HARDTACK

       A Publication of the Indianapolis Civil War Round Table – September 2001

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        President – Dave Sutherland                                                                 Secretary – Dr. Betty Enloe

        Vice President – Dr. Lloyd Hunter                                                          Treasurer – Doug Wagner

                                                             Hardtack Editor – Debby Chestnut

       Distribution Managers – Dorothy Jones & Peg Bertelli                              Quiz Master – Tony Trimble

September 10, 2001

Monday – 7:30 p.m. at the Indiana Historical Society

450 W. Ohio St.

(Parking in lot north of the Society off New York St. – Please enter via Northeast Door)

The Confederate Secret Service

In Canada

Presented by Nikki Schofield

Nikki will portray Mrs. Susan Pendleton Lee, wife of General Edwin Gray Lee, head of the Confederate Secret Service in Canada during the last four months of the war.  Susan Pendleton was the oldest sister of Sandie Pendleton, chief of staff for General Stonewall Jackson, and the daughter of General William Nelson Pendleton, chief of artillery for General Robert E. Lee, second cousin to her husband.

Mrs. Pendleton Lee will tell about the exploits of the Confederate Secret Service before and during her residence in Canada.  Among the stories Susan will relate are the New York Draft Riots in July l863; the Bank Raid in St. Albans, Vermont in October l864; the battle on Lake Erie to capture the U.S.S. Michigan; the plot to burn New York city in November l864; and dealings with John Harrison Surratt, one of the Lincoln conspirators.

Nikki Schofield is past president of the Indianapolis Civil War Round Table, past Hardtack editor, and longtime secretary of the ICWRT.  She has been the law librarian at Bingham, Summers, Welsh & Spilman since l974.  She plans to retire to Lexington, Virginia.

DINNER AT SHAPIRO’S

All members and guests are invited to Shapiro’s Deli at 5:30 p.m. to enjoy dinner and fellowship prior to the meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 


           

 

 

 

 

 

New Addition to the Ayer Family

 

            Tom and Bridget Ayer are the proud parents of a new baby girl.  Mary Elizabeth Ayer was born at 3:43 p.m. on June 28.  She was 7 lbs., 13 oz.  She has lovely blue eyes and black hair. What a welcomed addition.  Tom and Bridget would like to thank everyone for the thoughts and prayers.

 

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The General’s Cup Award

          The General’s Cup award was originated by the Indianapolis Civil War Round Table in l987.  It was presented that year to Rudolph Harle to recognize his part in the founding of the round table in l955.  The award also had another significance attached to it.  The round table wished to demonstrate its appreciation to one who had given his “constant support and guidance through the years.” 

At the June meeting, the Indianapolis Civil War Round Table was honored to present this award to its fifth recipient, Tom Krasean.  Tom’s membership spans thirty-six years, beginning in l965. He is one of only three members who served for three terms as president: 1970-71, 1979-80, and l993-94.  He also served as Hardtack editor 1967-71; Secretary 1968-69; Vice President l969-70.  He was a recipient of the Robert C. Harman Memorial Award in l971 and the Colonel Howard H. Bates Memorial Award in l996.  He was Co-Chairperson for the l9th Annual Mid-West Civil War Round Table Conference in 2000.

We have had the privilege of hearing him speak numerous times. He always delights his audience with his humor.  Tom has more than fulfilled the requirement of providing “constant support and guidance through the years” to the organization he loves, and who loves him.  Congratulations, Tom!

 

 

Text Box: From the Board 

 


President

       By vote of the Executive Board of the ICWRT during the 2000-2001 campaign, a new position was created on the Board titled “Battlefield Preservation Officer.”  It is an appointed office with full board privileges. There was such a response to this office that the Board decided to set up a committee.  The Battlefield Preservation Committee is made up of the following members: Ray Shortridge/Tom Ayer/Andy O’Donnell/Harold Johnson.  Duties of this committee will be:

1.      To be informed on current Civil War battlefield preservation needs.

2.      To develop a strategy to involve the resources of the Indianapolis Civil War Round Table

in battlefield preservation efforts.

