Where Both Sides Are Heard. Founded in The Courier 1

Transcription

1 Where Both Sides Are Heard Founded in 2012 The Courier The Newsletter of the Civil War Roundtable of North Florida Mailing address: Civil War Roundtable of North Florida NE 100 th Street, Williston, FL Website: Phone: Diane Fischler (352) ; or Terry Huston (352) or The Courier is written by Diane Fischler Vol. IV, No. 7 Gainesville, Florida Next Meeting (open to the public) Thursday, July 14, 2016, 6 to 8 p.m. at: Trinity United Methodist Church (TUMC) 4000 NW 53 rd Avenue Room 232 in the front Education Center Gainesville, Florida Reminder! NO meeting in August New Civil War movie coming out June 24: Free State of Jones The Courier 1

2 CWRNF News June 9, 2016: 27 members and guests attended Well-known author, photo technology historian, and archivist Bill Ryan spoke on Bringing Digital to Brady Photography in the Civil War. He described how photography began in America when telegraph inventor Samuel Morse ( ) brought the daguerreotype process from France around Famed Civil War photographer Mathew Brady ( ) studied under Morse. Brady learned about daguerreotypes and later mastered the wet collodion process which Ryan described as a nightmare requiring 20- to 30 sec. exposure times. This process would be used to produce thousands of negative images on glass during the Civil War years. Brady was both a technical and marketing genius. The well-to-do lined up to pay to be included in his Gallery of Illustrious Americans, which he established in 1845 across the street from P.T. Barnum s American Museum in New York City. The Civil War transformed both the process and cultural impact of photography, as images of the horrors of war were seen by Americans as never before. Brady and his associates made the war come alive. Brady s What s-it Wagon, a traveling photo laboratory, became the norm for on-site photography production. The Edward Anthony Company sold Brady all his supplies and also sold supplies to the Confederates (echoing the April 2016 CWRNF talk on Trading with the Enemy by Philip Leigh). Having spent his fortune buying up hundreds of negative plates and deeply in debt, Brady gave the bulk of his collection to the Edward Anthony Company, which later became Ansco, where Bill Ryan worked and first encountered the Brady photo collection. Ryan brought many prints for his talk, and marveled at the amount of detail hidden in the grainless glass negatives. His PowerPoint presentation showed multiple Brady prints along with highdefinition enlargements Ryan had made from the negatives, with scans at 2000 DPI, revealing people and items that had previously never been seen. He also spoke about how these black-and-white and sepiatoned photos have lasted for more than 150 years and will outlast today s digital images in the Cloud. Above photo: Renowned Civil War photographer Mathew Brady taken on July 22, 1861, one day after the Battle of First Manassas. Photo courtesy: Civil War Trust Book sales Please donate your gently used history books, history DVDs, historical maps, and/or magazines for re-sale at our monthly meetings. They can cover any period in history, but American 19 th and 20 th century history books, periodicals, and DVDs would be preferred. All proceeds go toward outside speaker fees and room rental fees. Payment by cash or check. Place a post-it on the cover to show the price. Prices are not negotiable at these reduced rates. At the June 9 meeting, the CWRNF made $75 in book sales. Website: Please check the website periodically for updates on the CWRNF s ongoing events, past newsletters, upcoming speakers. We will continue ing the monthly online Courier newsletter as an attachment in PDF format. The Courier 2

