Meeting: December 11, 2018

The area in and around Washington, D.C. was a hotbed of activity before, during and immediately after the Civil War. Many history minded people are aware of the political and military ‘goings on” that directly affected the nation as a whole. Few are aware of the lives of everyday folk who, lived, worked and survived those years. National Archives researcher Bryan Cheeseboro, with introduce to the ordinary residents who attempted to lead normal lives during extraordinary times. Bryan Cheeseboro is a historian of the American past, primarily of the Civil War Era.  He works for the National Archives and helps researchers find their Civil War ancestors.  Cheeseboro is also a board member of the Alliance to Preserve the Civil War Defenses of Washington, who annually commemorate the Battle of Fort Stevens in Washington, DC every July.  He is a Civil War reenactor with the 54th Massachusetts Company B and sometimes participates with other reenacting units, including civilian reenacting.  And he is very proud to say he is a native of Washington, DC.      Notes from the President December 2018   On behalf of our Board, I wish you all a Happy and Blessed Holiday Season! Whether you celebrate Christmas, Chanukah (Hanukkah), Ashura, Bodhi Day, Kwanza or any other festival of note, May Peace Be With You All! Since it’s been less than two weeks since our last meeting, there aren’t many updates. We are still working to complete our arrangements for our Annual Banquet in April, which will again we held at Columbus Gardens on April 23, 2019. Working with the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable, we will provide detailed information as soon as our speaker is confirmed. It is hoped that this event will enhance the public image of both organizations and increase our membership. U.S. National Archives employee and Civil War re-enactor Bryan Cheeseboro will talk about the lives of some of the ‘everyday people’ in the DC metro area (including Baltimore) at the December 11 meeting. Remember, this is the 2nd Tuesday!!! University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) History Professor Anne S. Rubin will speak on her book Sherman’s March and America on January 22. Freemasonry played an important role in the lives of many Civil War men, from officers to enlisted men. Charles Matulewicz, Worshipful Master at the Palestine Masonic Lodge will provide insight into wartime masonry at our February 26 meeting. Historian Dr. Paul Kahan will focus on the Reconstruction period utilizing his latest book; The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant: Preserving the Civil War's Legacy for our March 26 meeting.  On May 28, History Professor and author Janet Croon will speak on her recently edited and annotated A Son of Georgia: The Civil War Journals of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865. Gresham was an 12 years old invalid in Georgia who began keeping a journal in 1860—just before secession and Civil War tore the country and his world apart. There is an article on the new book in The Old Liner in the August News Articles link at the bottom of the page. Here’s a recent email “thank you” that was sent to our website. Thanks to Webmaster Nils Lehneis for the information. From: Robin Sharkey Date: Thursday, December 6, 2018 Subject: Help With History Project To: baltcwrt baltcwrt@verizon.net   Hi Nils! I just wanted to write a quick note to let you know how your page has helped my daughter Madison!   Madison just finished a book about the Civil War for her English class, and was assigned a research paper about the era.   I had no idea where to begin to help her, but luckily, we found your page: http://bcwrt.nalweb.net/bcwrt_gallery.htm   It's been so helpful, and I wanted to personally thank you for making it. There's a lot out there to sort through, and it was nice to find so much information in one place. Most of her sources came from the information on your site, and I'm positive her teacher will be impressed with her thoroughness.   Along with your site, she also got a lot out of this article: https://onlinedegrees.bradley.edu/nursing/msn-fnp/nursing-and-medicine-in-the-civil-war/   It's all about nurses in the Civil War, and we thought that your other readers would appreciate it.   Madison thought she would help you by sending it along. Would you consider adding it to your page for her? Her project's due Monday, and I think it would really impress her teacher if Madison could show her that you added it.   I hope you're having a good week! I can't believe the holidays are already here!   Best wishes, Robin Sharkey   NOTE: Please visit Baltimore Civil War Roundtable on Facebook for infor and updates.   IMPORTANT REMINDER: Remember, it’s time to renew your membership for 2018. Yearly dues are $25.00 for an individual membership, $35.00 for a family membership. Please give your check to Ray Atkins or mail it to him using the membership form found on our webpage. (http://bcwrt.nalweb.net/default.htm.) We are always looking for new members. Invite a friend to our meetings. The BCWRT has many good things happening. Please spread the word. We are always looking for new members. Invite a friend to our meetings. The BCWRT has many good things happening. Please spread the word. Robert L. Ford, President

Our December meeting was our 418th.  Our attendance was 15.  We had one visitor, plus the wife of the speaker.  Our membership was 40.  We had $1,857 in the bank, and $75 to be deposited.   We were still waiting to hear from Doris Kearns Goodwin as to whether she would be the speaker at our annual banquet (a joint banquet with the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable). Robert bought “Civil War Minutes,” which consists of a series of brief segments about various aspects of the war. We agreed to pay for something that will boost viewership of our Facebook page.   Our speaker was Bryan Cheeseboro, a historian at the National Archives and a reenactor in the 54th Massachusetts.  Mr. Cheeseboro, himself a Washington DC native, discussed the DC area during the Civil War, as well as the lives of some of the “everyday people” in the area. In his discussion, Mr. Cheeseboro pointed out that the meaning of the term “local” was very different during the war than it is today.  At that time, Baltimore wasn’t “local” to DC.   DC evolved a great deal from its creation in the 1790s and 1871, when it assumed its present form.  During the war, there was “Washington City” as well as “Washington County”—which doesn’t exist today.  Washington City and Georgetown had a ring of fortifications around them—including Fort Totten.   In 1860, the population of DC was 75,076, including 14,288 African Americans—78% of whom were free.  DC was a “border city,” and the population was divided in its sympathies.    An example of this split sentiment was Trinity Episcopal Church.  The congregation was divided, and the minister refused to pray for a Union victory.  The Union seized it as a hospital.  The congregation only found out it was being used for this purpose when lumber was being unloaded during a service.  Slavery was abolished in 1862, and slaveowners sympathetic to the Union were given financial compensation. There were DC Confederate units that became part of Confederate state units.  Additionally, some officials joined the Confederate government.  On the other side, the 1st USCT was organized in DC.   Mr. Cheeseboro discussed specific individuals in Washington and neighboring areas.  Mayor James G. Berret refused to take an oath of allegiance to the U.S. and was forced to resign as a result.  His successor, Richard Wallach, opposed emancipation and civil rights for African Americans.  As a result, newly enfranchised African Americans voted him out of office after the war.  John Summerfield Staples was hired by Abraham Lincoln to be his paid substitute, serving for him in the army.

Constitution of the Confederate States of America, was adopted on March 11, 1861, and was in effect from February 22, 1862, through the conclusion of the American Civil War. This document, which served as the legislative basis for the CSA, has been the subject of several articles and books since the end of the civil War.

University of Maryland Law Professor Mark A. Graber, along with Howard Gillman, have produced a critical look at the document in the recently published The Complete American Constitutionalism, Volume Five, Part I: The Constitution of the Confederate States.

 In Prof. Graber’s own words, he believes; “… this to be the most thorough examination of the Confederate Constitution in existence.  Howard Gillman and I have included numerous primary sources from the conventions that drafted and ratified that constitution, state court opinions, congressional debates, attorney general reports and Jefferson Davis's speeches discussing that text.  Topics range from slavery and the draft, to the place of religion and constitutional criminal procedure in the Confederacy.  The text includes introductory essays and materials putting all the primary sources in contest.  

 I should note that unlike the authors of many past works on the Constitution of the Confederate states, we are not neo-Confederates, even as we do not feel the need to bash people long dead for the pro-slavery and racist beliefs.  Our object to is present Confederate Constitutionalism as understood and debated by confederates, leaving  to the reader to make final judgments.”

 Dr. Graber will discuss his book at the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable meeting on November 27 at the Parkville Senior Center, 8601 Harford Rd, Parkville, Md. 21234. Prof. Graber did his undergraduate work at Dartmouth (AB, 1978). He received his MA and PhD from Yale University (1986 & 1988). He is a graduate of the Columbia University School of Law (JD, 1981).

 Mark A. Graber is the Regents Professor at the University Of Maryland Carey School Of Law.  He is an editor of the American Constitutionalism series and Constitutional Democracy in Crisis? - all from Oxford University Press.  Professor Graber writes on constitutional law, constitutional history, constitutional theory and almost any other subject in which "constitutional" can be used as an adjective.

