Cairo, Illinois

Cairo is an interesting place. It is pretty small but its role in the Civil War was quite large as it served as a staging area for riverine operations in the West. Early in the war it served as Grant's headquarters and his desk is still there. Even Grant's desk shows that he was always ready for movement as there are little plastic wheels on the bottom (yes I know those are modern additions but its a tiny joke).

I went to Cairo though on a Shiloh hunt. I had read in a book that the Tigress's flagpole was in Cairo. This was the ship that Grant used to get from his headquarters at the Cherry Mansion to Pittsburg Landing for the big battle on April 6th. My book said it was downtown somewhere, I think near city hall. So I went there but instead found this cannon.



I was discouraged but kept driving around. After no luck I finally stopped in at the Chamber of Commerce. Where I learned that the locals do not pronounce the C in Cairo. I knew it wasn't pronounced like the city in Egypt but I was surprised that it sounds more like a-row. In any respect the lady there called the librarian to ask, which led them to a museum and that's where they suggested I go. Which brings up a wonderful tip. You can buy all the guidebooks in the world, do tons of preliminary research but if you ignore talking to the locals you can miss some gems. I went back to the museum and there I found the flagpole, which to me was a true gem. The flag is obviously a modern made version but the flagpole, and original wooden historical marker, are fantastic. I had the museum to myself that day and wonder how many people have ever seen this treasure. I'd wager that more people will see it here today than will see it in person today.

The desk and the flagpole are in the Cairo Custom House Museum.

Jonesboro

Jonesboro is a rough battlefield to visit. The effort was made harder because I had not done much research prior to the visit. I knew generally where I could go but did not have a list of other areas to try my hand at. Plus visiting a battlefield in a city is even tougher because you have to fight traffic. So with our limited time in the afternoon we saw one piece of the battlefield. From what I've heard from other travelers there is a little bit more to see but not too much more.

Our visit basically encompassed the Cleburne Cemetery, named this because Cleburne's Division fought on this ground. The cemetery is interesting in that it is laid out in the shape of the battleflag. My pictures don't quite give it justice but the walkways serve as the blue cross and the red field sections are now dotted with tombstones.

Since it is in the city there are no sweeping vistas to share. The cemetery is located right next to a busy road that is on the historic roadbed from 1864. It was a main road then and it still is. It has way too much traffic for such a small road and I'm sure they will widen it someday. It will further degrade the quality of the visit but at this point there is not much that can be done to fix things.

Jefferson Davis' Capture

On one trip we were headed from Andersonville to Macon and found ourselves with some extra time, so we detoured over to Irwinville, GA, site of the capture of Jefferson Davis.

After the fall of Richmond Jefferson Davis and various cabinet members and generals planned to shift the seat of the war to the West. They had no idea where they would make their stand but in hindsight it appears their best chance would have been in Texas. Along the way some members of the party conceded that the war was over but Davis continued on with his family, a few officers and Postmaster General John Reagan of Texas (who probably stuck with Davis since Davis was headed towards his home).

Assorted Union units were searching for Davis and on the morning of May 10, 1865 they caught up to him near Irwinville. The 4th Michigan Cavalry and 1st Wisconsin Cavalry actually skirmished with each other for a few minutes as they came upon the camp from opposite directions and did not know the other regiment was nearby. There was a reward to be had and there are some stories that the commander of the 4th Michigan had his men skirmish with the 1st Wisconsin so that the rest of his regiment could make the capture, and win the $100,000 reward.

There is also quite a few stories about the gold Davis took with him when Richmond fell. Some have said that there was still quite a bit of gold with Davis near Irwinville and that those two regiments made out quite well. The park ranger said that people come there every year to try to find the gold. There probably was gold with Davis though not in large amounts. I've heard that most of the gold was distributed to a large group of recently paroled soldiers the Davis party came upon. I forgot the name of the city but believe it was near Washington, GA, or across the border in South Carolina. In any respect by the time Davis reached Irwinville there was little gold remaining. If some Union soldiers got lucky and received an early retirement gift is unknown but does not seem too unlikely.

The park has one monument, a state historical sign and a museum. The museum is pretty neat. I think the highlight of the museum was chatting with the park ranger. We were there on a slow day and he was more than willing to chat with us. He was a treasure trove of information and I hope if I'm ever back there I will find him again and have another wonderful chat. He had said that he was from Resaca so if/when Georgia makes that a staffed state park he will probably try to be transferred there.

Inside the museum was the 50th Georgia's flag. After promising not to use my flash the ranger let me take a picture of it.

Britton Lane

Britton Lane battlefield is located near Denmark, TN, which is southwest of Jackson. I visited it alone in 2004 and had just about given up on finding it when I crested a low ridge and saw cannon and a state historical marker. Interpretation is just a small self guided walking tour. There are a few signs and monuments (actually for its size it has a pretty good amount of markers and monuments). There was no gift shop, no staff, nothing to let anyone know you'd been there. I'd love to take people there (my only visit was that 2004 trip) just so they could see how remote and difficult it is to find.


The battle is a pretty minor affair. On September 1, 1862 a Confederate cavalry force attacked a mixed Federal unit (all three branches represented). The goal was to prevent Grant (in the Corinth area) from sending men to Buell in Kentucky. After a four hour fight the Union withdrew. The marker says that the Confederates withdrew but to me it seems that the Union got the worst of the situation. The main Union force for much of the battle was the 20th Illinois which was routed near the end of the fight, but that is when the 30th Illinois appeared on the scene and prevented a rout. At that point both sides let the battle end. The Confederates could have pursued the Union towards Jackson but instead they broke off the fight.

