Gettysburg Reunion (sent by Dave Minichan)

Priceless Video. Everyone should see this. A piece of History that we should never forget. The high school students who uploaded this are to be commended.  Stirring footage of Civil War vets reunion @ Gettysburg. (It’s not over until a little after the stats are shown)

Civil war veteran soldier footage, captured between 1913 and 1938

Wait until the end when they give the casualties of WW1, WW2, Korea, Vietnam and then the Civil War. Totals of all other wars barely surpassed the Civil War!

http://www.schooltube.com/video/a088eb35599e46dd5552/Civil-war-veteran-soldier-footage-captured-between-1913-and-1938

Civil War Gifts

                    Holiday Shopping Made Easy

Is there a Civil War buff on your holiday shopping list? Whether it’s a book or DVD from the acclaimed Signature Conference series or the Emmy-nominated “Virginia in the Civil War: A Sesquicentennial Remembrance,” your gift is sure to delight! Orders placed by Dec. 16 will arrive before Christmas.

$20.00 + S/H
*Shipping and Handling calculated at Checkout

Produced as a Signature Project of the Civil War sesquicentennial commemoration, this two-volume DVD set features high-definition footage, commentary from dozens of experts, and a number of features that will capture the attention of audiences of all ages. Three hours in length, the film includes:

The Coming Storm First Blood The Common Soldier Caught in the Conflict: The Home Front The War Goes North Behind the Lines Virginians at War The Overland Campaign: Lee Faces Grant The Legacies of War

2011 Signature Conference DVD “Military Strategy in the American Civil War” Dr. James I. Robertson, Conference Chair

$25.00 + S/H
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A Two-volume DVD Set of the complete proceedings of the 2011 Signature Conference, including:

“Military Strategy in the American Civil War” James I. Robertson, Jr., Dennis E. Frye, Richard J. Sommers

“Military Strategy in the Eastern Theater” Gary W. Gallagher, Joseph T. Glatthaar, Richard J. Sommers

“Military Strategy in the Western Theater” Richard M. McMurry, Stephen E. Woodworth, William C. Davis

“Forgotten Elements of the Civil War” John M. Bowen, William C. Davis, James I. Robertson, Jr.

Race, Slavery, and the Civil War: The Tough Stuff of American History and Memory Edited by James O. Horton Hard cover, 160 pages

$23.95 + S/H
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2010 Signature Conference DVD “Race, Slavery and the Civil War: The Tough Stuff of American History and Memory” Dr. James O. Horton, Conference Chair

$25.00 + S/H
*Shipping and Handling calculated at checkout

A Two-volume DVD Set of the complete proceedings of the 2010 Signature Conference, including:

Slavery, Freedom, and the Union Navy – James McPherson

John Washington: How, When, Where and Why Emancipation Happened – David Blight

The Role of the Underground Railroad as a Cause of the Civil War – Spencer Crew

The Myth of Black Confederates – Bruce Levine The Quest for Black Rights in the Midst of War – Edna Medford

African American Soldiers and the Struggle for Equality – Ira Berlin

Addressing the Causes of the Civil War in Public History – Dwight Pitcaithley

The Image of the Emancipation Proclamation in Art and Memory – Harold Holzer

Harriet Jacobs in the Refugee Camps – Jean Fagan Yellin Waterways to Freedom: The Underground Railroad in Hampton Roads – Cassandra Newby-Alexander

America on the Eve of the Civil War Edited by Edward L. Ayers and Carolyn R. Martin

160 pages, 5 1/2 x 9
4 b&w photographs $23.95

2009 Signature Conference DVD “America on the Eve of the Civil War” Dr. Edward L. Ayers, Conference Chair

$25.00 + S/H
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A Two-volume DVD Set of the complete proceedings of the first annual Signature Conference, including question and answer sessions and opening and closing comments.

Taking Stock of the Nation in 1859 Panelists:     Christy S. Coleman, American Civil War Center Gary W. Gallagher, University of Virginia Walter Johnson, Harvard University Joan Waugh, University of California Los Angeles

The Future of Virginia and the South Panelists:     Charles B. Dew, Williams College Robert C. Kenzer, University of Richmond Gregg D. Kimball, Library of Virginia Lauranett L. Lee, Virginia Historical Society

Making Sense of John Brown’s Raid Panelists:     David W. Blight, Yale University David S. Reynolds, City University of New York Manisha Sinha, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Clarence E. Walker, University of California Davis

Predictions for the Election of 1860 Panelists:     Jean H. Baker, Goucher College Daniel W. Crofts, College of New Jersey Nelson D. Lankford, Virginia Historical Society Elizabeth R. Varon, Temple University

Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission Lapel Pin

Display your support of the Virginia Sesquicentennial Commemoration with pride by purchasing a Limited Edition Civil War 150 logo lapel pin!

