Civil War News
12
November 2018 Michigan
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States: War Papers (MOLLUS) – Michigan and Massachusetts Covering only two volumes of the MOLLUS Papers, 50-51, the Michigan Commandery proves, once again, the quality over quantity concept. From 1893–1898, several veterans recounted events from the Eastern and Western Theaters. Remembrances from Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Franklin, Petersburg, and many other battles fill these pages. The Papers from Massachusetts; 52-54, including one volume from the Bay State dedicated to the U.S. Sanitary Commission in the Peninsula Campaign of 1862, complete this month’s look at this helpful source. As a reminder on the background of this series, the first two volumes of the Broadfoot 1990s reprint set, unnumbered, consist of ‘Biographical Sketches of Contributors,’ and ‘Companions.’ The second volume offers hundreds of photographs of the various members. The collected papers from the commanderies appear in the following order. Ohio,
War Papers: Michigan Commandery book cover.
Civil War Papers: Massachusetts Commandery book cover. volumes 1-9; Illinois, 10-13D; Missouri, vol. 14; Kansas, 15; Maine, volumes 16-19; New York, 20-23; Indiana, 24; Nebraska, 25; Minnesota, 26-31; Rhode Island, 32-41; District of Columbia, 42-45; Wisconsin, 46-49; Michigan, 50-51; Massachusetts, 52-54; Iowa, 55-56; Vermont, 57; Pennsylvania, 58-59; California and Oregon, vol. 60; and a four-volume index completes the Broadfoot set. Next month, this column will provide the table of contents of the MOLLUS Papers from Iowa and Vermont. Digitized-versions of MOLLUS exist online at the organization’s website: http://suvcw.org/ mollus/warpapers/warpapers.htm (also check http://suvcw.org/mollus/molid.htm) and at the Internet Archives, http://bit.ly/2EVfpPC. Researchers wishing to purchase the printed set may do so at Broadfoot Publishing, http://www.broadfootpublishing.com. Remember to check WorldCat http://www. worldcat.org/ for help in finding the Papers in a local library; search ISBN 1568370016. Readers wishing to view all the articles in this series thus far can visit https://issuu. com/mshaffe3. 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, 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.
Vol. 1 (1893) Article/Author The Cavalry on the Gettysburg Campaign - By L. S. Trowbridge
Vol. 2 (1898) Article/Author The Rock of Chickamauga - By Companion W. F. Atkinson
My Experience as a Prisoner of War - By Frederic W. Swift
The South in War Times - By Companion L. G. Wilcox
Chickamauga - By H. M. Duffield
The Famous Old Third Brigade By Companion R. W. Jacklin
Michigan in the Opening of the War - By W. H. Withington Chancellorsville Campaign - By S. E. Pittman
From the Gulf to Vicksburg - By Companion Harrison Soule Reminiscences - By Companion Henry R. Mizner
The Stoneman Raid of 1865 - By L. S. Trowbridge
Only a Button - By Companion C. E. Foote
Recollections of the Bull Run Campaign - By H. F. Lyster
Some of the Wrongs of Cuba - By Companion Z. B. Graham
Personal Recollections of the Occupation of East Tennessee - By O. M. Poe
Lights and Shadows of the Civil War - By Companion L. S. Trowbridge
The Capture of Jeff. Davis - By J. G. Dickinson
Recollections of the Battle of Antietam - By Companion John Conline
My Experiences as a Prisoner of War, and Escape - By Wm. B. McCreery The Michigan Cavalry Brigade in the Wilderness - By J. H. Kidd My Escape from Belle Isle - By H. R. Abbott
Recollections and Incidents of Medical Military Service - By Companion W. F. Breakey Personal Recollections of the Siege of Petersburg by a Confederate Officer - By Companion L. N. Case The Monitor and Merrimac - By Companion Henry Reaney
Reminiscences of an Artillery Officer - By A. F. R. Arndt Recollections of Stone's River - By J. G. Parkhurst
Reminiscences of an Amy Surgeon - By Companion G. E. Ranney The Morgan Raid - By Companion G. S. Wormer
A July Morning with the Rebel Ram "Arkansas" - By S. B. Coleman
The Last Assault of the Confederates at Petersburg - By Companion John C. Hardy Twelve Months in Rebel Prisons By Companion C. G. Hampton The Battle of Franklin - By Companion Gus. F. Smith The Battle of Corinth - By Companion L. W. Wolcott