Minutes-
click to enlarge

Our November meeting was our 417^th.  Our attendance was 14.  There was no treasurer’s report.  

Our speaker was Dr. Mark A. Graber, Regents Professor at the University of Maryland Carey School of Law.  Dr. Graber spoke on the Confederate Constitution.  He and Howard Gillman are the authors of The Complete American Constitutionalism, Volume Five, Part I: The Constitution of the Confederate States.  

Dr. Graber noted that approaches to the Confederate Constitution tend to be either Lost Cause or anti-Lost Cause.  The Lost Cause approach portrays slavery as being unimportant in the Constitution and the creation of the Confederacy.  The anti-Lost Cause approach goes in the other direction, not only acknowledging the centrality of slavery but effectively saying that anyone associated with the Confederacy in any way was evil and deserves to be condemned.

The Confederate Constitution challenges the common idea that constitutions are liberal documents representing liberal values.  The document is mostly the U.S. Constitution.  All U.S. precedents were assumed to be valid unless they contradicted Confederate principles.  The preamble states that: “We, the people of the Confederate States, each State acting in its sovereign and independent character…”  It’s a union of the states, not the people.  

Unlike the U.S. Constitution, the Confederate Constitution explicitly uses the word “slave.”  Slaves could not be banned in any Confederate territory (although the Confederacy didn’t have any territories at this point).  Any citizen of the Confederacy could take a slave into any state.  The Confederate Constitution also ended the international slave trade (although the Confederacy could import slaves from the U.S.).  South Carolina wanted to have the trade, but Virginia and the rest of the Upper South did not.  

Confederates didn’t like political parties.  Elites governed the South and feared that political parties could help ordinary people get power.  The Constitution only permitted the president to serve one 6-year term.  

Dr. Graber noted that the phrase “state rights” did not define what really went on.  In important ways, the Confederacy was more centralized than the Union.  The Confederacy enacted a draft before the Union did.  Another example is what happened when the Confederacy contracted for whiskey.  Virginia had banned the use of farms to produce whiskey.  But the Confederate attorney general, pointing to the U.S. Supreme Court decision McCulloch v. Maryland, said that a farmer’s contract with the Confederate national government came first.

A Confederate Supreme Court was never established.  This was due to what Dr. Graber called the “cycling of preferences.”  Some people wanted a Supreme Court that had the power of judicial review, others wanted a Court without this power, and still others did not want one at all.  None of these groups ever got a clear upper hand, and as a result, no Supreme Court was ever established.   

In a legal sense, the Confederate Constitution has no legacy.  No U.S. court has ever treated it as law, or even as “suggestions” for what law should be.

Interestingly, Dr. Graber noted that in debates concerning slavery and race, the rhetoric in the Confederate Congress tended to be less extreme and more sanitized than that in the U.S. Congress during the same time.  He attributed this to the fact that Confederates took slavery and white supremacy as a given, so there was less cause to emotionally debate it.  

Notes from the President November 2018

BCWRT Community:  

"Thursday Dec. 17th – Last night was very stormy – this morning no better. Our house leaks all over, and our chimney works badly, which make things rather uncomfortable."
– Lieutenant Charles Stewart 124th New York Volunteers

The plight of the Civil War soldier during the cold months was extremely difficult. Although there was some winter fighting throughout the war, both armies generally set up winter camps in anticipation of better weather. Fortunately, most of us don’t have to face the cold that way, today.

We are still working to complete our arrangements for our Annual Banquet in April, which will again we held at Columbus Gardens on April 23, 2019. Working with the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable, we will provide detailed information as soon as our speaker is confirmed. . It is hoped that this event will enhance the public image of both organizations and increase our membership.

The constitution is the backbone of any representative democracy. The Complete American Constitutionalism, Volume Five, Part I: The Constitution of the Confederate States is the new book by University of Maryland School of Law professor Mark A. Graber. He will discuss his work at the November 27 meeting.  

U.S. National Archives employee and Civil War re-enactor Bryan Cheeseboro will talk about the lives of some of the ‘everyday people’ in the DC metro area (including Baltimore) at the December 11 meeting. Rem ember, this is the 2^nd Tuesday!!!

University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) History Professor Anne S. Rubin will speak on her book Sherman’s March and America on January 22.

Freemasonry played an important role in the lives of many Civil War men, from officers to enlisted men. Charles Matulewicz, Worshipful Master at the Palestine Masonic Lodge will provide insight into wartime masonry at our February 26 meeting.

Historian Dr. Paul Kahan will focus on the Reconstruction period utilizing his latest book; The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant: Preserving the Civil War's Legacy for our March 26 meeting. 

On May 28, History Professor and author Janet Croon will speak on her recently edited and annotated A Son of Georgia: The Civil War Journals of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865. Gresham was an 12 years old invalid in Georgia who began keeping a journal in 1860—just before secession and Civil War tore the country and his world apart. There is an article on the new book in the The Old Liner in the August News Articles link at the bottom of the page.

NOTE: we have a new page on Facebook. Please visit Baltimore Civil War Roundtable for information and updates.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Remember, it’s time to renew your membership for 2018. Yearly dues are $25.00 for an individual membership, $35.00 for a family membership. Please give your check to Ray Atkins or mail it to him using the membership form found on our webpage. (http://bcwrt.nalweb.net/default.htm.) We are always looking for new members. Invite a friend to our meetings. The BCWRT has many good things happening. Please spread the word. We are always looking for new members. Invite a friend to our meetings. The BCWRT has many good things happening. Please spread the word.

Robert L. Ford,

President

During the Civil War, thousands of African Americans sought freedom in Union-occupied Alexandria. The Union Army was officially responsible for their well-being, but provided only the bare essentials, if that.

Two women--Harriet Jacobs and Julia Wilbur--forged a unique, interracial partnership to do more for freed people. In the 19th century when women were supposedly confined to the home “sphere,” they each came alone to a place where they knew no one, and figured out how to make a difference for other people—while also charting new paths for themselves.

Both left primary sources that help us understand their lives, as well as Alexandria during this time. In the space between the battlefield and the home front, their story tells of a critical, but not-well-known side of the Civil War.

Author Paula Tarnapol Whitacre will tell the story of these two woman at the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable meeting on October 23 at the Parkville Senior Center, 8601 Harford Rd, Parkville, Md. 21234. Ms Whitacre wrote a biography of Julia Wilbur’s life, A Civil Life in an Uncivil Time: Julia Wilbur’s Struggle for Purpose (Potomac Books, 2017) that a Kirkus reviewer called “an illuminating portrait of a remarkable abolitionist working behind Union lines.”

Whitacre is a long-time freelance writer and editor for the National Academy of Sciences, National Institutes of Health, and many other organizations. Previously, she worked for The Washington Post and the U.S. Information Agency as a Foreign Service Officer.

She has lived in Alexandria since the mid-1980s and is active in many local history organizations. In addition to serving on the board of the Civil War Roundtable of the District of Columbia, she is president of Friends of Alexandria Archaeology.

Notes from the President October 2018

BCWRT Community:  

The arrival of autumn reminds us of two historical events that occurred in and around Maryland. On October 16, 1859, John Brown led his Provisional Army from the Kennedy Farm in Maryland to Harpers Ferry, Virginia in an action that historians list as one of the major factors leading to the Civil War. On September 17, 1862, the bloodiest day in United States history took place at the Battle of Antietam. There were an estimated 22,717 casualties (USA & CSA combined) during that single day of action.

 “Harriet Jacobs and Julia Wilbur: Allies and Friends in Civil War Alexandria” will be the subject of the October 23 presentation by CWRT of D.C. Board Member and author Paula Whitacre. The talk will be based on her book A Civil Life in an Uncivil Time.

The Constitution of the Confederate States is the new book by University of Maryland School of Law professor Mark A. Graber. He will discuss his work at the November 27 meeting.  

U.S. National Archives employee and Civil War re-enactor Bryan Cheeseboro will talk about the lives of some of the ‘everyday people’ in the DC metro area (including Baltimore) at the December 11 meeting.

University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) History Professor Anne S. Rubin will speak on her book Sherman’s March and America on January 22.

Freemasonry played an important role in the lives of many Civil War men, from officers to enlisted men. Charles Matulewicz, Worshipful Master at the Palestine Masonic Lodge will provide insight into wartime masonry at our February 26 meeting.

