January Meeting Notice and Newsletter

January 19th, 2011 – Our 82nd Meeting!

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, January 19th in our new home at the Bone & Joint Center, 980 Professional Park Drive, right across the street from Gateway Hospital. This is just off Dunlop Lane and Holiday Drive and only a few minutes east of Governor’s Square mall. 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: “They Fought Like Veterans: Honey Springs and the Civil War in the Indian Territory”

The Civil War in the Indian Territory, now the State of Oklahoma, is very much overlooked despite the number of battles fought there. The Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole) were split in their North-South sentiments. The Choctaw and Chickasaw were openly pro-Confederate and the larger percentage of the Cherokee was also in that camp. Their battle flags bore red stars in addition to the white stars for the Confederate states. The Seminole and Creek were more pro-Union.

The war in this region began before the Trail of Tears and the secession of the Southern states only exacerbated the sentiments for all sides. Much of this was based on the civil war within the Cherokee Nation. The Creeks and Seminoles also experienced a split of sorts between them and the Cherokee and Creek were also in argument – over slavery. Many of the US Government Indian Agents were from the South and they brought their beliefs with them which carried great influence. Among them was Elias Rector, who resigned and joined the Confederacy along with Albert Pike, the Confederate government’s Indian Agent.

Treaties were signed and sides were chosen and Indian units were raised for both sides. Confederate Indians would fight with Ben McCulloch and Albert Pike both inside the Indian Territory as well as in other states like Arkansas. Confederate Indian cattle would help feed Southern armies for a time. The resulting choices the tribes made affected them greatly for the next four years. A number of Union campaigns invaded Indian Territory with the goal of forcing it back into the Federal camp and several battles were fought like Honey Springs. These campaigns and battles will be the focus of this month’s program by our own Michael Manning, Chief Ranger of Fort Donelson National Battlefield.

Michael Manning is a 21-year veteran of the National Park Service. He previously served in various other NPS areas including Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, Alabama, Fort Larned National Historic Site, Kansas, and Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska. He previously served as the military-related National Historic Landmarks coordinator for the NPS in Oklahoma. He holds a BS degree in Criminal Justice from Northeastern State University, Tahlequah,Oklahoma and an MA degree in Military History from the American Military University. He served five years with the U.S. Navy Seabees as well as another seven years as a First Lieutenant in the Military Police Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard. He is also a graduate of the Land Management Police Training Pr

ogram at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. Mike began his historic interpretation work while still a student at Northeastern State University by first volunteering then becoming a part-time Historic Site Attendant with the Oklahoma Historical Society at Fort Gibson Historic Site.

Please join us as Michael Manning of the Clarksville CWRT tells us much more about the Civil War in the Indian Territory.

LAST MONTH’S MEETING

As the membership knows, snow forced the cancellation of the December meeting; the first we have lost in our history due to bad weather. We have John Marler set for this coming August. Do not miss this program as it is excellent!

FUTURE PROGRAMS:

February 2011 – Krista Castillo, Fort Negley Visitors Center – “From the Pages of Harper’s Weekly: The Illustrations of Thomas Nast, Reconstruction Politics and Popular Consciousness”

March 2011 – David Simpson, Robert Hatton Camp, SCV, Lebanon, TN – “Ellis Harper – Guerrilla or Partisan?”

April 2010 – Thomas Flagel, Columbia State Community College – “Great Panic Prevails: How The Press Reported The Battle Of Nashville”

May 2011 – Kent Wright, Tennessee Valley CWRT, “Ellet’s Rams”

June 2011 – James Swan, author, – “Chicago’s Irish Legion In Dixie – The 90th Illinois Infantry.”

July 2011 – Bobby Krick, historian, Richmond National Battlefield – “The Staff Of Robert E. Lee”

August 2011 – John Marler, Battle of Franklin Trust – “The Siege of Petersburg”

September 2011 – TBA

October 2011 – TBA

November 2011 – Eric Jacobson, Battle of Franklin Trust – “Baptism of Fire: The Role of Federal Recruits at the Battle of Franklin”

December 2011 – TBA

MEMBERS AND DUES: – Your name badge will have a white ribbon if you are current with your dues. If it only has ribbons of other colors, please pay your dues at this meeting! Thank you if you have already done so.

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:

Ö Student – $10

Ö Single membership – $20

Ö Family – $30

Ö Military – Active duty and veterans – $15

Ö Military family – Active duty, veterans, and family – $25

To our many guests – Thank you for much for coming to see what we are about. By joining us your dues money goes towards helping to pay the travel expenses for the speakers 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 another special item coming up at this meeting!!

CIVIL WAR NEWS AND EVENTS:

Major Richard “Dick” Winters, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, passes away

While not Civil War related at all, this notice will be appreciated for everyone that watched the amazing series Band Of Brothers, about Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. One of the “stars” of the series was Richard Winters who rose from platoon leader to company commander to the staff of the regiment. The series followed the recruiting of Easy Company from Toccoa, Georgia and Mount Currahee to war’s end at Berchtesgaden with Normandy, Arnhem and the Battle of the Bulge in between. The bulwarks of the company through thick and thin, were the “Toccoa men” who held them together when the chips were down and men were falling around them. Dick Winters was a key player in that. It was Dick Winters’ tactical plan that captured the German guns at Brecourt Manor in Normandy, still studied today at West Point. It was Dick Winters who prayed that if he survived the war all he wanted was a nice and peaceful place to live life. He got that near Hershey, Pennsylvania and although he was placed back in America’s limelight with Band of Brothers, it was not something he eagerly sought. The World War 2 generation always knew that they had a job to do and they did it to the best of their abilities. We know that they saved the world from tyranny.

Major Winters passed away January 9, 2011 at the age of 92. Currahee Major Winters!

Austin Peay State University in Clarksville Offers Civil War Play – Friday, January 21, 2011 at 7:30 PM

Elizabeth Davidson, a noted Nashville based actress, will be performing a one-woman play, Harriett Beecher Stowe: A Literary Soldier. Directed by Robert Keifer, the play will offer a look into the life of the noted abolitionist and author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. A discussion will be held after the performance. The play will be held at the Trahern Theater on the APSU Campus. For more information please call (931)221-6767. The play is free and open to the public.

CIVIL WAR PRESERVATION TRUST COMPLETES $1 MILLION CAMPAIGN TO SAVE BATTLEFIELD LAND AT WILDERNESS (CWPT newsletter)

The Civil War Preservation Trust is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed a $1 million fundraising effort to permanently protect 49 acres at the very heart of the Wilderness Battlefield. First announced in October 2010, the effort will set aside a portion of historic Saunders Field immediately north of State Route 20 for eventual incorporation into Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. “Saving critically important landscapes like this is precisely why this organization exists,” said CWPT president James Lighthizer. “Generations of Americans will now have the opportunity to walk this hallowed landscape and gain a fuller understanding of the horrors of war experienced by the soldiers fighting in the Wilderness.”

Acquisition of the Middlebrook Tract has long been a priority for the preservation community, both for the intensity of the fighting that occurred there on May 5 and 6, 1864, and for its unique location, entirely surrounded by land owned and protected by the National Park Service. The terms of the acquisition contract placed the purchase price at $1,085,000, if closing occurred before the end of 2010. While the transaction will be finalized in 2011, a year end fundraising surge means that CWPT has collected enough in donations and firm pledges to cover the base price and an extension fee. More information about current fundraising efforts is available at http://www.civilwar.org/saveabattlefield.

University of Mississippi Puts Civil War Documents Collection Online

One of the latest Civil War documents collections to be placed online is that held by the University of Mississippi’s Special Collections Library at Oxford. This large collection features letters, accounts, diaries and much more both soldier and civilian. If you visit their web site at – http://clio.lib.olemiss.edu/archives/civil_war.php – you can follow their catalog in an easy manner and begin working with the collections they offer. While it is mostly Confederate in nature, they also hold a number of Union military items. It is always great news when such collections are placed online which makes them easier for everyone to work with.

Civil War Events This Winter At Fort Donelson National Battlefield

Tourism this winter may be slow due to the cold weather but that is not stopping Fort Donelson National Battlefield from holding several events in February 2011. February is their anniversary month with the siege and battle beginning on February 12, 1862 and ending with the Confederate surrender on February 16th. The calendar of events features encampments by troops, Lincoln’s 1861 inauguration and much more. Included is the debut of new exhibits in the park’s museum as well as events at the Dover Hotel which is typically only open in the summer months. For all of the details please visit this link to the events portion of the park’s web site – http://www.nps.gov/fodo/planyourvisit/events.htm?month=2&year=2011

Confederate Gunboat Found – Possibly the CSS Pee Dee

The recent discovery of what is believed to be a Confederate gunboat scuttled by its own crew in the Civil War’s waning days could yield valuable knowledge about the South’s sputtering attempts to maintain its own Navy, South Carolina’s state archaeologist said Wednesday. In November, Jonathan Leader — state archaeologist and researcher at the University of South Carolina — worked with fellow researcher Chris Amer to explore the Pee Dee River. Using sonar to search underwater, the team found large bolts in a straight line, evidence Leader says likely means they’ve found a ship.

“You are actually able to paint a picture,” Leader said, of the equipment the team used. “You don’t find a lot of straight lines in nature. You find bolts in a straight line, you have something.” Leader believes that the team has found the CSS Pee Dee, a Confederate naval gunboat being sheltered inland, away from Union blockades on nearby sea ports. In mid-February 1865, after an upriver skirmish with a Union ship, the crew frantically worked to destroy the Pee Dee so it wouldn’t fall into enemy hands, Leader said.

The discovery comes a year and a half after the duo discovered two cannons belonging to the ship. Researchers won’t be certain they’ve located the CSS Pee Dee until the wreck is raised and examined. But Leader says evidence like the guns already known to have belonged to the ship make researchers confident they have found their prize.

