October Meeting and Newsletter

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, October 21st, in the café of Borders Books in Governor’s Square Mall. This is located on Wilma Rudolph Blvd (Hwy 79) south of Exit 4 off I-24, then head south a bit. The mall is on the left. The meeting begins at 7:00 pm and is always open to the public. Members please bring a friend or two – new recruits are always welcomed.

OUR SPEAKER AND TOPIC:

“The Decker Twins; A Mission With the 32nd Indiana Volunteers”

John G. and Philip G. Decker were 21 year old twin brothers when recruited in Evansville, Indiana to serve in August Willich’s 32nd Indiana Infantry regiment. Following their recruitment, the brothers are mustered into Co. “K”, 32nd Indiana, on 21 Sept., 1861 at Camp Murphy, Indianapolis.

Using photographs, family letters, pension records and written histories of the 32nd Indiana Volunteer Infantry, a fascinating story unfolds about these German American privates. The battles and skirmishes at Rowlett’s Station, Shiloh, the siege at Corinth, Chesser’s Store, Stone’s River, Chickamauga, and the Confederate prisons at Richmond, and Andersonville are in the future for these eager recruits.
John G. Decker, who wrote the majority of the letters used, suffers from multiple ailments which requires hospital treatment following the siege at Corinth. Philip G. Decker faces capture and imprisonment following Stone’s River and Chickamauga; he later expires at Andersonville prison. Pension records and G.A.R. memorabilia belonging to John G. Decker complete the story of this veteran. The program will also touch on the officers and command changes affecting this proud German regiment. Germans were the largest foreign ethnic group to serve in the Union Army and still overlooked somewhat to this day but more and more study on their contributions is occurring every year.

T. Max Hochstetler is Emeritus Professor and former Chair of the Department of Art at Austin Peay State University. Retiring in 1999 after 32 years on the faculty, he remains active as art and antique collector. Known for his historic mural paintings at Opryland Hotel, and the Sundquist Science Building at APSU, his acrylic and watercolor paintings are found in many public, corporate, and private collections throughout the South and Midwest. No longer producing art, he has more time to devote to travel and his focused collection of 19th century Prussian/German carte de visitie and cabinet card portraits of theatre, opera, music, and royalty. Some of his photograph collection is scheduled for exhibit in Switzerland in 2010.

LAST MONTH’S MEETING

We were treated to a terrific program by Russ Bonds of Atlanta, the award winning author of Stealing The General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor. With full command of his topic and delivered with style and much humor, Mr. Bonds rewove one of the Civil War’s greatest stories, the topic of two feature films and several books over the years. The story of Andrew’s Raid, as it is also called, is one of hope for the Union side – the breaking of the critical railroad from Atlanta to Chattanooga by a group of soldiers disguised as civilians heading south to join the Confederate Army. Their plot started off very well and the locomotive, the General, was stolen right from under the eyes of the crew and a Confederate training camp! But things quickly went wrong for the crew began an unending chase that culminated with the raiders being captured north of Ringgold, Georgia. Some were hung as spies, including James Andrews, the leader. Some were sent to prison and escaped while others were exchanged later. Most of the survivors were the nation’s first recipients of the newly created Medal of Honor.

Mr. Bonds ended his fine program connecting the dots between the raiders and the then most recent American soldier who won a Medal of Honor in Iraq. A new recipient was announced a week later also for Iraq and also posthumously. This is not only a wonderful story but it is a great tale of valor and it has its finest story teller in Russ Bonds.

We cannot praise this program highly enough for other CWRTs and we look forward to having Russ back to see us in Nashville.

FUTURE PROGRAMS:

November, 2009 – Jim Hoobler, Tennessee State Museum – “Occupied Nashville”
December, 2009 – TBA
January, 2010 – Howard Kittel, Director and CEO, the Hermitage – “The Civil War In The Shenandoah Valley”
February, 2010 – Dr. Wally Cross, Austin Peay State University, “The Commanders of Ft. Donelson”
March, 2010 – Thomas Cartwright, former Director, Carter House Historic Site – “The Battle of Thompson’s Station”
July, 2010 – Joseph Reinhart, Louisville CWRT and author – “Germans in the Civil War”

MEMBERS AND DUES: – Your name badge will have two ribbons if you are current with your dues.

Thanks to all of you, the Clarksville CWRT continues to grow. We would love to have you join us! If you have friends interested in the Civil War, please bring them along. July is our fiscal year when dues for the current campaign were due. If you haven’t paid your dues for this season yet please do so. Our dues help us get great speakers and for historical preservation. Annual dues are as follows:

Single membership – $20
Family – $30
Military – Active duty and Veterans – $15
Military Family – Active duty and Veterans – $25
Student – $10

To our many guests – To our guests, thank you for much for coming to see what we are about. Your dues money goes towards helping to pay the travel expenses we get to visit us so we hope that you considering joining our ranks very soon. Welcome to our new members!!!!!

