Called “Old Pete” and “My Old War Horse” by Gen. Robert E. Lee, Lt. Gen. James Longstreet was Lee’s trusted advisor and friend.  However, his letters to the New Orleans Times, his support of the Republican Party, and his memoirs served to alienate many Southerners, especially among the early “Lost Cause” folk lead by Gen. Jubal Early and others. Those attacks continue in 2019. A large portion of those attacks focus on how Longstreet handled his corps at the July, 1863 battle of Gettysburg (Pa.).

Local American History author Cory M. Pfarr address battle and the controversy as he talks about his latest work Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment at the next BCWRT meeting on Tuesday, December 10 at 7:30 p.m.

Cory M. Pfarr works for the Department of Defense and is an American History author whose main interests span America's Revolutionary to Civil War years. His work on John Quincy Adams, "John Quincy Adams's Republicanism: 'A Thousand Obstacles Apparently Stand Before Us'" was published by the Massachusetts Historical Society in 2014. His book-length study on Lieutenant General James Longstreet's performance at the Battle of Gettysburg, titled, Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment, was published by McFarland in 2019. He has also written articles for “North & South” and “Gettysburg Magazine”, and has appeared on the Pennsylvania Cable Network and C-SPAN American History TV. He lives in Pikesville, Maryland with his wife and three kids.

Notes from the President December 2019

It was Civil War era cartoonist Thomas Nast who gave us what is considered the modern image of Santa Claus in the January 3, 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly (see more in the Articles Section). 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!

It’s been less than two weeks since our last meeting; therefore, 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 28, 2020. Working with the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable, we will provide detailed information as soon as our speaker is confirmed.  Remember, it’s time to renew your membership for 2020!

Local American History author Cory M. Pfarr will reflect on his latest work Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment during our meeting on December 10.

We’ll start 2020 on January 28 when Author, historian, preservationist and NPS battlefield Guide Matt Borders will take a look at the “Spy Game in Maryland” during the Civil War.

Dr. Karsonya (Dr. Kaye) Wise Whitehead, Associate Professor of Communication and African and African American Studies in the Department of Communication at Loyola University Maryland, will talk about her book; Notes from a Colored Girl: The Civil War Pocket Diaries of Emilie Frances Davis.  This is our February 28 meeting.

Author, re-enactor and attorney Bernie Siler returns to the BCWRT to discuss his Brightwood section of D. C. (Fort Stevens) related book; A Tale of Two Centuries. This will occur during our meeting on March 24.

Will are again working with the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable to present our Annual Banquet on April 28 at the Columbus Gardens. Stay tune for further announcements.

On May 26 Award winning author William Connery returns to present a talk on career of CSA Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory.       

On June 23, Author and lecturer Timothy Lloyd Tilghman will address the topic “Maryland during the Civil War”.   

Annette T. Khawane, Adjunct Professor of Mortuary Sciences at Catonsville Community College, returns to focus on “Funeral Practices during the Civil War” at our meeting on July 28:

August 25 will see author Ron Kirkland focus on the immediate results of war on those who fight as he presents; Too Much for Human Endurance. The George Spangler Farm Hospital at the Battle of Gettysburg.                                                                                                                                                               

Reminder: Membership has it’s privileges…and joys. Urge your friends to join the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable.  Also, renew you membership if you haven’t already paid your annual dues.

James Longstreet


 
Cory M. Pfarr

Our December meeting was our 430th.  Our attendance was 12, and we had two visitors.  As of December 10, our membership was 29 (officially it was 30, but this included Walter Price, who sadly passed away).  We had a net $1,569.23 in the bank ($2,069.23 minus a $500 check to be written for our Annual Banquet).  There was no money to be deposited, and no outstanding bills.  Our future bills were for speakers and the banquet.  The treasurer’s report noted that we will probably have to pay the Parkville Recreation Council a fee for using the meeting hall in 2020.  On November 14, 2017, we paid $385 for 55 members--$7 per member.  

Our speaker was Cory Pfarr.  Mr. Pfarr spoke on the performance of Confederate General James Longstreet, commanded of the First Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, at the battle of Gettysburg.  He is the author of Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment.  

Longstreet has been heavily criticized over the decades for his actions at Gettysburg.  Mr. Pfarr argued that the criticisms have been undeserved.  The reasons for them, he said, have had little to do with Longstreet’s generalship and much to do with postwar events.  After the war, Longstreet became a Republican, and a friend and political ally of U.S. Grant.  He supported--at least to an extent--voting rights for African Americans.  And he criticized Robert E. Lee.  These things made him anathema to Jubal Early and others who promoted the “Lost Cause” interpretation of the war, and they used him as a scapegoat for the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg.  Because of their influence, historians have been largely critical of Longstreet since.  

Mr. Pfarr attacked what he considers myths regarding Longstreet’s conduct at Gettysburg.  Contrary to popular belief, he was not slow to arrive on the battlefield.   Lee did not plan a “sunrise attack” on the morning of July 2.  This was a myth propagated by Early and William Pendleton.  During the night of July 1-2, Lee was undecided concerning what to do with Ewell’s Second Corps.  It wasn’t until the late morning of July 2 that Lee decided to keep Ewell where he was.  Lee decided that Ewell was to launch an attack at the same time as Longstreet.  Ewell didn’t do this, and Lee didn’t check on him to see if he was complying.  

Longstreet was not sluggish in initiating his attack on July 2.  There were reconnaissance missions that continued until mid-afternoon, as well as a countermarch from noon to 3 pm.  Moreover, Mr. Pfarr argued, how would an earlier attack have done any good, given not merely the missions and countermarch, but also the fact that the Union line on Cemetery Ridge was already well formed?  Also contrary to Longstreet’s critics, Little Round Top was not the objective on the 2nd.  Instead, Lee wanted an attack up the Emmitsburg Road.  He intended to seize the Sherfy Peach Orchard as a springboard to attack Cemetery Ridge and Cemetery Hill.  Additionally, during the night of July 2-3, Longstreet did not get any orders for a new attack over the same ground as he attacked on the 2nd.  He was not responsible for delaying the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble attack on the 3rd.  

Mr. Pfarr also pointed out that Lee and Longstreet continued to have an excellent relationship.  Lee never once criticized Longstreet before dying in 1870.   If Longstreet had indeed performed poorly at Gettysburg, why would this have been the case?

Albert G. Hills was a young man from Massachusetts who tried a number of occupations in the antebellum period before settling on journalistic endeavors. A Republican, he took a job as a war correspondent for the Boston Journal newspaper, attached to the army-navy expedition targeting New Orleans. After reporting on the fall of the Crescent City in 1862, he partnered in the operation of a new Unionist newspaper in the city, the Era. Hills even joined the army in 1863, commissioned a lieutenant in the 4th Louisiana Native Guards, only serving three months before resigning and returning to his prior vocation.

The three 1861-63 journals that Hills kept comprise the heart of A Civil War Correspondent in New Orleans. Beginning in November 1861, Hill describes the outfitting of the New Orleans expedition and its travels to the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to covering the occupation of Ship Island and the early blockade of the Mississippi River mouth, Hill recounts several side expeditions to the Alabama and Florida coasts. He must have cultivated a vast array of relationships with army and navy officers, as he traveled from the ship to ship (seemingly at will) and was privy to planning at a level disturbing to operational security.

Frederick County CWRT Secretary and owner of Dyson Genealogy and Historical Research Gary L. Dyson returns to the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable to discuss Hills’ journal which he has edited.  Mr. Dyson will be with us on Tuesday, November 26, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.

Gary L. Dyson is a retired Environmental Specialist from the city of Gaithersburg, MD and a former Marine. He is a lifelong history enthusiast and has spent countless hours reading, researching and exploring battlefields – from the French and Indian War to World War II. Gary owns Dyson Genealogy and Historical Research and is the author of “Ambush of the Isaac P. Smith” and “A Civil War Correspondent in New Orleans, the Journals and Reports of Albert Gaius Hills of the Boston Journal.”   He has a BS in Natural Resources Management from Oregon State University.

Notes from the President November 2019

 It seems as though winter has come early this year. Can you imagine being a soldier trying to exist in the field while dealing with these weather elements? Fortunately, for some armies, the fighting would basically stop as enemy combatants settled into ‘winter quarters’. We hope that the changes in this unpredictable early season has little to no effect on our meetings. Email notices will be sent in case of inclement weather.  