Stones River National Battlefield Places Regimental Documents Online

Continuing the growing online trend to help researchers, Stones River National Battlefield has placed some of its documents online. Drawn from their large regimental files covering
the units that fought in the battle, the files are a wealth of information and detail. You can access them at – http://www.nps.gov/stri/historyculture/regfiles.htm

Clarksville CWRT Member Opens Italian Restaurant in Russellville, Kentucky

Deborah Hirsch of Russellville, KY and our roundtable, has opened a new Italian restaurant just off the square in downtown Russellville. Ariella Italian Restaurant offers fresh recipes based on Northern Italian cuisine with favorite dishes like pastas with marinara sauce as well as Alfredo sauces. Other dishes include Chicken Marsalla, Lobster Ravioli and Shrimp Scampi as featured menu items. Sandwiches, salads, fresh baked bread, soups, appetizers and more complete the bill. Everything is made fresh and to order. At a recent dinner there this reviewer, who was born and raised in the Chicago area and knows good Italian food, found his order excellent! The meatballs and Italian sausage were perfect as was the Linguini with marinara sauce.

The food is reasonably priced and the remodeled historic building that serves as the establishment offers an excellent atmosphere especially in the upstairs room. Ariella Italian Restaurant is located at 183 South Main Street. Head to Russellville on Highway 79 and when you get into town turn left at Main Street (there is a traffic light there and the Crittenden House is on the right) then go a couple blocks. The restaurant is on the right. For more information please call (270)731-004 or visit their web site at – http://www.ariellarestaurant.com. This is only about 30 minutes from Clarksville and well worth visiting. After dinner you can stroll the historic town square with several Civil War markers.

Clarksville has a lot of fine places to eat but no Italian restaurant in this style. So for some great home-style Italian food, and to help support one of our members, please visit soon. This reviewer looks forward to his next dinner there.

December Newsletter and Meeting Notice

December 15th, 2010 – Our 81st Meeting!

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, December 15th in our new home at the Bone & Joint Center, 980 Professional Park Drive, right across the street from Gateway Hospital. This is just off Dunlop Lane and Holiday Drive and only a few minutes east of Governor’s Square mall. 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 Petersburg Campaign”

Petersburg, located below the James River south of Richmond, Virginia, was an important Confederate supply center and railroad junction. All of the supplies sent to Richmond from the Deep South passed through the city during the war. Accordingly, it became a military target for the Union Army. Defense lines were built, local defense troops raised and industry expanded. In 1864, the Union military targeted both Richmond and Petersburg with a massive offensive. Union General Ulysses S. Grant used a two-fisted approach to go after these cities; his right hook was aimed at Richmond via the Overland Campaign while the left hook was the Army of the James starting with the Bermuda Hundred attack and subsequent crossing of the James River by Grant’s forces. Petersburg was first attacked in June along the Dimmock Line east of the city, held by Bushrod Johnson’s Tennesseans, among others. As the Union Army gained strength, they probed south and west seeking to cut the railroads into Petersburg and thus Richmond. With these gone, the Confederates would have to abandon both. Battles at Ream’s Station, Weldon Railroad, the Crater, Fort Stedman and Jerusalem Plank Road were critical fights to maintain the Confederate hold on the cities. Finally, with Union troops wet of Petersburg, the Battle of Five Forks, followed by the massive attack along Hatcher’s Run on April 2, 1865, shattered the Petersburg defenses. The Confederates were forced to retreat to the west which ended at Appomattox Court House on April 9.

Petersburg was the longest continuous campaign of the Civil War and its conclusion set up the immediate defeat of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the loss of Richmond. Some of the biggest names, north and south, fought in the campaign which caused massive casualties. The huge trench systems built by both sides presaged what would happen in World War I in 1916. Despite the size of the campaign, few books have been written on it.

Fortunately for us, we have John Marler, former Petersburg National Battlefield ranger and now Operations Assistant for the Battle of Franklin Trust, coming to tell us the story of all that happened. John’s program will focus entirely on what happened south of the James River, Grant’s left hook. John, in addition to working for the National Park Service at Petersburg, also ran the Appomattox Touring Company which lead tours of the campaign. Since 2009, John has been working at Carnton and the Battle of Franklin Trust rising from a part time employee to his current position.

Please join us for John Marler and his program on the Petersburg Campaign.

LAST MONTH’S MEETING

We were extremely fortunate to have had Dr. William Glenn Robertson, director of the Combat Studies Institute, U.S. Army Command & General Staff College, speak to us on the tale of two orders – the Polk/Wood controversy of the Battle of Chickamauga. With detailed analysis and excellent story telling ability, Dr. Robertson wove the tale of how both armies in this pivotal battle were heavily influenced by the actions of a Confederate private and a civilian clerk (although he may have been in the ranks as well) and a poorly written order from one of Rosecrans’ staff officers that pulled a division out of line right where a major Confederate assault was aiming. The results for both orders were close to disaster in one case (the Confederates) and absolute disaster in the second (the Federals). This was much more than the typical whose army did what at Chickamauga; rather it was military history at the nuts and bolts level and it served to underscore the big importance of a well-run headquarters and good staff officers who write orders properly. This is a lesson that the best generals of history knew all too well for if they were to be successful their staffs had better be what they needed them to be.

We thank Dr. Robertson for his excellent program which was accompanied by a history of the U.S. Army Staff Rides and their use for professional soldiers today. This would be a terrific program for any CWRT!

FUTURE PROGRAMS:

January, 2011 – Mike Manning, Fort Donelson National Battlefield, “The Honey Springs Campaign, Indian Territory”

February, 2011 – Krista Castillo, Fort Negley Visitors Center – “From the Pages of Harper’s Weekly: The Illustrations of Thomas Nast, Reconstruction Politics and Popular Consciousness”

March, 2011 – David Simpson, Robert Hatton Camp, SCV, Lebanon, TN – “Ellis Harper – Guerrilla or Partisan?”

April, 2010 – Thomas Flagel, Columbia State Community College – “Great Panic Prevails: How The Press Reported The Battle Of Nashville”

May, 2011 – Kent Wright, Tennessee Valley CWRT, “Ellet’s Rams”

June, 2011 – James Swan, author, – “Chicago’s Irish Legion In Dixie – The 90th Illinois Infantry.”

July, 2011 – Bobby Krick, historian, Richmond National Battlefield – “The Staff Of Robert E. Lee”

August, 2011 – TBA

September, 2011 – TBA

October, 2011 – TBA

November, 2011 – Eric Jacobson, Battle of Franklin Trust – “Baptism of Fire: The Role of Federal Recruits at the Battle of Franklin”

December, 2011 – TBA

MEMBERS AND DUES: – Your name badge will have a white ribbon if you are current with your dues. If it only has ribbons of other colors, please pay your dues at this meeting! July is our dues month so please make your plans to pay them at this meeting! Thank you if you have already done so.

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:

Ö Student – $10

Ö Single membership – $20

Ö Family – $30

Ö Military – Active duty and veterans – $15

Ö Military family – Active duty, veterans, and family – $25

To our many guests – Thank you for much for coming to see what we are about. By joining us your dues money goes towards helping to pay the travel expenses for the speakers 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 another special item coming up at this meeting!!

CIVIL WAR NEWS AND EVENTS:

Tennessee Civil War Preservation License Plates Sales Going Well

Many states have vanity license plates for their vehicles. Most of them help raise money for special causes. The Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association license plate is one of those and it directly benefits the sites in the state. They need 1000 commitments for the plates before they go into production. Sales just topped 500 so they are half way there. If these plates are of interest to you please contact info@tcwpa.org or visit their website http://www.tcwpa.org. Remember – a portion of the fees for these plates goes to save Tennessee’s Civil War battlefields!

The Maine State Archives Puts Hundreds of Civil War Documents Online

A growing trend in many historic repositories is to put many of its holdings online. One of the latest is the Maine State Archives. Tying in with the Civil War Sesquicentennial, Maine has uploaded all sorts of documents relating to the actions of its soldiers in the Civil War. Probably their most famous soldier was Joshua Chamberlain and several of his documents are online as are some from Union Generals Oliver O. Howard and Benjamin Butler. Lots of reports, letters and much more can be found online. Just visit – http://maine.gov/sos/arc/sesquicent/civilwarwk.shtml and be prepared to spend a lot of time looking at the documents.

Ulysses S. Grant Papers Also Now Online Through Mississippi State University

Several years ago, the Ulysses S. Grant Papers, which had been archived at Southern Illinois University, were moved to their new home at Mississippi State University. As part of the university’s continuing work with these important papers, which covers his military career as well as his time in the White House, they have been uploaded online. The web site has a fully searchable capability to make it easier to wade through the massive collection allowing researchers to get to what they need rapidly. For those of us in Clarksville there’s a lot of details in these volumes about us and our area of the Civil War. These include communications between Grant and subordinate officers from 1861-1865. For more details please visit – http://library.msstate.edu/USGrant/. When the web site opens go to “digital collections” and click on that and move forward from there.

Franklin’s Charge Moving To Save Ciritcal Battlefield Land in Franklin With Great Success

Franklin’s Charge recently received $960,000 to go towards saving the Battle of Franklin to purchase the land across from the Carter House where the Domino’s Pizza currently stands. The long term goal is to restore the Ohio artillery battery site as well as the Carter Cotton Gin. This will add tremendously to the recovery efforts for this crucial battle. Despite this wonderful news, Franklin’s Charge still needs to raise matching funds so they can continue to get new grants. Typically these grants come with matching funds caveats so the help of each of us is still crucial. $90,000 is still needed so if you wish to contribute please visit their web site at – http://www.franklinscharge.com – and make your donation. The site has all of the details for this recovery effort including an artist’s rendering of what it will look like when completed.

Stones River National Battlefield “Remembering The Battle of the Cedars” Program – December 11, 2010

Our neighbors to the southeast are offering a program on the overlooked Battle of the Cedars on Saturday, December 11, 2010. The program times are 11 AM and also 1, 2 and 3 PM. The programs will be held at the Visitor’s Center.

