“Where Both Sides Are Heard”
Founded in 2012
The Courier
The Newsletter of the Civil War Roundtable of North Florida
Mailing address:
Civil War Roundtable of North Florida
13450 NE 100th Street, Williston, FL 32696
Website: www.cwrnf.org
Phone: Diane Fischler (352) 378-3726; or Terry Huston (352) 359-1442
Email: [email protected]; or [email protected]
The Courier is written by Diane Fischler ([email protected])
Vol. IV, No. 9
September 2016
Gainesville, Florida
Next Meeting (open to the public)
Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, 6 to 8 p.m. at:
Trinity United Methodist Church (TUMC)
4000 NW 53rd Avenue
Room 232 in the front Education Center
Gainesville, Florida 32653
   2 Reminders!   
1) Membership fees for 2016-2017 are due at the Sept. 8 or Oct. 13 meeting!
2) Voting at Sept. 8 meeting on whether to continue meeting at 6 p.m. or to start meeting at 7 p.m.
See page 2 of this newsletter for more information.
The Courier
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September 2016
CWRNF News
Aug. 11, 2016: No August CWRNF meeting.
Voting on Sept. 8 to decide if CWRNF members would want to change the Roundtable’s starting
time to 7 p.m. or continue at the 6 p.m. starting time
Some members would like to start the Roundtable meetings at 7 p.m.; other members
would like to keep the starting time at 6 p.m. If members vote (with a show of hands) to
change the time to 7 p.m., that new time will go into effect at the Jan. 12, 2017, meeting.
Diane Fischler pointed out that guest speakers traveling a distance (e.g., Orlando, Tampa)
might reconsider their decision to speak in Gainesville if they have to head home at a much
later hour. The CWRNF Advisory Board will abide by the membership vote on Sept. 8.
Book sales
Please donate your “gently used” history books, history DVDs, historical maps, and/or
magazines for re-sale at our monthly meetings. They can cover any period in history, but
American 19th and 20th century history books, periodicals, and DVDs would be preferred. All
proceeds go toward outside speaker fees and room rental fees. Payment by cash or check.
Place a post-it on the cover to show the price. Prices are not negotiable at these reduced rates.
Website: www.cwrnf.org
Please check the website periodically for updates on the CWRNF’s ongoing events,
past newsletters, upcoming speakers. We will continue emailing the monthly online Courier
newsletter as an attachment in PDF format.
CWRNF newsletter: The Courier (in PDF format)
IF you did NOT receive the online Courier newsletter (sent as a PDF attachment to
your requested email address) at least one week before the next meeting, contact Diane
Fischler to email you the latest newsletter ([email protected]). But before
requesting another newsletter attachment, first please check your spam/junk folder in case the
email with attachment landed in that folder.
Membership dues
Membership dues—renewal or new—will be payable at the Sept. 8 or Oct. 13
meetings for 2016-2017 participation in the CWRNF. Please pay your renewal or new
membership dues at either of these two upcoming meetings so we can keep your name on our
CWRNF membership list. You can give a check to our treasurer, Terry Huston, or mail a
check to: Terry Huston, 13450 NE 100th Street, Williston, FL 32696. Please make checks payable to
CWRNF. Your dues go directly toward paying outside speaker fees and room rental fees.
“Like” the CWRNF page on Facebook
We have a Facebook page. Search “Civil War Roundtable of North Florida – Facebook.”
Many thanks to member John Walsh for his time and effort to update and maintain this page.
Our Facebook page receives about 400 to 500 views a year. Some of our posts have appeared on the
Civil War Trust’s Facebook page.
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September 2016
Upcoming Meetings
(second Thursday of each month—6 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church)
(speakers and topics subject to change)
Sept. 8, 2016:
Guest speaker Matt Gallman will make a return visit to discuss the
1864 presidential election and Lincoln’s “Blind Memorandum.”
Dr. Gallman spoke to our group in April 2015 about Appomattox.
Right poster: 1864 broadside clearly outlines all the major components
of the Democratic Platform for the November election.
Poster courtesy: http://civilwartalk.co/threads/the-choice-is-yours-the1864-election.81405/
Oct. 13, 2016:
Member Toni Collins will speak on: Civil War Blockade
Running on Florida’s Gulf Coast, which is the title of her fourth book.
