Where Both Sides Are Heard. Founded in The Courier 1

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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 prepared by Diane Fischler Vol. III, No. 9 Gainesville, Florida Next Meeting (open to the public) Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015, 6 to 8 p.m. at: Millhopper Branch Library 3145 N.W. 43 rd Street Gainesville, Florida * * * The CWRNF needs speakers for future meetings! Any ideas? * * * * * * Would any CWRNF members like to give a talk on a Civil War topic? * * * Please Diane Fischler with your suggestions: diane@proofinggrounds.com The Courier 1

2 CWRNF News 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 directly toward outside speaker fees. Payment can be either cash or check. Place a post-it on the cover to show the price. Prices are not negotiable at these reduced rates. Thirteen of the definitive 39-part Time-Life Series on World War II were graciously donated to the CWRNF. These 13 books will not appear on the for-sale table at future meetings. If anyone is interested in buying this set of 13 books (set to remain intact), please contact Diane Fischler. 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: the online CWRNF newsletter (in PDF format) IF you have NOT received 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. 10 meeting for next year s participation in the CWRNF organization. Your dues go directly toward paying outside speaker fees! We also encourage anyone who may not be able to attend our meeting but who wishes to support our organization to sign up. Your financial assistance will be greatly appreciated. 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. Upcoming Meetings (second Thursday of each month at 6 p.m. at Millhopper Library) (speakers and topics subject to change) September 10, 2015: Guest speaker Bob Grenier will discuss his new book Central Florida s Civil War Veterans, which was published in According to the author, this book provides a personal look into the lives of the men and women who entered the annals of Florida s The Courier 2

3 history. He is an author, preservationist, public speaker, and a living historian and Civil War reenactor. Bob Grenier is currently the Curator of the Lake County Historical Museum in Tavares. He will bring copies of his book to sell ($20 cash or check) and autograph. October 8, 2015: Guest speaker Linda Rosenblatt, in period costume, will portray the widow Ann Dugger whose husband, Robinson B. Dugger, was killed at the Battle of Olustee on Feb. 20, The presentation is centered around true facts that family members have passed down since the war. Linda s husband, Larry Rosenblatt, will speak about the soldier s haversack. November 12, 2015: Guest speaker Keith Kohl will make a return visit to give a presentation on Capt. John J. Dickison: Florida s Swamp Fox of the Confederacy. Keith was the guest speaker at the August 2014 meeting, talking about the Battle of Gainesville on Aug. 17, Right photo: Capt. Dickison ( ) in December 10, 2015: Holiday dinner at Napolatano s (606 N.W. 75 th Street) in the reserved rear Coach s enclosed dining room. Sign-up sheets to be circulated only at the Sept. 10 & Oct. 8 meetings; back dining room seating is limited. NO meeting at Millhopper Library in December! January 14, 2016: Member Bob Wooley will speak about the famous CSS Alabama. The Alabama was built in England in 1862 and launched as the Enrica, and subsequently was transformed into a Confederate commerce raider in international waters off the Azores with British-made ordnance. Capt. Raphael Semmes, a former Union naval officer and expert on international naval law, led his command to board nearly 450 vessels, take 2,000 prisoners, and capture or burn 65 Union merchant ships, leading to the Alabama Claims. February 11, 2016: Dr. William Link, professor in the history department at the University of Florida, will be our guest speaker. He will give a presentation titled: The Atlanta Campaign: Invasion, Destruction, and Remembering in the Civil War South. Dr. Link has authored six books: A Hard Country and a Lonely Place: Schooling, Society, and Reform in Rural Virginia, (1986); The Paradox of Southern Progressivism, (1992); William Friday: Power, Purpose, and American Higher Education (1995); Roots of Secession: Slavery and Politics in Antebellum Virginia (2003); Righteous Warrior: Jesse The Courier 3