The Battle of the Cedars was the attack on the defenders on the massive Fortress Rosecrans by cavalry and infantry under Confederate cavalry commander General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Detached from John Bell Hood’s Army of Tennessee while the latter was besieging Nashville, Forrest attempted to capture Murfreesboro and the massive Union supply base there. However, unlike July, 1862 when he was able to take the town and its entire Union garrison, Fortress Rosecrans had been built. It was the largest earthwork ever built in North America and within its wall were supply depots, mills and much more. The fort was heavily defended by heavy cannons and lots of Union troops. Despite a valorous attack, Forrest was rebuffed. In the meantime, Union General George Thomas attacked Hood’s army and in two days of smashing assaults, drove Hood in disarray back towards Alabama. Forrest was recalled to handle the rear guard actions and he did so brilliantly. In fact his actions saved what was left of the Confederate army.

For more details please visit the park’s web site at – http://www.nps.gov/stri or call (615)898-9501 for more information.

DVD Of the September, 2010 Re-enactment At Fort Negley Now Available

On September 25, 2010, more than 170 reenactors made history at Fort Negley and a professional videographer captured the event on tape. Now you can relive the excitement and
share the unforgettable day with family and friends in vivid color. Don’t miss the opportunity to own two full hours of unbelievable footage including –

Pre-Battle Activity in the Camps, the skirmish from the hill, the thunder of the cannon and a moving funeral of a USCT drummer boy. This offer is only available for a limited time!
Click the link below to view the trailer and to place your order.

Skirmish at the Fort DVD Offer – http://www.caerusmediaonline.com/Current_HOT_Titles.html

Meeting Notice and Newsletter

October 20th 15th, 2010 – Our 79th Meeting! Our sixth in our new home – the Bone & Joint Center!

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, October 20th in our new home at the Bone & Joint Center, 980 Professional Park Drive, right across the street from Gateway Hospital. This is just off Dunlop Lane and Holiday Drive and only a few minutes east of Governor’s Square mall. 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 Shadow Of Shiloh: General Lew Wallace and the Civil War”

In the Spring of 1862, Union Major General Lew Wallace appeared to have an exceptional military career ahead of him. At the age of 35, he was the youngest major general in the Union Army, rising to that rank from colonel in only eleven short months. After performing very well at Fort Donelson where he showed great initiative launching the first Union counterattack against the surging Confederates, his failure to appear on the battlefield until the end of the first day of Shiloh appears to have put his career on hold. However, the 1864 Battle of Monocacy , the “battle that saved Washington,” appears to have resurrected it. The truth, however, is never that simple. Wallace was a genuine hero, but he made mistakes and was also a scapegoat for others. The story of Lew Wallace and the Civil War is complex and highlights some important truths about battles within the Union Army as well as those with the Confederates.

Lew Wallace was an Indiana native and the son of one of that state’s governors. He served in the Mexican war in the 1st Indiana Infantry and afterward was elected to the state senate. With the coming of the Civil War, Wallace was appointed state adjutant general helping to raise troops and was soon appointed colonel of the 11th Indiana Infantry, a Zouaves regiment. He reached Brigadier General not long after that commanding a brigade. After the war, Wallace wrote what is considered one of the finest pieces of American literature in the 19th Century, the famous book Ben-Hur.

This month’s program will be presented by Gail Stephens, author of the new book, Shadow Of Shiloh: Major General Lew Wallace in the Civil War. This is her first book. She holds a Bachelors’ Degree in International Politics from George Washington University and has done graduate work at Johns Hopkins and Harvard Universities. She retired from the Department of Defense after 26 years of service which then gave her the time to study the Civil War on a greater scale. Gail volunteers at Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick, Maryland and she also teaches classes at area colleges in addition to giving battlefield tours. In 2002, she won the National Park Service’s E.W. Peterkin award for her contributions towards the public’s understanding of Civil War history. She will hopefully have copies of her book at the meeting.

LAST MONTH’S MEETING

Our own Greg Biggs gave his program on the Confederate supply system which went into great detail about the Confederate War Department and the three primary supply bureaus; quartermaster, ordnance and commissary. Each department was created to supply clothing, shoes and other accouterments and equipage along with rifles, ammunition and food for the men and animals of the army. Dealing a blow to the myth that the South lacked industry, Greg showed how they had more than many of the European nations of the era and had more railroad mileage than all of them. While they had an industrial base, they did not have as much as the Union had. The overall lack of capacity for key items, in particular rolled iron products like armor plate for gunboats or rails for the railroads, was something that they could not overcome. Yet their supply bureaus performed miracles and no Confederate army ever lost a battle due to a lack of supplies.

The bureaus were led by some men of vision like Josiah Gorgas of Ordnance, Abraham Myers and Alexander Lawton of Quartermaster and Isaac St. John of Mining & Nitre while also suffering fools like Lucius Northrop of the Commissary Bureau. Coupled with imports and battlefield captures, the Confederate military was actually very well supplied. Where the main supply bottleneck happened was with the railroads and a lack of coherent rail policy along with the lines falling apart. It was sometimes difficult to get the supplies from where they were made or gathered to the armies in the field. Thanks Greg for the program!

FUTURE PROGRAMS:

November, 2010 – Dr. William Glenn Robertson, US Army Combat Studies Institute, Ft. Leavenworth, KS – “A Tale of Two Orders in the Battle of Chickamauga”

December, 2010 – John Marler, Battle of Franklin Trust/former Petersburg National Battlefield – The Petersburg Campaign

January, 2011 – Mike Manning, Fort Donelson National Battlefield, “The Honey Springs Campaign, Indian Territory”

February, 2011 – Krista Castillo, Fort Negley Visitors Center – “From the Pages of Harper’s Weekly: The Illustrations of Thomas Nast, Reconstruction Politics and Popular Consciousness”

March, 2011 – David Simpson, Robert Hatton Camp, SCV, Lebanon, TN – “Ellis Harper – Guerrilla or Partisan?”

April, 2010 – Thomas Flagel, Columbia State Community College – “Great Panic Prevails: How The Press Reported The Battle Of Nashville”

May, 2011 – Kent Wright, Tennessee Valley CWRT, “Ellet’s Rams”

June, 2011 – James Swan, author, – “Chicago’s Irish Legion In Dixie – The 90th Illinois Infantry.”

July, 2011 – Bobby Krick, historian, Richmond National Battlefield – “The Staff Of Robert E. Lee”

November, 2011 – Eric Jacobson, Battle of Franklin Trust – “Baptism of Fire: The Role of Federal Recruits at the Battle of Franklin”

MEMBERS AND DUES: – Your name badge will have a white ribbon if you are current with your dues. If it only has ribbons of other colors, please pay your dues at this meeting! July is our dues month so please make your plans to pay them at this meeting! Thank you if you have already done so.

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:

Ö Student – $10

Ö Single membership – $20

Ö Family – $30

Ö Military – Active duty and veterans – $15

Ö Military family – Active duty, veterans, and family – $25

To our many guests – Thank you for much for coming to see what we are about. By joining us your dues money goes towards helping to pay the travel expenses for the speakers 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 another special item coming up at this meeting!!

CIVIL WAR NEWS AND EVENTS:

Colonel Edmund Rucker Lecture to be held at the Holiday Inn Opryland in Nashville, October 16, 2010

As part of the Rucker Family reunion, Michael P. Rucker of Peoria, Illinois, will present a lecture on Confederate Colonel Edmund W. Rucker. This will be held at 8 PM on Friday, October 16th. Rucker began his military career in west Tennessee as an artillerist and then moved into commanding cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest. He was captured on the second day of the Battle of Nashville after hand to hand combat with troopers of the 12th Tennessee Cavalry (U.S.). This event has been endorsed by the Battle of Nashville Preservation Society and is open to interested members of the public.

General Lloyd Tighman Museum Ghost Walk – Paducah, Kentucky, October 30, 2010

On Saturday, October 30th, the Lloyd Tilghman Museum will hold its Ghost Walk event. This will be a major fundraiser for the Lloyd Tilghman Home and Civil War Museum. Tilghman commanded Kentucky Confederates at Camp Boone near Clarksville as well as troops at Fort Henry and Donelson. He was killed in action at the Battle of Champion Hill in Mississippi in 1863.

Ghosts on the tour will include Confederate General Lloyd Tilghman and wife Augusta, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Abraham Buford and Col. Albert P. Thompson. Thompson was a Paducah native killed in Forrest’s raid there in 1864. Union General U.S. Grant and Col. Stephen G. Hicks will also be there as will a Confederate Camp, ladies in period attire, music and more.

Please support this fine museum that is less than 2 hours from Clarksville. The cost will be $10.00 per person with children 12 and under getting in free with paid adult. For more information please call (270)575-5477.

Franklin, TN Civil War Roundtable program – Sunday, October 10, 2010

Our fine neighbors of the Franklin CWRT will present Dorothy Olson of the Knoxville CWRT and her program “A Want Of Confidence: James Longstreet’s East Tennessee Campaign” at their October meeting. The CWRT meets at the Williamson County Library and the program begins at 3 PM. Dorothy Kelly is an expert on the war in East Tennessee and has been published in North & South magazine. She has lead tours of the Knoxville area and is very active in local preservation efforts. If you get the chance to go please do – this is a great program.

Battle of Nashville Park sites – by Betsy Phillips (Civil War Preservation Trust web site and the Nashville Scene)

I had to take a break from the Metro parks. So I decided to hit up a few non-Metro parks — namely, the places preserved by the Battle of Nashville Preservation Society. In my younger days, I had an uncle who was a history teacher: my dad’s brother, Blain. He was brilliant in ways that were inspiring, not off-putting.

My very first thought, the first time I went to Fort Negley and walked the slope up and saw the wooden pathways, was that Uncle Blain was going to love this. He had been dead at least 10 years by then, but my instinct was to share that place with him. I had that same urge in the middle of Redoubt One — to call him, at least, to tell him how they had situated the gun and how I could see clear into town through the trees and how the earthworks they would have hidden behind was worn with time.