Clarksville CWRT silent auction – Each month we hold a silent auction of donated items to help raise more money for the club’s treasury. If you have something Civil War related that you would like to donate please bring it to the meeting. Thanks very much to all of you who have donated items. We have a very special item coming up at this meeting!!!

CIVIL WAR NEWS AND EVENTS:

Carnton Plantation in historic Franklin hosts John Bell Hood exhibit and offers Civil War Lectures
Carnton Plantation in Franklin, TN, now has the new Fleming Center with expanded museum space, gift shop and other amenities. Currently ongoing in the museum is a special
exhibit of artifacts from Confederate Gen. John Bell Hood, commander of the Army of Tennessee in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign of late 1864. Containing items from
descendants as well as the Museum of the Confederacy, the exhibit includes swords, his uniform frock coat, a saddle, documents, flags and more.
Carnton also has a series of Civil War lectures. The next two are:
October 26 – 6 pm: “If The Floors Could Talk” will feature Craig Moor, blood stain pattern expert.

November 6 – HOOD’S LEGACY PANEL DISCUSSION

Carnton will host a panel discussion covering the career of Gen. John Bell Hood on Friday, November 6 at 6 p.m. in the event room of the Fleming Center. It is FREE to the public and will last about 1 ½ hours. Panelists will include Eric A. Jacobson (author, historian), Sam Hood (Hood expert, descendant), Sam Elliot (author, historian) and Brandon Beck (University of Mississippi).

The lectures are free to the public. For more information, hours, directions, etc. visit http://www.carnton.org. Further lectures are being planned along with their annual Battle of Franklin
celebrations and Christmas programs.
Historic Ft. Negley Offers Haunted Halloween Tours – October 30, 2009

Ft. Negley, a unit of Nashville’s Metro Parks, offers a Civil War haunted history tour on Friday, October 30th at 7 PM. Meet with period reenactors offering tales of Civil War ghosts
of the area as you tour historic Ft. Negley. This free event for the whole family is open to the public but reservations are required.

Please RSVP to Ft. Negley’s visitors center by calling (615)862-8470 and be prepared for a ghostly grand time!

Battle of Nashville Preservation Society Civil War Seminar at Ft.Negley

The Battle of Nashville Preservation Society’s Civil War conference is slated for Nashville’s historic Ft. Negley Park. This educational event will be held on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 and it runs from 8:30 AM through 4:30 PM. Included in the conference is a tour and lunch and the fee is only $40 (before November 1st) and $45 thereafter. Seating is limited and it is first come, first in. The speakers include:
Sarah Boyd – Williamson County, TN history teacher – The Roots of the Civil War: How Our Forefathers Passed the Buck

Carole S. Boyd – history professor at Volunteer State Community College – Storm Clouds On The Horizon: Nashville In The Decade Before the Civil War

Myers Brown – History and Extension Services Curator, Tennessee State Museum – Spies, Scouts and Guerrillas: Irregular Warfare in Middle Tennessee

Krista Castillo – Museum Coordinator, Ft. Negley Park/Nashville CWRT – Finding Peace: Reconstructing Middle Tennessee

Thomas Flagel – history professor, Columbia State Community College – Appomattox: The Place of Lee’s Surrender and a National Resurrection

John Allyn – Battle of Nashville Preservation Society/Nashville City Cemetery Association – The Nashville City Cemetery (and tour guide for the tour there)

The symposium is sponsored by the Battle of Nashville Preservation Society and Nashville Metro Parks.

Make your check payable to BONPS and send to BONPS, c/o Ft. Negley Visitors Center, 1100 Ft. Negley Blvd., Nashville, TN 37203. Remember seating is limited and the fee includes lunch and the tour. If you want a vegetarian lunch please make that known.

Ft. Negley and Tennessee Historical Society Civil War Lecture Series

Ft. Negley Park and the Tennessee Historical Society are having a series of lectures in honor of the 145th Anniversary of Hood’s Tennessee Campaign of 1864. All events will be held at Ft. Negley’s Visitor’s Center as part of the THS Fall Membership series. The events are free and open to the public.

