Volume 29, Number 9
June 2012
NEW ORLEANS FALLS
The Anaconda Plan was to blockade the Confederacy to prevent supplies from reaching or leaving the South. If
the Mississippi River could be controlled, it would divide the Confederacy. In January 1862, a blockading
squadron with David G. Farragut in command entered the river and sailed up to Forts Jackson and St. Philip, 70
miles below New Orleans. From April 18-28 Farragut bombarded the forts and fought his way past them. The
city refused to surrender. Farragut however refused to destroy the city. On May 1 st, Union Gen. Benjamin Butler
and 5000 soldiers occupied the city. He enforced strict military law. He taxed the wealthy and employed the poor
to clean up the city and pump sewerage out of the city preventing the usual summer yellow fever epidemics.
Many of the poor supported him indirectly. His harsh policies however also earned him the title “Beast” Butler.
The loss of New Orleans was significant. Modern historians feel that the night Farragut sailed past the forts was
“the night the war was lost” for the South. This year the U.S.P.S. issued a stamp commemorating the 150 th
Anniversary of the campaign.
CDCWRT Newsletter 1
JUNE MEETING
FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2012
WATERVLIET SENIOR CENTER
1541 BROADWAY
WATERVLIET, NY
The Civil WarWeek by Week
Dennis Gaffney
Social Hour
Business Meeting
Presentation
Questions & Answers
More Socializing
6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
7:00 – 7:30 p.m.
7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
8:30 – 9:00 p.m.
9:00 – 10:00 p.m.
CDCWRT MEETING
The June meeting of the Capital District
Civil War Round Table will be held on
Friday, June 8, 2012. This meeting will be
held at the Watervliet Senior Center, 1541
Broadway in Watervliet.
Our guest
speaker will be Dennis Gaffney who will
speak about his new book, THE SEVENDAY SCHOLAR: THE CIVIL WAR:
EXPLORING HISTORY ONE WEEK AT A
TIME.
Dennis is an adjunct professor at the
University at Albany-SUNY. He is also a
journalist who has written for the New
York Times, Mother Jones, Reader’s
Digest, and the American Experience
website. He is also the President of the
Board of Trustees of the Albany Public
Library. Dennis will also be speaking at
our conference in November 2012.
Dennis has collaborated with Peter
Gaffney on the Civil War Book, and their
most recent book entitled, The Seven-Day
Scholar: The Presidents: Exploring History
One Week at a Time. Peter is Senior VP,
Programing, Scheduling and Acquisitions
for the History Channel.
A Note from the President and Editor:
This meeting marks the last meeting beforev
the summer recess, but unlike school summer
vacation, you should not take a recess from the
Civil War during this 150th Anniversary. There
are plenty of activities locally that will not tax
your gas budget, And you should attend these
because they are sponsored by groups that are
trying to keep Civil War history alive and
meaningful. Your support will provide then with
encouragement and succor.
If this newsletter gets printed early enough, you
can attend the Masonic Temple Civil War
Weekend in Troy on June 2-3rd. Why not visit
Grant’s Cottage? There was a very nice article
in the Bethlehem Spotlight (God forbid that the
TU runs a Civil War article).
Mark your
calendar NOW with the date for the CDCWRT
Picnic August 17th and the Civil War Heritage
Days at Schuyler Flatts August 18-19th. Stop
fretting about early snowfalls and mark your
calendar NOW AGAIN for our banquet on
Friday, November 2nd with guest speaker Chris
Kolakowski, who will talk about 1862 in general.
I want to see twice last year’s attendance at the
conference on Saturday & Sunday, November
3-4, 2012. We are making it easier to attend.
The conference will be held at Siena College,
so there is no Northway driving!
The National Park Service reports that over the
past decade, the average age of visitors to
almost all parks has risen from 49 years to 59
years. Overall numbers of visitors is also down.
This means that fewer younger people are
visiting parks, whether it be natural beauty like
Yellowstone or historic interest like Shiloh. The
average age of our membership has risen also,
and parallels the NPS. Meeting audiences have
dwindled from the 50-70 in the 1990s t0 35-45
now.