On the Battle of Nashville Monument, there’s a poem. It’s not very good, as poems go, but the ending will break your heart: “Let the past be past, let the dead be dead, — Now and forever, American!” If that’s not enough to get the city’s point across, on the other side there’s an explanation of the statue. It reads, “The spirit of youth holds in check the contending forces that struggled here in the fierce battle of Nashville, December 16th, 1864, sealing forever the bond of union by the blood of our heroic dead of the World War 1917-1918. A monument like this, standing on such memories, having no reference to utilities, becomes a sentiment, a poet, a prophet, an orator to every passerby.”

I’m not sure what it means, exactly, but I get the gist — that there was a great wish that the young men dying together as one country during World War I would be a large enough blood sacrifice to heal the gaping wound of the Civil War, and that we could be one country with the past left in the past. The statue was dedicated on Armistice Day, 1927; at that moment Faulkner was sitting in Mississippi just getting started on his writing career, which was, in great part, built on the failure of that wish. It is, of course, in the hands of the young to fix the things we have fumbled. But we were all young, once, and we thought our job was to walk slowly through the world as our favorite uncle told us great, true stories about it.

I guess this is kind of a failure as a park review. They are fine parks and very small, so it’s no trouble to explore each of them thoroughly and still have much of the afternoon. Yes, there’s some graffiti at Shy’s Hill and someone seems to have kicked over the signs telling you to keep off the earthworks at Redoubt One. But you should still go, if only to remember that the place we live is rich with the stories of people who bled and died so we can stand here today — people who are now gone, as you and I will be one day. And while you’re there, you can wonder if we, as a city, have managed to come together since then, or if we have just paved over the sorrows of the past so that we can pretend not to know them — as if we could pretend so hard to forget that one day they might be erased from all time.

Tennessee Civil War 150th Event Kick-Off – November 12-13, 2010 – Nashville, TN

Tennessee’s Civil War Sesquicentennial events begin on November 12th and 13th with two days of seminars, tours, living history events and much more. On Friday, November 12th, events include living history in Bicentennial Capitol Mall, tours of the Civil War exhibits of the Tennessee State Museum and workshops at Tennessee State University. On the 13th, a seminar with historians will be held at the War Memorial Building which includes a keynote address by noted historian and author Sam Davis Elliott as well as tours of the state museum and living history on the mall. All events are free and open to the public.

For more information please visit – http://www.tncivilwar150.com

The Battle Of New Market Heights, Virginia – The Perils of Battlefield Preservation by Jimmy Price (Civil War Preservation Trust web site and the blog The Sable Arm – dedicated to black soldiers of the Civil War)

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the attempt to make the battlefield at New Market Heights a National Historic Landmark. The attempt was made between 1989 – 1990, led by an African American military veteran who wanted the ground where 16 USCT’s (14 African American enlisted men and two white officers) were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor to be preserved and recognized. The reasons that this did not happen are illustrative of just how complicated and frustrating battlefield preservation can be. It all started in 1989 when an organization called The Black Military History Institute of America, Inc. lobbied for preservation of the battlefield. The BMHIA sent two letters out on February 16, 1989. The first was to the Department of the Interior and it stated:

The deeds of these brave and valiant Black fighting men who participated in the struggle for the unity of our nation must no longer be allowed to go unrecognized. To correct this gross oversight, we are requesting that the Department of Interior, under the purview of its charter, take the following action:

a. designate the New Market/Chaffin Farm area as a National Historic Landmark

b. resurrect the Dept. of Interior’s 1979 study to expand Richmond National Battlefield Park to include the New Market Heights Battlefield and Fort Gilmer Extension.

The same day a letter went out to then-Senator John Warner. The BMHIA also sent a request to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Historic Resources for a state highway marker to be placed near the battlefield. In the meantime, local landowners began to dispute the claims that the Battle of New Market Heights was fought on their ground. Not only did they dispute the location of the battlefield, they also disputed the date of the battle. They maintained that the battle took place on Signal Hill, north of route 5 (historic New Market Road) even though a cursory examination of the maps made by the Army of the James in October of 1864 clearly shows the battlefield to be south of the road. In retrospect this seems ludicrous, but these landowners were apparently willing to twist the facts to make sure that the historic battlefield of New Market Heights would not be preserved.

To combat the claims of the local landowners, the BMHIA enlisted the help of Ed Bearss, Chief Historian of the National Park Service in 1989. However, it appears that the institute was not given a place at the table when meetings and deliberations were held concerning the NHL nomination. Not hearing from Senator Warner’s office, Governor Douglas Wilder received a letter on April 6, 1990. Finally, in June of 1990 a memorandum was released that stated the following:

The NHL nomination is dead; it will not be pursued any further by the NPS because of near-unanimous owner opposition. The NPS and the county and Warner’s office are all aware that the battle happened to the south of Route 5, not on Signal Hill. Most of the land where the battle really occurred is in the hands of the opponents. The property owners contend that the battle really happened farther to the east and a week or so earlier than everyone else thinks, Bearss and Richard Sommers (author of Richmond Redeemed) being “everyone else.” Thus ended the battle for making New Market Heights a National Historic Landmark.

In 1993, a roadside marker was placed on Route 5 to mark the site of the battle. Thankfully, there have been renewed talks about preserving what is left of the battlefield at New Market Heights. Congressman Bobby Scott of Virginia’s Third District has requested $10,000,000 for a New Market Heights Memorial & Visitors Center, stating that “The funds will be used for land acquisition, site preparation and toward construction of a memorial and visitor’s center at New Market Heights, adjacent to the Richmond National Battlefield Park in Henrico County, Virginia.” It remains to be seen what will become of this effort.

In the meantime, the portion of the battlefield where the USCTs made their charge against Confederate defenses south of Route 5 has been preserved by the County of Henrico and remains dormant and undeveloped. Part of this land was destroyed by a gravel pit that was converted into a large pond before the County purchased the land. The remainder is nearly inaccessible due to the propensity of Four Mile Creek to flood and overflow the dirt road that leads to the site. Henrico County has plans to develop the site and erect a monument to the USCTs and on September 25th I’ll have the honor of leading a special tour of the site for the 146th anniversary of the battle.

Unfortunately, some of the land that has not been protected is about to be lost forever due to a developer who refused to listen to a local preservation group. In a sense, it seems as if the Battle of New Market Heights is still being fought. The Civil War Preservation Trust listed New Market Heights as one of America’s Top 10 most endangered battlefields.

July Meeting Notice and Newsletter

July 21st, 2010 – Our 76th Meeting! Our third in our new home – the Bone & Joint Center!

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, July 21st in our new home at the Bone & Joint Center, 980 Professional Park Drive, right across from Gateway Hospital. This is just off Dunlop Lane and Holiday Drive and only a few minutes from the mall. 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.

Directions – from Russellville – head into Clarksville on Hwy 79 as before. Cross under I-24 and turn left at the first light (Holiday Drive) and take this behind the mall to Dunlop Lane. Turn left and go to the second right, Professional Park Drive, which is directly across from the Gateway Hospital. Turn right and go to the building on the right – the Bone & Joint Center at 980 Professional Park Drive.

For our Kentucky members and friends from Hopkinsville, Cadiz, etc. – come down I-24 to Exit Four. Get off and turn right and move into the left lane for the left turn above onto Holiday Drive. (This can be a bit tricky – if need be turn right at the light and U-turn in the Chinese restaurant parking lot and then go straight across Wilma onto Holiday Drive). Follow the above directions the rest of the way.

For our Clarksville members – you can take the routes above or, if you live south of the mall area, come towards the mall northbound on Wilma Rudolph Blvd. Where 101st Airborne crosses Wilma, turn right and get onto the road which is now Warfield. At Holiday Drive, turn left and at Dunlop Lane turn right and follow the above for the short rest of the way.

If you live on the west side, Woodlawn, Dover, etc., get on 101st Airborne and take that east and cross Wilma Rudolph and at Holiday Drive turn left and follow the above.

OUR SPEAKER AND TOPIC:

“McCook’s Dutchmen: The 9th Ohio Infantry”

Twenty-five per cent of the Union Army’s troops were born outside of the United States. Of these, some 200,000 were German natives from the various states (Germany as a single
nation did not exist before 1870). A number of these immigrants came over after the revolutions of 1848 and, after establishing themselves in cities like St. Louis, Philadelphia and
Cincinnati, these men, with the coming of war in 1861, stepped up to defend their adopted nation. About 36,000 Germans fought in ethnic German regiments, such as the 9th Ohio
Infantry. The remainder served in mixed regiments with soldiers of other ethnic backgrounds. While the Irish get more publicity, there were more Germans in the Civil War than any
other immigrant ethnic group.

Of the 30 or so German regiments, one of the best known is the 9th Ohio of Cincinnati. “Die Neuner,” as they were called, was somewhat different than other German regiments due
to its urban background, language of command, pre-war occupations of its ranks and previous military service of many of its ranks. Also interesting was the fact that its first colonel,
Robert McCook, was of Scots-Irish ancestry! “McCook’s Dutchmen,” also known as the “Dutch Devils,” fought from Mill Springs through the Atlanta Campaign.

The program for this month will be based on speaker Joseph Reinhart’s new book, A German Hurrah! Civil War Letters of Friedrich and Wilhelm Stangel, 9th Ohio Infantry, which was
just released last week by Kent State University Press. Mr. Reinhart, a member of the Louisville, Kentucky Civil War Roundtable, is a noted expert on Kentucky’s Union regiments as
well as Germans in the Union Army. He is the author or editor of a number of books on both topics. Mr. Reinhart is a graduate of Bellarmine College and Indiana University.

Please join us for an informative program on the 9th Ohio Infantry by a national expert, Joseph Reinhart.

LAST MONTH’S MEETING

Last month, Clarksville CWRT member Tracy Jackson presented his second program to our group on the eight Southern governors and the secession dilemma of 1861. In a detailed examination of each governor, Jackson outlined the factors they faced, their decision process and more related to their choice to secede or not to secede. What came out for most of them was a case where most people would not like to find themselves, the old between a rock and a hard place! Supported by a wonderful Power Point program, this presentation offered an illuminating look at each man and the path he chose.

