‘The Source’ Gettysburg Section Civil War News, July 2018

2018

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: • PRESERVING AMERICA’S MOST FAMOUS BATTLEFIELD BY JIM LIGHTHIZER • MARY THOMPSON - ROBERT E. LEE’S HOSTESS BY CARL L. SELL JR • GETTYSBURG REVISITED: STILL CONSECRATING AND HALLOWING THAT GROUND BY HAROLD HOLZER • THE PENNSYLVANIA RESERVES: BACK IN THE FIGHT BY JOSEPH F. WILSON • NEW YORK DRAFT RIOTS BY JOE MIECZKOWSKI • RESEARCHING CIVIL WAR ANCESTORS BY MICHAEL K. SHAFFER • CONTAMINATION FACED BY THE TOWNSPEOPLE OF GETTYSBURG BY MIKE SHOVLIN • ALFRED R. WAUD AND THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG BY SALVATORE CILELLA • COLONEL OF THE GALLANT 4TH TEXAS REMEMBERED BY SHANNON PRITCHARD • ESKIMOS AT GETTYSBURG TRANSLATED BY THOMAS P. LOWRY

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Civil War News 24th Annual Gettysburg Section

2 Gettysburg

July 2018

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Civil War News 24th Annual Gettysburg Section

10 Gettysburg

Researching Civil War Ancestors Readers of this publication have an interest in the American Civil War, and like many folks, perhaps the initial thirst to learn more about the conflict stemmed from family stories of an ancestor who wore the blue or the gray. In this article, we explore some of the research tools, that can help one learn more about a family member’s wartime service. The various methods examined work whether looking for a Federal or a Confederate ancestor and equally apply regardless of the branch of service and if the soldier carried rank or served on the frontlines.

In keeping with the upcoming anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, this writer selected Lieutenant Alonzo Cushing, who during the July 1863 battle, served with Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, II Corps, in the Army of the Potomac. Cushing lost his life on day three at Gettysburg while working one of his guns near the copse of trees—the focal point of the Pickett/Pettigrew/Trimble Charge.

Tracing the military service of one’s ancestor can result in an exciting venture. The more information one possesses upfront, the better one’s chances of yielding accurate results. While we could explore Cushing’s early-life in Wisconsin, via Census records and other data found at www.ancestry. com (a subscription site), we will focus exclusively on his wartime service. A subsidiary of Ancestry, Fold3 www.fold3. com, also a subscription site, generally serves as an excellent place to begin. Although Fold3

offers many Civil War databases, the “Service Records’ section marks a good jumping-off point.

Running a search on Cushing produced many results. The sample shown represents but one—a letter Cushing wrote in 1862, requesting to remain with the 4th U.S. Artillery.

Another subscription site, www. civilwardata.com, contains millions of records on Federal and Confederate soldiers, as well as descriptions of regimental assignments and location history.

The National Park Service offers, via their Soldiers and Sailors Database, at www. https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/ soldiers-and-sailors-database. htm, a free-service containing over six million records. All of the websites as mentioned earlier provide a search function, and with Fold3, the ability to download files, or bookmark them to your research folder on the site.

Regimental histories serve as a good source for learning more about the various actions of any particular unit, as do biographies or autobiographies. For example, Kent Masterson Brown authored a work on Cushing, Cushing of Gettysburg: The Story of a Union Artillery Commander, and many books exist on the artillery at Gettysburg, with several containing excellent maps of where the various batteries unlimbered on the battlefield. Of course, any of the myriad books written on the battle over the years will also prove helpful.

Studying campaigns, battles, or researching one’s ancestor

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Many sources exist, offering wartime maps, or modern maps created to reflect troop positions and movements. One excellent source, the Library of Congress (a free site), which provides a ‘Civil War Maps’ section. Users can find this collection at https:// www.loc.gov/collections/civilwar-maps. The map shown indicates troop positions on day three at Gettysburg. The American Battlefield Trust (formerly the Civil War Trust), https://www.battlefields.org, also provides many detailed maps. At both sites, researchers can download their findings.

The Battlefield Trust also offers several mobile apps for use on smartphones. These apps serve as electronic tour guides; open them when on the battlefield and learn more about the fighting, location of various units, and even locate markers identifying the troops who fought over 150

years ago. Currently, apps exist for Gettysburg, Antietam, Shiloh, and many others, with additional apps in the works. Users can download, for free, for iPhones or Android devices.

Period newspapers offer insight into wartime actions (although sometimes not reported with a high-degree of accuracy) and several institutions have digitized various newspapers and placed them online. A free source, the Library of Congress, https://chroniclingamerica.loc. gov, offers one example. Several subscription sites provide databases of papers from the war.

GenealogyBank, at https://www. genealogybank.com/explore/ newspapers/all, and Newspapers. com at https://www.newspapers. com, contain thousands of period newspapers. A search for Cushing at Gettysburg yielded, among others, the headline shown from a Boston newspaper.

