen the advantages of a revolver that fired a self-contained metallic cartridge, instead of the standard issue cap and ball revolver. While some in the Ordnance Department may have been interested in experimenting with self-contained metallic revolver cartridges, it would take a presidential intervention to get them to change their minds about using metallic cartridge repeating long arms!

The military sized Raphael revolver fired an early center fire cartridge that was 11 mm (or roughly .42 caliber). A pocket model was produced in 8 mm as well, but that gun has no documentable Civil War association. The back plates of the revolvers had six holes, through which the firing pin on the hammer could contact the primer in the cartridge. There was one additional “blind hole,” between two firing pin holes, that allowed the firing pin to rest in it, as a primitive form of safety. To take the revolver “off safe,” you merely needed to pull the trigger.

The gun was loaded through a gate on the right hand side of the frame. This gate was actually part of the revolving back plate at the rear of the cylinder. This back plate normally revolved with the cylinder, but when the loading gate was opened, the back plate was unlocked from the cylinder. To open the gate, the firing pin was placed in the “blind hole” on the back plate. Once the gate was

open, the cylinder rotated freely to load cartridges or remove spent rounds. In order to eject the spent cases, the user simply unscrewed the lanyard ring from the butt of the gun and used the rod projecting from it to push empty cases out of the chambers. Once the cylinder was rotated completely, the loading gate could be closed to lock the back plate and the cylinder to each other again.

The lock work of the gun was what we would call “conventional double action” today. The user could fire the gun by a long, deliberate pull on the heavy double-action trigger, or manually cock the hammer and have a lighter single-action pull for more accurate shooting. The revolver had some other uncommon features for the period. The cylinder arbor pin entered through the front of the frame in a conventional manner but was retained by a transverse screw at the rear of the frame, forward of the hammer. Removing this screw not only allowed the arbor pin to be withdrawn (freeing the cylinder from the revolver), it also allowed removal of a small side plate on the left side of the revolver. This sideplate concealed the hand and hand spring for the revolver, which were now easily accessible for repairs or maintenance.

The 11 mm guns were nominally 10.75 inches in overall length with a nominal 5.75 inch round barrel with a small octagonal section forward of the cylinder. The barrels varied slightly in length, typically within about +/.125 inch. The barrels were rifled

Tim Prince College Hill Arsenal PO Box 178204 Nashville, TN 37217

Rear of the Raphael revolver cylinder with the hammer nose in the blind “safety” hole. Inset shows the loading gate open, and the cylinder freed to rotate separately from the back plate.

with eight narrow grooves. Sights included a simple notched rear sight mounted on top of the octagonal barrel flat, forward of the cylinder and a dovetailed front sight blade with a pyramidal base and sort of English style “peppercorn” bead on top. The guns were usually blued with the hammer and rear cylinder plate color case hardened.

The guns were typically unmarked, except for a serial and

series of assembly numbers, although some sources claim that examples have been noted bearing the markings “Raphael Paris,” a marking that I have never seen either in person or in a photo. If the guns were to be marked at all, it would make more sense for them to bear the marks of Pidault or Cordier, the manufacturer or inventor, not the importer. The serial number was typically located on the left side

of the frame forward of the cylinder. Assembly numbers were usually located on the front face of the cylinder, on the arbor pin, on the face of the frame, and inside the grips, although they have been found in other locations as well. The guns had two-piece walnut grips that were typically smooth and lightly varnished.

Some estimates place Civil War purchases of Raphael revolvers as high as 1,000 but

this seems unlikely, as most of Raphael’s additional deliveries were at $16 each, and although many do not mention the type of revolver, at least one revolver delivery at that price is recorded as being Lefaucheux pattern pistols. According Fredrick Todd’s seminal work American Military Equipage 1851–1872, these revolvers were imported by the Confederacy as well as the U.S. government; however, Todd rightly points out that the unique cartridge required for the revolver makes any C.S. purchases a questionable decision. Additionally, Todd provides no documentation or evidence to support his assertion. Until such evidence surfaces, it seems unlikely that any were imported by the Confederacy and any Raphael revolvers that might have southern provenance were likely privately purchased prior to, or captured during the earliest days, of the war.

The Raphael revolver pictured in the accompanying photos is serial number 188 and has the assembly number 75 found on all the numbered parts. It retains much of its original blued finish, with faded case color present on the hammer, recoil shield, and cylinder back plate. The revolver retains its original grips and

the original combination lanyard ring/ejector rod, that is often missing. Based upon extant examples, Raphael revolvers with potential Civil War association appear to be numbered in the high two-digit range through the 3XX serial number range. Due to the relatively small numbers acquired, the Raphael remains a rather scarce handgun on the collector market today. For the collector who wants to display the three most advanced handguns of the American Civil War, they need only to find the three French cartridge pistols that foreshadowed the future of firearms: the Lefaucheux, the Perrin, and the Pidault-Cordier, aka the “Raphael.”

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.

Publishers:

Please send your book(s) for review to:

CWN Book Review Editor, Stephen Davis 3670 Falling Leaf Lane, Cumming GA 30041-2087

Obverse of Pidault-Cordier Model 1860 “Raphael” Revolver #188.

Reverse of Pidault-Cordier Model 1860 “Raphael” Revolver #188, with serial number from the frame web, forward of the cylinder, shown in the inset.

Raphael Revolver with the combination lanyard ring/ejector rod removed and inserted in a cylinder chamber to remove a cartridge.

Close up of the muzzle of the Raphael revolver, showing the narrow, 8-groove rifling and the front sight.

Lincoln Forum Announces Roster For 2019 Symposium: “The

Presidential Historian Michael Beschloss to Deliver November 18 Keynote GETTYSBURG, Penn.—

Some of the most popular and respected Civil War Era historians will appear at the 24th annual Lincoln Forum Symposium when it re-convenes at the Wyndham Hotel Gettysburg from Saturday, November 16 through Monday, November 18.

The Forum announced that its 2019 keynote speaker will be award-winning author Michael Beschloss, best-selling author of 10 books, and a regular commentator on NBC, MSNBC, and PBS. Newsweek has called Beschloss “the nation’s leading Presidential historian,” while the Charlotte Observer has said he “knows more about” America’s presidents “than perhaps anyone on earth.” The New York Times Book Review noted that he is “easily the most widely recognized Presidential historian in the United States.” In 2005, Beschloss won an Emmy for his role in creating the Discovery Channel series, Decisions that Shook the World, which he also hosted. His most recent book is the critically acclaimed New York Times best-seller, Presidents of War: The Epic Story, from 1807 to Modern Times (2018).

Commented Forum Chairman Harold Holzer: “We are proud to be offering another extraordinary roster of acclaimed speakers and

programs as we mark not only the 24th anniversary of the Lincoln Forum but also the 210th birthday of Abraham Lincoln. What all our lecturers and panelists demonstrate, in their scholarship and their mesmerizing personal appearances, is that Lincoln and the Civil War story, familiar as they seem, continue to inspire fresh analysis, interpretation, and discussion. It is a special pleasure to be welcoming my friend Michael Beschloss, and to be welcoming back Professor Jonathan White in his new role as Vice Chairman of the Lincoln Forum. We look forward to welcoming all of our new and returning star historians, as well as our Forum family of students, scholars, and enthusiasts.”

To open the Forum on November 16, Gary W. Gallagher and Joan Waugh will return to address the perennial question: “What Caused the Civil War?”

Dr. Gallagher taught for more than 20 years at the University of Virginia, where he was the John L. Nau III Professor in the History of the American Civil War and the Director of the Nau Civil War Center. He is the author or editor of nearly 30 books, including The Confederate War (1997) and The Union War (2011). Waugh is a professor of history at UCLA and the author or editor of numerous books and articles, including her prize-winning U.S. Grant: American Hero, American Myth (2009), The Memory of the Civil War in American Culture (2004), and most recently, The American

Lincoln At 210”

War: A History of the Civil War Era (2015), which she coauthored with Gallagher.

On the morning of November 17, three leading historians will discuss Lincoln’s relationship with Union soldiers. Peter S. Carmichael, the Robert C. Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies and Director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, will explore the experiences of ordinary soldiers based on his new book, The War for the Common Soldier: How Men Thought, Fought, and Survived in Civil War Armies (2018).

Elizabeth R. Varon, the Langbourne M. Williams Professor of American History at the University of Virginia, will discuss how northerners were drawn to Lincoln’s Unionist message, based on her widely praised new book, Armies of Deliverance: A New History of the Civil War (2019). And Brian R. Dirck, professor of history at Anderson University, will explore Lincoln’s lifelong relationship with death, from the loss of his mother in 1818 to the terrible carnage of the Civil War, based on his latest book, The Black Heavens: Abraham Lincoln and Death (2019).

Other speakers that day will include Forum Executive Committee member Edna Greene Medford of Howard University, who will focus on Lincoln, race, and freedom, and Lincoln biographer and former White House aide Sidney Blumenthal, who will discuss the latest installment in his multi-volume biography, The Political Life of Abraham, Lincoln.

On November 18, maritime historian Anna Gibson Holloway and the new Lincoln Forum Vice Chair Jonathan W. White will each discuss their recent co-authored book, “Our Little Monitor”: The Greatest Invention of the Civil War (2018). White will explain Lincoln’s connections to that famous ironclad vessel, including his 1862 visits to see her, while Holloway will offer a colorful and engaging portrayal of the Monitor’s image in American popular culture from the 1862 Battle of Hampton Roads to the present.

One not-to-be-missed panel session on November 17 will explore the controversial Confederate monument issue, featuring Gallagher, Medford, and Varon, with Holzer (who addressed the topic as the Gettysburg National Cemetery Remembrance Day

speaker in 2017) as moderator. On November 18, Matthew Pinsker, the Pohanka Chair in American Civil War History at Dickinson College, and William A. Blair, Penn State’s Helen P. Ferree Professor of Middle American History and director of the Richards Civil War Era Center, will join White and Forum Chairman Emeritus Frank J. Williams to discuss the elections of 1860 and 1864—focusing on who voted, who didn’t, and who couldn’t. Peerless Lincoln enactor George Buss will present two different readings from the 16th president’s storied writings, including, as always, the Gettysburg Address.

The small-group breakout sessions on November 18 will include the perennial Forum favorite, “Cooking with the Chief (Frank Williams) and the Chef (the Wyndham’s Andrew Ernst),” as well as a battlefield tour concentrating on Pickett’s Charge.

Other breakout sessions will offer one-on-one discussions on the Civil War Navy (featuring Lincoln Prize-winning naval historian Craig L. Symonds and Anna Holloway), Lincoln and the Constitution (White and Dirck), Bibliophile Daniel R. Weinberg (“Artifact Stories: What’s New in Lincolniana,” plus a session on Lincoln sculpture (featuring the unveiling of a long-lost Lincoln bronze mask by the proprietors of a leading North Carolina art gallery).

Keeping with tradition, The Forum will present its annual lifetime achievement citation—the coveted Richard Nelson Current Award—as well as it’s Wendy Allen Award for institutional excellence. This year, the Forum is also inaugurating a $1,000 prize for the finest Lincoln book of the year. As always, The Forum offers enrollees two breakfasts, two lunches, and three banquet dinners.

For more information on Forum XXIV, consult the organization’s website: www. thelincolnforum.org.

Leader. The War. The Legacy:

Brian Dirck

Gary Gallagher

Edna Greene Medford

Elizabeth Varon

Michael Beschloss (l) and Harold Holzer (r).

Joan Waugh

Sidney Blumenthal

Center for the Study of the Civil War Era

The chocolate chips have become a tradition. As the bus rolled homeward, south on Interstate 75 from the northwest Georgia battleground, we ate homemade cookies as Professor Brian Wills distributed some logo coffee mugs and picked the winning tickets for several other giveaways. Soon we pulled into the parking lot at Kennesaw State University, wrapping up the field trip Wills had labeled “Bragg Tries Again.”

This outing was sponsored by KSU’s Center for the Study of the Civil War Era, a facility formed in 2005 and headed by Wills since 2010. Under the tutelage of Jim Ogden, the chief historian at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, we learned a great deal about the movements of two armies just south of the Tennessee line in September 1863. The maneuverings were efforts by Confederate General Bragg to bring superior force to bear on isolated elements of General Rosecrans’s Federal army. These efforts failed, of course, so history has recorded the sanguinary Battle of Chickamauga, a Confederate victory to be sure, but not the battle Bragg wanted to fight.

This November 2018 field trip was typical of the Civil War Center’s programs, providing indepth analysis of the marching and countermarching; of orders understood and misunderstood, followed and not followed; and of the terrain on which the armies fought and over which their supplies were laboriously hauled. The script also included sidebars of great human interest, such as the story of Deborah Thedford, a local woman who tended the wounded and found among the suffering soldiers her own two sons.

And on the trip home we enjoyed the cookies baked by Deborah Lindsay, a member of the Center’s Advisory Board.

The Center’s physical plant is two rooms in KSU’s Social Sciences Building; the staff consists of Prof. Wills and his assistant Sarah Rudick. With these modest resources the Center offers a wide variety of programs which, according to its mission statement, “enable scholars, students, and enthusiasts to study the causes, nature and outcomes of the conflict, as well as the role that Georgia and the South played in this nation’s greatest calamity.”

Battlefield tours and other field trips are a particular favorite for what we nowadays call “the Civil

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War community.” Past events have included visits to Shiloh, Vicksburg, and a Virginia trip called “Siege to Surrender,” a trek from Petersburg to Appomattox. Many attractions are closer to home; they’re in Georgia: visits have been to Andersonville, Dalton (where the Atlanta Campaign began), Gainesville (Longstreet’s post-war home), and the Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus.

Upcoming events include a May trip back to northwest Georgia to study the first day of the Battle of Chickamauga and the Fourth Annual Vince Dooley Leadership Seminar, an all-day program scheduled for June.

Another offering is the symposium held yearly since 2005.

The 16th Annual Symposium, on March 23, focused on railroads in the Civil War. Speakers included Gordon Jones, the Senior Military Historian at the Atlanta History Center, historian and

himself. In 2020 the symposium’s theme will be on the navies. Past symposia have centered on a wide variety of topics: the home front; General Longstreet; medicine; diplomacy; and the leadership of Lincoln and Davis. One symposium, “After the Scourge

of War,” explored the ways various societies dealt with ruinous defeat. There is no shortage of ideas, and never will be.

From time to time the Center has conducted staff rides at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. Analysis of a Civil War battle can teach

author Thomas Parson, and Wills

Professor Brian Wills

Artifacts in the Civil War Center Collection.

Grave of Deborah Thedford.

Grave of William Thedford, Mortally Wounded at Chickamauga.