Thanks Tracy for a very informative program!

FUTURE PROGRAMS:

August, 2010 – Tom Parsons, Historian/ranger, Corinth National Battlefield – “The Battles For Corinth”
September, 2010 – Michael Manning, Ft. Donelson National Battlefield – Honey Springs Campaign, Indian Territory

October, 2010 – Gail Stephens, author – “General Lew Wallace” (based on her upcoming book)
November, 2010 – Dr. William Glenn Robertson, US Army Combat Studies Institute, Ft. Leavenworth, KS “A Tale of Two Orders in the Battle of Chickamauga”

December, 2010 – John Marler, Battle of Franklin Trust/former Petersburg National Battlefield – The Petersburg Campaign

MEMBERS AND DUES: – Your name badge will have two ribbons if you are current with your dues. If it only has the blue ribbon, please pay your dues at this meeting! July is our dues month so please make your plans to pay them at this meeting!

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:

Ö Student – $10

Ö Single membership – $20

Ö Family – $30

Ö Military – Active duty and veterans – $15

Ö Military family – Active duty and family – $25

To our many guests – Thank you for much for coming to see what we are about. By joining us your dues money goes towards helping to pay the travel expenses for the speakers 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 another special item coming up at this meeting!!

CIVIL WAR NEWS AND EVENTS:

“Looking Back: The Civil War In Tennessee” in Clarksville A Big Success

Over 50 people attended this terrific event at our county archives on June 25th bringing weapons, documents, photos, letters, diaries and much more for employees of the Tennessee State Library & Archives and Tennessee State Museum to document. As part of the states’ Civil War 150th events, TSLA will be touring the state going to each county with similar events. A good turn out from the Clarksville CWRT was evident among other people of the county and some terrific items were brought in and documented. You can see many of these items on the TSLA web site with more being posted all the time.

If you could not make this event we will let you know when it comes to Stewart County and Dover, Tennessee. It will also be at Nashville’s historic Ft. Negley on Friday, July 16th from 9 am to 3 PM. Individuals may call (615) 253-3470 or e-mail civilwar.tsla@tn.gov to schedule a reservation with the archivists. A side benefit of your support will be good advice from these professionals as to how to properly care for your items so they will last for future family generations.

2010 Southern Civilian Conference – Belmont Mansion, Nashville, Tennessee – August 20-22, 2010

The next Southern Civilian conference is set for Friday-Sunday, August 20-22nd, 2010 for Belmont Mansion in Nashville, Tennessee. These three days are for Civil War historians and civilian re-enactors and are filled with seminars and workshops to help educate you on your impression or just to learn about life during this era.

The event begins Friday morning at 8 am and concludes that evening with a reception at Belmont Mansion complete with period music and a one-act play on Sam Davis and Mary Patterson. Saturday features 6 seminars and Sunday offers two more. All of the details can be obtained by email to Linda Massey at MasseyLA@aol.com. You can also write for details to LSFS Conference, 7465 Indian Creek Road, Nashville, TN 37209. If you register by August 1st the event is only $145; after that it rises to $175. There are student discounts and fees for single events. Period vendors will be in attendance.

Speakers include Janet Hasson (retired Belle Meade curator), Thomas Flagel (Columbia State University), Jennifer Lamb (Belle Meade), Al Nippert, Mark Brown (Belmont Mansion), Barbara Sullivan (Grassmere Historic Farm) and Karel Lea Biggs (Nashville and Clarksville CWRTs). Workshop instructors include Mary Canavan (Victorian Christmas decorations), Pat Bridges (Theorem painting), Chrissy Davis (period dance) and Chris Roberts (Gourmet campfire cooking). The workshops have extra but nominal fees.

This ongoing conference is sponsored by the Ladies Soldiers’ Friend Society and Belmont Mansion. We hope you support this wonderful event!

Civil War Trail Markers to Be Unveiled Today by Matt Lakin, Knoxville News Sentinel and the CWPT newsletter

The battle ended in 20 minutes, the war a year and a half later. The legacy endures today – even though the battlefield’s long gone. Two new markers will commemorate the site of Knoxville’s defining Civil War battle and one of the city’s few surviving forts from that era. The Civil War Trails markers, set to be unveiled today, commemorate the Battle of Fort Sanders near what’s now the University of Tennessee campus and Fort Dickerson off Chapman Highway in South Knoxville.

Preservationists hope to see more such markers planted around the county and the state in time for the war’s 150th anniversary next year and an expected tourism boom. About 200 markers now dot Tennessee, part of a nationwide network of Civil War historic sites. “It’s an indication that there is an interest, and it’s a reminder to people who are in the area,” said Steve Dean, president of the East Tennessee Civil War Alliance, which works to promote the region’s heritage. “It’s a great first step, and there’s still a lot more to be done.”

The Nov. 29, 1863, battle at Fort Sanders, named for fallen Union Gen. William Sanders, marked the end of the Confederacy’s failed attempt to recapture Knoxville from Union forces. The marker will stand in the parking lot of the Church of the Redeemer on 17th Street, near the spot where historians believe Fort Sanders’ northwest bastion stood before it fell to suburban development in the 1920s. Fort Dickerson and 15 other earthworks ringed Knoxville during the Confederate siege, holding off cavalry raids and other attacks. Its marker will stand in the park that bears the fort’s name.

The signs bring Knox County’s total of Civil War Trails markers in Knoxville to five so far, Dean said. Other markers already stand at Old Gray Cemetery on Broadway, resting place of various local Union and Confederate leaders; Bleak House on Kingston Pike, which served as headquarters for Confederate Gen. James Longstreet during the 1863 Siege of Knoxville; and the Farragut Folklife Museum off Campbell Station Road, near the site of the 1863 Battle of Campbell’s Station.

Civil War Group Zeroes in on Next Project – By Kevin Walters, Nashville Tennessean and CWPT newsletter

Months of negotiations. Commitments of more than $590,000 in grant money. Cooperation among strangers spread across three states. Creating a new Battle of Franklin park hasn’t been simple or cheap. Yet the seemingly disparate pieces of Franklin’s next major battlefield park appear to be slowly fitting together.

Franklin’s Charge, a local nonprofit battlefield preservation group, is closer to its goal of buying its next piece of property — the house and land at 111 Cleburne St. Nearby, they’re continuing to make inroads on buying the Domino’s Pizza restaurant at 1225 Columbia Ave. as well as adjacent retail property. The land is near the Carter House historic site. “It’s ongoing,” said Ernie Bacon, Franklin’s Charge president, describing the negotiations for the commercial property. “It is clearly an active process.”

The sites of the houses and pizza place have national historical importance. They are on the location where Union and Confederate troops blasted each other in close quarters on Nov. 30, 1864, near a former cotton gin. The Battle of Franklin claimed thousands of lives and limbs before it ended in just a few hours’ time. Commemorating the land’s importance is what principals say is unifying them in the hopes of creating a battlefield park in time for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

“One would like to think that the Battle of Franklin was more important than pizza,” said Paul Hawke, chief of the Washington, D.C.-based American Battlefield Protection Program. “If you can restore the scene (of the battle) you can at least commemorate what happened there.”

If Franklin’s Charge can complete the purchases, it would represent a major step in Franklin’s years-long effort to add more open space in a city where much of its Civil War past was once thought lost. The momentum to create a Columbia Avenue battlefield park dates back to 2005. That’s when the city of Franklin spent $300,000 to buy a Pizza Hut restaurant at 1259 Columbia Ave. Eventually, the city converted the roughly quarter of an acre into a small park. Since then, plans for the park have expanded. “Our goal is to have that property restored to a battlefield park and a replica of the cotton gin built in time or ahead of the sesquicentennial in 2014,” Bacon said.

Sarah Faye Fudge, 64, grew up in the stone house at 111 Cleburne St. owned by her parents, Jamie and Celia Locke, both of whom are deceased. Fudge, who now lives in Katy, Texas, remembers her father tilling his garden and taking scores of old bullets — minié balls — from the soil. He kept the bullets for her friends. Fudge plans to sell the house and land to Franklin’s Charge for $199,000. To help pay for the purchase, Franklin’s Charge is set to get a $99,500 national grant from the battlefield protection program.

In May, Franklin aldermen agreed to be the pass-through entity to receive grants to help Franklin’s Charge make its purchases. In addition to money for the Fudge House, the group is also slated to get a $492,000 grant to help recoup costs of buying the Holt House in 2008 for $950,000. “I would say it’s highly likely, but I can’t guarantee it yet,” Hawke said. “Until it’s signed, sealed and delivered, anything can happen.” Bacon estimated the Locke house sale to close within the next 60 to 90 days. And he said Franklin’s Charge plans to relocate the Locke house and the Holt House rather than have them demolished.

The next piece of the project — or slice — is next door at the Domino’s Pizza restaurant and the adjacent retail property. If the Domino’s restaurant is eventually sold to Franklin’s Charge by owner and developer Don Cameron, it would be the second pizza restaurant to be bought as part of Franklin’s push to recapture the land. Cameron would say little about the possible sale of the land, referring questions to Bacon. The properties from 1221 to 1225 Columbia Ave. have a total market appraisal value of $500,300, county records show.

Cameron, who has longtime ties to Franklin, said the businesses would not close but would be relocated to property he owns on Downs Boulevard. “We would never run people out like that,” Cameron said. “My family built the first home in Franklin,” he said, referring to the home Ewing Cameron built on Second Avenue in the 1700s.

Cell Towers Put Georgia Battlefields “at Risk” – by Andy Johns, Chattanooga Free Press and the CWPT newsletter

The Civil War Preservation Trust has named two Northwest Georgia battlefields in their 15 “at risk” sites. The national group said the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and the Resaca Battlefield are at risk, but for different reasons. Chickamauga “is beset by proposals for cellular communications towers” and Resaca is still struggling to secure funding and move forward with an interpretive center, the group said.

