From the Brigade Commander: Barry Arnold - January 2020

From the Brigade Commander: Barry Arnold

Our December meeting had a little turn of events. Our speaker, Marc Blau, who was going to give a talk on a WWII story of Letters to the Homefront…. A love story between a community and its soldiers. He had to cancel due to the weather. He come to us from the north and the snow was the problem.  Still, we had a great time and I want to thank Kathy and Neil Coddington as well as Gary Weaver for coming in period dress. They showed us what it may have looked like during the civil war era. Also, we had a great stand in. Our very own Jim Duffy.

Jim gave an outstanding account of the Battle of Monocacy. It was fought on July 9, 1864 just outside of Frederick, Maryland.   The confederates under command of General Jubal A. Early and his army of the Valley clashed with Major General Lew Wallace and his small force of  a hundred day men that had never seen battle before. As the battle enraged on that date, the union army lost the battle. Still they delayed Gen Early from marching to    Washington DC. As reinforcements came and defended the capital at Fort Stevens. I thought Jim gave a great talk, and if you were there, I hope you thought the same.

On January 7, 2020 at our next meeting we will have Alisa Dupuy She is an extremely talented portrayer of a mother of a civil war soldier. She will render a 1st person account. It should be an outstanding performance.  Until our next meeting in January, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and be safe this coming year.    Please note we have a field trip planned for February 01, 2020. We will be going to the Union League. Thanks to Jim Duffy for arranging this event. This is not a museum that is open to the general public, so we are so fortunate to have the opportunity to explore the site. As I mentioned in my last letter, please save the date of April 18, 2020 for our brush-cutting at Gettysburg National Park. We are assigned to the Codori farm where we will be asked to do some painting, fence-mending, and other miscellaneous tasks. Also on that date we will be visiting the Spangler farm for a talk and exploration of the field hospital. This is a real treat as the museum does not open again for several months and we will be rewarded for our hard work by being given a private tour.

On May 30, 2020 we will be visiting Harpers Ferry in West Virginia. We will have a guided tour of this fine battlefield. We are looking forward to having Dennis Frye as our guide.  For our college football followers of our round table. Tailgating is a big part of college football. When was the first tailgating event in history?   The answer is not a football game. The first tailgating event started during the American Civil War.   The first battle of the civil war was Bull Run.  In 1862 the citizens of Washington DC came out to view the battle in their wagons with picnic luncheons. That was the first Tailgating event. Another fact in history.

Barry

Discount for 2020 Gettysburg Civil War Institute Summer Conference

The Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College (CWI) would like to offer the members of Civil War Roundtable of Eastern Pennsylvania, Inc. a 15% discount to attend the CWI Summer Conference from June 12-17, 2020. You can find registration details about our conference on our website and the full schedule of events. We believe in your mission, and we are making this special offer to recognize the efforts of your organization in promoting the study of Civil War history.

For more than 35 years, the Civil War Institute has hosted a premiere annual summer conference bringing leading historians and diverse public audiences together for lectures, battlefield tours, small group discussions, and roundtable conversations about the Civil War era. Sessions, lodging, and meals are held on the 200-acre Gettysburg College campus, and there are part-time and full-time packages available.

For 2020, we are excited to feature leading Civil War scholars, Harold Holzer, Catherine Clinton, Brian Wills, Jeffry Wert, Carol Reardon, and Scott Hartwig within our lineup of more than 40 distinguished speakers and tour guides. The conference will feature a wide range of topics, including POW prison escapes, soldier impressment, the Civil War in the West, the guerrilla experience, and more. The 2020 program will also debut debates between leading scholars about Civil War generalship. This year’s topics include George B. McClellan at Antietam, James Longstreet, and Nathan Bedford Forrest.

In addition to touring the Gettysburg battlefield, participants will also be able to visit other nearby battlefields and such as First Manassas, 2nd Fredericksburg and Salem Church, Antietam, Cool Springs, Spotsylvania, and Bristoe Station. Attendees who prefer a shorter, more physically active experience can choose to sign up for our new “active track” package, which features lectures and a day and a half of walking-intensive tours of the Gettysburg battlefield with historian Timothy Orr. The 2020 conference offers something for everyone, from longtime students of the Civil War to those who are new to Civil War history.

We would very much appreciate it if you could share this special conference offer with your membership in your own promotional materials, including your newsletter and website. Feel free to use the conference description in this email and to share the link to the conference: https://www.gettysburg.edu/civil-war-institute/summer-conference/.

Attached please also find a pdf of our 2020 conference marketing card that you can distribute to your members. We would be happy to send you printed cards if you think your members might benefit more from a flyer that they can take home with them. 

Please let me know if you have any questions, and we look forward to hearing from you in the near future if you’d like to join our list of partners!

Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Heather Miller | Administrative Assistant | Civil War Institute
Gettysburg College | 300 North Washington Street | Box 435 |Gettysburg, PA 17325
Phone: 717.337.6590

www.gettysburg.edu/civil-war-institute

Upcoming Field Trips For 2020

• Union League- February 01, 2020

• Spangler’s Farm and Field Hospital- April 18, 2020

  (part of Conservation Day)

• Harper’s Ferry with Dennis Frye- May 30, 2020

FOR DETAILS ON EACH TRIP…
SEE THE INFORMATION LASTED IN THE “UPCOMING EVENTS” TAB FOR EACH DATE.

Annual Fund Appeal

Dear members and supporters of the Civil War Round Table of Eastern PA, Inc,

  See the link below for the form for our annual appeal for your support of our organization. As you all are most likely aware, the cost of "doing business" of any organization or business always seems to rise, not fall as time passes. This is true for our CWRT as well. Venue costs go up as food and staff costs increase; speaker costs rise as we do provide accommodations as needed as well as provide travel reimbursement. Our goal is always to support historic preservation and educational initiatives with whatever money we retain over expenses. None of our Officers and Board members receive payment other than occasional reimbursement for out of pocket expenses. Most of them donate more than time and energy and do it freely and passionately.

It is not or intent or desire to increase our dues or dinner costs as we wish to encourage membership and we wish to keep our dinner cost affordable. We feel strongly that our members and friends receive excellent value for both items.

We do need your help however. We realize that all of us receive pleas, especially at this time of the year, and we also realize that there are more good causes than any of us as individuals can possibly support.

This plea is definitely a soft sell as we do not wish any of you to feel that there is  pressure to make any sort of a donation at this time. It is strictly up to each of you to decide if this is something you wish to do and have the resources to do.

Any and all donations will be greatly appreciated. Donations may be tax-deductible as the CWRT is a 501(C)3  -non-profit corporation.

 Sincerely,

Barry Arnold and the Officers and Directors of the CWRT of Eastern PA, Inc

CLICK HERE FOR FUND APPEAL FORM

Photos from the December Meeting

Program Coordinator Bob McHugh and December Presenter Jim Duffy, who filled-in at the last minute for Mark Blau

Another great program, additionally so because Jim Duffy filled in at the last minute when Mark Blau couldn’t make it due to wintry weather up north.

Jim presented research he had completed on the Battle of Monocacy in Maryland.

The Battle of Monocacy (also known as Monocacy Junction) was fought on July 9, 1864, approximately 6 miles from Frederick, Maryland, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the  Civil War. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal Early defeated Union forces under Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace. 

NPS link to site - click here

Book Raffle Winners in December!

Gettysburg Remembrance Day 2019 - Our Members Capture the Day

Gettysburg Remembrance Day 2019 was observed on November 23rd. A number of Eastern PA Civil War Round Table Members were present for the event and share these photos. The annual Remembrance Day Parade features Confederate and Union reenactors and living historians to commemorate the creation of the Soldiers National Cemetery, where President Abraham Lincoln famously delivered his Gettysburg Address. The parade route matches part of the route of the procession from Gettysburg to the Cemetery, where burials of Gettysburg dead was still in process.

From the Brigade Commander ~ December 2019

Our November meeting was a blast with Richard Lewis presentation on Confederate uniforms he calls “Cloaked in Mystery”. His presentation was in pictures of Confederate generals all in the same uniform. The mystery was, how was this possible? It turns out that they were all post war images Also, Mathew Brady took those pictures in his New York Studio. I enjoy it very much and it was very amusing. If you were there, I hope you enjoyed it too. If you were not there, you missed a terrific presentation. 

   At our next meeting in December we will take a break from the civil war and look into a World War II story. Marc Blau will come to the round table to share stories of letters first published in Homefront, a Bangor magazine sent around the world to keep its sons and daughters connected to their hometowns. So please join me to hear this presentation of a love story between a community and its WWII soldiers.

 I have been informed that our annual brush cutting at Gettysburg National Park is on April 18, 2020. Please save this date and come with us for the fun and camaraderie of your fellow Round Table members.  Facts in history. ..The real story behind all those Confederate statues.

Most of their monuments were not erected right after the civil war. In fact, all the way to 1890 there were very few monuments dedicated to the Confederate leaders. Most of them were built much later in 1895 to 1915.   There was the erection of confederate statues and monuments in large numbers. Also, from 1955 to 1970 southern whites mount violent resistance and started putting up confederate monuments again. Monuments were put up to honor confederate leaders and soldiers. But the timing makes it clear, the real motivate was white terror against blacks. It was to maintain white supremacy in the south. It is that reason the blacks consider these statues as bigotry and terror.

Barry

Gettysburg Conservation Day ~ Saturday, April 18, 2020 ~ Codori Farm

Gettysburg Conservation Day
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Work Location Announced!

