MCCWRT Meeting 3/12/19: Jonathan Letterman-- Part 1

This past Tuesday, March 12, 2019, the McHenry County Civil War Round Table (Illinois) met at the Woodstock Library for our first meeting of 2019, after our two month layoff during the winter.

Charlie Banks opened the meeting announcing a couple Civil War battlefield tours.  The Kenosha (Wis.) Civil War Museum will have one October 20-23 to Manassas at a cost of $770 double, $95 single.  This includes everything except getting to and from it.

October 11-12 the Northern Illinois Civil War Round Table will have one to northern Missouri with a $175 cost (not including meals and hotel.

Our speaker tonight was Gordon Dammann, a former dentist in both civilian and military life.  He is also a licensed Battle of Antietam , South Mountain and Harpers Ferry.  Mr. Dammann is a huge Antietam backer and is pleased to announce that a lot of acreage has been added to the battlefield and says this is the most intact battlefield that has changed the least since the time of the battle.

And, the medical situation at Antietam was the Letterman Plan.

--Old Secesh

Elmer Ellsworth & the U.S. Zouave Cadets-- Part 3: Iron Brigade Connection

Then Elmer Ellsworth went to Rockford, Illinois, and his group of militia made a name for themselves with their precision drill at Camp Sinnissippi in Rockford at an encampment.  This is where the Sinnissippi Park is located today.  The Kenosha Civil War Museum has a broadside advertisement for this.

Ellsworth fell in love while in Rockford with Carrie Stafford, the daughter of a rich and powerful Rockford father, who did not like Ellsworth's prospects and did what he could to prevent a marriage until Ellsworth could prove he could support his daughter.

Next, Ellsworth went to Madison, Wisconsin, and trained the Governor's Guard, some of those men going on to prominent positions in the famed Iron Brigade during the Civil War.  The Iron Brigade originally was made up of the 2nd, 6th and 7th Wisconsin regiments, but was later joined by the 24th Michigan and 19th Indiana regiments.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Meeting November 14, 2017

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table's Christmas Party will be Sunday, December 3 at the Bernard Mill Restaurant in Ringwood, Illinois, from 11 to 2.  The restaurant is in an actual 19th century mill.

Cost is $30, with proceeds going to the scholarship program.  Food will be served family style and guest speaker will be portraying Clara Barton.

The new officers and board were elected.

Our speaker for the night,  Doug Dammann is with the Kenosha (Wisconsin) Civil War Museum where he has been for the past ten years.  The museum opened in 2008 and they have a Second Friday Lecture once a month as well as a Campaign Tour the second to last weekend in October.  They just got back from Sailors Creek, Virginia and the Appomattox Campaign.

He spoke on Elmer Ellsworth and the United States Zouave Cadets.  I, of course, knew who Elmer Ellsworth was but didn't know anything about his Zouave Cadets which was why I looked them up and wrote about them this past week.

Well, At Least I May Finally Learn for Sure How to Pronounce Zouave.  --Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil War Round Table and Historical Society Look at Lincoln on Assassination Anniversary-- Part 1

From the April 10, 2015, Northwest Herald (McHenry County, Il.) "McHenry County Historical Society program looks at Lincoln in assassination anniversary."

This held in Union, Illinois, an appropriately named place to observe the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's assassination on April 14, 1865.

The McHenry County Historical Society and the McHenry County Civil War Round Table held a joint meeting on April 14th at the McHenry County History Museum in Union starting at 7 p.m. in observance of the anniversary.

Actor Ron Halverson, member of the Racine (Wis.) Theater Guild was selected by the Kenosha (Wis) Civil War Museum to portray Lincoln's friend and business partner William Herndon.  Herndon wrote a definitive biography of Abraham Lincoln in the 1890s and the presentation id based on its contents.

Herndon published "the first and arguably best account of Lincoln's life" in 1888.  He was the third and last of Lincoln's law practice partners.

--Old Secesh

"Life and Limb" and " Seeing the Elephant" On Display at Kenosha Civil War Museum

From the April 3, 2015, Kenosha (Wis) News.

At Kenosha's Civil War Museum there are two exhibits worth checking out soon.