3 CWRNF newsletter: The Courier (in PDF format) IF you did NOT receive the online Courier newsletter (sent as a PDF attachment to your requested address) at least one week before the next meeting, contact Diane Fischler to you the latest newsletter (diane@proofinggrounds.com). But before requesting another newsletter attachment, first please check your spam/junk folder in case the with attachment landed in that folder. Membership dues Full membership dues renewal or new will be payable at the Sept. 8 or Oct. 13 meetings for participation in the CWRNF. Please pay your renewal or new membership dues at either of these two upcoming meetings so we can keep your name on our CWRNF membership list. You can give a check to our treasurer, Terry Huston, or mail a check to: Terry Huston, NE 100 th Street, Williston, FL Please make checks payable to CWRNF. Your dues go directly toward paying outside speaker fees and room rental fees. Individual: $25; Couple/Family: $35; Student: $15 Like the CWRNF page on Facebook We have a Facebook page. Search Civil War Roundtable of North Florida Facebook. Many thanks to member John Walsh for his time and effort to update and maintain this page. Our Facebook page receives about 400 to 500 views a year. Some of our posts have appeared on the Civil War Trust s Facebook page. Upcoming Meetings (second Thursday of each month 6 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church) (speakers and topics subject to change) July 14, 2016: Member Bill Zettler will speak about the Civil War s German soldiers in a talk titled: German Voices: I Goes to Fight Mit Sigel! German-American soldiers played a major role in the war about 25% of all Union troops were of German descent. Bill will follow three German privates from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Georgia. He will also share the shock and awe experienced by a Georgia soldier in his own words after Sherman s troops ransacked his family s plantation near Savannah. Finally, Bill will go back to the future to visit some of their descendants now living in Florida, Georgia, Virginia and Germany. Left photo: General Franz Sigel ( ), one of the war s most well-known German officers with a dubious reputation on the battlefield. Photo courtesy: Right poster: Civil War recruitment poster for Germans in Pennsylvania Image courtesy: August 11, 2016: No CWRNF meeting The Courier 3

4 September 8, 2016: Guest speaker Matt Gallman will make a return visit to discuss the 1864 presidential election and Lincoln s Blind Memorandum. Dr. Gallman spoke to our group in April 2015 about Appomattox. He is the author of numerous books, including Lens of War: Exploring Iconic Photographs of the Civil War (2015) and Defining Duty in the Civil War: Personal Choice, Popular Culture, and the Union Home Front (2015). Defining Duty is the winner of the Inaugural Bobbie and John Nau Book Prize in American Civil Era History for Dr. Gallman has taught undergraduate and graduate courses on the Civil War era and on American Women s History campaign posters: Left: National Union Party: Abraham Lincoln & Andrew Johnson Right: Democratic Party: George B. McClellan & George H. Pendleton Posters courtesy: United_States_presidential_election,_1864 Oct. 13, 2016: Member Toni Collins will speak on: Civil War Blockade Running on Florida s Gulf Coast: A Cat and Mouse Game, which is the title of her fourth book. Her other titles include: Cedar Keys Light Station (a history of the 1854 lighthouse on Seahorse Key), The Lady of the Lighthouse: A Biography (the life of Catharine Hobday, the only woman to serve at the Cedar Keys Light Station as Assistant Lighthouse Keeper, and Atlantic Coast Line Railroad: Dunnellon to Wilcox, Florida (a history of the ACL railroad in Levy County). Map: The 4 Federal Blockade Squadrons ( = their principal bases): NABS = North Atlantic Blockading Squadron SABS = South Atlantic Blockading Squadron EGBS = East Gulf Blockading Squadron WGBS = West Gulf Blockading Squadron Map courtesy: Nov. 10, 2016: The former executive director of the National Civil War Naval Museum (Columbus, Georgia), Bruce H. Smith, will speak on: Secret Naval Missions of the Civil War: Both Sides. Prior to his tenure at the Naval Museum, he was the curator of the National Museum of the Pacific War at the Admiral Nimitz Center (Fredericksburg, Texas). He has been involved in numerous consulting Civil War naval projects and professional presentations. Right painting: David and Goliath by artist Paul Bender, which illustrates a small Union Navy launch s spar-torpedo attack, led by Lt. William Cushing, on the Confederate ironclad Albemarle. The confrontation was on the night of Oct , 1864, at Plymouth, North Carolina. Painting courtesy: The Courier 4

