Odyssey of a Border State. Dec. 4

Saturday, Dec.4, 2010

Odyssey of a Border State: Antebellum Kentucky During the Sectional Crisis 1845 – 1860

The LCWRT will welcome Gary Matthews tonight to speak on Antebellum Kentucky. Gary R. Matthews is an independent historian and free lance writer who resides in Lexington, Kentucky.Mr. Matthews is a native of Virginia who has studied history at the University of Virginia and law and economics at the Pennsylvania State University.He is the author of Basil Wilson Duke, C.S.A.: The Right Man in the Right Place (University Press of Kentucky, 2005) and “Beleaguered Loyalties: Kentucky Unionism,” in Sister States Enemy States: The Civil War in Kentucky and Tennessee (University Press of Kentucky, 2009).Mr. Matthews is currently working on book length manuscript that is intended to be an in-depth examination of the topics that will be addressed in his December 4^th lecture.

2010-2011 Preservation Grant Awarded

The 2010 – 2011 Louisville Civil War Preservation Grant has been awarded to the Civil War Preservation Trust for the purchase of land at Perryville.A check for $1450.00 was sent to the CWPT and will be matched 4 to 1 and goes toward saving 357 acres of historic ground.Thanks to everyone who contributed and to Holly Jenkins-Evans who is the chairperson of our preservation committee.

50 for the 50th

In honor of its 50th Anniversary, the Louisville Civil War Roundtable selected what it considers the 50 Essential Books on the Civil War. These works are not necessarily the best books on the era, but rather are the basic resources necessary for anyone to understand the period 1861-1865. The list is divided by categories and touches as much of the war as possible; no effort was made to rank the books within each category, or to decide the relative merits of each type of book. All of these titles are available today. Taken as a whole, they represent the Civil War and its myriad facets.

Battles/Campaigns:

Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas by John Hennesey
The Gleam of Bayonets: The Battle of Antietam by James Murfin
The Campaign of Chancellorsville by John Bigelow
The Campaign of Gettysburg by Edward Coddington
The Vicksburg Campaign 3 Vols by Ed Bearss
This Terrible Sound: Chickamauga by Peter Cozzens
Wilderness/Spotsylvania by Gordon Rhea
Shiloh: Bloody April by Wiley Sword
Stonewall in the Valley by Robert Tanner
Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864 by Albert Castel

Biography:

RE Lee 4 vols by Douglas S. Freeman
The Edge of Glory: A Biography of General William S. Rosecrans by William Lamers
John Breckinridge by William C. Davis
The Young Napoleon by Stephen Sears
Rock of Chickamauga: The Life of General George H. Thomas by Freeman Cleaves
Lincoln by David Donald
Lee the Soldier edited by Gary Gallagher
Jefferson Davis by William Cooper
Lincoln and His Generals by T. Harry Williams
Stonewall Jackson by James I. Robertson

Fiction/Literature:

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Unit Histories:

Lee’s Lieutenants by Douglas S. Freeman
Mother May You Never See the Sights I have Seen: The 57th Massachusetts by Warren Wilkinson
The Union Cavalry in the Civil War by Stephen Starr
Two Great Rebel Armies by Richard McMurry
The Army of the Potomac 3 Vols by Bruce Catton
The Orphan Brigade by William C. Davis
Nothing but Victory: The Army of the Tennessee by Stephen Woodworth
Army of the Heartland and Autumn of Their Glory by Thomas Connelly
The Stonewall Brigade by Bud Robertson
Education in Violence: The Army of the Cumberland by Francis McKinney

General Histories:
Photographic History of the Civil War in Ten Volumes by Francis Miller
Battles & Leaders Century Magazine
The American Heritage History of the Civil War (Old Version Bruce Catton)
Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson
The Civil War 3 vols by Shelby Foote
Virginia at War 4 vols edited by William C. Davis and James I. Robertson

Memoir:
Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant
Memoirs of William T. Sherman by William T. Sherman
The Civil War Papers of George McClellan by Stephen Sears
A Confederate War Clerk’s Diary by John B. Jones
Fighting for the Confederacy by E.P. Alexander
Memoirs of a Dutch Mudsill: The “War Memories” of John Henry Otto 21st Wisconsin
by John Henry Otto
Company Aytch by Sam Watkins
A Diary From Dixie by Mary Boykin Chestnut
Memoir of Service Afloat During the War Between the States by Raphael Semmes
The Children of Pride: A True Story of Georgia in the Civil War by Charles Babcock Jones edited by Robert Meyer