The lectures, dates and presenters are as follows – programs run from 5:30 to 7 PM:

October 27th, 2009 – Krista Castillo (Ft. Negley, Austin Peay State University and Nashville CWRT) – “The Roles Of Women in Union Occupied Nashville”

November 10, 2009 – Christopher Kiernan Coleman (Hendersonville, TN) – “Son of the Gods; Ambrose Bierce and the Tennessee Campaign of 1864″

November 24, 2009 – Kent Moran (Memphis State University) – “The Long Goodbye: The End of the Isham Harris Administration and His Exile”

December 8, 2009 – Timothy B. Smith (University of Tennessee-Martin) – “What Could Have Been: Battlefield Preservation at Franklin”

For further information visit the THS web site at http://www.tennesseehistory.org or call (615)741-8934 – or email at info@tennesseehistory.org

The series is sponsored by the Tennessee Civil War National Preservation Area, Metro Nashville Parks and the Tennessee Historical Society.

New Civil War battlefield visitors centers open in Virginia (From Susan Claffey, District of Columbia CWRT)

New Five Forks Visitor Center: A new visitor center opened Oct. 3 at Five Forks, Virginia describing the April 1, 1865, battle that turned Robert E. Lee’s flank at Petersburg (VA). Confederate Gen. George Pickett’s troops were crushed by a massive Union attack which lead to an even larger assault the next day along Hatcher’s Run. The center is located near the old NPS contact station at the actual Five Forks intersection, southwest of Petersburg. For directions and further information visit: http://www.nps.gov/pete/index.htm. Site manager is former Petersburg NPS historian Chris Calkins, a noted authority on the Petersburg area battles.

New Shenandoah Visitor Center: The latest Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District orientation center has opened in the Harrisonburg (VA) visitor center at the historic Hardesty-Higgins House. This center focuses on Jackson’s 1862 Valley Campaign including the Cross Keys and Port Republic battlefields and the story of the burning of area farm buildings and homes in 1864. The center is open 9 am-5 pm daily and is free. The other Valley battlefield centers are located in Winchester and McDowell. For more information please visit – ShenandoahAtWar.org

Kentucky Institutes Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear came to the Richmond, Kentucky, battlefield on Wednesday, September 2, and signed an executive order creating the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission and announced a $1 million grant to fund it. The year 2011 will mark the 150th anniversary of the war’s outbreak, and the commission will recommend events to commemorate the observance.

Members of the 25 member commission will be appointed by November 1, and should conduct its first meeting in March 2010, according to a news release from the governor’s office. “This will be a four year commemoration and not a celebration,” Beshear said. “We don’t want to glorify war. We want to remember the Kentuckians who fought and died in the conflict, the suffering of its people and the changes brought by the war, especially the freedom of African-American slaves.” While the conflict threatened to split the nation in two, “In no other state were the people more divided that Kentucky,” the governor said. Of the 150,000 Kentuckians who fought in the war, more than twice as many fought for the Union as for the Confederacy. The division was dramatically symbolized, Beshear said, by two Kentuckians—Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis—who served, respectfully, as presidents of the Union and Confederate governments. Beshear noted that statues of opposing leaders stand the rotunda of the state capitol in Frankfort.
Beshear also presented Madison County Judge/Executive Kent Clark with an oversized check for $440,000, with will be used to enhance the Battle of Richmond, Kentucky’s, Battlefield Park, namely the Pleasant View House, which dates to 1824 and served as a hospital during the Battle of Richmond. Both grants came from transportation enhancement funds.

Chickamauga, Georgia, Names Road to Honor Union Troops (From the Civil War Preservation Trust newsletter)

Highway 341 in Chickamauga is now the U.S. Army of the Cumberland Highway after an official naming ceremony earlier this month. Chickamauga City Manager and Georgia Civil War Commission Chairman John Culpepper said the highway traces the route Union forces took to the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863. “Most people don’t key in to all of the paths and the mountains the men had to march over,” he said. “They were everywhere.”

The new designation applies to a section of the highway from its intersection with Highway 193 northward to its intersection with Gordon Street downtown. Mr. Culpepper said naming this street, along with other designations across North Georgia and Southeast Tennessee, can help give people a better idea of the troop movements. “This is telling the whole story of the whole campaign in all of these counties,” he said.

Richard Barclift, Chickamauga tourism director, said having the route named in time for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in 2011 could help draw tourists. “The 150th is going to be the major celeb throughout the country,” he said. “For us, (naming the highway) may not be that big of a deal, but for descendants of the veterans who fought in the battle from Indiana and Ohio, I think it’s a pretty big deal.” Mr. Culpepper said the route’s designation could bring a few visitors south from Chickamauga National Battlefield. “We want to be part of their battlefield experience,” he said.

Next, Mr. Culpepper said he wants to get a section of U.S. Highway 27 renamed CSA Army of Tennessee Highway because the Confederate army used a similar route to where the highway lies. Like Highway 341, the road’s name change would have to be voted on by the Legislature. He said the more historic routes that can honor an area’s history, the better.

“It all has connections,” he said. “It all brings history back to life.”