Retired members should grab their
married children by the ears and drag them to a
meeting! Grandparents should hide the i-pads
of their grandchildren and bribe them to attend.
Teach them history; the schools certainly don’t.
CDCWRT Newsletter 2
UP-COMING EVENTS
The following list of up-coming events is
provided to help Round Table members
plan their long term calendars. These are
events that involve our Round Table,
especially
events
that
provide
opportunities to raise funds for our
preservation activities. Some events may
change as the year progresses, so
members should check the list monthly.
Details of Sesquicentennial Civil War
events can be found on the web-site:
www.nycivilwar150.org.
On Thursday-Saturday, June 7-9, 2012
there will be a conference at the Albany
Law School entitled “Civil War on Trial.”
The conference will deal with legal issues
that arose during the Civil War.
The
Archives Partnership Trust is a sponsor.
Saturday, June 9, 2012 the CDCWRT will
get culture! Albany Pro Musica, a highly
respected choral group, will present a
special Civil War music program.
Friday-Sunday, July 6 – 8, 2012 is the 149th
Anniversary Re-enactment in Gettysburg.
This year the re-enactment is on the
weekend after the actual anniversary date
of the battle. The CDCWRT will have sites
at the re-enactment and the visitor center
for the sale of cachets. Any interested
volunteers should contact Matt George.
Friday, August 17th is the CDCWRT picnic.
Saturday and Sunday August 18-19, 2012
is the Schuyler Flatts Civil War Weekend.
Join us for the picnic and activities on the
weekend.
Friday, September 14th will be the regular
meeting of the CDCWRT. Our presenter
will be Laurence Hauptman. The topic of
his presentation will be “General Wool and
the New York City Draft Riots.”
Friday, October 12th will be the regular
meeting of the CDCWRT. Our presenter
will be Vicki Weiss, and her topic will be
“Civil War Monuments in New York State.”
Friday – Sunday, November 2-4, 2012 will
be the second Sue Knost Memorial
Conference entitled “1862: And the War
Came.” Most of our speakers have all
confirmed and include Chris Kolakowski,
Bruce Eelman, Frank O’Reilly, Steve Muller
and John Quarstein. The conference will
occur at the facilities at Siena College.
Friday, December 14th will be the regular
holiday meeting of the CDCWRT.
Second Thoughts from the President/Editor
Last year CDCWRT member, Regina Daly,
made us aware of an October bus trip to
Gettysburg that was organized by the Green
County Historical Society. It was comparable
to a Sue Knost tour except there was less
walking and you got to bed before 11:30 pm.
The enclosed flyer provides information on
this year’s tour to Antietam and Harpers Ferry
with a stop at the Civil War Museum in
Harrisburg. Ed Bearss and Dennis Frye are
the guides and it’s all for $375.
I do not believe anyone in the CDCWRT can
organize this trip any cheaper, nor get anyone
better at the tour guides. You will be at
Antietam about 5 weeks after the 150th
Anniversary events and the actual battle date
of September 17, 1862.
Now that a recent re-evaluation of Civil War
deaths indicates that 750,000 deaths
occurred, Antietam remains the single
bloodiest day in American history. The preliminary Emancipation Proclamation was
announced after the battle. The first real wartime photographs brought to the public the
real cost of war. The battle was the first large
test of the reorganized medical care system in
the Union Army. The North also lost the best
chance of ending the war earlier by destroying
Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. See it!
CDCWRT Newsletter 3
ANTIETAM AND HARPER'S FERRY TRIP
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24 – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012
3 DAYS – 2 NIGHTS
$375 per person (double occupancy*)
Package Includes:
Antietam Battlefield
Harpers Ferry
To reserve your place send a $25 deposit** with your reservation form
by July 4th to:
AntietamTrip
Greene County Historical Society
Box 44
Coxsackie, NY 12051
See http://www.gchistory.org/newsandevents.html for the reservation form
(Final payment of $350 is due by September 4th.)