4 Helms and the Rise of Modern Conservatism (2008); Atlanta, Cradle of the New South: Race and Remembering in the Civil War s Aftermath (2013 hardback; 2015 paperback). Dr. Link will bring the paperback version of Atlanta, Cradle of the Civil War s Aftermath to sell and sign after his talk. Left photo: Federal army wagons at Atlanta s railroad depot in fall Photo by George Barnard. March 10, 2016: Member John Paling will give another presentation on his distant cousin titled: Thomas Jackson s Letters, Part II: The End of the War and Beyond. John will continue his role as ambassador of Thomas Jackson by providing his relative s reflections through Jackson s articulate letters on Lincoln s assassination, Booth s justification letter, mourning, and the state of Reconstruction. April 14, 2016: Guest speaker Philip Leigh will talk on his book Trading with the Enemy: The Covert Economy During the American Civil War (2014). Phil was the speaker at the July 9, 2015 meeting discussing his book Lee s Lost Dispatch and Other Civil War Controversies. According to Publisher s Weekly, Leigh s revelations about who encouraged and allowed for this kind of illegal trade is sometimes shocking. Phil will bring copies of his book to sell ($25 cash or check) and autograph. Upcoming Local & Regional Civil War Events Sept , 2015: Rifles, Rails and History, downtown Tavares. Original 1880s steam train, replica 1880s train depot, and replica 1880s Woodlea House. Reenactment skirmishes, military drills, cannon and musket firing demonstrations. bobbyag22@gmail.com or heather@lakecountyfocus.com Nov. 6-8, 2015: Ocklawaha River Raid Reenactment, Florida Horse Park, S. County Road 475, south of Ocala. 31 st annual event commemorates March 7, 1865, Union army raid on plantations east of Ocala. ltcol2ndbattalion@gmail.com Nov , 2015: Suwannee River Raid, Heritage Park and Gardens, 1004 Helvenston St. SE, Live Oak. Reenactment depicts typical actions which took place all around Florida during the war. But Confederate earthworks were built around the bridge across the Suwannee River to guard the strategic Florida Atlantic and Gulf Railroad. bobgomillion@yahoo.com or generalhardy@yahoo.com The Courier 4

5 Civil War Artillery Demonstration Photos taken by CWRNF member Bob Wooley on July 18, 2015: National Guard Range in Grayling, Michigan At the July Grayling Long Range Artillery Competition, CWRNF member Bob Wooley took part in the historic cannon firing event that included more than 20 cannons, eight Coehorn mortars, and three 10-inch mortars. Bob s company, Reilly s Battery (1 st North Carolina Artillery, Battery D), participated and hit the target five times out of 10 shots, shooting at a 6 x 8 target, located 600 yards (greater than one-third of a mile) away. Bob said he was extremely pleased with the results. His company was firing a 12- pounder Napoleon a solid 12- pound ball with 2 pounds of black powder. Bob is particularly proud of the photo that his son, Joe Wooley, caught on camera of the actual fire power coming out of the barrel. Spectators can t see the fire with their naked eye. Bob is on the far left in the black-checked shirt. The Courier 5

6 PART II: 25 Civil War Trivia Questions (multiple choice) & Cartoons (Part I of Civil War Trivia Questions Appeared in the August newsletter) (answers on last page) 1. Who was the Confederate commandant at Andersonville prison? a) Henry Wirz, b) Franz Sigel, c) Alexander Schimmelfennig 2. In which engagement was the Battle Above the Clouds fought? a) Cedar Mountain (Virginia) in August 1862, b) Marye s Heights (Fredericksburg, Virginia) in December 1862, c) Chattanooga (Tennessee) in November At the first battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861, who came to observe the action? a) picnickers from Washington, b) President Abraham Lincoln, c) local Virginia plantation slaves 4. What future Union general murdered the son of Francis Scott Key on Feb. 27, 1859? a) Ambrose Burnside, b) Abner Doubleday, c) Daniel E. Sickles 5. Where was Lincoln s presidential retreat? a) Blair House in Washington, b) Arlington House across the Potomac River, c) Soldier s Home in Washington 6. Where was Jefferson Davis captured? a) Richmond, Virginia, b) near Irwinville, Georgia, c) Charleston, South Carolina 7. How many troops did Confederate General George E. Pickett command during the famous charge at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863? a) one-third, b) half, c) all 8. Where was John Wilkes Booth trapped on April 26, days after shooting President Lincoln? a) in the Surratt house in Surrattsville, Maryland, b) in a tobacco barn near Port Royal, Virginia, c) inside the Richmond Theater 9. Who was the only Gettysburg civilian killed during the three-day battle in July 1863? a) Belle Boyd while on a scouting mission through the town, b) Rose Greenhow while spying behind the lines, c) Jennie Wade while making bread 10. To whom was Lincoln referring when he met this author in 1862, So this is the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war? (hint on last page) a) Louisa May Alcott who wrote Little Women, b) Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote Uncle Tom s Cabin, c) Jane Austin who wrote Pride and Prejudice The Courier 6