Fredericksburg, VA battlefield preservation DVD for sale to raise funds (From Scott Eyestone, Fredericksburg, VA CWRT)

Please ccome visit us and enjoy the fields at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, The Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Courthouse. Our National Park Service people are the most friendly, well-informed, dedicated, and underpaid Rangers in the Service. Private guides such as Hallowed Ground Tours are also available and can offer “custom” tours. We’re also working hard on battlefield preservation. It looks like we may have lost the WalMart at The Wilderness battle, but we’ve been winning on other fronts. Please see http://www.cvbt.org/ for current information on saved land.

Of course the acquired dirt and grass needs to be paid for. A partnership of the Fredericksburg CW Round Table and Central Virginia Battlefields Trust produced a video product named Civil War Fredericksburg: Then & Now. Please see http://www.cvbt.org/CVBT_FCWRT_DVD.html for a trailer and information. The DVD runs two hours. If anyone in the Clarksville or Nashville clubs would like to order either edition, there is a link from the information page to the online order page.

Our July Newsletter and Meeting

July 22nd, 2009 – Our 64th Meeting

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009, in the auditorium of the Clarksville Customs House Museum and Cultural Center, 200 S. 2nd Street. From Borders continue south on Wilma Rudolph Blvd. into downtown and turn left on 2nd Street. From Ft. Campbell Blvd, continue south past Two Rivers Mall into down town. This is now 2nd Street. The museum is on the right side of the street on the corner of 2nd and Commerce Streets. The meeting begins at 7:00 pm and is always open to the public. Members please bring a friend or two – new recruits are always welcomed.

OUR SPEAKER AND TOPIC:

“The Rifle Musket in the Civil War: Myth and Reality”

This month we welcome Dr. Earl J. Hess from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN. This beautiful campus is located just south of Cumberland Gap.

Most Civil War historians claim that the advent and wide-spread use of the rifle musket changed warfare and was the primary cause of the massive casualties. The increased accuracy and extended range of the rifle over older smoothbore muskets took on Napoleonic tactics and soundly defeated them – or so it is believed.

However, starting with British military historian Paddy Griffith in his book “Battle Tactics of the American Civil War,” and continued with Brent Nosworthy’s brilliant “Bloody Crucible of Courage,” historians have taken a serious examination of the actual effectiveness of the weapon based on the training of the troops and actual battle accounts from the Official Records and other sources. What has been discovered is that the soldiers were never properly trained to aim the weapon using the back sights nor were they taught range estimation. Additionally, with is lower muzzle velocity, the rifle Minie bullet flew with a parabolic curve rather than the flat trajectory of the faster smooth bore rounds. This curve was known before the war thanks to tests but the soldiers were not trained to overcome it.

What has been discovered, and Dr. Hess’ current book which is the topic of this month’s program adds much to the previous two works cited above, is that most Civil War battles were fought well within closer smoothbore ranges and that those older weapons firing the buck & ball rounds, caused many casualties on their own including at Antietam. Dr. Hess notes that despite the Civil War being a war where both sides were armed with rifle muskets, it was the last major war with those weapons. Several European powers had developed and deployed breech-loading rifles and breech loaders, and two major repeating rifles in America (the Henry and the Spencer) also saw combat action in the Civil War.

Dr. Hess will detail the capabilities of the rifle musket and compare it to the smoothbore along with examples of battle use. It will be found that in the hands of specialist sharpshooters or skirmisher units, the rifle musket performed as expected because the soldier was properly trained. But for the line infantry regiments, it was not much different than Marlborough’s British Redcoats at Blenheim in 1704 who were magnificently trained to fire four rounds per minute downrange burying their foes with firepower – but it was not well aimed fire.

Dr. Earl J. Hess, a Missouri native, is the director of the History Program at Lincoln Memorial University where he holds the Stewart W. McClennad Chair. He has also taught at three other universities in his career. Dr. Hess is the author of twelve Civil War books including books on Pickett’s Charge, Wilson’s Creek, the Pettigrew-Kirkland-McRae North Carolina brigade and several titles on field fortifications in Eastern Civil War campaigns. He has also written a number of Civil War articles for journals and magazines.

Please join us for a detailed explanation on the rifle musket in the Civil War by noted historian and author Dr. Earl J. Hess. Dr. Hess will have copies of his books available at the meeting.

NOTE: Borders has in stock a number of Dr. Hess’ books. Stop by Borders for your purchases and bring them to the meeting for him to sign for you! Borders has been very good to us – please support them with these book purchases.

