MCCWRT Discussion Group: Civil War Technology-- Part 1

On October 22, 2022, the McHenry County Civil War Round Table (Illinois) (MCCWRT) met at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake with the topic being "Civil War Technology."

I had found a list of "Top Ten Innovations of the Civil War" from the May 17, 2017, War History on Line site and we used that to kickoff the discussion with these questions.  Not only did they have to guess the answer, but also tell what innovation it was.

1.  Who was the Father of Battlefield  Medicine?

2.  Who was the first president to be able to communicate effectively during battle?

3.  Who was John Hunt Morgan's code genius?

4.  What was the favorite choice of anesthetic?

5.  Name the Confederate surgeon who perfected a standard anesthetic inhaler.

Answers below.

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1.  Army Ambulance Corps //  Dr. Jonathan Letterman

2.  Portable Telegraph //  Abraham Lincoln  

3.  George A. "Lightning" Ellsworth

4.  Anesthesia Inhaler  //  Ether

5.  Dr. Julian  Chisholm

--Old Secesh

The Good, the Bad & Ugly of Civil War Generals

From the December 26, 2022, Collector  "Six famous generals of the Civil War:  The Good & the Badad" by Curt Smothers.

How he rated them:

Good and Bad was relative to their military skill.  Ugly refers to generals lacking in military skill and undeserving of their rank.

Here they are:

THE GOOD

U.S. Grant & Robert E. Lee

THE BAD

George McClellan & Braxton Bragg

THE UGLY

Benjamin Butler and  John B. Floyd

Read the article to see wht he ranked them like that.

--Old Secesh

Land at Battle of Shepherdstown to be Preserved-- Part 4: Raising Funds

"Far Away Farm is likely one of the last parcels needed to achieve our ultimate goal of turning the battlefield properties over to the National Park Service for their management and protection," Nickerson said.

The West Virginia state government has recently donated a $300,000 Outdoor Grant to American Battlefield Trust.

The only thing holding all this up is the need for around $50,000 in fund, which the SBPA is hoping the community will be willing to donate.

The purchase price of Far Away Farm is $2 million.

--Old Secesh

Land at Battle of Shepherdstown to Be Preserved-- Part 3: To become a NPS Site?

Continued from December 13.

"Since the Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association's establishment some 18 years ago, with our partners, we've raised more than $1.4 million and helped save 107 acres of the original battlefield.   And soon will be added another 122 acres, with the purchase of the Far Away Farm, where the core of the battle took place," Mike Nickerson said.

According to Nickerson, while the grant money was awarded through the National Park Service (NPS), it will also inadvertantly be returned in the form of the entire battlefield to the NPS, after all the battlefield is acquired.

The NPS is firmly in agreement withn this decision, after completing a Special Resources Study in 2015, which recommended the Shepherdstown Battlefield, in particular, become a part of the NPS.  Currently the NPS is leaning toward incorporating the Shepherdstown Battlefield into the Antietam Battlefield, due to the two events being interconnected (Shepherdstown Battle took place following Antietam as Lee's Army retreated back to Virginia).

--Old Secesh

Lee and His Generals-- Part 7: Battle of Gettysburg

At the Battle of Gettysburg, Lee had 3 lieutenant generals and 11 major generals.

The Union had interior lines and high ground (two big pluses) and the Confederates exterior lines.  Exterior lines made moving forces much longer.

Gettysburg was the only battle that Lee lost on the battlefield.  (What about Antietam?)

Did Stuart let Lee down at Gettysburg?  Lee had that coment to Stuart when he finally arrived.

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Lee was only interested in the Eastern Theater of operations, not the Western which is perhaps a reason things went so badly there.

Lee was a gambler, especially when he didn't have a choice.

Next month's topic for discussion group will be The Atlanta Campaign 1864:  To Atlanta.

--Old Secesh

Lee and His Generals-- Part 6: Lee Takes Command

Robert E. Lee's first job was as a military advisor to Jefferson Davis and was in charge of coastal defense along the Atlantic Ocean.  He went out in public and said that Fort Pulaski was so strong that it could never be captured.

 Lee essentially got whipped during the early part of the war in command in what became West Virginia.  

In 1862, Johnston was in charge of forces protecting Richmond.  Lee was primarily involved in building up that city's defenses.   So much defensive work he directed that Lee got the nickname "Old Spades.

Johnston was wounded at Seven Pines.  The top Confederate generals in terms of seniority were Samuel Cooper, Albert Sydney Johnston, Lee, Joe Johnston and Beauregard.

Lee took over command of the Army defending Richmond.  He found that he could most rely on Longstreet and the two Hills.  As for Confederate generals Magruder, Holmes and Huger not so much.

--Old Secesh

Robert E. Lee-- Part 5: Winfield Scott and Lincoln

Both Winfield Scott and General Wool were quite elderly when the war began.  Winfield Scott had been in the War of 1812.