Her other titles include: Cedar Keys Light Station (a history of the 1854
lighthouse on Seahorse Key), The Lady of the Lighthouse: A Biography
(the life of Catharine Hobday, the only woman to serve at the Cedar Keys
Light Station as Assistant Lighthouse Keeper, and Atlantic Coast Line
Railroad: Dunnellon to Wilcox, Florida (a history of the ACL railroad in
Levy County).
Map: The 4 Federal Blockade Squadrons ( = their principal bases):
Map courtesy: http://thomaslegion.net/the_civil_war_blockade_history.html
Nov. 10, 2016:
The former executive director of the National Civil War Naval
Museum (Columbus, Georgia), Bruce H. Smith, will speak on: Secret
Naval Missions of the Civil War: Both Sides. Prior to his tenure at the
Naval Museum, he was the curator of the National Museum of the Pacific
War at the Admiral Nimitz Center (Fredericksburg, Texas). He has been
involved in numerous consulting Civil War naval projects and professional
presentations. Right painting: David and Goliath by artist Paul Bender,
which illustrates a small Union Navy launch’s spar-torpedo attack, led
by Lt. William Cushing, on the Confederate ironclad Albemarle. The confrontation was on the
night of Oct. 27-28, 1864, at Plymouth, North Carolina. Painting courtesy:
www.bendermaritime.com
Dec. 8, 2016:
No CWRNF meeting. Civil War Roundtable Holiday Dinner at Napolatano’s. Sign-up sheet
will be circulated at the Sept. 8 and Oct. 13 meetings. Space is limited.
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September 2016
Jan. 12, 2017:
Local historian David Riker will give a presentation on medicine in the
Civil War. Lori Riker will answer questions on women and medicine in the war.
Above right photo: “Dr. [Jonathan] Letterman, the ‘Father of Battlefield Medicine,’ pioneered and
devised a standardized medical kit of various instruments needed for immediate surgery. The
instruments were interchangeable so they could be easily replaced due to loss or damage.” Photo
and quote courtesy: https://featherfoster.wordpress.com/2015/03/09/civil-war-medicine-drlettermans-system-evolves/
Feb. 9, 2017:
Member Bob Wooley will speak on the Skirmish at Station No. 4, which
occurred on the morning of Feb. 13, 1865, near Cedar Key, between Union and
Confederate soldiers in the fields on the mainland near one of the station stops on
the Florida Railroad. Left sketch: Battle of Station 4: A sketch from Dickison
and His Men: Reminiscences of the War in Florida (1890) by Mary Elizabeth
Dickison shows Confederate troops firing on the Federals. In the
background is Number 4 trestle.
Sketch courtesy: http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/stationfour.html
March 9, 2017:
Members Fred & Judy Donaldson will talk about the Red
River Campaign (March 10 to May 22, 1864), Bailey’s Dam episode,
and the recent attempt at raising Acting Rear Adm. David Dixon
Porter’s flagship USS Eastport (ironclad) sunk by a mine in the river
above Alexandria on April 15, 1864. Right photo: USS Eastport.
Photo courtesy: http://photos.usni.org/content/10025478jpg
June 8, 2017:
Member Bill Zettler, in his ongoing research on the role of Germans in the Federal
armies, will talk about Major Gen. Carl Schurz (1829-1906). He was a German
revolutionary in 1848, U.S. Minister to Spain (1861-1862), Union general at
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chattanooga, U.S. senator (1869-1873), and Secretary of the
Interior (1877-1881) under Rutherford B. Hayes. Left photo: Gen. Carl Schurz.
Photo courtesy: civilwarfacialhair.wordpress.com
July 13, 2017:
Author Philip Leigh will make a third appearance to speak on his latest book: The
Confederacy at Flood Tide: The Political and Military Ascension, June to December 1862
(2016). Leigh states that these seven months offered the Confederate States of America the best
opportunity to achieve independence—and why the CSA’s efforts failed. Phil first spoke to our
Roundtable in July 2015 on his book, Lee’s Lost Dispatch and Other Civil War
Controversies (2015), and in April 2016, he gave a talk on another of his books, Trading with
the Enemy: The Covert Economy During the American Civil War (2014).