Historian Dr. Paul Kahan will focus on the Reconstruction period utilizing his latest book; The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant: Preserving the Civil War's Legacy for our March 26 meeting. 

On May 28, History Professor and author Janet Croon will speak on her recently edited and annotated A Son of Georgia: The Civil War Journals of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865. Gresham was an 12 years old invalid in Georgia who began keeping a journal in 1860—just before secession and Civil War tore the country and his world apart. There is an article on the new book in the current The Old Liner in the August News Articles link at the bottom of the page.

We are working with the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable on having a joint banquet in April. Contact is being made with several top names in the Civil War community about their availability. We will announce detailed information as soon as things are finalized. It is hoped that this event will enhance the public image of both organizations and increase our membership.   

NOTE: we have a new page on Facebook. Please visit Baltimore Civil War Roundtable for information and updates.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: We are always looking for new members. Invite a friend to our meetings. The BCWRT has many good things happening. Please spread the word.

Robert L. Ford,

President

Pictures from Meeting
  



Minutes -

Our October meeting was our 416^th.  Our attendance was 15.  We also had one visitor (the husband of the speaker).  We had $1,960.31 in the bank, and $27 to be deposited.  

We are considering having our annual banquet next April together with the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable, and we would like to have a major speaker.  Robert contacted James McPherson, but McPherson said he couldn’t do it.  We might have Doris Kearns Goodwin.  The banquet would be at Columbus Gardens, just as it was last year.

We discussed calling past members and inviting them to come back to the Roundtable.  We also discussed advertising at the Senior Center.

Our speaker was Paula Whitacre.  Ms. Whitacre’s presentation was entitled “Harriet Jacobs and Julia Wilbur: Allies and Friends in Civil War Alexandria.”  

Harriet Jacobs was born a slave in Edenton, N.C. in 1813.  When she was around 15, her owner began making sexual advances.  In response, she began a relationship with a prominent member of the white community and had two children with him.  When her owner sent her to his family’s plantation in 1835, and she learned that her children were going to be sent there as slaves, she ran away and went into hiding for almost seven years.  Finally, people sympathetic to her got her to New York, where she found work as a nanny.  In 1852, she became legally free, and she was reunited with her children when they were freed as well.  She decided to write a narrative and got Lydia Maria Child to help (she needed to get a white woman to help her).  Her book, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, came out in the spring of 1861 and was well received.  

Julia Wilbur was born into a large Quaker family in 1815.  When she was a young girl, her father became legally blind.  When she was about 13, he moved the family south of Rochester.  In 1844, she moved to Rochester to teach.  She taught at private and public schools and became involved in the anti-slavery movement. She listened to Frederick Douglass speak (Douglass published his paper The North Star from Rochester).  She also met Harriet Jacobs.  In 1858, her sister Sarah died, and she moved back to the farm to take care of Sarah’s daughter, two-year old Freda.  She effectively became Freda’s new mother.  However, Freda’s father reclaimed her, leaving Julia very hurt.  

Alexandria was occupied by Union forces almost from the beginning of the war.  Escaped slaves began coming to the city in large numbers, creating a refugee crisis.  In 1862, Julia went to Washington DC, where a freedmen’s relief group asked if she would go to Alexandria to help the refugees.  From November 1862 to February 1865, she lived and worked there.  Harriet arrived in the city in January 1863.  She had written an article about the situation of freedmen in Washington at the request of William Lloyd Garrison, and realized she could make a difference in Alexandria.

The two women worked to improve the lives of the refugees in any way they could.  They protested mistreatment when they saw it, but sometimes got in trouble for doing so. Both women were heavily involved in giving away clothing to those in need and sought to improve health care.  They successfully worked to avoid having orphans sent to the smallpox hospital.  

When the war ended, both women went to Richmond, and spent 4 to 6 weeks there.  However, they were not particularly well received by the army.  Julia worked for the Freedmen’s Bureau, visiting homes to give tickets that could be exchanged for clothing and food.  Harriet stayed in Alexandria until July 1865.  She later ran a boarding house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and subsequently moved back to DC.  Julia was hired in 1869 by the Patent Office.  She worked almost until her death in 1895.  In the decades after the war, she and Harriet resumed their friendship.  When Freda was 18 years old, she and Julia made contact again.  Harriet’s later years in DC were difficult.  She died in 1897.

 Clarissa Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912), known as Clara, is one of the most honored women in American history. Barton risked her life to bring supplies and support to soldiers in the field during the Civil War. She founded the American Red Cross in 1881, at age 59, and led it for the next 23 years. Her understanding of the ways she could provide help to people in distress guided her throughout her life. By the force of her personal example, she opened paths to the new field of volunteer service. Her intense devotion to serving others resulted in enough achievements to fill several ordinary lifetimes.

Clara Barton was working in the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, DC when the Civil War began. Like many women, she helped collect bandages and other much-needed supplies, but she soon realized that she could best support the troops by going in person to the battlefields. Throughout many major battles of the war, she nursed, comforted and cooked for the wounded, earning the nickname the “Angel of the Battlefield.”

Award-winning actress and Smithsonian scholar, Mary Ann Jung, will bring Clara Barton to life at the next BCWRT meeting on Tuesday, September 25 at the Parkville Senior Center, 8601 Harford Rd, Parkville, Md. 21234

Ms Jung has appeared on CNN, the Today Show, Good Morning America, and in newspapers around the world as famous women from history. She has been a lead actress and Director of Renaissance History and Shakespearean Language at the Maryland Renaissance Festival for thirty-two years. She performed as queen and was a Director with the Florida Renaissance Festival from 1994-2006. She was Director of Street Theater and Family Performances for ArtScape (Baltimore, MD's city arts festival) for ten years and in 1998 was awarded a citation from the Mayor of Baltimore for her work at that event.

In 2002, Ms. Jung's Clara Barton show won top honors for Solo Theatrical Performance from the Maryland State Arts Council.  Since 2005, the Smithsonian Institution has presented Ms. Jung's historical women for several conferences. Ms. Jung researches and writes her own scripts, and performs in the authentic costumes, accents, and attitudes for her characters’ eras. Her shows are very energetic, interactive, and fun so they fit into many different venues.

Via her History Alive programs, Mary Ann Jung’s amazing portraits of famous ladies and their times encourage a love of history, drama, and literature - in young and old alike!

Mary Ann’s unique portrayals have been featured at the National Theatre of Washington, Smithsonian Institution, the Folger Shakespeare Library, Port Discovery Children’s Museum, and the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.

Mary Ann Jung as Clara Barton

Clara Barton

Notes from the President September 2018

BCWRT Community:  

Hopefully, you and your loved ones have been doing OK with all the extremely foul and dangerous weather occurring on the east coast. Imagine how those living through wartime, mid 19^th Century USA/CSA dealt with those weather situations. It had to make a hard life harder.

Many of us know something about Clara Barton. Learn more since Ms Barton will ‘come to life’ when Smithsonian Scholar Mary Ann Jung presents her award winning show “Clara Barton-Red Cross Angel” at our September 25 meeting.

“Harriet Jacobs and Julia Wilbur: Allies and Friends in Civil War Alexandria” will be the subject of the October 23 presentation by CWRT of D.C. Board Member and author Paula Whitacre. The talk will be based on her book A Civil Life in an Uncivil Time.

The Constitution of the Confederate States is the new book by University of Maryland School of Law professor Mark A. Graber. He will discuss his work at the November 27 meeting.  

U.S. National Archives employee and Civil War re-enactor Bryan Cheeseboro will talk about the lives of some of the ‘everyday people’ in the DC metro area (including Baltimore) at the December 11 meeting.

University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) History Professor Anne S. Rubin will speak on her book Sherman’s March and America on January 22.

Freemasonry played an important role in the lives of many Civil War men, from officers to enlisted men. Charles Matulewicz, Worshipful Master at the Palestine Masonic Lodge will provide insight into wartime masonry at our February 26 meeting.

Historian Dr. Paul Kahan will focus on the Reconstruction period utilizing his latest book; The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant: Preserving the Civil War's Legacy for our March 26 meeting. 