LCWRT Announces 2010 - 2011 Preservation Grant

The Louisville Civil War Round Table is pleased in this 50th Anniversary Year to announce the award of our 2010 - 2011 Preservation Grant. This years $1450 grant will go to the Civil War Preservation Trust for their 2010 Kentucky Campaign. The CWPT’s aim is to protect 327 acres of Perryville Battlefield through a matching grant campaign at a 4 to 1 return. The total goal is $169,059. This $1450 grant will help protect almost three acres of battlefield land in the northeastern part of the field, where the right wing of Gen. Braxton Bragg’s army formed up and jumped off on their attack. This is a grand opportunity to directly save battlefield land in Kentucky.
With this gift, the LCWRT has now awarded over $13,000 in grants to protect and enhance Kentucky’s Civil War sites since the Preservation Grant was established in 2000. Past recipients include the Camp Wildcat Preservation Foundation, the Middle Creek National Battlefield Foundation, the Tebbs Bend Battlefield Association, the Perryville Battlefield Preservation Association, the Rolling Fork Historic Preservation Association, the Friends of Fort Duffield, the Shelby County, KY Historical Society and Columbus-Belmont State Park.

We a re very proud to be part of the Civil War Preservation Trust’s ongoing effort to preserve this honored ground.

For more on the Battle of Perryville, the efforts to save land and the CWPT, please click here: CWPT

Fall Field Trip: Frankfort, KY

An eighteen person strong contingent of the LCWRT traveled to Frankfort on the 17th for the Annual Fall Field Trip. Our tour guide was the able and intrepid Nicky Hughes of the Capitol City Museum. We were extremely fortunate to have a perfect day - cool in the morning and balmy in the afternoon. Meeting up early in Frankfort

The morning session included a detailed tour of the Civil War Forts at Leslie Morris Park on Fort Hill. We carpooled to the Sullivan House, a c. 1810 clapboard covered log house, which serves as the visitors center and museum.

Exterior of the Sullivan House

Nicky then led us through Fort Boone, the earthworks fort built by the 103rd OH in 1863. This was the site of the June 10 - 11 1864 skirmish that successfully defended the state capitol of Ky during a raid by John Hunt Morgan’s men in June of 1864. While not important for the war as a whole, it is significant in KY history as a burned state capitol would have left state government in ruins and likely led to a movement to mode the capitol to Louisville, Lexington or other sites that had agitated for a change off and on over the years.

Fort Boone earthworks

The fort was manned by local militia, called in to action and led by Gov. Thomas Bramlette, one of, if not the only US Governor to actually man a weapon in defense of his capitol. Another well known defender was John Marshall Harlan, a future US Supreme Court justice.

View of Frankfort from Fort Hill

The views from the park are outstanding, with historic downtown Frankfort , the Old Capitol , the New 1910 Capitol and the Arsenal in view. The Fort Hill site contains well defined earthwork remains, original stone walls and at the later, 1864 New Redoubt , the original stone magazine. The earthworks here are unusual in containing a dry stone wall core under the tamped earth. An excellent lunch arranged by Nicky was followed by medical and artillery demonstrations. Some hardy souls volunteered to form the temporary LCWRT Artillery Battery, and were successful in firing a 10 lb Parrot. Well done.

LCWRT members assist our tour guides with the firing of a reproduction 10 lb Parrot

The afternoon continued with a walking tour of downtown Frankfort, where Nicky covered the 1862 occupation of Frankfort by Braxton Bragg’s forces and Bragg’s visit and sudden departure through the railroad tunnel, as well as local history , the assassination of Gov. William Goebel, and the extensive Civil War era homes in downtown. He included a visit to the Capital City Museum and we finished up at The Frankfort Cemetery, resting place of many KY Governors, Civil War veterans and of course, like good Kentuckians, we concluded at the grave of Daniel Boone.

Civil War era railrod tunnel in downtown

LCWRT members take a break during the walking tour

Links for further reading:

Capitol City Museum

Leslie Morris Park

Ky State Historical Society

Coming in October: The Fall Field Trip

2010 Fall Field Trip: Frankfort Ky. Sunday October 17

The one-day Fall Field Trip to Frankfort is coming up soon - October 17th. This includes a walking tour of downtown to see sites associated with the secession crisis, the 1862 occupation of Frankfort by the Confederates including streets involved in skirmishing during their departure, Morgan's 1864 raid on the town, residences of notable personages from the Civil War era, and the Capital City Museum, which has a couple of interesting Civil War relics. We will also tour the Frankfort Cemetery, where we can see the graves of Simon Bolivar Buckner and many other Civil War soldiers and politicians, the Kentucky Military Monument, Confederate Circle, and of course Daniel Boone's grave. The high point of the day will be a tour of the Leslie Morris Park on Fort Hill, which features an 1810 log house visitor center outfitted as a Civil War era tavern, two Civil War earthwork forts, the site of an 1864 Morgan's Last Raid skirmish, and a spectacular view of downtown Frankfort. Our guide will be Nicky Hughes who is an expert on Frankfort in the Civil War.
Remember, there is no charge for this trip except paying for your own transportation and lunch. We will be car-pooling to Frankfort. Look for more details in the October newsletter and a sign up sheet will once again be at the dinner meeting.

