Civil Warriors

From today’s Kansas City Star:

3-day Kansas event to honor black Civil War soldiers

A group that publicizes Kansas history is planning a three-day celebration in Topeka next month to mark the 150th anniversary of the formation of the first unit of black soldiers to go into battle during the Civil War.

The Kansas Fever Committee plans to have events starting August 3. The site will be Cushinberry Park, near the national historic site dedicated to the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic Brown v. Board decision in 1954 declaring segregated schools unconstitutional.

The celebration will honor the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers, which formed in 1862 and went into its first battle in Missouri in October 1862.

The full story is here.

The Richmond Howitzers, firing from one of the Confederate artillery positions on Malvern Hill, on a VERY hot 150th anniversary of the battle. (Click on image to watch the video.)

BIG thank you to Petersburg park historian James Blankenship and the rest of his gun crew, not least for the bottle of water they kindly provided the lone spectator who was brave/foolish enough to venture out to their position in the middle of the afternoon heat.

I think I may be among the last to learn of this, but if not, readers of this blog will no doubt be saddened to learn that it was recently announced that the University of Missouri Press will be phased out of existence beginning next month.

University of Missouri Press is closing
By Janese Silvey

Columbia Daily Tribune
Published May 24, 2012

University of Missouri Press is closing after more than five decades of operation, UM System President Tim Wolfe announced this morning.

The press, which publishes about 30 books a year, will begin to be phased out in July, although a more specific timeline has not been determined.

Ten employees will be affected. Clair Willcox, editor in chief, declined to comment but did note that neither he nor any of the staff knew about the change before a midmorning meeting.

In a statement, Wolfe said even though the state kept funding to the university flat this year, administrators “take seriously our role to be good stewards of public funds, to use those funds to achieve our strategic priorities and re-evaluate those activities that are not central to our core mission.”

The rest of the story can be found here.

To anyone with an interest in Civil War history, this is very sad news. The list of distinguished works in the field published by Missouri–primarily from the Shades of Blue and Gray series my doctoral advisor Herman Hattaway has co-edited for the past decade–as well as in Truman, Missouri, and sports history, is too long to be recounted here, but here are some representative titles of interest to readers of this blog:

There is an effort underway to save the press, but it does not look it is making too much impression on the powers that be.

I find it rather odd that Truman State University can maintain a press but the state’s flagship institution cannot; why not consolidate them into a University Press of Missouri the way it is done in Kansas? I would not disagree with the notion that in these times a consolidation of the university press industry might be in order, but it is anything but a badge of honor to be a resident of the only state (that I know of; someone correct me if I am wrong on this?) that lacks a major university press.

I am by no means blind to the forces at work in the publishing world that contributed to this development, but it seems rather clear that if the state of Missouri can find the money to underwrite football teams at a half dozen public universities, that it could save the university press at its flagship campus. But I guess those are the priorities in higher education these days. Not shocking, but sad.

. . . the 150th anniversary of the day the guy on the left side of the picture probably should have ducked.

From Johnston, Narrative of Military Operations, pp. 138-40.

About seven o’clock I received a slight wound in the right shoulder from a musket-shot, and, a few moments after, was unhorsed by a heavy fragment of shell which struck my breast. Those around had me borne from the field in an ambulance; not, however, before the President, who was with General Lee, not far in the rear, had heard of the accident and visited me, manifesting great concern, as he continued to do until I was out of danger. The firing ceased, terminated by darkness only, before I had been carried a mile from the field. As next in rank, Major-General G.W. Smith succeeded in command of the army. . . . About noon General Lee was assigned to the command of the Army of Northern Virginia, by the President.

Here’s Johnston’s monument at Bentonville, which I believe captures the moment in the battle when he was getting ready to rock some Skynyrd.

(Hat tip to Charles Bowery.)

For some, the Road to Damascus runs through Arlington.

From the New York Times, Nov. 29:

By Katharine Q. Seelye

ATLANTA — The Civil War, the most wrenching and bloody episode in American history, may not seem like much of a cause for celebration, especially in the South.

And yet, as the 150th anniversary of the four-year conflict gets under way, some groups in the old Confederacy are planning at least a certain amount of hoopla, chiefly around the glory days of secession, when 11 states declared their sovereignty under a banner of states’ rights and broke from the union.

The events include a “secession ball” in the former slave port of Charleston (“a joyous night of music, dancing, food and drink,” says the invitation), which will be replicated on a smaller scale in other cities. A parade is being planned in Montgomery, Ala., along with a mock swearing-in of Jefferson Davis as president of the Confederacy.

In addition, the Sons of Confederate Veterans and some of its local chapters are preparing various television commercials that they hope to show next year. “All we wanted was to be left alone to govern ourselves,” says one ad from the group’s Georgia Division.