LAST MONTH’S MEETING

James Epperson of Ann Arbor, MI gave a very well-informed and often entertaining program on the fate of Civil War prisoners of war and the Dix-Hill Cartel formed to deal with the problem. Beginning with the first prisoners of the war, notably the large numbers taken at Ft. Donelson, both sides made overtures to the other after deciding that the growing number of prisoners was becoming a big problem. At times in the early war, one side would have more captives than the other but that could change quickly. So the cartel was formed for exchanges with officers and ranks being swapped according to set formulae. While good in intentions, both sides had problems and the whole thing pretty much fell apart by the late war. As Epperson stated, there were good men that made bad decisions and these POWs were the victims of that.

This was a most informative program delivered by a speaker with total command of the topic who displayed a good sense of humor at times. This speaker and program are highly recommended for your CWRT!

FUTURE PROGRAMS:

August, 2009 – Dr. Michele Butts, Austin Peay State University – “1st U.S. Volunteers, Galvanized Yankees.”
September, 2009 – Russell Bonds, Atlanta CWRT and author – “Stealing The General” (based on his book)
October, 2009 – Lee Anderson, Western Kentucky University/Clarksville CWRT – “Remembering Calamity: The Total War Fallacy”
November, 2009 – Jim Hoobler, Tennessee State Museum – “Occupied Nashville”
December, 2009 – Max Hochstetler, Austin Peay State University/Clarksville CWRT – “The Decker Brothers and the 32nd Indiana Infantry in the Civil War”
January, 2010 – Howard Kittel, Director and CEO, the Hermitage – “The Civil War In The Shenandoah Valley”
February, 2010 – Dr. Wally Cross, Austin Peay State University, “The Commanders Of Ft. Donelson”
March, 2010 – Thomas Cartwright, former Director, Carter House Historic Site – “The Battle of Thompson’s Station”

MEMBERS AND DUES:

Thanks to all of you, the Clarksville CWRT continues to grow. We would love to have you join us! If you have friends interested in the Civil War, please bring them along. July is our fiscal year when dues for the current campaign were due. If you haven’t paid your dues for this season yet please do so. Our dues help us get great speakers and for historical preservation. Annual dues are as follows:

Single membership – $20
Family – $30
Military – Active duty and Veterans – $15
Military Family – Active duty and Veterans – $25
Student – $10

Former members and our many guests – We would love to see you back at the Clarksville CWRT meetings every month and we hope that you will consider rejoining us! To our guests, thank you for much for coming to see what we are about. Your dues money goes towards helping to pay the travel expenses we get to visit us so we hope that you considering joining our ranks very soon. Welcome to our new members!!!!!

Clarksville CWRT silent auction – Each month we hold a silent auction of donated items to help raise more money for the club’s treasury. If you have something Civil War related that you would like to donate please bring it to the meeting. Thanks very much to all of you who have donated items.

CIVIL WAR NEWS AND EVENTS:

Fort Negley Park Special Silver Screen Saturday – July 18th, 2009

Has it really been 20 years since the classic film “Glory” was first released? In honor of the 20th Anniversary of the film, one of the very best Civil War movies ever made, Ft. Negley Visitors Center will be showing the film as part of the Silver Screen Saturdays program. The visitors center is open from 9 Am to 4:30 PM and the film will be showing at 10 Am and again at 2 PM. Supporting the event will be film memorabilia, tintypes of 54th Massachusetts soldiers, equipment displays and a cast member from the movie. The event is co-sponsored by the 13th USCT Living History Association and it is free and open to the public. The 54th was not the first black Union regiment but it was the most famous and the film on them remains a classic.

Please support the efforts of Ft. Negley Visitors Center in their public outreach.

Virginia Governor and Delegates Speaker Weigh in on the Wilderness Walmart Site (From the Civil War Preservation Trust email)

(Richmond, Va.) – In a bipartisan letter to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine (D) and House of Delegates Speaker William Howell (R) jointly urged the county to reconsider plans to locate a Walmart supercenter on the Wilderness Battlefield. The letter, addressed to Orange County Board Chairman Lee Frame and dated July 13, 2009, emphasizes the Commonwealth’s commitment to historic preservation and the need to bring all interests together to resolve the controversy.
The heart of the message states: “[W]e strongly encourage your Board to work closely with Wal-Mart to find an appropriate alternative site for the proposed retail center in the vicinity of the proposed site yet situated outside the boundaries of Wilderness Battlefield and out of the view of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.” Further, the Governor and Speaker offer the services of the state to help forge a compromise, writing: “[W]e stand ready to offer the technical service of any and all state agencies that could be of help to the County and Wal-Mart….” The letter goes on to reference those agencies: the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Department of Transportation, the Virginia Department of Health, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Department of Historic Resources.
The Wilderness Battlefield Coalition, an organization of national, regional and local preservation groups, indicated support for the announcement by the Governor and Speaker, noting that the Coalition first proposed a similar solution in January of this year. “We firmly believe that encouraging Wal-Mart to move to an alternative location is in the best interests of both the National Park and Orange County residents. We are prepared to work with the Commonwealth, the county, Wal-Mart and local citizens to find an alternative location that benefits all.”