Civil War Guide and Historian David Hinze Passes Away

David C. Hinze, well known as a tour leader for the Civil War Education Association and other groups, passed away suddenly on August 18, 2010, at his home in Rolla, Missouri. He was 58. David had spoken to us three times in the last few years and was the guide on our Trans-Mississippi field trip. Our own Dick Skidmore offered these words on his passing, “The death of Hinze is one of those "unbelievable" deaths that happen only occasionally. It cannot be comprehended. The guy was so full of exuberance in every job he undertook. We knew him as a truly excellent Civil War guide, excited for the opportunity to explain it all in detail, but what a wonderful classroom teacher he must have been. There will be many tears shed for Dave. He will be missed, no doubt about it.”

Membership Renewals

It is now time to pay the annual membership fees of the Round Table. Remember any amount you give above the basic or family membership fee is tax-deductible since the Round Table has tax-exempt status as a 501 (c) (3) organization!

The Options:
Option One: Regular Membership $30 Basic membership.
Option Two: Family Membership $35 Allows spouse or family living in the same household to also join.
+$5 For each additional family member.
Option Three: Patron Membership $55+ Membership with financial gift to LCWRT.

The additional funds raised through Patron memberships allow the LCWRT to take an active role in Civil War Battlefield Preservation as well as help pay the costs of bringing the very best Civil War speakers to our meetings.
Please send your membership renewal to: LCWRT, 1028 Sarah Drive, Louisville, KY 40219-4923

2011 Field Trip: Return to Gettysburg

The LCWRT will be going back to Gettysburg on March 30 through April 3 for our 2011 field trip to study the biggest battle of the Civil War with guide Chris Kolakowski. There is a limit of 54 that can take the tour so sign up early and pay your deposit. A nonrefundable deposit of $200 will guarantee your reservation. The sign up sheet will be available at the dinner meetings and since 30+ members have already signed in, this trip may fill early.

LCWRT 2010 - 2011 Season due to Start

The 2010 - 2011 Louisville Civil War Round Table season will start soon on Sept. 11, 2010 with our speaker Greg Mertz presenting “The Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse: Determining the Intent of the Enemy". Greg is already well known to member of the LCWRT as our Spring tour guide at both Chancellorsville in 2009 and The Wilderness/Spotsylvania Courthouse in 2000.

Greg Mertz was born and raised near St. Louis, Missouri and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri, and a master’s degree from Shippensburg University. He began his National Park Service career at Gettysburg National Military Park and obtained his first permanent job at the Eisenhower National Historic Site. For the last 26 years he has been at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park where he currently serves as the Supervisory Historian at Fredericksburg, selecting and training the permanent, seasonal, intern and volunteer employees that provide visitor services in the park. He has written four feature articles for Blue and Gray Magazine on the Battle of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House. He is the 2002 recipient of the Jefferson Davis medal from the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House -- Determining the Intent of the Enemy

The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House was fought from May 8 to 21, 1864 and was the second battle in the Fredericksburg area between Union General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Though Union forces had been in the Fredericksburg vicinity for more than two years by that point, they had never penetrated so far into Spotsylvania County, so were in unfamiliar territory, and were further hampered by inaccurate maps. Learning about new territory, as well as keeping track of enemy movements and positions fell primarily to the cavalry. But through an interesting set of circumstances, Grant sent virtually all of his cavalry away on the second day of the battle. Lee had little choice but to dispatch a significant part of his own cavalry to counter the Union horsemen. This left both armies without their “eyes and ears.” One way of looking at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House is through the distorted lenses of the army commanders and how they sought to determine just what the other army was up to. We will see both commanders make some very logical conclusions regarding the enemy intent, only to find that though reasonable, they were wrong. Join us as we examine this battle by comparing what the generals thought was happening, with the actual situation.

A Message from Our New President: “Fifty Glorious Years”

Fifty years ago I was eleven years old living in Mattoon, Illinois about to start seventh grade with no interest in History of any type let alone The Civil War. College level History was my first introduction to the Civil War and from that point on I was hooked. I had wanted to join the Louisville Civil War Round Table since learning about it in the early 1980’s from a fellow physician, but as life goes I got around to joining in the fall of 1999. I went on my first field trip to Shiloh Battlefield a year later and I was besieged with information and loved it.

I am honored to be serving my second term as President of this prestigious organization as it celebrates its 50th Anniversary. As always this year’s list of speakers will more than fit the occasion, with James “Bud” Robertson marking the Birthday Celebration with what we know will be a first rate presentation.