On May 28, History Professor and author Janet Croon will speak on her recently edited and annotated A Son of Georgia: The Civil War Journals of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865. Gresham was an 12 years old invalid in Georgia who began keeping a journal in 1860—just before secession and Civil War tore the country and his world apart. There is an article on the new book in the current The Old Liner in the August News Articles link.

We are still in discussion with the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable about a joint event where we can combine to bring in one of the top names in the Civil War community. The will be a banquet –type event. More information to come.   

IMPORTANT REMINDER: We are always looking for new members. Invite a friend to our meetings. The BCWRT has many good things happening. Please spread the word.

Robert L. Ford,

President

Pictures from meeting. Click each picture to enlarge.
   

Our September meeting was our 415^th.  Our membership was 40, and our attendance 18 (we also had one visitor).  We had $2,052.75 in the bank, and no outstanding bills.  The only future bills were speaker’s fees.  The BCWRT’s Facebook page was announced, and Robert mentioned some of the suggestions of the Civil War Roundtable Congress.  

Our speaker was Mary Ann Jung, an award-winning actress and Smithsonian scholar.  Ms. Jung returned to perform an encore impersonation of Clara Barton.  Clara Barton was born on Christmas Day, 1821, the youngest of five children.  Her mother was an abolitionist, and her father, a Mason, had fought against Indians.  As a child, Barton was very shy.  However, she learned she was fearless when helping other people, and at the age of seventeen she became a schoolteacher.  She decided to open the first free school in New Jersey (in the city of Bordentown).  In a single year, student enrollment went from six students to 600.  Nevertheless, Barton was kicked out of her job and replaced by a man.  She was so upset by this that she got sick.  In 1855, she moved to Washington D.C., and got a job in the Patent Office.  She was the first woman to have a significant clerkship in the federal government.  Men blew smoke in her face and called her a slut with bastard children.  Barton was finally fired from the job.

When the Civil War began, there were few beds or supplies available for wounded soldiers.  Barton began to collect whatever she could, including socks, soap, and blankets.  She accumulated about six tons of supplies.  After initially being rejected, she received a pass to travel with the troops.  The first battle she was at was Cedar Mountain.  At Chantilly, she nursed the wounded for three days straight without sleeping.  She was also at Antietam and other battles and became known as “The Angel of the Battlefield.” She was never wounded, but once a bullet killed a soldier she was caring for.  

Near the end of the war, Lincoln gave Barton permission to search for soldiers who were missing.  She interviewed people, made lists of the missing, and helped bury soldiers.  She helped turn Andersonville into a national cemetery.  Following Lincoln’s assassination, she assured slaves that the Emancipation Proclamation was still valid.  Eventually she broke down from exhaustion, and her doctor sent her to Europe.

In Europe, Barton helped soldiers in the Franco-Prussian War.  She also became acquainted with the Red Cross, and when she returned to the U.S., worked for America recognition of the organization.  She got in trouble because some people said the Red Cross was only for wartime relief, but she persuaded the government that the organization could respond to other emergency situations as well.  In 1881, when the American Red Cross was founded, she became its first president—a position she held until 1904.

Barton died on April 12, 1912—two days before the Titanic struck an iceberg and three days before it sank.  As a result, her death was greatly overshadowed by the sinking in the news.  She never married, but Jung quoted her as saying: “…don’t think I haven’t had my romances and affairs.”

PLEASE NOTE: We are back on our regular schedule on fourth TUESDAY meetings.

The old adage says; “An army travels on its stomach” One could also argue that supplies in general were the backbone of every regiment during any war. It could also be argued that music- more specifically- regimental bands, were key elements affecting movement and morale of the armies in blue and gray.

On Tuesday, August 28, the BCWRT will take a focused look at these bands when musician, Civil War re-enactor and leader of the Federal City Brass Band, Jari Villenueva takes a musical look at military unit bands and their importance throughout the war. The meeting is at the Parkville Senior Center, 8601 Harford Rd, Parkville, MD 21234.

Jari Villaanuev is a graduate of the Baltimore Public School system and 

earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree in 1978 from the Peabody 

Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. In 1984 he received a 

Master of Music degree from Kent State University, Ohio. He is also a 
2006 graduate of the Air Force Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy. 

Jari Villanueva retired from the United States Air Force where he 

spent 23 years with The USAF Band in Washington DC. He is considered the country’s 

foremost expert on military bugle calls, particularly the call of Taps which is sounded 

at military funerals. As a ceremonial trumpeter, Villanueva participated in well over 

5,000 ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, served as an assistant drum major 
leading The USAF Ceremonial Brass in funerals at Arlington. In 2007 he was inducted 
into the Buglers Hall of Fame, the first active duty military bugler to be so honored.
 Since 2008, Villanueva has worked for the Maryland Military Department, serving 
as the Director of Veterans Affairs, Maryland National Guard Honor Guard (MDNGHG). 
In 2011, he planned, coordinated and oversaw the funeral services for former Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer. He also provided the military 
funeral honors for Paul J. Wiedorfer, the last living Maryland Medal of Honor recipient.

A Civil War historian and reenactor, Villanueva is Artistic Director of the 

National Association for Civil War Brass Music, Inc., where he directs and leads The Federal City Brass Band

 and the 26th North Carolina Regimental Band, In addition, he is music director for the 

National Civil War Field Music School where students learn to play fife, drum and bugle.

 Notes from the President 8.2018

 BCWRT Community:  

Thanks to the BCWRT for allowing me to attend the recent Civil War Roundtable Congress at the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pa. The meeting of CWRT leaders from across the country was exciting and informative. One of the key concerns was how to increase membership and attract younger members. I will give a partial report at our August meeting with an action report coming after our board member has to opportunity to meet and filter the CWRTC recommendations. By the way, a one day trip to the museum would make a nice BCWRT outing.

Military bands where highly important to the function and well-being of all units throughout the Civil War. Trumpeter/ Bugler Jari Villanueva, Musical Director for the Maryland Defense Force and the Federal City Brass Band, explore those bands in many aspects of the Civil War.

Smithsonian Scholar Mary Ann Jung presents her award winning show “Clara Barton-Red Cross Angel” at our September 25 meeting.

“Harriet Jacobs and Julia Wilbur: Allies and Friends in Civil War Alexandria” will be the subject of the October 23 presentation by CWRT of D.C. Board Member and author Paula Whitacre. The talk will be based on her book A Civil Life in an Uncivil Time.

The Constitution of the Confederate States is the new book by University of Maryland School of Law professor Mark A. Graber. He will discuss his work at the November 27 meeting.  

U.S. National Archives employee and Civil War re-enactor Bryan Cheeseboro will talk about the lives of some of the ‘everyday people’ in the DC metro area (including Baltimore) at the December 11 meeting.

University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) History Professor Anne S. Rubin will speak on her book Sherman’s March and America on January 22.

Historian Dr. Paul Kahan will focus on the Reconstruction period utilizing his latest book; The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant: Preserving the Civil War's Legacy for our March 26 meeting. 

On May 28, History Professor and author Janet Croon will speak on her recently edited and annotated A Son of Georgia: The Civil War Journals of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865. Gresham was an 12 years old invalid in Georgia who began keeping a journal in 1860—just before secession and Civil War tore the country and his world apart. There is an article on the new book in the current The Old Liner in the August News Articles link at the bottom of the page.

We are in discussion with the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable about a joint event where we can combine to bring in one of the top names in the Civil War community. They were to discuss the proposal at their August meeting. I’m certain we’ll have a report in September.

   IMPORTANT REMINDER: We are always looking for new members. Invite a friend to our meetings. The BCWRT has many good things happening. Please spread the word.

Robert L. Ford,

President 

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Our August meeting was our 414^th.  Our membership was 40, and attendance was 14.  We had $2,217.75 in the bank, and no outstanding bills except for the August speaker.  Robert showed some pictures of archival material at the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, where the Civil War Roundtable Congress was held.  We discussed the possibility of taking a trip there.  Robert said that one of the things the congress emphasized was having a variety of Civil War presentations, not just “blood and mud.”  

Our speaker was Jari Villanueva.  A U.S. Air Force veteran who spent 23 years in the USAF Band in Washington D.C., Villanueva spoke on Civil War music and bands.  