Taxes paid with 123 pounds of bacon.

many important lessons that are relevant to leadership teams in all organizations. Wills says that the staff rides, combined with classroom instruction and discussions, “create a unique leadership experience to talk about strategies and things that you can learn from this time period and what these folks did, what you can learn about your own battleground, your own warfare, when you are promoting your business and products.”

The staff rides program was the brainchild of Dean Robin Dorff. “Commanders’ intent was always one of his favorite things,” Wills says. “And the Civil War

can begin. Wills also talked about the Center’s small but diverse artifact collection. “When they’ve come to see this saber, this bugle, it resonates. There is no way you can put a value on that and no way to know how it will play out.” Or when. “It may not be until you are in your 50s.” But the seed is planted. The Collector’s Showcase, scheduled for July, offers a similar opportunity for students and others to see the artifacts up close, hold them, and talk with the collectors.

Wills gives an example of an artifact in the collection—a receipt for a tax paid in kind, in this case 123 pounds of bacon—that catches students’ imagination and demonstrates how the past was another world, and a very interesting world. “It’s a great teaching tool,” he says. “How do you get the resources you need to wage war if you are the Confederate government? I guarantee they didn’t learn that in high school, or see it on the History Channel.”

The Center’s website (https:// chss.kennesaw.edu/cwc/index. php) has several resources of interest to the community outside the University. There are lesson plans for teachers; a Civil War timeline; a bibliography; a list of Civil War terms; and a pronunciation guide.

The last item is useful and also fun. You think you know how to pronounce “Taliaferro,” “Huger,” “Sabine,” “Mackall” and “Meagher”? Don’t be so sure.

Most readers of CWN don’t need an explanation of what

makes the Civil War so fascinating, but for the poor souls who do, Wills says this:

“When people say they are not interested in the Civil War, I say ‘What are you interested in?’ And they will name something. And I say ‘The Civil War has that. It has politics; it has society; it has the home front; it has church, music, literature. There is not anything that you could be interested in that is not there in the Civil War.”

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.

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provides many examples of what can happen in positive ways— and otherwise.”

While Wills would like to see more student involvement, he is realistic about the priorities of youth. He asks “When you were 18, what did you do?” (Had I thought the question was aimed me specifically, I would have refused to answer, but he was posing the question in general to our adult world.) “We are planting seeds,” Wills says. One method of cultivation is the Center’s art and essay contest. When a student “draws a picture about something, or writes an essay on a particular topic,” the germination

Gordon Jones at the 16th Annual Symposium.

The Confederate Roll of Honor: Not quite a medal or a badge, but…

Publisher’s note: Last month Steve Davis reported on a Confederate Medal of Honor recently bestowed upon Col. Hume R. Feild of Tennessee. The Medal was created by the Sons of Confederate Veterans in 1968. To offer historical background, Dr. Davis has contributed this piece.

If you mention “Medal of Honor” to Civil War enthusiasts, they will immediately think of the “Congressional” Medal of Honor created during the war by the U.S. government to honor Union soldiers for conspicuous bravery. The United States Medal of Honor, a five-pointed bronze star suspended by a ribbon of red and white, was first bestowed upon Pvt. Jacob Parrott of the 33rd Ohio Infantry in March 1863 for his role in the Andrews railroad raid of April 1862.1

But did the Confederate government during the Civil War have a medal of honor for its courageous soldiers? No, it didn’t, but this was not because the administration of Jefferson Davis did not at least try to create one. In the end, unable to manufacture actual medals or badges of honor, the Confederate War Department created and publicized in the last half of the war a “Confederate Roll of Honor.” Its story is less familiar than that of its Northern counterpart.

The idea for some kind of award for Southern soldiers’ distinguished bravery came from a Confederate congressman, Rep. Charles Conrad of Louisiana in the spring of 1862.2 On April 10, as telegraphic reports of Beauregard’s “complete victory” at Shiloh reached the capital at Richmond, Conrad introduced into the House a resolution under the title of “Badges of Merit,” authorizing the president “to bestow on the officers and soldiers of the army, and officers and soldiers [sic] of the navy, as a reward of gallantry, some badge or token of military distinction.” The measure readily passed.3

Word spread of the congressional resolution, to the point that an ex-Confederate infantryman (recently discharged from service), one Francis La Barre, submitted to the War Department designs for “medals of honor.” (Michael Musick of the National Archives has counted fifteen medal designs eventually received by the Confederate War Department.) Secretary of War George W. Randolph thanked La Barre, but speculated that the shortage of bronze in the Southern States would impede actual production of any such medal. Still,

Randolph liked the idea of emblems for heroes. As he wrote the president in mid-August 1862,

“I think that medals conferred as reward for good conduct in the field cultivate the spirit which distinguishes the patriot soldier from the mercenary.” Within a week or two, further bills calling for “medals as a reward for courage and good conduct on the field of battle” were introduced in both houses of the Confederate Congress. After making its slow way through committee, a bill “to grant medals and badges for distinguished services on the battlefield” passed the House and Senate on October 13, 1862. President Davis signed it that very day.4

Five weeks later Adjutant and Inspector General of the Confederate Army Samuel Cooper issued from his office in Richmond a general order containing the text of the law. It had several provisions. Officers who were “conspicuous for courage and good conduct on the field of battle” could be recommended by superiors and could be awarded “medals, with proper devices.”

But the heart of the measure addressed those of lesser rank. After a “signal victory,” each participating company could vote for one private or non-commissioned officer “best entitled to receive such distinction.” Company officers would communicate the honorees’ names through channels to the president, who would see that “a badge of distinction” be given to the designated soldier (or to his widow).

Word of the Confederate “badge of distinction” spread quickly through the Southern forces. The Army of Tennessee was quite eager to submit honorees. After the battle of Murfreesboro, even though it did not quite qualify for the South as a “signal victory,” companies in 44 infantry and cavalry regiments from ten states voted and submitted names of comrades to be honored (although some units declined to participate). All told, an impressive 502 soldiers’ names were submitted for courage displayed in the Tennessee battle of December 1862-January ‘63.5

Fredericksburg much more certainly qualified as a “signal victory,” but there is evidence that afterward General Lee did not promote the idea of his men voting for heroic comrades, and the eventual Roll lists no names from Fredericksburg. Indeed, Lee seems to have opposed the entire award process. When one of his officers a month after the battle proposed that a “battalion of

honor” be formed in the Army of Northern Virginia, Lee batted the idea down. “The fact is, general,” he wrote Brig. Gen. Joseph B. Kershaw, “we have now an army of brave men.” Lee explained his belief that “the formation of a battalion of honor would reward a few and leave many, equally brave and equally faithful, unnoticed,” and might even create ill feeling among the troops. Even though Congress had passed a law creating the medal of honor and General Cooper had publicized it, Lee issued no general order for his troops to participate in the process of submitting comrades’ name to the War Department.6

of Honor” to be bestowed. General Lee himself complained about this in a letter to Secretary of War Seddon on August 17, 1863. He had dutifully complied with the law and had sent in the names of his soldiers so selected, “but nothing has yet been heard from them.” “I know there will be some difficulty about procuring the necessary badges,” he acknowledged, but some of his men had begun to feel neglected. He offered a temporary expedient: “might not their names be published at once, and the badges sent as soon as they can be procured?”8

Lee’s idea made sense. A few months earlier Rep. Joseph B. Heiskell of Tennessee, aware that procurement or production of badges or medals was stalled, offered a resolution suggesting that at least “certificates of title” be given to the honorees, which they could present to the authorities when the badges had finally been made. At least the soldiers would have something, Heiskell reasoned. But even this resolution went nowhere. As late as May 1864, Representative Heiskell was introducing motions into the House asking the body’s Military Committee to report on any progress in the making of medals. He offered to submit more bills if necessary. None was needed; the

process had reached a standstill.9 The secretary of war was in a bind. After Lee asked him in August ’63 where the badges were, Seddon requested Maj. William S. Barton to look into the matter. Barton turned immediately to a Richmond stamp engraver, one Julius Baumgarten. Baumgarten had already done some government work and had offered his services to help produce the soldiers’ medals. Barton assured him that the job was his and on September 1 Seddon authorized travel funds for Baumgarten to go to Europe, plus 2,000 English pounds to buy the stock and presses that he would need to manufacture the hopedfor “Medals of Honor and Badges of Distinction.”

Baumgarten traveled from Richmond to Wilmington, boarded a blockade runner to Bermuda and from there made his way across the ocean to Liverpool. In apparently some apprantely shady doings, Baumgarten ran through his money without buying the medal-making materials, and his mission was revoked by Secretary Seddon. The whole failed operation came to the attention of the Richmond Whig, which in early May 1864 indirectly accused Baumgarten of embezzlement and blamed the War Department for entrusting

Lee had a point. How were companies to choose only one soldier among themselves, when all did their courageous duty on the battlefield? A few weeks after Chancellorsville, when Lee’s troops were abiding by General Cooper’s order and were voting for their honorees, Company F, 12th Alabama, hit a snag: the men cast twelve votes each for two comrades. They resolved the tie with a drawing of lots. By this serendipity was Pvt. P. S. Chapell was chosen to be awarded the “Badge of Honor.” The process worked better in other units; participating companies and regiments sent almost 300 names from Chancellorsville to General Lee for forwarding to the government.

Still, not every soldier liked the program. After Chancellorsville, the 3rd Alabama chose five honorees, but half of the regiment declined to participate in the voting. As Brig. Gen. Cullen Battle later wrote, “where every man did his duty there should be no discrimination.” The Third Alabama never submitted another name.7

The main problem, though, was that there were still no “Badges

James A. Seddon, Secretary of War. (NARA - 530492)

Gen. Joseph B. Kershaw

such an important operation to an “Israelitish engraver.” The paper could only hope that the government “will bestir itself to carry into effect the act of Congress” and provide some manner of recognition to the deserving soldiers who had been “choused out of their well-won order of valor.”10

At least by then the War Department had begun publicizing lists of soldiers who had been voted to receive the non-existent medals and badges. On October 3, 1863, Adjutant General Cooper issued general orders which frankly admitted the “difficulties in procuring the medals and badges of distinction.” Until the government could provide the kinds of emblems called for by Congress, Cooper ordered that the names of the soldiers voted to receive them should be “inscribed on a Roll of Honor, to be preserved in the office of the Adjutant and Inspector General.”

Cooper instructed that the Roll, “so far as now made up,” was to be distributed to Confederate forces “and read at the head of every regiment in the service of the Confederate States at the first dress parade, after its receipt, and be published in at least one newspaper in each State.” That Roll of Honor, “as now made up,” consisted of those soldiers voted for heroism in the battles of Murfreesboro, Chancellorsville,

from earlier fights in the war. In the list of August 1864 are seven soldiers who distinguished themselves at Fraser’s Farm during the Seven Days. In some cases superior officers vouched for enlisted men. Gen. Johnson Hagood recommended his orderly, Pvt. J.D. Stoney of the 27th South Carolina, for service near Petersburg. Gen. Roswell Ripley, commanding at Charleston, submitted the name of Pvt. Edward H. Martin and four other soldiers who in July 1863 served as flag signalmen standing atop the parapet of Battery Gregg while enemy shells exploded all around; “the station has suffered the enemy’s fire and is full of holes,” wrote an officer.

in the engagements of the Army of Northern Virginia; that’s about 37% of the total number of names on the Roll. In contrast, 59% of the names are from battles of the Army of Tennessee, in which theater “signal victories” for the South were very few and far between.

5. John C. Stiles, “The Roll of Honor C.S.A.,” Confederate Veteran, vol. 30, no. 4 (April 1922), 138 (501 names from Murfreesboro); Clemmer, Valor in Gray, 447-474 passim. (listing 502 names).

6. Lee to Kershaw, Jan. 31, 1863, OR, vol. 25, pt. 2, 600-601.

and even Gettysburg (for which at the time had come only ten names, reminding everyone that the battle had not been a “signal victory”). The execution of Cooper’s order must have led to some very long dress parades, as fully 802 names would have been read aloud to the regiments standing at attention.11

As it turned out, the War Department published the Confederate Roll of Honor just three times during the war: Oct.

3, 1863 (with those 802 names), Aug. 10, 1864, and Dec. 10, 1864.

John C. Stiles, a Southern veteran, became an early historian of the Confederate Roll of Honor, and meticulously went through the three published lists. After subtracting duplicate names, he concluded that 2,017 men had been placed on the Adjutant General’s list. Chickamauga was first among battles, with 703 names; then came Murfreesboro, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg.

Stiles counted 329 honorees killed in battle. Most of the soldiers on the Roll had been elected by their respective companies as prescribed by law; the 2nd Mississippi topped the list with sixty-seven soldiers; the 8th Alabama was second.

Moreover, it was evident that some regiments went back through their past battles to come up with names of comrades

Men in the lower ranks were clearly favored: 1,233 privates, 204 corporals, and 370 sergeants were listed, as opposed to a mere ten colonels. Every state in the Confederacy was represented, from Alabama (352 names) down to Texas with 50. From Virginia regiments came 103 honorees. “As it was said that no one ever saw a dead man with spurs on,” Stiles noted, “the cavalry did well to come second.” But it was a distant second: after 1,894 infantrymen were only 69 cavalrymen on the Roll. Color-bearers are often cited for their courage, and twenty-six of these were chosen for honors. Stiles noted mounted riflemen, sharpshooters, even a sutler on the lists. In fact, “every branch of the service is represented,” he quipped, “except chaplains, who were superfluous, as the Confederate soldier was good enough without him.” Also without mention on the Roll were paymasters, surgeons and officers in the commissary department (“which had nothing to issue”).12 Colonel Stiles, of course, is not the only Southerner to have gone through the Confederate Roll of Honor. But because the three Confederate War Department lists were not assembled for printing in the Official Records, differences abound among the various versions in print. The United Daughters of the Confederacy published 2,053 names in several issues of its monthly magazine back in 1966. A more recent and authoritative listing appears in Gregg S. Clemmer’s Valor in Gray (1996), in which I have counted 2,047 soldiers’ names.

Mere numbers, though, miss the point. Second Manassas can be considered Robert E. Lee’s most complete victory, yet it yielded only thirteen soldiers named for bravery, a third of the number of Missourians voted for heroism in Arkansas during the spring of 1864. By my count, 739 honorees were voted for heroism

The Confederate Roll of Honor is thus not only out of balance, it is incomplete. A week after the battle of Franklin, Gen. John B. Hood issued a field order asking for “the names of officers and soldiers who passed over the enemy’s interior line of works at Franklin,” so he could send them to the War Department in Richmond and there be added to the army’s Roll of Honor. There is no evidence that he received any such nominees for the Roll, although tales of Confederate courage on November 30, 1864, are legendary.13 * * *

Back in the spring of 1864, Chaplain Charles T. Quintard saw to the building in Atlanta of a little chapel dignified by the name of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Lumber and nails were donated, and Southern soldiers helped in the work. There arose a frame structure looking more like a schoolhouse than a cathedral. Chaplain Quintard accordingly termed the building “somewhat ‘Confederate’ in style.”14 My point is that after the U.S. government had created and begun dispensing its famous Medals of Honor to its Union heroes, the C.S. government could only issue newspaper rosters—“Confederate in style”—instead of similar medals.