The field trip this year will be to the “High Water” mark of the conflict Gettysburg, Pa. It promises to be a memorial event for all who choose to go.

There are plans to promote this special year of The Louisville Civil War Round Table through the local print media requesting a special article close to the date of the our Golden Anniversary.

The Civil War Round Table of Louisville is turning fifty and to mark that event we are requesting the sage and wise of all ages to contribute to our list of the “50” must read books to understand the event known as the “Civil War”.

Art Boerner, President


2010 – 2011 Meeting Dates

Saturday September 11 Greg Mertz “Spotsylvania Courthouse”

Saturday October 9 Richard McMurry “General Joe Johnston”

Saturday November 13 Thomas Mays “Cumberland Blood: Champ Ferguson”

Saturday December 4 Gary Matthews “Odyssey of a Border State: Antebellum Kentucky During the Sectional Crisis, 1845-1860 ”

Saturday January 22 Bud Robertson “TBA”

Saturday February 12 Ed Bearss “TBA”

Saturday March 12 George Rable “TBA”

Saturday April 9 John Marszalek “TBA”

Saturday May 14 Jeffrey Wert “Jeb Stuart”


2010 Fall Field Trip: Frankfort Ky. Sunday October 17

The LCWRT will be taking a one-day field trip to Frankfort October 17th. The day will include a walking tour of downtown to see sites associated with the secession crisis and Kentucky neutrality, the 1862 occupation of Frankfort by the Confederates including streets involved in skirmishing during their departure, Morgan's 1864 raid on the town, residences of notable personages from the Civil War era, and the Capital City Museum (which has a couple of interesting Civil War relics.) The day will also include a tour of the Frankfort Cemetery, with the graves of Simon Bolivar Buckner and many other Civil War soldiers and politicians, the Kentucky Military Monument, Confederate Circle, and of course Daniel Boone's grave. The high point of the day will be a tour of the Leslie Morris Park on Fort Hill, which features an 1810 log house visitor center outfitted as a Civil War era tavern, two Civil War earthwork forts, the site of an 1864 Morgan's Last Raid skirmish, and a spectacular view of downtown Frankfort.

Our guide will be Nicky Hughes who is an expert on Frankfort in the Civil War. There is no charge for this trip except paying for your own transportation and lunch. We will be car-pooling to Frankfort. Look for more details in next month’s newsletter and a sign-up sheet at the meeting.

LCWRT Spring Field Trip: Stop at Hoover's Gap

The LCWRT Spring Field Trip included a bonus stop at Hoover's Gap on our way to explore the early phases of the Atlanta Campaign. This small site in Tennessee contains Beech Grove Confederate Cemetery, artillery pieces, and handy explanatory information, as well as a plaque for 18th Indiana Battery and a monument to Stewart's Division. Getting to see the ground at this crucial point of the Tullahoma campaign where Wilder's Lightning Brigade earned their name was a real treat.

photos courtesy of LCWRT member Karl Stelly

Sneak Preveiw: A German Hurrah! Civil War Letters of Friedrich Bertsch & Wilhelm Stängel, 9th Ohio Infantry

Long time LCWRT Member and Webmaster Joseph R. Reinhart' s latest book, A German Hurrah! Civil War Letters of Friedrich Bertsch and Wilhelm Stängel, 9th Ohio Infantry, can now be pre-ordered through Kent State Press.

From Kent State University Press:"Bertsch’s and Stängel’s letters from the battlefront were published in German American newspapers and are historically significant for several reasons: they are among the very rare collections of letters from soldiers in a German regiment; they fill a significant void of letters from Union fighting men describing the events in the rugged mountains and valleys of western Virginia during the North’s first campaign and subsequent service in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama; they provide a useful account of how the two German Americans viewed the war, American officers and enlisted men, other immigrant soldiers, and the enemy; they shed light on the ethnic dimensions of the war, especially ethnic identity, pride, and solidarity; and they reflect the overarching political climate in which the war was fought. Additionally, these contemporary letters are superior to accounts written years or decades after the events occurred.

A German Hurrah! makes Bertsch’s and Stängel’s letters available in English for the first time. It is a valuable addition to Civil War studies and will be welcomed by those interested in ethnicity and immigration.

Joseph R. Reinhart’s recent books include Two Germans in the Civil War: The Diary of John Daeuble and the Letters of Gottfried Rentschler, Sixth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry; A History of the 6th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry U.S: The Boys Who Feared No Noise, and August Willich’s Gallant Dutchmen: Civil War Letters from the 32nd Indiana Infantry (The Kent State University Press, 2006)."