A Story from “Glory”

Back in the late 1980s, your president and secretary were both members of the Long Beach CWRT in California. One of the programs featured Ray Herbeck, who was the re-enactor coordinator for the film ”Glory.” His program detailed all of the experiences in making the film as accurately as possible from Herbeck’s personal philosophy of “no fat re-enactors in the front ranks” to stories from the set and how non-reenactors trained and got into their roles as Civil War soldiers. In the question and answer session after the program, I asked Mr. Herbeck why the film did not include the story of Sgt. William Carney, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions bearing the colors of the 54th at Battery Wagner. He replied that his family did not want to be involved in the film. He also stated that he was puzzled by their response.

Carney was recognized for his heroic deed in July, 1863, the first black soldier in the war to be so honored but it was not until May, 1900 that his medal would be awarded.

Civil War Preservation Trust Transfers 176 Acres to Harper’s Ferry National Historic Park (CWPT)

(Washington, D.C.) – Harpers Ferry National Historical Park (NHP) expanded by 176 acres on Thursday June 25, 2009, as the Civil War Preservation Trust, the nation’s largest nonprofit dedicated to protecting the country’s remaining Civil War battlefields, transferred a key part of the battlefield to the National Park Service (NPS) during ceremonies on historic School House Ridge.
The transfer ceremony was be part of a day-long series of events commemorating the 150th anniversary of John Brown’s Raid and the beginning of the American Civil War. Other events included panel discussions by leading Civil War scholars as well as a tour of NPS-owned sites associated with John Brown’s raid and the 1862 Battle of Harpers Ferry. The anniversary event was cosponsored by NPS and the Virginia and West Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Commissions.

Harpers Ferry was the scene of two pivotal events in Civil War history. Many historians consider militant abolitionist John Brown’s October 1859 raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, an attempt to incite armed slave rebellion, one of the Civil War’s precipitating causes. The Battle of Harpers Ferry, fought on September 1215, 1862, culminated with the largest mass surrender of U.S. troops until World War II. CWPT acquired the $1.3 million School House Ridge property in 2002 with the aid of federal and state matching grants. In the ensuing years, the property has been maintained with an eye toward improving the visitor experience by transferring the land to NPS.

New Audio and DVD Programs from the Teaching Company

The Teaching Company is offering a number of their recorded courses for sale at greatly reduced prices. Among them is Course #885, The American Civil War. The lecturer is Gary W. Gallagher from University of Virginia (author of “The Confederate War”, “Myths of the Lost Cause” among others). The DVD edition, which includes over 1,000 maps, photos, graphics and other illustrations with 24 hours of lectures, is normally offered for over $500 is now available (until 7/16/09) for about $110 plus shipping. The audio only CD is $70. Phone orders to 1-800-832-2412. Website is http://www.thegreatcourses.com.

CSS Arkansas Confederate Ironclad Museum display opens in North Little Rock, Arkansas (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, July 11, 2009)

Recognizing the short but colorful history of the Confederate ironclad Arkansas, the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum in North Little Rock has opened a display of artwork and replicas of the boat’s armor and cannonballs. The display is a preview of the forthcoming 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The gunboat’s Civil War action lasted from July 14 to August 6, 1862, when it fought to keep the Mississippi River from Union control. The 165-by-35-foot Arkansas, built with railroad iron and lumber, held 10 cannons and a cast-iron ram below its waterline.

The Arkansas successfully fought three gunboat battles in one day against a superior Union fleet on July 15, including running a gauntlet of 33 Union boats at Vicksburg. When the Arkansas’ inferior engines failed in its next engagement against the Union fleet Aug. 6, the crew abandoned the boat after setting it ablaze, resulting in an explosion that sank the boat. What remains is buried beneath a levee near Baton Rouge. The museum is open Wednesday-Sunday on the north shore of the Arkansas River east of the Main Street bridge.

(NOTE – The CSS Arkansas’ construction began in Memphis and the vessel was completed in Mississippi)

May Newsletter!

May 20th, 2009 – Our 62nd Meeting

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009, in the café of Borders Books in Governor’s Square Mall. This is located on Wilma Rudolph Blvd (Hwy 79) south of Exit 4 off I-24, then head south a bit. The mall is on the left. The meeting begins at 7:00 pm and is always open to the public. Members please bring a friend or two – new recruits are always welcomed.