Colonel Frank Armstrong, commanding the Confederate force, probably feared that the Union was wise to the raid and would soon have too many different units converging on them. The raid had accomplished as much as it could and now was the time to get back to their lines. As always casualties are tough to pin down. Armstrong (who had been a Union officer at First Bull Run) said that he captured 213 Federals and killed or wounded 75 more. His loss was roughly 100 total. Colonel Elias S. Dennis, commanding the Union force, put his losses as 8 killed, roughly 50 wounded and approximately 50 captured. Realistically its 100 casualties per side.


On the Big Black Creek Historical Association page you can see the battlefield marked by a red arrow. Unfortunately they do not have any other information about the battle on their site. There is a Britton Lane Battlefield Association website that has a bit of info and a map of the battlefield.

There are a number of these signs. I remember one being so weathered that no text was readable.

A monument to the 7th Tennessee Cavalry CSA.

And the detail of the monument.

One house stands on the battlefield but I do not remember any interpretation there. And in the bit I can find online about the battle I do not see any info about it.

Duty, Honor and Country: Captain William P. Black

Duty, Honor and Country: The Civil War Experiences of Captain William P. Black, Thirty-Seventh Illinois Infantry. Edited by Michael E. Banasik. Unwritten Chapters of the Civil War West of the River, Volume VI. Illustrated, maps, appendix, footnotes, bibliography, index, 511 pp., 2006. Camp Pope Bookshop, PO Box 2232, Iowa City, IA 52244. $24.95 plus shipping.

Through the letters of William Black we learn about the combined experiences of the Black brothers of the 36th Illinois. Both brothers initially enlisted in the 11th Indiana but after three months of service were discharged and recruited Company K of the 37rth Illinois. William’s brother John Charles (but always referred to as Charles by William) eventually rose to the rank of colonel of the regiment and was brevetted a brigadier general after the war. William spent the war as captain of Company K, although numerous times he tried to secure promotion within the regiment and a few times asked his politically connected father to try to secure a promotion in another unit.

The letters cover all aspects of William’s service during the war. There does not seem to be any topic that William does not discuss in his letters. The 37th Illinois did not see much combat, its major battles were Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove, so battle descriptions make up only a minor portion of the letters. Most of the letters focus on regimental politics as William discusses how the infighting among the higher ranking officers. While his brother was colonel the lieutenant colonel was engaged in a behind the scenes battle to discredit Colonel Black. Colonel Black spent a significant amount of time at home recuperating from a severe wound suffered at Prairie Grove. Lieutenant Colonel Frisbie did his best to portray Colonel Black’s actions at Prairie Grove as less than honorable. Eventually this lead to a court martial against Frisbie and the story of this infighting dominates a good portion of William’s letters home. Colonel Black was the victor of this bickering and in 1893 was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Prairie Grove. William was also awarded a Medal of Honor in 1893 for his actions at Pea Ridge. William and Charles are one of five sets of brothers that have won the Medal of Honor.

William also writes about the role of company commander and all the reports he must fill out. When he first finds out he has a bunch of reports and vouchers to fill out he’s been in the service quite awhile and has a hard time making out the old reports for clothing. But by the end of his service he’s well caught up and while he finds the task tedious he seems to have a good handle on it. William also writes often about women, in fact late in the war he nearly became engaged through a misunderstanding and his attempts at explaining it to his brother and mother are quite humorous. William’s internal struggle on whether or not he should reenlist or be mustered out at the end of his initial three year enlistment is quite interesting. Although these are letters to his family back home it almost reads as a diary as William struggles with his decision. At one point he decides that he will not reenlist because he thinks the war will be over soon and he also wants to return home. Then he changes his mind and decides to reenlist.

Michael Banasik has done a masterful job in editing the letters. His footnotes fill in all the gaps in the letters and provide a good amount of background detail. There are many pages that the amount of footnotes is greater than the text of the letters. Banasik also did a wonderful job with the appendices as he provides a complete regimental roster, biographies of some of the leading generals, additional supplemental letters and official reports, and some organizational charts.

I would not recommend this book as a regimental history of the 37th Illinois as there will be too many gaps, at one point William serves on detached duty as an ordnance officer. I do think this is a good book for someone wanting a personal glimpse into the life of a captain in general, and specifically into the inner workings of the high command of the 37th Illinois.

This review also appears in the December issue of Civil War News.

Hans Christian Heg

Hans Christian Heg commanded a brigade at Chickamauga after previously leading the 15th Wisconsin. Heg and the 15th Wisconsin were unique in that he was Norwegian and the regiment was primarily Norwegians, with a few Swedes and Danes. Foreign born officers and regiments primarily made up of one nationality were not too rare but the number of Norwegians was a bit more rare. We think mainly of the Irish and German regiments, not of the Norwegians. In fact I've seen sources that claim the 15th Wisconsin was the only Scandinavian regiment in the war.

At Chickamauga Heg was mortally wounded on the first day. From what I've read it seems that Heg was considered a pretty good officer and had a bright future in the army. Who knows how high he might have risen but division command by the end of the war doesn't seem that much of a stretch. In any respect we'll never know how good Heg might have been as Chickamauga was his first and last battle as brigade commander.