He began by discussing the history of bands in the U.S. leading up to the war.  The term “band” was used to mean both military and civic ensembles.  The instruments used included oboes, bassoons, clarinets, horns, and trumpets.  Bands were originally brought to the U.S. from Europe.  Moravians who immigrated brought their tradition of brass music played on trombones.  The first military musical organization in the United States was the U.S. Marine Band, established in 1798.   Later, percussion instruments were introduced, including bass and snare drums, as well as cymbals, a Turkish invention.  Additionally, valves were added to brass instruments.  Around 1840-50, printed music started to flourish.  By the time the Civil War broke out, there were thousands of bands in the United States.  

To both Union and Confederate soldiers, music was very important.  There were three basic types of Civil War music—music played by brass bands, field music (played by fifers, drummers, buglers, and trumpeters), and folk music (played in camp on violins and guitars, usually by untrained troops).  

Between April 1861 and the summer of 1862, the Union had hundreds of bands.  When the militia was federalized, their bands came along with them.  During the summer of 1862, about two-thirds of the bands were cut.  They were permitted to go home and most did so.  Others were enlisted as regular soldiers and played on the side.  In this way, many regimental bands remained intact.  

The most common selections played by the bands included John Brown’s Body, Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, and Battle Cry of Freedom.  The bands played in church, in concerts during the evenings, and at funerals.  They also played at dances.  Sometimes band members had to load the weapons at executions and give them to the soldiers.  Contrary to what is widely believed, bands did not lead soldiers into battle.  Union and Confederate bands sometimes “dueled” and played each other’s songs.  

One of the war’s most notable bands was a Moravian one that served with the 26^th North Carolina from April 1862 until the end of the war.  They, like other bands, also served as surgeon’s assistants.  After the 26^th suffered enormous losses in the first day’s fighting at Gettysburg, they joined with the 11^th North Carolina regimental band and played between Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge during gunfire.  They were congratulated by Robert E. Lee during the retreat from Gettysburg and were captured at Five Forks while separated from their regiment.  At that point, they were sent to Point Lookout.  Their instruments were taken from them, although Sam Mickey managed to hide his coronet.  The band re-formed after the war.  

After the Civil War ended, there were major changes in bands.  Patrick Gilmore, who is credited with the lyrics to “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” (it was originally a Union song and derived from an Irish tune) organized concerts with thousands of performers.  The standards he set were emulated by John Philip Sousa.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to a scheduling conflict, the July meeting will be on Wednesday, July 25 rather than our usual Tuesday!!

Hinsonville, Pa. was a 19th century small community of freemen, freedmen and self-emancipated, many of whom crossed the Mason/Dixon Line from Maryland and settled about 6 miles above the border. The ambitious and pride-filled residents of this village assisted in the Underground Railroad, supported the 1854 founding of Ashmun Institute (Lincoln University) and, apparently, assisted in fighting slave catchers during the 1851 Christiana (Pa.) riot.

It is no wonder that at least 18 men associated with Hinsonville volunteered to in the famed 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and various USCT regiments during the Civil War. Our speaker, Cheryl Renee Gooch, PhD, will bring the stories of these 18 men alive when to presents her book Hinsonville’s Heroes: Black Civil War Soldiers of Chester County, Pennsylvania at the BCWRT meeting on WEDNESDAY, July 25, at 7:30 p.m.

Cheryl Renee Gooch is an academic leader and published scholar with a passion for cultural history and uncovering aspects of African American history that are lost or forgotten. She is author of "On Africa's Lands: The Stories of Two Lincoln-Educated Missionaries in Liberia (Lincoln University Press, 2014) and numerous articles about the African American experience. She is a lifetime member of ASALH (Association for the Study of African American Life and History) and serves on its Executive Council. Dr. Gooch currently serves as Dean of the Academic Divisions - Arts, Humanities, and Developmental Studies at Cumberland County College in Vineland, New Jersey.

Cheryl Renee Gooch, PhD

Notes from the President 7.2018

 BCWRT Community:  

I wish to thank all the members and our speaker Darlene Colon for being able to adjust to the last minute change of venue and attend the June meeting.  Special thank go to the Rev. Tim Grayson, Rector of the Episcopal Church of the Messiah, and his staff for allowing us to meet in their fine edifice. Rest assured, we will take steps to avoid a repeat of that last minute drama. Also remember, our July meeting will be on Wednesday July 25, rather than our normal Tuesday.  

Founded by free Blacks from Maryland and located six miles above the Mason/Dixon Line, the small village of Hinsonville, Pennsylvania sent 18 men to serve the Union forces. On July 25, Dr. Cheryl Renee Gooch will introduce you to the Hinsonville’s Heroes whose impact on the United States is still being felt. 

Military bands where highly important to the function and well-being of all units throughout the Civil War. Trumpeter/ Bugler Jari Villanueva, Musical Director for the Maryland Defense Force and the Federal City Brass Band, explore those bands with a special focus of bans belonging to the USCT.  

Smithsonian Scholar Mary Ann Jung presents her award winning show “Clara Barton-Red Cross Angel” at our September 25 meeting.  

“Harriet Jacobs and Julia Wilbur: Allies and Friends in Civil War Alexandria” will be the subject of the October 23 presentation by CWRT of D.C. Board Member and author Paula Whitacre. The talk will be based on her book A Civil Life in an Uncivil Time.  

The Constitution of the Confederate States is the new book by University of Maryland School of Law professor Mark A. Graber. He will discuss his work at the November 27 meeting.   

U.S. National Archives employee and Civil War reenactor Bryan Cheeseboro will talk about the lives of some of the ‘everyday people’ in the DC metro area (including Baltimore) at the December 11 meeting. 

University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) History Professor Anne S. Rubin will speak on her book Sherman’s March and America on January 22.  

Historian Dr. Paul Kahan will focus on the Reconstruction period utilizing his latest book; The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant: Preserving the Civil War's Legacy for our March 26 meeting.  

We are in discussion with the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable about a joint event where we can combine to bring in one of the top names in the Civil War community. We will keep your abreast as actions developed.   

IMPORTANT REMINDER: We are always looking for new members. Invite a friend to our meetings. The BCWRT has many good things happening. Please spread the word. 

Robert L. Ford,
President

Lydia Hamilton was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on February 14, 1815. She married a free black man, Jacob Smith (died 1852), with whom she had two sons (one of whom would serve in the 6^th United States Colored Troops out of Philadelphia). In 1847, Lydia Hamilton Smith was hired by Thaddeus Stevens as his housekeeper and unofficial business manager- a role that she maintained until Steven’s death in 1868. During her lifetime, Smith became a successful business woman, an activist in the Underground Railroad, a supporter of abolition and a person who possibly had a very strong influence on national policy.

Learn more about Mrs. Smith when history Interpreter Darlene A. Colon paints a ‘first person’ portrait of this important, but, not well known Civil War figure at the BCWRT meeting on Tuesday, June 26, at 7:30 p.m.

Darlene is the current President of the Christiana Historical Society and a direct descendant of one of the participants in the 1851 Christiana Resistance (known in history as the Christiana

Riot). She is also the Vice President of the United States Colored Troops Institute which is based at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY and Founding member and Past President of the African American Historical Society of South Central Pennsylvania.

Darlene Colon also conducts genealogy workshops, as well as performs 1^st person interpretations of  the only known female Buffalo Soldier, Kathay Williams in addition to local Lancaster businesswoman Lydia Hamilton Smith.

A resident of Lancaster, Ms. Colon is a member of the Pennsylvania Past Players, a living history group created by the Cultural and Heritage Tourism Office of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Tourism.

Demonstrating her ability to engage and share what she knows, she speaks about her great-great-grandfather, Abraham Quamony, as if she knew him and recites his service record with ease: A resident of Conestoga, he was born in March, 1837. He enlisted in the 24th Regiment on February 13, 1865 at Philadelphia, probably at Camp William Penn. He became a corporal and he saw service around the Virginia, Maryland and District of Columbia area. Abraham Quamony was mustered out of the service in October, 1865.

Ms. Colon’s great-great uncle, John Thompson who lived in Colerain Township, Lancaster, became a member of the 3rd USCT, Company B. He enlisted in June, 1863, Ms. Colon says, and was the son of Ezekiel Thompson, one of the resistance fighters at Christiana in 1851. The so-called Christiana Riots are believed by many, Ms. Colon suggested, to be one of the most important moments in history leading to the Civil War.

The lead lawyer representing the African men against slave hunters was none other than Thaddeus Stevens.