To pre-order, click Here

Columbus-Belmont State Park Receives LCWRT Preservation Grant

The Louisville Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce the winner of the 2010 LCWRT Preservation Grant. This grant is given annually to a Civil War site in the State of Kentucky. This years recipient is Columbus-Belmont State Park in Columbus, Ky., a 156-acre site of fortifications built by the Confederates and later occupied by Union forces. The 1861 Battle of Belmont, a raid fought to test the strength of this Confederate stronghold, marked the opening of the Union's Western Campaign. It was also Union General Ulysses S. Grant's first active engagement in the Civil War. Some of the artillery, which shelled the Union troops, and the six-ton anchor that held the great chain stretching across the river, are on display in the park. The $1000 Preservation Grant will be used to aid in the repair and restoration of a quarter mile length of original earth-works. These earth-works will be a featured attraction for both the 20th Anniversary of Civil War Days at Columbus-Belmont State Park as well as events for the coming Sesquicentennial of the Civil War in 2011. Columbus-Belmont State Park has approximately 100,000 visitors a year.

In the ten years since the LCWRT began funding a grant for preservation, we have given over $11,000 to organizations in the state. Previous recipients include Camp Wildcat Preservation Foundation, Tebbs Bend Battlefield Association, Perryville Battlefield Association, Friends of Fort Duffield, and Middle Creek National Battlefield Foundation. Cindy Lynch, the Manager of Columbus-Belmont State Park, will receive the grant at the May 2010 regular meeting.

Park Day 2010

From the Civil War Preservation Trust:

Volunteers needed for Park Day - April 10, 2010!

"Since 1996, the Civil War Preservation Trust has sponsored Park Day, an annual hands-on preservation event to help Civil War battlefields and historic sites take on maintenance projects large and small. Activities are chosen by each participating site to meet their own particular needs and can range from raking leaves and hauling trash to painting signs and trail building.

This year Park Day will be held on Saturday, April 10, 2010. The nationwide effort is underwritten with a grant from History™, formerly The History Channel, and is recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior as a “Take Pride in America” event."

For a full list of participating sites, please visit: http://www.civilwar.org/aboutus/events/park-day/

Civil War Sites in Kentucky that are participating:

Camp Wildcat

Northern Kentucky Civil War Fortification System: James A. Ramage Civil War Museum

Fort Boone Civil War Battle Site

Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site

Middle Creek National Battlefield

Fort Duffield

Battle of Richmond, Kentucky

Octagon Hall Museum

Columbus-Belmont State Park

Battle for the Bridge Historic Preserve

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site

Please consider participating. This is an excellent chance to get on the fields, meet people and make a difference.

CWPT: 2010 Battle in the Bluegrass – The Fight for Kentucky

The Civil War Preservation Trust Conference in Lexington, KY

The nation’s leading Civil War battlefield preservation group, the Civil War Preservation Trust, will be in Lexington this June for their annual conference. You can join CWPT members and staff along with some of the nation’s best known historians for four days of fellowship and Civil War touring at the 2010 Battle in the Bluegrass – The Fight for Kentucky conference in Lexington, Kentucky on June 3 – 6, 2010.

Tours will include the: Battle of Mill Springs; Battle of Perryville; Battle of Richmond; Historic Homes…and more. Invited speakers and scholars include Edwin C. Bearss, Kent Masterson Brown, LCWRT' s Chris Kolakowski, Richard McMurray and Richard Sommers. Conference Registration Fee is $585 - a small discount is available for on-line registration. Conference fees include tours, tour guides, coaches, conference welcome packet, name tags, etc. Fee does not include hotel accommodations; you must make your own reservation. A special conference room rate of $129 is available at the Lexington Downtown Hotel and Conference Center - the conference location - until Tuesday, May 11, 2010. For the full ad and schedule or to register on-line visit their web site at:

www.civilwar.org/annualconference.

William C. Davis: Lincoln's Men

William C. Davis

On Saturday, April 10, the LCWRT is pleased to welcome back one of the great Civil War Historians of modern times, William C. Davis. Jack Davis is a native of Independence, Missouri, was educated in northern California, and then spent twenty years in editorial management in the magazine and book publishing industry, before leaving in 1990 to spent the next decade working as a writer and consultant. He is the author or editor of more than fifty books in the fields of Civil War and Southern history, as well as numerous documentary screenplays. He was the on-camera senior consultant for 52 episodes of the Arts & Entertainment Network/History Channel series “Civil War Journal,” as well as a number of other productions on commercial and Public Television, for the BBC abroad, and has acted as historical consultant for several television and film productions, including The Blue and the Gray, George Washington, and The Perfect Tribute.

He has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in History, and is the only three-time winner of the Jefferson Davis Award given for book-length works in Confederate History. His latest books are the Virginia at War series published by the University of Kentucky. Davis is currently at Virginia Tech as Director of Programs for the new Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, as well as serving as Professor of History.