That some — even now — are honoring secession, with barely a nod to the role of slavery, underscores how divisive a topic the war remains, with Americans continuing to debate its causes, its meaning and its legacy.

“We in the South, who have been kicked around for an awfully long time and are accused of being racist, we would just like the truth to be known,” said Michael Givens, commander-in-chief of the Sons, explaining the reason for the television ads. While there were many causes of the war, he said, “our people were only fighting to protect themselves from an invasion and for their independence.”

Not everyone is on board with this program, of course. The N.A.A.C.P., for one, plans to protest some of these events, saying that celebrating secession is tantamount to celebrating slavery.

Full article

Looks like an interesting series. Of course, if the author really wants to get the most out of his trip, he would be well advised to look into these.

Civil War Road Trip

The Genius of Grant’s Vicksburg Campaign
By John Swansburg

I should start by saying this: I am not a Civil War buff. Not even close. The last time I studied the war was over a bowl of Wheat Chex the day I was to be tested on the material in 11th grade. I don’t know McClellan from McPherson or Hooker from Halleck. Everything I know about J.E.B. Stuart I learned from the short fiction of Barry Hannah. But I am aware that millions of Americans visit Civil War battlefields each year. I also know that the number of Civil War tourists is about to spike: April 12, 2011, marks the 150th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter, which even I remember is the event that ignited the hostilities between North and South. Over the next four years, scores of fathers will use the sesquicentennial celebration as an excuse to don their safari shirts and trundle forbearing wives and irritable children off to Gettysburg or Spotsylvania or Chickamauga. What will they see? Will they learn something they couldn’t have picked up from watching Ken Burns or reading Battle Cry of Freedom? Can visiting these places turn a layman into a buff? Is Civil War tourism fun?

The full post is here.

And remember: Dissing neo-Confederate schlock makes Baby Jesus cry.  I’m looking at you, Kevin Levin.

From last week’s visit to Les Invalides:

Was in Manassas last week working alongside Gary Ecelbarger, Jeffry Wert, and Carol Reardon on the Penn State Alumni Association‘s 17th annual Civil War Battlefield Study Tour. The program was titled: “Lee’s Masterpiece: The 1862 Battle of 2nd Manassas/Bull Run”, and consisted of a day of lectures and two days taking the seventy or so participants around to the various sites associated with the Second Manassas campaign. On day one, we started at Kelly’s Ford (with Carol in the lead), then went to Remington (Carol once again leading), Jeffersonton (me), Jackson’s march (Gary), Thoroughfare Gap (me), and ended with a long Brawner Farm walk (Jeff). The next morning we started at Manassas Junction (Gary and Carol), walked the Unfinished Railroad (Gary on Sigel’s attack, Carol on Grover’s, Gary on Nagle’s, and me on Kearny’s), then did Stone House (me), Groveton (Gary), walked Porter’s Attack (me), 5th NY (Jeff), and walked Chinn Ridge (Carol).

One of the many highlights of this great program (watching Gary, Carol, and Jeff work was of course another, as was getting one of the buses stuck in a ditch at Jeffersonton) was getting to see the area around the Brawner Farm and Deep Cut for the first time after the extensive tree-cutting that has recently taken place. As at Gettysburg, the effect is amazing–actually, “jaw-dropping” would be more accurate–and really makes for a better understanding of what happened. The first photo below is of two then-West Point cadets, Josh DeJournett and Dan Lawton, in front of the “Groveton Monument” with them facing toward the Deep Cut during a 2002 staff ride. The other photo was taken on Saturday and looks toward the monument (it is at right center, click on for a better, full size image) from the parking lot from where we began our walk of Fitz John Porter’s 30 August 1862 attack.

If your last visit to Manassas came more than two years ago, you will remember, like myself and the cadets in 2002, following a trail to find the monument in a clearing surrounded by trees and struggling to visualize S.D. Lee’s artillery firing into Porter from the Brawner Farm. Now the monument looks almost lonely out there by itself . . . but, man, what a fantastic development for students of the battle. The area on the other side of the cut has been cleared as well, so you no longer have to start out your talk about Baylor getting killed in an open field while trying to bring up the Stonewall Brigade with “imagine there are no woods here”.

Second Manassas has always been in my mind one of the most interesting campaigns of the war, and it is hard to think of one in the East that is better for military professionals interested in studying the operational level of war. Thanks to the work recently done on the field, its value for those interested in tactical events is now also high–although not as high as it would be if someone could figure out how to make that darned intersection less of a pain.

Maybe not, but this is still pretty cool. From the 16 July edition of Martinsburg, WV’s The Journal:

HAGERSTOWN – Bobblehead collectors and sports fans have something to look forward to this weekend. The Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau will present General Abner Doubleday bobbleheads to the first 1,000 fans arriving at the Hagerstown Suns’ 7:05 p.m. game against the Asheville Tourists on Saturday. Gates will open at Municipal Stadium at 6:05 p.m., and the Suns advise fans to arrive early, as the supply of bobbleheads is not expected to last long.