I had read that there was a statue of Heg on the grounds of the capitol in Madison. So one day while doing research at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum (located across the street from the capitol) I decided to go for a stroll. And I found the story to be true.

And here is Heg's mortuary monument at Chickamauga.

Birthplace of the Republican Party

It isn't a battlefield but one could argue that the birth of the Republican Party had a ton to do with the start of the Civil War. Sure slavery, and all its side issues like states rights, was the primary cause but it wasn't until the Republican Party came along that things reached a boiling point.

Ripon, Wisconsin is one of four cities that claim the title of birthplace. Jackson, Michigan is where the first meeting was held that called themselves Republicans, but I've never been to Jackson. I have been to Ripon.

Fifty three men met in this little schoolhouse on March 20, 1854 to discuss the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. The men represented a bunch of different political parties; Whigs, Democrats and Free Soilers, but emerged united as a new group. Later this group would call themselves Republicans. Six years later they had elected Abraham Lincoln as President.

The small school house remains with a tiny gift shop inside (its basically one display case). A marker and a monument are next to the building. Being there it is interesting to reflect on how a party born here (or at three other small town meetings) grew into a major political party in six years. Also, not to belittle Ripon, but it is a small town and the thought of any major political force coming out of a meeting in such a small building in such a small town seems odd. Why wasn't the birth of the party in a town like Milwaukee or Madison? Or in a big city in New England? But on the other hand it is neat to see that a small grassroots group could effect big change.

Salem Cemetery

Near Jackson Tennessee is the small battle of Salem Cemetery. This fight was part of Forrest's December 1862 campaign in western Tennessee. This riad caused a lot of grief to rail lines and coming at the same time as the Holly Springs raid by Van Dorn was part of the reason Grant abandoned his overland campaign for Vicksburg. Van Dorn crushed the supply depot at holly Springs and Forrest's work made sure that it couldn't be quickly rebuilt.

The battle of Salem Cemetery was a minor battle of Forrest's raid. Parker's Crossroads was a much more important battle of the raid, in fact I'd wager that it was the only battle of the raid that was important to the success of the raid.

So here is a tour of this small battle field.

This is the Tennessee state historical society marker near the cemetery.

In the cemetery is this map, as well as some other signage I have not included pictures of.

While the small sign in the pciture says "tour stop 3" I made it our first stop as it is where the Confederates started the battle from. This view would be from the Union vantage point. On the map it would be somewhere in the tail of the big red arrow, closer to the end of it than the tip.

A bit back up the road, near the tree graphic on the map, is where this monument is. Behind the tall trees in the center of the photo is where the cemetery is.
A better view of the monument from the above picture.

Salem Cemetery.
The Confederate monument
The Union monument

And a view of the cemetery, with the littlest sculptures I've ever seen. I laughed the first time I saw them. They look nice but they are just so small they seem out of place.

Lone Jack

Just east of Kansas City is a small battlefield worth a bit of your time. It won't take you long to tour Lone Jack. The small site preserved has a historical marker, two monuments and a museum. The museum is kinda neat. Its one of those small places that doesn't seem to get many visitors so you stand a good chance of being able to chat with the staff member as much as you want. At least that was my luck when I was there a few years ago. It was on a Sunday afternoon and we had the place to ourselves. I thought the diorama was neat and you can tell that they put a good amount of effort into their museum, although I'm sure the funds don't match the energy. Sadly I doubt it gets very many visitors.

Blogging

Lately all the talk about "information compilation" blogs made me think about how my blog has evolved since its conception 20 months ago. I've gone through a few changes and have enjoyed what I'm doing. Its been fun interacting with my readers. I've posted more book reviews than I thought I would which has been great. The last few months I had strayed into a very long series on Shiloh. Doing a long series of posts is nothing new to me. I've done the same with Chickamauga and Chattanooga previously. But something about the Shiloh series got me thinking about the blog in general. So I've decided to make a new blog focused on the battle of Shiloh. Not wanting to risk any copy right violations, and lacking title making creativity, I've decided to go with a generic name for the blog, The Battle of Shiloh.

I will continue to do posts here, with the same frequency (Monday through Friday) but I will also do a few posts a week on the new Shiloh blog. The frequency there will vary as topics roll through my mind. My first order of business is adding the monument posts from this blog. Then I will likely do a tour of the battlefield. I have a ton of pictures to share so I will try to lead a detailed tour of the field with those pictures. I'll also do some biographies of officers, share Official Reports, etc. Basically think Bull Runnings for Shiloh.

Battlefield Wanderings will continue with a slightly updated focus. I will focus on wandering battlefields. This will mean I will share my thoughts on touring a particular battlefield and use plenty of pictures to illustrate where you can go and what you can see. In practice that means we will probably explore a different battlefield every 2 weeks. Some battlefield will take more than 2 weeks to explore while others will be substantially shorter (like Britton Lane). I will also continue to do book reviews as this is another of my chief loves. I'm going to try to review a book once a week. The frequency will depend on supply of books and supply of reading time.

Some changes

I've been contemplating a few changes around here. Nothing drastic, just something that will better combine my loves of wandering battlefields, reading books and also my study of Shiloh. I'm taking next week off of blogging. I'll be off so I can make some of the changes without worrying about getting out my daily post. I will return December 1st with updates on all the changes. I love blogging and the interaction with my readers, so I'm sticking around, I'm just going to make some changes to make the entirety of the blog make more sense.