2010 Fall Field Trip: Frankfort, Ky

We are planning on taking a one-day field trip to Frankfort October 17th, 2010 with a walking tour of downtown to see sites associated with the secession crisis, Kentucky neutrality, the 1862 occupation of Frankfort by the Confederates, Morgan's 1864 raid on the town, residences of notable personages from the Civil War era, and the Capital City Museum. Additionally, we will tour the Frankfort Cemetery, which contains the graves of Simon Bolivar Buckner, the Kentucky Military Monument, Confederate Circle, and Daniel Boone's grave. The high point of the day will be a tour of the Leslie Morris Park on Fort Hill, which features an 1810 log house visitor center outfitted as a Civil War era tavern, two Civil War earthwork forts, the site of an 1864 Morgan's Last Raid skirmish, and a spectacular view of downtown Frankfort. Our guide will be Nicky Hughes who is an expert on Frankfort in the Civil War. There is no charge for this trip except paying for your own transportation and lunch. We will be car-pooling to Frankfort.

Future Speakers

Saturday May 8 Barton Meyers “General Augustus August Wild & U.S. Army Counter-Guerilla Warfare”

Saturday Sept.11 Greg Mertz “Spotsylvania Courthouse”

Saturday Oct. 9 Richard McMurry “General Joe Johnston”

Saturday Nov. 13 Thomas Mays “Cumberland Blood: Champ Ferguson”

Saturday Dec. 4 Gary Matthews Odyssey of a Border State: Antebellum Kentucky During the Sectional Crisis, 1845-1860 ”

Slandered Heroes: Deserters Who Didn’t

This evening, March 13, the LCWRT welcomes Lawrence Hewitt, a native of Louisville, Kentucky. He received his B.A. from the University of Kentucky, where he studied under Charles P. Roland. Hewitt transferred to Louisiana State University in 1975 and completed his Ph.D. in 1984.
After serving as the Historic Site Manager of the Port Hudson (1978-82) and the Camp Moore State Commemorative Areas (1982-1986), he joined the faculty of Southeastern Louisiana University in 1985. He received that institution's highest honor in 1991, the President’s Award for Excellence in Research.

Professor Hewitt is a past president of the Baton Rouge Civil War Round Table, the 1991 recipient of the New Orleans Civil War Round Table’s Charles L. Dufour Award for "Outstanding Achievements in Preserving the Heritage of the American Civil War" and a life member of the Southern Historical Association and the Louisiana Historical Association.

Since relocating to Chicago, Hewitt served as Managing Editor (1997-1998) and Book Review Editor (1997-1999) for North & South, published numerous articles and book reviews, and addressed various organizations throughout the United States. He is a prolific author and editor, whose works include: Louisianians in the Civil War which he co edited with Arthur W. Bergeron, Kentuckians in Gray: Confederate Generals and Field Officers of the Bluegrass State, (2008) Port Hudson, Confederate Bastion on the Mississippi (1987), The Confederate High Command & Related Topics (1990), and Leadership During the Civil War (1992), Confederate Generals in the Western Theater: Volume 1, Classic Essays on America's Civil War,and Confederate Generals in the Western Theater: Volume 2, Essays on America's Civil War. He is currently working on Lee and His Generals: Essays in Honor of T. Harry Williams, America's Foremost Hispanic: David Glasgow Farragut, and The 14th Louisiana Infantry: the Fightingest Regiment in the Civil War.

Slandered Heroes: Deserters Who Didn’t

"Slandered Heroes: Deserters Who Didn't" deals with Civil War soldiers whose official service records conclude that they were absent without leave at the end of the war when in fact they either died in service or remained on duty. The vast majority of these were the result of bureaucratic procedures used by both sides that required soldiers who disappeared on the battlefield to be labeled as deserters on subsequent muster rolls. These same regulations enabled at least one massacre to be covered up by the North, while amendments to them in the fall of 1863 by the South required thousands of men who were present with their units to be listed as deserters. Union and Confederate soldiers representing the Eastern, Western, and Trans-Mississippi theaters are highlighted as examples of these bureaucratic injustices.

2010 Field Trip: Atlanta Campaign

Deposit Fees Are Due!
If you have signed up for the Atlanta field trip, you need to send your $125 nonrefundable deposit in now. We cannot guarantee you place on the trip if we do not have your deposit. If you have not signed up and would like to go we still have room for a few more. We will be going to Georgia April 14-18, 2010 to study the Atlanta Campaign of 1864 from its commencement south of Chattanooga until the crossing of the Chattahoochee River north of Atlanta. This will include several major battlefields and sites associated with this decisive military campaign. Our guide will be Greg Biggs who is an expert on the Atlanta Campaign. Please sign up at the meeting.