Nevertheless, the goal of the South’s Roll of Honor was the same as the North’s: to reward soldiers “for courage and good conduct on the field of battle.”

Notes

1. Russell S. Bonds, Stealing the General (Westholme, PA, 2007), 309, 320.

2. Gregg S. Clemmer, Valor in Gray: The Recipients of the Confederate Medal of Honor (Staunton, VA, 1996), xiii-xiv.

3. J. Cutler Andrews, The South Reports the Civil War (Princeton, 1970), 143; “Proceedings of the First Congress,” Southern Historical Society Papers, vol. 45 (May 1925), 112-13.

4. Clemmer, Valor in Gray, xiv-xv; Michael P. Musick, “The Mystery of the Missing Confederate Medals of Honor,” Military Collector & Historian, vol. 23, no. 3 (Fall 1971), 75; “Proceedings,” SHSP, vol. 45, 212 (Rep. William Porcher Miles’ bill); SHSP, vol. 46, 1-2 (Sen. William E. Simms’ bill); SHSP, vol. 47, 108, 111 (passage).

7. “War Diary of Capt. Robert Emory Park,” SHSP, vol. 26 (1898), 10; Clemmer, Valor in Gray, xv; “Confederate Roll of Honor at Chancellorsville,” OR, vol. 25, pt. 1, 1052-55; Brandon H. Beck, ed., Third Alabama! The Civil War Memoir of Brigadier General Cullen Andrews Battle, C S A (Tuscaloosa, AL. 2002), 75.

8. Lee to Seddon, Aug. 17, 1863, OR, vol. 25, pt. 1, 1051-52.

9. Clemmer, Valor in Gray, xvi; “Provisions of the Second Confederate Congress,” SHSP, vol. 51, 95-96.

10. Clemmer, Valor in Gray, xvi-xix; Seddon endorsement, OR, vol. 25, pt. 2, 1052; “Seals, Stamps and Currency for the Confederate States Made by Julius B. Baumgarten,” SHSP, vol. 33 (1905), 188-90.

11. Gen. Orders No. 131, Richmond, Oct. 3, 1863, and “Battle of Murfreesborough,” OR, vol. 20, pt. 1, 972-79.

12. John C. Stiles, “The Roll of Honor, C.S.A.,” Confederate Veteran, vol. 30, no. 4 (April 1922), 138; Stiles, “The Victoria Cross of the Confederacy,” Confederate Veteran, vol. 23, no. 7 (July 1915), 304; Gordon L. Jones, Confederate Odyssey: The George W. Wray Jr. Civil War Collection at the Atlanta History Center (Athens, GA, 2014), 399 (on Martin).

13. Nell Stephens Murfree, “Confederate Roll of Honor,” United Daughters of the Confederacy Magazine, vol. 29, no. 8 (August 1966), 6-7, 44; vol. 29, no. 9 (September 1966), 103942; vol. 29, no. 10 (October 1966), 13, 33-47 passim.; vol. 29, no. 11 (November 1966), 9, 41-65 passim.; Hood’s Gen. Field Orders No. 39, Dec. 6, 1864, OR, vol. 45, pt. 2, 654.

14. Stephen Davis, What the Yankees Did to Us: Sherman’s Bombardment and Wrecking of Atlanta (Macon, GA, 2012), 74.

Stephen Davis is contributor of the regular “Critic’s Corner” column in Civil War News. Medals hold value for Steve. He still has the silk-and-metal pendant he won as an eleventh-grader at Atlanta’s Northside High School for his essay submitted in the competition sponsored by the Atlanta Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy. The competition topic was Matthew Fontaine Maury. Steve remembers driving to the Emory University library for sources, and that a student had to show him how to turn on his carrel light.

Maj. William S. Barton. (Library of Congress)

Central Virginia Battlefields Trust 2019 Annual Conference

By Tom Van Winkle

The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust held their 22nd Annual Conference April 5th through 7th in Fredericksburg,Va. The three day event packed with battlefield bus tours, evening Presidents get-together, dinner banquet, key note speakers, and morning breakfast event with tour was completely sold out.

The conference theme was the Opening of the Overland Campaigns, 155th anniversary. CVBT created a two day, four bus event that toured both the Wilderness Battlefield and Spotsylvania Court House simultaneously. Friday was a muddy slog over the battlefields but all CVBT guests were their usual resilient selves.

American Battlefield Trust Education Manager, and former historian at the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park, Kris White, handled the Friday and Saturday tours of the Wilderness. Kris offered accounts of the fighting as well as interesting stories of the commanders involved. One interesting stop was at the burial site of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s amputated arm. Although this was related to the Chancellorsville Campaign the year before, it lies within a Union encampment site from the Wilderness fighting.

The Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield tours were handled by Overland Campaign historian and author Gordon C. Rhea. Gordon took the groups on a journey through the battlefield and painted a picture of the armies slugging it out in well-known and lesser known areas. Gordon did a masterful job of describing the actions at both the Mule Shoe and the famous Bloody Angle.

Both tours were treated to hearty box lunches at two area wineries, and yes, wine was available to the delight of all.

The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust annual dinner banquet and meeting was held at the Hospitality House and Conference Center in Fredericksburg. Complete with a silent auction of prints, books,

and many other desirable items, the room was set up with dual presentation screens and live period music provided by new CVBT friend Brent Feito on fiddle and banjo, of course not at the same time.

The CVBT bestowed two important awards Saturday evening. One was the Dr. Michael P. Stevens Preservation Award; the other the Ralph Happel Award.

The Dr. Michael P. Stevens Award was developed by the CVBT Board of Directors to recognize past President Dr. Mike Stevens’ years of service to the organization and preservation. We award this to an individual or group, that continually contributes to Civil War preservation and or education in Virginia. This year the CVBT was pleased to honor today’s 47th Virginia Inf., Co. I, “The Stafford Guard,” living history organization. The 47th Va. has been active in historical interpretation and preservation since 1981. This organization has always taken pride in illustrating the life of Civil War soldiers, through both Living Histories and Battle Reenactments. They were successful in collecting over $40,000 to preserve two original 47th battle flags. The 47th has been organizing local reenactments in Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania for over 10 years, culminating in the 150th Fredericksburg reenactment which raised $8,000 for the Stafford Civil War Park and the CVBT. Captain Bill Russell and his wife Jill accepted the award for the unit.

The second honor was the Ralph Happel Award. In 2003, the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust received a $150,000 bequest from the estate of the late Ralph A. Happel. A local son of the region, Mr. Happel had a very distinguished 36-year career as the first historian of the Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park. Recognizing the unique battlefields and historic resources in the Fredericksburg area, Mr. Happel directed that a portion of his estate be used to support CVBT’s ongoing preservation

efforts. To honor the lifelong work of this dedicated historian, the CVBT’s Board of Directors established the Ralph A. Happel Preservation Award, to be bestowed on individuals who have made extraordinary lifelong contributions to battlefield preservation in the central Virginia region. In the 23 year history of the CVBT only eight prior Happel Awards have been given.

The CVBT was proud to honor Dr. Michael P. Stevens with the Trust’s 9th Ralph A. Happel Preservation Award. Doctor Stevens (affectionately known to most of us as “Dr. Mike”) was one of the seven founding directors of the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust. Mike served as CVBT’s first treasurer from 1996 to 2000. In 2003, Dr. Mike was elected as the president of CVBT. Dr. Mike subsequently served as the secretary of the Board. Then, in 2011, he was resoundingly elected president of the Board for a second time. Dr. Mike served in that position until he resigned for personal reasons in April 2016. During his time on the CVBT Board, Mike was unequaled in providing an extremely passionate voice about the need to preserve battlefields to honor the men in both blue and gray who fought and fell on those fields, and to preserve their stories. Many people have been involved with the CVBT and its preservation work over the years, but Dr. Mike has truly served as the “face” of the organization and as a compelling voice for the importance of preservation. His words have truly resonated with many individuals and groups around the world. Jim Lighthizer, president of the American Battlefield Trust offered a letter read at the proceedings that stated, “If every battlefield community were blessed with a champion like

Mike, our battlefields and our country would be better for it.”

After the awards CVBT’s keynote speaker, Manassas Battlefield Park superintendent Brandon Bies, mesmerized the audience with a program on “Battlefield Archeology.” Brandon holds multiple degrees with a master’s in applied Anthropology and American History. He also served as an archaeologist at Monocacy battlefield.

Brandon’s presentation reviewed the tools used to determine just what is under our battlefields and why the finds are so significant to understanding the history of those battles and encampments. When he began explaining the recent find of a surgeon’s burial pit at Manassas with photographs, the real wow factor kicked in. The depth of the science that was able to focus such precision on the identification of remains was astounding! One audience member stated ,“ “I can honestly say that was one of the most interesting and edifying lectures I’ve ever heard, on, well, just about anything.”

Sunday started with a great breakfast at historical Stevenson Ridge on the Spotsylvania Court house Battlefield. After breakfast some 65 guests boarded two trolley cars and made their way to CVBT’s newest acquisition, Myer’s Hill. Historians John Cummings and Chris Mackowski

then did a masterful job of explaining all the action that took place on this hill. A long forgotten but important part of the end of the Spotsylvania Court House engagement played out here with Grant and Lee maneuvering for position. CVBT has paid nearly half a million dollars to preserve this 73.3 acres and continues to raise funds to satisfy the debt. The weekend ended on finally a sunny and warm day.

View of 2019 conference dinner group Saturday evening. (Photo Credits: Tom Van Winkle, Travis Wakeman, Lisa Van Winkle)

Obverse and reverse of CVBT’s Ralph Happel Award medallion.

Guests board one of the two trolleys used for transporting tour to Myer’s Hill.

Group photo of inaugural tour group visiting newly preserved CVBT’s Myer’s Hill on Spotsylvania Courthouse Battlefield.

Presentation of Ralph Happel Award from CVBT president Tom Van Winkle to Dr. Michael P. Stevens.

Presentation of Dr. Michael P. Stevens Preservation Award from CVBT President Tom Van Winkle to 47th VA. Co I, Stafford Guard’s Captain Bill Russell and wife Jill.

CVBT president Tom Van Winkle addresses conference dinner attendees.

Spotsylvania Court House Battlefield tour guide Gordon C. Rhea captivates a soggy Friday conference tour group.

Gordon C. Rhea speaks with tour attendees at Spotsylvania Battlefield exhibit shelter.

Tour group braves the weather at Spotsylvania’s Bloody Angle.

Tour group with Gordon C. Rhea at Spotsylvania’s Bloody Angle.

CVBT Wilderness Battlefield tour group with Kris White at Ellwood, Warrens V Corps headquarters.

Tour guide Kris White points out information on Ellwood marker.

Kris White at Ellwood family cemetery where “Stonewall” Jackson’s amputated arm was buried.

Co-Tour Guide Chris Mackowski speaks to 70 tour guests for the first ever Myer’s Hill event.

Co-Tour Guides Chris Mackowski and John Cummings captivate attendees with Myer’s Hill historical accounts.

Spotsylvania Co-Tour guide John Cummings points out Myer’s house and well site remnants.

Myer’s Hill tour group navigating the terrain.

CVBT Dinner keynote speaker Manassas Battlefield NPS superintendent and archaeologist, Brandon Bies, mesmerizes audience with details of recent surgeon’s burial pit find and forensic science analysis.

From the Editor

Since remarrying five years ago, I’ve lived on the edge of the Chancellorsville battlefield but continued to teach at St. Bonaventure University. Online classes have shortened the distance, but I still regularly commute between Virginia and western New York, a trip that usually takes me about seven hours. “How do you do it?” people ask. “I listen to a lot of books,” I reply.

I’ve been a big audiobook listener since I was in graduate school at the University of Maine. I had a 40-minute commute to work back then, so I listened to books as a way to cram for the department’s final comprehensive exam. At the time, I worked in radio as a newscaster, so my ear was already attuned to attentive listening. I made it through a good chunk of the English canon that way.

While my career eventually led to PR, then the classroom, and then to the Civil War, I never lost my love for the spoken word. That first manifested itself in playwriting; later, as I shifted to nonfiction, I realized how

much my former radio career influenced my writerly “voice.” I even aspired to one day narrate an audiobook.

Earlier this year, Ted Savas approached me with the idea of releasing the entire Emerging Civil War Series as audiobooks.

I jumped at the chance, not only because I’m a huge audiobook fan and thought the series would sound great, but because I thought I might finally have the chance to fulfill my goal to narrate a book. Ted was glad to give me the chance.

I chose my most recent title, The Great Battle Never Fought: The Mine Run Campaign, as my guinea pig. It was more grueling to do than I had imagined, but it was gratifying, too. When Audible released the book in mid-April, I was absolutely delighted, and ready to get to work on another.

Ted and I have auditioned several other great narrators for the series including Bob Neufeld, Joe Williams, and Joshua Saxon; we’ll be releasing books just as fast as their voices allow. Our goal is to have the entire series out by the end of the calendar year. I’ve already listened to first takes of The Aftermath of Battle by Meg Groeling, Let Us Die Like Men by Lee White, Simply Murder by Kris White and me, and my own Hell Itself. We have six other books at various stages of production, too. I hope you like what you hear. For me, it’s been the sound of a dream come true.

— Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief

ECW News and Notes

Edward Alexander sends us some big news. He recently joined his company soccer team, scored a goal in the first game, and then suffered a badly torn hamstring. “My newfound rehab time has allowed me to do a lot of map work, some of which you will see at this year’s ECW Symposium,” he says.

Doug Crenshaw will be quite busy this spring. He will be leading a two-day private tour of the Richmond battlefields during the first weekend in May, and will be speaking at Hanover Tavern on May 7 on Glendale. He will also be conducting a tour of Fort

Harrison for the Boy Scouts on April 27.

Caroline Davis will be co-authoring an ECW book on Stones River with the indefatigable Bert Dunkerly. Keep your eyes peeled for updates on this overlooked battle of the west.

Steve Davis’s “Critics Corner” focused on John R. Lundberg’s Granbury’s Texas Brigade: Diehard Western Confederates in the May 2019 Civil War News. Steve also wrote an article for the paper about the Confederate Medal of Honor. Meg Groeling published a book review in the May 2019 Civil War News: Aberration of Mine: Suicide and Suffering in the Civil War-Era South by Diane Miller.

