MCCWRT Discussion Group Dec. Meeting-- Part 1: Trivia, Too Easy, Too Hard

This past  Saturday, the McHenry County Civil War Round Table met at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake, Illinois, with the topic being Civil War Trivia.  We all took turns asking questions.  I mostly asked naval questions that were fairly easily answered.

(My questions are in my Civil War Navy blog, Running the Blockade.)

The only three that they couldn't answer was the name of the man who surrendered three forts during the war.  One was Fort Johnston which he surrendered twice to Confederate while he was still a U.S. ordnance sergeant and the other, Fort Fisher, he surrendered to Union forces as a Confederate major.  This man was James Reilly.

Another was which battle took place Christmas Eve and Day 1864.  And that was the First Battle of Fort Fisher.

The third one was the Union admiral who made $109,689 for his cut on captured blockade runners, S.P. Lee, a distant relative of Robert E. Lee.

Of course, like with so many Civil War buffs, there is not a lot of knowledge about the Navy part of the war.

--Old Secesh

Running the Blockade: Thanks, Harper Girls-- Glory Enough for All-- Jumping the Gun

Running the Blockade--Some New News About an Old War.


1. THANKS, HARPER GIRLS-- Four sisters known as the Harper Girls have donated three acres of land to the Battle of Kinston (NC) site near Highway 258 a few miles south of the town. They include Confederate earthworks.

The Kinston Historical Society intends to eventually build an outdoor museum and trails at the site.


2. GLORY ENOUGH FOR ALL-- The 146th anniversary of the Second Battle of Fort Fisher will be observed in a free, day-long observance at the Fort Fisher State Historic Site January 16, 2011. It is called "Glory Enough for All" and will focus on post-war reunions and efforts to make the fort a national site.

There will also be a temporary exhibit featuring a Confederate uniform and a 1907 blue-and-grey reunion badge.


3. JUMPING THE GUN-- The Brunswick/Fort Anderson State Historic Site south of Wilmington, North Carolina, will be hosting a talk by historian Jack Travis at the Southport Community Building on the Fort Johnston grounds January 18th..

North Carolina militia seized Forts Caswell and Johnston before the state seceded and the governor made them return it.

Always Something Going On. --B-R'er

Fort Fisher's Major James Reilly-- Part 1

One of those many, many heroes of the Civil War who are not known to the general public.

Dozens of people gathered at Wilmington's Oakdale Cemetery this last weekend to dedicate a new marker for Major James Reilly who surrendered Fort Fisher, was imprisoned in Maryland (probably Point Lookout). Even though offered a higher position with higher pay, he refused and remained in prison. From Wild Geese Today.

He had the nickname of "Old Tarantula" and was born in Ireland in 1823. After serving in the British Army, and crossed the Atlantic to the United States and joined the U.S.army. He served in the Seminole Indian War and was severely wounded in the Mexican War.


SURRENDERED FORT JOHNSON

On January 7, 1861, while the sole military person at Fort Johnson in Smithville, NC, now Southport, he surrendered Fort Johnson to a large force of North Carolina militia

Continued. --Old B-Runner