  
Lydia Hamilton Smith

Darlene Colon

Robert Ford and Darlene Colon
Click picture for larger view

Our June meeting was our 412^th.  Our membership was 40 (our membership in May was 40 as well, not the previously reported 50), and we had $2,481.72 in the bank.  Attendance was 15.

Our speaker was Darlene Colon.  Ms. Colon performed an impersonation of Lydia Hamilton Smith, the housekeeper and business manager of Thaddeus Stevens.  

Lydia Hamilton Smith was born on Valentine’s Day, 1813, near Gettysburg.   Her mother was African-American and her father was Irish.  Her husband, with whom she had two sons, William and Isaac, was a musician.  He was away much of the time, and the couple separated.  In 1847, she moved to Lancaster to become a housekeeper to Stevens.  She ran his household and was able to hire who she pleased to work in the house.  Additionally, her and Stevens hid runaway slaves there.   She remained with Stevens until his death in 1868.  He insisted that she be called “Mrs. Smith,” and gave her his seat when she entered the room.  According to the impersonation, Smith and Stevens were not romantically involved, unlike what is portrayed in the 2012 movie Lincoln.  

In Pennsylvania, Stevens warned people about slave catchers, and as a lawyer defended fugitive slaves (although he had once successfully represented a slaveowner seeking to reclaim a slave).  In 1851, he successfully defended people arrested in the Christiana Riot, in which a group of African-Americans and whites resisted the efforts of Edward Gorsuch, a Maryland slaveholder, to recover one of his slaves.  Gorsuch, who was killed, had a son who was a classmate of John Wilkes Booth!  Some of the men who participated in the incident, or their sons, enlisted in the U.S.C.T. during the Civil War.  There were cases of them being denied pensions because of their participation.  

Smith owned multiple properties in Lancaster, and after Stevens’ death, she bought a boarding house in Washington D.C., where she remained until she died.  Her son William accidently shot himself in 1861 while arguing about a romantic situation.  Her other son, Isaac, served in the 6^th U.S.C.T.  

When Stevens died, he left money for a school for orphans, and specified that children of all races and religions, including Muslims, were to be admitted and eat together “at the same table.”  His will gave Smith a choice between a lump sum of $5,000 and a yearly payment of $500.  Smith chose the former.  Stevens was buried in the only cemetery in Lancaster that allowed both whites and African-Americans.  

Interestingly, Stevens despised the Masons.  He had a clubbed foot, and the Masons said that one had to be “whole” to be a man.  

Smith died of a stroke on February 14, 1884, her 71^st birthday.  When she died, she was worth about $500,000.  Isaac died shortly afterward, in April; he drank himself to death.

Notes from the President 6.2018

BCWRT Community:     

HOT!!!! We are only in June; however it’s already ‘hotter than July”. Still, the longer days allow for making quick trips to the vast number of Civil War and mid-19^th century sites in our area. Recently, while at a Civil War related celebration in Kennett Square, Pa., I made a long desired, quick trip to Christiana, Pa., - site of the 1851 Christiana Resistance (Riot). This was a notable incident where slave catchers (lead by Marylanders) met armed and violent resistance from abolitionists (lead by Marylanders). The incident lead to a trial in which Thaddeus Stevens successfully defended the one person prosecuted for the activity which is often viewed as one of the preludes to the Civil War.

Speaking of Thaddeus Stevens, he had a role in the life of the important, but, not well known Civil War figure Lydia Hamilton Smith. History Interpreter Darlene Colon will appear as Ms Smith and present information about her life at our next meeting on Tuesday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Founded by free Blacks from Maryland and located six miles above the Mason/Dixon Line, the small village of Hinsonville, Pennsylvania sent 18 men to serve the Union forces. On July 24, Dr. Cheryl Renee Gooch will introduce you to the Hinsonville’s Heroes whose impact on the United States is still being felt.

Military bands where highly important to the function and well-being of all units throughout the Civil War. Trumpeter/ Bugler Jari Villanueva, Musical Director for the Maryland Defense Force and the Federal City Brass Band, explore those bands with a special focus of bans belonging to the USCT.

Smithsonian Scholar Mary Ann Jung presents her award winning show “Clara Barton-Red Cross Angel” at our September 25 meeting.

“Harriet Jacobs and Julia Wilbur: Allies and Friends in Civil War Alexandria” will be the subject of the October 23 presentation by CWRT of D.C. Board Member and author Paula Whitacre. The talk will be based on her book A Civil Life in an Uncivil Time.

The Constitution of the Confederate States is the new book by University of Maryland School of Law professor Mark A. Graber. He will discuss his work at the November 27 meeting.  

U.S. National Archives employee and Civil War reenactor Bryan Cheeseboro will talk about the lives of some of the ‘everyday people’ in the DC metro area (including Baltimore) at the December 11 meeting.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: We are always looking for new members. Invite a friend to our meetings. The BCWRT has many good things happening. Please spread the word.

Robert L. Ford,

President

June 1863. The Gettysburg Campaign is underway. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia is pushing northward through the Shenandoah Valley toward Pennsylvania, and only one significant force stands in its way: Maj. Gen. Robert H. Milroy’s Union division of the Eighth Army Corps, in the vicinity of Winchester and Berryville, Virginia. What happened next is the subject of the provocative new book The Second Battle of Winchester: The Confederate Victory That Opened the Door to Gettysburg, June 13-15, 1863.

Today, the Second Battle of Winchester is largely forgotten. But in June 1863, the politically charged front-page news caught President Lincoln and the War Department by surprise and forever tarnished Milroy's career. The beleaguered Federal soldiers who fought there spent a lifetime seeking redemption, arguing their three-day "forlorn hope" delayed the Rebels long enough to allow the Army of the Potomac to arrive and defeat Lee at Gettysburg. For the Confederates, the decisive leadership on display outside Winchester proved an illusion that masked significant command issues buried within the upper echelons of Stonewall Jackson's former corps that would only make themselves known in the earliest days of July on a different battlefield.

Award-winning authors Eric J. Wittenberg and Scott L. Mingus Sr. combined their researching and writing talents to produce the most in-depth and comprehensive study of Second Winchester ever written. Scott L. Mingus, Sr. will give a presentation on this battle at the BCWRT May 22 meeting.Bottom of Form

Scott L. Mingus, Sr. is a scientist and executive in the paper and printing industry, as well as the author of several books and magazine articles on the Civil War, including some that deal primarily with York County during the Gettysburg Campaign. His 2013 work, Confederate General William Extra Billy Smith: From Virginia's Statehouse to Gettysburg Scapegoat won the Nathan Bedford Forrest History Book Award and the Dr. James I. Robertson, Jr. Literary Prize Award. His Cannonball blog presents stories and anecdotes from the war years, as well as announcing local Civil War events of the modern day. Together with his wife Debi, he publishes CHARGE!, the leading international magazine for Civil War miniature wargaming. They reside in York, Pa.

Scott L. Mingus, Sr.

Our May meeting was our 411^th.  As of May 22nd, our membership was 50 (we had one new member), and we had $2,721.72 in the bank.  We had no outstanding bills except for paying the May speaker.

Our speaker was Scott L. Mingus Sr.  Mingus spoke on the Second Battle of Winchester, which took place on June 13-15, 1863.  He and Eric Wittenberg are the authors of a book on the battle entitled The Second Battle of Winchester: The Confederate Victory that Opened the Door to Gettysburg.

For one week, Second Winchester dominated newspapers in the North.  The last two weeks of June, and the first two of July, was summer harvest time in south-central Pennsylvania and Maryland.  Lee timed his invasion to match the harvest.  Southern PA was die-hard Democratic Copperhead country, and this also encouraged Lee—he thought the Copperheads would force the Union to the negotiating table.  Additionally, he wanted to take the pressure off Vicksburg, and to threaten Union railroads as well as supply and communication routes.  

Between late December 1862 and New Year’s Day 1863, Robert Milroy marched into Winchester with the 2^nd Division of VIII Corps.  He was responsible for defending the town from Confederate attacks.  Few of the troops in Milroy’s command had been in combat.  He took over forts that had been built to the northwest of the town and set about improving them.  

Throughout the winter, there were small Confederate cavalry raids.  However, after capturing prisoners in mid-June, it became clear that they were facing the Army of Northern Virginia (the Second Corps of the ANV), not just independent bands of cavalry.  Lincoln ordered an evacuation of Winchester, but Milroy decided to stay and fight (it was hard to get a telegram from Baltimore to Winchester at the time).