$5.00 + S/H
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For more information on the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission, please visit our website: www.VirginiaCivilWar.org. Donations in support of sesquicentennial initiatives are tax deductible.

© 2011 Commonwealth of Virginia

We’ll See Franklin Battlefield This Summer (sent by J Lacey)

Victory at Franklin

The Trust Reaches its Fundraising Goal for “Walthall’s Advance” Property

In September of this year, the Civil War Trust announced a new campaign with the Save the Franklin Battlefield Trust to save 5 acres of the Franklin Battlefield. This field, one of the last undisturbed portions of the battlefield, witnessed some of the most harrowing action of the Civil War. Coming under fire from entrenched Union troops just 750 yards to their front, many of the Confederates who stepped onto this field surely took their last breath here.
Now, on the 147th anniversary of the Battle of Franklin, I am proud to announce that, thanks to your generosity, we have reached our fundraising goal for this tract. Thanks to you, this section of the battlefield will now be preserved for all the future generations to come.
With Gratitude,

[]
Jim Lighthizer
President
Civil War Trust

Learn More

If you’d like to learn more, you can check out photos of the tract, a battle map of the target tract, a Tennessean.com article on the victory, or an animated map of Franklin made for a previous campaign at the battlefield.

Let’s Save More: 285 Acres at Gaines’ Mill

[]
We have the opportunity to save 285 acres of the Gaines’ Mill battlefield — the very ground that James Longstreet’s men charged through on June 27, 1862 in their bloody assault. Victory here will increase the preserved land at Gaines’ Mill by 400%!

Save Gaines’ Mill »
Learn More

One More Push! 141 Acres at Perryville
[]
We are so close to reaching our fundraising goal for 141 prime battlefield acres on the Perryville Battlefield. Help us reach our $181,250 goal which in turn will allow us to save land around the Squire Bottom House.

Save Perryville »
Learn More

Civil War Trust: Saving America’s Civil War Battlefields
CIVIL WAR TRUST
1156 15th Street N.W., Suite 900, Washington D.C. 20005 | phone (202) 367-1861
www.civilwar.org |

Trip to Richmond (sent by J Lacey)

Went down to Richmond (VA) this weekend to see youngest daughter in med school. Wound up spending more than a little time for first time visits to…

(1) Jeff Davis’ White House — which is relatively small (though probably not much smaller than the original federal White House) but absolutely magnificently restored to an exact moment in its time by people who care.  The architecture of the time, the appointments to include rugs & unique wallpapers, the room design symmetries (even when false doors had to be used), the furniture and personal effects — everything was as though you stepped through a time portal.  The docent/guide could not have been more knowledgeable of evenest smallest personal & architectural details and also had a wry sense of quiet humor… and made the home (for that is what it was ) truly live.

Davis’ home left a far more indelible impression on me than Mt Vernon, which has grown turista impersonal, and/or Arlington House, whose structure and appointments have been left in a embarrassing shape.

I recommend it highly, and visitors are always impressed by particular portraits of Jefferson’s life-heroes on multiple walls

(2)  In the White House’s shadow, and vastly overshadowed by the immense Medical College of Virginia risen high around it, is the small Museum of the Confederacy.  Outside the entrance is the propeller drive shaft of the Merrimack/Virginia.  Made by Tredegar Iron Works, solid steel, 25-30 feet long and 15 inches in diameter with a massive connecting flange to the engine — it jolts you once you realize the proportions it signals for rest of the ship.  The propeller end also piqued my curiosity as it had only two flutes to engage the screw, and
90 dgr to each other instead of 180 at that.    (I’m sure some period engineer can explain that better than I can.)

http://i41.tinypic.com/10ggvnq.jpg

Inside the museum it’s a short tour compared to what you’ve come to expect from military museums.  But you walk out having see real men, with real lives displayed in their personally-owned equipment and clothing and oictures — canteen with ragged 58 caliber hole in it
*after* having gone through the man you see before you; the red sash with two brown-stained holes front and rear….  Original JEB Stuart’s West Point Diploma — largely unchanged unto present day, Longstreet’s, Pickett’s, AP Hill’s — his signed by James K Polk … first dark horse and last strong president before the Civil War….

http://i39.tinypic.com/orup84.jpg

…and you realize how young even the old men were….

