American Civil War Monuments

Antietam National Military Park

Monument of the 15^th Massachusetts Volunteers

Hagerstown Pike

At the Battle of Antietam the 15^th Massachusetts took part in a very unsuccessful attempt by the Union high command to break the Confederate line in the West Woods.  The 15^th was one of 4 regiments in Gorman’s Brigade, Sedgwick’s Division, Sumner’s II Corps.   Sedgwick had his 3 brigades march into battle by brigade front, with each brigade within 75 feet of the one to it’s front.  In other words, it was one huge, compact force which left little room for maneuvering.  This huge mass of 5437 men basically walked into an ambush by the Confederate brigades of Paul Semmes, George “Tighe” Anderson, Robert Ransom, William Barksdale and Jubal Early.  The 15^th Massachusetts went into battle with 582 men and suffered 318 casualties in a space of about 20 minutes.  Sedgwick’s Division as a whole suffered 59% casualties.  The monument features a wounded lion, still roaring and its right paw raised in defiance.

photo and text courtesy of LCWRT member Charlie Moore

Second in a Series 
Our Civil War Ancestors: 

Pvt. Merritt Calvin Alloway

1837  - 1921 b. Spencer Co., KY. Buried Valley Cemetery, Taylorsville, KY. He was a Private in Co.D,  1st KY Cavalry CSA (Wheeler’s Cavalry). Alloway enlisted Sept. 2,1862 at Lexington, KY. He was paroled May 11, 1865 at Washington, GA and took the oath May 22,1865 at Nashville,TN before he could return to KY. Merritt served in Jefferson Davis’ escort at the end of the war. 

In later years, he attended Confederate reunions. He was a Democrat and Master Mason. 

photo and text courtesy of LCWRT Life Member Lowell Griffin

Amercian Civil War Monuments: 
Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Evergreen Cemetery was established in 1854 by David McConnaughy who in 1863 would be instrumental in establishing the Gettysburg National Cemetery which adjoins it.  Evergreen Cemetery would go down in history as the cemetery for which Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge would become infamous for the battles fought for them, the first three days of July, 1863.  Perhaps its most famous “resident” is Jenny Wade who was killed instantly on the morning of July 3, while preparing bread for Union soldiers.

photo and text courtesy of LCWRT member Charlie Moore

Jenny was the only civilian killed during the battle.  Her fiance, Johnston Skelly, of the 87^th Pennsylvania Volunteers had been wounded at the Battle of Winchester 2 weeks earlier and died on July 12^th unaware that Jenny had been killed.  In 1882 the United States Senate voted to grant Jenny’s mother a pension, citing that her daughter had been killed serving the Union cause, baking bread for Union soldiers.

First in a Series: Our Civil War Ancestors

Maj. William L. Carter

b.1823 - d. 1898, in Harrison County, IN. A Mexican War veteran, school teacher, musician, and farmer. He recruited a company, "Carter's Invincibles", in Harrison County in 1861 and enlisted as a Captain that year in the 38th IN Volunteer Infantry. He fought at Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, when he was promoted to major, Missionary Ridge, and the Battles for Atlanta until severely wounded at Jonesboro in 1864 when the 38th carried a rebel works in a charge and their color bearer was killed.  He was commissioned as Lt. Col on August 22nd, 1864 but owing to the small size of the regiment was not mustered at that grade.  On Mar 12, 1888 he was retroactively mustered in as Lt. Col. of 38th IN Inf. Vol., to date Nov 8, 1864.There is a short bio in Henry Perry's History of the 38th Indiana. 

photo courtesy of LCWRT member, Monty Evans

Coming Sept. 10, 2016: Our First Speaker of the 2016 - 2017 Season:

Greg Biggs will present:

 The Question Was One of Supplies: The Logistics for William T. Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign

        

Greg Biggs has been a student of military history for 50 years. His interests cover the ancient Greeks through modern military events with concentrations on the Revolutionary War, the wars of Frederick the Great, the Napoleonic era, the Civil War and World War 2. His primary focus on Civil War history is the war in the Western Theater. He has lectured all over the country to history, civic and Civil War groups since 1990 and began leading Civil War tours in 1993. Greg has had articles published in Blue & Gray Magazine, North-South Trader, the Civil War Trust's "Hallowed Ground," the Battle of Franklin Trust's "Battlefield Dispatch," Civil War Regiments journal and Citizen's Companion and several other publications.  A Nationally known historian on Civil War flags, Greg has consulted for numerous museums, auctions house and private concerns. He has also contributed to books on Georgia's Civil War flags as well as those of Tennessee. Greg is a member of the Company of Military Historians and is president of the Clarksville, TN Civil War Roundtable, one of five he has founded or co-founded. He also programs the Nashville and Bowling Green CWRTs.

The Question Was One of Supplies: Logistics for Wm. T. Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign

 No army in history moved without a secure line of supplies especially if it moved into enemy territory. If an army got cut off from its supplies then calamity usually followed often ending in defeat and/or destruction. When William T. Sherman set his sights on Atlanta he prepared for the supplying of his army in a manner that surpassed every other Civil War general. Rebuilding railroads and confiscating locomotives and rail cars to haul supplies, Sherman set a daily goal for shipments to his forward base in Chattanooga. Ruthless in making sure that only supplies got on the cars, Sherman also had to worry about protecting the line of rails that ran back to Louisville, Kentucky from Confederate raiders. Building on a system begun by William S. Rosecrans, Sherman's engineers built forts and blockhouses and prepared pre-fabricated trestles for replacing those brought down by Confederate raiders. While his preparations were masterful and thorough, they were not without some flaws. This program will examine the nuts and bolts of these logistics and cover the errors that were also made. In the end, his supply line performed as expected and Atlanta was captured. This set the stage for two more campaigns that Sherman would undertake before the war ended in April 1865 as well as logistics for more modern wars.

For more information about us, please visit our website: Louisville Civil War Round Table 

American Civil War Monuments:

Bar Harbor, Maine

"In Memory of Eden’s Sons

Who Were Defenders of the Union 1861-1865"

Erected A. D. 1897

Dedicated November 4, 1897

Source of Funding:  $4,500 from Town of Bar Harbor, $500 from public subscription  

Photo courtesy of LCWRT Member Holly Jenkins-Evans

First in a Series: 
American Civil War Monuments 
Ellsworth, Maine

"In Honor of the Men of Ellsworth
Who Served and to the Memory of those who fell on land and sea
In the War for the Union
Their Grateful Townsmen Have Raised This Memorial 1861" 
Dedicated July 4, 1887
Made of Blue Hill granite 
Source of Funding: $3,000: Citizens of Ellsworth