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September 2016
Upcoming Local & Regional & State Civil War Events
(events & dates subject to change; confirm event before traveling)
Sept. 3-4, Oct. 1-2, Nov. 5-6, Dec. 3-4, 2016:
First Weekend Union Garrison at Fort Clinch, 2601 Atlantic Ave.,
Fernandina Beach, FL. www.floridastateparks.org/fortclinch
Right aerial photo: Fort Clinch at Fernandina Beach
Photo courtesy: http://www.florida-backroads-travel.com/fort-clinchstate-park.html
Aug. 24-28, 2016, Nov. 9-13, 2016:
Living History Program Events at Fort Jefferson (including medicine of the Civil War
demonstrations) at Dry Tortugas National Park (on Garden Key) to commemorate NPS Centennial,
70 miles west of Key West (accessible only by 2 1/4-hour NPS catamaran for $175; $165 over age 62).
www.nps.gov/drto; https://www.drytortugas.com/faqs
Sept. 23-25, 2016:
Rifles, Rails & History with reenactment skirmishes, military drill, cannon
and musket firing demonstrations, 1907 steam locomotive Orange Blossom
Cannonball, Wooten Park in downtown Tavares, FL, on Lake Dora.
http:/www.riflesrailsandhistory.com
Sept. 23-25, 2016:
Occupation of Palatka, recalling March 1864 occupation of Palatka by
Union forces with camp setups and demonstrations (no skirmishes), historic
Bronson-Mulholland House, 100 Madison St., downtown Palatka, FL.
http://palatka-fl.gov/239/Bronson-Mulholland-House
Oct. 1-2, 2016:
Parrish Train Raid with attacks on a train, Florida Railroad Museum, 12210 83rd St. East,
Parrish (35 miles south of Tampa). [email protected] or [email protected] or
http://www.frrm.org
Oct. 7-9, 2016:
Pellicer Creek Raid with reenactment and artillery demos, Florida Agricultural Museum,
7900 Old Kings Road, Palm Coast, FL. www.myagmuseum.com
Oct. 8-9, 2016:
Confederate Garrison at Fort Clinch, 2601 Atlantic Ave., Fernandina Beach, FL.
www.floridastateparks.org/fortclinch
Oct. 21-23, 2016:
Battle of Gainesville with reenactment (on Oct. 22) on same ground that several Federal
regiments made their last stand against Capt. J.J. Dickison’s men, Alto Straughn Cattle Ranch,
Waldo, FL. [email protected]
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September 2016
Rev. Dr. Michael Jacobs at Gettysburg
Special thanks to Bobbie, Jack, and John Phillips whose Gettysburg legal firm,
Phillips & Phillips, is located in the 19th century home of Michael Jacobs. Their
assistance 1) in providing insight on this dedicated, conscientious man and 2) in
offering historical information on the Jacobs home—now their 21st century law
offices—is much appreciated!
At the time of the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, Rev. Dr. Michael Jacobs (1808-1871) was a
professor of chemistry, mathematics, and natural philosophy (later to be called “natural sciences”) at
Pennsylvania College. He was one of the college’s original faculty members when it opened in 1832, and
he continued teaching at the college until his retirement in 1866. Having a divinity degree, he was also the
clergyman at Pennsylvania College’s Christ Lutheran Church at 30 Chambersburg Street.
Above right photo of Michael Jacobs, who was 55 at the time of the battle, courtesy:
http://www.gettysburgdaily.com/evergreen-cemetery-part-15-with-licensed-battlefield-guide-debnovotny/; also courtesy: Bobbie, Jack and John Phillips of Phillips & Phillips law firm, Gettysburg
And if teaching and preaching were not enough to fill a lifetime professionally, Michael Jacobs also:
 Founded and organized the Gettysburg Gas Works, which lighted the town’s streets.
 Conducted experiments with canning fruits and vegetables, and he is considered to be the inventor of the
process of preserving fruit by canning.
 Worked as a Gettysburg surveyor.
 Personally guided Federal Signal Corps officers to the cupola on top of Pennsylvania Hall.
 Was an eyewitness to the western front of the battle on July 1 and July 3.
 Created a detailed map of the Gettysburg battlefield with troop dispositions.
 Diligently recorded the following data every day for 32 years (since 1839) at 7 a.m., 2 p.m., and 9 p.m.:
Gettysburg’s temperature, rainfall, cloud and wind conditions, and barometric readings.
But yet another major Michael Jacobs achievement: He wrote the first book on Robert E.
Lee’s second northern invasion campaign, climaxing with the momentous three-day battle. The first
edition of Dr. Jacobs’s book, Notes on the Rebel Invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania and the
Battle of Gettysburg, July 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, 1863, was published just three months after Lee’s retreat.