The Battle of Kernstown, March 23, 1862 - By G. K. Johnson The Battle of Allatoona, October 5, 1864 - By Wm. Ludlow Personal Experiences of Early Days of 1861 - By J. T. Sterling The Origin of the Society of the Cincinnati - By F. T. Sibley Personal Recollections of Four Years in Dixie - By J. T. Patton The Battle of Groveton, or Second Bull Run - By Geo. C. Hopper
The Story of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge - By Companion John Atkinson Recollections of Gettysburg - By Companion L. A. Smith. Addresses at Annual Banquets of the Commandery
"Jeb" Stuart's Hat - By Ford H. Rogers On to Gettysburg - By Ziba B. Graham
May 7, 1896 - By Commander G. W. Chandler May 6, 1897 - By Commander H. S. Dean
From the Rapidan to Atlanta - By E. B. Fenton
May 5, 1898 - By Companion A. B. Morse
Presentation of Portrait to Companion Poe - By Council
May 5, 1898 - By Lieut. I. P. Powell
Introductory Addresses of Commanders at Annual Banquets of the Commandery
May 3, 1894 (no manuscript) - By Commander L. S. Trowbridge
April 13, 1885 (No Manuscript) - By L. S. Trowbridge
May 9, 1895 (no manuscript) - By Commander J. G. Parkhurst
May 5, 1886 - By Orlando M. Poe
May 5, 1898 (no manuscript) - By Commander H. M. Duffield
June 1, 1887 - By Orlando M. Poe May 2, 1888 (No Manuscript) - By Russell A. Alger May 1, 1889 - By Byron R. Price May 1, 1890 - By Frederic W. Swift May 7, 1891 - By Isreal C. Smith May 5, 1892 - By Samuel E. Pittman May 4, 1893 - By Wm. H. Withington
Massachusetts Vol. 3 (1888) Article/Author
Massachusetts Vol. 1 (1900) Article/Author My First and Last Battle - By Rev. Edward Everett Hale, D.D., Chaplain of the Massachusetts Commandery The First Cruise of the Kearsarge - By Companion William H. Badlam 2nd Assistant Engineer, USN Amusing the Enemy - By Lieutenant Colonel Francis S. Hesseltine USV The Capture of Richmond - By Lieutenant Royal B. Prescott USV The Left Attack (Ewell's), Gettysburg - By Brevet Captain Edward N.M. Benson Whittier USV My Capture, Prison Life and Escape - By Brevet Major Andrew M. Benson USV The Old Army in Kansas - By Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Adams Drake USV Fourteen Months' Service with Colored Troops - By Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Solon A. Carter USV The Battle of Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864 - By Brevet Brigadier General Hazard Stevens USV The Capture of Jackson - By Lieutenant Seth A. Ranlett USV The Capture of Fort Fisher - By Brevet Major General Adelbert Ames USV The Capture of Fort Fisher - By Brevet Major General N. Martin Curtis USV Vol. 2 (1900) Article/Author Sherman's Campaign in the Carolinas - By Major Henry O. Marcy, Surgeon USCT Life in Confederate Prisons - By Lieutenant Joseph E. Moody USV In the Wilderness - By Brevet Major Z. Bovlston Adams USV The Battle at High Bridge - By Major Edward T. Bouve USV. The Morning Surprise at Cedar Creek - By Captain S. Edward Howard USV The Burnside Expedition - By Brevet Brigadier General A.B.R. Sprague USV Sunshine and Shadows of Army Life - By Captain John G.B. Adams USV The Re-occupation of Jacksonville in 1863 - By Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson USCT The Explosion at City Point - By Captain Morris Schaff USA Stuart's Brigade at Shiloh - By Lieutenant Elijah C. Lawrence USV Reminiscences of a Prisoner of War - By Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Isaac F. Galloupe, Surgeon USV An Involuntary Journey Through the Confederacy - By Captain Joseph E. Fiske USV Three Months' Service in 1864 with the 4th Regiment M.V.M. By Brevet Brigadier General Luther Stephenson USV General Jesse L. Reno at Frederick, Barbara Fritchie and Her Flag - By Companion Conrad Reno
April 13, 1885 (No Manuscript) - By L. S. Trowbridge
May 9, 1895 (no manuscript) - By Commander J. G. Parkhurst
May 5, 1886 - By Orlando M. Poe
May 5, 1898 (no manuscript) - By Commander H. M. Duffield
June 1, 1887 - By Orlando M. Poe May 2, 1888 (No Manuscript) - By Russell A. Alger November May 1, 1889 - By 2018 Byron R. Price May 1, 1890 - By Frederic W. Swift May 7, 1891 - By Isreal C. Smith May 5, 1892 - By Samuel E. Pittman May 4, 1893 - By Wm. H. Withington
Civil War News
On board “ Knickerbocker;”’ Dr. Draper.