On November 26, Frederick County CWRT Secretary and owner of Dyson Genealogy and Historical Research Gary L. Dyson returns to BCWRT to discuss his book    "A Civil War Correspondent in New Orleans". In this book, Mr. Dyson has edited the journals of Boston Journal correspondent Albert Gaius Hill as he covered the New Orleans campaign of 1862.

Local American History author Cory M. Pfarr will reflect on his latest work Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment during our meeting on December 10.

We’ll start 2020 on January 28 when Author, historian, preservationist and NPS battlefield Guide Matt Borders will take a look at the “Spy Game in Maryland” during the Civil War.

Dr. Karsonya (Dr. Kaye) Wise Whitehead, Associate Professor of Communication and African and African American Studies in the Department of Communication at Loyola University Maryland, will talk about her book; Notes from a Colored Girl: The Civil War Pocket Diaries of Emilie Frances Davis.  This is our February 28 meeting.

Author, re-enactor and attorney Bernie Siler returns to the BCWRT to discuss his Brightwood section of D. C. (Fort Stevens) related book; A Tale of Two Centuries. This will occur during our meeting on March 24.

Will are again working with the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable to present our Annual Banquet on April 28 at the Columbus Gardens. Stay tune for further announcements.

On May 26 Award winning author William Connery returns to present a talk on career of CSA Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory.       

On June 23, Author and lecturer Timothy Lloyd Tilghman will address the topic “Maryland during the Civil War”.   

Annette T. Khawane, Adjunct Professor of Mortuary Sciences at Catonsville Community College, returns to focus on “Funeral Practices during the Civil War” at our meeting on July 28:

Reminder: Membership has it’s privileges…and joys. Urge your friends to join the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable.  Also, renew you membership if you haven’t already paid your annual dues.

Minutes -

Our November meeting was our 429th.  Our attendance was 11.  There was no treasurer’s report.  We discussed next year’s annual banquet, and agreed to make a $500 deposit.  

Our speaker was Gary Dyson.  Mr. Dyson spoke about his book entitled A Civil War Correspondent in New Orleans: The Journals and Reports of Albert Gaius Hills of the Boston Journal.  

  Click to enlarge

Hills was born in Massachusetts in 1829.  As a young man, he was a sailor and (like his father) a pattern maker before becoming a reporter for the Journal.  During the Civil War he served as a war correspondent.  On his first expedition, he went to Fort Monroe (stopping in Baltimore on the way) and finally (on December 12, 1861) to Ship Island.  Hills wrote a number of personal journal entries that vividly describe life on the island.   He did not stay there, however--he went from one ship to the next, visiting Havana and Key West.  

Hills’ journals are an immensely valuable source for information concerning the Union campaign up the Mississippi River to capture New Orleans.  The original plan included capturing Forts Jackson and St. Philip.  Both forts, although not destroyed, were subjected to heavy bombardment.  The Confederate gunners were inexperienced, and the water level was up to the banks, allowing the Union forces to fire back at them.  So much fire rained down on the Confederate gun crews that they couldn’t operate the guns.   In the end, the forts were bypassed.  The Confederate Navy was wiped out, while the Union lost only one ship.

On May 1, New Orleans surrendered.  It’s unclear whether Hills actually went ashore after the city fell.  The crowd was very hostile.  Hills boarded the USS Rhode Island to return to Fort Monroe.  In November 1862, he returned to New Orleans on the North Star.  He stayed at the St. Charles Hotel.  In addition to serving as a base of operations for the correspondent corps, the hotel was also the headquarters of the Department of the Gulf.  Hills became an editor of the Era, a pro-Union New Orleans newspaper.  He was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant in the 4th Louisiana Native Guards (later renamed the 76th USCT), an African American regiment, but resigned three months later.  Back at the Era, he was supportive of Michael Hahn, helping to elect Hahn as a pro-Union governor of Louisiana.  He left the Era in March 1864.  

In addition to his own journals, Hills amassed a remarkable collection of newspapers, documents, and memorabilia related to the war, particularly from the Confederate side.  These included a copy of the Confederate constitution, as well as relics from Ft. Jackson.  

Hills’ journals abruptly stop in early 1863.  His wife being with him was probably a factor.  At some point--probably in 1864--he returned to Boston.  He may have subsequently started a turpentine business in New Bern, N.C.  He traveled to Europe, selling a portrait based on William E. Marshall’s engraving of Lincoln.  In 1867, he reported on Franco-German relations (before the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71).  Hills returned to the Boston Journal as an agricultural reporter.  He died in 1879 of Bright’s disease (nephritis), and is buried in Cambridge, MA.  

George Washington Gayle is not a name known to history. But it soon will be. Forget what you thought you knew about why Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. No, it was not mere sectional hatred, Booth’s desire to become famous, Lincoln’s advocacy of black suffrage, or a plot masterminded by Jefferson Davis to win the war by crippling the Federal government. Christopher Lyle McIlwain, Sr.’s The Million-Dollar Man Who Helped Kill a President: George Washington Gayle and the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln exposes the fallacies regarding each of those theories and reveals both the mastermind behind the plot, and its true motivation.

Mr. Mcllwain, Sr. will talk about his book during the October 22, 2019 meeting of the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. Using electronic media, he will be speaking from his home Alabama while informing us that the deadly scheme to kill Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward was Gayle’s brainchild. The assassins were motivated by money Gayle raised. Lots of money. $20,000,000 in today’s value.

Christopher Lyle McIlwain, Sr., has been practicing law for more than three decades in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. His other passion is the study of nineteenth century history. He is the author of two previous books, Civil War Alabama (U. of Alabama Press, 2016), the winner of the McMillan Prize, and 1865 Alabama: From Civil War to Uncivil Peace (U. of Alabama Press, 2017). Chris has also published several articles in a variety of history journals.

The April 1965 issue of "Civil War Times Illustrated" contained a "Special Report". Three Frederick Maryland street views appeared. Previously unpublished photographs showing two of Union troops on parade and one presenting Confederate soldiers on the march, created a sensation among the world of civil war buffs and historians. No known photographs showing Confederate soldiers armed and on an active campaign where then known to have existed, yet 100 years later on the anniversary of the end of the conflict, one amazingly arrived. In 1965 the information about the photo's was presented to the public as it was then known, or was it? Now more than 50 years hence, investigators Paul Bolcik and Erik Davis, (members of the Center for Civil War Photography) have uncovered the the truth behind the photo's and the full story, de bunking some of the "myth's" created about them. Their findings about the three photos have appeared in three magazine stories and a "Washington Post" newspaper "John Kelley's Washington" column from June 6, 2018.

 Paul Bolcik and Erik Davis will present their findings in "Frederick, MD and its Famous Confederate Photo" during the September 24, 2019 meeting of the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable at 7:30 p.m.

They will present their methods and fact finding study in an excellent power point presentation, focusing on the famous Confederate Frederick, MD photo, yet also details the "then and now" of Frederick during the war and it's aftermath. 

 Paul Bolcik is a founding member of the Montgomery Co. MD. Civil War round table from Oct. 1980. His writings photographs and investigations have appeared in LIFE magazine, Civil War Times, Civil War News, Military Images Magazine, The Daguerreian Society's annual yearbook and quarterlies, The Jonestown annual report and Spokes (a Frederick, MD. based cycling newspaper for the mid-Atlantic states).

 Erik Davis has been a digital cartographer for 30 years, he resides in Frederick with his wife and son. His investigations and photographs have appeared in The Washington Post, The Civil War Monitor Magazine, Frederick Magazine, Battlefield Photographer Magazine and the Montgomery Journal.

Notes from the President September 2019

 In August, via our speaker Alann D. Schmidt, our focus was on the famous Dunker Church located on the Antietam battlefield. This month we continue focusing on the Civil War in Western Maryland. Many people are familiar with the highly circulated picture of CSA soldiers marching through Frederick, Maryland circa July, 1864. Our September 24 meeting features Civil War photography researchers Erik Davis and Paul Bolcik will present their modern research on "Frederick, MD and its famous Confederate photo".

Our October 22 meeting has BCWRT President Robert L. Ford conducting a presentation on Christopher Lyle McIlwain, Sr,’s book The Million-Dollar Man Who Helped Kill a President: George Washington Gayle and the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

On November 26, Frederick County CWRT Secretary and owner of Dyson Genealogy and Historical Research Gary L. Dyson returns to BCWRT to discuss his book    "A Civil War Correspondent in New Orleans". The book tells the story of Boston Journal correspondent Albert Gaius Hill as he covered the New Orleans campaign of 1862.