Brian Matthew Jordan will be speaking about his book Marching Home at the Lone Star College CyFair, Houston, Texas, on April 24.

Chris Kolakowski recently had an article on the battle of Kohima published. You can find it in the latest Army History magazine or download a PDF of the issue here: https://history.army.mil/armyhistory/AH-Magazine/2019AH_ spring/index.html

Chris Mackowski survived the wedding of his daughter, Stephanie, at the end of March. On Sunday, April 7, Chris helped lead a tour of Myer’s Hill on the Spotsylvania Battlefield for the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, which recently purchased more than 73 acres of land there.

Kevin Pawlak is writing up a storm this spring. He is wrapping up an article for Civil War Times about the relationships between Ambrose Burnside, Fitz John Porter, and George McClellan during and after the Maryland Campaign. Additionally, the publication date for his next book, Antietam National Battlefield in Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America Series, is July 8, 2019.

Emerging Civil War Symposium

Time is ticking away to get your ticket for the Sixth Annual Emerging Civil War Symposium at Stevenson Ridge. For that matter, tickets are ticking away! We have just a handful of spots left for the event, Aug. 2-4, 2019, in Spotsylvania, Virginia.

Our theme this year is Forgotten Battles of the Civil War, with keynote speaker A. Wilson Greene and a line-up of ten speakers in two venues. We’ll also have a tour of North Anna. We’d love to have you join us! Tickets at only $155 for all three days. For more information, and to order tickets, visit https://emergingcivilwar. com/2019-symposium.

ECW Behind the Scenes

With books in the Emerging Civil War Series now coming out in audio, we thought we’d take you behind the scenes of that process. Bob Neufeld is one of narrators giving voice to the ECWS books. You can find out more about him at his website, http:// bobneufeld.com.

to fiction than non-fiction, but it is just as important, perhaps more so, because in fiction, the plot, characters, and settings do a lot of that for the narrator (and the listener). In non-fiction, the author is also telling a story, and the narrator must find a way to make that come across and pull in the listener without overdoing it and lessening the impact.

Writing for the page is different than writing for the ear. What challenges do you sometimes face in translating words from the page to the ear?

There’s a great story about how your niece first got you involved in the audiobook business. Can you recap that for us?

When my niece and nephew were young children, I found a big book of illustrated fairy tales to give them and had the idea to record the stories for them to help them learn to read. All I had at the time was an old cassette tape recorder, but it went over well and I forgot about it.

Jump ahead 30 years. My niece now has four young children of her own. She still had the book but not the recording and wanted one for her little ones. As I made the new recording, it occurred to me that all those people who’d said I had a good voice might be on to something.

I looked around and found a website called librivox.org where volunteers can record public domain material for anyone to download and listen to. I wasn’t very good in the beginning, but as I improved, I did a lot of older, wonderful literature there. (Dickens anyone?) When I felt my skills, recording space, and equipment were ready, I started to narrate professionally.

Of course, not all narrators are created equal. You have such a distinctive style. What is it you try to bring to a book when you read it?

The fundamental goal is not only to convey the information, but be the voice of the author and pass along his/her knowledge of and passion for the material. Among narrators, the most common phrase used to convey that is “tell the story.”

That may seem to apply more

I’m very fortunate with this series of books in that they are well written and make it easy to get into a flow. I have had other books, fiction and non-fiction, in which the syntax was so mangled or the sentence structures were so convoluted that I had to stop over and over just to figure out what was actually being said. I would respectfully suggest that all authors read their writing out loud and to an audience (of one perhaps) before they finish. Another challenge, especially in historical material, is correct pronunciation of names, places, etc. Sometimes the only way to get it right (if the author is not available) is to call local sources. I once called the local office of the Army Corp of Engineers to find how the name of a creek was pronounced.

When you first decided to audition for ECW books, what attracted you to the project?

First of all, I love history. Second, my voice and style fit very well with it. Then, anytime I choose a project, I want to be sure that there are solid resources behind it. I was in production on two other books for Ted Savas when this series came up. Based on my excellent experience with Ted, I was very comfortable and eager to do more for Savas Beatie.

Two more factors heightened my interest. The vast scope of the series. 40+ books covering so much of our country’s greatest trial. I don’t know of any other opportunity like this one for a narrator. Then I read the audition excerpt drawn from Hell Itself and was hooked! It made me want to read the whole book whether I got to narrate it or not. That’s always a very good sign. You’re not a Civil War buff, per se, but you’ve said how much you’ve enjoyed the ECW books as you’ve worked on them. What is it you like about them?

The biggest plus for me is what I’m learning. That is a big reason I like to record non-fiction. I can explore in some depth many new and different topics and people.

Chris Mackowski

Audiobook narrator Bob Neufeld.

“I have a face made for radio,” says Chris Mackowski.

In this case, over the years, I’ve learned a fair amount about the Civil War, maybe more than most Americans, but not in the depth I would like. For example, like everyone else, I knew about Custer at Little Big Horn, but I hadn’t associated him with the Civil War. I will shortly be recording the ECW series book covering that very topic!

The depth and the resulting length of the books is another big plus. The listener (and I) can get a very good understanding of the events, people, and themes in a relatively short time.

When it comes to the joy of the actual narrating, I love the quotes from participants up and down the ranks. They give me a chance to bring an almost fictionlike energy and variety to the reading, not to mention bringing a very human and emotional quality to the experience. I am very fortunate to have this opportunity!

Emerging Civil War Podcast

In April, the Emerging Civil War Podcast opened the Chancellorsville Campaign and hit the archives. In our first podcast of the month, Chris Mackowski and Dan Welch talked about ancestor research and ways you can explore your own family tree to find out more about your Civil War connections. In the second podcast of the month, Chris Mackowski and Kris White began the first of a two-part conversation on Chancellorsville and the High Tide of the Confederacy.

ECW podcasts are available for just $1.99 each, and all proceeds go to support production of the program. Subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/ emergingcivilwar.

10 Questions . . . with Dave Powell

Dave Powell is the award-winning author of the three-volume Chickamauga Campaign, as well as two volumes in the Emerging Civil War Series about Chattanooga. You can read his full bio here: https://emergingcivilwar.com/author-biographies/authors/david-a-powell/. He was also profiled in the October 2016 ECW newsletter: https://conta.cc/2eFrC9s.

Since we last profiled you, you’ve received quite a bit of recognition for your excellent Chickamauga trilogy—congratulations! That has to be pretty gratifying.

Chickamauga consumed about 15 years of my writing career,

year, and his remaining volume is due reasonably soon.

were not fully developed in any previous work.

Lightning Round (short answers):

so it is extremely gratifying to see that work recognized and for others to see the worth of it. I wanted to write a very detailed tactical account of the battle, and I accomplished that. Of course, tactical studies can be difficult to digest and understand; for example, it took me at least two readings to really grasp Harry Pfanz’s outstanding books on July 2 at Gettysburg, and I could still use a third trip through them. So I am also gratified that so many people have embraced them. All three volumes are now sold out in hardcover, and the paperbacks remain steady sellers at the park headquarters.

I confess it is also very humbling to walk into the Chickamauga Visitor’s Center bookstore and see so many of my titles displayed prominently on the shelves there. I feel like I have had an impact on the scholarship of the battle, and I am gratified that I could contribute.

You’ve lamented in the past that Chickamauga has been under-studied, despite the magnitude of the battle. Over the past year or so, several other Chickamauga studies have started to come out. Do you think the battle is now starting to get the attention it deserves, or is there still more work to be done?

The Civil War community seems to have awoken to the idea that Chickamauga is worthy of deep study. That is also very satisfying. We are now seeing detailed works on aspects of the battle, such as the September 18 fighting or the assaults on Horseshoe Ridge, and some very good walking tour guides for folks who want to explore parts of the park in more depth. We also have the first operational campaign history starting to appear: the first volume of Dr. William G. Robertson’s two volume campaign study was published last

There is still room for good work on other aspects of the battle, however. When will there be “enough?” Here I apply the same standard to any Civil War battle or campaign: “enough” will be when insightful work stops appearing. As heavily studied as Gettysburg is, I am still pleasantly surprised every couple of years to find a new, high-quality monograph on some aspect of the event that casts new light on its subject. I expect the same to happen for Chickamauga. The best thing about our Civil War community is that we are all voracious learners; we are usually willing to step up and read the next new volume in hopes of new knowledge or insight.

You’ve followed up your Chickamauga work with a pair of ECW Series books on Chattanooga, which was the “sequel” to Chickamauga. That seems pretty natural. But you’ve also just published a book on Franz Sigel at New Market. What’s the connection to that book?

The Chattanooga books are indeed the obvious progression from Chickamauga, and they were fun to do. Additionally, in 2018 I was asked to write yet another book on the Chattanooga Campaign, titled Grant at Chattanooga, for Drs. Tim Smith and John Marszelek, to appear as part of their series on Grant, published by Southern Illinois Press. That one will probably be out in late 2019 or (more likely) 2020. So over the past two years, I have been fully immersed in Chattanooga.

The battle of New Market is strongly connected to the Virginia Military Institute. VMI runs the battlefield, which is now a State Park, and New Market plays a significant role in the development of new cadets or “Rats,” as they learn about the Institute’s heritage and traditions. When I matriculated at VMI in the fall of 1979, I became strongly interested in the battle. Over the course of four years, I often spent weekends there doing living history, and participated in several of the reenactments.

So, I wanted to write about the battle for a long time. I talked to one press about a title to be released in 2014 as part of the 150th Anniversary series, but in 2010, Charles Knight published an excellent new view of the battle, leaving my manuscript in the wind. If I wanted to do more work on the subject, I needed something new to say. It occurred to me that Sigel’s role, and that of the Federal army in general there,

Thus I revised my work and approached Savas Beatie. Ted Savas liked it and signed me up. I appreciate his willingness to take a chance on this topic, given that he was Charles Knight’s publisher as well; but I think the books can be viewed as complementary instead of direct competitors.

VMI has a long tradition of its own worth exploration, including a rich Civil War history. As an alum, how have you seen the Institute change over the years?

Lexington, Va., is certainly awash in Civil War History. VMI, Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, not to overlook Little Sorrel and Traveler, Lee’s and Jackson’s famous mounts, respectively. VMI has embraced that heritage. New cadets salute Stonewall Jackson’s statue when they exit the main arch. VMI runs the Stonewall Jackson house in town, and as mentioned, VMI manages the New Market Battlefield, and every May 15 the Corps of Cadets holds a New Market Parade where the ten cadets who were killed in action are remembered.

These things are all largely unchanged. Just prior to my arrival, there was some controversy over the playing of “Dixie,” and in 1976 VMI stopped using that music. The Confederate flag is also no longer flown.

Of course, the institute has changed dramatically in other ways, with new buildings, more students, more degree offerings, but the core values are not likely to change any time soon.

Are you able to give us any hints on what you’re working on next?

I mentioned Grant at Chattanooga. That project is complete and awaiting word from the editors. I am also finishing up a project with a good friend, Eric Wittenberg, which is a history of the Tullahoma Campaign. This was the June/early July 1863 campaign that drove the Confederates out of Middle Tennessee, an important event that has been overshadowed by Vicksburg and Gettysburg, which all culminated simultaneously. That book should appear in 2020.

My next long-term project is a multi-volume history of the Atlanta Campaign. My research is largely complete, and I hope to begin writing this year. Additionally, I want to do a couple more “Maps” projects: Maps of Chattanooga, long promised but often interrupted; Maps of the Atlanta Campaign, and Maps of Shiloh. We’ll see how many of those I get to in the next couple of years.

Favorite primary source?

The National Tribune.

Favorite Civil War-related monument? A tough one. Probably the current favorite is the Cleveland Ohio monument, with the color guard of the 103rd Ohio at Resaca depicted. I also have a soft spot for “Death and Night,” the UDC Monument at Shiloh.

Favorite unsung hero of the Civil War era? August Willich.

What’s a bucket-list Civil War site you’ve not yet visited? Believe it or not, Fort Sumter. I have never managed to get to Charleston.

Favorite ECWS book that’s not one of your own? We have a new winner: Let Us Die Like Men, Lee White’s new book on Franklin. Before that it was probably Brandy Station.

Emerging Revolutionary War News

April is a momentous month in terms of Revolutionary War history. The “shots heard around the world’ were fired in the towns of Lexington and Concord during this month 244 years ago. If you are in the New England area, be sure to check out the events that commemorate Lexington, Concord, and the role Boston played in that time frame.

If April 1775 was a new beginning for the thirteen American colonies, then April 2019 provides a new look for Emerging Revolutionary War with the completion of our new logo!

ERW Historian Travis Shaw will be speaking on April 13 at the Mine Run (VA) Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter on the Battles of Lexington and Concord if you are in the area.

Bert Dunkerly has been working with the American Revolution Round Table of Richmond, Va., to produce a guide to Revolutionary War sites in the city and surrounding area. Bert says, “While we all love the Civil War, it overshadows some great sites that we hope to draw attention to.”

Stay up-to-date and get your fix of Revolutionary War history on our blog, www.emergingrevolutionarywar.org.

Digital Issues of CWN are available by subscription alone or with print plus CWN archives at CivilWarNews.com

Dave Powell (right) stands with Gordon Jones of the Atlanta History Center in front of the newly restored Atlanta Cyclorama.

By Robert Lee Hodge

Is there any chance you will be here in October?—Scott [Fitzgerald] and I have got a grand tour of the Virginia battlefields planned, and although I do not see how I could take in more than two, it would be a great time if you were there. It all came from . . . seeing Gettysburg, and really, Ernest, it was perfectly magnificent: you could understand every move in the whole battle if you had read about it. You could see the whole battlefield plain as day.—Editor Maxwell Perkins to Ernest

Hemingway

The CVBT and me

Many then felt, and today still feel, the attraction to America’s Civil War battlefields editor Maxwell Perkins experienced, encouraging colleagues F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway to walk the land where giants in America’s great fratricide achieved the attention of the world with him.

Traversing the famous lands in the footsteps of history brings connectivity to the written word, if you are familiar with the subject through accounts. Winston Churchill had this experience, touring Spotsylvania County’s

battlefields in 1929. Britain’s future Prime Minister wrote, “.

. . We have entered the domain of history. . . Here, south of the Rappahannock, is another wide area of battlefields, on which, perhaps, more soldiers have perished in an equal space than anywhere, excepting round [WWI battlefields] Ypres and Verdun.

. . It was with deep interest that I followed these memorable operations. No one can understand what happened merely through reading books and studying maps; you must see the ground. You must cover the distances in person . . . Here the campaigns lie one upon the other…The trenches crisscross one another; the monuments of dead commanders and shot-torn regiments are of different years. An earthly palimpsest of tragedy!”