3.      To make recommendations to the Executive Board for support of those efforts.

       The committee will have budgeted funds at the beginning of each campaign year with which to make allocation recommendations and the flexibility to make expenditure recommendations.

 
Hardtack Editor

            Hope everyone had time to do some exciting things this summer and ready for the 2001-2002 campaign. As this is only my second year as the Hardtack editor, I will always be open to suggestions that you may have.  I would like to continue with the “Ancestors” article this year but will definitely need your input. The response last campaign was not what I had expected. I know many of you have ancestors that served in the Civil War that just need to be recognized. Will also be looking for book reviews, interesting articles, etc. to place in the Hardtack.  You can contact me at the following:

Debby Chestnut, 441 S. Catherwood Ave., Indianapolis, 46219; E-Mail:  dchad@indy.net or chestnud@mail.ips.k12.in.us.  Phone:  356-5117 (home) or 226-4101 (work):Fax: 226-3444. Deadline for October Hardtack:  September 21.

 

Treasurer

          Just a reminder that enlistment for the 2001-2002 campaign is due. We still plan to deliver the Hardtack via E-mail for as many members as possible.  Our goal is to reduce the costs as much as possible so that funds can be used for other purposes.  Please make your E-mail address available to Dorothy Jones (joejones@iquest.net) and Doug Wagner (dougwag@msn.com).

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CIVIL WAR QUIZ

By Tony Trimble

 

1.      Who was the Civil War governor of Louisiana?  Where did he go after the war?

 

2.     What was the Lady Bell?  Where was it located?

 

3.     Name the Andersonville P.O.W. who became the reform mayor of Detroit in l890.

 

4.     What is a sap?

 

5.     Name the North Carolinian known as the “Boy Colonel of the Confederacy.”  What        

        happened to him?

 

 

 

Coming Events

¨       Through October 12, 2001 – Artwork and china painting of First Lady Caroline Harrison is on display at the President Benjamin Harrison Home. Exhibit included in the home tour.

¨       Camp Morton Civil War Show – October 27 – Indiana State Fairgrounds – Sat. Hours:

9:00 a.m. – Admission:  $5.00 – Children under 12 free with adult

¨       21st Annual Midwest Civil War Round Table Conference hosted by the Chicago and Milwaukee

CWRT’s – April 19-21 at Lisle, Illinois, 20 miles west of Chicago.  More information at a later date.

¨       June 24-28 – ICWRT Trip – Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Nikki Schofield has tentative agenda.

¨        

 

 

Civil War Ironclad USS Monitor Steam Engine Recovered

            For the first time in nearly 140 years, the engine of the shipwrecked Civil War Ironclad, USS Monitor, broke the surface of the Atlantic Ocean in a recovery mission carried out by scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Ocean Service.  The Monitor, designed by noted 19th century engineer John Ericsson, rests upside down on a sand-covered seafloor approximately 16 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C. in the waters of the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary.

            More than 150 divers from 17 commands logged more than 300 hours of bottom time on this mission.  The Navy, through the Legacy Foundation, provided $4.9 million to save the warship. A 400-ton crane hoisted the steam engine from 240 feet below the ocean’s surface to a waiting ferry barge and was transported to a 93,000 gallon steel tank at The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Va.

 More than 100 artifacts have been recovered this year alone, including a portion of what is believed to be Ericsson’s forced-air ventilation system.  A brass filigree wall sconce, several intact lantern chimneys, the engineer’s alarm bell and a completely intact engine room thermometer are among the other items retrieved. Plans to salvage the remainder of the ship are in progress. You can visit the Monitor website at http://www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov.

 

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A VISIT TO PERRYVILLE BATTLEFIELD STATE HISTORIC SITE

By Josef M. Laposa

A Memorial Day weekend visit to the Perryville, Kentucky Battlefield was very informative in understanding the importance of Kentucky during the Civil War.  In l861, President Lincoln wrote, “I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game.”  James McPherson, Pulitzer Prize Historian, has written, “It is scarcely an exaggeration to say the Confederacy would have won the war if it could have gained Kentucky, and conversely, that the Union’s success in retaining Kentucky as a base for invasions of the Confederate heartland brought eventual Union victory.”