5 Dec. 8, 2016: No CWRNF meeting. Civil War Roundtable Holiday Dinner at Napolatano s. Signup sheet to be circulated only at Sept. 8 and Oct. 13 meetings. Space is limited. Jan. 12, 2017: Local historian David Riker will give a presentation on medicine in the Civil War. Lori Riker will answer questions on women and medicine in the war. Right photo: Dr. [Jonathan] Letterman, the Father of Battlefield Medicine, pioneered and devised a standardized medical kit of various instruments needed for immediate surgery. The instruments were interchangeable so they could be easily replaced due to loss or damage. Photo and quote courtesy: Feb. 9, 2017: Member Bob Wooley will speak about the Skirmish at Station No. 4, which occurred on the morning of Feb. 13, 1865, near Cedar Key, between Union and Confederate soldiers in the fields on the mainland near one of the station stops on the Florida Railroad. Right sketch: Battle of Station 4: A sketch from Dickison and His Men: Reminiscences of the War in Florida (1890) by Mary Elizabeth Dickison. Drawing shows Confederate troops firing on the Federals. In the background is Number 4 trestle. Sketch courtesy: March 9, 2017: Members Fred & Judy Donaldson will talk about the Red River Campaign (March 10 to May 22, 1864) and the Bailey s Dam episode. They will also cover the recent attempt at raising Acting Rear Adm. David Dixon Porter s flagship USS Eastport (ironclad) sunk by a mine in the river above Alexandria on April 15, Left photo: USS Eastport. Photo courtesy: June 8, 2017: Member Bill Zettler, in his ongoing research on the role of Germans in the Federal armies, will talk about Major Gen. Carl Schurz ( ). Schurz was a German revolutionary in 1848, U.S. Minister to Spain ( ), Union general at Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chattanooga, U.S. senator ( ), and Secretary of the Interior ( ) under Rutherford B. Hayes. Right photo: Gen. Carl Schurz Photo courtesy: civilwarfacialhair.wordpress.com The Courier 5

6 July 13, 2017: Author Philip Leigh will make a third appearance to speak on his latest book: The Confederacy at Flood Tide: The Political and Military Ascension, June to December 1862 (2016). Leigh states that these seven months offered the Confederate States of America the best opportunity to achieve independence and why the CSA s efforts failed. Phil first spoke to our Roundtable in July 2015 on his book, Lee s Lost Dispatch and Other Civil War Controversies (2015), and in April 2016, he gave a talk on another of his books, Trading with the Enemy: The Covert Economy During the American Civil War (2014). Upcoming Local & Regional & State Civil War-Related Events (events & dates subject to change; confirm event before traveling) July 2-3, Aug. 6-7, Sept. 3-4, Oct. 1-2, Nov. 5-6, Dec. 3-4, 2016: First Weekend Union Garrison at Fort Clinch, 2601 Atlantic Ave., Fernandina Beach. Aug , 2016, Nov. 9-13, 2016: Living History Program Events at Fort Jefferson (including medicine of the Civil War demonstrations) at Dry Tortugas National Park (on Garden Key) to commemorate NPS Centennial, 70 miles west of Key West (accessible only by 2 1/4-hour NPS catamaran for $175; $165 over age 62). Sept , 2016: Rifles, Rails & History, Wooten Park in downtown Tavares on Lake Dora. Reenactment skirmishes, military drill, cannon and musket firing demonstrations. bobbyag22@gmail.com Sept (exact date TBA): Re-lighting of the Dry Tortugas Light Station on Loggerhead Key (built four years before the Civil War and in continuous operation from 1857 to 2014), 70 miles west of Key West (accessible only by 2 1/4-hour NPS catamaran for $175; $165 over age 62). Oct. 8-9, 2016: Confederate Garrison at Fort Clinch, 2601 Atlantic Ave., Fernandina Beach. The Courier 6

