Winning or Losing the Civil War

Transcription

1 Circular Memorandum #437 louisvillecwrt.yolasite.com March, 2012 Announcing Our 473rd Meeting Winning or Losing the Civil War Will be Presented by Richard McMurry DATE: Saturday, March 10 Location: Big Spring Country Club COCKTAILS: 6:00 P.M. DINNER ($25.00): 7:00 P.M. PROGRAM: 8:00 P.M. Meet our Speaker Richard McMurry Richard M. McMurry is a native of Atlanta. He attended public schools in that city and in Decatur, Georgia. In 1961 he received the B. A. degree in history from the Virginia Military Institute. He served two years active duty in the United States Army, most of the time as the Personnel Management Officer at Fort Campbell, Ky. ( ). Entering graduate school at Emory University in September 1963, he received the M. A. degree in June 1964 and the Ph. D. in June From 1967 until 1981 McMurry taught history at Valdosta (Georgia) State College. He taught as an adjunct professor at North Carolina State University from 1981 to Since 1988 he has been a freelance writer and speaker and has served as a guide /historian for many tour and cruise groups. McMurry s field of specialization is the American Civil War. He has authored more than one hundred articles on various facets of that great conflict. In 1994 two of his books--john Bell Hood and the War for Southern Independence and Two Great Rebel Armies: An Essay in Confederate Military History--were listed among the one hundred best modern Civil War books as selected by the eminent historian Gary Gallagher for the magazine Civil War. The former work received both the Mrs. Simon Barach University Award, presented by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and the Fletcher Pratt Award, presented by the New York Civil War Round Table. In 1999 McMurry published Virginia Military Institute Alumni in the Civil War: In Bello Praesidium. His history of the 1864 military operations in North Georgia, Atlanta 1864: Last Chance for the Confederacy, was published by the University of Nebraska Press in 2000 as a volume in the Great Campaigns of the Civil War Series. The Austin,

2 The Adjutant s Call 2 March, 2012 Texas Civil War Round Table selected the book for the 2001 Daniel M. & Marilyn W. Laney Prize awarded for distinguished scholarship and writing on the military or political history of the Civil War. One of McMurry s most unique books is The Fourth Battle of Winchester: Toward a New Civil War Paradigm, was published in 2002 by Kent State University Press. McMurry has also edited several works, notably Footprints of a Regiment by William H, Andrews and (with Gordon B. McKinney) the microfilm edition of The Papers of Zebulon B. Vance. In 2005 the Civil War Round Table of Chicago presented its Nevins-Freeman Award for outstanding work in Civil War history to McMurry. Richard McMurry has spoken to Civil War groups, students, and other organizations in twenty-five states and the District of Columbia. He is a member of numerous historical societies and is active in such organizations as the Civil War Preservation Trust and the Blue and Gray Education Society. He presently lives and writes in Dalton, Georgia. Books, Books, Books! Richard McMurry will have copies of several different books he has written for sale at the meeting. RESERVATIONS: Call Doug Krawczyk ( ) to place your reservations. If you are making reservations for more than just yourself, please give the names of the others. If you leave your reservation on his answering machine, please spell out your name so he can correctly identify you. You can also make your reservation by by sending it to bryanw@macconstruction.com. Please call or no later than Wednesday, March 7, by noon. We cannot accept reservations past this date! If you wish to join us just for the program, please call and make a reservation so that we can provide you with a chair. If you are only coming for the program, you can call Doug anytime up to 4:00 p.m. the day of the meeting. Reminder for Table Reservations: We can reserve tables for parties of eight only, and we need you to provide us with the names of all the people in your party when you make the reservation. This will enable us to manage our meeting space in a more efficient manner. Thank you. Shiloh Field Trip March 27 - March 31, 2012 Fees are Due! The dates for the Shiloh Field Trip have been changed to March 27 31,Tuesday - Saturday. Our tour guide will be Tim Smith, former historian at Shiloh Military Park. The cost of the trip will be $350 for the tour and bus, $290 for tour only, $125 for bus and no tour, and $65 for spouses attending evening events. We will make your room reservation but the cost of room and food are your responsibility. You can sign up at the meeting and make your fee payment at the March meeting. We still have a few spaces available. You can also mail your fees to Harriette Weatherbee Sarah Drive, Louisville, Ky