Wasting Disease

Seldom do my other hobbies intersect with the Civil War. But today I found a news article on Civil War Interactive that says there will be public meetings in western Maryland to determine what to do about chronic wasting disease in white tail deer at Antietam and Monocacy. As a deer hunter in Colorado I am familiar with chronic wasting disease.

It is a brain disease that causes deer to stop eating and eventually waste away to nothing and die. It has been in Colorado for quite awhile. The disease is spread when deer are in close proximity to each other. As the disease takes its toll it is easier to determine which deer have the disease. A deer that has recently contracted the fatal disease however is difficult to spot. The only currently known test involves brain tissue. No one goes to the time and money to harvest brain samples in a non lethal method from deer. So the way to test a population of deer is to kill a bunch of them and run the test. Of course this upsets many different groups of people. On the other hand the only known way to control the disease is to thin the herd.

Apparently there is not chronic wasting disease at Antietam or Monocacy yet but they will soon find themselves in a catch-22. If they ignore the issue they run the risk of having emaciated deer wandering around the park and dying in front of visitors. If they take steps now to research the issue they will certainly have to kill quite a few deer, and I'm sure nature watching is a prime reason to visit the park for some people (some people come for the nature and never realize the history), and the killing of a large number of deer won't make them happy although the other option probably doesn't make them happy either. Then of course if the results are positive the park will need to go kill a bunch more deer.

So far no report has shown that the disease can transfer to humans when they eat venison but I personally would not want to risk it. I'd imagine the park would have to do the harvesting by archery because there is no telling where bullets might end up. Bullets can pass through deer, ricochet off a rock and strike a monument. The whole thing seems a bit odd but I think the park will almost have to end up doing this at some point. They might stick to observation for now since chronic wasting disease has not been found in the park yet, but once it does they will need to aggressively attack the issue.

Gettysburg Address

As I'm sure most of you have heard John Latschar is stepping down from his post as Gettysburg's superintendent to take a the head role at the Gettysburg Foundation (which runs the new visitor's center).

With tongue somewhat in cheek I would like to throw my own hat in the ring to be the new superintendent starting March 1, 2009.

I have never been employed by the National Park Service, or any sort of government agency. I do have some management experience from my time as a retail manager and am used to keeping spending within budget parameters (both as a manager and in my personal life). But those experiences will certainly pale in comparison to whomever else applies for this wonderful position.

What I can bring to the table though is a true love for the park. I don't want to minimize how other candidates may feel about the park but being at Gettysburg (or any other battlefield) is a truly magical experience. Every time I go there the excitement builds as I pass the towns along the route. When I finally see the signs for Gettysburg the excitement has nearly built to a crescendo. I don't want to go to the visitor's center, I want to be on the ground. I want to feel the grass under my feet, the sun kiss my face, the wind in my hair. I want to stand where my Iron Brigade boys stood west of town. I want to gaze at Meade from the Virginia monument, walk over there and then look back at Lee. I want to criss cross the Wheatfield, following every attack in that sector. I want to stand at the 20th Maine monument and yell "Bayonets!" I want to stand next to Longstreet and apologize for him spending the rest of eternity on a pony.

Obviously as superintendent I wouldn't have the time to do that sort of thing every day but I'd be out there after hours soaking up the atmosphere. I'd want to complete Latschar's work and return the town to an 1863 appearance. I say lets get rid of the concrete roads and blacktop parking lots. All travel in town will be by horse or foot. Shops could stay in historic buildings but anything built after 1863 would have to go. Let's give Gettysburg that Harper's Ferry feel to it. One of the great things about Harper's Ferry is that in the park section of town the modern elements have been minimized and you get more of a historic feeling. In fact whenever I talk to someone about their favorite battlefields they almost always mention places like Shiloh or Antietam or Perryville, where you can feel like you've stepped back in time. Stones River, Franklin, Manassas and Fredericksburg just don't have that same feel to them (all great places to visit but traffic and urban sprawl makes them a bit less of an experience).

At Gettysburg the town is part of the battlefield (and I don't think gets the interpretation it deserves) so it only makes sense to return it to its 1863 appearance like most of the other fighting areas have been. Of course this won't be popular. Cutting trees was not popular. But I'm not going to be at Gettysburg to be popular, I'll be there to make historic interpretation and our understanding much better.

If that phase of the plan works out then I would also like to build a museum for the Gettysburg nuts. Not sure if there is enough room near the new visitor center to build this new museum but I think the devoted Gettysburg people need a museum to showcase as much of the collection as possible. The general public might find this one too tedious or boring to attend but us diehards would be thrilled to see every single variety of rifle the park possesses.

I am quite willing and able to have a Gettysburg address. If it helps my cause I'd be willing to work for free, just don't tell my wife I said that.

Chickamauga Tour

Every year Dave Powell helps organize a spring weekend of Chickamauga tours. Usually he is a main tour guide with NPS Historian Jim Ogden. I got an email over the weekend announcing the next spring tour, March 13 & 14, 2009. Since Dave has helped me out in the past with research questions on Chickamauga I thought I'd help advertise the tours here.

I've always wanted to attend but every year something gets in the way. This year is no different. Maybe some day I'll hit the lotto and can retire, then I'll have plenty of time to run down to Chickamauga for the weekend.