7 Gutzon Borglum at Gettysburg The North Carolina State Monument on the Gettysburg battlefield is located on West Confederate Avenue on Seminary Ridge. The monument was sculpted by the renowned and highly controversial American celebrity sculptor Gutzon Borglum ( ). This iconic battlefield memorial features five Tar Heel infantrymen resolutely advancing during Pickett s Charge on July 3, Within just one hour, 15 North Carolina infantry regiments under Gen. Johnston Pettigrew suffered heavy casualties: 2,700 (470 killed, 1,893 wounded, 337 captured). In Borglum s sculpture, one man kneels injured on the ground, pointing toward the enemy while three other Rebels look across the one-mile open field knowing that entrenched Federals await them. A fifth man holds a flag as he advances with the colors. Borglum modeled the flag bearer on the Stars and Bars Confederate flag designer, Orren Smith, a North Carolinian. The other soldiers were sculpted from photographs of Confederate soldiers. The monument was dedicated on July 3, 1929, exactly 66 years after Pickett s Charge. This memorial was the second Confederate state marker to be placed on the battlefield; the first state monument was the Virginia Memorial erected in 1917 ( Top photo courtesy: Middle photo courtesy: Photo of artist, sculptor, promoter Gutzon Borglum courtesy: Library of Congress Photo of Mt. Rushmore courtesy: South Dakota map (Mount Rushmore located in southwest corner of state) courtesy: In the mid-to-late 1920s, Gutzon Borglum took time off from his colossal South Dakota Black Hills project Mount Rushmore to work on Gettysburg s North Carolina Monument. Borglum died in March 1941, never having finished the Mount Rushmore carving of the 60-foot-high granite faces of Washington, Jefferson, T. Roosevelt, and Lincoln. Gutzon s son, Lincoln ( ), an engineer and sculptor, took over the daunting task of completing the presidential tribute. But due to lack of funding, impending involvement in the European war, and other major obstacles, Lincoln Borglum terminated the dynamiting and jackhammering in October Today, Mount Rushmore National Memorial looks the same as when Gutzon Borglum scrutinized it for the last time in early The Courier 7

8 Below left: Dedication of North Carolina State Monument on July 3, The seven children in front of the monument are grandchildren of North Carolina veterans who fought at Gettysburg. Below right: Gutzon Borglum (lower left) in the late 1920s in his San Antonio, Texas, studio at work on the clay model of the North Carolina monument. Today, the restored historic Borglum Studio looks out on the 17 th hole of the Brackenridge Park Golf Course. Both photos courtesy: heidi767.blogspot.com/2012_12_01_archive.html Inscription on a stone tablet near the North Carolina Monument courtesy: confederatemonuments/confederate-state-monuments/north-carolina/ To the eternal glory of the North Carolina soldiers. Who on this battlefield displayed heroism unsurpassed sacrificing all in support of their cause. Their valorous deeds will be enshrined in the hearts of men long after these transient memorials have crumbled into dust. Thirty two North Carolina regiments were in action at Gettysburg July 1, 2, 3, One Confederate soldier in every four who fell here was a North Carolinian. Mt. Rushmore selfie cartoon by Bill Whitehead courtesy: directory/g/gutzon_borglum.asp The Courier 8

9 Six other statues of Civil War-related figures sculpted by Gutzon Borglum Top left photo: General Philip Sheridan on his famous horse Rienzi (1908) in Sheridan Circle, Washington, D.C. NW. Photo courtesy: media/file:general_philip_sheridan_memorial_-_rienzi.jpg Top right photo: Bust of Lincoln (1908) in the Crypt of the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy: media/file:bust_of_abraham_lincoln_by_gutzon_borglum_cph.3b20231.jpg Bottom center photo: Seated Lincoln (1911) outside the Essex County Courthouse in Newark, New Jersey. Photo courtesy: The Courier 9

10 Top photo: Bust of Lincoln (1931) outside his tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. This sculpture is a copy of the Lincoln bust in the U.S. Capitol Building. Photo courtesy: Bottom left photo: (Seated) Alexander H. Stephens (1927), vice president ( ) of the Confederacy, in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy: Bottom right photo: (Standing) Zebulon B. Vance (1916), governor ( ) of North Carolina, in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy: The Courier 10