Churchill was speaking of America’s bloodiest county, where over 750,000 soldiers fought, and 110,000 fell, in four battles, in a mere 18-months!

Most Americans then knew, and some still know, the names of Spotsylvania County’s battlefields, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, The Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House; all four battlefields are ranked in the top ten deadliest battles of the Civil War.

I grew up looking at The Golden Book of the Civil War and dreaming of getting to Spotsylvania County’s battlefields someday. Finally in 1991 I had that opportunity. My naiveté of battlefield protection was smashed and eradicated in June 1991. Standing on Hill-Ewell Drive at The Wilderness Battlefield for the first time, I witnessed homes being built up to the earthworks. Expecting a bucolic environment, where I could get lost in thought and reverence, instead I heard circular saws and hammers building tract housing. The juxtaposition I could not process. How did this happen? I had an epiphany. A sad reality set in. The Wilderness Battlefield was fragile and poorly protected from future destruction.

The Wilderness Battlefield was not an anomaly, but the norm. Preservation was a crisis of epic proportions and I had no idea. The battlefields, cemeteries without headstones, were being obliterated rapidly. Preservation became a watchword for me and Spotsylvania County was at “The tip of the spear.”

I became an intern with the National Park Service’s Civil War Sites Advisory Commission (CWSAC), the group that reported to congress on the preservation

crisis. I learned much. Ironically, these battlefields with national significance are often being destroyed by local governments. They obliterate historic sites through their votes and, all too friendly with the development machine, look to expand their tax-base. When it comes to battlefield preservation, the Federal government has little power.

I also learned while working at the CWSAC that the NPS is the financial dregs of the Federal government, comparatively getting “crumbs” to run on. “America’s Greatest Idea,” as Ken Burns said, has serious problems. As our population growth explodes, the parks become increasingly and exponentially “Islands of Green” in an emerging sea of concrete. The NPS also has a $17,000,000,000 back-log in maintenance; acquiring more natural and cultural resources is not going to be priority.

Why the preservation crisis?

The race between conservation and development has exponentially accelerated over time. Despite the economic crash of 2008 that bought time for preservation efforts Spotsylvania County was the 19th fastest growing county in the United States. Spotsylvania County is just 60 miles from Washington, D.C., and on the I-95 corridor, it has been one of the fastest growing areas for four decades. In Spotsylvania the roads have been increasingly choked with rising traffic congestion. Many of those same roads are where massive armies marched and bled in the 1860’s, posing—a quandary for preservation and conservation groups.

As one example, compare the rapid growth of Spotsylvania County with the hard truth that the underfunded NPS owns just 1,500 acres of the 21,000-acre Spotsylvania Court House battlefield, or only 14% of the study area.

CVBT

Thankfully, since 1996 The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT.org) has saved over 1,300 acres of “battlefield greenspace” in Spotsylvania County.

In 1997 I started associating with the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, attending an amazing preservation conference hosted by Fredericksburg’s Rappahannock Valley Civil War Roundtable. We toured many threatened battlefield sites in Spotsylvania County. On that battlefield trip weekend many board members of the new CVBT attended, local professionals who grew up in the area and felt called upon to do something about Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania destruction.

On that preservation weekend with the CVBT board I witnessed the sobering, hard, reality of the preservation, or more accurately its lack, at Spotsylvania County’s battlefields– including, Second Fredericksburg and Salem Church, parts of the Chancellorsville Campaign. The CVBT were a blessing at a crucial time.

At this time I was working for Time-Life Books as a principal Civil War researcher and the upcoming volume was on Fredericksburg. Time-Life used the National Park Service’s huge data collection as the basis of the book. Researching daily in Fredericksburg, I decided to take a break and go west to Chancellorsville. There I saw The Estates of Lee and Jackson being built on top of the battlefield. It hurt to see the “growth.” It appeared the NPS was helpless as development further choked the park. Back at the NPS I vented my frustration to chief historian Bob Krick, who mentioned that a new preservation group might be a savior.

I spoke with Bob briefly about preservation fundraisers I had directed in the past and that I

Touring Myer’s Hill at the CVBT annual meeting with Chris Mackowski and John Cummings.

Above three photographs of the Brock Road and Old Plank Road intersection at The Wilderness.

would like to do something for Chancellorsville. Bob mentioned that next year (1998), Stonewall Jackson’s Flank March anniversary would take place on the same week day it did in 1863, a Saturday. I developed a CVBT fundraiser for the 100-acre Ashley Tract on Chancellorsville battlefield for May 2, 3, 1998, that attracted 200 very authentic reenactors who brought $37,000 with them! We also had 1,200 spectators, Ed Bearss, Gary Gallagher, Bob Krick, John Hennessey, and Brian Pohanka. It was a cerebral event with the historic greenspace message at the forefront. We paid off 1/10th of the Ashley Tract’s debt that weekend. It was grassroots empowerment and it felt good.

In 2000 I produced another preservation march attracting 300 authentic reenactors that generated $57,000 for preservation. Because reenactors were coming from all over the country, I wanted to spread the preservation funds out with some money going west, etc. CVBT agreed the money could be handled through them and gave checks to other preservation efforts while retaining 40% for the Talley Farm tract at Chancellorsville. Ironically

The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust was the first group to give $22,000 to Save the Franklin Battlefield (STFB), a battlefield preservation effort in Franklin, Tenn.

With the help of the old Civil War Trust, the Virginia Department of Historic resources, the Army Corps of Engineers, and countless others, CVBT has been able to save land at all four Spotsylvania battlefields.

CVBT has played a role in some impressive victories as preservation advocates, including assisting the Civil War Trust in the Wilderness/Walmart fight. The Chancellorsville First Day Battlefield effort was a hardfought modern battle, led by Jim Campi of the Civil War Trust that saved 300 acres after an excruciatingly difficult campaign of fighting developers and a Spotsylvania local government

vulnerable “Jackson Trail,” that follows the Confederate icon’s famous last march, was once pristine and idyllic, but is now losing integrity because of mass tract-housing.

that had traditionally green-lighted most development projects regardless of battlefield destruction.

It is important for groups like CVBT to exist. In the preservation fights at Chancellorsville and The Wilderness it was important to have a vocal local constituency. As a growing grassroots organization, we want to connect the local citizens of Spotsylvania, whose investment is paramount, to their land, as well as expand our national membership. Power in numbers. We have developed mass marketing campaigns designed to connect people from specific locales to the land being saved.

With all the available resources to tell the story, one begins to realize, not only did our Civil War take place during the industrial revolution, but also during an information age as literacy and data gathering were exploding. We continue to learn more about what happened at any battlefield History isn’t just about complicated names and dates, more importantly it is about the human experience at a specific place. A soldier’s letters breathe life into that space. On any battlefield there are layers of stories to learn about, understand, and feel; something impossible if the land becomes a parking lot.

In the Slaughter Pen Farm area, there were threats of an auto auction or a school, but the Civil War Trust negotiated a preservation miracle as CVBT would provide $1,000,000 for the Slaughter Pen Farm protection effort. CVBT also saved the area where John Pelham fought at Fredericksburg. Many other parcels are still in play at Fredericksburg.

At Chancellorsville, preservationists celebrated a long, hardfought, battle, led by the Civil War Trust, saving what is called “The First Day Battlefield,” when several hundred acres of core battlefield land where 20,000 troops fought, was threatened by development. CVBT has saved many parcels in the battlefield’s western sector, however many more tracts are “up for grabs” at Chancellorsville. The highly

The former Civil War Trust has preformed yeoman service at Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, and The Wilderness, but nothing at Spotsylvania Court House except inheriting a five-acre easement at Harris Farm, the battle’s final phase. Sadly, the Harris farmhouse stood until a developer bull-dozed it in 2014, and about the only preservationist who “cried ‘foul’” was local Spotsylvania historian, John Cummings.

Salem Church / Second Fredericksburg is part of the Chancellorsville Campaign, and had more casualties than Kentucky’s largest battle at Perryville. Perhaps less than 1% of the core battlefield area is saved at Salem Church itself. Salem Church and Second Fredericksburg get overlooked by the heavier fighting where Jackson was mortally wounded. Despite this gross and embarrassing neglect, CVBT saved 20 acres of Second Fredericksburg/ Salem Church in an area called Smith’s Run in 2002.

Myer’s Hill

A target property the CVBT is now saving is a neglected part of Spotsylvania Court House, an area known as Myer’s Hill that was covered in this year’s March issue. Not only is CVBT pushing ahead with saving Myer’s Hill, recently we also saved 14-acres of Spotsylvania’s battlefield land on the fragile Brock Road, not far from Union General John Sedgwick’s mortal wounding on May 9, 1864.

CVBT’s administrative costs are low, at 12%; CVBT’s longstanding motto has been ‘Your green buys green.’ The sooner we pay off our debt on Myer’s Hill, the sooner we can move forward to save more threatened battlefield property in Spotsylvania County.

Future

When you look at the sobering math of how much is saved (or not saved) compared to how rapidly population expands in a consistently booming area you see the hour-glass sand slipping away. Despite all the good CVBT and others have done, we are in a crisis, fighting to get the needed funds to save more historic greenspace while we still have the time to save it.

Obviously there are many Civil War battlefields that need more attention, The Seven Days, Petersburg, Winchester,

Atlanta, Middle-Tennessee, and Charleston, but I believe Spotsylvania County should be at the top of that list, because, Spotsylvania’s battles rank in the top-ten bloodiest battles of America’s bloodiest war.

The proximity of these four battlefields to each other emphasizes the connectivity they should have; they should not be islands of green in a sea of concrete, but are something akin to Williamsburg’s Colonial Parkway should connect all four sites to one-another. The area is a small circle of very important history.

The battlefield parks have become “dams” to traffic flow; stoplights or widening roads are not the best remedy, only a weak short-term coping mechanism. As expensive as it seems, the compromise of tunnels would be a longer-term investment, but that accelerated ingress and egress would probably ruin historic greenspace west and south of the battlefields.

Brock Road, Grant’s main campaign route, is now the main connector between The Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House; it deserves more investment as an historic greenspace artery.

The impressive reclamation efforts in Franklin, Tenn., suggest there is some hope for a place so damaged by development as Salem Church. Redevelopment of the Salem Church corridor with greenspace sensitivity is still possible.

CVBT has saved 1,300 acres, an impressive number, however, when we see how vast the four battlefields are and how little is saved, I hope before all is said and done we can save 13,000 acres in Spotsylvania County.

One final perspective, regardless of a battlefield, is that areas that were once, and had always been, greenspace have been overrun in the last 30 years. CVBT pays fair market value for the historic land and work with landowners who want to see their property saved for future generations to appreciate and learn about America’s history. To join CVBT in their cause please visit cvbt.org.

What a beautiful world, God, in His loving kindness to His creatures, has given us! What a shame that men endowed with reason and knowledge of right should mar His gifts...—Robert

E. Lee

Gordon Rhea leading a CVBT Spotsylvania Court House tour at the annual meeting.

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.

Train Collisions, Drowning, Shipwrecks and More

Inglorious Passages:

Noncombat Deaths in the American Civil War. By Brian Steel Wills. Notes, bibliography, index. 416 pages. University Press of Kansas. kansaspress. ku.edu. $34.95 hardback.

Reviewed

by Bruce Stewart

Northern Home Front Dissent during the Civil War

Contested Loyalty: Debates

Over Patriotism in the Civil War North. Edited by Robert M. Sandow. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index, 328 pp., Fordham Univ. Press, www.fordhampress.com, $65 hardcover.

Reviewed by Paul Taylor

ravage anyone in its path. Far too often even rudimentary treatments lay decades in the future. But in many cases, Americans met their end in an unforeseen circumstance. Simple accidents were joined by friendly fire, drowning and train collisions. Industrial explosions, naval disasters and disciplinary executions only added to the rolls. Physically, men could see their foe; medically they could not. Even suicide appeared with unsettling frequency.

The sheer volume of sick and dying overwhelmed medical care givers and hospitals struggling to handle the influx of patients. Modern pharmaceuticals were non-existent and the concepts of proper hygiene had yet to be discovered. As the war dragged on the sights and sounds of the suffering seemed to have no end.

Constitutional liberties, workers’ rights, and whether or not—and how—to utilize free northern blacks in the war effort. Sandow highlights in his Introduction that for many Americans, loyalty was not nationalism. Instead, one’s loyalty was often manifested primarily toward family, community, region or even ethnicity. To counteract such localized perspectives, social elites and men of means established Union League clubs in both major cities and small towns to dictate what they believed were “proper” nationalistic displays of patriotism and “unconditional loyalty.”

In addition, these essays show how social class differences, religious affiliation, ethnicity, political beliefs, and gender all created their own fault lines as to how one defined loyalty. In numerous instances, these differences were so contentious that they led to homefront violence.

Julie Mujic and Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai follow with two chapters that focus on elite college-educated men and how their station in life shaped their views of loyalty and honor. In a fascinating essay by Mujic, we are offered an in-depth look at competing loyalties through the personal letters of a college-educated Republican abolitionist and his staunch, anti-war Democratic fiancé.

Sean Scott explores religious conscience and public loyalty through the case of an apolitical Protestant minister who adhered to a strict separation between church and state and the consequences thereof.

Loyalty viewpoints of working-class men and women toiling within war-related industries are then examined by Judith Giesberg and Timothy Orr.

The American Civil War may very well be regarded as the most tragic time in our nation’s history. The loss of life was devastating, as well over 700,000 men and women perished in little more than four years. No region of the country was spared. Historians have taken great care to give an accurate account of the casualties which took place on the field of battle. Lost to the casual reader and often overlooked by the serious scholar was the loss of life from other causes—which carried off two-thirds of the officers and five-sixths of the men in the ranks. Women on the home front were suddenly thrust into a life fraught with danger, and some would suffer the consequences as well.

In Inglorious Passages:

Noncombat Deaths in the American Civil War, Brian Steel Wills has brought to light the unexpected. Obviously, disease could appear at any time and

Combining copious research among previously unpublished letters and diaries, Dr. Wills has explored not only the complications of daily routine in camp, but also the experiences of Civil War soldiers, using a wide variety of well-documented cases of noncombat death.

Death from contact with the enemy was so much easier to understand. Albert Marshall, a Union soldier serving in the Trans-Mississippi, explained noncombat death this way: “such a serious loss of life in such a manner is far sadder than to see our comrades fall in battle.”

Well written and concise, Wills’ Inglorious Passages is a very thorough revelation of new evidence and will be much appreciated by the entire Civil War community.