Using Cushing—a more wellknown officer, especially after he received the Medal of Honor in 2014—yields several websites containing information on his military history. Individuals researching their ancestors will most likely not find the same type results, especially for soldiers in the ranks. A couple of the more notable sites containing pages on Cushing, include the United States Army at https:// www.army.mil/medalofhonor/ cushing/, and the National Park Service, https://www.nps. gov/gett/learn/historyculture/

July 2018 cushing-at-gettysburg.htm.

Often, some of the most informative information on Civil War soldiers exists at the various grave locator websites.

Genealogists and others maintain these sites and include pictures of the final resting place, along with known information on the individual. The more popular sites: www.findagrave.com and www.billiongraves.com. Many other sources exist, which can help in tracing your Civil War ancestors, and http://www. worldcat.org will aid in finding books in a library near your location. The various links listed below will assist in researching your Civil War ancestors, whether they fought at Gettysburg, or engaged in a minor skirmish in some backwater region. Good luck and have fun!

Michael K. Shaffer, who writes a monthly column for Civil War News on using primary source material to research the Civil War, is a Civil War historian, author, frequent lecturer, and instructor.

He is a member of the Society of Civil War Historians, Historians of the Civil War Western Theater, and the Georgia Association of Historians.

Readers may contact him at mkscdr11@gmail.com, or to request speaking engagements via his website www. civilwarhistorian.net.

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

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Warrenton, Va. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner and staff. Lieut. Alonzo Cushing is standing second from far right. (Library of Congress)

July 2018

Civil War News 24th Annual Gettysburg Section

Gettysburg 11

Boston Christian Watchman, August 13, 1863.

1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing, 4th U.S. Artillery.

(Library of Congress)

Map of Gettysburg on Day Three.

(Library of Congress)

Transcription of Cushing’s Fold3 Letter Bolivar, Va Oct. 11th 1862

Cushing’s gravesite at West Point Cemetery, N.Y.

(Dawziecat)

Cushing 1862 letter from Fold3.

Colonel I have the honor to respectfully report that at the time I gave my consent to be transferred to the Topographical Engineers I was serving as a subaltern in a light battery. I can now have command of a battery in the 4th Arty. and under existing circumstances would consider it much more to my advantage to remain in the regiment.

I therefore respectfully and earnestly request that if not too late I may be allowed to withdraw my consent to be transferred.

I have the honor to be Colonel Very Respectfully Your Obdt. Servt.

A.H. Cushing

The Following Websites are Invaluable Resources General Sources (free unless otherwise noted) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

www.fold3.com (subscription) www.ancestry.com (subscription) www.civilwardata.com (subscription) National Park Service Soldiers & Sailors Database: www.https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm, The Official Records: http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/m/moawar/index.html Atlas to the Official Records: www.loc.gov/item/03003452 Library of Congress Civil War Maps: https://www.loc.gov/collections/civil-war-maps ProQuest (various Civil War databases) : www.proquest.com (access through universities and libraries) EBSCOhost (various Civil War databases): www.ebscohost.com/ (access through universities and libraries) Report on the Conduct of the War: www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/investigations/JointCommittee_ConductofWar.htm Civil War Battle Summaries from NPS: www.nps.gov/abpp/battles/bystate.htm Confederate map collection: https://catalog.archives.gov/search?q=*:*&f.oldScope=(descriptions%20or%20online)&f.materialsType=mapsandcharts&f.level=item&f. locationIds=29&f.recordGroupNoCollectionId=109&SearchType=advanced National Archives Civil War Records: www.archives.gov/research/military/civil-war/index.html Medical and Surgical History of the Civil War: https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-14121350R-mvset Confederate Military History: https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Evans%2C+Clement+Anselm%2C+1833-1911%2C+ed%22 and at https://catalog. hathitrust.org/Record/000113357and at https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-14121350R-mvset Papers of the Military Historical Society of Massachusetts (select papers): http://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Military%20Historical%20Society%20of%20 Massachusetts%22 and at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009793905 MOLLUS Papers: http://suvcw.org/mollus/warpapers/warpapers.htm Civil War Trust (maps, battle histories, biographies, and much more): www.civilwar.org Finding books in a local library: www.worldcat.org

12 Gettysburg

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Civil War News 24th Annual Gettysburg Section Soldier Letters & Diaries (all free)