Women’s Central Relief Association; other associations of women Dr. Bellows’s mission to Washington Powers granted to Sanitary Commission by President Lincoln and Secretary of War. Work of Inspection; Vital Statistics
Fitting up the “Elm City.” The Shore hospital.
Money and supplies: how obtained. Branches of Sanitary Commission: method of proceeding. Mr. Alfred J. Bloor First relief work with the armies in the field Peninsular campaign, 1862. Commission applies for steamers. Books and documents relating to Sanitary Commission: where to be found. Hospital Transport Service: first work
General Van Vliet has a secret, but will not tell it. Dress paramount in the female mind, even at the rear of an Army.
“Louisiana” aground with 200 sick on board; night trip to her Women’s Central Relief Association asks for anecdotes.
One week’s letters missing. The Change of base.
An excursion party from Washington; false sentiment.
Newport, R. I. Writer joins Hospital Transport Service. Headquarters Sanitary Commission: steamer “ Wilson Small” Yorktown, Va.: the old and the new history.
How the writer came to write so many letters. Sanitary Commission supplies: how used; not wasted. Neglect of Medical authorities after Fair Oaks not likely to occur again.
Wounded of the Battle of Williamsburg. Routine of work
Excellence of the army ration: what it is. Queer people: quartermasters, Zouaves, women with a mission. Mr. Knapp breaks down with typhoid fever. How the sick and wounded came down from the front.
Steamer “ Elm City” goes North with 450 men. Spirit of the men: their pride in the army; their self-forgetfulness. Steamer “ Knickerbocker ” fitted up by two young ladies.
The misery of carpet-bags.
Devotion of the young men of the Sanitary Commission. Rescue of a hundred men at Bigelow’s Landing. Incalculable amount of suffering saved by Sanitary Commission. Steamship “S. R. Spaulding.” A coincidence.
Battle of Fair Oaks, otherwise called Seven Pines. A pleasure excursion: out of the breath of hospitals. The dear “Small.” General McClellan. Stuart’s raid: attack on train of sick men; five wounded.
Off Headquarters, Army of the Potomac, White House, Va. General Franklin. The White House.
The “ Small” turned into a hospital. Practical tenderness. More “ Sabbath-breaking picnickers on a battle-field.”
General Fitz-John Porter; General Morell. Unselfishness of the sick and wounded. Death-rate of the British forces in the Crimea.
Dr. Henry J. Bigelow arrives on a mission from Secretary of War. Object of the Sanitary Commission not fully understood. Mrs. Griffin’s health fails. Dr. Grymes, his courage, devotion, and death. Gifts from Newport, R.I., Boston and Walpole, Mass.
Lessons taught by that, and by the Sanitary Commission. A night excursion in search of fiftysix men. Dr. Grymes’s lesson of calmness. The black side of war. A busy night; with all to do over again. “Spaulding” sails. Fever proves to be typhus, or spotted fever.
Medical-Inspector-General, Colonel Vollum, appointed at Mr. Olmsted’s request. Written agreement, by which Commission takes all worst cases.
Civilian doctors and surgical cases. Difficulties of the Commission. Kind of supplies most needed.
Battle of Fair Oaks: Commission ready. Conflicting orders; no Medical officer on the ground. Government boats not ready. Five thousand men sent down without preparation. The Commission throws itself in and does all. Our tent: the comfort of it; difficulties and horrors. None but the unavoidable miseries of war on Commission boats.
Feeling of the Southern soldiery as the writer found it. Our dear tent. System of the routine work. Trip to Yorktown to see “St. Mark.” Dr. Draper, wife, and Mrs. Strong.
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Roundtable News
Massachusetts Vol. 3 (1888) Article/Author
The Sanitary Commission: what it was. Aspect of the War to women.
Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted; Members of Sanitary Commission
Luther Stephenson USV General Jesse L. Reno at Frederick, Barbara Fritchie and Her Flag - By Companion Conrad Reno
Seven hundred thousand rations and forage already up the James River. Stores and munitions all safely removed from White House. Great credit due to Colonel Ingalls and Captain Sawtelle. “Wilson Small” the last boat (except Quartermaster’s) to leave White House. Going down the winding river. Mr. Olmsted’s letter. Robert Ware; in memoriam. What profit lies in barren faith?” Hampton Roads. “Wilson Small” the first boat (except Quartermaster’s) to go up James River. Meets the army: Harrison’s Landing; Battle of Malvern Hill. The spirit of the army; the tenor of what it felt and said. Dr. Letterman, the new Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac. The “ Monitor ” such a tiny thing. Trip to Washington on business. Letter from Mayor of Newport. Special good done by last gifts. Contract for army shirts. Medical Department doing well by wounded. The worst horror of war. Meeting of President Lincoln and General McClellan at Harrison’s Landing. Commodore John Rodgers and the “Galena.” Things not so gloomy; tone and temper of the army. The Shore hospital: influence of new Medical Director. Supplies furnished to Army of Potomac by Sanitary Commission during July and August. Happy relations between President Lincoln and General McClellan. Promotion of General Van Vliet, Colonel Ingalls, and Captain Sawtelle. Captain George Rodgers: visit to the ‘‘Tioga,” to shell out a battery. Danger from Rebel batteries: Fort Powhatan. Hospital Transport Service over: Mr. Olmsted and staff return home. Dr. H. J. Bigelow, and “the horrors on board the ‘Wilson Small.’” Once more conventional and duly civilized. Memories of two sorts left behind on the James River.