Most of the Civil War’s 150-plus-year historiography has focused on the battles, leaders and politics that shaped the fouryear conflict between the Union and the Confederacy. The general impression, therefore, left upon many casual readers throughout the decades and newer students was that both North and South were fully united behind their respective causes.

Scholars of the conflict know that nothing could be further from the truth. Both North and South struggled with dissent from almost day-one, as many of each region’s civilians held significantly differing perspectives on what constituted proper patriotism and loyalty. As the war dragged on, both regions were threatened at times with their own violent, internal civil war.

In Contested Loyalty: Debates over Patriotism in the Civil War North, editor Robert Sandow has gathered ten new essays from today’s leading scholars. Collectively these ten historians examine distinctly different northern individuals and groups, and how their backgrounds shaped the way in which they defined patriotism and loyalty.

In general, these competing definitions of loyalty and patri otism centered on the Lincoln administration’s rationales for fighting the war, its alleged transgressions against civilian

This exceptional volume stretches out far more broadly than the traditional anti-war examination of the Copperheads and/or Democratic Party dissent. Sandow and his authors contend that there were multiple and competing layers of northern loyalties during the Civil War, all of which were heartily contested in speeches, newspaper editorials, sermons, and public letters. That public debate on how one was to properly define and display loyalty is the central thesis of this book.

The ten essays begin with analyses of national and state politics. Melinda Lawson examines what the burgeoning American nationalism truly meant.

Matthew Warshauer looks at the Connecticut “Peace Democrats” and their narrow interpretations of Constitutional law, followed by Jonathan White’s study of the war victim compensation debates in the Pennsylvania state legislature.

The final essays by Ryan Keating and Thaddeus Romansky examine concepts of patriotism and loyalty through the lens of ethnicity and race. Keating discusses Irish-American communities in Wisconsin and Connecticut followed by Romansky’s study of African Americans who served in the Union Army.

As historian Gary W. Gallagher points out in his Foreword, these insightful essays illustrate to us just how tenuous the Union cause was at various stages during the rebellion. Moreover, they offer ample food for thought as to how we, the people, may come to grips with wartime concepts of “loyalty” and “patriotism” within our modern era.

Paul Taylor is author of seven books pertaining to the Civil War era. His newest book is “The Most Complete Political Machine Ever Known”: The North’s Union Leagues in the American Civil War, published by Kent State Univ. Press.

Bruce H. Stewart, Jr., is a past president of the Atlanta Civil War Round Table and author of Invisible Hero: Patrick R. Cleburne (Mercer University Press, 2009).

A Prison for Federal Officers

Camp Oglethorpe: Macon’s Unknown Civil War Prisoner of War Camp, 1862–1864. By Stephen Hoy and William Smith. Maps, photos, footnotes, index, bibliography, illustrations, prisoner list, 260 pp., 2019. Mercer University Press, www.mupress. org. $35 hardback.

Reviewed by Gould Hagler

tell. Floods of captives overwhelmed the system improvised to accommodate them. From the perspective of the authorities, the questions were how to feed them, house them, guard them? How to treat the many sick and wounded in their midst? And what to do when the breakdown of the exchange system exacerbated the already insoluble problems? And from the prisoners’ perspective, how to survive on the scanty rations, how to stay dry and warm, how to fight the tedium of captivity? And, of course, how to escape?

Slave Refugee Camps Get Much Needed Scholarly Attention

Embattled Freedom: Journeys through the Civil War’s Slave Refugee Camps. By Amy

Camp Oglethorpe may not be unknown, exactly, but it certainly is not well-known, even to Civil War enthusiasts. Relying on prisoner accounts, newspaper reports, government documents and numerous secondary sources related to Civil War prisons and other aspects of the war, Hoy and Smith have provided a solid account of this Confederate prison in Macon, Ga.

Camp Oglethorpe, an officers’ prison for most of its history, is not as notorious as, for example, Camp Sumter and Elmira, but like every other POW camp it was an unpleasant place to be, a place where men were underfed and poorly sheltered, a place where all inmates suffered and where many died.

Before the war this patch of land in the central Georgia city was used for militia training and agricultural fairs. When war came the site became an army training ground and a staging facility for Georgia companies leaving home to join the fight. Later the prisoners came.

Located at the junction of two railroads in the Confederacy’s interior, Macon was a logical place to keep prisoners taken in battle. The authorities hastily constructed a fence to enclose some three acres of the fairground just in time for the arrival of the first prisoners; 838 officers and men marched through the gate on May 4, 1862.

Camp Oglethorpe tells much the same story that a history of any Civil War prison camp would

Hoy and Williams’ book covers more than the prison itself. The reader learns about two cavalry raids, Stoneman’s in the summer of 1864 and Wilson’s the following spring. In addition to his primary mission of wrecking the railroads south of Atlanta, Stoneman tasked himself with freeing the prisoners in Macon and Andersonville. Instead, he and many of his men found themselves captured and penned with the men they hoped to liberate.

The chapter on Wilson’s Raid tells of the more successful expedition that ended in Macon as the war reached its conclusion.

No one would deny that prisoner-of-war camps were places of immense suffering. However, in their final chapter the authors advise that prisoner accounts should not be accepted uncritically. “Stories were often exaggerated,” they warn, “and facts embellished.” They quote a Michigan cavalryman held at Camp Sumter, who read several accounts written by his comrades and wrote that he was “surprised at the free-lance recklessness of description.”

According to this final chapter, some 670,000 men were captured in the war. Of these, 400,000 spent at least some time in prisons, and 56,000 of these died. Camp Oglethorpe tells the story of one of these prisons, one of the 150 such places where Americans were held in captivity by their former—and future— fellow citizens.

Gould Hagler is a retired lobbyist living in Dunwoody, Ga. He is a past president of the Civil War Round Table of Atlanta and the author of Georgia’s Confederate Monuments: In Honor of a Fallen Nation, published 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.

Murrell

Taylor. Images, maps, notes, bibliography, index, 368 pp, 2018. University of North Carolina Press, www.uncpress.org. $34.95 hardcover.

Reviewed by Tim Talbott

and border state by war’s end, the 300 or so refugee camps could be places of unbridled hope at some points, yet deadly discouraging and dangerous places at other times.

While seemingly almost every aspect of the Civil War era has received a fair share of scholarly examination, one significant yet largely ignored facet is finally getting much deserved attention. Until recently, outside of a handful of books and articles, a true gulf in scholarship existed on the experiences of those in the war’s slave refugee camps. Jim Downs helped with his book, Sick from Freedom: African American Illness and Suffering during the Civil War and Reconstruction (Oxford, 2012), which explores a specific thread of the camps. Chandra Manning helped fill this void too with her recently published Troubled Refuge: Struggling for Freedom in the Civil War (Knopf, 2016), which examines how the war’s fugitive slaves reworked emancipation as a Union war aim, and then challenged the idea of who was to be considered a citizen in the war’s aftermath. Now, with Amy Murrell Taylor’s new contribution to this growing body of study, Embattled Freedom: Journeys through the Civil War’s Slave Refugee Camps, even more light is finding its way to this underexposed historical topic. Referred to during the conflict as “contraband camps,” these often fluid and makeshift settlements popped up in almost every area where the Union military showed its might and held its ground for any length of time. Found in almost every seceded

What largely separates Embattled Freedom from previous studies is that in it Taylor provides a more complete groundseye view into the everyday happenings of the slave refugee camps. As one would expect, the experiences varied greatly among the estimated 500,000 men, women, and children who fled slavery and who found varying degrees of freedom during the four years of the Civil War. Refugees encountered a diversity of problems, opportunities, dangers and dilemmas, depending on where they were from, and thus where their refugee camp materialized; when they arrived; what they were able to bring with them, both materially and in skills; whom they encountered and those peoples’ attitudes toward African Americans; and what they were tasked to do for service with the United States military,

Taylor insightfully tackles many of these refugee camp issues by viewing them through the lens of three individual case studies. These three examples not only help the reader better understand the experiences of particular refugees, but also helps show how perhaps the refugee camps may have differed due to geographical location, and most importantly gives us their experiences from their own perspectives.

Taylor skillfully weaves the book’s eight chapters around the personal stories of Edward and Emma Whitehurst, wouldbe shopkeepers in southeast Virginia; Eliza Bogan, an army laundress in Helena, Arkansas; and Gabriel Burdett, an aspiring minister at Camp Nelson, Kentucky.

The eight chapters of the book

discuss the myriads of concerns experienced by refugee men, women and children. In “Securing Work,” the author explains through the Whitehursts’ story that the challenges faced in transitioning from a forced labor system to a monetary wage labor system, especially during time of war, was not always smooth. In “Finding Shelter,” we discover that locations allocated for refugees were the ones least desired by the military, and that finding relatively permanent shelter was a constant struggle for refugees. “Confronting Removal” examines the common occurrence of putting distance between soldiers and refugee communities, often due to perceived negative racial influences. “Facing Combat” shows the many ways that refugees contributed to slavery’s demise, both inside the Union military and out. “Battling Hunger” and “Clothing Bodies” also spell out other practical, yet life-threatening challenges faced by refugees, while finding ways of “Keeping Faith” and “Grappling with Loss,” although perhaps less tangible, were in many cases just as important for refugee survival.

With Embattled Freedom: Journeys through the Civil War’s Refugee Camps, Taylor gives us the book that many of us have been waiting for. Its particular approach to the subject matter, thorough research, and keen writing ensures that it will maintain a place in Civil War history for years to come as a source of better understanding the slave refugee camp experience.

Tim Talbott is the Director of Education, Interpretation, Visitor Services, and Collections at Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier in Petersburg, Va. He is currently researching the various combination of elements that led to emancipation.

Civil War Artillery Book

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.

Most readers wishing to bone up on Confederate Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Jackson, or check on a specific fact about his life, will probably turn first to James I. Robertson, Jr., Stonewall Jackson (1997). From the last generation is to be remembered Frank E. Vandiver’s Mighty Stonewall (1957). Both Robertson and Vandiver rank as professional historians. In another tier are the good works by Burke Davis, They Called Him Stonewall (1954), and Lenoir Chambers, Stonewall Jackson (2 volumes, 1959). Chambers was editor of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot. Also a gifted writer, Davis was author of biographies of Lee and Stuart as well as other famous American soldiers.

Lost in the shuffle, perhaps also in memory, is Allen Tate’s Stonewall Jackson: The Good Soldier (1928). Through the years Tate’s work has remained one of my favorites for several reasons.

But first about Tate.

Born in Kentucky in 1899, he entered Vanderbilt in 1918,

taking freshman writing from John Crowe Ransom. By the time of his graduation he was already a professional poet, editor, critic, and founder (with Ransom and Donald Davidson) of The Fugitive magazine.

In 1930 the “Fugitive group”— Ransom, Tate, Davidson, and Robert Penn Warren, along with other Southern writers—published I’ll Take My Stand: The South and the Agrarian Tradition. The controversial work collected a dozen essays defending various aspects of Southern life and culture, but generally advocating the superiority of an agrarian society’s lifestyle over the industrial, urban culture of the North. They seized upon the Old South as metaphor in their critique of modern society, at least as they perceived it in 1930’s America.

Which brings us to Stonewall Jackson. Tate intended his book to be both biographical narrative and cultural commentary, purposes that make it a bit complicated.

In tracing Jackson’s prewar life and his record as a Confederate general, the author is always looking toward Chancellorsville, Jackson’s greatest battle and historic Southern victory. The very site of the engagement, the Wilderness, allows Tate to use the destruction of forests to symbolize the rape of the land that would ensue after the Civil War. While the thick woods aided Jackson’s troops by concealing their march, Federals were busy chopping trees down for their fortifications. As he got his men into position for their attack, Jackson listened to the sound of axes. “The chopping continued. General Hill rejoined Jackson’s party,” Tate writes. “There was no talk; only the steady chopping in the distance.”

Tate similarly turns to the industrialism and scientism in which he criticized Northerners for having placed too much confidence. Bitterness turns to humor as the author describes Hooker’s elaborate aerial reconnaissance and telegraph systems: “As the sun rose on the morning of May 1st a dense fog around Fredericksburg hid the Confederate movements from Sedgwick’s aeronauts; the telegraph broke down.”

Then there is Stonewall himself.

Tate sees the famed Confederate chieftain’s violent determination to kill the enemy as the kind of

resolution Southerners would have to adopt in opposing the materialism and industrialism of the modern North. Jackson’s strong religious faith also serves the author; Stonewall was “the good soldier,” as he put it in his subtitle. Tate quotes the general before a battle as predicting victory “by the vigorous use of the bayonet, and the blessing of divine Providence.” Jackson was the embodiment of “active faith,” a concept Tate adopted to reflect the kind of religion he maintained that Southerners should practice. When Tate asserted that “the South would not have been defeated had she possessed a sufficient faith in her own kind of God,” as he wrote in an essay, “Religion and the Old South,” he was thinking of Stonewall’s God. Active faith meant unswerving confidence and unbridled courage—“mystical optimism,” as Tate put it. The author tells of the moment at Chancellorsville when word reached Jackson that a Federal sortie had cut the Confederate army in two: “Jackson gave the calamity as much attention as he would have given the news that a war-canoe full of South Sea Islanders was setting out to capture Richmond!”

Even in death, Stonewall Jackson is Tate’s metaphoric hero. “Doctor, Anna tells me I am to die today. Is it so?” he asks Dr. McGuire. “Yes,” was the reply. “Very good, very good,” Stonewall says; “it is all right.” Jackson’s calm acceptance of his life’s end is a basic element of active faith. An aging Confederate says it best in Tate’s poem, “To the Lacedemonians,” when he observes, “there is no civilization

without death….It is a privilege to be dead.” For Confederate soldiers, and for Jackson particularly, death in the heroic tradition is sublime—in striking contrast to moderners’ abhorrence and fear of their mortality.

Reading Allen Tate’s Stonewall Jackson in these ways helps one consider the question of Tate’s life and career: how could a Southern intellectual become so enamored of the Confederate cause? In April 1927, Tate wrote his friend Donald Davidson that he had contracted with a New York publisher for his proposed work on Jackson. He closed his letter by writing, “Since I’m convinced that the South would have won had Jackson not been killed,

I’m doing a stirring partisan account of the Revolution. The Stars & Bars forever!”

Davidson closed his letter of reply: “Yes, I’m all for you. We’ll whup the Yankees yet.”

Stephen Davis’ article, “Simply Criminal,” on the battle of Pickett’s Mill, appears in the May 2019 issue of America’s Civil War. Civil War News of January 2019 also carried Steve’s article about an incident of that battle—how Union soldiers complained that all the bugling from Willich’s brigade alerted Confederates of their march to Pickett’s Mill. He and Bill Hendrick are working on a book on the Atlanta Daily intelligencer, leading wartime newspaper in the city.