Local American History author Cory M. Pfarr will reflect on his latest work Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment during our meeting on December 10.

We’ll start 2020 on January 28 when Author, historian, preservationist and NPS battlefield Guide Matt Borders will take a look at the “Spy Game in Maryland” during the Civil War.

Our February 28 speaker is still being confirmed.

Author, re-enactor and attorney Bernie Siler returns to the BCWRT to discuss his Brightwood section of D. C. (Fort Stevens) related book; A Tale of Two Centuries. This will occur during our meeting on March 24.

Will are again working with the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable to present our Annual Banquet on April 28. Stay tune for further announcements.

On May 26 Award winning author William Connery returns to present a talk on career of CSA Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory.                                                                                                                                                                                      

Reminder: Membership has it’s privileges…and joys. Urge your friends to join the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable.  Also, renew you membership if you haven’t already paid your annual dues.

Minutes

Our September meeting was our 427^th.   Our attendance was 19, and we had two visitors.  As of September 24, we had $2,134.23 in the bank, and no money to be deposited.  Our membership was 30.  

Our speakers were Paul Bolcik and Eric Davis, members of the Center for Civil War Photography.  Although Mr. Bolcik and Mr. Davis discussed a total of three photos, their focus was a famous photo which shows Confederate soldiers—members of the Army of Northern Virginia--on a street in Frederick, Maryland.  This is the only known photograph of Confederates on campaign.  Although Civil War histories have traditionally said that it was taken during the 1862 Maryland campaign, Mr. Bolcik and Mr. Davis argued that the photo was probably actually taken on July 9, 1864—the same day as the battle of Monocacy.  

In their investigation of the photo, the two men performed extensive detective work using a variety of methods and sources.  They examined old newspaper articles, deeds, and other photos.  They also performed an in-depth analysis of the photo, zeroing in on small details as clues.  The evidence, in their view, consistently points to the photo being from 1864 rather than 1862.

The photo contains a sign for the store of Joseph Rosenstock.  Rosenstock opened his store in 1860, and historians had long been mistaken concerning its location.  This was an important factor in concluding that the photo had been taken in 1862.  Rosenstock was arrested in August 1864 for selling clothes to Union troops.  Additionally, three Union soldiers robbed him in March 1865.  

Mr. Bolcik and Mr. Davis managed to deduce the location where the photo was taken—the photographic studio of Jacob Byerly.   If the photo was taken in 1862, Confederate troops would not have been passing by Byerly’s studio—none are known to have traveled by that route at the time.   

In addition to problems with locations, Mr. Bolcik and Mr. Davis pointed to numerous other details of the photo which indicate a date of 1864.  For example, there is a dark area under the “Rosenstock Sign” suggesting recent rainfall.  While there was rain in Frederick on September 1, 1862, this was five days before the Confederates arrived.  From that time, it was sunny until September 11, when D.H. Hill’s men became the last Confederates to march through Frederick during only light rain.  However, there was more substantial rainfall on the night of July 8-9, 1864.   Another clue is that all three of Frederick’s newspapers reported that civilians turned out in large numbers to see the Confederates who came through in 1862.  However, there are no civilians in the photo.  Additionally, the photo shows Confederate troops stuck in a “traffic jam” rather than marching.  No problems of this sort were reported in 1862.  However, on the morning of July 9 a jam DID exist in Frederick.  Confederate troops under John Echols had been ordered to find the banks, depots, and other supplies.  They ended up colliding with Jubal Early’s wagon train.  

Mr. Bolcik and Mr. Davis concluded by discussing how they managed to take a photo of the same spot in present-day Frederick captured in the Confederate photo, and subsequently superimpose the old photo onto the new one.  Given that Byerly’s studio is now a private residence, the men were unable to take a new photo from there.  To take one from a similar height and angle required a lot of ingenuity, persistence, and technological know-how.  

 The most recognizable feature of the Antietam Battlefield is the Dunker Church. One of the least known about and least studied aspects of Antietam is the Dunker Church…….who were they, how did they happen to be there, what happened after the battle and the war? Alann Schmidt and Terry Barkley have collaborated to produce a book that answers those questions and more- September Mourn: The Dunker Church of Antietam. Both authors will speak with the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable at our next meeting on Tuesday, August 27, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.

Alann Schmidt spent fifteen years as a park ranger at Antietam National Battlefield and presented hundreds of programs on the Dunker Church to park visitors, Civil War seminars, community groups, churches, and Brethren Heritage tours. Alann earned degrees from the University of Pittsburgh, Shippensburg University, Shepherd University, and the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science. While illness forced him into early retirement, he still serves as a pastor for the Churches of God and helps foster pets for rescue groups. He and his wife Tracy (and their many cats) live on their family farm near Fort Littleton, Pennsylvania.

A member of the Thoreau Society, Terry Barkley is a retired professional librarian, archivist, and Harvard-trained museum curator, and a former history teacher. He is the author of three books and co-author of a fourth. His articles have appeared in the Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Living Blues, and in The Brethren Encyclopedia. Terry is currently chair of the Brethren Historical Committee of the Church of the Brethren (Dunkers). He is an independent scholar and musician who lives in Lexington, Virginia.

Notes from the President August 2019

Last month I spoke about the July heat and how the Civil War warriors had to endure the weather while wearing wool from head to toe.  Well, after a record breaking July, August hasn’t gotten that much better. On a recent HOT Saturday, I spent the day in re-enactment garb at the Allstadt Corner dedication in Harpers Ferry (See August news articles), followed by a parade in Charles town ending with a stop at the Antietam Battlefield. It can be body-warming to study the Civil War.

Most CW enthusiast know there is a Dunker church on the Antietam battlefield. Few know anything about the history of the church and their members.  Authors Alann D. Schmidt and Terry W. Barkley will alleviate that situation as they discuss their new book; September Mourn: The Dunker Church of Antietam. This will be our August 27 meeting.

Staying with the Civil War in Western Maryland: Many people are familiar with the highly circulated picture of CSA soldiers marching through Frederick, Maryland circa July, 1864. Our September 24 meeting features Civil War photography researchers Erik Davis and Paul Bolcik will present their modern research on "Frederick, MD and its famous Confederate photo".

Our October 22 meeting has BCWRT President Robert L. Ford conducting a presentation on Christopher Lyle McIlwain, Sr,’s book The Million-Dollar Man Who Helped Kill a President: George Washington Gayle and the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. 

On November 26, Frederick County CWRT Secretary and owner of Dyson Genealogy and Historical Research Gary L. Dyson returns to BCWRT to discuss his book    "A Civil War Correspondent in New Orleans". The book tells the story of Boston Journal correspondent Albert Gaius Hill as he covered the New Orleans campaign of 1862.

Local American History author Cory M. Pfarr will reflect on his latest work Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment during our meeting on December 10. 

Please look at the Calendar of Events link to see a partial schedule for 2020.

Reminder: Membership has it’s privileges…and joys. Urge your friends to join the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable.  Also, renew you membership if you haven’t already paid your annual dues.

Alann Schmidt


 Terry Barkley

Minutes

Our August meeting was our 426^th.  As of August 27^th, we had $2,249.23 in the bank and no money to be deposited.  The only outstanding bill was for the speaker.  Our membership was 30.  Attendance was 20, and there were two guests present.  

Our speaker was Alann Schmidt.  A pastor for the Churches of God who served as a park ranger at Antietam National Battlefield for fifteen years, Mr. Schmidt discussed the history of the Dunker Church.  He and Terry Barkley are the authors of the book September Mourn: The Dunker Church of Antietam Battlefield.

Mr. Schmidt began by discussing the origins of the Dunkers.   The group, formally called the “German Baptist Brethren,” was founded in 1708 in Schwarzenau, Germany.  The word “dunker” comes from the German word “tunken,” meaning “to dip.”  The founding members of the group, under the leadership of Alexander Mack, went to a river in Schwarzenau and baptized themselves in it.  

By the mid-1700s, there were Dunkers in the Antietam area.  They originally met in each other’s homes, and later built meetinghouses.  In 1851, Samuel and Elizabeth Mumma donated land for a church to be built on.  Construction of the church was completed in 1853.  The building was plain—both the interior and the exterior.  The men sat on the right, the women on the left.  The services were long—three or four hours.  The congregants sat on hard benches.  There was singing, but no musical instruments.  The Dunkers opposed slavery (although there were individual Dunkers who owned slaves), violence, gambling, and indulgences.  