CCNMP Study Group 2009 Seminar in the Woods
Mission Statement: The purpose of the CCNMP Study Group is to create a forum to bring students of the American Civil War together to study and explore those events in the fall of 1863 that led ultimately to the creation of the Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park. The intent is to use the indispensable resource of the park itself as an outdoor classroom to promote learning and study of the battles for Chattanooga, and to build interest for an annual gathering that will in time examine all aspects of the Campaigns for Chattanooga. Additionally, we hope to bring students and serious scholars, both professional and amateur, to the field to share insights and knowledge about the battles.

Tour Leaders: Jim Ogden, Park Historian, and Dave Powell

Date: Friday, March 13, and Saturday, March 14, 2009.

Note: Friday’s tours will involve a tour bus. We will be charging a small fee for use of the bus. See below.

Friday Morning: 8:30 a.m. to Noon. Minty vs. Johnson, September 18th, 1863.
By Bus, we will examine the opening engagement of the battle, as Bushrod Johnson and Nathan Bedford Forrest collided with Minty’s Cavalry Brigade. Stops will include Ringgold, Peeler’s Mill site, Peavine Ridge, Reed’s Bridge, and conclude at Jay’s Mill. This land is in private hands, but we will have ample opportunities to dismount and walk some of the terrain in question.

Park at the Visitor‘s Center. The bus will depart and return from there.

Friday Afternoon: 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Rosecrans in Command, September 17th to 20th, 1863.
By Bus, we will trace Union Commander William Starke Rosecrans’ movements on the field between September 17th and 20th, discussing his command decisions and the information he had at the time. Stops will include Crawfish Springs, Wilder Tower/Widow Glenn’s, the Visitor’s Center, and the Dyer Orchard HQ site.

Park at the Visitor’s Center. The Bus will depart and return from there.

Saturday Morning: 8:30 a.m. to Noon. Hindman vs. Sheridan, morning of September 20th.
On foot: We will examine the attack of Hindman’s Division on Sheridan’s Federals, after Davis’ division is overwhelmed. We will discuss the fighting in South Dyer Field, the storming of Lytle Hill, defeat of Lytle and Walworth’s Brigades, and end with Wilder’s repulse of Manigault’s Rebel Brigade.

Park in the gravel lot by Recreational Field.

Saturday Afternoon: 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Hindman assails the end of the line: Horseshoe Ridge, September 20th
On Foot: Horseshoe Ridge provides a dramatic conclusion to the battle of Chickamauga. We will discuss the movements of Anderson’s, Manigault’s and Deas’ Brigades as they make their final attack on Horseshoe Ridge.

Park at Snodgrass Hill.

Cost: Beyond the fee for Friday’s Bus, there is no cost for tour participation. Meals lodging, transportation, and incidentals, however, are the individual’s responsibility.

Tour Departures: All tours will meet at the Chickamauga Visitor’s Center at the designated start time, and will depart from there after some brief overview discussion. We will board the bus or car caravan to the designated parking area, and from there, we will be on foot. We will be on foot for up to three hours, so dress and prepare accordingly. Tours will depart rain or shine. Participants are responsible for their own transportation, and should plan accordingly. All tours are designed to be self-contained, so participants who cannot attend the full schedule are still welcome to join us for any portion of the weekend.

Lodging and Meals: Everyone is responsible for their own lodging and meals. There are many hotels in the greater Chattanooga area, for any price range. The closest are in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, with the least expensive in Ringgold. Each tour is designed to leave at least 90 minutes for lunch, and there are several family and fast food restaurants within minutes of the battlefield. There are designated picnic areas near the Visitor’s Center, for those who wish to bring a lunch and eat on the field.

What to bring: Each tour will involve extensive walking. Proper clothing and especially footgear is essential. Dress in layers, wear sturdy, broken-in walking shoes or boots, and be prepared for some rain, as spring can be quite wet in North Georgia. We will be walking on dirt and gravel trails, uncut fields, and through stretches of woods. The ground will be wet and muddy in places. Bring your own water and snacks.

Reading up on the subject: Many people like to prepare in advance for these kinds of events. I suggest the following works might be of help.

Cozzens, Peter. This Terrible Sound. University of Illinois, 1992. The best modern study of the battle.

Gracie, Archibald. The Truth About Chickamauga. Morningside, Reprinted 1987. For the veteran Chickamauga student only. Gracie’s narrative is incoherent, disorganized, and mistaken in many places. However, his focus is central to Saturday Afternoon’s tour, and his work contains a wealth of primary source accounts that are not found anywhere else. We will be discussing many of the same topics Gracie examines.

Woodworth, Stephen E. Six Armies In Tennessee: The Chickamauga And Chattanooga Campaigns. Lincoln, Nebraska. University of Nebraska Press, 1998; an excellent overview campaign study.

Woodworth, Stephen E. A Deep Steady Thunder: The Battle Of Chickamauga. Abilene, Texas. McWhiney Foundation Press, 1998. Concise but very useful account of the battle, designed as an introduction to the action. 100 pages, very readable.

Note: Friday’s Tours will be by Bus, as we move from site to site. While the tour itself is free, we do have to pay for the bus.

Pre-registration Fee: $35 Due by February 1st, 2009

After November 5th, 2008, send to:
FRANK CRAWFORD
34664 ORANGE DRIVE
PINELLAS PARK, FLORIDA 33781

Frank will hold your payments. If you pay by check, note that Frank will not cash those checks until we have sufficient entries, so that if we have to refund, Frank will simply send your checks back to you.

Please also note that this fee is NON-REFUNDABLE after February 1st, 2009. Once we are committed to the bus, we will be charged the booking fee.

