HARDTACK
A Publication
of the Indianapolis Civil War Round Table – October 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
October 8, 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 19th Michigan
Presented by Dr.
William M. Anderson
Dr. Anderson’s presentation will be told from a soldiers perspective, based on his book “They Died to Make Men Free: History of the l9th Michigan Infantry.” This history of the 19th Michigan is the best documented regimental from the standpoint of primary source material. When the second edition was completed, it included over 1,600 soldiers’ letters which had been located, the diaries in 161 letters written by Colonel Henry C. Gilbert, who organized and led the regiment until his death in May 1864, plus letters and diaries of two surgeons.
Dr. Anderson will highlight the regiment’s war experiences, including: Its hard-fought, five-hour engagement at Thompson’s Station, Tennessee, resulting in capture and imprisonment; the six-month sojourn through McMinnville, Tennessee, and its unique experience fighting guerrillas in a very unconventional war; the strained relations between soldiers and the commanding officer off the battlefield; and the Atlanta Campaign in which three successive commanders were casualties.
About the Speaker: Dr. Anderson is a noted historian and educator who presently serves as the Director of the Department of History, Arts, and Libraries for the State of Michigan. Although officially retired from a long and illustrious career in higher education, Bill “vacated” his retirement to help his state launch its new program in history and culture. He has spent thirty-three years in Academe as an instructor, Division chair, Academic Dean, Vice President, and President. For twenty-one of those years, he held presidencies at Illinois’s Carl Sandburg College and at West Shore Community College in Michigan. A veteran of the 4th Armored Division, Bill has authored four books, two on the Civil War and two on baseball. In addition, he has written sixteen articles, reviewed numerous books, and served his state as the President of the Michigan Historical Society and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Michigan Humanities Council. He has been asked to write the forward to a book being published by Wayne State University Press on the letters of Surgeon John Bennett of the 19th Michigan.
Please be sure to bring a friend to hear our guest speaker.
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.
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Hardtack Editor
Please
send book reviews, interesting articles, etc. to place in the Hardtack to 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 November Hardtack: October 25.
Treasurer
Just a reminder that enlistment for the
2001-2002 campaign is due. Please mail your check to: D.A. Wagner, 5245 Kathcart Way, Indianapolis, IN 46254.
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).
__________________________________________________
CIVIL WAR QUIZ
By Tony
Trimble
1. What regiment was commanded by Col. Wallace B. Colbert? Where did he die?
2. Name the Kentuckian who commanded an Illinois regiment and became the lst
governor of Colorado?
3. What was the nickname of the brigade commanded by General Harry T. Hays?
4. Name the horse ridden by Capt. Andrew Hickenlooper, whose performance made
him famous at Shiloh.
5. By what common name is the Billinghurst-Requa Gun generally known?
Answers to Sept. Quiz: 1) Thomas O. Moore;
Mexico & Cuba; 2)8 ton Dahlgren gun; Largest at Fort Donelson; 3) Hazen S.
Pingree; 4) A zigzag trench
connecting a series of parallels used to advance on an enemy fortification; 5)
Henry K. Burgwyn, Jr., killed at Gettysburg
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.
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Civil
War Materials for Sale
Nancy Niblack Baxter
has discovered a “cache” of rare, mint quality copies of the “blue” first
edition of Gallant Fourteenth: The Story
of an Indiana Civil War Regiment.
These have never been sold. She
will sell autographed copies of these collector’s copies for $20 each, half
going to the Indianapolis CWRT. Order
by phone from Guild Press, 317-733-4175.
Guild Press will
release a DVD of Civil War records:
Army OR, Fox’s Regimental Losses, Dyer’s Compendium, Navy OR, Campaigns
of the Civil War, The Confederate Generals Speak, Confederate Military History,
Southern Historical Society Papers and, exclusively available in the US the new
Medical and Surgical Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. All in electronic format and fully
searchable on ONE DISK. Cost is $200,
but call for special CWR discounts.
Guild
Press’ next spring Civil War release was three years in the writing: Injustice
on Trial: Second Bull Run, General Fitz
John Porter’s Court Martial and the Schofield Board Investigation That Restored
His Good Name by Curt Anders. No
comprehensive look at the Porter trial has been done since the fifties. The very rare Schofield hearings from the
l870’s had to be copied by hand by Anders from one of the few extant copies at
West Point.