On September 17^th, 1862, the community was changed forever by the battle of Antietam.  The church was right in the path of where Union forces attacked the Confederates early in the morning.  There were about 12,000 casualties in this part of the battle.  Corpses lay everywhere around the church.  Moreover, this was the middle of the harvest season.  When the congregants came back, their crops and livestock were gone.  When the Mumma family returned, they found their home burned to the ground.  There were men in hospitals in the area until the spring of 1863, and it was not until 1864 that services began again in the church.  

In the decades following the war, the church was beset by other problems.  These included tourists, veterans holding reunions, and monuments being put up nearby.  From 1899 on, there were few services there, and none after 1916.  On May 23, 1921, the church collapsed because of a windstorm (a new church in town was being used by this point).  The site was later purchased by Charles Turner, who built a lunch and soft drink stand on it.  

In the ensuing decades, there were unsuccessful efforts to restore the church. In 1951, the National Park Service gained possession of the site.   Finally, in 1960, under Governor J. Millard Tawes, $35,000 was allocated for the church to be rebuilt.  Elmer Boyer owned much of the material of the original church, and it was used for the restoration.  On September 2, 1862—15 days before the hundredth anniversary of the battle—the official rededication of the church took place.  Since then, much preservation work has been done.  In addition, the restored church is often used for public events, including weddings.

 Our speaker will be our own Board Secretary Lee Hodges. Lee will speak on the life of the CSA’s “Mr. Everything”, Judah P. Benjamin.

Benjamin, a Sephardic Jew, was the first of his faith be elected to the United States Senate who had not renounced that faith, and was the first Jew to hold a Cabinet position in North America. He was successively the Attorney General, Secretary of War, and Secretary of State of the Confederate States of America.

Lee Hodges has been a member of the BCWRT since 2003. He has been extremely interested in the Civil War since early childhood. He graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) with a B.A. and M.A. in history, with particular emphasis on American history and the U.S. presidency. Lee serves as Research and Analysis Specialist for the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA), a nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting awareness of issues of interest to the Iranian-American community.  Lee is a pianist and composer, and graduated from the University of Maryland College Park with a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance. Lee is also a writer and has had articles published in Washington Opera Magazine, among other publications.  Lee spoke to the BCWRT in October 2011, giving a talk on the battle of Olustee, Florida and in May of 2013 when his topic was “Desertion during the Civil War”.

Notes from the President July 2019

“We’ve Having a Heat Wave!” Irving Berlin, who was born in 1888, didn’t compose that song with Civil War soldiers (or re-enactors) in mind. Still, you can imagine the how those warriors felt wearing wool uniforms in July in similar heat. Thankfully, the Parkville Senior Center is air conditioned.

 Our July 23 meeting will feature Baltimore Civil War Roundtable Secretary Lee Hodges a he  looks into the life of Judah P. Benjamin at our July 23 meeting.  Benjamin was successively Attorney General, Secretary of War and Secretary of State in CSA president Jefferson Davis's cabinet.

Most CW enthusiast know there is a Dunker church on the Antietam battlefield. Few know anything about the history of the church and their members.  Authors Alann D. Schmidt and Terry W. Barkley will alleviate that situation as they discuss their new book; September Mourn: The Dunker Church of Antietam. This will be our August 27 meeting.

Staying with the Civil War in Western Maryland: Many people are familiar with the highly circulated picture of CSA soldiers marching through Frederick, Maryland circa July, 1864. Our September 24 meeting features Civil War photography researchers Erik Davis and Paul Bolcik will present their modern research on "Frederick, MD and its famous Confederate photo".

Our October 22 meeting has BCWRT President Robert L. Ford conducting a presentation on Christopher Lyle McIlwain, Sr,’s book The Million-Dollar Man Who Helped Kill a President: George Washington Gayle and the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. 

On November 26, Frederick County CWRT Secretary and owner of Dyson Genealogy and Historical Research Gary L. Dyson returns to BCWRT to discuss his book    "A Civil War Correspondent in New Orleans". The book tells the story of Boston Journal correspondent Albert Gaius Hill as he covered the New Orleans campaign of 1862.

 Local American History author Cory M. Pfarr will reflect on his latest work Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment during our meeting on December 10. 

Please look at the Calendar of Events link to see a partial schedule for 2020.

On July 13, the National Park Service and the Alliance to Preserve the Civil War Defenses of Washington held the 155 Anniversary Commemoration of the Battle of Fort Stevens, the only CW battle fought in D.C. Here’s a link to a story done by NBC4’s Derrick Ward. You may recognize a familiar voice in the piece.

Reminder: Membership has it’s privileges…and joys. Urge your friends to join the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable.  Also, renew you membership if you haven’t already paid your annual dues.

Our July meeting was our 425^th.  Attendance was 11.  We had $2,229.23 in the bank, and $35 to be deposited.  There were no outstanding bills.  Our membership was 30.  Three new members were in attendance.  

Our speaker was our own Lee Hodges, Secretary of the BCWRT.  Lee spoke on the life and career of Judah P. Benjamin, who served successively as Attorney General, Secretary of War, and Secretary of State in the cabinet of Jefferson Davis.

Benjamin was born on August 6, 1811 on the island of St. Croix in the Danish West Indies (today the U.S. Virgin Islands).  His parents were Jewish shopkeepers from London.  The family struggled to make a living, immigrating to the U.S. and eventually settling in Charleston, S.C.  At the age of 14, Benjamin went to Yale University, only to leave during his junior year for reasons that remain unclear.  He then moved to New Orleans and began studying law.  He became a brilliant lawyer, and by the age of 35 was considered THE commercial lawyer of New Orleans. In 1842, he represented insurance companies being sued for the value of slaves who had escaped in the Creole slave revolt.  In one of his briefs to the Louisiana Supreme Court, Benjamin spoke eloquently of the humanity of slaves in language strikingly reminiscent of Shylock’s famous “I am a Jew” speech in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.

On February 16, 1833, Benjamin married Natalie St. Martin--a French Creole, Catholic woman.  The pair had an unusual marriage, with Natalie moving with their daughter to Paris in 1845 and Judah visiting them about once a year.  In 1844, Benjamin became the co-owner of Bellechasse, a sugar plantation.  He was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1842, to the state Senate in 1851, and to the U.S. Senate in 1852 and again in 1858.  In the Senate, Benjamin was greatly respected for his intelligence and skill as an orator.  He defended slavery, but on legal and constitutional grounds rather than arguing that African Americans were inferior or that slavery was the will of God.  

When Louisiana left the Union, Benjamin resigned from the Senate.  He was soon chosen by Jefferson Davis to be his attorney general.   As Attorney General, Benjamin did not have any landmark legal decisions to make.  In September 1861, he became acting Secretary of War, and in November was given a full appointment to the position.  Benjamin’s tenure as Secretary of War was tumultuous.  While he did a good job getting the department to run efficiently and alleviating shortages, he also got into arguments with generals including “Stonewall” Jackson, with Jackson almost resigning from the army as a result.  After the loss of Roanoke Island in February 1862, Benjamin received huge criticism, although the public didn’t know that he had agreed to act as a scapegoat rather than admit the Confederacy’s shortage of ammunition and supplies.  As a result, Davis transferred him to the State Department, and he became Secretary of State on March 18, 1862.  

As Secretary of State, Benjamin tried in vain to get Britain and France to recognize the Confederacy and to get the Union blockade lifted.  However, he did manage to secure a major loan for the Confederacy.  He also supervised the Confederate Secret Service, including missions conducted from Canada.  On February 9, 1865, he gave a major speech advocating the freeing of any slave who would fight for the Confederacy (Irish-born General Patrick Cleburne, who had settled in Arkansas in 1850, had made a similar proposal).  On March 13, the Confederate Congress narrowly passed a bill authorizing African American enlistments, but it fell short of Benjamin’s plan, emancipation not being given to those who served.

Benjamin and Davis had not been close before the war—in fact, they almost fought a duel in 1858.  However, during the war Benjamin became Davis’s right hand man, working 10 to 12 hours a day with him.  