"LIFE AND LIMB-- THE TOLL OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR"  Explores the experiences of disabled Civil War veterans.  The exhibit runs through April 25th.  A photograph accompanies the article of five Union soldiers missing legs.

"SEEING THE ELEPHANT"--  A ten-minute, 360 degree movie-- in the "Fiery Trial" exhibit.

The Civil War Museum is at 5400 First Avenue in Kenosha, Wisconsin and is open seven days a week.  Admission charged.

Not Too far.  Reckon I'll Go.  After All, I Saw the Elephant.  --Old Secesh

About the Kenosha Civil War Museum-- Part 4

This museum started from a very thorough Civil War collection that used to be housed at Carthage College in Kenosha.  I saw it there and have also been to this new museum and really should go more often as it is only about 40 miles away.

They also have many lectures and presentations.

It is open 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

It is located at 5400 1st Avenue in Kenosha.

Tickets are $9 for adults.

For more information:  kenosha.org/wp-civilwar.

--Old Secesh

A Midwest Perspective on the Civil War at Kenosha Museum-- Part 3

The unique story of the Upper Midwest's Civil War experience is shown in "The Fiery Trail" exhibit, a series of environmental displays spanning 1850 through the end of the war that take visitors from the home front (a fictional town called Fairfield) to supply depots, campsites and battlegrounds.

Another exhibit is the Veterans Memorial Gallery, a contemplative space honoring America's citizen soldiers and symbolizes the commonality of soldier experience through the centuries.  Veterans from all wars are commemorated on a circular series of monoliths.

Other artifacts in the museum are a Kenosha militia flag and a first-hand documentation of a slave who fled north on the Underground Railroad.  Of particular interest, visitors can follow the fortunes of dozens of actual participants in the Civil War including a nurse, soldier and abolitionist.

--Old Secesh

A Midwest Perspective on the Civil War at Kenosha Museum-- Part 2

A temporary exhibit, "On the Way to War" ran through March 1st and conveys "the universal experience of the citizen soldier," according to Dan Joyce, director of Kenosha museums.  "Take away the technology and the experience is the same; the training, camaraderie, frustration, boredom and fear."

Anchoring the exhibit are watercolor paintings done on the way to war in 1862 by soldier John Gaddis.

Too Late for This One.  --Old Secesh

A Midwest Perspective on the Civil War at the Kenosha Museum-- Part 1

From the Feb. 19, 2015, Chicago Tribune by Donald Liebenson.

The Civil War Museum is located on the Lake Michigan lakefront in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  It opened in 2008 and attracts 75,000 visitors annually.  What makes it even more special is that it focuses on how the entire upper Midwest, not just Kenosha, was impacted by the war.

Among the museum's newest attractions is "Seeing the Elephant," a ten-minute, 360-degree movie that begins with the buildup of the war and follows a young adventurer, an abolitionist and a family man as they enlist, experience battle and reflect on how the war has changed them.  This surrounds viewers with the sight and sound of the battle and is shown on the hour.

Hey, Seeing the Elephant Is My Blog name.  Well, Past-Tense Anyway.  --Old Secesh

Kenosha Civil War Museum

As in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Grand opening for this new museum will be June 14-15. The museum features the war on the homefront, particularly as it relates to the Midwestern states. It is state-of-the-art and will feature technology, life-size diramas and interactive exhibits.

MAPLE LEAF

One temporary exhibit is on the Union transport ship Maple Leaf which was sunk by a Confederate torpedo in the St. John's River near Jacksonville, Florida. A Confederate torpedo would be the same as a mine today.

It was originally a Canadian pleasure excursion vessel, but bought by the US government and put into Civil War service.

The exhibit is called "The Maple Leaf: An American Civil War Shipwreck." It was discovered in 1984 and partially excavated. Its contents are a time capsule to the era with items used by soldiers. There will also be an authentic reproduction of a Confederate torpedo and an informational video.

For more information:

www.kenosha.org/civilwar/index.html

The museum is located at 5400 First Avenue

Perhaps I'll go there for the grand opening since it is about thirty miles away.

If I Can AFFORD the Gas at Whatever Big Oil is Charging Then. --Old B-Runner