Any questions regarding trip please contact
Dave Dorpfeld at (518)731-1033 or www.gchistory.org
* The per person rate of $375 is based on double occupancy. If you need a single room add $75. to
total.
** The $25 deposit is fully refundable until September 4th. After Sept. 4th it is refundable if another
person fills seat.
.
ED BEARSS A ROCK STAR AMONG BATTLEFIELD GUIDES
Ed Bearss is a retired U.S.Park Service employee that now conducts Civil War Battlefield tours
with a mind for details and a unique flair for storytelling. If a history book could talk, it would
sound like Ed Bearss. But it would have to be a really good history book.
One of America's preeminent public historians, Bearss (pronounced BARS) displays an
uncommon flair for storytelling and an unmatched energy and enthusiasm as he charges across
Civil War battlefields, which he knows probably better than anyone. The chief historian emeritus
of the National Park Service, still dynamic at 86, is in great demand, leading tours or giving
speeches upwards of 300 days a year, a daunting schedule for someone half his age."It keeps me
young," says the old Marine.
He has achieved rock-star status, if there is such a thing in the world of battlefield guides, as fans
wear T-shirts bearing his likeness and fill his tours quickly when tickets go on sale. At one of his
favorite places, Gettysburg National Military Park, Bearss was leading a tour group of 50 or so.
As he talked and walked, like a pied piper he attracted more and more followers, the crowd
swelling to maybe 500.
But his is not a superficial fame. He possesses an unsurpassed knowledge, an extraordinary
memory and an abiding, deeply rooted love of his subject; trying to impress his future wife on
one of their first dates, he presented her with a cannonball. He also has the heart of a performer,
enabled by his genial growl of a voice that carries well in open spaces, a cross between a good
natured platoon sergeant and Walter Cronkite. Bearss tells you the way it was with an amiable
roar.
On a recent morning, standing not far from where the Battle of the Wilderness was fought in
May 1864 and where a modern, bloodless one is being waged [Walmart] Bearss launched into a
vivid description of what transpired here almost 146 years ago -- the beginning of the end of the
Civil War:
"So, as darkness closes in on the evening of the 7th down at the intersection of the Brock and
Plank roads, where the ground fires are still burning from the previous day and you have the
blackened corpses of soldiers . . . and the Union Army comes to the crossroads and the men who
have heretofore done the dying and the suffering know they are not turning back. They are going
on. The Confederates will be correspondingly discouraged."
Some people talk in clipped phrases; others in complete sentences. Bearss talks in full,
mesmerizing chapters. Without notes.
"He's the least boring historian you could ever run into," said Bob Krick, himself a revered Civil
War historian with Richmond National Battlefield Park. Said Len Reidel, executive director of
the Blue and Gray Education Society, "The guy is a priceless treasure. We'll not see his like
again in our lifetime."
Excerpted from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Ed Bearss will guide us on the battlefield at Antietam all day Thursday, October 25th. Please
join us for this extraordinary event.
Created in 1984, the Capital District Civil War Round Table is an incorporated non-profit
educational organization. Meetings are held monthly in various locations in the Capital
District. This newsletter is published eleven times per year. Annual dues are $25. The
purpose of the organization is to promote, educate, and further stimulate interest in, and
discussion of, all aspects of the Civil War period.
THE OFFICERS
President
Vice-President
Treasurer
Secretary
At-Large
At-Large
At-Large
President ex-officio
Matt Farina
Gene Gore
Fran McCashion
Mary Ellen Johnson
Art Henningson
J.J. Jennings
Erin Baillargeon
Matt George
439-8583
439-4569
459-4209
861-8582
355-5353
459-7571
929-5852
355-2131
THE NONCOMS
Newsletter
Program
Education
Refreshments
Membership
Webmaster
Historian
Matt Farina
Matt George
Matt George
439-8583
355-2131
355-2131
Mike Affinito
Mike Affinito
Fran McCashion
281-5583
459-4209