2010 Fall Field Trip: Frankfort Ky.
Sunday October 17, 2010
We are planning on taking a one-day field trip to Frankfort this coming October 17th. We will do a walking tour of downtown to see sites associated with the secession crisis and Kentucky neutrality, the 1862 occupation of Frankfort by the Confederates including streets involved in skirmishing during their departure, Morgan's 1864 raid on the town, residences of notable personages from the Civil War era, and the Capital City Museum, which has a couple of interesting Civil War relics. We will also tour the Frankfort Cemetery, where we can see the graves of Simon Bolivar Buckner and many other Civil War soldiers and politicians, the Kentucky Military Monument, Confederate Circle, and of course Daniel Boone's grave. The high point of the day will be a tour of the Leslie Morris Park on Fort Hill, which features an 1810 log house visitor center outfitted as a Civil War era tavern, two Civil War earthwork forts, the site of an 1864 Morgan's Last Raid skirmish, and a spectacular view of downtown Frankfort. Our guide will be Nicky Hughes who is an expert on Frankfort in the Civil War. There is no charge for this trip except paying for your own transportation and lunch. We will be car pooling to Frankfort.

50th Anniversary: 50 Best Civil War Books

As part of our upcoming 50th Anniversary year celebration, the Board of Directors has appointed a committee to select the Round Table’s 50 best books on the Civil War. As part of the selection process we want every member who wishes to nominate their favorite Civil War books. The committee will use your favorites along with their own to come up with the 50 best books. The final list of the "Round Table’s 50 Best Books" will be published and distributed to the membership during our 50th anniversary year.


Future Speakers

Saturday April 10 William C. Davis "Lincoln’s Men"
Saturday May 8 Barton Meyers "General Augustus August Wild and U.S. Army Counter-Guerilla Warfare"
Saturday September 11 Greg Mertz "Spotsylvania Courthouse"
Saturday October 9 Richard McMurry "General Joe Johnston"
Saturday November 13 Thomas Mays "TBA"
Saturday December 4 Gary Matthews "TBA"
　
Civil War Preservation Trust Coming to Lexington

The nation’s leading Civil War battlefield preservation group, the Civil War Preservation Trust, will be in Lexington this June for their annual conference. You can join CWPT members and staff along with some of the nation’s best known historians for four days of fellowship and Civil War touring at the 2010 Battle in the Bluegrass – The Fight for Kentucky conference in Lexington, Kentucky on June 3 – 6, 2010. Tours will include the: Battle of Mill Springs; Battle of Perryville; Battle of Richmond; Historic Homes…and more! Invited speakers and scholars include Edwin C. Bearss, Kent Masterson Brown, our own Chris Kolakowski, Richard McMurray and Richard Sommers. For the full ad and schedule or to register on-line visit their web site at: www.civilwar.org/annualconference.

Mill Springs Print to be Auctioned at April Meeting
As part of our 2010 fund raising efforts, we will be auctioning off a donated print featuring the battle of Mill Springs. The print is entitled "Meeting at the Fence" and is a depiction of a critical moment in the battle. The artist is Robert Cull. It is a very nice print and the only modern painting done on the Battle of Mill Springs. Proceeds will go to fund the cost of bringing in speakers. You can preview the print at the March meeting.

February 2010 Quiz Answers:　

1. What governor accused President Lincoln of leading an "unholy crusade" against the South?
Claiborne Jackson of Missouri
　
2.　 What Confederate congressman took it upon himself to meet with President Lincoln to negotiate a peace settlement?

Henry Foote, Jefferson Davis' harshest critic.　 Lincoln refused to meet with Foote.

3. What city, angry at President Lincoln's call for troops, cut off its telegraph lines to Washington, D.C. and tore up rail tracks?
Baltimore, which was strongly pro-Southern.

4. What did President Lincoln plan to offer Louisiana planters who were willing to pledge loyalty to the Union?
The chance to sell cotton to the Union.　　

5. What phrase, used in a January 1865 letter from President Jefferson Davis to President Abraham Lincoln, made Lincoln shut down peace negotiations?

Davis used the phrase "two nations."　 From Lincoln's point of view, no peace could be had unless the Confederacy admitted that there was only one nation, the United States.

January 2010: The 49th Anniversary Meeting

"'...have everything ready for an offensive movement...:' Thomas, the Army of
the Cumberland, and the Battle of Missionary Ridge"

This past Saturday the LCWRT was honored to have Jim Ogden as our 49th Anniverary speaker in memory of our founder Frank Rankin.