After the fall of the Confederate government, Benjamin pulled off a daring escape from Florida to Britain.  Several times he narrowly avoided death or capture.  In Britain he had an extremely distinguished career as a barrister, becoming one of the leading members of the British bar.  He died on May 6, 1884.  

Benjamin was apparently the first openly Jewish person to serve in the U.S. Senate.  The effect of his Jewishness on his public career was mixed.  On the one hand, being Jewish was not a major obstacle to his advancement, including his selection to the Confederate Cabinet.  On the other hand, he was the target of anti-Semitic attacks from critics in both the Confederacy and the Union.

Our speaker this month will be former BCWRT President Bob Mullauer. Bob Mullauer will take in in-depth look at Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13^th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.   This is a timely topic with the recent celebration of Juneteenth (Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day, is an American holiday that commemorates the June 19, 1865, announcement of the abolition of slavery in the U.S. state of Texas, and more generally the emancipation of enslaved African Americans throughout the former Confederate States of America.)

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in September, 1862 (effective January 1, 1863) which declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." It also allowed for the recruitment for Black men into the U.S. Army. Lincoln, aware the act was a war measure which would cease upon the end of the war, fought hard for the passage of the more permanent 13^th Amendment. 

Bob Mullauer was a high school history teacher for over a decade. He currently teaches night-time courses at Anne Arundel Community College as well as speaks to a variety of groups on topics such as the American Civil War in the Western Theater, World War II in the Pacific, and the Napoleonic Wars. He has led United States Army officers on staff rides over the Chickamauga and Chattanooga battlefields. Besides Civil War battlefields, his travels include tours of World War II battlefields in the Pacific as well as Normandy, the Bulge, Verdun, and various Napoleonic sites in Europe.

Notes from the President June 2019

Summertime, and the living is BUSY!!! There are many Civil War related activities scheduled for the summer. Reenactments, living history showcases and simple visits to many of the Civil War sites in the area should be added to your calendars. I’ve already been ‘in uniform every weekend this month. In fact, if someone wishes to organize a trip for the BCWRT, please contact me.

On June 25, we welcome back to the podium former BCWRT President Bob Mullauer as he explores Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13^th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

Baltimore Civil War Roundtable Secretary Lee Hodges will look into the life of Judah P. Benjamin at our July 23 meeting.  Benjamin was successively Attorney General, Secretary of War and Secretary of State in CSA president Jefferson Davis's cabinet.

Most CW enthusiast know there is a Dunker church on the Antietam battlefield. Few know anything about the history of the church and their members.  Authors Alann D. Schmidt and Terry W. Barkley will alleviate that situation as they discuss their new book; September Mourn: The Dunker Church of Antietam. This will be our August 27 meeting.

Staying with the Civil War in Western Maryland: Many people are familiar with the highly circulated picture of CSA soldiers marching through Frederick, Maryland circa July, 1864. Our September 24 meeting features Civil War photography researchers Erik Davis and Paul Bolcik will present their modern research on "Frederick, MD and its famous Confederate photo".

Our October 22 meeting has BCWRT President Robert L. Ford conducting a presentation on Christopher Lyle McIlwain, Sr,’s book The Million-Dollar Man Who Helped Kill a President: George Washington Gayle and the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. 

On November 26, Frederick County CWRT Secretary and owner of Dyson Genealogy and Historical Research Gary L. Dyson returns to BCWRT to discuss his book    "A Civil War Correspondent in New Orleans". The book tells the story of Boston Journal correspondent Albert Gaius Hill as he covered the New Orleans campaign of 1862.

Local American History author Cory M. Pfarr will reflect on his latest work Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment during our meeting on December 10. 

Reminder: Membership has it’s privileges…and joys. Urge your friends to join the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable.  Also, renew you membership if you haven’t already paid your annual dues.

Our June meeting was our 424^th.   Attendance was 14, and we had one visitor, a former member. We had $2,244.23 in the bank.  Our membership was 26.  

Robert suggested that we organize a trip to a Civil War-related place, like we used to in the past.

Our speaker was our own Bob Mullauer, former President of the BCWRT.  Bob spoke on the Emancipation Proclamation.  When Lincoln decided to issue the proclamation, the war was not going well.  He decided that the Union had to “change tactics or lose the game.”  Although Lincoln was strongly morally opposed to slavery, this was not why the proclamation was issued—it was issued as a war measure.  On its face, the proclamation was a rather strange document.  The overwhelming majority of the slaves it applied to were NOT under Union control, while those who lived in Union- controlled areas were largely exempt from it (the slaves in the border states, for example, weren’t affected by it).  Although this was counterintuitive, it was done because at the time slavery was protected by the Constitution.  Lincoln was not a dictator—he couldn’t just end slavery everywhere at will.  

Prior to the proclamation, several generals, including David Hunter, had issued their own proclamations freeing slaves.  But Lincoln voided these because he said generals didn’t have the authority to issue them—only he, as president, had such power.  

Lincoln was a determined person.  He wanted to hear the opinions of cabinet members concerning the proclamation, so he discussed the issue at cabinet meetings.  But once he made up his mind, he was determined to do it.  However, he decided he needed a victory before he could issue it.  As a result, he decided to put it off, while continuing to work for gradual emancipation and colonization.  He tested the waters by writing a letter to Horace Greeley in which he said if he could free all the slaves, none of them, or some of them to preserve the Union, he would do so (while also making clear that he wanted all people to be free).  On September 22, five days after Antietam, Lincoln issued the preliminary proclamation.  The text is very dry.  He makes it clear that the purpose of the document is to get the Confederate states back into the Union.  He never officially says that they left.  The final proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863.  

The reaction was very mixed.  While the proclamation helped the Democrats, the Republicans held on to both houses of Congress.  There were celebrations in every major city.  Thaddeus Stevens didn’t say anything (a good thing from him).  On the other hand, it undermined pro-Union sentiment in the Confederacy, at least temporarily.  Border state leaders didn’t like it, and it strengthened the peace element in the Democratic party.  The British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, said that it was “trash” and proof that the federal government was powerless.  By February 1863, about 200,000 slaves had been freed, according to Lincoln and Seward.

History Professor and author Janet Croon has 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. He continued to write even as his health deteriorated until both the war and his life ended in 1865.

Prof. Croon will take a detailed look at the above book when she appears for the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable (BCWRT) at our next meeting on Tuesday, May 28, 2019 at the Parkville Senior Center, 8601 Harford Rd, Parkville, MD 21234. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m.

Janet Croon has recently retired from teaching advanced high school history in Fairfax County, Virginia. Originally from the Chicago area, she has lived in several places, including Dayton, OH, Albuquerque, NM, and Wiesbaden, Germany before eventually ending up in the Northern Virginia suburbs.

She holds degrees from the University of Illinois (BA '83) in Political Science, Modern European History, and Russian Language and Area Studies and the University of Dayton (MA '85) in International Relations. (This was all very handy when living in Germany in 1989 when the Berllin Wall came down!) She began teaching World History and Twentieth Century Topics in the International Baccalaureate Programme, for which she also did some contract work as a program moderator and student paper examiner.

The love for the Civil War came almost by accident, finding out that she was working with her lawyer on her divorce papers in the former home of a Confederate female spy, and then reading a book about that same spy's friend a number of years later. (More books on this to follow...)

With two grown daughters successfully launched, Jan spends a lot of her spare time knitting, cross-stitching, watching Cubs baseball, and enjoying the history of the area once occupied by either Blue or Grey for the entirety of the Civil War. Her black cat, Kittn, supervises.

 Notes from the President May 2019

I wish to thank all the members of the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable and the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable for their commitment in making the April banquet with author Noah Andrea Trudeau a great affair. Positive comments have been received about everything from the speaker’s presentation to the food (thanks to the Columbus Garden’s staff). Perhaps we can make this an annual joint event.

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.

We welcome back to the podium former BCWRT President Bob Mullauer as he explores Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13^th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. This will be our June 25 meeting.

Baltimore Civil War Roundtable Secretary Lee Hodges will look into the life of Judah P. Benjamin at our July 23 meeting.  Benjamin was successively Attorney General, Secretary of War and Secretary of State in CSA president Jefferson Davis's cabinet.

Most CW enthusiast know there is a Dunker church on the Antietam battlefield. Few know anything about the history of the church and their members.  Authors Alann D. Schmidt and Terry W. Barkley will alleviate that situation as they discuss their new book; September Mourn: The Dunker Church of Antietam. This will be our August 27 meeting.