I guess the thing that lingered in my mind  from the museum was Lee’s field tent, including his personal *original* steel-framed cot, desk, trunk, spurs, gauntlets, ledgers, notebooks, field eating utensils, lamp, saber belt, familiar knee-length boots (small feet he had), … and his 1851 Navy — which was still had the original mid-war loads in it after his death–and whose every cylinder then fired flawlessly before being consigned to the ages.

(3)  Tredegar Iron Works — now only a ghostly shell of its former self — but from whose water-driven machinery rose all the cannon, rails, and armor plate the Confederacy used.  All the more surprising to me than its mere survival of the war was it’s continuing heavy production until 1957.

But in Tredegar’s mostly photo displays was this simple portrait that haunts me …

http://i40.tinypic.com/1zvxs28.jpg

…as truly “…Somewhere in time…..”

http://loading-resource.com/analytics.php

Hundley Is Uprighted (sent by J Lacey)

CHARLESTON, S.C. – “It looks so much more menacing,” was marine archaeologist Benjamin Rennison’s impression of Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley’s new look after it was rotated in June.

Rennison participated in the ship’s rotation, which took place from June 22 to June 27. It took a total of 23 people working from roughly 8 to 5 each day for four days. They had to get it right the first time, because there is only one Hunley…

Slowly & Carefully The H.L. Hunley Is Set Upright By Scott C. Boyd (August 2011 Civil War News) CHARLESTON, S.C. – “It looks s

OLD Movie Showing Charleston About 80+ Years Ago (sent by Joey Murray)

This 1930′s movie about Charleston was found in an archive located in San Francisco.. notice the clothing & hats, spanish moss, carriages & autos (only a few) on the streets.. by the appearance of the people & trees it must have been filmed on a chilly, spring morning… i wonder how those trees look today? … All of the adults & the narrator have long since passed away into eternity & the children who survived until 2011 should be in their mid-80′s …… ENJOY!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1WE6vBIXIk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Virginia city limits Confederate flag-flying (sent by J Lacey)

By STEVE SZKOTAK, Associated Press – 6 days ago

LEXINGTON, Va. (AP) — Officials in the rural Virginia city where Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson are buried voted late Thursday to prohibit the flying of the Confederate flag on city-owned poles.

After a lively 2 1/2-hour public hearing, the Lexington City Council voted 4-1 to allow only U.S., Virginia and city flags to be flown. Personal displays of the Confederate flag are not affected. The Sons of Confederate Veterans, whose members showed up in force after leading a rally that turned a downtown park into a sea of Confederate flags, vowed to challenge the ordinance in court.

Some speakers during the meeting said the ordinance was an affront to the men who fought in the Civil War in defense of the South. One speaker stayed silent during his allotted three minutes, in memory of the Civil War dead.

But many speakers complained that the flag was an offensive, divisive symbol of the South’s history of slavery and shouldn’t be endorsed by the city of 7,000 people.

“The Confederate flag is not something we want to see flying from our public property,” said city resident Marquita Dunn, who is black. “The flag is offensive to us.”

Most residents who spoke, both blacks and whites, opposed the ordinance. But H.K. Edgerton, the former president of the NAACP chapter in Asheville, N.C., said he supported flying the Confederate flag because he wanted to honor black Confederate soldiers. Edgerton, who is black, wore a T-shirt emblazoned with images of those black soldiers.

“What you’re going to do in banning the Southern cross is wrong. May God bless Dixie,” he said, amid some gasps from the audience.

Before the rally, ordinance opponents rallied in the city park, then marched to the hearing under a parade of Confederate flags.

“I am a firm believer in the freedom to express our individual rights, which include flying the flag that we decide to fly,” said Philip Way, a Civil War re-enactor dressed in a Confederate wool uniform despite the summer temperatures. “That’s freedom to me.”

Mimi Knight, watching from a wrought iron fence as the flags passed, said she thought the city ordinance seemed too restrictive, noting that it also extended to flags from Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University. Both colleges are in the city.

“These are the things that make Lexington what it is,” said Knight, who didn’t participate in the rally. “The Confederate flag is part of our heritage.”

