The Civil War abides deep in the American soul, and it will not go away. Nor should it. Our nation as we know it began life in 1865 by underscoring one word (federalism) and by eliminating another word (slavery) from the vocabulary. Further, the Civil War shapes past and present as does no other event in the national heritage. Because Virginia played such a prominent role in the conflict, and because the state suffered more military destruction than any other area in the Western Hemisphere has known, her ordeal will always command remembrance and respect.

Today, Virginia Tech plays an increasing pivotal role in the ongoing popularity of the Civil War. Frequent vignettes on Roanoke public radio, hour-long documentaries for Blue Ridge Public Television, an annual week-long summer seminar, plus the “Civil War Weekend,” are but highlights of the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, which represents the university’s attention and commitment to Civil War history.

For questions regarding the Civil War Weekend, please contact Kellie Wells at kelliewells@vt.edu, and for questions about registration and lodging, please call 540/231-5182.

To register, click here, and follow the instructions on the resulting webpage.

Campaigners…

Check out what my sister, Sharon Sampsell, and the members of the Page County Sesquicentennial Commission are doing to commemorate the 150th anniversary of THE War.  Although it might not have a lot of interest to you on a broad scale, you will find it rather exciting to see what events occurred in out of the way places throughout the Commonwealth.

     http://pagecountyinthecivilwar.yolasite.com/

Nearly 300 history lovers, some in period attire, stepped off at 8 p.m. from the grounds of a well-preserved log farmhouse in western Maryland to walk nearly five miles along dark rural roads and across a Potomac River bridge to Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in West Virginia.

The event led by park chief historian Dennis Frye kicked off the Civil War sesquicentennial. Historians cite the failed attempt by Brown and 18 fervent followers to seize weapons from the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry as the opening salvo in the War Between the States because it incited strong passions, especially in the South.

The war was fought from 1861 to 1865.

Friday’s occasional rain and temperatures in the low 40s delighted Frye, because the conditions mirrored those Brown and his raiders faced when they set out from the Kennedy farmhouse near Dargan that Sunday night in 1859.

“It adds a sense of reality and also a sense of misery to the event — and a sense of foreboding of the unknown,” Frye said.

Frye, dressed in 19th century-style woolens and carrying a lantern, planned the procession as a “reverent and soulful experience.”

“These men are about to go to war,” he said. “Most of them will end up dead or captured in less than 48 hours.”

The marchers, from across the country and as far away as England, included at least four John Browns, bearded and dressed in black. Not surprisingly, virtually all the participants considered Brown a heroic martyr rather than a deranged terrorist.

“To say he is a homicidal maniac misses the point,” said Kerry Altenbernd, 57, a law librarian from Lawrence, Kan. “He is someone who could not live with 4 million people in bondage and had to do something about it.”

Janise Mitchell, 50, a middle-school social studies teacher from Brooklyn, N.Y., called Brown a genius who championed equal opportunity not just for blacks like her but for all Americans.

“What may be a terrorist for one group becomes a hero for someone else,” she said.

On the night of the raid, three of Brown’s 21 disciples stayed behind to stand guard. The rest quietly seized the arsenal by midnight. But the situation turned into a standoff when local militia and townsfolk sealed escape routes, killed some of the raiders and surrounded the armory. Marines dispatched from Washington finally broke in and captured the wounded Brown, who was hanged for treason six weeks later.

The Harpers Ferry raid wasn’t Brown’s first campaign. Three years earlier, he led a raiding party that hacked five slavery proponents to death with swords at Pottawatomie Creek, Kan. Brown said the killings were God’s will.

HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct 7, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) – Pennsylvania plans to hold a 4-year-long commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Civil War beginning in 2011, officials say.

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission will spend $12 million to chronicle the state’s major role in the war between the states using traveling exhibits, special events and an interactive Web site, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Wednesday.

“The story of this war in Pennsylvania is much more than just tactics and strategy,” said Barbara Franco, the commission’s executive director.

Franco says the Civil War is also the story of individual soldiers, their families and African-Americans working to abolish slavery.

“Pennsylvania Civil War 150″ will tell everything from the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 to the story of the runaway slaves who traveled the so-called underground railroad of safe routes to make their way from the South to the North.

Spokesman Kirk Wilson says so far the commission has secured $2 million for the project and is seeking more money through federal grants and private foundations.

 www.upi.com

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

Good news, Campaigners!

Donna Raines has signed the contract for our hotel in Hagerstown, MD for our 2010 Campaigning with Lee Seminar, scheduled for June 20 – 26, 2010.

We will be staying, and meeting, at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center, in Hagerstown, MD.  You may check out the hotel at their website:  http://www.clarionhotel.com/hotel-hagerstown-maryland-MD162?