A
Gettysburg Adventure With Our Grandson
By
Joe and Dorothy Jones
In
August we took our grandson, Ben, to Gettysburg. Ben is 11 and has some interest in history, but not, of course,
enough to prepare for the visit, other than reading a couple of magazine
articles. Joe and I have been to
Gettysburg before. We arrived late in
an afternoon and showed Ben the cemetery and an overall view of the
battlefield. The next morning we were
at the Visitor’s Center early, but not early enough to get a guide till
11:30. So we went to the Cyclorama and
the Electric Map. We looked at the museum in the Center for awhile where Ben
was especially interested in the video showing how to load and fire a Napoleon.
About
11:00 our name came up for a guide. For
$35 a guide will drive your car and take you through all three days of the
battle. We asked our guide, Jack, to
gear his talk to Ben, which he did very well.
Joe and I learned some new things also.
Jack was not able to settle the argument about the famous photograph of
the Confederate sharpshooter in the Devil’s Den. Nor what was done with all the dead horses. We also learned that John Burns, private
citizen, was actually shot 7 times on July 1st. He joined the lst Corps, but was not in
uniform. When he was found wounded by
the Confederates, he explained he was just going to get his wife, who was
visiting a sick sister, and got in the way of the battle. He was 78 years old.
Our
tour was close to 3 hours long. After a quick lunch, Ben and Joe joined a
ranger talk on the highwater mark of the battle. I should mention the temperature was in the 90’s and this talk
was really a 2 hour walk, mostly in the sun, and was a very detailed picture of
the clash around the grove of trees.
Ben took it all in. It was 5:00
when they finished.
We
gave Ben the choice of an early dinner and a swim in the pool, or a quick drive
around the battlefield and a ranger talk at the campfire. We were surprised that he chose the
campfire. We did fit in a good
dinner. The ranger talk was on letters
home from Union and Confederate soldiers at Gettysburg. It was quite interesting.
The
next morning we were to leave for Lancaster County, but Ben wanted to hear two
more ranger talks on the Peach Orchard and Wheat Field and on Little Round
Top. Ben was much taken by Gen. Sickles
losing his leg in the Wheat Field the second day. The fact that Sickles
frequently visited his leg at the Medical Museum in Washington greatly tickled
Ben. I think we have Ben hooked on the Civil War.
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Civil
War Education Association Calendar of Events
The following tours will be offered through the
CWEA for October and November:
Ø
Abraham
Lincoln’s Washington: A Field Tour of the Anderson Cottage, Fort
Stevens, Ford’s Theatre, Walter Reed Army Medical Center Museum, the Capitol,
Old Senate Chamber, Library of Congress, Treasury Building, Washington Navy
Yard and the Lincoln Memorial. October 11-13, Alexandria, VA with David E. Long
(Thursday 8:00
p.m.-Saturday 9:00 p.m.)
$295-includes Friday & Saturday lunches and Saturday dinner.
Ø
Great
Cities of the Civil War: NEW
ORLEANS, October 17-20, New Orleans, LA with Charles P. Roland, Dale K.
Phillips and William de Marigny Hyland (Wednesday 7:30 p.m.-Saturday 8:30 p.m.)
$395 – includes Wednesday PM reception, 3 lunches and Saturday dinner.
Ø
Gettysburg: The Defense of Cemetery
Ridge-A Walking Tour, October 26-27, Gettysburg, PA with Kent Masterson Brown (Friday 9:00 a.m.-Saturday 4:30
p.m.) $275 – includes Friday and Saturday lunch.
Ø
Richmond
Then and Now: A Walking Tour of North Anna, Pamunkey River sites,
Haw’s Shop and The western section of Downtown Richmond, Nov. 2-4, Richmond ,
VA with Robert E.L. Krick (Friday 8:00 p.m.-Sunday 12:00 N) $225 – includes Saturday
lunch and dinner.
Ø
Stones
River and the Tullahoma Campaign: A Field Tour, Nov. 8-10,
Mufreesboro, TN with
William Glenn Robertson (Thursday 8:00 p.m.-Saturday 4:30
p.m.) $275 – includes Friday and Saturday lunches.
For
more information phone: 800-298-1861 or e-mail: cwea@mnsinc.com
or www.cwea.net
INDIANAPOLIS CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE
Campaign
2001-2002 Presenters & 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: Then and Now
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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