7 11. Who said, I am the most shot-at man in the Civil War. (hint on last page) a) Thaddeus Lowe: balloonist, b) Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, c) Gen. Robert E. Lee 12. Off what coast was CSS Alabama sunk in battle on June 19, 1864, by USS Kearsarge? (hint on last page) a) South Carolina, b) Texas, c) France 12. How old was President Lincoln when he was assassinated? a) 56, b) 50, c) What was the Dictator? (hint on last page) a) Henry repeating rifle that could fire 15 rounds per minute, b) 13-inch siege mortar whose projectiles weighed 220 pounds, c) Napoleon cannon 15. What is the equivalent number of deaths today relative to the number who died in the Civil War (about 750,000 deaths)? a) 2 million, b) 3 million, c) 7.4 million 16. What church denomination did Lincoln belong to? a) Presbyterian, b) Episcopal, c) none 17. What were Beecher s Bibles that were secretly shipped by abolitionist clergyman Henry Ward Beecher (brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe) to groups opposing pro-slavery forces in the Kansas Territory in the 1850s? a) Sharps carbines, b) the New Testament, c) Book of Mormon 18. When it was clear that a war was under way, on April 15, 1861, Lincoln called for volunteers. At that point, what was the amount of time that men signed up to serve? (hint on last page) a) 12 months, b) 24 months, c) 3 months 19. What famous World War II hero starred in the 1951 movie version of Stephen Crane s Civil War novel entitled Red Badge of Courage, which was published in 1895? (hint on last page) a) Clark Gable, b) Audie Murphy, c) Gary Cooper 20. Soldiers serving under Robert E. Lee gave him several nicknames. Which one of the following three names was not one of those nicknames? a) Granny, b) Rapid Robert, c) King of Spades The Courier 7

8 21. In his pre-confederacy days, while serving as Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce, Jefferson Davis organized an experiment in military transportation for the U.S. Army stationed in the Southwest. What form of transport did this experiment use? (hint on last page) a) camels, b) hot air balloons, c) ostriches 21. What was the name of the Federal ship that the Confederate submarine Hunley sank in Charleston Harbor on February 17, 1864? a) Merrimack, b) Housatonic, c) Star of the West 23. At the battlefield cemetery dedication ceremony at Gettysburg on November 19, 1863, who was the featured speaker? a) Orator Edward Everett, b) President Abraham Lincoln, c) Secretary of State William Seward 24. Which Confederate general wore a scarlet-lined cape and an ostrich plume in his hat? a) John Singleton Mosby, b) Nathan Bedford Forrest, c) Jeb Stuart 25. What battle name did the Union soldiers repeatedly shout out in vengeance as Confederates quickly retreated from Pickett s Charge on July 3, 1863? a) Shiloh!, b) Manassas!, c) Fredericksburg! The Courier 8

9 Answers 1. a 2. c 3. a 4. c 5. c 6. b 7. a 8. b 9. c 10. b 11. a 12. c 12. a 14. b 15. c 16. c 17. a 18. c 19. b 20. b 21. a 22. b 23. a 24. c 25. c The Courier 9