OUR SPEAKER AND TOPIC:

“A MEAN FOWT FIGHT – THE BATTLE OF WILSON’S CREEK”

The critical state of Missouri was a slave state but, like Kentucky, had powerful ties to the Union as well as a history of political compromise in the attempt to keep the Union from splitting apart. A case can be made that the Civil War started in western Missouri and Kansas in the 1850’s as pro and anti-slavery factions squared off. Crucial in holding the state in the Union in 1861 was St. Louis and its large German population. The city, with its large industrial base and US arsenal full of weapons, became a target for pro-Southern forces as the war began.

Forces loyal to Gov. Claiborne Jackson, who was pro-Southern, were captured by local militia under US Army Captain Nathaniel Lyon and politician Frank Blair at Camp Jackson as they formed and trained for state service. This was the catalyst that set the state aflame and brought the rise of the pro-Confederate Missouri State Guard under Sterling Price as well as the large number of Union regiments from the state. A campaign of maneuver and battle was waged as Lyon chased Southern forces westward culminating in the Battle of Wilson’s Creek on August 10th, 1861.

Combining his forces with those of Franz Sigel, Lyon, now a Brigadier General and outnumbered two to one (the Confederates having been reinforced from Arkansas and Louisiana under Ben McCulloch), attacked and was initially successful before superior numbers were brought to bear. Lyon was killed and the Union troops driven back in defeat. With the casualties numbering over 2400 combined (out of 16,000 engaged), this battle was a forerunner of things to come.

Jeff Patrick is a Park Ranger at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield where he has been since 1992. He holds two history degrees from Purdue University and is the author of several books including a new tome on Wilson’s Creek due soon. He has written a number of articles on the Civil War, Spanish-American War and World War 1 for Indiana Military History Journal, the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Civil War Regiments, Kansas History and the Journal of Mississippi History. He has also had articles published in Blue & Gray magazine, North & South magazine as well as others.

Please join us as Jeff Patrick presents an interesting program on the Battle of Wilson’s Creek.

LAST MONTH’S MEETING

Kevin Tanner, Associate Professor of History at Austin Peay State University, presented a well-received program on John Brown and his role in helping to start the Civil War. Tanner presented his life and his beliefs on slavery as well as religion and how he saw that the destruction of slavery was a holy cause that he needed to undertake. Beginning in Kansas before culminating in the famous attack on the Federal Arsenal in Harper’s Ferry, Virginia in 1859, Brown raised the ante each time culminating with his hanging as a traitor to Virginia serving to make him a martyr for his abolitionist cause.

Tanner’s command of the topic was laced with humor and bittersweet topics and the presentation certainly gave a fuller understanding of Brown and his role in the Civil War. This is an excellent program that other CWRTs should hear. Thanks Kevin for speaking to us!

FUTURE PROGRAMS:

June, 2009 – Jim Epperson, University of Michigan – “The Prisoner Of War Cartel”
July, 2009 – Prof. Earl Hess, Lincoln Memorial University – “The Rifled Musket in the Civil War” (based on his book)
August, 2009 – Dr. Michele Butts, Austin Peay State University – “1st U.S. Volunteers, Galvanized Yankees.”
September, 2009 – Lee Anderson, Western Kentucky University/Clarksville CWRT – “Remembering Calamity: The Total War Fallacy”
October, 2009 – Thomas Cartwright, former Director, Carter House Historic Site – “The Battle of Thompson’s Station”
November, 2009 – Jim Hoobler, Tennessee State Museum – “Occupied Nashville”
December, 2009 – Max Hochstetler, Austin Peay State University/Clarksville CWRT – “The Decker Brothers and the 32nd Indiana Infantry in the Civil War”
January, 2010 – Howard Kittel, Director and CEO, the Hermitage – “The Civil War In The Shenandoah Valley”
February, 2010 – Dr. Wally Cross, Austin Peay State University, “The Commanders Of Ft. Donelson”

MEMBERS AND DUES:

Thanks to all of you, the Clarksville CWRT continues to grow. We would love to have you join us! If you have friends interested in the Civil War, please bring them along. July is our fiscal year when dues for the current campaign were due. If you haven’t paid your dues for this season yet please do so. Our dues help us get great speakers and for historical preservation. Annual dues are as follows:

Single membership – $20
Family – $30
Military – Active duty and Veterans – $15
Military Family – Active duty and Veterans – $25
Student – $10

Former members and our many guests – We would love to see you back at the Clarksville CWRT meetings every month and we hope that you will consider rejoining us! To our guests, thank you for much for coming to see what we are about. Your dues money goes towards helping to pay the travel expenses we get to visit us so we hope that you considering joining our ranks very soon. Welcome to our new members!!!!!

Clarksville CWRT silent auction – Each month we hold a silent auction of donated items to help raise more money for the club’s treasury. If you have something Civil War related that you would like to donate please bring it to the meeting. Thanks very much to all of you who have donated items.