Lee had been in command of troops at Harpers Ferry when John Brown attacked because he was senior officer present.  JEB Stuart also there.

One task Lincoln gave Scott was to escort Mary Todd Lincoln to New York City to prevent her from spending too much money.

Scott recommended Lee to be commander of U.S. forces.  Lincoln accepted the recommendation and made Lee an offer which Lee turned down because of loyalty to his state, Virginia.

Scott  came up with the Anaconda Plan to defeat the South by carving it up and setting a blockade off its coasts.

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Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis.  Davis had an extensive military background and Lincoln didn't.  Davis backed his commanding generals regardless of performance.  Lincoln did not.  They had different perspectives on their generals.

--Old Secesh

Lee and His Generals-- Part 4: About Robert E. Lee

From the July McHenry County Civil War Round Table.

ROBERT E. LEE

His father was famed American Revolution officer "Light Horse" Harry Lee.  He was the one who said of General Washington that he was:  "First in War, First in Peace and First in the Hearts of his Countrymen."

He graduated #2 in his class at West Point.  (Didn't say who was #1.)

He was an engineer and the best West Point grads were appointed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  However, it was pointed ut that he made the statement that Fort Pulaski, guarding Savannah, could never be taken.  Of course that was before rifled cannons.

Lee had no demerits when he graduated from West Point.  The same can not be said for George Armstrong Custer.

During the Mexican War, Lee was in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry and served under Gerneral Winfield Scott.  Scott admired him and was sure Lee was destined for glory.

--Old Secesh

This Month in the War: 13th Amendment, South Carolina Secedes, Mason and Slidell Released

From the December 2022 American Battlefield Trust calendar.

DECEMBER 18, 1865

**  The 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery, becomes a part of the U.S. Constitution.

DECEMBER 20, 1860

**  South Carolina adopts  an Ordinance of Secession.

DECEMBER 22, 1860

**  Major Robert Anderson evacuates Fort Moultrie and goes to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.

DECEMBER 26, 1861

**  The U.S. releases Mason and Sliddell, ending the Trent Affair.

DECEMBER 30, 1861

**  Banks in New York suspend specie payments.

DECEMBER 31, 1862

**  The Battle of Stones River (Murfreesboro), Tennessee, begins.

--Old Secesh

Lee and His Generals-- Part 3: William Henry Chase Whiting

He was at Fort Fisher when it was captured by Union forces on January 15, 1865, and wounded.  Taken to Fort Columbus on Governor's Island in New York Harbor as a prisoner, he was recovering from the wound when he contracted dysentery and died March 10, 1865, becoming the highest ranking Confederate officer to die in a Union prison.

He was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in New York City, but his widow Kate had the body exhumed in 1900 and sent to Wilmington, North Carolina's Oakdale Cemetery.

One of W.H.C's brothers was Major Jasper Strong Whiting who died of scarlet fever December 25, 1862.

Another brother was Robert Edward Kerr Whiting was later in charge of Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.

--Old Secesh

Lee and His Generals: William Henry Chase Whiting-- Part 2

Continued from Dec. 4.  These were from the July McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Table Discussion group.

Whiting was very much involved in the defenses and action around Charleston Harbor in March and April 1861.

He, however, got in trouble with Confederate President Jefferson Davis for declining the command of a brigade of five Mississippi regiments.  Further problems came for his being very outrspoken about his superiors' shortcomings as he perceived them.

Whiting was at the Seven Days battles after which Lee replaced him and assigned him to the military district at Wilmington, North Carolina.

Promoted to major general in February 1863.   After that, he briefly tookover the defense of Petersburg in May 1864.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group Meets This Saturday, Dec. 17: Topic Is 'The Beginning of the End: Dec. '64 & Jan. '65'

The McHenry (Illinois) Civil War Round Table will meet this Saturday at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake, Illinois, from 10 am to 11:30.  We will be in the side room.

This month's topic is "The Beginning of the End:  December 1864 and January 1865."  We will be talking about anything that happened in those two months and somewhat guarantee we will keep on topic.  (Well, sometimes.)

Someone might have something to say about the two battles of Fort Fisher which took place then.

Panera Bread is located at US Highway 14 (Northwest Highway) and Main Street.

Come On Down!  --Old Secesh

Land at Battle of Shepherdstown Preserved-- Part 2: The Battle, September 19-20, 1862

"A little over 160 years ago, on September 19-20, 1862,  Shepherdstown's churches, businesses and homes were overwhelmed with wounded and dying Confederate soldiers from the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam," Michael Nickerson said in an e-mail.  

"As the town's people frantically scurried to save lives, Union and Confederate forces entered a deadly clash just southeast of town, near the Potomac River and the bluffs and fields along present-day River and Trough Roads.

""By the close of the battle, some 677 soldiers were killed or wounded, and Confederate  General Robert E. Lee, now blocked from advancing his troops back into Maryland at Williamsport, called off his campaign [the Antietam Campaign], retreating deeper into northern Virginia.