“The Death of ‘Stonewall’ Jackson.” 1872 lithograph by Currier & Ives. (Library of Congress)

Match The Number With The Letter

D. Solid shot heated in a furnace to set fires among wooden targets.

E. A place of refuge from artillery fire.

F. A road surface constructed of small tree trunks, laid down in muddy or swampy areas.

G. An inferior wool that fell apart soon after issue, used in early Union uniforms.

H. Soldiers incapacitated by wounds or sickness but still on duty.

I. An elevated area on the outskirts of Fredericksburg, Va.

J. A nickname for newspaper correspondents who traveled with an army.

Answers found on page 42.

Steve Davis is the Civil War News Book Review Editor. He can be contacted by email at: SteveATL1861@yahoo.com.

A First-hand Account of the Daily Life of Soldiers in the Army of Northern Virginia

A South Carolina Upcountry Saga: The Civil War Letters of Barham Bobo Foster and his Family 1860–1863. Edited by A. Gibert Kennedy. Maps, photos, notes, index, 360 pages, 2019. University of South Carolina Press, www.sc.edu/uscpress. $49.95 hardbound.

Reviewed by Tom Elmore

of a female drill officer from a Zouave regiment.

But as the war goes on, things did not go as well as the men expected. Perhaps no other topic takes up more of the letters than the subject of disease. The writers and/or the men in their units contracted just about every illness one could imagine: the measles, mumps, typhoid, diphtheria, dysentery, etc., which took the lives of many of their comrades in arms. Also, price gouging was a common occurrence, both at home and in camp, while requests for clothes and swords were frequent. Food was a constant problem as well.

Anyone looking for new insight into any of the major figures of the war will be disappointed, though Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard’s name is constantly misspelled as “Boureguard.”

The letters to home end on December 10, 1862, prior to the battle of Fredericksburg.

reasons. Tony was killed in action at the battle of Maryland Heights on September 13, 1862, while Capt. Lewis Foster was killed in action at Fredericksburg. The last letters from Lewis read like they were written by a different person from the one who boasted about the Confederate army a year and a half earlier; the grim realities and uncertainties of war had set in.

On the whole, this collection of letters gives a fascinating and interesting look into the Army of Northern Virginia in the war’s early years from the eyes of men living in camp. Anyone interested in life in the Confederate army should read this book.

The Foster family first arrived in upstate South Carolina in the 1790s. By the 1820s the family owned a successful (and still-standing) inn and tavern in what is now Spartanburg (John C. Calhoun was a frequent guest) as well as a plantation in Cross Anchor, S.C. Barham Bobo Foster was born in the tavern in 1817. Twenty years later he was married and had settled down on a plantation near Glenn Springs, S.C. He served in the state militia, the South Carolina state legislature and was a county treasurer.

The letters start with the South Carolina Secession Convention in Charleston in December 1860 and are written primarily by Foster, who served as a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army, and by his sons Capt. Lewis Perrin Foster and Corporal James “Tony” Anthony Foster. They are arranged chronologically.

In the earliest letters we see the sons training in Charleston and Columbia. As was typical of letters written in this very early stage of the war, they are full of bravado and optimism. Upon his arrival in Virginia, Lewis wrote, “I have never seen such soldiers than I have of the confederate army. Most of them volunteers for 2 years or the war. They seem resolute and determined to do or die. They never seem to doubt their success and I don’t think such men can be whipped at all.” Interestingly, Lewis makes note

Lt. Col. B. B. Foster resigned his commission in late Januaryearly February 1862 for medical

Tom Elmore’s family has lived in South Carolina’s upstate for over two centuries, and it is very likely that some of his ancestors knew some of the people mentioned in this book. Currently Elmore is studying the lives of Irish and Scottish immigrants living in his home town of Columbia during the antebellum period.

Titles By Stephen Davis

A Long and Bloody Task

The Atlanta Campaign from Dalton through Kennesaw Mountain to the Chattahoochee River May 5–July 18, 1864

Davis’ narrative history of the Atlanta Campaign is divided into two paperbacks from Savas Beatie’s Emerging Civil War Series. Volume One, A Long and Bloody Task, carries Sherman’s forces from Dalton in northwest Georgia to the Chattahoochee River. There the Confederate government was forced to relieve its army commander, Joseph E. Johnston, and replace him with Gen. John B. Hood.

Paperback, 192 pages. $14.95 + $4.95 shipping

All the Fighting They Want

The Atlanta Campaign from Peachtree Creek to the City’s Surrender July 18–September 2, 1864

With the Yankee army five miles outside of Atlanta, Hood promised not to give up with city without a fight— which is all President Jefferson Davis asked. Davis’ companion volume, All the Fighting They Want, describes Hood’s efforts to defend Atlanta. Its fall in early September 1864 was a mortal blow to Confederate hopes for independence and a big boost to Lincoln’s hopes for presidential reelection.

Paperback, 192 pages. $14.95 + $4.95 shipping

To order a signed copy from author Stephen Davis call 404.735.8447 or email SteveATL1861@yahoo.com

Book with Three Stories About One Place

Palmito Ranch: From Civil War Battlefield to National Historic Landmark. By Jody Edward Ginn and William Alexander McWhorter. Maps, photos, index, bibliography, endnotes, 116 pp., 2018. Texas A & M University Press, www.tamupress.com. $26 flexbound.

Reviewed by William Bozic

In 2001 Philip Thomas Tucker published The Final Fury: Palmito Ranch, The Last Battle of the Civil War. Tucker’s work was the first book to deal exclusively with this subject, but according to the authors, Tucker’s groundbreaking work fell short from its lack of support for some assertions with primary evidence.

In 2002 Jeffrey William Hunt authored The Last Battle of the Civil War, which was exhaustively researched and documented, and probably would have been the last word on the topic, except that Hunt did not have access to the John S. “Rip” Ford papers held at the Haley Memorial Library in Midland, Texas.

multicultural, and international aspects.” This reviewer also felt a map showing the approximate positions and units during the battle would have been a big help.

Joseph and Sandy Holt: Intersecting Lives

If asked, many Civil War buffs would say the last battle was fought at Appomattox Courthouse, but the final battle of the epic struggle was fought on May 12 -13, 1865 on and around a hill overlooking a strategic bend in the Rio Grande River. In eight chapters authors Jody Edward Ginn and William Alexander McWhorter tell the stories of the battles and preservation efforts at this site, as well as settle on the proper name of “Palmito Ranch” for the location which has been known as Palmito Hill, Palmetto Ranch and Palmetto Hill.

Jody Edward Ginn and William Alexander McWhorter researched the Ford papers and discovered that another, previously unknown battle had been fought at the site on September 6-12, 1864. This important and intriguing battle involved Union troops aided by Mexican artillery under command of Juan N. Cortina firing across the Rio Grande. The Confederates won the battle and captured some of Cortina’s Mexican troops. According to the authors, there are documents in the Ford papers to show that Juan Cortina’s soldiers were sent to a POW camp near Houston, Texas.

Ginn and McWhorter aptly state the shortcomings in their narrative at the end of the chapter: “while far more research is necessary to fully understand this battle and the forces that fought there, the work to date demonstrates the forgotten battlefield’s significance and how it adds to the nation’s understanding of the Civil War through its military,

Small Talk Trivia Answers

The May 12-13, 1865 battle involved the 62nd U.S. Colored Troops, 34th Indiana Volunteer Infantry and 2nd Texas Cavalry (US) vs. John Ford’s troops, predominantly consisting of Giddings’ and Carter’s battalions of Texas Confederate Cavalry, which included “Tejanos, American Indians, Anglos, Portuguese, Irish, Germans, Africans, and Danes” of military age. Ginn and McWhorter debunk many of the myths of the battle. They specifically address Colonel Barrett’s leadership of the 34th Indiana, Confederate flanking movements, the steadfast coverage of the Federal retreat by the 62nd U.S.C.T. They take particular notice of the Texans’ zeal and bravado in fighting for a cause that by then they knew was lost. Pvt. Ferdinand Gerring of Carter’s Texas Cavalry Battalion (who was mortally wounded) and Pvt. John J. Williams of the 34th Indiana are denoted as the final Confederate and Union casualties of the war.

The third aspect of this book is the battle after the battle to save the battleground, involving a number of government agencies, private landowners and various Texas state agencies. McWhorter and Ginn were integral parts of this process due to their association with Texas state agencies. They give amazing insight into the details of what it took to have this long neglected and vandalized battlefield, which still retains its physical integrity, to be both preserved and interpreted. Those interested in battlefield preservation will find a great case study, complete with twists, turns and unexpected events, which could serve as a guide for future projects. There are plenty of color photos in this section, as well as pictures of some of the historical markers and their locations from the past to the present, so readers who may not be able to travel to this remote location can get an impression of what it is like.

William Bozic is currently a seasonal employee of the National Park Service assigned to Minute Man National Historical Park. He is in the final stage of researching for his book Indianola Incidents: The Union Occupation of Indianola Texas 1863-4. William and his wife Julissa are the parents of four children and owners of one Labrador/ Husky with a severe case of ADHD.

Slaves, Slaveholders and a Kentucky Community’s Struggle Toward Freedom. By Elizabeth D. Leonard. Notes, bibliography, index, 178 pp. 2019. University Press of Kentucky, kentuckypress.com. $50 cloth.

Reviewed by Wayne L. Wolf

Holt remained Adjutant General until his retirement in 1875. He then continued as an advocate for full citizenship rights for Black Americans and their protection from discrimination. He employed several of his former slaves and even purchased homes for them. Conversely, Sandy Holt, after his discharge in February 1866, returned to Breckenridge County, resumed farm labor, married and started a family. In 1885 he began applying for a disability pension due to war-related illnesses. The pension was finally granted in 1896, three weeks after his death. Sandy’s widow, Sarah, was left indigent and survived on a widow’s pension until her death three decades later.

Holt’s Bottom, Breckenridge County, Kentucky produced both Joseph Holt, Abraham Lincoln’s Adjutant General, and Sandy Holt, one of the Holt family slaves. Using the lives of these two men, Elizabeth Leonard attempts to use Holt’s Bottom as a microcosm for viewing Joseph Holt’s transformation from an aristocratic slaveholder in Kentucky’s elite class to an ardent abolitionist—a proponent of the Union and full citizenship and equality for Black Americans. Sandy Holt is the runaway slave of the Holt family who joins the 118th U.S.C.T. and fights as a private for his freedom throughout the war.

Joseph Holt’s ardent attachment to the Union and his evolving hatred for secessionists and slavery propel him into a high profile and influential role as an opponent of both slavery and white supremacy. While this position ingratiated him to Abraham Lincoln and Radical Republicans in Congress, it alienated him from his family, his roots and even his early views on slavery. Sandy Holt’s story is characterized as a representative struggle for freedom for all blacks. His military service included the battle of Dutch Gap, Va. as well as various assignments guarding railroads and fortifications while battling disease and squalid living conditions.

After the Civil War, Joseph

Elizabeth Leonard uses the story of these two men to focus on the different paths their lives took before, during and after the war. The essence of the book’s message is thus how white America needed to adjust to a new world of black equality and how tension between these two communities intersected and needed to be resolved.

While thoroughly researched, this book fails to fulfill its aim of explaining how Kentucky struggled to reconcile these differences. Short biographical snippets of other members of the 118th U.S.C.T. never go beyond family data to address the complexities of reconciliation. For a more thorough understanding of the aftermath of the war on Kentucky, two books are highly recommended: Anne E. Marshall’s Creating a Confederate Kentucky (2010) and Marion B. Lucas’ A History of Blacks in Kentucky: From Slavery to Segregation (2003). Additionally, Leonard flirts with fictional writing when she hypothesizes what the characters thought, meant and felt without any historical evidence to support her conclusions.

Leonard’s book is a welldocumented look into the two intersecting lives of Joseph and Sandy Holt, but at a cost of $50 it would be justified only for those specializing in regional history.

Wayne L. Wolf is Professor Emeritus at South Suburban College in Illinois and the author of numerous books and articles on the Civil War. He currently is seeking previously unpublished letters and diaries that tell the story of the common soldier.

A Fascinating First-hand Account of Pure Hell

James Riley Weaver’s Civil War: The Diary of a Union Cavalry Officer and Prisoner of War, 1863–1865. Edited by John T. Schlotterbeck, Wesley W. Wilson, Midori Kawaue and Harold A. Klingensmith. One appendix, notes, select bibliography, index, biographical chronology, 352pp., 2019. Kent State University Press, www.kentstateuniversitypress.com. $49.95 cloth.

Reviewed by David Marshall

The Iron Horse: Lincoln’s Long-time Friend

In his accurate and detailed journal, the well-educated soldier tells the story with poignant vignettes of anguish and death. Weaver records war news, exchange rumors, civilian visitors, escape plots, comments on prison guards, mock elections and social pleasures.

New York and the Lincoln Specials. By Joseph D. Collea. Illustrations, maps, appendices, chapter notes, bibliography,index, 295 pp., 2018. McFarland, www.mcfarlandpub.com. $39.95 softcover.

Reviewed by Richard J. Blumberg

to the end of the 1850s, Lincoln was regarded as one of Illinois’ premier railroad attorneys.

as the great leader was being escorted to his final resting place.

James Weaver, son of a Pennsylvania farmer, fervent Methodist and educator, enlisted as a private in the 18th Pennsylvania Cavalry in October 1862 on his twenty-first birthday. This brave man was quickly promoted to sergeant major, second lieutenant and first lieutenant. Every evening from June 1, 1863 to April 1, 1865, Weaver wrote an account of his day in his leather diary, with observations on activities, people, and the state of his health and mind. He thus provides 666 days of diary entries that document the life of a Union officer during the conflict, in which he was held in seven Confederate officers’ prisons, including Libby Prison in Richmond.

Captured on October 11, 1863 at Brandy Station, Weaver was sent to Libby. While officers received better treatment than privates, they also suffered the psychological and physical consequences of lengthy confinement.

Libby Prison, however, was but the initial and the lengthiest (October 1863-May 1864) of Weaver’s seventeen months as a POW. This time included Danville, Virginia (May 1864); Macon, Georgia (MayJuly 1864); Charleston, South Carolina (July-October 1864); and Columbia, South Carolina (October 1864-March 14, 1865; released from Camp Asylum). He offers detailed explanations of the landscape of incarceration at each location. He tells fascinating stories of new prisoners and recaptured escapees. Even brief moments looking at the free countryside through windows of railroad cars revealed a little of the outside world which helped Weaver to survive. His diary ends with his conditional release in March 1865, his repatriation and measured transition from soldier to civilian.