CIVIL WAR NEWS AND EVENTS:

CSS HUNLEY MOBILE EXHIBIT COMES TO THE DISCOVERY MUSEUM IN JACKSON, TN

For more than 130 years, it was one of the great mysteries of the Civil War, lost to the ocean depths and unseen by human eyes. Now, history buffs in West Tennessee can get an
up-close look at the C.S.S. Hunley, the first submarine to ever sink an enemy ship in combat. The display of a full-size Hunley replica — the real Confederate submarine is in a
museum in Charleston, S.C. — is a great opportunity for families to learn about the Civil War. The Hunley will be on display Tuesday, May 26 through Saturday, May 30 from
10 AM – 4 PM. Admission is just $2.00 per person.

The Hunley Mobile Exhibit, operated by the non-profit Friends of the Hunley , features the submarine that was created for the 1999 movie “The Hunley.” Visitors can actually climb inside
to get a better understanding of the conditions the crew worked in. The last Hunley crew sunk the U.S.S. Housatonic but never made it back to shore. Archaeologists are still not sure
why the Hunley sank the last time. Its crew was found on board when it was lifted from the water more than 130 years after it went down. This is an event not to be missed.

The exhibit is sponsored by West Tennessee Healthcare.

DECORATION DAY, SUNDAY MAY 31ST, 2009 AT THE HERMITAGE

Besides being the home of President Andrew Jackson, the Hermitage was also the site of the Tennessee Confederate Soldiers Home where veterans could live out their lives. On Sunday, May 31st, a program will be offered to decorate graves with flags as well as other festivities starting at 2:00 PM. The organizers, the Randall McGavock SCV Camp, ask interested parties to arrive by 1:30 PM.

For further information please email John Mertz at jmertz@umpublishing.org

MILL SPRINGS BATTLEFIELD ASSOCIATION WANTS NATIONAL PARK STATUS – By Heather Pyles ,Commonwealth Journal (KY) (from the Civil War Preservation Trust news)

Mill Springs Battlefield has long been considered a historical landmark in Pulaski County. But sometime in the future, it may become more than that. Think Mill Springs Battlefield National Park.

During Tuesday’s Pulaski County Fiscal Court meeting, Gilbert Wilson, the director of the Mill Springs Battlefield Association, presented Pulaski Judge-executive Barty Bullock and the magistrates a resolution in which the court would request that the federal government establish the battlefield as a national park. “The county government has been really great to us,” Wilson said after the meeting. “But we can’t indefinitely depend on them to help us.”

The Battlefield Association was created in 1992 to help protect and interpret the Mill Springs battlefield, and since then the association has acquired more than 450 acres of battlefield land from private owners, built a 10,000 square-foot visitors’ center and museum in Nancy and restored a preserved two Civil War-era homes in Wayne County. The association also undertook the expansion of a national register boundary to create a 10-mile corridor encompassing the entire battlefield, began providing reenactments and educational programs for the public and developed several miles of interpretive trails for visitors.

“We think we’ve got the battlefield in the position that for the National Park Service to take it over, it’d be pretty easy to run with it,” Wilson said. And the battlefield — marking the site of the January 19, 1862 battle that is considered the first major Civil War victory in the West for the Union Army — would need to be handed over should the federal government decide to deem it a national park. The Mill Springs Battlefield Association would remain a friend of the Battlefield organization after the transition. “Mill Springs Battlefield has grown to be a major tourist stop in southern Kentucky and needs to take the next step in its development,” stated a press release from the association.

The Pulaski County Fiscal Court approved the resolution.

NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST SEMINAR – MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE – JULY 11th, 2009

Mark your calendars for the third annual Nathan Bedford Forrest seminar sponsored by the Tennessee Division Sons of Confederate Veterans and the N.B. Forrest Camp, 215, Memphis. Saturday, July 11th, 2009 is the date and programs included Ft. Pillow, Brice’s Crossroads, Forrest’s Early Years and Forrest’s Escort. Presenters include Dr. Michael Bradley, retired Brig. Gen. Parker Hills (tentative), Judge John McClure and Knox Martin. A tour of Forrest’s Memphis Raid led by Lee Millar caps the event.

The event will be held at the Scottish Rite Auditorium, 825 Union Avenue, across the street from Forrest Park. The event costs only $45 and covers all programs, lunch and the tour. For an extra $5 you can be entertained by the 52nd Regimental String Band that evening. Payments can be sent to Forrest Seminar 09, PO Box 11141, Memphis, TN 38111. The Red Roof Inn, 42 S. Camilla at Exit 30, I-240, offers an SCV rate of $59.95 for the night. Contact them at (901)526-1050. A Forrest birthday celebration will be held on Sunday, July 12th at 2:00 PM in Forrest Park.

For more information please email Lee Millar at: Lmillar1@yahoo.com