Staying with the Civil War in Western Maryland: Many people are familiar with the highly circulated picture of CSA soldiers marching through Frederick, Maryland circa July, 1864. Our September 24 meeting features Civil War photography researchers Erik Davis and Paul Bolcik will present their modern research on "Frederick, MD and its famous Confederate photo".

Our October 22 meeting has BCWRT President Robert L. Ford conducting a presentation on Christopher Lyle McIlwain, Sr,’s book The Million-Dollar Man Who Helped Kill a President: George Washington Gayle and the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. 

On November 26, Frederick County CWRT Secretary and owner of Dyson Genealogy and Historical Research Gary L. Dyson returns to BCWRT to discuss his book    "A Civil War Correspondent in New Orleans". The book tells the story of Boston Journal correspondent Albert Gaius Hill as he covered the New Orleans campaign of 1862.

Local American History author Cory M. Pfarr will reflect on his latest work Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment during our meeting on December 10. 

Reminder: Membership has it’s privileges…and joys. Urge your friends to join the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable.  Also, renew you membership if you haven’t already paid your annual dues.

AWARD NOTICES: Several have come in for 2018 (they seem a bit late this year), and several more are due in within two weeks.

To kick things off, we are very pleased to announce that "The War Outside my Window: The Civil War Diary of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865," Janet E. Croon, editor, was a FINALIST in the Indie Book Awards for Memoirs. Given that there are thousands of books submitted, and only five finalists in each category, this a very high honor indeed. Congrats, Jan!

LeRoy's Diary is nearly sold through its third printing, Jan is on her third Georgia tour right now, and the accompanying Teacher's Guide is in galley and will be available within a couple months.

Thank you to everyone for your support, your reviews, and your word-of-mouth help in making this possible. It is truly one of the most remarkable projects I have ever had the privilege of helping edit and publish.

Savas Beatie, LLC

Publisher

 Minutes

Our May meeting was our 423^rd.  Attendance was 11.  As of May 26^th, we had $2,359.23 in the bank and no outstanding bills.  Our membership was 26.

Our speaker was Janet Elizabeth Croon.  Ms. Croon, a history teacher and author, discussed the diary kept during the Civil War by LeRoy Wiley Gresham, a boy from Georgia, from 1860 until the war’s end in 1865.  Ms. Croon is the editor of The War Outside My Window: The Civil War Diary of LeRoy Wiley Gresham, 1860-1865.

LeRoy was born on November 11^th, 1847 to a prominent Georgia slave-holding family.  His father was elected mayor of Macon twice.  In 1856, a falling chimney crushed LeRoy’s leg.  He was never able to walk again, and as a result was often pulled in a wagon by a slave, a friend, or his brother.  He developed a cough by 1857, and back abscesses by 1860.  It turned out that he was terminally ill with a rare form of tuberculosis known as Pott’s disease.  However, he was never told this.  He died on June 18^th, 1865.  

An educated and highly intelligent boy, LeRoy received his diary as a gift from his mother.  The diary is remarkable for several reasons.  It is the only known account from the war by a teenage male non-combatant, the only known “insider’s view” of a prominent Southern family during the war, and the only known diary in the world dealing with the course and treatment of tuberculosis in the 19^th century.  

LeRoy was inquisitive, sweet, funny, talkative, and kind.  He followed the war very closely, and his diary provides insights that cannot be found elsewhere.  For example, he says that the blockade began affecting civilians a year before the history books say it did.  Also, he uses names for battles that are not mentioned in Civil War books today.  LeRoy learned that not everything he read was true.  His diary allows us to see how civilians processed slow—and often incorrect---news.  

LeRoy was happy about secession.  He loved Jefferson Davis, although his support for Davis waned by the end of the war.  On the other hand, he despised Georgia governor Joseph E. Brown, saying that Brown’s rule was like living under a dictatorship.  LeRoy mocked Lincoln and Union soldiers, which was a common thing to do.  His views during the first year of the conflict probably reflected his father’s.  

LeRoy was very interested in how Georgia troops were doing at the front.  His father was in the home guard.  Sherman’s campaign is well covered in the diary.  LeRoy doesn’t discuss slavery, although he does describe how plantation crops supported the family home.  He was born into a slave society, and never knew anything else.  There were 93 slaves on the Gresham plantations, and eight in the Macon household.  LeRoy mentions many of them by name—he obviously felt affection for them.

When Confederate defeat became imminent, Leroy became depressed.  At the same time, the pain he suffered was becoming horrendous.  He had to take more morphine to relieve it.  He was also becoming weaker, with his “good” leg beginning to draw up and becoming useless.  Near the end of the diary, his mother’s handwriting begins to replace his own.  His last entry is from June 9^th, nine days before he died.  

In the end, Leroy’s chronicle of the demise of the Old South eerily paralleled his own decline and death.

March 1865: The United States was at a crossroads and, truth be told, Abraham Lincoln was a sick man. “I am very unwell,” he confided to a close acquaintance. A vast and terrible civil war was winding down, leaving momentous questions for a war-weary president to address. A timely invitation from General U. S. Grant provided the impetus for an escape to City Point, Virginia, a journey from which Abraham Lincoln drew much more than he ever expected. Lincoln’s Greatest Journey: Sixteen Days that Changed a Presidency, March 24 – April 8, 1865, by Noah Andre Trudeau offers the first comprehensive account of a momentous time.

Lincoln traveled to City Point, Virginia, in late March 1865 to escape the constant interruptions in the nation’s capital that were carrying off a portion of his “vitality,” and to make his personal amends for having presided over the most destructive war in American history in order to save the nation. Lincoln returned to Washington sixteen days later with a renewed sense of purpose, urgency, and direction that would fundamentally shape his second term agenda

Mr. Trudeua will reveal the details of Lincoln’s journey when he speaks to the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable (BCWRT) and the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable (CCWRT) at our joint banquet on Tuesday, April 23, 2019. The banquet will be held at the Columbus Gardens, 4301 Klosterman Ave, Baltimore (Nottingham), Maryland 21236. The Cocktail Hour begins at 6 p.m. with the Dinner starting at 7 p.m. Ticket are $35.00 per person. See the flyer link for more details.

Notes from the President April 2019

Our Annual Banquet is almost upon us! Noted Civil War Historian and author Noah Andre Trudeau will be the banquet speaker, which will again we held at Columbus Gardens on April 23, 2019. Mr. Trudeau’s topic will center on his latest book: Lincoln’s Greatest Journey: Sixteen Days That Changed a Presidency, March 24-April 8, 1865. We will be joined by the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable in presenting this event. Tickets are $35.00. Cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m. with dinner beginning at 7 p.m. Please see the flyer listed below.

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.

Baltimore Civil War Roundtable Secretary Lee Hodges will look into the life of Judah P. Benjamin at our July 23 meeting.  Benjamin was successively Attorney General, Secretary of War and Secretary of State in CSA president Jefferson Davis's cabinet.

Most CW enthusiast know there is a Dunker church on the Antietam battlefield. Few know anything about the history of the church and their members.  Authors Alann D. Schmidt and Terry W. Barkley will alleviate that situation as they discuss their new book; September Mourn: The Dunker Church of Antietam. This will be our August 27 meeting.

Staying with the Civil War in Western Maryland: Many people are familiar with the highly circulated picture of CSA soldiers marching through Frederick, Maryland circa July, 1864. Our September 24 meeting features Civil War photography researchers Erik Davis and Paul Bolcik will present their modern research on "Frederick, MD and its famous Confederate photo".

On November 26, Frederick County CWRT Secretary and owner of Dyson Genealogy and Historical Research Gary L. Dyson returns to BCWRT to discuss his book    "A Civil War Correspondent in New Orleans". The book tells the story of Boston Journal correspondent Albert Gaius Hill as he covered the New Orleans campaign of 1862.

Local American History author Cory M. Pfarr will reflect on his latest work Longstreet at Gettysburg: A Critical Reassessment during our meeting on December 10. 

Our July and October meetings are still being finalized.

Reminder: Membership has it’s privileges…and joys. Urge your friends to join the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable.  Also, renew you membership if you haven’t already paid your annual dues.

Our April meeting was our 422^nd and was our Annual Banquet.  The banquet was attended by members of both the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable and the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable.  Our speaker was Noah Andre Trudeau.  Mr. Trudeau discussed Abraham Lincoln’s stay at City Point, Virginia, in late March and early April of 1865.  He is the author of Lincoln’s Greatest Journey: Sixteen Days that Changed a Presidency, March 24—April 8, 1865.