On-site Sign up Fee: $40

We MUST have 20 attendees registered and Paid by Feb 1st, or we cannot reserve the bus. Once we confirm the minimum, you will be able to join the tour the day we depart, for late add-ons. If we do not meet the minimum, we will car-caravan for Friday’s tours.

For more information, email David Powell at: Dpowell334@aol.com

Roundtable

Last night for the first time in 8 years I attended a roundtable meeting where I wasn't asked questions about the newsletter. It was kinda weird not being the point man for questions about the group. I was just a normal member. Maybe not entirely normal as I'm still involved in other roundtable activities that the average member is not, like the symposium. It was nice not doing the newsletter, I didn't really miss it at all. I was able to use my time to edit my manuscript on Chattanooga, I'm now halfway through that. Its been a little while since I've had time to work on it so it was nice to get back to it. Also being away from the project gave me some perspective on the manuscript and I had an idea the other night that I think will make the whole thing read better and be stronger. With the holidays coming up I doubt I'll get too much done on it but my goal right now is to have it ready to mail to publishers on January 1st. That's my goal and I'm going to try to stick to it.

Recently I was posting some Shiloh tablets on Historical Marker Database and going back over my Shiloh manuscript gave me an idea of how to improve my Chickamauga maps. Not sure if my recent burst of creativity and productivity is a result of having fewer roundtable responsibilities but it does feel good to get these projects moving forward again.

Housekeeping

I've updated a few of my settings around here. Blogger has a new (to me) feature that shows when the most recent blog was posted for each of my listed blogs. I like this feature so I've added it to me list. I also moved some blogs into, and out of, the inactive group. If you feel your blog was moved improperly let me know and I'll fix it.

I've also added the information compilation section like has been talked about on a few different blogs this week. I think it is useful to sort some blogs into this section. If you want your blog included in this section let me know. Basically I put blogs in there that seemed like the posts were mostly geared towards putting some sort of Civil War knowledge/information online with a minimum of opinion. A few I had a hard time classifying. Like Gettysburg Daily. That site shows some feature of Gettysburg daily and when I plan my next trip there I'll use the site to amass a list of places I want to see, and there are things I've learned from it but I just wasn't sure it was "information compilation." Now if they did an officer biography or unit history every day then I probably would add it to the compilation section. There were others I had a hard time with too. Basically this is a somewhat new designation and as such is still in its formative stage. I'm sure there will be blogs to add, and remove, from the "information compilation" section in the coming weeks and months but at least today I started to make some changes around here.

I'm also looking at making a few other small additions to the right column information. One idea is to add a section with small book reviews. Like a list of what I've read recently. Some things I've read I'm waiting on posting the review here until it appears in print in Civil War News, and in the meantime I thought it might be nice to have a picture of the book, and a paragraph that gives a very quick overview with a recommendation on how good the book was.

Courage Under Fire by Wiley Sword

Courage Under Fire: Profiles in Bravery From the Battlefields of the Civil War by Wiley Sword

I had a some trouble wrapping my mind around this book. My opinion is somewhat mixed. The first two sections mainly cover a variety of forms of courage. These run the whole range of types of courage and situations. There are the men who are convinced they will die in the next battle and how they deal with that. There are the men who do extraordinary things in a battle. For instance I had never heard the story of the attempted capture of the USS Michigan in Lake Erie. That was an interesting story that was quite minor in the grand scheme of the war but had its own heroic moments.

The last part of the book though deals more with the mental aspect of courage. There is a chapter on Shiloh which details some of the decisions and thoughts made by Johnston and Grant at the battle. I did not think that this section was the strongest in the book. There is a chapter on Cleburne and his slave proposal and the moral courage he needed to bring this proposal forward in the social climate of the South. True, but not the strongest part of the book.

I got this book from the library and I'm not sure if I'd buy it or not. I know a review should end with a thumbs up or down but for this particular book I really cannot decide. I'm a fan of Wiley Sword's but I'm not sure this is his best book from cover to cover. For me if he had expanded the early sections and done less of the last section I think it'd be a better book. I guess my final recommendation is that its a worthwhile read but I would not keep it in my library for future reference.

Two Miserable Presidents by Steve Sheinkin

Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the Civil War by Steve Sheinkin

Another pickup from the library. I thought this was an interesting book. Its listed as a juvenile book but I think it also suits a mass market well. Basically this is an easy to read book that covers the Civil War for anyone who does not know, or remember from school, much of that conflict.

There is a fair amount of coverage of the causes of the war. It covers roughly a sixth of the book. Then a section about half that size follows on the election and the buildup to Fort Sumter and First Manassas. After that battle events dominate the text but some of the lesser events are also mentioned, like Robert Smalls escaping to freedom by stealing an armed Confederate ship and steaming past other Confederate ships. There is also a section that talks about the common soldiers, but battle oddities and stories fill most of the pages.

If you read this blog daily this book is not for you. It might be for that family member of yours that wonders just why you feel compelled to watch the sunset from Little Round Top, or be in Fraley Field at sunrise.

