Selected News Briefs from the
July issue of Civil War News
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Thousands To Take Part In July 4 Weekend Reenactment
The Gettysburg Anniversary Committee reported several weeks ago that more than 12,000 reenactors, 450 mounted cavalry and 100 full-size cannon were registered for the big July 4th weekend 145th anniversary Gettysburg Reenactment.
Spokesperson Andrea DiMartino said reenactors from across the United States and many foreign countries, including Canada, England, Ireland, Belgium, Germany and Australia, will attend. Eleven hundred reenactors from Texas-based Hood’s Division will travel two days and 1,500 miles with horses, artillery and wagons to take part in the reenactment.
The event will feature six major battles including a massive Pickett’s Charge on Sunday, with all 100 cannons on the field. Extensive pyrotechnics will be fired during all of the battles.
Two dedicated cavalry battles will give spectators the opportunity to view hundreds of horses and mounted cavalry actively engaged in combat with charges and counter-charges. In addition to daily battles the two popular Living History Activities Tents will offer a variety of daily continuous programs.
A Living History Village, a large Sutler Village and military camps will be open to the public.
On July 3 the Texas Confederates will reenact pre-battle history in Gettysburg when Gen. Jubal A. Early’s Division, on their way to destroy the Susquehanna River bridges, rode into the town of Gettysburg demanding supplies, merchandise and cash.
The Gettysburg 145th National Civil War Reenactment will be held on the Redding Farm three miles north of Gettysburg on Table Rock Road.
Gates open at 8:30 a.m. each day and reserved seating is available in advance. Event information and tickets are available at www.gettysburgreenactment.com or (717) 338-1525. Also see the ad on the back page of the Gettysburg Section.
Wednesday Night Tours Visit 8 Historic Churches
Historic Church Walking Tours will give an in-depth look at eight churches in historic Downtown Gettysburg on alternating Wednesday evenings until mid-August. Four churches are visited each week.
The East Tour features Gettysburg Presbyterian, Trinity United Church of Christ, United Methodist (GAR hall location) and St. James Lutheran on July 2, 16 and 30 and Aug. 13.
The West Tour churches are Prince of Peace Episcopal, St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic, St. Paul’s AME Zion and Christ Lutheran on June 25, July 9 and 23 and Aug. 6 and 20.
For four years, Historic Church Walking Tours has provided tours of these churches and told the role they played in the aftermath of the Gettysburg battle.
When it ended on July 3, 1863, armies left behind 22,000 wounded and dying soldiers. Like most of Gettysburg’s buildings, churches became surgical hospitals. Churches became scenes of both tragedy and heroism.
Visitors on the tours will see the pew in the Gettysburg Presbyterian Church where President Abraham Lincoln sat in the afternoon after giving the Gettysburg Address on Nov. 19, 1863.
Also, the stained-glass window at St. Francis Xavier given in tribute to the Sisters of Charity who ministered to the wounded and dying and 120 engraved stones and plaques dedicated to Union and Confederate soldiers in the Prince of Peace Episcopal Church’s bell tower.
Tour times are 6 and 6:30 p.m. Tours take approximately 90 minutes and begin in front of the Gettysburg Presbyterian Church, 208 Baltimore St.
Free parking is available at the rear. No reservations are required. The charge is $5 over age 12. Tickets sales begin 30 minutes prior to each tour.
For more information, visit www.historicchurchwalkingtours.org or call (717) 334-9013. Special group tours during any season of the year can be arranged by calling (717) 337-0733.
USCC Museum & 14th Connecticut Plan Aug. 9 Event
The U.S. Christian Commission Museum and the 14th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry living history and preservation organization will host a living history event from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 9.
The “Meet the third Chamberlain that served at Little Round Top … John, delegate of the USCC” event will be held at the museum, which is in the 1820s home of Jennie Wade at 242 Baltimore St.
The museum is the first in the country dedicated to telling the story of faith during the Civil War.
Gettysburg will be brought to life during this first annual living history event. Amidst a backdrop of tents, soldier quarters and wagons on Wade Avenue and inside the house, stories of faith and courage of the Commission delegates’ work at Gettysburg will be told.
Presentations on the life of the common soldier, Civil War cooking and medicine and period music will be given throughout the day.
The day is free and groups are welcome. Parking will be available at the Gettysburg Middle School parking lot. For information call (717) 339-0339.
CWPT Invites Entries For ’08 Digital Photo Contest
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) has announced rules for a new, all digital photography contest sponsored by The History Channel and the Center for Civil War Photography (CCWP).
The national competition will promote appreciation of America’s rich Civil War heritage. For the first time, all entries will be submitted digitally via an online interface, allowing more people to participate than ever before.