On the 13^th, the Confederates approached in 3 columns.  Rodes’ division went for Berryville, Early’s along the Valley Pike near Kernstown, and Johnson’s up the Front Royal Pike.  The Union forces fell back, but fought surprisingly well, given that most of the men had never fought before.  The Taylor Hotel and the whole town of Winchester became a hospital.  June 14-15 were great days for Ewell.  On the 14^th he successfully flanked Milroy.  Union counterattacks failed; an artillery duel lasted until 10 pm.  

On the 15^th, Milroy withdrew from Winchester but left the artillery!  The artillery pieces were used by the Confederates at Gettysburg.  He left the wounded behind as well.  The route to Harper’s Ferry was blocked by Confederates, so an attack was launched against the Charles Town Road railroad bridge to open the way.  This failed, and Milroy left as the end approached.  Most of his command was lost.  Perhaps 4,000 Union soldiers surrendered in 15 minutes.  Most of the captured were later taken to Andersonville, and roughly a third of them died there.  

Milroy went home and petitioned to be put back in the war.  In May 1864, he was sent to guard railroads in Tennessee.  In December, he defeated a Confederate force which included Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry.  

While the Second Battle of Winchester was a Confederate victory, it was also a fiasco for the Confederates in that it made them believe that Ewell could operate on his own.  Milroy and his men believed they saved Pennsylvania by delaying the Confederates at the three-day battle.  

Annual Banquet April 24: 4301 Klosterman Ave., Baltimore, MD.  >> Banquet Flyer

Directions >> http://columbusgardens.com/id82.html

Our April meeting, our 410^th, was our annual banquet.  Attendance was 34.

Our speaker was Frank DeLuca, Senior Vice President for the Civil War Trust.  DeLuca was filling in for Ed Bearss, who had to cancel due to illness.  DeLuca discussed the activities and successes, past and present, of the Civil War Trust.  In thirty years, the organization has raised 370 million dollars, and saved almost 50,000 acres of land from development.  It has saved land at 134 battlefields in 24 states.

Three years ago, the National Park Service asked for help in preserving Revolutionary War and War of 1812 battlefields.  Since then, the organization has saved land at a number of Revolutionary War sites, including 18 acres at Princeton, some at Lexington and Concord, and some at Brandywine.  The most extensive activity is taking place in South Carolina, where 60 sites are being preserved, and an attempt is in the works to create a Liberty Trail from Charleston to King’s Mountain.  The first interpretative place will be in Camden.  DeLuca stated that the Trust believes the Revolution was won in South Carolina.  

Every year, the Trust lobbies for $10 million from the government.  The organization has gone through several names—it began as the Association for the Preservation of Civil War sites, then became the Civil War Preservation Trust, then the Civil War Trust.  DeLuca stated that on May 8^th, there would be yet another name change—although he could not say what the new name was (the name is “The American Battlefield Trust.”)

DeLuca addressed the question of why the organization does the work it does.  He gave two reasons: 1.) Soldiers put their lives on the line for what they believed, and deserve to be remembered, and 2.) history is not taught in the schools.  He noted that last year, the Civil War Trust website had nine million visitors.  The organization’s activities include a Field Education Program, which gives money to schools to make trips to battlefields.  20,000 children have visited battlefields as a result.  There is also a “Generations” project that saved Lee’s headquarters at Gettysburg, and stopped the building of casinos.  

Frank Deluca    
Topic: The Work of the Civil War Trust

Notes from the President 4/2018

BCWRT Community:     

Tuesday, April 24, is the date of the BCWRT Annual Banquet.  We were scheduled to have Ed Bearss as our speaker. Unfortunately, Ed is ill and had to cancel. Fortunately, we have secured Civil War Trust Senior Vice President Frank Deluca fill the gap. He will speak on the work and accomplishments of the Civil War Trust. Remember, our new banquet venue is the Columbus Gardens, 4301 Klosterman Ave., Baltimore, MD. 21236. Klosterman Ave. intersects US Route 1 (Belair Rd) about a mile north of Rossville Blvd. The cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m. with dinner being served at 7 p.m. Tickets are $35.00. Please see the flyer located on the website. Please urge your friends to attend and don’t forget to purchase your own tickets.

The Second Battle of Winchester: The Confederate Victory That Opened the Door to Gettysburg June 13-15, 1863 is the book on which author Scott L. Mingus, Sr. will speak at our May 22 meeting.

History Interpreter Darlene Colon will appear as the important, but, not well known Civil War figure Lydia Hamilton Smith. This will be our June 26 meeting.

Founded by free blacks from Maryland and located six miles above the Mason/Dixon Line, the small village of Hinsonville, Pennsylvania sent 18 men to serve the Union forces. On July 24, Dr. Cheryl Renee Gooch will introduce you to the Hinsonville’s Heroes whose impact on the United States is still being felt.  Book review by our President

Our speaker for the August 28 meeting hasn’t been confirmed. The information will be distributed as soon as we receive confirmation.

Smithsonian Scholar Mary Ann Jung presents her award winning show “Clara Barton-Red Cross Angel” at our September 25 meeting.

IMPORTANT REMINDER: Remember, it’s time to renew your membership for 2018. Yearly dues are $25.00 for an individual membership, $35.00 for a family membership. If you have already paid, Ray Atkins will have your membership card at out next meeting. We are always looking for new members. Invite a friend to our meetings. The BCWRT has many good things happening. Please spread the word.

Robert L. Ford,

President

Ward Hill Lamon was a Winchester, Virginia born lawyer who was extremely loyal to President Abraham Lincoln. Lamon has been described as “a tall, barrel-chested man of enormous brute strength”. He appointed himself as Lincoln’s personal body. In that role, he was known to harm people who approached Lincoln in a suspicious manner. Unfortunately, Lamon was not with Mr. Lincoln on that fateful April night, having been sent by the President to Richmond, Virginia.

Historian, historical interpreter and author Bob O’Connor, will bring Ward Lamon ‘to life’ during his ‘1st person’ presentation at the BCWRT meeting on Tuesday, March 27 at 7:30pm.

A native of  Dixon, Illinois and a graduate of Northern Illinois University, Bob O’Connor’s interest in history goes back to a trip in 1958 to Galesburg, IL where he attended the 100th anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. Pulitzer Prize winning poet and Lincoln biographer Carl Sandburg was the featured speaker. He has worked full time and part time as a newspaper reporter, and at various jobs — many that required writing press releases, news articles, or reports. His first published article was when he was in 7th grade – in an Illinois Historical Society for junior high students.

While Director of Tourism in Washington County, Maryland, Bob O’Connor worked closely with the Antietam Battlefield and Harpers Ferry National Historical Parks. He was responsible for starting the annual Independence Day Concert at Antietam Battlefield in July and the Memorial Illumination at Antietam Battlefield in December.

Being a resident of Harpers Ferry, WV (and his interest in Abraham Lincoln. John Brown and John Wilkes Booth) inspired him to write his first book “The Perfect Steel Trap Harpers Ferry 1859”. The book has been named a Finalist in the 2006 Best Book Awards by USA Book News. In all, O’Connor is the author of 13 books- 8 fiction and 5 non-fiction.

Bob O’Connor has been presenting an historical interpretation of Ward Hill Lamon, Lincoln's bodyguard, for about ten years. (There are 400 Lincoln reenactors but only one who portrays Lincoln's bodyguard.)  He has also edited and published, in 2010, the only book Mr. Lamon ever wrote, "The Life of Abraham Lincoln As President".

Bob O'Connor                                 Ward Hill Lamon 

Pictures from meeting.  Click to enlarge.
  

Our March meeting was our 409^th.  Membership was 38, not counting those who had not paid their dues.  We had no outstanding bills, and $2,382 was in the bank, with an additional $455 to be deposited.  Our president, Robert Ford, wrote a review of a book by Cheryl Renée Gooch entitled Hinsonville’s Heroes: Black Civil War Soldiers of Chester County, Pennsylvania.   The review can be found in the BCWRT newsletter.  Dr. Gooch will speak on her book at the July meeting.  In May, Scott L. Mingus Sr. will speak on his book: The Second Battle of Winchester: The Confederate Victory That Opened the Door to Gettysburg June 13-15, 1863.  In June, Darlene Colon will impersonate Lydia Hamilton Smith.  