The Battle of Perryville occurred on October 8, 1862 and was the largest Civil War battle in Kentucky.  Confederate Generals Braxton Bragg and Edmund Kirby Smith were being followed from Bardstown by Union General Don Carlos Buell toward Harrodsburg.  Central Kentucky had experienced a severe drought in l862 and both armies stopped near Perryville in search of water.  When General Philip Sheridan’s troops attacked the Arkansas regiment defending Doctor’s Creek at 3:00 a.m., the daylong battle commenced.

Of the approximate 40,000 troops involved in the Battle of Perryville, over 7,500 were killed or wounded.  In the words of Col. Michael Gooding, 22nd Indiana Infantry (70% fatalities), “the battle raged furiously, one after one, my men were cut down.”  A Confederate infantryman wrote, “The guns were discharged so rapidly it seemed earth itself was in a volcanic uproar.”  Monuments honoring the Confederate and Union fallen were erected in l901 and l932.  Perryville is viewed as a Confederate tactical victory and strategic defeat.  Bragg was forced to withdraw his outnumbered forces and thus ended any realistic effort by the Confederacy to annex Kentucky.

The Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site is located 10 miles SW of Harrodsburg on US 68, (approximately 190 miles from Indianapolis).  Civil War memorabilia is available at the Gift Shop and Battlefield Museum.  A guide for walking and driving the Battlefield and the surrounding area is inexpensive and invaluable.  An annual commemoration is held in early October.  Further information can be found at:  859-332-8631 or www.state.ky.us/agencies/parks/perryvil.

 

 

 

INDIANAPOLIS CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE

Campaign 2001-2002 Presenter’s & Speakers

 

MEETING DATES  PRESENTER                   SUBJECT

September 10, 2001                   Nikki Schofield             The Confederate Secret

                                                                                                                                        Service in Canada

 

            October 8, 2001             Bill Anderson                            The 19th Michigan

 

            November 12, 2001                    David Fraley                              The Battle of Franklin, TN

 

            December 10, 2001                    Dale Phillips                             Ben Butler and the Occupation

                                                                                                                of New Orleans

 

            January 14, 2002                       Dan Mitchell                             The Mississippi

 

            February 11, 2002                      Steve Jackson                           My Boys in Blue:  A Tribute

 

            March 11, 2002             Dick Skidmore                          John Hunt Morgan’s Raid in Indiana

                                                                                                           

            April 8, 2002                             Peter Carmichael                      TBA

 

            May 13, 2002                             Gary Ecelbarger             Frederick W. Lander: The Great

                                                                                                                Natural American Soldier

                                                                       

            June 10, 2002                           Herman Hattaway                     The Presidency of Jefferson Davis

 

 

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Membership Information

 

            The Indianapolis Civil War Round Table is a group of about 150 people that have an interest in the Civil War and preservation of Civil War sites.  We meet the second Monday of each month from September through June at the Indiana Historical Society.  Meetings begin at 7:30 p.m. with a brief business meeting followed by a speaker presenting a Civil War related subject.  Meeting adjourns about 9:00 p.m. Before our meetings, members interested in meeting the speaker are invited to dinner at Shapiro’s Deli at 808 S. Meridian St. The meeting area is in the room to the left of the cashier.  All members will receive a copy of the Round Table’s newspaper, Hardtack, each month.  Dues are listed below, along with a form to be mailed to our Treasurer, Doug Wagner. 

 

We hope to see some new faces for the 2001-2002 Campaign.                                                             

 

Tear off and include with your check

………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

ICWRT Enlistment for September 2001 through June 2002

 

Make Checks payable to “Indianapolis Civil War Round Table”

 

Name…………………………………………….  Date……………………..

 

Address……………………………………….       

 

             ……………………………………….

 

             ……………………………………….

 

        

Phone:……………………………Email:……………………………

 

Enlistment for September 2001 through June 2002:               $20.00       Individual

                                                                                    $25.00       Family

 

 

 

Please mail your check to:

 

D A Wagner

5245 Kathcart Way

Indianapolis, Indiana 46254

 

Phone:  317 328 4828

Email:  dougwag@msn.com