“The cell towers were used as just two examples, but there are other potential things,” said Jim Ogden, historian for the Chickamauga park. “Just being in this half-million metropolitan area, there are plenty of places where construction … may impact some part of the battlefield or the visitors’ understanding.” The Civil War Trust specifically mentions a plan for cell towers on Missionary Ridge and near McLemore’s Cove, a hollow between Lookout and Pigeon Mountains west of LaFayette, Ga.

Matt Nodine, chief of staff for the Federal Communications Commission wireless division, said the Missionary Ridge cell tower was already in the early stages of construction when preservation groups challenged its permit.

Charlie Crawford, president of the Georgia Battlefields Association, said that, even without cell towers and construction, all the parks are in danger due to state cutback in staffing. “No battlefield, no matter how old it is, is getting the care it needs and it deserves,” he said.

May Meeting Notice – We’re Moving!

May 19th, 2010 – Our 74th Meeting! Our first in our new home – the Bone & Joint Center!

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, May 19th in our new home at the Bone & Joint Center, 980 Professional Park Drive, right across from Gateway Hospital. This is just off Dunlop Lane and Holiday Drive and only a few minutes from the mall. 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.

Directions – from Russellville – head into Clarksville on Hwy 79 as before. Cross under I-24 and turn left at the first light (Holiday Drive) and take this behind the mall to Dunlop Lane. Turn left and go to the second right, Professional Park Drive, which is directly across from the Gateway Hospital. Turn right and go to the building on the right – the Bone & Joint Center at 980 Professional Park Drive.

For our Kentucky members and friends from Hopkinsville, Cadiz, etc. – come down I-24 to Exit Four. Get off and turn right and move into the left lane for the left turn above onto Holiday Drive. (This can be a bit tricky – if need be turn right at the light and U-turn in the Chinese restaurant parking lot and then go straight across Wilma onto Holiday Drive). Follow the above directions the rest of the way.

For our Clarksville members – you can take the routes above or, if you live south of the mall area, come towards the mall northbound on Wilma Rudolph Blvd. Where 101st Airborne crosses Wilma, turn right and get onto the road which is now Warfield. At Holiday Drive, turn left and at Dunlop Lane turn right and follow the above for the short rest of the way.

If you live on the west side, Woodlawn, Dover, etc., get on 101st Airborne and take that east and cross Wilma Rudolph and at Holiday Drive turn left and follow the above.

Don’t forget – our new meeting location is the Bone & Joint Center on Professional Park Drive right across from Gateway Hospital.

The officers and members of the Clarksville CWRT wish to extend our deepest gratitude to the management and staff of Borders book store in Governor’s Square Mall for giving us our first home for seven years. Please continue to patronize this fine store and don’t forget that they will be more than helpful is getting you the books you need. We hope to continue to work with them when we have noted Civil War authors in town.

OUR SPEAKER AND TOPIC:

“CIVIL WAR ARTILLERY AT THE BATTLE OF FORT DONELSON”

Our own John Walsh will present a program on artillery at the Battle of Fort Donelson. Known as an artillery expert, John’s program will not emphasize artillery movement or tactics, but will show how an artillery gun crew worked its piece and what it took to fire the gun. The program will cover the types of cannon and artillery projectiles that were utilized during the Battle of Fort Donelson in February 1862. Additionally, John will be bringing examples of artillery projectiles from the battle for the CWRT to view. John’s program will be delivered via Power Point and is designed to be an introductory program on Civil War Artillery and its nomenclature. Besides teaching the uses of artillery in the battle, the program will show the diversity of gun and shell types used by both sides in the battle.

John Walsh has been involved in almost every aspect of the Civil War hobby. Since the age of 13, he has participated in Civil War Roundtables, re-enacting, relic hunting, collecting
and researching. John is co-owner of Fort Donelson Relics in Dover, TN and was inspired to own such a store after visiting Yesteryear Antiques in Murfreesboro during the late 1980′s.
He is a member of the Clarksville Civil War Roundtable, Tennessee Military Collector’s Association, and he volunteers at Fort Donelson National Battlefield. John is also a field host
for Our History Project and actively supports both local SCV camps in Dover and Clarksville.

Please join us as John Walsh presents his excellent program on artillery at Fort Donelson!

LAST MONTH’S MEETING

We were treated to a terrific program on Clarksville’s Nannie Haskins, one of the “stars” of the Ken Burns Civil War documentary of some years ago. Her words and thoughts were brought to life for us thanks to a consortium of local historians including Minoa Uffelman and Ellen Kanervo of Austin Peay State University, Montgomery County historian Eleanor Williams and Phyllis Smith of the Clarksville CWRT. Assisted by a Power Point program, the ladies gave us Nannie’s background as well as her post-war life and then placed her words from her diary within historical context from the war to post-war. For those that have not read her diary or missed her in the Ken Burns documentary, she was a Southern patriot with a rapier-like whit with her pen and she commented on lots of events.

This was one of the finest programs ever presented to the Clarksville CWRT and we thank these four ladies for working so hard to put it together and present it for us. Job well done!

FUTURE PROGRAMS:

June, 2010 – Tracy Jackson, Clarksville CWRT – “Eight Southern Governors”
July, 2010 – Joseph Reinhart, Louisville CWRT and author – “McCook’s Dutchmen: The 9th Ohio Infantry”
August, 2010 – Tom Parsons, Historian/ranger, Corinth National Battlefield – “The Battles For Corinth”
September, 2010 – Michael Manning, Ft. Donelson National Battlefield – Honey Springs Campaign, Indian Territory

October, 2010 – Gail Stephens, author – “General Lew Wallace” (based on her upcoming book)
November, 2010 – Dr. William Glenn Robertson, US Army Combat Studies Institute, Ft. Leavenworth, KS “A Tale of Two Orders in the Battle of Chickamauga”

December, 2010 – John Marler, Battle of Franklin Trust/former Petersburg National Battlefield – The Petersburg Campaign

MEMBERS AND DUES: – Your name badge will have two ribbons if you are current with your dues. If it only has the blue ribbon, please pay your dues at this meeting!

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:

Ö Student – $10

Ö Single membership – $20

Ö Family – $30

Ö Military – Active duty and veterans – $15

Ö Military family – Active duty and family – $25

To our many guests – Thank you for much for coming to see what we are about. By joining us your dues money goes towards helping to pay the travel expenses for the speakers 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 another special item coming up at this meeting!!

CIVIL WAR NEWS AND EVENTS:

Parker’s Crossroads Battlefield Association Fund Raising Rummage Sale – May 15th, 2010

The Parkers Crossroads Battlefield Association will sponsor a rummage sale/flea market style fund raiser on Saturday, May 15th from 7 AM -3 PM. Proceeds will assist the June Living History expenses. The “rummage sale” will be held in the field adjacent to the Log Cabin Visitors Center at 20650 Highway 22 North. Po Boy’s (Pizza Place) of Parkers Crossroads has offered the use of their large and COLORFUL special events tent for the event.

The event organizer is Deborah Teague. Should you have items to donate or can help with the sale, do call 731-845-3114 or email deborahteaguetn@yahoo.com Donated items can be left at the Visitor’s Center on weekends during regular operating hours of 9am to 5pm. Parker’s Crossroads is just off I-40 at Exit 108 west of Nashville.

Ft. Negley’s Krista Castillo to present May 14th program

Fort Negley Museum Director (and Nashville CWRT president) Krista Castillo will present a photo journal presentation of Fort Negley on Friday, May 14th. Contact the visitor center at (615)862-8470 for more details. If you haven’t visited the restored fort and visitor’s center, you are in for a treat!

Be sure to check with Ft. Negley as they offer a number of programs on a monthly basis including Silver Screen Saturdays where they show classic Civil War films and documentaries. Just give them a call for details and times!

Preservation Efforts for Battle of Monterrey Pass Receive Support – By Matt McLaughlin – Waynesboro Record-Herald (PA) (From the CWPT newsletter)

Significant strides have been made since Washington Township agreed to raise funds to purchase land and establish an interpretive site dedicated to the Battle of Monterey Pass in January. During a Jan. 29 meeting between the Monterey Pass Battlefield Association and Washington Township supervisors, the board agreed to seek funding and be the recipient of donations for purchasing a property near the Lions Club’s Rolando Woods Park and establishing it as an interpretive site, complete with a visitors center. Once established, the township would own the site, but the Battle of Monterey Pass Committee — made up of the association and its partners — would be responsible for its planning and operation, Washington Township Manager Mike Christopher said in January.

The Battle of Monterey Pass, fought July 4 and 5, 1863, began in Fountaindale as Confederate forces limped back to the South after the Battle of Gettysburg. It was the second-largest conflict fought on northern soil during the Civil War and the only one fought on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line. A step forward in preserving a piece of the Monterey Pass battlefield was the signing of a sale agreement for the .83-acre property near Rolando Woods Park April 21. The property, owned by Mary Rae Cantwell, is located at 13325 Buchanan Trail East and was the location of the last Confederate defense during the 1863 battle. Supervisor Elaine Gladhill, an advocate of preserving the history of the battle, said the township has already received more than $1,000 in donations.

About $100,000 is needed to buy all the property and township recently applied for $49,950 from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources grant for purchasing the property. The township would provide matching funds of $52,900. More than 75 letters of support for the grant were submitted. Agencies that wrote letters of support include the Monterey Pass Battlefield Association, Franklin County Board of Commissioners, Franklin County Visitors Bureau, Gettysburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, Franklin County Area Development Corp., Greater Waynesboro Chamber of Commerce, Franklin County Planning Commission, Borough of Waynesboro, One Mountain Foundation, Franklin County Historical Society, Waynesboro Area School District, Greater Area Emmitsburg Historical Society and Cumberland Valley Rifles.

Donations can be made at the township office at 13013 Welty Road, Wayne Heights. Checks should be made payable to Washington Township.