With the Fifth Wisconsin at Williamsburg - By Arthur Holbrook, First Lieutenant and Adjutant 5th WI Inf. U.S.V.
By Matthew Borowick
Second Annual CWRT Congress Increasing membership. Raising money. Connecting with the public. Attracting interesting speakers. Improving advisory and governing boards. Having a first-rate web site. These and many other topics drew 62 round table leaders from 16 different states to the 2nd Civil War Round Table Congress. Following last year’s hugely successful inauguration in Manassas, this year’s gathering was held in Pennsylvania. More importantly, it was at the absolutely fascinating National Civil War Museum. The Museum features over 24,000 artifacts, manuscripts, documents, photographs, and other printed matter. While many items have been donated since its opening in 2001, the vast majority of its collections were acquired by the City of Harrisburg between 1994 and 1999 under the auspices of Mayor Stephen R. Reed. Three-dimensional objects (artifacts) comprise 4,000 items, of which onefourth are on display in the permanent galleries of the building. “We could not have selected a better partner than the National Civil War Museum,” says Congress organizer Mike Movius. “With its wealth of artifacts, its knowledgeable and welcoming staff and its engaging displays, our attendees were treated to an experience they will never forget. Wayne and his team know just how to treat their guests.” The Congress began with a reception on the evening of Friday, August 17. Attendees networked, sharing information about their organizations while enjoying a catered meal. In addition to building valuable relationships, attendees were treated to a behind the scenes tour of Museum artifacts not currently on display. These items included the Union General John Buford’s military commission, the tactical manual of Union Captain Henry F. Fuller of the 64th NY Infantry, the sword used by Confederate General Joseph B. Kershaw and the coat worn by Union General George Sears Greene at Gettysburg. Wayne Motts, Museum CEO, says that hosting such an event is important for the Museum and the round table community. “We are honored to be the host location for the second Congress. We are near the Gettysburg Battlefield. We have an incredibly unique collection of artifacts. We’re located in the heart of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s capital. And our displays have consistently received very high ratings. With all that, we are honored the Congress
leaders chose us as the location for this year’s event.” Networking, a wonderful meal, a behind the scenes tour. And yet, the first night’s activities were not finished. The night capped off with an enthralling presentation by Chris Mackowski, the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Emerging Civil War. Chris gave an energetic talk titled “That Furious Struggle: Chancellorsville and the High Tide of the Confederacy.” Attendees afterward said Chris’ presentation was the highlight of the evening. And that’s after holding Kershaw’s sword! Saturday, August 18, brought everyone together for breakfast and an early start. There would be much to cover throughout the day. First up was Jay Jorgensen of the Robert E. Lee CWRT. Jay gave a brief history of the round table community since its Chicago-based founding in 1940. He then took us through a review of the various types of governing structures: how to effectively use advisory and governing boards; meetings, their frequency and locations; financial considerations and including nonprofit status. “Round tables love Civil War history,” notes Jay, “but they also appreciate hearing about how round tables themselves came about. It gives us all a sense of the larger picture in which we operate.” Dr. John Bamberl was the second presenter. During John’s brief leadership at the Scottsdale, Arizona CWRT, membership has grown from 100 to over 400. John shared the secrets to success. I would title his presentation: “Things Round Tables Can Do to Greatly Increase Their Membership That Don’t Cost Much to Accomplish.” John reviewed 14 low-cost initiatives that helped Scottsdale grow into one of the largest round tables in the nation. “These simple steps require only one thing,” says John, “determination.” He adds, “Even round tables with small bank accounts can use these steps to get their groups on track, just as we have done in a round table that is many miles from the nearest Civil War battlefield.” Wally Rueckel of the 1,200-member Brunswick, NC CWRT shared the story of the incredible growth of this group—in only eight years! Wally covered succession planning, board development, a Women’s Forum and fundraising ideas. These, along with
H Roundtables
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