Left house photo: Michael Jacobs’s house (located within Confederate
lines on July 1, 2, 3, 1863) as it looks today on the northwest corner of
Middle & Washington streets in Gettysburg.
Right mantel photo: One of the many beautiful
ornamental mantels from the time that the Jacobs
family of six lived in this house—long before,
during, and after the Battle of Gettysburg. This
mantel features a carved open book in the center, a reflection of Dr. Jacobs’s
love of learning. Photos by: Diane Fischler
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September 2016
From his attic windows, Dr. Jacobs became a spectator to the largest battle ever fought in the
Western Hemisphere. On July 1, from his east-facing “fan” window (below left photo), he saw retreating
Federals (I and XI Corps) in the late afternoon fleeing south through Washington Street. On July 3, from
his west-facing window beneath the chimney (below right photo), with his 18-year-old son, Henry
Eyster Jacobs, he witnessed Pickett’s Charge through a “glass” (spyglass). A historical plaque in front
of the house reads: “Following the cessation of the great cannonade on July 3rd, he [Michael Jacobs]
sensed a critical moment in the struggle was at hand. Leaving the cellar for the garret, he observed
Pickett’s men advancing on the
Union center. Prophetically he
called to his son Henry [still hiding
in the basement with the rest of the
family], ‘Quick! Come! Come!
You can see now what in your life
you will never see again.’ ”
Photos by: Diane Fischler
Today, this privately owned historic building, built around 1809, houses
the law firm of Phillips & Phillips. In the spring of 2016, Bobbie and Jack
Phillips received the prestigious Restoration Award from the Historic GettysburgAdams County, Inc., a Preservation Society
(http://www.hgaconline.org/id88.html). Photo by: Diane Fischler
* * * * * * * * * * *
Pennsylvania Hall is located on the campus of
Pennsylvania College (renamed Gettysburg College in
1921). On June 30, according to a building plaque
(although it might have been early July 1), Dr. Jacobs
escorted Federal Signal Corps officers to the building’s
cupola for a better look at the surrounding fields. From this
observation point, he pointed out the town’s strategic,
commanding high ground in the distance to the southeast—
Cemetery Hill. Officers soon set up a signal station inside
this campus cupola. (This cupola is not the more famous
dome atop Lutheran Seminary’s Schmucker Hall, as
seen in the 1993 movie Gettysburg.)
Above drawing of south side of Pennsylvania Hall: Pennsylvania Hall was built in 1837, five years
after the college was founded. Penn Hall was built on six acres of land provided by famed
abolitionist and congressman Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868), who was a resident of Gettysburg until
1842. Drawing courtesy: www.gettysburg.edu
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September 2016
The four-story Pennsylvania Hall was also called “Old
Dorm” at the time of the battle—the largest building in
Gettysburg in 1863. Old Dorm quickly became a field hospital
during the battle and for weeks thereafter. It accommodated
more than 700 Union and Confederate casualties. Classes started
again, including the science courses taught by Dr. Jacobs, in Old
Dorm 12 weeks after the battle. For years to come, students
found bullets and bones and other debris of war in and around the
building and elsewhere on campus.
Since 1924, Gettysburg College’s sports teams have been aptly named the “Bullets.” The
University of Florida is not the only educational facility sporting orange and blue colors. Gettysburg
College also bleeds orange and blue. Above photo of north side of Penn Hall today: by Diane Fischler
* * * * * * * * * * *
Book photo below: A later 1864 edition of Michael Jacobs’s account of the Battle of Gettysburg.
The October 1863 edition was the first published book about the battle—and J.B. Lippincott & Co.
printed it only three months after the battle. Notes on the Rebel Invasion went into many
subsequent printings, the seventh one in 1909. Book photo courtesy:
http://www.justanswer.com/antiques/88din-appraisals-notes-rebel-invasion-maryland.html
One of mid-19th century’s most famous orators, Edward Everett,
was the primary speaker at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National
Cemetery on Nov. 19, 1863. He spoke for two hours prior to President
Lincoln giving his 2½-minute Gettysburg Address. Regarding his
research on the battle, Everett stated in his lengthy oration: “The highly
valuable ‘Notes’ of Professor Jacobs of the university in this place, to
which I am greatly indebted, will abundantly supply the deficiency of
my necessarily too condensed statement”
(Notes on the Rebel Invasion by M. Jacobs, Gettysburg: The Times
Printing Co., seventh edition, p. viii; p. 42).