Virginia Seeks Balance in Making War’s Anniversary – By Rosalind Helderman, Washington Post (From the CWPT newsletter)

When Virginia and the rest of the nation set out to mark the 100th anniversary of the Civil War in 1961, the party got off to a rocky start. Intricate plans were made to mark the military conquests of the Confederate and Union armies, but little attention was paid to the experience of individuals — soldiers, civilians and slaves. A massive reenactment of the Battle of Bull Run at Manassas was marred by too little water and too few bathrooms. Most jarringly, some adopted the events as an opportunity to celebrate the Confederacy in the face of the burgeoning civil rights movement. At last, President John F. Kennedy called on a 31-year-old historian to take over as the centennial’s executive director, refocusing it on sober education.

Virginia has turned to the same man — James I. Robertson Jr., a history professor at Virginia Tech and a Civil War expert — to help the state avoid the same kinds of problems as it prepares to mark next year’s 150th anniversary of the start of the war. With Robertson’s guidance, a commission established by the General Assembly to plan the state’s sesquicentennial events has spent four years trying to avoid the impression that they will amount to a celebration of the Confederacy.

There are no Confederate battle flags on the commission’s homepage. One of its first events is a scholarly conference titled “Race, Slavery and the Civil War: The Tough Stuff of American History and Memory.” Commission members, a bipartisan collection of 15 legislators, historians and others, even shy from the word “celebrate,” preferring to use “commemorate” instead. “We’re going to make it a serious thing, an all-inclusive thing,” Robertson said. ‘Brother against brother.”

Virginia officials hope they can attract tourist dollars from war buffs from across the country during four years of events in the state with more Civil War battlefields than any other. The commission, founded in 2006, is funded through a $2 million annual appropriation from the legislature, as well as private grants. But they are keenly aware that Virginia was the capital of the Confederacy and home to many of its most famous figures. The commonwealth got a reminder of the sensitivities involved when Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) declared last month Confederate History Month, a proclamation he said would bring attention to the 150th anniversary. McDonnell quickly apologized after facing stinging national criticism for omitting references to slavery. But an amended version that called slavery an abomination did not satisfy those who thought it was still too deferential to Virginia’s role in a losing rebellion.

One place he might start is at the September conference on slavery at Norfolk State University, which has 1,200 registrants. It will be chaired by James O. Horton, professor emeritus of African American history at George Mason University and an expert on slavery. Horton called the conference “very important to understanding the Civil War, understanding the issues that really shaped the tremendous and heated debates of history.” Slavery plays an important role, too, in a two-disc DVD set that’s been produced by the commission and distributed to every school in the state. It emphasizes the experience of soldiers on both sides, African Americans — free and enslaved — as well as civilians on the home front.

The commission’s work has not been without critics. The Richmond Free Press, a black-owned newspaper, has run several editorials criticizing the commission as a waste of taxpayer money whose work is bound to invite four years of Confederate flag waving. “Most eighth-graders know that Virginia’s participation [in the war] was hardly worthy of promoting,” publisher Raymond H. Boone wrote last year.

At the same time, members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans say the commission is running a politically correct event that will ignore their ancestors’ sacrifices. “I think they’re so afraid of offending someone, hurting someone’s feelings, that they’re just going to do this generic, bland commemoration, where at the end, we know we’ve commemorated something, but we’re not quite sure what,” said Frank Earnest, a Virginia Beach resident and chief of the heritage defense for the group.

House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford), who chairs the commission, said such criticism shows the committee has found the right balance.

Communities Face Shortage of Funds to Commemorate Civil War – By Andy Johns, Chattanooga Free Press (From the CWPT newsletter)

During much of the Civil War, Confederate troops were short on manpower, funding and equipment. Nearly 150 years later, as local officials make plans to commemorate the war’s sesquicentennial anniversary, they face the same challenges. Local governments, historic groups and tourism leaders hope to capitalize on tourists they hope will flock to local sites during re-enactments and other anniversary events. But trying to raise money for marketing campaigns during a recession and a major state budget shortfall has proven to be difficult.

Every time Chickamauga City Manager John Culpepper has gone to Atlanta seeking money for various campaigns, he has found only empty pockets. Mr. Culpepper, who also is the Georgia Civil War Commission president, said the state initially budgeted $500,000 toward publicizing state sites and events for the 150th anniversary. That funding was stripped out with the first round of budget cuts, he explained. For comparison’s sake, Virginia included $2 million in its budget to prepare for the anniversary, Mr. Culpepper said. “The state of Georgia hasn’t budgeted anything,” he said.

Because the financial situation is so tough, Mr. Culpepper recently started the Tri-State Civil War Association to combine resources and promote related sites and events in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. In 2013, the Battle of Chickamauga re-enactment will be the largest in the Deep South with as many as 12,000 re-enactors expected, Mr. Culpepper said. The key, he said, will be getting those visitors to stay an extra day or two to visit Resaca, Ringgold or other nearby towns with historic sites. Walker County Commissioner Bebe Heiskell called the potential tourism boost from the Civil War anniversary “very important.” She said she hoped to have another hotel in the county by then and said she would hoped to add a lodging tax for the unincorporated areas of the county in anticipation of the anniversary.

Don’t forget – our new meeting location is the Bone & Joint Center on Professional Park Drive right across from Gateway Hospital.

CLARKSVILLE CWRT OFFICERS

Greg Biggs – President/Programs – Biggsg@charter.net
Eric Good – Vice President – elgood2@msn.com
Karel Lea Biggs – Secretary/Newsletter – karelleabiggs@charter.net
Sherry Hersh – Treasurer – sherry.hersh@cmcss.net

April Meeting Notice and Newsletter

Clarksville Civil War Roundtable

Founded March, 2004 – Clarksville, Tennessee

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Clarksville-Civil-War-Roundtable/173205518836?v=box_3#/pages/Clarksville-Civil-War-Roundtable/173205518836?ref=ts

April 21st, 2010 – Our 73rd Meeting!

The next meeting of the Clarksville (TN) Civil War Roundtable will be on Wednesday, April 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:

“NANNIE HASKINS’ CIVIL WAR – The Diary Of A Clarksville Woman Under Occupation”

In the 1990s, Ken Burns introduced Nannie Haskins to the American public through his PBS series, The Civil War. Nannie was a Clarksville teenager when Union soldiers occupied
the city after the fall of Ft. Donelson in mid-February, 1862. Two of her brothers fought for the Confederacy and she was passionate in her hatred of the Yankees. As a talented writer
she chronicled her experiences and observations in an artfully written diary. Civil War historians have used the unpublished diaries in their studies because of her wonderful prose
which provide excellent quotes. Most recently, Drew Gilpin Foust quoted Nannie in her recent study of Civil War death and grieving. Nannie’s diary talks about the difficulty of obtaining
reliable news, Union pickets and colored soldiers, the difficulty in getting passes and restrictions on religious practices. She also wrote about the violence and guerrilla warfare that
exploded in the Clarksville area but did not ignore the social life that developed during this time of crisis. She describes the pain of losing a brother who died in a northern POW camp
after being captured at Ft. Donelson. Another brother was captured after Gettysburg. Both events reinforced her well-known hatred of Yankees.

Her Civil War years remembrances are historically significant but they only chronicle a short period of her sporadic journaling. When her descendents donated her diary to the
Tennessee State Library they did not see the value of the entries after the war and excluded them. In fact, Nannie’s story did not end with the Civil War and she wrote periodically in
1869, 1871, 1880-1883, 1885-1890. These entries belie the southern belle image. She chronicles her life as she matures, marries, settles across the state line in Kentucky and
struggles with the challenges of rearing four step children and six of her own. In 1870, twenty-two year old Nannie married widower Henry Williams, a farmer. By choosing a farmer
she secured a fate of financial uncertainty and faced rearing her family on the whims of the fickle tobacco market. Yet, throughout the sixteen years she kept the diary she expressed
no regret at her choice and recorded instances of loving attention Henry paid her such as gathering bouquets of wild flowers. Nannie Haskins Williams died in 1930.

Nannie’s diary, in its entirety, describes her life not only in the Civil War context, but also marriage, economic struggles of farm life in the Reconstruction and post Reconstruction South.
The Williams farm grew dark-fired tobacco unique to Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee. The diary contains entries recording her worry over debt and mortgage payments.
One concern was that her children, including her daughters, obtain good educations in the changing South.

The wonderful story of Nannie Haskins will be presented this month by Dr. Minoa Uffelman, associate professor of history at Austin Peay State University. She will be ably assisted
by Phyllis Smith and Ellen Kanervo who are part of the team that are transcribing Nannie’s diary. It is hoped that the completed project will be published by the University of Tennessee
Press. With the growing interest in the civilian and especially female side of the war and Reconstruction, this would be a most valuable contribution. Anyone familiar with the Ken
Burns series will know of Nannie’s whit as well as her poignant pen.

We very much look forward to hearing about the talented young lady who, through her words and modern media, has helped to put Clarksville on the Civil War map.

LAST MONTH’S MEETING

The one and only Thomas Cartwright gave a wonderful and impassioned program on the Battle of Thompson’s Station, March 5th, 1863 which involved a nasty fight between Confederate cavalry forces under Generals Earl Van Dorn and Nathan Bedford Forrest against a Union brigade under Col. John Coburn. The end result was the capture of Coburn’s brigade as well as a split between Forrest and Van Dorn and a further threat to the Union supply base at Nashville. With personal stories and accounts as well as tactical details, Cartwright brought a lot of lot on a little known battle in Tennessee. Thanks Thomas for a terrific program!

FUTURE PROGRAMS:

May, 2010 – John Walsh, Clarksville CWRT – “Civil War Artillery”

June, 2010 – Tracy Jackson, Clarksville CWRT – “Eight Southern Governors”
July, 2010 – Joseph Reinhart, Louisville CWRT and author – “McCook’s Dutchmen: The 9th Ohio Infantry”
August, 2010 – Tom Parsons, Historian/ranger, Corinth National Battlefield – “The Battles For Corinth”
September, 2010 – Michael Manning, Ft. Donelson National Battlefield – TBA

October, 2010 – Gail Stephens, author – “General Lew Wallace” (based on her upcoming book)
November, 2010 – Dr. William Glenn Robertson, US Army Combat Studies Institute, Ft. Leavenworth, KS “A Tale of Two Orders in the Battle of Chickamauga”

December, 2010 – speaker TBA

MEMBERS AND DUES: – Your name badge will have two ribbons if you are current with your dues. If it only has the blue ribbon, please pay your dues at this meeting!