"In 2004, another conflict ensued -- the battle to preserve  the Shepherdstown Battlefield," Nickerson said, mentioning  the newer battle was  waged between land developers and local citizens.

"Plans had begun  to develop a large portion of the site, by building 125 houses [on Shepherdstown Battlefield].  Residents and concerned citizens banded together to protect the historic integrity of the area."

--Old Secesh

Land at Battle of Sherpherdstown to Be Preserved

This article is of particular interest to me since I wrote a lot about this little-known battle earlier in the year. 

From the November 25, 2022, Shepherdstown Chronicle 'Save the Battlefield':  Civil War location to be preserved, thanks to National Park Service grant" by Tabitha Johnston.

Last Friday, the National Park Service announced that it would be awarding a $1.9 million American Battlefield Protection Program Battlefield Land Acquisition  Grant to the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission, so the organization can use it to preserve more than 200 acres of the Civil War battlefield.

According to  Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association  President Michael  Nickerson, the preservation of a 121-acre farm has been the recent focus of his organization's Save the Battlefield campaign.

Great News.  --Old Secesh

81st Anniversary of Pearl Harbor: Herbert Jacobson-- Part 3: His Parents Married on December 7, 1919

"My grandmother [Mabel], who lived to be 84-years old, never really could get a handle on her son being identified as MIA and presumed dead," Brad McDonald [nephew] said.

"It was really hard on her.  ...The day, Dec. 7, and the name Bert were kind of lost to her forever.  It was a double whammy for her.  The final irony is we are burying Bert on September 13, which was my grandmother's birthday."

Brad McDonald's mother, Norma, was very close to her brother Bert.  In fact, it was Bert who introduced Norma to her husband and Brad's father, Orville "Mac" McDonald, also a member of the U.S. Navy.  The two sailors had met while training together at Naval Station Great Lakes, and Bert brought Orville home for a visit.

"Without Bert, I wouldn't be here, Brad McDonald said.  "He played Cupid."

Bert Jacobson arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, at the age of 21, only 57 days after finishing his training at Great Lakes.  He was on duty the night before the attack and believed to be sleeping aboard the ship when the attack took place.

"He may have died before he even knew there was a war going on," McDonald said.  "Of course, there's no way to know that."

Continued in my Down Da Road I Go blog.

War of 1812 Veteran Fights at Battle of Gettysburg: John Burns

I have been writing about him in my Not So Forgotten:  War of 1812 blog last month and this month.  

He was a veteran of the War of 1812 and Mexican War and had tried to assist the Union cause in the Civil War, but had been turned down because of his age.

But then, the war came to him in a big way and he took full advantage of it to serve.

Quite a character and worth a read, so go to the blog.  You can get there by clicking on the My Blog list to the right of this.

--Old Secesh

Lee and His Generals: William Henry Chase Whiting

Continued from November 10.

Since the McHenry County Civil War Round Table was having its July 2, 2022, discussion group topic on Lee and his generals, I prepared this information on my favorite Confederate general, W.H.C. Whiting.

He was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, the son of Lt. Colonel Levi Whiting.  I haven't found it written anywhere else, but he was most likely named after his father's commander, William Henry Chase (1798-1870).

Whiting graduated 1st in his USMA Class of 1845 and was assigned to the engineers. (The top USMA graduates were assigned to the engineers.)    He spent his prewar career in the Army designing seacoast defenses in Maryland and Florida as well as harbor fortifications in San Francisco, California.

He then spent five years improving rivers, canals and harbors in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.  He also built the Cape Lookout, North Carolina, lighthouse.

--Old Secesh

This Month in the War: 13th Amendment, Battles of Prairie Grove, Fredericksburg and Nashville, USS Cairo Sinks

From the December 2022 American Battlefield Trust calendar. 

DECEMBER 6, 1865

**  The 13th Amendment ratified, officially abolishing slavery.

DECEMBER 7, 1862

**  Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas.

DECEMBER 11, 1862

**  Battle of Fredericksburg, Virginia, begins.

DECEMBER 12, 1862

**  USS Cairo sinks in the Yazoo River, Mississippi.

DECEMBER 15, 1864

**  Battle of Nashville, Tennessee, begins.

--Old Secesh

Preservation at the Battle of Fredericksburg

From the December American Battlefield Trust 2022 calendar.

FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA

259 acres saved.

The preservation of the"Slaughter Pen Farm" on the Fredericksburg Battlefield in Virginia, ranks as one of the most significant and expensive acquisitions of hallowed ground in the history of the Trust and its presevation partners.

This spread of farmland was highly threatened by development, but the Trust was not about tolose the site that witnessed a bloody charge by some 4,000 Union troops during the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862!

The Trust and its pivotal partners have saved 259 acres at Fredericksburg.

--Old Secesh