3 The Adjutant s Call 3 March, 2012 Shiloh Field Trip Pre-Trip Meeting March 11 at Big Spring To learn all you need to know about the Field Trip, please plan on meeting at Big Spring Country Club on Sunday March 11 at 2:00 P.M.. All the details of the trip including a complete itinerary will be handed out. Any questions you may have will also be answered. You can make your final payment for the field trip fees at this meeting. PLEASE HELP SAVE TWO KEY PIECES OF TWO KENTUCKY BATTLEFIELDS! Help Save 16.4 Acres at Mill Springs On January 19, 2012 was the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Mill Springs. While not a large battle by the later standards of the American Civil War, Mill Springs still played an important role. It was here at Mill Springs that Brig. Gen. George Thomas' Federal forces defeated a Confederate army that was hoping to secure Southeastern Kentucky for the Confederacy. Victory at Mill Springs, the first significant battlefield victory for the Union army, helped to keep the Bluegrass state tentatively within the Union. During the intense combat at Mill Springs, Confederate Brig. Gen. Felix Zollicoffer accidently stumbled into a Union line that would subsequently kill this prominent Civil War figure. Now we have the chance to save a key section of this historic Civil War battlefield. We can't think of a better way to mark this important anniversary than by adding a critical tract to this beautiful and pristine battlefield. Doing so is the most powerful and lasting legacy of this commemoration that we can leave for our children and grandchildren. The Civil War Trust is proud to announce a new campaign to save 16.4 acres of the Mill Springs battlefield -- the very heart of this early 1862 battlefield where the Union army earned its first battlefield victory. Help Save 141 Acres at Perryville We have the opportunity to build on the recent preservation successes at Perryville by saving 121 additional acres that includes, according to historian and park manager Kurt Holman, "without a doubt, the most bloodsoaked ground on the entire Perryville Battlefield." One of the two tracts that make up this new opportunity is the location of the Slaughter Pen region of the battlefield. Here late on October 8, 1862, a terrible and bloody struggle raged for the strategic Dixville Crossroads. The 22nd Indiana alone lost 65% of its men in the fighting here. Colonel Squire Keith lay dead on the ground. And by the end of the intense fighting on this section of the battlefield upwards of 1,000 soldiers from Indiana, Alabama, Ohio and Illinois, were dead, wounded, or captured on the very ground that we are now seeking to save. If $181,250 can be raised, we can save this critically important land valued at $725,000 that s a $4-to-$1 match of your donation dollar". We need your help to save this battlefield land. Please consider making a donation to help add these important Kentucky tracts to the "saved forever" column. Follow this link to donate; You can also mail your contribution to: Civil War Trust, P.O. Box 1477, Hagerstown, MD

4 The Adjutant s Call 4 March, 2012 Welcome New Members! We wish to extend the warm hand of fellowship to new members: Ray and Sarah Grant We Need Field Trip Pictures! We need your pictures from past Field Trips for our picture quiz we will have at Shiloh. If you have some pictures you think could lend themselves to the kind of humor that is typical of the quiz, then please bring them to Harriette at the March meeting or them to Harriette at harriettew@att.net. Visit Us on Facebook! The Louisville Civil War Round Table now has a Facebook page. So, please check it out! It can be accessed at or by browsing for "Facebook Louisville Civil War Round Table." Items and news of interest to members and other interested parties will be posted periodically, including meeting dates and speakers. Members can post messages on the page. Please visit the page Dates Saturday March 10 Richard McMurry Winning or Losing the Civil War Saturday April 14 Ari Hoogenboom Gustavas Fox of the Union Navy Saturday May 12 Brian McKnight Contested Borderland Saturday June 9 Bourbon and BBQ Art Boerner s House Friday September 7 Chris Kolakowski Antietam at 150 Saturday October 12 Tim Smith TBA Saturday November 10 Michael Ballard Grant at Vicksburg Saturday December 8 James Lewis Stone s River