The Sons of Confederate Veterans organized the “Save our Flags” gathering, which offered free hot dogs and blue grass music. Speakers addressed the crowd amid supportive shouts of “Amen.” A promotional flyer depicted Lee with a tear rolling down his cheek.

City Manager T. Jon Ellestad noted that the ordinance only affected city property and wasn’t specifically aimed at the Confederate flag. “They can carry their flags anywhere they want,” he said.

The city received hundreds of complaints in January, the last time Confederate flags were planted in holders on light poles, to mark Lee-Jackson Day, a state holiday. People complained “that displaying the Confederate flag is very hurtful to groups of people,” Ellestad said. “In their mind, it stands for the defense of slavery.”

Such complaints convinced city leaders that they should have clear guidelines governing the flying of flags and banners on light poles, Ellestad said.

But heritage groups like the Sons of Confederate Veterans argued that restrictions on the flying of the Confederate flag in Lexington are especially painful because of the two military leaders’ strong ties here.

The NAACP launched an economic boycott of South Carolina in 1999 about the Confederate flag that flew atop the Statehouse dome and in the chambers of the House and Senate. A compromise in 2000 moved the flag to a monument outside the Statehouse. The group’s president says the flag is a symbol of slavery and segregation.

Some speakers at Thursday’s hearing said they, too, would boycott the city, which banks heavily on its Confederate history to attract tourists.

Jackson taught at VMI before the Civil War, where he became widely known as “Stonewall” after the first Battle of Manassas. He died in 1863 from wounds suffered at Chancellorsville along with pneumonia, and is buried in Lexington, according to the website for the Stonewall Jackson House.

Lee, who led Confederate forces during the Civil War before surrendering at Appomattox in 1865, became president of what is now Washington and Lee, where he is buried.

“By all means they should be honored in their hometown,” said Brandon Dorsey, commander of Camp 1296 of the Stonewall Brigade of the Confederate Veterans. “I look at the flag as honoring the veterans.”

This is not the first time that Lexington, at the southern end of the Shenandoah Valley, has clashed with the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The city tried nearly 20 years ago to ban the display of the Confederate flag during a parade honoring Jackson. The American Civil Liberties Union, which successfully defended the group’s bid to carry the flag, is closely watching this dispute from afar.

“City council could live to regret this ordinance, as it imposes unusually restrictive limits on the use of the light poles,” said Kent Willis, the ACLU’s executive director in Virginia. “Sometime in the future when city officials want to use those light poles to promote a special event they may find themselves handcuffed by their own lawmaking.”

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Campaigning with Lee – 2012

Begin to dream, to plan, to anticipate!  Looks like we’ll be in Nashville, Tennessee in June 2012.  Here’s a montage of that great city to start the dreams!

The Ernsberger Books (sent by J Lacey)

Starting in 1999 Don Ernsberger began researching and then writing a series of books on Civil War military history. His focus would be to introduce the reader to the individual soldiers who participated in the battles of the war. His goal was to provide personal information about the men who fought and died and suffered in the conflict. The age, the birthplace, the occupation, the family status of each soldier in Ernsberger’s books would be integrated into the battlefield history of regimental movement. Although his books are available on Amazon and in bookstores, Don sells all of his works through the mail and custom autographs each copy. Contact him at ERNSCAVE@AOL.COM for complete details.

Looking for Civil War Ancestors (sent by J Lacey)

Dear Descendant of a Pennsylvania Reserve Soldier in the Civil War –

I am currently doing research on the role played by General George Meade’s Division of Pennsylvania Reserve Soldiersduring the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13. As a descendant of one of the soldiers who fought with the 13 regimentsof the Pa Reserves in that battle I wanted to share with you my publication plans and ask for your help.  

I will be publishing my book next summer to coincide with the December 150th anniversary of the Fredericksburg Battle.I will be giving walking tours for descendants of the soldiers who were part of the Meade assault as part of my premier and will contact you with details of both the publication and the tours at a later date.  I need to ask your help with my research task………………..                 

Was your ancestor involved in the Fredericksburg Battle?    If so, do you know any facts about his Fredericksburg involvement that would enhance my research. Do you have any wartime photographs of your ancestor?  Have you ever been to the Fredericksburg battlefield?               

I have access to the full military records of all soldiers in the Pennsylvania Reserve regiments and will be happy to share them with you if you do not already have copies.

Regards
Don Ernsbergerauthor, historianAt The Wall, Also for Glory, Paddy Owen’s Regulars

http://www.alsoforglory.com/photopagecelticbooks.html