In addition to showcasing modern images, the contest is designed to encourage closer study of images taken during the conflict. CCWP, a nonprofit group dedicated to educating the public about Civil War photography and its role in the conflict, sponsors the competition’s “Then and Now” category.
Amateur photographers are invited to submit Civil War-related photos in four different categories: Civil War Battlefields, People on Civil War Battlefields, Preservation Threats and Then and Now.
The winner of each category will receive a one-year membership (or membership extension) to CWPT and a plaque. The Grand Prize winner will receive free registration to CWPT’s 2009 annual conference, “The Fields of Gettysburg.” Second- and third-place winners will receive certificates of recognition.
All winning images will be featured in CWPT publications and on www.civilwar.org. Additionally, the winner of the “Then and Now” category will receive a free registration to the Center for Civil War Photography’s 2009 Image of War seminar.
All submissions to the contest must be uploaded to the CWPT site at www.flickr.com/groups/cwpt. Participants must be amateur photographers at least 13 years old. The deadline for entries is Aug. 31.
For complete contest rules and instructions on how to enter, visit CWPT online at www.civilwar.org/photocontest.
Medical Museum Hosting Weekly Summer Lectures
FREDERICK, Md. – The National Museum of Civil War Medicine is presenting a free lecture series at 7:30 p.m. every Thursday in July and August.
The series will begin on July 3 with a presentation by museum Executive Director George Wunderlich titled “Sex in the Civil War,” which will include display of a rare Civil War era contraceptive device.
Other speakers are:
July 10, The Real Story of Barbara Fritchie, Steven Stotelmyer
July 17,Women in the Civil War, Betsy Estilow
July 24, Battle of Monocacy, Marc Leepson
July 31, Civil War Wounds, Ed Bearss
Aug. 07, Flags of the Civil War, Robert Hartman
Aug. 14, Technology of the Civil War Era, Dr. Robert Slawson
Aug. 21, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Robert Hess
Aug. 28, Civil War Quilting, Mavis Slawson
Monocacy Campaign Weekend
FREDERICK, Md. — On July 12 and 13 Monocacy National Battlefield will host “A Soldier’s Life on Campaign” living history event at the Gambrill Mill Farm.
The programs, which begin at 10 a.m., will feature Union and Confederate encampments similar to those during Gen. Jubal Early’s raid on Washington. Artillery demonstrations will be given at 1 p.m. on both days, with infantry demonstrations throughout the day.
Grant Supports Programs At Five Forks Battlefield
PETERSBURG, Va. — The National Park Service recently received a $5,000 “George P. McClelland Legacy Grant” from the Tawani Foundation, in cooperation with the Civil War Preservation Trust.
The grant is being used to provide a hands-on Civil War learning experience for classroom students as well as visitors to the Five Forks Visitor Contact Station that will open next year at Petersburg National Battlefield.
With the grant the park purchased two complete replica Union Zouave uniforms identical to those worn by the 155th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, fighting at Five Forks on April 1, 1865.
Capt. George P. McClelland, commander of Co. F of the 155th Pennsylvania Reserves Regiment, was wounded at Five Forks and awarded the rank of Brevet-Major for his leadership and bravery on the field of battle.
One replica uniform and accompanying equipment is available in a “traveling trunk” to be used in school classrooms. The trunk includes copies of letters McClelland sent his family from the vicinity of Petersburg and related educational materials such as a teachers’ guide.
The second Zouave uniform and equipment will be on display at the Five Forks Visitor Contact Station.
Referred to as the “Waterloo of the Confederacy,” the Battle of Five Forks had a significant impact on bringing the war to a conclusion. Eight days after the battle, Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House.
The Tawani Foundation of Chicago provides funding to organizations that further awareness of the importance of America’s citizen soldiers and their role in the preservation of democracy.
Sale Of Oak Saplings From Lee Tree Helps Battlefields
BEAVER DAM, Va. — First-generation White Oak saplings from the Lee Tree are being sold for the benefit of battlefield preservation.
Tradition holds that Gen. Robert E. Lee met with staff officers under a 300-year-old White Oak in June 1862 during the Seven Days Battle of Gaines’ Mill and that the tree once shaded Fairfield, a former Gaines family home not far from the old mill site.
In 2002, a third of the tree’s crown fell and dozens of volunteers harvested and stored the final crop of acorns. In 2003 Hurricane Isabel toppled what remained of the tree. With the help of the Virginia Division of Forestry, the acorns were sorted, culled and germinated.
The Douglas Southall Freeman Branch of the Virginia Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities Preservation Virginia sold 266 trees in the last year. "People are not buying a tree, per se. They are making a donation to a cause," said project manager Arthur H. Taylor III.
“We appeal to those who wish to grow a duplicate of the Lee Tree so that future generations may honor General Lee as well as remember those who long ago answered the call for the Southern Cause.”