Our speaker was Bob O’Connor.  Bob performed an impersonation of Ward Hill Lamon (pronounced like the word “lemon”), Abraham Lincoln’s personal bodyguard.  Lamon was born on January 6, 1828, in Summit Point, Virginia, and raised in Mill Creek (now called Bunker Hill) in Berkeley County.  As a boy, he learned how to shoot well.  In his late teens, he moved to Danville, Illinois.  He initially studied medicine, but then became a lawyer, and was assigned to the Eighth Circuit Court of Illinois.  It was here that he met Lincoln.  The two men were very different—Lamon was loud, happy, and drank and smoked a lot—the opposite of Lincoln (the two men were both 6’4’’, however).  Nevertheless, they became good friends, and in 1852, Lincoln asked him to be his law partner.  Lamon has been described as “a tall, barrel-chested man of enormous brute strength.”

 When Lamon was elected a prosecutor in 1856, he had to leave the partnership, but he and Lincoln remained close, and in 1860, he worked to get Lincoln nominated at the Republican convention—printing tickets to the proceedings which were only given to Lincoln supporters.  When Lincoln was elected, Lamon hoped for a diplomatic post, but Lincoln said he needed him in Washington.  

Lamon snuck Lincoln through Baltimore, where there was an assassination plot against him.  In March 1861, he was unofficially appointed Lincoln’s bodyguard, and after the inauguration was sworn in as U.S. Federal Marshal of the District of Columbia.  He was sent to Fort Sumter to meet Major Anderson, and was allowed to see Francis Pickens, South Carolina’s governor.  Lamon got the impression that Lincoln wanted the Confederates to fire the first shot.  

For his part, Lincoln didn’t think he needed a bodyguard—he let himself be in harm’s way often.  Lamon processed almost eighty threats against the president.  Lincoln himself thought that people had a right to threaten him, on the grounds that doing so was free speech.  In November 1863, Lamon was assigned to be the marshal in charge of the dedication of Gettysburg National Cemetery.  He introduced Lincoln when the president gave the Gettysburg Address.  Lamon was also in charge of security for Lincoln’s second inaugural.  To his everlasting regret, however, he was not at Ford’s Theatre on the night of the assassination.  On April 11, Lincoln had told him to go to Richmond to make arrangements for the Confederate states to reenter the Union.  Lamon had told Lincoln not to go out in public—especially not to the theater.  He was ordered back to Washington to conduct the funeral—and he feared that he would be killed for not protecting the president.

After the war, Lamon returned to practicing law in DC.  In 1872, his book entitled The Life of Abraham Lincoln, From his Birth to his Inauguration as President was published.  The book said that Lincoln believed that Jesus was only a man, that his (Lincoln’s) parents may not have been married, and that he loved Ann Rutledge.  Lincoln’s son, Robert, didn’t like the book.  Lamon moved to Martinsburg, West Virginia, and died in 1893 at age 65.  

It is estimated that more than 400 women disguised themselves as men in order to serve both sides of the military during the American Civil War. One of the more unique was Maria Lewis who double disguised herself while serving as a trooper in the 8^th New York Calvary Regiment (Rochester Regiment).  While seeing plenty of action, including fighting in the 2^nd Battle of Winchester, Maria Lewis was an African-American woman who masqueraded as a white male in order to serve with the 8^th.

Dr. Anita L. Henderson will bring Maria Lewis to life during her BCWRT presentation. Dr. Henderson has been working on a 20+ yearlong research project on Maria Lewis, which has been presented at the Society of Women in the Civil War in 2005 and 2015, a Company of Military Historians meeting and other local groups.  She is currently in the process of preparing her talk for publication in the Company of Military Historians journal and another Civil War magazine.  Her future plans include a young people’s historical novel on Maria Lewis.

Anita L. Henderson is a native of Chicago, IL, who attended Wellesley College and Howard University College of Medicine.  She currently is a dermatologist practicing with Anne Arundel Dermatology in Columbia, MD.

Her earliest passions have been horses and history, learning how to ride at the age of 7, riding English and Western, participating in Western and English horseshows, jumping, trail riding all over the US, herding cows out west, foxhunting, carriage driving, cowboy mounted shooting and mounted Civil War cavalry.  She has ridden in Ireland, Portugal and all over the US.

Her passion for history was stoked by both parents, her mother a teacher and her father a former WWII veteran who had been a drill instructor and quartermaster battalion clerk.  She grew up listening to her parents and other family members’ stories and started to read and study history voraciously.  

Twenty years ago, the two passions merged when she became interested in Civil War living history and was lucky enough to meet authentic living historians who wanted to interpret the war and its participants accurately with regard to knowledge, uniform and clothing and interpretation.  She currently interprets both a military and civilian impression.  She is a mounted cavalry bugler currently riding with the 13^th VA Cavalry, Co. H., Light Sussex Dragoons and does an enslaved/free black woman who is a cook and does open fire and hearth cooking using period recipes and implements.  She also does an enslaved housekeeper interpretation as well.  She is a long time member of the Atlantic Guard Soldiers’ Aid Society one of the most authentic civilian living history groups in the country   She recently became a member of the Sons and Daughters of Ham who are an authentic, black civilian group.    She is also a member of the Company of Military Historians. She has also done background artist work in a variety of historical documentary, independent and Hollywood films including;  Wicked Spring, No Retreat From Destiny, The Unmasking of Sarah Edmonds, Racing the Times, A History of Horse Racing in Maryland-PBS,  Civilians Desolate, Civilians Free, Fredericksburg NBP film and  Gods and Generals.

Anita Henderson

Minutes of meeting

Our February meeting was our 408^th.  Our attendance was 23. We had $1,879 in the bank ($1,964, counting deposits).  Our membership was 22 (this doesn’t include people who haven’t paid their dues).

In March, Bob O’Connor will give a “first-person” presentation on Ward Hill Lamon, Lincoln’s friend and self-appointed bodyguard.  

April is our annual banquet with Ed Bearss.  Ed will be speaking on Reconstruction.  The banquet will be held at Columbus Gardens, on Belair Rd.  Costs are $35 per person.  The banquet is April 24^th.  

In May, Scott L. Mingus Sr. will speak on his book: The Second Battle of Winchester: The Confederate Victory That Opened the Door to Gettysburg June 13-15, 1863.

In June, Darlene Colon will impersonate Lydia Hamilton Smith.  

Our president, Robert Ford, noted that we are currently trying to get pictures of meetings in the newsletter.  Any volunteers to take the pictures are welcome.

Robert also showed an interesting video entitled “From the Slave House to the White House.”  The video discussed two relatives of former First Lady Michelle Obama who served in the Civil War.  Jerry Sutton/Suter, who joined the 55^th Massachusetts, was the stepfather of Obama’s great-grandmother, and Caesar Cohen, a great-great grandfather of Obama’s, enlisted in the 128^th U.S. Colored Troops. 

Our speaker was Anita Henderson.  Ms. Henderson spoke on “The Search for Maria Lewis, Black Female Trooper of the 8^th New York Cavalry.”  Henderson, a historical reenactor, found out about Lewis from the diaries of Julia Wilbur, a Quaker.  

The 8^th was formed in Rochester and served in the Army of the Potomac throughout the war.  At Harper’s Ferry, it was one of a small group of units to escape by riding through Confederate lines.  

At first, Henderson believed that Lewis had been born free.  In 2014, however, she learned that another  Wilbur diary had been found, and this one provided more information.  It turned out that Lewis was an escaped slave from Albemarle County, Virginia.  She joined the regiment in August or September 1863, using the alias “George Harris.” Only a teenager at the time, she loved the army, and fought like everyone else in the regiment.  She stayed with the officers, away from the enlisted rank and file.  The officers knew that she was female, but the enlisted men did not.  She was at the battle of Waynesboro and came to Washington D.C.  

It should be noted that during the Civil War, medical examinations for those joining the military were very perfunctory at best.  Because of this, hundreds of women were able to enlist and fight on both sides. Lewis could have credibly passed herself off as a boy (teenagers matured more slowly then) and was probably light-skinned.  Her riding ability was unusual for a slave girl—this may mean that she had special privileges on her plantation.  Additionally, “George Harris” was a character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin—this suggests she may have been literate.