     There are few sites, if any, on the Gettysburg Battlefield that are more recognizable or iconic than the Codori Farm buildings on the Emmitsburg Road. It will be our honor to work there next year. As always, there will be a multitude of tasks such as fence painting, post and rail fence destruction and rebuilding, flat board fence destruction and rebuilding and the never-ending brush cutting. So, whatever your skill level, flexibility level, strength and endurance level there is something for you.

Without volunteers, our friends at Gettysburg National Military will never be able to keep up with all the necessary work to keep this place as it should be kept to honor those who fought and suffered here so long ago. The work never ends even with all the volunteer effort so your contribution is extremely important and necessary.

We’ll begin at 9AM and work til 12:30 or so. Spread the word to family and friends as we will have enough work to keep all busy. We expect our school, community and scout partners to join us as well. Logistical details will be forthcoming as we get closer to the date.

     We are also working on a special tour for our volunteers once our work is complete. Stay tuned for details.

     The Codori Farm is just south of Gettysburg on the east side of Emmitsburg Road. It was the scene of heavy fighting on July 2nd and was at the center of Pickett’s Charge on July 3rd. General Pickett remained near the farm buildings during the attack. The current farmhouse was there at the time of the battle, although a two story brick addition was added to its rear in 1877. The current barn is a replacement for the original that was torn down in 1882.

The farm was owned by Nicholas Codori, who came to America from Alsace, France, in 1828 at the age of 19. He bought the 273 acre farm in 1854, replacing the original log house with today’s two story frame building. A butcher, Nicholas lived in town at 44 York Street (now the The Brafferton Inn Bed and Breakfast ) and rented the farm to tenants. One of the original parishioners of St. Francis Xavier Church, Nicholas offered his home on York Street for Mass while the church served as a hospital from the time of the battle until January of 1864.

Nicholas died in July of 1878 after a horrific accident with a mowing machine, losing his foot and suffering several other serious cuts. An article from the Gettysburg Times tells how as he was being driven into town to the doctor he remained seated, “saluting with his usual pleasant greeting acquaintances met on the way.”

It is not clear who occupied the farm at the time of the battle. One story is that was Nicholas’ niece, Catharine Codori Staub, and her husband John Staub, who took refuge in the basement during the fighting. According to Jane Riley, who was a toddler at the time of the battle, it was her parents, John and Talitha Reiley.

It was estimated that over 500 Confederate soldiers were buried on the farm after the battle. The farm today is owned by the National Park Service and the farmhouse is a residence for park personnel.     
 (Farm history taken from stonesentinels.com)   gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/battlefield-farms/codori-farm/

Photos from the November 5th Meeting

Richard Lewis and Program Coordinator Bob McHugh

Another great program as Richard Lewis presented "CLOAKED IN MYSTERY: THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE CONFEDERATE COAT" where a wrinkle in a sleeve sent Lewis on a six-year research project that resulted in two articles in Civil War Times magazine and revealed a fascinating surprise.

Lewis is a native of Gulfport, Mississippi, and a graduate of Louisiana State University where he studied Civil War history under Pulitzer Prize-winner Dr. T. Harry Williams. He retired as the Director of Public Relations for the Virginia Tourism Corporation, serves as a volunteer at Richmond National Battlefield Park and is secretary of Civil War Trails, Inc.

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Book raffle winners ~ with proceeds - as always - going to battlefield preservation!

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From the Brigade Commander ~ November 2019

We had a really good meeting for the October session of the Civil War Round Table. If you miss our meeting please, take time out and join us. You will learn a lot about the civil war and our past. Our speaker was Eric Buckland, a retired LT. COL. Of the U.S. Army. He spoke to us on his book “Mosby’s Leadership”. He explained the life of Col. John S. Mosby from boyhood up to and through the civil war and beyond the war when he died in 1916. In my opinion it was well done and gave me great insight on the man.

Our next meeting is on November 5th, 2019. We will have Richard Lewis, an author and publisher of articles in the Civil War Times and Hallowed Ground magazines. He will speak on “Cloaked in Mystery” The curious case of the confederate coat. I hope to see you all there that night.

I want to bring to your attention information on a news article that was written on the web. In the news article, a Virginia judge blocked the City of Charlottesville’s effort to remove the Confederate statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. The judge ruled to remove the Statue violated a state law protecting war memorials. In my opinion, removing Confederate statues is erasing history. History is the roadmap to the future. Without history, we are lost.

For all your college football fans that belong to our round table. The Wisconsin Badgers play their home games in Madison at a stadium called Camp Randall, a historic U.S. army site, named after Wisconsin governor, Alexander Randall. He served from 1858 to 1861. It was a training facility of the Union army during the Civil War. More than 70,000 recruits were trained there. The 6th regiment, Wisconsin infantry, was organized there in 1861. The army also established a hospital and a stockade for Confederate prisoners of war who were located at the camp. The 140 prisoners of war who died at the camp are buried at Confederate Rest Cemetery.

           Barry