DO NOT reserve your rooms through the hotel.  Soon, the Virginia Tech Continuing Education website will accept your reservations for the 2010 seminar, and room reservations will ALL be made by Virginia Tech.  It will be a month or so, most likely, before Bud opens the website for reservations.

Here are the fees for 2010:

• $950 per person double occupancy
• $1,250 per person single occupancy
• $700 commuter fee with meals

September 16, 2009

By CHRIS CAROLA
Associated Press Writer

The remains of an unknown Civil War soldier from New York arrived at the state Military Museum Wednesday, nearly 147 years to the day he’s believed to have died on the Maryland farmland where the conflict’s bloodiest day played out.

A New York Army National Guard honor guard followed by Civil War re-enactors carried a flag-draped replica pine coffin into the armory-turned-museum, where the soldier will lie in repose before Thursday’s burial at Gerald B. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery.

A lone bag-piper played as a small crowd of veterans and history buffs looked on.

“It’s something that needed to be done,” said Ron Orts, a Vietnam and Gulf War veteran from Highland. “He’s still an American soldier who needs to be taken care of properly, and this is the way to do it.”

Orts headed a group of more than 70 Patriot Guard Riders, members of a nationwide motorcycle group who escorted the remains north from Westchester County, where they were kept Tuesday night in a military chapel.

About 400 bone fragments, 13 uniform buttons and a belt buckle were turned over to a detail from the National Guard’s Military Forces Honor Guard on Tuesday at the Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg in western Maryland. The procession resumed its journey Wednesday morning, staying on a local road — Route 9 — rather than Interstate 87 for safety reasons, and to give people along the way a chance to salute a fallen New Yorker.

Although it’s not known what city, town or village the soldier was from, every New York county the procession traveled through en route to Saratoga had units that fought at Antietam, according to Michael Aikey, director of the Military Museum.

It’s fitting for the soldier’s remains to make a stopover at the museum, he added, since the state counts more than 850 Civil War flags among its battle flag collection, the largest in the nation.

“Whatever unit this fellow came from, we probably have the original flag of the unit he served under,” Aikey said.

A hiker found the remains last October near a rock outcropping in a section of the battlefield known as the Cornfield, which saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. Insignia on uniform buttons indicated the unidentified soldier was from New York. A National Park Service archaeologist who examined the bones determined he was between 17 and 19 when he died.

The soldier was among 23,000 killed, wounded or declared missing at Antietam on Sept. 17, 1862.

New York had more soldiers serve during the Civil War than any other state, and more than 60 units from the Empire State fought at Antietam, Aikey said. New Yorkers accounted for more than 3,700 of the battle’s total casualties. Of the Union’s 746 missing, 277 were New Yorkers.

Burial with full military honors will be held at the nearby national cemetery Thursday morning, the 147th anniversary of the battle. The ceremony will include a 21-gun salute, seven each from the National Guard contingent, the cemetery’s own honor guard and the re-enactors, who will fire their muskets.

While most Civil War dead were buried where they fell or later removed to nearby cemeteries, the families of the wealthier officers tended to have their fallen loved-ones returned home for burial, Aikey said.

“A lot of ordinary soldiers, they just didn’t come home. Too expensive,” Aikey said. “A lot of officers came home to be buried, but not the average G.I. Joe.”

ATTENTION:  We have gotten a commitment for accommodations in Hagerstown, MD for the 2010 campaign… June 20-26, 2010.  So you may start making your transportation arrangements!

The contract with the hotel has not been signed yet (although firm commitment has been made by both parties); so I will not include the name of the actual location yet.  As soon as that is consumated I will let you know exactly where we will be staying.

Hagerstown is located conveniently for field trips to Antietam and Harpers Ferry, and these will PROBABLY be the destinations for our Tuesday and Thursday excursions.  Again, final arrangements have not been made, but I am keeping you “in the loop” as much as possible.

Clean your muskets.  Get your horses fattened for the march.  We’re invading the north again… and this time we’ll get the job done!

A 15,000 square foot facility, the Texas Civil War Museum (Tarrant County, Ft. Worth), presents the largest collection of Civil War artifacts west of the Mississippi.  Exhibits currently on display include the original 1852 first edition of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, General Ulysses S. Grant’s presentation sword, and personal belongings of renowned cavalryman, JEB Stuart.  The museum includes a movie theater and speciality shop, as well.

If you’re in the Fort Worth, TX area, stop in and see this excellent exhibit!

In Bill’s own words…

Dear Friends,

 

Judy’s struggle is over. She passed away yesterday, July 19, at 11:30 PM at the University of Virginia Hospital here in Charlottesville, Virginia. She was 70 years old and looking forward to her next birthday celebration this coming August 7th. Details about the funeral, burial and other information will be available later.

 

Thanks for your support.—Bill