The bobblehead commemorates Doubleday’s legacy as a key figure in the military history of Washington County, as well as his mythic role in the origins of the game of baseball. “The Convention and Visitors Bureau is very proud to be the financial sponsor of this bobblehead giveaway,” said Bureau President and CEO Tom Riford. “Abner Doubleday and the modernization of baseball are forever linked, just as General Doubleday’s Civil War leadership in Hagerstown and Washington County should always be celebrated.”

Doubleday is the fourth figure to be honored by the Convention and Visitors Bureau with a bobblehead giveaway at Municipal Stadium, joining Gen. George Washington, author Nora Roberts and Maryland Symphony Orchestra music director Elizabeth Schulze.

Jim Gates, Librarian at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. – where Doubleday Field plays host to the annual Hall of Fame Game each summer – confirmed that the Suns were the first team of which he was aware to present a bobblehead honoring Doubleday’s significance as a military figure. “Baseball wasn’t invented anywhere – it has evolved over time into the game we have today,” Gates said. “Doubleday should be honored for his legacy as a general, and as one of the great figures of the American Civil War.”

The full story is here.

(Hat tip to Terry Beckenbaugh.)

Nine years ago today…

There’s a new Facebook application, Welcome to Gettysburg, whereby you can send friends “a special Welcome to Gettysburg memory just for you.” If you’re on Facebook you’ll sort of understand this. If you’re not, it’s no use trying to explain — especially since I don’t so much understand it as just sort of go along with it. But for what it’s worth, here are the possible memories:

To me it’s interesting to see how many of these memories I actually have — in the sense of having seen or visited the events / places involved — and equally interesting to see how many of these I don’t and most likely never will; e.g. the Land of Little Horses. (No offense intended to those among you with little horses.)

Over on Kevin’s blog there has been a series of rather rigorous discussions on the matter of North & South Magazine. I began pitching in a few days ago and figured this morning that instead of letting Kevin get all the “dap” for them, would post my contributions, revised and edited, so we could continue the discussion here if anyone wishes to. I have published two articles in N & S, contributed to the round table on guerrilla warfare that will be in the next issue, and have had only cordial dealings with editor Keith Poulter. I also have what I consider to be a very good relationship with Dana Shoaf, the man who edits Civil War Times Illustrated and America’s Civil War, N & S’s main competitors in the field. So, in the interest of full disclosure, that is where I am coming from.

Anyway, my first response after following the discussion at Civil War Memory for a while was to be amazed at how so many of its complaining contributors seemed to be, to quote Lincoln, “blind to the signs of the times.” Any discussion of N & S must take into account that these are not exactly the best of times for a business, and that is what N & S is. To expect its operations, as it seems many did, not to be affected negatively by the current economic climate is just not realistic. After all, CWTI has recently decided to cut back on the number of issues it publishes each year. Is there anyone who does not see in this a reflection of larger forces that are also effecting N & S?

Moreover, there is the question of whether what many see as problems at N&S are not only a reflection of problems in the larger economy, but the fact that interest in the Civil War seems (due undoubtedly in part to an oversaturated market) to have peaked a while ago and has been in steady decline. In fact, we may well look back on the arrival of N & S as the point when it tipped. At that time, we already had CWTI, ACW, Blue and Gray, Civil War, Columbiad, and Civil War Regiments competing for (and no doubt diluting the overall level of quality of) the popular history market, while Civil War History, Lincoln Herald, and innumerable topical, state, and regional journals provided outlets for academic Civil War material. Civil War, Columbiad, and Civil War Regiments (perhaps not coincidentally all works that made the same effort N & S has made to find a happy medium between academic and pop history that may well not exist) all went by the wayside, while the academic journals have benefitted from their not inconsiderable insulation from the market. In this light, I think N & S’s ability to survive as long as it has (undoubtedly benefitting from the diversion of quality material that would have gone into the three aforementioned late outlets) says something positive about the man running it.

Thus, I took exception to some of the shots folks were taking at N & S editor and publisher Keith Poulter. Is the question, as some argued, his “incompetency” as an editor–or simply the consequence of one person trying to do too much because in this economy he can’t afford the necessary staff to assist him? I seriously doubt there is much different between the Keith Poulter of the late 1990s who started the magazine and got it (as all the contributors to the discussion seem to agree) running great and the Keith Poulter of today . . . but it ain’t 1998 anymore. Frankly, that Keith has managed to get the magazine as far as he has in this economy is no little accomplishment, one that I doubt many in the peanut gallery could have pulled off.

More to come.

Part 1 – Part 2