5 The Adjutant s Call 5 March, 2012 Bourbon and BBQ Fundraiser in June The Round Table will be sponsoring a special Fundraiser on June 9 th at Art Boerner s house from 4:00 8:00. The event will feature a special bourbon tasting presentation by bourbon expert and historian Mike Veach of the Filson Club who will talk about the role of bourbon in the Civil War. The event will also feature BBQ slow cooked and smoked by gourmet BBQ chefs Marc Oca and Art Boerner. That s correct, Art and Marc will slowcook and smoke some of the very best BBQ ribs, brisket, and pulled pork that you have ever tasted! And it will come with all the fixins, sauces, sides, and desserts that you can possibly eat in four hours. This event is to raise money for the Round Table speakers expenses and will help us keep the high quality programming that you enjoy. The event will cost $35 per person and includes food, desserts, drinks, and the bourbon tasting and it s for a good cause. You will also get to enjoy the beautiful view from Art s patio which is just above the Ohio River. A sign-up sheet will be available at the meeting. Space is limited so sign up soon. You can also your reservation to Harriette at harriettew@att.net. Getting the Newsletter via is Fast and Saves $$$ With the cost of postage going up (as always), we want to encourage everyone to consider getting the newsletter by . It costs the Round Table about $10.00 per year in postage, envelopes, and printing costs to mail each newsletter. If you multiply that times 150 you can see it adds up to a large amount. In order to receive the newsletter by , you do need the capability to read a Word Document on your computer. Just contact Harriette Weatherbee at harriettew@att.net and let her know. You will get your newsletter faster and help us save $$$ at the same time. Winners of the February Door Prizes Congratulations to our door prize winners at the February meeting. Divided We Fought by David Donald won by Bill Hambleton Harper s Picture History of the Civil War won by Dave Cooper Landscape Turned Red by Stephen Sears won by Pete Wimsett Stonewall in the Valley by Robert Tanner won by Gordon Smith Dennison s Andersonville Diary by James Dennison won by Sonny Neurath February 2012 Quiz Answers 1. How many days of "Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer" did Jefferson Davis call during the Confederacy's existence? He called ten.

6 The Adjutant s Call 6 March, When Union General George B. McClellan was relieved from his post as General-in-Chief of the Federal armies in March of 1862, who was his immediate replacement? President Lincoln, Secretary of State Edwin Stanton, and a group of Federal officers comprising Lincoln's "War Board" directed Union military affairs through the spring. 3. Union General George Thomas and Confederate General Felix Zollicoffer were opponents at Mill Springs, Kentucky, on January 19, What nickname did they share? Both were called "Paps" by their troops. 4. Name the Union general who described Hoosiers as "uncouth descendants of poor trash from the mountains of Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina." Major General William "Bull" Nelson uttered those words shortly before he was mortally wounded by Union Brigadier General Jefferson C. Davis from Indiana after a confrontation in the Galt House in Louisville on September 29, What specifically were Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas campaigning for during their famous debates? At that time U.S. Senators were elected by state legislatures. Therefore, Lincoln and Douglas were campaigning for their respective parties to win control of the Illinois Legislature. March 2012 Quiz: 1. What western towns did the Confederates label "the Gibraltar of the West"? 2. President Lincoln tried to get his generals to adopt the military strategy of "concentration in time." Briefly, what did he want them to do? 3. How many men were commissioned Union generals during the Civil War? 4. The "political generals" appointed by President Lincoln were either politicians, or they came from what ethnic background? 5. What Union general nearly fought a duel with Abraham Lincoln? (The Quiz is prepared by Harriette Weatherbee) Attest: John Davis Adjutant By Order of: Chris Kolakowski President