Mr. Trudeau explained in detail the detective work that he had to do in order to make sure that his account of Lincoln’s time at City Point was accurate.  The sources had to be examined critically and did not always check out.  For example, his research led him to conclude that the account of William H. Crook, published in 1895, was inaccurate.  Mr. Trudeau also discussed the reliability of accounts by three people who spent time with Lincoln—John Sanford Barnes, captain of the USS Bat, which was assigned to provide security for the president, Samuel H. Beckwith, Grant’s main telegrapher, who also served as Lincoln’s personal telegrapher from March 29^th to April 8^th, and Charles Penrose, a commissary specialist who accompanied the president.  Penrose, according to Mr. Trudeau, was the most problematic source of the three.  

Lincoln’s being at City Point was not big news at the time.  During the early morning of March 25^th, while Lincoln was spending his first night sleeping there, the Confederates launched a surprise attack.  The Army of the Potomac did a great job of repelling it, and later that day Lincoln reviewed the troops.  Grant went to the front on March 29^th, but rain slowed his progress.  By the 31^st, Lincoln realized that the end of the war was much closer than it seemed.  So he decided to hang around City Point.  

The 31^st was, according to Mr. Trudeau, a major day in Lincoln’s presidency.  Originally, the War Department left it to the press to provide battle summaries.  But then they decided to provide annotated summaries themselves.  Lincoln personally annotated war bulletins and continued to do so over the next few days.  These had a seismic effect on the nation—they were referred to in the newspapers with glowing headlines, such as “The President to the People.”  It was said that they had as big an effect as the Emancipation Proclamation.  They were clearly important.  

Lincoln reached Richmond on April 4^th.  Contrary to what was claimed by Bill O’Reilly, he did not land at Rockett’s Wharf, but at 17^th and Dock Streets, a mile west of Rockett’s.  During his initial coming ashore, Lincoln was not received as if he were Jesus.  There was a lot of anxiety among those guarding him, and the crowds were small.  The logbook of the USS Malvern shows that a group of Marines was detached to accompany him.   According to Mr. Trudeau, Lincoln was probably mobbed by African Americans on April 5^th, rather than the 4^th.  

On April 8^th, Lincoln went to the Depot Field Hospital to personally visit 5-6,000 wounded soldiers.  He was originally directed toward one of the kitchens, but he said he came to “…take by the hand the men who have achieved our glorious victories.”  For four to five hours, he touched them—including those in the tent who were too sick to come out.  He treated the wounded Confederates who were there the same way.  This was, according to Mr. Trudeau, a profound moment of his presidency.  

After the last battles and army demobilizations of the Civil War, the long period of rebuilding the USA began. Under the presidency of Andrew Johnson, the political infighting along with terrorism, riots, land grabs, etc. made the country seemingly almost as tumultuous as during the war itself. During this chaos, the administration of U.S. Grant emerged.

In The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant: Preserving the Civil War’s Legacy, historian Paul Kahan focuses on the unique political, economic, and cultural forces unleashed by the Civil War and how Grant addressed these issues during his tumultuous two terms as chief executive. A timely reassessment, The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant sheds new light on the business of politics in the decade after the Civil War and portrays an energetic and even progressive executive whose legacy has been overshadowed by both his wartime service and his administration’s many scandals.

Dr. Paul Kahan is an expert on the political, diplomatic, and economic history of the United States in the nineteenth century. He earned a Ph.D. in U.S. history from Temple University. Prior to that, Dr. Kahan earned an M.A. in Modern American History & Literature from Drew University and B.A.s in history and English from Alfred University. 

Dr. Kahan has published several other books, including "Eastern State Penitentiary: A History," "Amiable Scoundrel: Simon Cameron, Lincoln's Scandalous Secretary of War," and "The Bank War: Andrew Jackson, Nicholas Biddle, and the Fight for American Finance."

The Baltimore Civil War Roundtable will host Dr. Kahan’s presentation on Grant’s presidency on Tuesday, March 26, 2019 at the Parkville Senior Center, 8601 Harford Rd, Parkville, Md. 21234. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m.

Notes from the President March 2019

Spring is here (at least according to the calendar). Just like the fighting armies emerging from winter quarters some 154 years ago, it’s time to Civil War enthusiasts to traverse Civil War sites, visit museums and attend BCWRT functions!

Our Annual Banquet is almost upon us! Noted Civil War Historian and author Noah Andre Trudeau will be the banquet speaker, which will again we held at Columbus Gardens on April 23, 2019. Mr. Trudeau’s topic will center on his latest book: Lincoln’s Greatest Journey: Sixteen Days That Changed a Presidency, March 24-April 8, 1865. We will be joined by the Chesapeake Civil War Roundtable in presenting this event. Tickets are $35.00. Cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m. with dinner beginning at 7 p.m. Please see the flyer listed below.

March 26, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. is the date and time for our next monthly 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.

Baltimore Civil War Roundtable Secretary Lee Hodges will look into the life of Judah P. Benjamin at our July 23 meeting.  Benjamin was successively Attorney General, Secretary of War and Secretary of State in CSA president Jefferson Davis's cabinet.

Most CW enthusiast know there is a Dunker church on the Antietam battlefield. Few know anything about the history of the church and their members.  Authors Alann D. Schmidt and Terry W. Barkley will alleviate that situation as they discuss their new book; September Mourn: The Dunker Church of Antietam. This will be our August 27 meeting.

Please see our Calendar of Events link to see additions meetings for 2019.

It is time to renew you membership in the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable. Please renew today. Additionally, encourage the Civil War interest in your family and friends by having them join. Let them know what they are missing!

Our March meeting was our 421^st.  Our attendance was 17.  We had $2,438 in the bank, and another $315 to be deposited.  We had one visitor, who became a member.  We had only 23 people signed up as members.  87 people on lists from previous years were not signed up.  

Our speaker was Dr. Paul Kahan.  Dr. Kahan discussed Ulysses S. Grant’s presidency.  He is the author of The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant: Preserving the Civil War’s Legacy.  Dr. Kahan argued that although Grant was not a great president, he was not a bad one either.  Moreover, Grant’s presidency was an important one in American history.  Dr. Kahan noted that Grant himself was quite dissatisfied with his presidency.  In his final message to Congress, Grant acknowledged that much had not gone well, a very unusual admission for a president.  Moreover, his memoirs end in 1865, as if he had never become president at all.  

When Grant was president, the chief issue before the nation was Reconstruction.  Reconstruction was, according to Dr. Kahan, the Civil War by other means.  It was a thorough political and cultural transformation of the South.  At the end of the war, he noted, the South was not “destroyed” like, for example, Nazi Germany was at the end of WWII.  There was no clear plan for Reconstruction when Lincoln was assassinated.  Although Republicans became extremely dissatisfied with President Andrew Johnson’s lenient policies toward the South, they needed someone to rally around.  Grant was their man—he was the most popular person in the North at the time.  In 1868, he was elected president, and was reelected in 1872.  

Grant had some notable accomplishments as president.  He did a great deal to protect the rights of African Americans in the South.  The Ku Klux Klan was effectively destroyed.  The Department of Justice was created, and the Treaty of Washington paved the way for the “special relationship” between the U.S. and Britain.  Additionally, violent conflict with Native Americans was substantially reduced.  

In his second term, however, difficulties began to multiply.  There was the Panic of 1873—known as the “Great Depression” before the 1930s.  Corruption scandals erupted--although Grant was not personally corrupt, and his administration was far from unique in this regard.  As the years went by, Grant had fewer and fewer troops to garrison the South, and support for protecting African American rights diminished in the North.  Grant’s Native American policies also began to crumble—for example, gold was discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota, resulting in whites trampling on land promised to the Natives.  

Dr. Kahan argued that Grant made mistakes in three principal areas.  He naively believed he could be above politics (Simon Cameron, former Secretary of War under Lincoln, turned out to be a key Grant ally as a U.S. senator from Pennsylvania).  His desire to annex Santo Domingo was misguided—he envisioned it as a sort of “quick fix” for America’s racial problems, a place where African Americans could move to.  Grant also made mistakes regarding economic policies.