Emancipation Proclamation

As I mentioned on Wednesday the Rocky Mountain News is rolling out a series of the top 150 front pages in their 150 years of publishing. Yesterday the article was on Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. In it the modern author said that "Regular readers of the Rocky weren't surprised by the proclamation. Nine months earlier, on April 8, 1862, the newspaper printed the president's announcement of his intention to seek adoption of the proclamation by Congress. The paper made its position clear on the matter in an accompanying note:
'The last mail ... brought scores of Eastern and Western papers with similar recommendations. The voice of the press is almost unanimous in its approval. That is a pretty correct index of popular opinion, and we may therefore set down that almost the entire loyal States endorse the action of the President. It must be expected that the ultra Abolitionists will kick against it, as too conservative for their radical views. Let them squirm! 'Honest Abe' has shown that he will be no tool of theirs.' "

This struck me as odd because up until the time Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation he did everything possible to distance him from emancipation. When a variety of generals declared emancipation in their districts he forced them to rescind those orders. So I emailed the author.

He wrote back:
"I'm a little puzzled by your view of Lincoln's "preliminary proclamation," though. I have a photocopy (that I made) of the actual April 8, 1862, page from the Rocky. It fully lays out Lincoln's apparent intentions, and the date is clearly printed. It goes on at quite some length, in fact. And as you no doubt read, the paper even went on to comment regarding the preliminary news."

I've since asked him to send a copy of the April 8th issue so that I might be able to find out more of what the paper was reporting. Does anyone out there have ideas of what could be in the paper?

I wrote back to the author my knowledge of the Emancipation Proclamation. Basically that the first reference to it is in Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles' diary. He mentions being told about the proclamation by Lincoln on July 13th 1862 in the company of Secretary of State William Seward. At a cabinet meeting on July 22 Lincoln revealed the proclamation to his entire cabinet and sought their advice as far as implementation went. He had already made up his mind to go forward with the proclamation. Seward convinces Lincoln to wait, saying that, “It may be viewed as the last measure of an exhausted government, a cry for help.” And “that it would be considered our last shriek, on the retreat."

While the proclamation sat in his desk Lincoln did his best to project a public appearance of moderation. There is a famous letter he wrote to Horace Greeley on August 22, 1862 in which he states,
“I would save the Union. I would save it the shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner the national authority can be restored; the nearer the Union will be "the Union as it was." If there be those who would not save the Union, unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union.”

I told the author that I doubted that there would be proclamation news in April that was directly tied to Lincoln when in August he didn't let out a bit info to Greeley. If Greeley knew something the world would have known it as his paper had one of the widest circulations in the country. Yet somehow the Denver paper reports on an emancipation proclamation four months before Greeley urges Lincoln to adopt the same route. I'm guessing that the April 8th issue was just reporting rumors of emancipation, which the Radical Republicans wanted from the start of the war, and somehow Lincoln's name was associated with these rumors. I'll be interested to see if the author can send me a copy of the April 8th issue and see exactly what it says.

I do regret having to contact the author through the corrections department. I truly do not think this deserves to be listed as a correction in the paper so I hope that I didn't get him into any trouble by contacting him that way. It sounds like the error was made in 1862 when the paper directly linked Lincoln with this emancipation rumor. Although it would be funny to see in the corrections section: "Correction: A story on page 1 of the April 8, 1862 issue incorrectly said that Lincoln was issuing an emancipation proclamation. Instead it was other politicians who were urging Lincoln to adopt such a proclamation."

UPDATE:
Just got an email from the author. Apparently what the April 8th issue talked about was Lincoln's plan to buy all the slaves from the South. A message from Lincoln to Congress that says, in part, "Resolved, That the United States ought to co-operate with any State which may adopt a gradual abolishment of Slavery, giving to such State pecuniary aid, to be used by such State in its discretion, to compensate for the inconveniences, public and private, produced by such change of system." So the newspaper in 1862 called it an emancipation proclamation when it was a bit less. Since this was the first emancipation proclamation of any kind I think they can be allowed to exaggerate a bit.

Blog categories

Lately there has been some discussion on a variety of blogs (Bull Runnings, Crossed Sabers, To the Sound of the Guns, etc) about a better way to categorize some of our blogs. Some of us, and I lump myself in that group, use our blog as a way of compiling information.

Harry uses Bull Runnings to list a ton of 1st Manassas stuff. If I have a 1st Manassas question I often go to his site first as I know it might be there somewhere in the archives.

Don at Crossed Sabers has a ton of info on the Regular Cavalry units in the war. I don't often have a cavalry question but his is a great site the few times I've had questions.

Craig at To the Sound of the Guns uses his blog almost like Brian does with Behind Antietam on the Web. Craig is also a major contributor at Historical Marker Database and uses his blog to give updates on that site as well as talk about his trips to battlefields (a kindred spirit).

Jenny at Draw the Sword offers a daily Gettysburg monument. Her blog inspired me to do something similar with Shiloh monuments here awhile back.

I'm sure there are other blogs like this but these are the ones that spring to mind first. Most other blogs offer up more of a daily thoughts take than systematically examining something. I think I will follow their leads and in the next few days rearrange my blog list with a section for "Information Compilation" blogs.

Rocky Mountain News

In celebration of its 150th anniversary the Rocky Mountain News is posting one important front page a day on their website, until there is a collection of 150. The first one was obviously the first issue, then two that focused on the gold rush in Colorado. The last three days though have been Civil War related.


First was the January 12, 1861 edition that talked about South Carolina's secession. Then on April 18, 1861 there was the firing on Fort Sumter. Today's was the April 10, 1862 edition that told of the battle at Glorietta Pass in New Mexico.

These are interesting editions to read partly because this is my town but also because you can really see how removed Denver was from the rest of the world. The Sumter news took 6 days to arrive and then it was only that the firing had started, not that the fort was surrendered. The secession news took much longer, roughly 3 weeks. The Glorietta news took about 2 weeks to arrive.

