HARPERS FERRY
CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE
PO BOX 1079, HARPERS FERRY, WV 25425
Vol. 29 May 2010 No. 09
DATE:
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
TIME:
Dinner 7:00 PM; Program 8:00
PLACE:
Camp Hill Methodist Church, Harpers Ferry, WV
SPEAKER:
George E. Deutsch
SUBJECT:
RAID, MURDER AND RETRIBUTION: The
Destruction of the Weldon Rail Road
The Speaker:
George E. Deutsch has spent the last 30 years actively pursuing his interests in 19th
Century military history. A native of Erie, PA, he co-founded the Erie Area Civil War
Roundtable in 1987. He has been a frequent speaker for several Civil War roundtables in
both Pennsylvania and Ohio. Mr. Deutsch has also guided many tours of battlefields for
both university and roundtable groups.
In 1980 he co-founded the Flagship Niagara League, a non-profit organization which
spearheaded the reconstruction of Commodore Perry’s flagship from the Battle of Lake
Erie in 1813. He spent more than twenty years as a community leader in the rebuilding of
the Niagara with its ongoing sailing program as well as the creation of the Erie Maritime
Museum. He has crewed onboard flagship Niagara throughout the Great Lakes, the St.
Lawrence Seaway and as far south as Norfolk, VA.
Mr. Deutsch is the author of several articles on the Civil War and naval topics from
the War of 1812. He is writing, with a partner, a new book on the 83rd Pennsylvania,
focusing on the untold history of its last year in the war.
Mr. Deutsch has served on or chaired several committees active in battlefield
preservation, conservation of Civil War flags, restoring Civil War monuments and the
creation of new statues and historical markers. He designed and authored the text for a
new wayside installed by the National Park Service on Little Round Top at Gettysburg.
George Deutsch is the co-founder of several historical organizations in his hometown
of Erie, Pennsylvania, related to the Civil War and the War of 1812’s Battle of Lake Erie.
He has also published multiple articles on the 83rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and
Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s Flagship Niagara. Deutsch designed the wayside
marker of Strong Vincent and Joshua Chamberlain on Little Round Top, worked to erect
the statue of Vincent in Erie, led the effort to restore Erie County’s Civil War monument,
and helped to lead the conservation of the 83rd and 145th Pennsylvania’s battle flags now
preserved in the Erie Library.
Mr. Deutsch was educated at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and
also has a degree in history from Mercyhurst College. George now lives in Catonsville,
Maryland, with his wife Mary Fran.
The Subject
A military expedition carried out by the Union Army of the Potomac’s V Corps late in
America’s Civil War, officially designated the “Hicksford Raid,” took place in early
December 1864. Its objective was the destruction of a railroad link supplying General
Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia besieged at Petersburg, Va., not the
systematic devastation of civilian property (which had become more common as a
Federal policy towards the end of the war). However, the raid deteriorated into
uncontrolled violence and destruction. The size of the Union forces involved made this
convulsion of brutality unique even in the violent era of the Civil War.
The Meal
A family-style meal will be served at 7:00 PM prior to the program. The cost of the meal is
$15.00 per person. The Dinner menu is a favorite: Fried chicken, coleslaw, baked beans,
Iced Tea, Rolls, Butter & Dessert. Reservations for the meal must be phoned in no later
than Sunday night, May 9th, to Allison Alsdorf, at 304-535-2101 or you can email her at
[email protected]
John Zimmerman, Firearms Expert
By Chris Howland
In the Hands of a Craftsman: Master gunsmith John Zimmerman, an expert
on Civil War firearms, is right at home in Harpers Ferry, W.Va.
How did you become a master gunsmith?
I grew up in Ohio and then was in Army ordnance for three years. When I got out, I went
to gun-smithing school in Colorado. My family have been gunsmiths ever since they
came to this country in the 1640s. They made guns for the Revolutionary War. One
segment of the family worked in the armory here in Harpers Ferry from 1800 to 1842. In
the Industrial Revolution, they were told they would no longer be gunsmiths and would
have to tend machines. They didn't like that; they were skilled artisans. That side of the
family was named Hawken. They developed the Hawken rifle, which is a take-off on the
Model 1803 Harpers Ferry rifle.
How long does it take to repair or restore a gun?
That depends on a hundred million different things. It can take anywhere from a week or
two, to two or three years. The biggest thing is trying to find original parts. That can be
like looking for a needle in a haystack a lot of times. Some people don't want to have
parts made; they're insistent that everything be original. I try to find parts by going to gun
shows, getting on the Internet, things of that sort. Trying to locate them can be a very
difficult operation.
What about modern reproduction guns?
Most of them come from Italy or India, and they have foreign writing on them. We do
what's called "defarbing." We take off the writing, move the serial number from the side
to the bottom of the barrel and then re-stamp it with the appropriate markings of the
period. The originals back then never had serial numbers. You cannot remove a serial
number, but you can move it. As long as it's on the gun somewhere and is legible, that
keeps everybody happy. We take our time and rework the gun so it looks more like an
original for the customer.
Are there limits on what you can restore?
I don't restore guns manufactured after 1898, which is the cutoff date set in the 1968 Gun
Control Act. I have to keep track of everything, and it's a mountain of paperwork. The
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms could come in here anytime; if there's so much
as even an "i" that's not dotted, that's a $500 fine. There are some gray areas. For
example, the 1873 Winchester is a problem because the cartridges for it are still made,
whereas they aren't for the '76 Winchester.
What's your connection to the Civil War?
Most of my customers are Civil War re-enactors, skirmish shooters, living historians
and gun collectors. My great-grandfather, who ran the family gun shop in Ohio, was born
in 1855, so he was too young to serve in the war. But he had two brothers and a brotherin-law that were killed. Another brother was in the ordnance department with Sherman's
army. We like to call him a pyromaniac in General Sherman's arson squad. He said he
burned off half the state of Georgia and the only thing he was ashamed of was not
burning off the other half. After losing two brothers, he felt terrible revenge.