July 2018

Capital of the Confederacy (Richmond) Civil War Show

Documenting the American South (diaries, letters, many other sources): http://docsouth.unc.edu/imls/index.html Civil War Voices, Soldier Studies: www.soldierstudies.org/index.php Voices from the Past: www.indiana.edu/~imaghist/online_content/vcsfrmpst/voices_cvlwr/index.html Letters and Diaries of the 26th Wisconsin Infantry: www.russscott.com/~rscott/26thwis/26pglett.htm Letters from the Past: www.civilwarhome.com/fourletters.html Letters from the American Civil War: http://civil.war-letters.com Civil War Letters of the Christie Family: www.mnhs.org/library/christie/intropage.php Letters from an Iowa Soldier in the Civil War: http://civilwarletters.com Love Letters of the Civil War: http://spec.lib.vt.edu/cwlove/index.html Virginia Tech Civil War Center: https://secure.hosting.vt.edu/www.sources.civilwar.vt.edu/#!/sites Virginia Tech Library: www.spec.lib.vt.edu/civwar University of Washington Collection: www.content.lib.washington.edu/civilwarweb/collections.html The Incomplete Correspondence of Lieut. Josiah Blair Patterson 14th Regiment Georgia Volunteer Infantry: www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gaforsyt/diariesletters/patterson/ jbpletters_title.htm The Southern Homefront: www.docsouth.unc.edu/imls/homelife.html Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library: www.dlg.galileo.usg.edu/Institutions/guan.html?Welcome Georgia Historical Society: www.ghs.galileo.usg.edu/ghs/search?keyword=Civil%20War;smode=advanced;f1-subject=Letters%20 (correspondence) Digital Library of Georgia: www.dlg.galileo.usg.edu/cgi-bin/meta.cgi?action=query&term_a=civil%20war%20letters Internet Archives: www.archive.org/search.php?query=Civil+War+letters&and[]=mediatype%3A%22texts%22 Civil War Homepage: www.civil-war.net/searchlinks.asp?searchlinks=Letters%20and%20Diaries Civil War Archive: www.civilwararchive.com/LETTERS/letters.htm Gilder Lehrman Institute: www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/american-civil-war/interactives/i-take-my-pen-letters-from-civil-war/transcripts Auburn University: www.diglib.auburn.edu/collections/civilwardiaries GeorgiaInfo: www.georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/history/link/civil-war-reconstruction/civil-war-letter-diaries-books

Richmond International Raceway 600 East Laburnum Avenue Richmond, VA 23222

Nov. 17 & 18, 2018

Burial Sites (free for basic access) • •

Find a Grave: www.findagrave.com BillionGraves: www.billiongraves.com/dashboard

Newspapers/Magazines (free unless otherwise noted) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Library of Congress: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov GenealogyBank (subscription): https://www.genealogybank.com/explore/newspapers/all Newspapers.com (subscription): www.newspapers.com National Tribune: www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82016187 National Tribune Scrapbook: www.archive.org/details/nationaltribunes00wash National Tribune Repository: www.archive.org/stream/nationaltribuner00nati#page/n0/mode/2up Civil War Times and America’s Civil War magazines (subscription but searchable): www.historynet.com/ Confederate Veteran Magazine: www.archive.org/search.php?query=Confederate%20Veteran University of Pennsylvania, Confederate Veteran: www.onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=confedvet Library of Virginia, Online Index to Confederate Veteran: www.lva1.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/F/?func=file&file_name=find-b-clas65&local_base=CLAS65&_ga=1.730800 83.1639850006.1477929703 The Countryman: www.djvued.libs.uga.edu/AP2xC84/tcmenu.html Virginia Tech, American Civil War Newspapers: www.dcr.emd.vt.edu/vital/access/manager/Index Accessible Archives (through a university or library): www.accessible-archives.com/collections/the-civil-war/a-newspaper-perspective/ Richmond Daily Dispatch: http://dlxs.richmond.edu/d/ddr Frank Leslie’s Illustrated: www.archive.org/details/franklesliesilluv1112lesl Harper’s Weekly: www.onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=harpersweekly Harper’s Weekly: www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/the-civil-war.htm Southern Historical Society Papers: www.catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008376679 Civil War News (subscription): www.civilwarnews.com The Artilleryman Magazine (subscription): www.artillerymanmagazine.com Military Images Magazine (subscription): www.militaryimagesmagazine.com Civil War Navy The Magazine (subscription): www.civilwarnavy.com Civil War Monitor magazine (subscription): www.civilwarmonitor.com Civil War History Journal (subscription): www.kentstateuniversitypress.com/journals/civil-war-history The Journal of the Civil War Era (subscription): https://journalofthecivilwarera.org Gettysburg Magazine: http://unp-bookworm.unl.edu/product/Gettysburg-Magazine,675907.aspx

Middle TN (Franklin) Civil War Show

Williamson County Ag Expo Park 4215 Long Lane Franklin, TN 37064

Photography (free) • • • • • • • • • •

Dec. 1 & 2, 2018 www.MKShows.com

Library of Congress: www.loc.gov/pictures Library of Congress Liljenquist Family Collection: www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/liljenquist-civil-war-photos/?loclr=blogtea The Center for Civil War Photography: www.civilwarphotography.org Civil War Trust: www.civilwar.org/education/in4/photography.html Civil War Trust 3D: www.civilwar.org/photos/3d-photography-special Smithsonian: www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/cw/npgcivilwar.html National Archives: www.archives.gov/research/military/civil-war/photos Civil War Photos: www.civilwarphotos.net American Civil War Photos: www.americancivilwarphotos.com U.S. Army War College: www.cdm16635.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16635coll13

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