* * * * * * * * * * *
In August 1885, Henry Eyster Jacobs (1844-1932), eldest son of Dr. Jacobs, published in
the Gettysburg Star and Sentinel his father’s meteorological notes, which Henry titled Meteorology
of the Battle. The publication describes the weather conditions during the battle. Michael Jacobs
had been assiduously taking the temperature, cloud and wind conditions, barometric readings, and
amount of rainfall every day since 1839—at seven-hour intervals. Right thermometer photo:
example of a 19th century thermometer. Photo courtesy: https://www.the-saleroom.com/engb/auction-catalogues/lyon-and-turnbull/catalogue-id-srly10080/lot-c45a7419-5ad2-4a22-9275a50f00c70b6b
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September 2016
Despite the raging epic battle surrounding Gettysburg, as well as within the town, Michael Jacobs,
dedicated scientist, continued to record the following temperatures. Dr. Jacobs’s temperature readings
courtesy: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-06-29/news/bs-md-weatherpage-062920130628_1_gettysburg-college-weather-july-1 and http://gburginfo.brinkster.net/weather.htm
Wednesday, July 1:
7 a.m.: 74°
2 p.m.: 76° -- about two hours before the Federal I Corps retreated from west of Gettysburg into town and
the Federal XI Corps retreated south into town from the north side of Gettysburg
9 p.m.: 74°
Thursday, July 2:
7 a.m.: 74°
2 p.m.: 81° -- two hours before the battles in the Wheatfield, Peach Orchard, and Little Round Top
9 p.m.: 76° -- at the time of battle on Culp’s Hill
Friday, July 3:
7 a.m.: 73° -- at time of the continuation of the battle on Culp’s Hill
2 p.m.: 87° -- one hour before Pickett’s Charge
9 p.m.: 76° -- Dr. Jacobs wrote about the thunderstorm at 6 p.m. on July 3: “The thunder seemed tame,
after the artillery firing [cannonade prior to Pickett’s Charge] of the afternoon.”
Quote courtesy: http://www.gdg.org/Research/Other Documents/Newspaper Clippings/v6pt11.html
* * * * * * * * * * *
The granite obelisk tombstone of Michael Jacobs (1808-1871) is one of the dominant
gravestones in the town’s civilian Evergreen Cemetery (est. 1854), which is adjacent to
Gettysburg National Cemetery. The two cemeteries are located on Cemetery Hill.
Right tombstone photo by: Diane Fischler
On Nov. 19, 1863, Evergreen Cemetery was the actual site of the
dedication ceremony of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery
(Gettysburg National Cemetery). The new military cemetery
was to be established on ground west of the dedication site.
Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address not too far from where
Dr. Jacobs would be buried eight years later. Left photo by
Alexander Gardner on Nov. 19, 1863, courtesy: www.loc.gov
Michael Jacobs’s son, Henry Eyster Jacobs, went on to become a famous
educator and theologian in his own right. In 1919, he wrote an account of Lincoln at Gettysburg and his
remembrances of Lincoln delivering his “few appropriate remarks.” He entitled his book Lincoln’s Gettysburg
World-Message. Henry Jacobs recounted in these remembrances that after Edward Everett had finished his
extended discourse, “The audience was wonderfully patient; but evidences of weariness could not be entirely
suppressed, and I took advantage of the movement to find a place directly in front of the platform, where I stood
very near to where President Lincoln was seated” (p. 70).
And regarding Lincoln’s delivery of his speech, Henry Jacobs, remembering what he experienced in his
youth at age 18, wrote 56 years later in his book, “The deep feeling of the speaker, combined with masterful selfcontrol and firmly set purpose, made a profound impression” (p. 73).
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September 2016
Excerpt from Michael Jacobs’s book, Notes on the Rebel Invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania and
the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, 1863 (7th edition, p. 37) about Pickett’s Charge on the
third day of the battle, Friday, July 3:
“So sudden and complete was the slaughter and capture of nearly all of
Pickett’s men, that one of his officers who fell wounded amongst the first on
the Emmittsburg road, and who characterized the charge as foolish and mad,
said that when, in a few moments afterwards, he was enabled to rise and look
about him, the whole division had disappeared as if blown away by the wind.”

Black star at top of map shows
location of Michael Jacobs’s house on
West Middle Street in Gettysburg—
just two miles from where the center
(site of today’s Virginia Memorial) of
the famous charge started.
Map courtesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickett%27s_Charge
The Courier
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September 2016