All net profits support the branch’s Civil War Battlefield Preservation Fund. Donations have already been made to save battlefields at Cold Harbor, Beaver Dam Creek, Bethesda Church and Pole Green Church, among others.
The 14-18-inch saplings are $60 each, including packaging and shipping, or $50 if picked up in Virginia. Checks payable to DSF Branch-AVPA may be mailed to Capt. Wm. Latane Camp #1690 SCV, c/o Art Taylor, 15548 Tyler Station Rd., Beaver Dam VA 23015-1413.
For information write tee1776@hotmail.com or go to www.apva.org
CWPT Teacher Institute
HAGERSTOWN, Md. — The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) will host its Seventh Annual Teacher Institute from July 25-27 in Hagerstown.
The free weekend lets teachers share ideas, hear lectures by top historians and tour Antietam National Battlefield or Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. Sessions will include teaching techniques, introducing primary sources, using modern technology to teach history and the upcoming 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
Thanks to author Jeff Shaara, the John J. Pohanka Family Foundation and other donors, CWPT is able to offer a limited number of stipends of up to $1,500 each to help defray lodging and transportation costs.
For information call (301) 665-1400, e-mail info@civilwar.org or click on www.civilwar.org/historyclassroom/hc_anntechinst.htm.
Cartwright Resigns In Franklin
FRANKLIN, Tenn. — The Williamson Herald reported that Thomas Cartwright has resigned from the Carter House after 19 years, most recently as executive director.
Cartwright said he plans to do consulting, guide historical and battlefield tours and finish the book he is doing about Civil War mascots.
A native of Nashville, he said he grew up hearing stories about his great-grandfather who fought at the Battle of Franklin. As a young child he visited Franklin’s McGavock Confederate Cemetery at Carnton Plantation and returned as an 8-year-old for the battle’s centennial and a tour of the Carter House.
David Fraley, who was the Carter House historian and assistant curator, will fill Cartwright’s job until a new director is hired.
Fort Delaware Archives
DELAWARE CITY, Del. — The Fort Delaware Society Archives & Library at 33 Staff Lane, Fort DuPont State Park in Delaware City, will be open to visitors without appointment from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays, July 5, Aug. 2 and Sept. 6.
A society member will assist with research questions about soldiers, civilians, prisoners and guards on Pea Patch Island, site of Fort Delaware, where Confederate prisoners were housed. For information go to www.fortdelaware.org
Boscobel GAR Event In August
BOSCOBEL, Wis. — The 15th annual Muskets & Memories Civil War Era Reenactment and GAR Heritage Encampment on Aug. 2-3 will focus attention on Boscobel's John McDermott Post #101, Grand Army of the Republic Hall.
It is the last active hall in Wisconsin and one the country’s few GAR halls in continuous use. The hall will be open for tours during the weekend. The Women's Relief Corps, Post #32, which has been primarily responsible for its continuing operation since the demise of the GAR, and L.G. Armstrong Camp #49, Sons of Union Veterans, meet there.
The weekend will also feature battle reenactments, medical and military demonstrations, family events and band concerts. Members of the American Civil War Shooting Assn. will host life-fire matches, cannon competition and a Gatling Gun demonstration at the club.
Longstreet Hotel Restoration
GAINESVILLE, Ga. — With Gen. James Longstreet’s Piedmont Hotel restored, the Longstreet Society is seeking help to furnish its office there and get ready to open to the public.
In addition to such things as office furnishings the society could use yard maintenance tools, fireplace screens, porch rockers, folding chairs and window treatments. The society also has a $65,000 mortgage to pay on the building.
Anyone interested in helping should contact president Richard Pilcher at 770-539-9005 or rpilcher@charter.net.
Lexington Lincoln Events
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Lexington’s celebration of the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth in Kentucky will begin the weekend of Aug. 8. Lexington was home to Lincoln’s mentor Henry Clay and his wife Mary Todd.
Special events, including an encampment and reenactment, vintage dance ball and celebration of Emancipation Day, are planned from Aug. 9 through Sept. 21 when an exhibit on the life of Lincoln, “Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation,” will be on display at the Central Library Gallery.
Lincoln Letters Online
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The University of Rochester has scanned and put online 72 letters Abraham Lincoln wrote that are in its archives. Transcriptions, essays and lesson plans accompany them.
According to an Associated Press story Lincoln discussed buying slaves’ freedom for $400 each under a gradual emancipation plan that would be cheaper than war. For example, it would cost $719,200 to buy Delaware’s 1,798 slaves, but the war was costing $2 million a day, Lincoln wrote in March 1862.
The archives include another 215 letters sent to Lincoln by such people as U.S. Grant and Andrew Johnson. The letters were in a collection belonging to Secretary of State William H. Seward and donated to the university by his grandson and namesake between 1949 and 1987.
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