A fascinating first-hand account of pure hell, James Riley Weaver’s Civil War tells how one man survived it. It is moving, informative, detailed and vivid. A real plus is the book’s twenty-seven illustrations Additionally, readers will gain from reading the appendix: Weaver’s “A Phi Psi’s Christmas in Libby.”

There are many books on the horrors of the Confederate prisons, but James Weaver’s diary stands out for its graphic detail of what he suffered. This intense, eloquent account based on Weaver’s prison diary is pricey, but a must-read for students of the subject.

David Marshall has been a high school American history teacher in the Miami-Dade school district for the past thirty-two years. He is president of the Miami Civil War Roundtable Book Club.

After completing his term in Congress, Abraham Lincoln returned to his Illinois law firm. Tired of being a junior partner without much hope of career advancement, Lincoln asked his partner William Herndon to join him in private practice. In the early 1850s, Lincoln focused on railroad case law. During the middle

In addition to case law, railroads played a significant role throughout Lincoln’s life. He traveled by rail from Springfield, Ill. to Washington to assume the presidency. After the first battle of Manassas, Lincoln accurately assessed railroads as a strategic tactical and logistical tool of warfare that would directly affect the conduct of the Civil War. Ultimately, the railroad would transport him back home for burial.

Collea’s work is unique. It documents two special train rides that Lincoln took through the state of New York. Although this work has a very narrow focus, it achieves its goal of comparing and contrasting two presidential rail trips.

The first trip, a 1,631-mile, 83stop journey from Springfield to Washington, enabled Lincoln to accept the presidency. It was filled with joy, anticipation and exhilaration. Collea provides background information on logistical issues and crowd responses at the various towns where the train stopped.

The second trip was the funeral train taking Lincoln back to Springfield from Washington. It was full of sadness and mourning,

Details about both trips were gleaned from a variety of newspaper accounts, diaries, memoirs and other primary sources. Collea’s use of illustrations and maps is very effective. He provides his readers with an inside view of what it was like to be a passenger on these trains, or the local citizens awaiting the train’s arrival at the various stations.

Railroad enthusiasts will enjoy the detailed narratives about railroad operations, logistics and security issues. The Empire State is an interesting choice to focus on since New York made significant contributions to the Civil War in both men and materiel. Additionally, the state was a hotbed for abolitionist activities and the location of several terminal points of the Underground Railroad.

This reviewer is not aware of any other work similar to this one, and Collea’s extensive research makes this work compelling.

Richard Blumberg, of Spring Tex., is entering his eighteenth year as a book reviewer for Civil War News. His current research focuses on the contributions of music during the Civil War.

“Hidden evidence, a look inside”

Civil War Artillery Projectiles – The Half Shell Book.

By Jack W. Melton Jr. Full color photographs, glossary, bibliography, selected patents, index, 392 pp., 2018. Historical Publications LLC. www. ArtillerymanMagazine.com. $89.95 hardbound.

Reviewed by Peter A. Frandsen

and most importantly, highly informative. At the same time they are almost works of art and are the best yet in any artillery book. What is amazing is that the majority of the photographic illustrations consist of artillery projectiles expertly cut in half showing the working contents of the mean part of the artillery weapons system, a subject one might have presumed to be somewhat boring. Not so, and certainly not so after reading this book.

efficiency of an artillery system designed to control the battlefield with firepower. The focus here is on what is inside the projectile, especially the all-important payload. This information clearly validates the book’s promotional tag line that is no puffery: “hidden evidence, a look inside.”

with only the greatest caution.

Many people are deservedly credited with advancing the study of these projectiles, but Jack Melton has brought it all together.

What immediately strikes the reader opening this fabulous book is the graphics on virtually any page. The illustrations are large, sharp, clear, detailed

The projectile is the real working part of artillery. To the uninformed viewer, from the outside most Civil War-era projectiles look pretty much the same—stained brownish-black balls or pointed cylinders with maybe a fuse opening, a joint line, and some other odd bits and markings. Cleanly bisected, one can see how complicated these projectiles were, thus providing real insight into not only how artillery works, but the materials, design and manufacturing science of mid-19th century America.

It shows the amazing variety of products and ingenuity of American (and some European) inventors to increase the

Usually, each projectile gets a page with one or more illustrations and text; however, the more important projectiles receive several pages with multiple illustrations, lengthier text, and a copy of the original patent filed with the government as appropriate.

The late Cleveland “Corky” Huey of South Carolina cut most of the projectiles over a twentyyear span. He used a band saw and very, very carefully cut the projectiles in half, sanded, and then coated the exposed surfaces to protect them. His machine shop work was also a work of art as shown by photographs. As author Col. John F. Biemeck (Ret.) warned repeatedly in his massive multi-volume Encyclopedia of Black Powder Projectiles, dissecting or playing with loaded projectiles is extremely dangerous and should be undertaken

There are a total of 850 modern and historical photographs, drawings, radiographs and original patents. The author, and his indefatigable wife Peggy, took the photographs with studio-quality results. Reproduction is of high quality. The photographs, with their captions and tags, impart abundant information about the projectiles; the accompanying text adds more.

The primary source material for this book is its subject: the actual shot, shell, fuses and associated implements. Second, copies of the original patents are used to enhance and explain the projectiles. Third, published accounts including manuals, official reports and histories of the designers, manufacturers and end-users add further detail. Finally, some battle histories and secondary sources round out the story. All of this is reflected in the extensive footnoting and bibliography.

Full disclosure must be made

by this reviewer, who assessed the book’s extensive bibliography prior to publication. Jack W. Melton Jr., author of The Half Shell Book, publishes Civil War News and The Artilleryman magazine. The author modestly entered the artillery projectile writing business with Melton & Pawl’s Guide to Civil War Artillery Projectiles (1996) by Jack W. Melton Jr. & Lawrence E. Pawl, along with their earlier Introduction to Field Artillery Ordnance, 1861–1865 (1994). This new work clearly surpasses the earlier ones in both detail and weight of material.

This large-sized and weighty (literally) work is printed on glossy paper, further insuring high-fidelity reproduction of photos and artwork. The Half Shell Book is essential to anyone interested in Civil War-era artillery or armament engineering. It raises the bar for serious illustrated military reference works.

Peter A. Frandsen, of Silver Spring, MD, writes the regular column “The Artillery Bookshelf” for The Artilleryman Magazine.

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Deadlines for Advertising, Editorial or Events Submissions

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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

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 livefire event in the country. Free admission, large sutler area, and food service. For information; www.n-ssa.org.

41st Annual Southeastern Civil War Antique Gun Show

May 18-19, Virginia, Reenactment

Come join us for the 155th Anniversary Battle of New Market Reenactment, the nation’s oldest continual reenactment fought on the original battlefield. Reenactment battles held at 2:30 on Saturday, May 18th and at 1:00 on Sunday the 19th. Learn about the action in which 257 Cadets from the Virginia Military Institute made the difference between victory and defeat. Be sure to visit the Virginia Museum of the Civil War, the historic Bushong Farm and don’t forget to stroll through the camps or buying that special 19th century item on Sutler’s Row. For information: https://www.vmi.edu/museums-and-archives/virginia-museum-of-the-civil-war.

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.

May 31-June 2, West Virginia. Battle of Philippi Reenactment

Walk through the Covered Bridge that was a focus of McClellan’s Campaign in Western Virginia and the town that was the site of the first land battle of the War. Grant, Stonewall, Mark Twain to visit. Friday: Walking History, firemen’s parade, music. Saturday: Ladies tea, little soldiers’ battle, skirmish at bridge, reenactor’s dinner, ball, night canon fire, and skirmish. Sunday: 1861 church service, battle on original site. Simulated amputations throughout the weekend. For information; blueandgrayreunion.org and on Facebook.

June 1-2, Pennsylvania. Lehigh Valley Civil War Days

The 11th Camp Geiger Reenactment will be held at Whitehall Pkwy., Whitehall, Pa. There will be a battle reenactment each day. This will include fighting in trenches and a tactical. Living History Street. Medical demos, historical personages, children’s activities and more. Period music and speakers each day. Sat. evening period dance. Sutlers and food vendor will be on site to serve reenactors and spectators. Water & wood is provided. Ice & straw available for small fee. Sutlers by invitation only. Registration fees – $10 until May 15, $15 after May 15. Sutler fees – $50 until Apr. 15, $75 Apr. 15 – May 15. No sutler registration after May 15. For information and registration forms visit our website at www.friendsofcampgeiger.webs.com.

June 1-2, Virginia. 155th Anniversary – The Action at Wilson’s Wharf

Pocahontas was the site of the May 24, 1864 Action in which United States Colored Troops defended the fort they built against an assault by Fitzhugh Lee’s Confederate Cavalry. Open to the public 10-4 Sat. and 10-3 Sun. $10/adults, $8/students. Battle reenactments 1 p.m. both days. Civil War living history weekend including a dress parade, mortar demonstration and family activities. For reenactors: campsites with James River views, Proud Hound Commissary, Friday night Officer’s Social, Saturday night live music, artillery fire and tactical. Free T-shirts. Discounted early registration by May 24. www.fortpocahontas.org.

June 1-2, Pennsylvania. Civil War Event at Pennypacker Mills

Daily battle, artillery demonstrations, military encampments, Civilian Street demos, performance on Sat. by the 28th PA Regimental Brass Band, music & songs on Sun. by Matthew Dodd. Herb Kaufman will speak on Civil War medicine. Mansion tours, museum shop and food vendor onsite. Free to the public. $2/person until May 1. $10/ person after May 1. Under 16, Free. Sutlers’ fee $25.00. Free firewood, water, straw & cake on Sat. For information 610-287-9349. Registration forms at www.ppmcivilwar.org.

June 8-9, Mississippi. Civil War Relic Show

Brandon’s 5th Interactive Civil War Relic Show sponsored by SCV Camp #265 will be held at City Hall located at 1000 Municipal Drive, Brandon. For information; contact Tim Cupit at 769-234-2966 or timcupit@comcast.net.

June 29-30, Pennsylvania. Civil War Show

Sat. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Eisenhower Hotel & Conference Center Allstar Expo Complex, 2638 Emmitsburg Road, Gettysburg. The Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association’s Artifact and Collector’s Show features more than 200 vendors and over 300 tables of artifacts, swords, firearms, correspondence, books, photographs, documents and much more. Daily admission: Adults: $8. Children 12 and under free. Vendors contact: bsynnamon@gmail.com or call 717-334-2350. For more information visit www.uniondb.com or www.gbpa.org. Email: info@gbpa.org.

July 20, Virginia. 155th Anniversary Commemoration

On Saturday, July 20, Shenandoah University’s McCormick Civil War Institute will commemorate the 155th anniversary of the Battle of Cool Spring at the University’s Cool Spring Campus, 1400 Parker Lane, Bluemont, Va. This event, free and open to the public, will feature a morning walking tour of the battle with Jonathan Noyalas (Shenandoah University). The afternoon will feature presentations by Jennifer Murray (Oklahoma State University) and Jonathan White (Christopher Newport University). At 3 p.m. MCWI will unveil “Through Their Eyes: An Augmented Reality Experience at Cool Spring.” No pre-registration required. Questions, email jnoyalas01@su.edu or 540-665-4501.

July 23-28, Maryland. Conference, Antietam: The Bloodiest Day

Featuring Ted Alexander, Scott Hartwig, Tom Clemens, Carol Reardon, Dennis Frye, John Michael Priest, Steve Recker, John Schildt and others based in Hagerstown, Md. Join us for the largest Antietam conference ever held led by expert historians! Detailed battlefield walks and specialized tours of the campaign such as Crampton’s Gap, Harpers Ferry, the C&O Canal during wartime, the Battle of Shepherdstown and more. Talks also given by the historians listed above. The full itinerary & pricing available on www.CivilWarSeminars.org.

July 27-28, Tennessee. Civil War Show and Sale

American Digger® Magazine’s Chattanooga Civil War & Artifact Show, Camp Jordan Arena, 323 Camp Jordan Pkwy., East Ridge, Tenn. For information contact 770-362-8671 or 716-574-0465; email anita@americandigger.com or kesmas@localnet.com.

Aug. 3, Alabama. 155th Battle of Mobile Bay Commemorative Day

The well-preserved ramparts of Fort Gaines have guarded the entrance to Mobile Bay for more than 160 years. Now a fascinating historic site, the Fort stands at the eastern tip of Dauphin Island where it commands panoramic views of the bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The event highlights Fort Gaines integral role in the Battle of Mobile Bay. The cannon will be fired every forty-five minutes in honor of the soldiers that fought in this pivotal battle. A living history day for the whole family. Demonstrations will be held all day in the Fort’s Blacksmith Shop.

Aug. 10-11, Georgia. Civil War Show and Sale

41st Annual show in Marietta at the Cobb County Civic Center, 548 S. Marietta Parkway, S.E., Marietta, Ga. 30060, hosted by the North Ga. Relic Hunters. $5 for adults; kids free. For more information see our ad on this page or visit www.NGRHA.com.

Aug. 31 & Sept. 1, New York. Reenactment

Civil War Reenactment at Museum Village, 1010 State Route 17M, Monroe, NY 10950. Looking for reenactors. Application is available at www.museumvillage.org. For information; Contact Christine Egan, 845-782-8248, ext. 5.

Sept. 21-22, Pennsylvania. Fall Farm Skirmish

Historic Daniel Lady Farm, 1008 Hanover St. Gettysburg, Pa. Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

In honor of its 60th Anniversary, the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association will host a live action and living history program that will include Confederate and Union encampments and skirmishing on the hallowed ground of the Historic Daniel Lady Farm in Gettysburg. Over 500 reenactors will present the Battle of Antietam’s “Bloody Lane” along with a cavalry reenactment and other clashes during the two-day program. Adults: $15 for a one-day pass and $25 for a two-day pass. Children 15 and under free. Includes tours of the historic Daniel Lady farmhouse and

barn. For information, www.gbpa.org. Email: events@gbpa.org.

Sept. 28, Pennsylvania. Ride for Monument Preservation

Soldier’s Grove, Pennsylvania Capitol Building East Wing. The 19th Annual Ride for the Monuments from Harrisburg to Gettysburg is sponsored by the Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Education (A.B.A.T.E.). It supports the Pennsylvania Gettysburg Monuments Trust for maintenance and upkeep of more than 140 monuments and markers on the battlefield that memorialize the actions of Pennsylvania troops. A portion also benefits upkeep of the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association’s Historic Daniel Lady Farm. Registration begins at 11 a.m. outside the State Capitol Building’s East Wing. Welcoming ceremony: 12:15 p.m. Ride departure: 1 p.m. Open to all interested riders. Rain or shine. Registration $10. For information, www. gbpa.org and www.abatepa.org.

Sept. 29, Illinois. Civil War Show and Sale

Zurko Promotions presents The National Civil War Collectors Fall 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

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