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:

Ö Student – $10

Ö Single membership – $20

Ö Family – $30

Ö Military – Active duty and veterans – $15

Ö Military family – Active duty and family – $25

To our many guests – Thank you for much for coming to see what we are about. By joining us your dues money goes towards helping to pay the travel expenses for the speakers 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 another special item coming up at this meeting!!

CIVIL WAR NEWS AND EVENTS:

Parker’s Crossroads Battlefield Association Fund Raising Rummage Sale – May 15th, 2010 – plus Dr. Lonnie Maness and battlefield tour on May 1st

The Parkers Crossroads Battlefield Association will sponsor a rummage sale/flea market style fund raiser on Saturday, May 15th from 9am -3 pm. Proceeds will assist the June Living History expenses. The “rummage sale” will be held in the field adjacent to the Log Cabin Visitors Center at 20650 Highway 22 North. Po Boy’s (Pizza Place) of Parkers Crossroads has offered the use of their large and COLORFUL special events tent for the event.

The event organizer is Deborah Teague. Should you have items to donate or can help with the sale, do call 731-845-3114 or email deborahteaguetn@yahoo.com Donated items can be left at the Visitor’s Center on weekends during regular operating hours of 9am to 5pm. Parker’s Crossroads is just off I-40 at Exit 108 west of Nashville.

On May 1st, there will be a lecture and discussion, entitled “Forrest’s First West Tennessee Campaign – December 1862,” by Dr. Lonnie E. Maness. Dr. Maness is the author of the
only book covering Forrest’s West Tennessee Raid and is a known scholar of the general. Immediately following the lecture, State Representative and battlefield historian Steve
McDaniel will host a short walking tour of the battlefield highlighting locations significant to the battle. The event, free to the public will be on Saturday, May 1st at 2:00. It will be held
in the Parkers Crossroads City Park Activities Building. For more information, contact the Parkers Crossroads Visitors Center at 731-968-1191.

Chickamauga/Chattanooga National Military Park Civil War Symposium – April 24th, 2010

The Face of Battle: The Secession Crisis

In commemoration of the pivotal events that occurred 150 years ago during the volatile year of 1860, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park will present a symposium about the critical events of 1860 and how they affected the Chattanooga area as the country slid toward civil war. The event will occur at the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center Theater on Saturday, April 24, 2010 beginning at 8:45 a.m.

Speakers will cover a variety of topics related to the Secession Crisis in the local area and the country as a whole. As we enter the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American Civil War, we look to the events that led to the firing on Fort Sumter in 1861. Who were the men that led the way to this event? What thoughts went through the people’s minds as their country began to tear itself apart? Why did they feel it was no longer possible for them to remain part of the United States? We will look at the men and the challenges that they faced during this critical time as the Union began to dissolve.

Speakers and their topics include:
8:45 a.m. Welcome
9:00 a.m. Dr. Daryl Black, “Christian Newspapers and their Coverage of the Secession Crisis”
9:45 a.m. Patrick Lewis, “High Private: How Sam Watkins’ Sideshow Obscured the Big Show of American History”
10:30 a.m. Dr. Keith Bohannon, “Secessionists, Cooperationists, and Unionists: North Georgians Debate the Creation of a Southern Republic, 1860-1861.”
11:15 a.m. Sam Davis Elliott, “Tennessee Governor Isham G. Harris and the Coming of the Civil War”
12:00 p.m. Question and Answers with the speakers.

Reservations are required. Please contact the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at (706) 866-9241 to reserve a space by the afternoon of April 23, 2010. For more information about programs at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, contact the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center at (706) 866-9241, the Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center at (423) 821-7786, or visit the park’s website at http://www.nps.gov/chch.

More Civil War era Newspapers Come Online

The newspapers of the Civil War are a vast treasure trove of wonderful information on the war from various perspectives. Political, military, home front and much more were covered and some of the bigger papers, north and south, had embedded reporters within armies. When coupled with the letters to the papers from soldiers, these papers remain tremendous research avenues for modern historians should they choose to take the time to go through them. The New York Times has its own historical online site but two new sources are worth reporting here. Iowa newspapers are now online thanks to: http://iowaoldpress.com. The site is fully searchable and easy to use.

Several Georgia Civil War newspapers are also now online. The Digital Library of Georgia is pleased to announce the availability of a new online resource: The Atlanta Historic Newspapers Archive: http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/atlnewspapers. The Atlanta Historic Newspapers Archive provides online access to fourteen newspaper titles published in Atlanta from 1847 to 1922.

The archive includes the following Atlanta newspaper titles: Atlanta Daily Examiner (1857), Atlanta Daily Herald (1873-1876), Atlanta Georgian (1906-1911), Atlanta Intelligencer (1851, 1854-1871), Atlantian (1911-1922), Daily/Georgia Weekly Opinion (1867-1868), Gate-City Guardian (1861), Georgia Literary and Temperance Crusader (1860-1861), New Era (1869-1872), Southern Confederacy (1861-1864), Southern Miscellany, and Upper Georgia Whig (1847), Southern World (1882-1885), Sunny South (1875-1907), Weekly Constitution (1869-1882).

The Atlanta Historic Newspapers Archive is a project of the Digital Library of Georgia as part of the Georgia HomePLACE initiative. The project is supported with federal LSTA funds administered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Georgia Public Library Service, a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

Other newspaper archives available through the Digital Library of Georgia include the Macon Telegraph Archive (1826-1908), the Columbus Enquirer Archive (1828-1890), the Milledgeville Historic Newspaper Archive (1808-1920), the Southern Israelite Archive (1929-1958, 1984-1986), and the Red and Black Archive (1893-2006). These archives can be accessed at: http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/MediaTypes/Newspapers.html

Tennessee Civil War preservation Association and the Tennessee State Library and Archives seeking photos, letters and more from the Civil War for preservation

The Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association and the Tennessee State Library & Archives combines for the Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission’s project “Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee.” This will provide an opportunity for Tennesseans to preserve their family’s Civil War Heritage and have digital copies of their ancestor’s writings and belongings become part of a virtual exhibit commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in Tennessee.

TSLA will send teams of professional archivists and conservators to communities across Tennessee. People can schedule an appointment and the team will digitally copy and help preserve your Civil War era manuscripts, artifacts and photographs. All digital imaging (scanning and photography) is done on site and all materials will be carefully handled and returned to their owners. The project begins in April, 2010 and will continue through 2015. Advance publicity will let people know when they will be in specific communities.

The following are being sought: Civil War letters, photographs, diaries, weapons (swords, knives, etc), military passes and discharges, hand-drawn maps and sketches, and uniforms. All items must be original (no photo copies) and owned by the person who is bringing them in for digitization. Those who participate will receive basic conservation supplies for their items, digital copies of the images and the opportunity to have their Civil War memorabilia preserved, digitized, and shared online for future generations! For more information please call 615.253.3470, email: civilwar.tsla@tn.gov or visit http://www.tn.gov/tsla/cwtn.

Resaca, Georgia Battlefield Rebirth – Chattanooga Times Free Press (Courtesy of the CWPT newsletter)

A few weeks ago, Ken Padgett was ready to sound the bugle and retreat from Resaca Battlefield. After 20 years of fighting, he thought he’d lost the effort to create a park at the site, where about 150,000 Union and Confederate troops waged war in 1864. “We thought everyone was going to walk away,” Mr. Padgett said, standing where the entrance to the park would be off Resaca-LaFayette Road near the Interstate 75 interchange. “We feel if that were to happen, (the park) was never going to happen.”

But a letter drafted by the Gordon County Commission and sent to the state Department of Natural Resources has breathed new life into the project. Last Tuesday, the Gordon County Commission agreed to ask the state to get started on the 540-acre site with plans to expand it when state revenues pick up. Under the proposal, the Department of Natural Resources would use allotted funds to build a road, parking area and interpretive trails at the site, according to Gordon County Commission Chairman Alvin Long. Kim Hatcher, a spokeswoman for Georgia State Parks, said building the road, trails, outdoor exhibits and restrooms is possible, but nothing has been agreed upon.

On top of that, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers required the county to reapply for permits to build in a flood plain, which the state already had granted. Getting new permits would have delayed the project at least six months, and officials want the park open for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War beginning in 2011.

Belmont Mansion presents “Hacking and Hewing: The Tale of Civil War Triage” – May 7-8, 2010

On Friday, May 7, at 5.30 pm, join Civil War historian, Dr. James Hayden, for an hour lecture on “Civil War Medical Practices Through the Eyes of a Modern Physician.” On Saturday, May 8, and Sunday, May 9, during Belmont Mansion’s regular tour hours, Dr. Hayden will answer questions and present his extensive collection of Civil War era medical equipment. Dr. Hayden will describe, in depth, the steps a wounded Civil War soldier would have gone through from the battlefield to the operating table and beyond. The practices and procedures used by the medical core and its officers will be described and explained from Surgeon to medical steward. The procedures developed and used during the American Civil War are still used on battlefields and in hospitals throughout the world today.

Dr. Hayden is a practicing doctor and Civil War historian and he has given programs for several National Civil War parks as well as the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. Belmont Mansion, in Nashville, is open daily for guided tours, Monday-Saturday from 10am-4pm and Sunday from 1-4pm. For general inquiries and inquiries related to the Civil War Medical Lecture, please visit http://e2ma.net/go/6646573878/208162335/212209841/1401421/goto:http://www.belmontmansion.com or call 615-460-5459.

CLARKSVILLE CWRT OFFICERS – The membership voted last month to retain the current slate of officers. The officers thank the membership for their votes of confidence.