THE McHenry County Civil War Round Table-- Part 2

Attendance at meetings averages between ten and fifteen, while discussion groups are smaller.  We also have ZOOM in both venues. 

"COVID took a toll on us as well as other groups and we are still recovering," says Jim Stannis.  "But we are starting to grow our membership again."

Several members of the McHenry group have presented Civil War topics to adult education classes at McHenry County College and they've assisted the McHenry County Historical Society in restoring artifacts and writings.

Membership dues are $25 a year, and part of the money is used to support a $1,000 scholarship to the annual high school winner of a historical contest.

--Old Secesh

Robert Girardi: Author and Presenter

The author of nine books, Robert Girardi says he is primarily interested in the Western Theater, railroads, logistics and engineers.  He will discuss Civil War engineers with the RRVCWRT on August 5.

"I am currently working on a biography of Gen. G.K. Warren, the 'Savior of Little Round Top' [at the Battle of Gettysburg].  There is a monument to him there," Girardi says.  

"He was later sacked by Sheridan after the Battle of Five Forks, allegedly for moving too slow.  I don't think he's been given his due."

Had Warren not realized the importance of the Little Round Top, the outcome of the battle might have been different.

Girardi understands the convenience of having CWRT programs on Zoom, but he prefers to make his presentations in person.

"I enjoy the fellowship of people who share a love f history, he says.  "W can talk about divisive issues but still go home as friends."

--Old Secesh

CWRT-- Part 9: Rock River Valley CWRT

Before he resigned as vice president in 2023 for health reasons, Pete Thomas had all but completed a schedule of speakers for 2024.  In addition to members of the RRVCWRT, speakers include members of nearby CWRTs and authors from various sources (some self-published), including Savas Beatie, a history publishing house from El Dorado Hills, California.

David Byrnes, current president of the RRVCWRT, is the retired executive director of Midway Village Museum in Rockford and past president of the Rockford Rotary.

"We currently have more than 80 members on the rolls, and a fourth are women," says Byrnes.  "Our average in-person attendance is about 30 to 40, with eight to ten others on Zoom.  We also share our Zoom links with other CWRTs, so some attendees are from other groups.

--Old Secesh

Civil War Round Tables-- Part 6: Rock River Valley CWRT

When Wesley Willows shut down their facilities during the pandemic, Don Barrett and Ed Kuehl kept the meetings going on by presenting them online via Zoom.

Bob Pressman was elected president  in 2021, and with the help of other officers, went to work reorganizing the Round Table and putting it on solid financial footing.  "We formed a committee to rewrite the bylaws, based  on those of other round tables," said Pressman.

"Prior to the pandemic, attendees paid Wesley Willows for the meal, but paid only $1 for expenses.  Jerry Paris volunteered to be treasurer and we raised dues to $25 a year, opened a bank account, and started paying for our Zoom subscription."

Zoom meetings were a mixed blessing.  "It allowed us to use speakers from all over the country, since we didn't have to pay travel expenses, so the pool of presenters became very large.  It also kept us in contact with each other, but we missed the face-to-face interaction, the camaraderie of in-person meetings.

By 2022, things were starting to reopen, and Wesley Willows said they would allow us to meet there again, but without meals."

--Old Secesh

Civil War Round Tables-- Part 2: And Then There's the McHenry County Civil War Round Table

Although operations at meetings differ, most Civil War Round Tables (CWRT) follow a similar format at their monthly meetings.  Some meet at a restaurant where a meal preceded the program.  Announcements or publicity for related events are usually followed by a formal presentation from an author, professor, historian, re-enactor, member or others on a topic related to the Civil War.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many CWRTs have hybrid programs where the live meeting is shared online on Zoom.

This is how my McHenry County Civil War Round Table operates as well.  Plus, once a month we have a discussion meeting at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake, Illinois.  And, we usually stick to our topic somewhat.

--Old Secesh

Great News: MCCWRT Will Have First In-Person Meeting at Woodstock Library Since Virus Hit, on Tuesday, Oct. 12

It's been a long time coming, but the McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT) will be having its first in-person meeting at our home base, the Woodstock (Illinois) Library since our last one in March 2020.  The Woodstock Library has been closed to meetings since then until now.   (We did have one meeting at the McHenry County Historical Society Museum in Union, Illinois back in June.)

We have been doing the last several meetings on Zoom.  Our discussion groups are now back at meeting on the last Saturday of each month at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake.

Since I don't do Zoom I haven't seen any of the regular meetings except the one in Union.

The meeting is from 7 to 9 pm, Tuesday October 12.  Doors to the library, however, will be closed promptly at 7, so plan accordingly.

This month, Scott Larimer will be presenting Fort Sumter & Other Civil War Forts."

Come On Down!!  --Old Secesh

McHenry County CW Round Table Prisons Discussion-- Part 7

Continued from April 6, 2021.

Continued from the March meeting of the McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group.

**  Barracks were more often built in Northern prisons than Southern ones.

**  56,000 from both sides died in prisons.

**  13,000 alone died at Andersonville.

**  At Andersonville, one group of Union prisoners called the Raiders and Regulators were buried separately.  they were tried by the other prisoners and eight executed and others forced to "Run the Gauntlet."

**  In contrast, during World War II, German and Italian prisoners held in the United States had it made.

**  At Rock island, food was distributed to barracks and prisoners passed out proportions.

**  Boston Corban, who shot Booth, spent four months at Andersonville.

**********************************

The topic of discussion for April will be April/May 1865, which was a very important period of time in the war with the fall of Richmond, surrenders, assassination of Lincoln and hunt for Booth.  This was our first hybrid Live/Zoom meeting and it was a success with four in attendance and four more on Zoom, including one from Florida.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Meeting 3/27/21: Civil War Prisons, North and South

Four members of our McHenry County (Illinois)  Civil War Round Table met yesterday at Stucky's in Johnsburg, Illinois, for our monthly discussion group.  Stucky's had a nice layout of fresh fruit, pastries and plenty of coffee.  Thanks, Stucky's.

This was a hybrid meeting in that we also had Zoom going, with another four joining us, including one of out members in Florida.  How about that.  This was the first time I had had first-hand experience with Zoom and I was impressed.  Not enough to get it going for myself yet, anyway, nut nonetheless.  I'm thinking all of our discussion group meetings will also be Zoom in the future.

Something good coming from trying times indeed.

Much of our discussion was on prisons in Illinois, though many others were mentioned.  I'll have more on that later.

The last discussion group meeting we had was in October and at Stucky's again (our usual month meetings are in a room at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake but, of course, the room has been closed since last March).

Anyway, it is good to talk Civil War with like-minded folk.

I'll also have the answers to yesterday's prison questions (and some more questions) in tomorrow's post.

--Old SeceshZoomer