I'll be interested to see what other Civil War news cracks the top 150. I'm guessing there will be something on the Sand Creek Massacre and Lincoln's assassination. Besides that I'm not sure what other editions might make the cut. What's nice about the Rocky Mountain News site is that they offer the front pages in pdf so you can read the entire page and see all the news that made the cut that day.

Elections

Thank God this election is nearly over. Colorado has a huge list of ballot measures. Plus we're a battleground state in the presidential race. The radio and TV ads are so numerous, and annoying, that I wish for the days of ads for medications with worse side effects than the problem being solved, for lawyers who think everyone is a victim and for crazy car dealers.

Part of the problem too is commentators with no sense of history. I hear countless talking heads yammering on about how this is the most bitter election in history. And I'm left thinking back to 1860. Back then half the country was threatening to leave if the election didn't go their way. That has not been mentioned as a possibility this year.

The personal attacks in ads are also pointed out as an example of the bitterness of this election. But in 1856 congressman Preston Brooks beat Senator Charles Sumner with his cane on the Senate floor. Brooks resigned his seat in the House of Representatives but his constituents considered him a hero and reelected him. True Sumner was not running against Brooks but when congressmen are fighting on the Senate floor (or actually Sumner was receiving a severe beating while another congressman, Laurence Keitt, prevented anyone from coming to Sumner's aid by brandishing a pistol) calling someone a cheat or a liar in a campaign ad does not seem that horrible.

In any respect its all over today. I'll be glad to see the return of all those other ads. I know the actual final tally might take a few more days to be 100% sure who the winner was but at least those horrible ads will be done. And maybe some talking heads will read a book before 2012 and will realize that while modern elections are bitter and filled with name calling and false accusations they do not measure up with the tumultuous times we went through roughly 150 years ago. In fact I bet if we truly dissected all the old campaigns we would find out that generally campaigns bring out the worst in people, they say things about the other party and their candidates that they would normally not say. I'd be willing to bet that there has never been a campaign that has been a 100% rational discussion of the issues involved with no exaggerations made by either side.

Rocky Mountain Civil War Roundtable Symposium

Filling the panel for the next symposium proved a bit tougher than filling our first symposium a year ago. Three weeks ago I related some of the difficulties I had been having. We ran into people who were already booked for next October, who wanted an honorarium (which seems to be very rare), who were ill, we even had people who didn't respond to emails and letters. I was a little shocked by the number of people who didn't respond at all but not by the number who were booked, that's a good sign that roundtables and historical societies are putting on a variety of events.

Our final panel will consist of Russel Beatie, Ted Alexander, Bradley Gottfried,Lance Herdegen and Timothy B. Smith. The theme is Lee Invades the North.

Russel Beatie, who is working on a multi-volume history of the Army of the Potomac, will provide an overview and give some context for the two campaigns. Ted Alexander, chief historian at Antietam, will talk about the battle of Antietam. Bradley Gottfried, who has done some wonderful work on Gettysburg including "Brigades of Gettysburg" and "Maps of Gettysburg" will talk about the battle of Gettysburg. Lance Herdegen, a leading authority on the Iron Brigade, will talk about the Iron Brigade's experiences at Antietam and Gettysburg. Timothy B. Smith, who has done much work on the creation of these battlefields into national parks, will talk about the formation of Antietam and Gettysburg and will include the modern efforts to return, primarily, Gettysburg to its war time appearance.

Like last year we will have time for author signing and will have many of the presenters' books for sale. We will also add a panel discussion to end the day's festivities. Last April we did not do this as we wanted to keep things simple for our first time, but now we feel confident enough to try a bit more.

Here is a reading list of what each author has written so that you can become a bit more acquainted with each presenter:
Russel H. Beatie
The Army of the Potomac: Birth of Command, November 1860-September 1861
Army of the Potomac, Volume II: McClellan Takes Command, September 1861-February 1862
Army of the Potomac: McClellan's First Campaign, March - May 1862

Timothy B. Smith:
The Golden Age of Battlefield Preservation: The Decade of the 1890's and the Establishment of America's First Five Military Parks
This Great Battlefield of Shiloh: History, Memory, and the Establishment of a Civil War National Military Park
The Untold Story of Shiloh: The Battle and the Battlefield
Shiloh and the Western Campaign of 1862
Champion Hill: Decisive Battle for Vicksburg
The Battle of Shiloh and the Organizations Engaged by D. W. Reed

Lance Herdegen
Those Damned Black Hats! The Iron Brigade in the Gettysburg Campaign
The Men Stood Like Iron: How the Iron Brigade Won Its Name
Four Years with the Iron Brigade: The Civil War Journal of William Ray, Seventh Wisconsin Volunteers with Sherry Murphy
In the Bloody Railroad Cut at Gettysburg with William J.K. Beaudot

Bradley M. Gottfried
The Artillery of Gettysburg
Brigades of Gettysburg: The Union and Confederate Brigades at the Battle of Gettysburg
The Maps of Gettysburg: The Gettysburg Campaign June 3 – July 13
Roads to Gettysburg: Lee's Invasion of the North, 1863
Kearny's Own: The History of the First New Jersey Brigade in the Civil War
Stopping Pickett: The History of the Philadelphia Brigade
The Battle of Gettysburg: A Guided Tour with Edward J. Stackpole, and Wilbur Sturtevant Nye.