Jim Ogden has spoken to our Round Table on several occasions. He has also served as our guide on field trips to Chattanooga, Stone’s River, Franklin and Nashville, and most recently to Chickamauga in April 2008. Jim is a native of St. Mary's County, Maryland, and graduated with a degree in American History from Frostburg State College (now University), Frostburg, Maryland. Beginning work with the National Park Service in 1982, he has been stationed at Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park, Russell Cave National Monument, and Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. In November 1988, he returned to Chickamauga-Chattanooga National Military Park as the Historian, the position he presently holds.

Jim has spoken to Civil War Round Tables, many conferences and seminars, and Historical Societies. He has taught a number of Civil War history courses for the Continuing Education Department of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He has published a number of short articles, appeared in Greystone Communications/Arts and Entertainment Network's "Civil War Journal" episode on the Battles for Chattanooga and in the History Channel’s "Civil War Combat" program on Chickamauga, and sinnce 1986, he has instructed for over four hundred groups of officers of the U. S. Army conducting Staff Rides (an in-depth analysis of a historical military event) at Chickamauga and Chattanooga. He has regularly worked with groups from such Army Training and Doctrine Command schools as the now former Ordnance Officers Advance Course and the Armor Captains Career Course (formerly the Armor Officers Advance Course) and command staffs of active duty, Reserve, and National Guard units, organizations, and activities. For ten years, his Staff Ride clients included two to six hundred student-officers annually from the British Army’s Joint Services Command and Staff College.

Jion's presentaion this month was an excellent review of the Army of the Cumberland at the Battle of Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga. The assault of General George H. Thomas' Army of the Cumberland against Missionary Ridge would one of the grand spectacles of the war and of all time. It was supposed to be a limited assault, a demonstration, but it turned out to be the blow that at last secured victory for the Union in the Campaign for Chattanooga. What had happened; why was it successful; why had a "demonstration" become the hammer blow, particularly when you look at the seemingly impregnable terrain? It is these questions and others that Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Historian Jim Ogden addressed in his talk "'...have everything ready for an offensive movement...:' Thomas, the Army of the Cumberland, and the Battle of Missionary Ridge."

1865 Civil War Map of Lousiville with Defenses Available Online

This is a grand little website with Civil War and other information plus a link to a downloadable 1865 map of Louisville with some of the major modern roads indentified. Here's the link:
http://sites.google.com/site/invisiblelouisvillehistory/louisville-during-the-civil-war

Another great source for local history information and links is the Resource page of the Louisville Historical Society at http://www.louisvillehistoricalleague.org/Resources.html

2010 Field Trip: Atlanta Campaign

"From Chattanooga to the Chattahoochee"
We will be going to Georgia April 14-18, 2010 to study the Atlanta Campaign of 1864 from its commencement south of Chattanooga until the crossing of the Chattahoochee River north of Atlanta. This will include several major battlefields and sites associated with this decisive military campaign. Our guide will be Gregg Biggs who is an expert on the Atlanta Campaign. Please sign up at the meeting. For those looking to read up on the Atlanta Campaign before the trip, Albert Castel’s "Decision in the West: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864" is far and away the best book available. For a general overview of the campaign, Richard McMurry’s "Atlanta 1864: Last Chance for the Confederacy" is a great book.

December 2009　Quiz Answers:
　　
1.　 In 1861, when did the Union and the Confederacy observe a day of Thanksgiving?
　 Union:　 Thursday, November 28,　 Confederacy:　 Sunday, July 28
2.　 In a telegram sent on December 22, 1864, General Sherman presented President Lincoln with what he called "a Christmas gift."　 What was it?
The City of Savannah with 150 heavy guns and plenty of ammunition and also about 25,000 bales of cotton.　
3.　 Encouraged by the Union victory at Chattanooga, President Lincoln decided the time was right to begin to look further into the future.　 What Proclamation did he issue on December 8?
The Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which offered pardons and amnesty to all those who took an oath of allegiance to the United States and accepted its laws, including those concerning slavery.　
4.　 Who were not included in the Proclamation?
Confederate government officials and high-ranking members of the military(as well as members of the U.S. military who had joined the Confederacy) were not included.
5.　 What military governor of a Union-held Southern City did President Jefferson Davis call a felon and an enemy of mankind in the fourth week of December 1862 and why?　
General Benjamin Butler, USA, whose iron-heel treatment of the citizens of New Orleans continued to cause fury among Confederates.　 Davis went so far as to call for Butler's immediate execution if he were captured.

January 2010 Quiz:
　
1.　 Where is Robert E. Lee believed to have said, "It is well that war is so terrible; we should grow too fond of it"?
　2.　　What three high-ranking Confederate generals were born in January?　 When?　 Where?
　3.　 Why did General Lee sneered at the use of spies, saying "I have no confidence in any of them"?
　4.　 As president of Washington College, Robert E. Lee issued a graduation requirement that is still in effect today.　 What is it?
　5.　 Why was 1862 a year of great stress and sadness for the Lee family?