Dr. Kahan ended by asking the question: Why was Grant’s presidency viewed so negatively in the past?  He ascribed this to the growth of the Lost Cause narrative, whose viewpoint can be seen in the famous films The Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind.  Grant was believed to have pushed too hard on Reconstruction.  During the 1960s, as a result of the civil rights movement, historical views of Reconstruction began changing drastically.  However, this did not immediately help Grant, for the period was now seen as a series of missed opportunities.   It wasn’t until the 1990s that Grant’s papers became published, and largely because of them, historians now view his presidency much more favorably than before.  He wasn’t Lincoln but, according to Dr. Kahan, neither was he James Buchanan.  

The term Freemasonry concerns the teachings and practices of the secret fraternal order officially known as the Free and Accepted Masons, or Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. There are over 5 million members in the world today, mainly in the United States and other English –speaking countries.

Masonry was quite prominent during the Civil War, having started with the first colonial lodge in Philadelphia in 1730. Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Paul Revere and George Washington were among the revolutionary leaders who became masons.

Since membership in masonic lodges existed throughout the United States, it produced a unique relationship among masons on both sides of the North/South conflict.

Charles Matulewicz, Past Worshipful Master and current Fraternal Visitation Chairman at the Palestine Masonic Lodge #189 (Catonsville) will talk about Masonry during the Civil War in is presentation to the Baltimore Civil War roundtable on Tuesday, February 23.

In addition to his leadership roles with his lodge, Mr. Matulewicz has a leadership role in Trace International, Inc., billed as the ’Global Leader in Anti-Bribery Standard Setting and Shared Cost Compliance Solutions. He is the former Vice President of Sales of triCerat, Inc. He also serves on several non-profit boards focused on community service and child welfare. He attended the MBA program at Texas A&M University and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Temple University.

Mr. Matulewicz’s BCWRT presentation will be on Tuesday, February 23, 2019 at the Parkville Senior Center, 8601 Harford Rd, Parkville, Md. 21234. 

Notes from the President February 2019

The Encyclopedia Brittanica describes Freemasonry as,” the teachings and practices of the secret fraternal (men-only) order of Free and Accepted Masons, the largest worldwide secret society. Spread by the advance of the British Empire, Freemasonry remains most popular in the British Isles and in other countries originally within the empire……Freemasonry evolved from the guilds of stonemasons and cathedral builders of the Middle Ages. With the decline of cathedral building, some lodges of operative (working) masons began to accept honorary members to bolster their declining membership. From a few of these lodges developed modern symbolic or speculative Freemasonry, which particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries adopted the rites and trappings of ancient religious orders and of chivalric brotherhoods.”

Freemasonry played an important role in the lives of many Union and Confederate men, from officers to enlisted men. Charles Matulewicz, Past Worshipful Master at the Palestine Masonic Lodge #189 will provide insight into wartime masonry at our February 26 meeting.

Noted Civil War Historian and author Noah Andre Trudeau will be the speaker for the Annual Banquet  which will again we held at Columbus Gardens on April 23, 2019. Mr. Trudeau’s topic will center on his latest book: Lincoln’s Greatest Journey: Sixteen Days That Changed a Presidency, March 24-April 8, 1865. Tickets are $35.00. Cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m. with dinner beginning at 7 p.m. Please see the flyer listed below.

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.

Please see our Calendar of Events link to see additions meetings for 2019.

It is time to renew you membership in the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable. Please renew today. Additionally, encourage the Civil War interest in your family and friends by having them join. Let them know what they are missing!

Union Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman began his Savannah Campaign on November 15, 1864. Better known as Sherman’s March to the Sea, this military movement is still discussed, debated, and questioned about its effective and affective to this present day. University of Maryland History Professor Anne S. Rubin will explore various aspects this relatively short campaign to Savannah, Georgia (it ended on December 21, 1864), at the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable meeting on January 22.

Anne Sarah Rubin’s presentation uncovers and unpacks stories and myths about the March from a wide variety of sources, including African Americans, women, Union soldiers, Confederates, and even Sherman himself. Drawing her evidence from an array of media, including travel accounts, memoirs, literature, films, and newspapers, Rubin uses the competing and contradictory stories as a lens into the ways that American thinking about the Civil War have changed over time.

A member of the UMBC History Department since 2000, Prof. Rubin courses focus on the American Civil War, the U.S. South, nineteenth-century America, and digital history. Her book, Through the Heart of Dixie:  Sherman’s March and America, which explores the way Americans have remembered Sherman’s March, was published in 2014.  Her first book, A Shattered Nation: The Rise and Fall of the Confederacy, 1861-1868, won the 2006 Avery O. Craven book prize for the best book in Civil War history. The book focuses on Confederate nationalism and identity.

Prof. Rubin BCWRT presentation will be on Tuesday, January 22, 2019 at the Parkville Senior Center, 8601 Harford Rd, Parkville, Md. 21234.

Notes from the President January 2019

Happy New Year! It is my hope that all of you will have a prosperous and joyous 2019. I also hope that the Baltimore Civil War Roundtable will have great speakers, larger monthly meeting attendance, increased membership and wonderful activities in 2019.

I’m happy to announce that the noted Civil War Historian and author Noah Andre Trudeau will be the speaker for the Annual Banquet  which will again we held at Columbus Gardens on April 23, 2019. Mr. Trudeau’s topic will center on his latest book: Lincoln’s Greatest Journey: Sixteen Days That Changed a Presidency, March 24-April 8, 1865. Tickets are $35.00. Cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m. with dinner beginning at 7 p.m.

We will begin our meetings for 2019 on Tuesday January 22 with University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) History Professor Anne S. Rubin speaking on her book Through the Heart of Dixie: Sherman’s March and American Memory. The award winning Prof. Rubin teaches courses on the Civil War, American South, and the Nineteenth Century United States.

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.

Please see our Calendar of Events link to see additions meetings for 2019.

NOTE: Please visit Baltimore Civil War Roundtable on Facebook 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

Our January meeting was our 419^th.  Our attendance was 13.  We had one guest—Bryan Cheeseboro, our December speaker.  As of December 11^th, we had $1,746.17 in the bank and $25 to be deposited.  

Our speaker was Anne Sarah Rubin, Professor of History at UMBC.  Professor Rubin discussed her book entitled Through the Heart of Dixie: Sherman’s March and American Memory.  She wrote the book because she wanted to know what kinds of stories people have told about the march, and why they have told them.  

Over the decades, Sherman’s March has been a highly emotive subject.  As an example of this, Professor Rubin cited an event which took place in 1963.  John Lewis was to give a speech at the Lincoln Memorial, as part of the March on Washington.  As a means of showing student frustration at the slow pace of change, Lewis wanted to make a reference to the march, depicting the students as an army breaking down segregation.  That analogy, however, was considered too provocative—even though, as Rubin points out in her book, 99 years had passed since the march.  Lewis removed it before giving the speech.

Professor Rubin then discussed the nature of the march itself.  One big misconception is that there was a solid 50-mile front of Union troops marching through Georgia.  The truth is that 50 miles was only the distance between the extreme edges of the four columns the men typically marched in.  The army was more like, in her words, “…rows of stitches, with untouched spaces in between.”  Furthermore, most antebellum homes were not destroyed (most private homes in Atlanta had been left intact as well).

There were very few major engagements with Confederates during the march.  Sherman issued Special Field Orders No. 120, which directed his men to “forage liberally on the country,” but not to enter the homes of civilians, and to leave property alone if the army was left “unmolested.”   These orders were honored more in theory than in practice.  Sherman’s men behaved worse in South Carolina than in Georgia because they blamed South Carolina for the war.  

Sherman was basically a white supremacist.  Nevertheless, his army effectively became an army of liberation for African Americans in its path, freeing them from slavery.  At the same time, however, the treatment of African Americans by Sherman’s men varied greatly and was sometimes very cruel.

Professor Rubin also discussed the memoirs of George Quimby, which she has co-edited.  Quimby was born in Ohio in 1842, and enlisted in the 32^nd Wisconsin in 1862, at the age of 20.  He served as a scout during the march.  His memoir is very valuable because there aren’t many personal accounts by Union scouts.  It should be noted that scouts were not the same thing as spies.  Scouts went out in advance of the army, performing many important tasks.  They sometimes rode up to 70 miles a day.  Quimby generally treated civilians with respect.  African Americans helped him a lot, although it’s hard to gauge his attitude towards them from the memoirs.

Professor Rubin’s conclusion was that there is no one story of Sherman’s march.  Instead, it’s like a kaleidoscope—there are many different stories and points of view.