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April, 2016 Our Next Meeting – Thursday, April 21 , 2016 edition 21, No.8 “The Rebels are our countrymen again”

US Grant accepts the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, April, 1865

THE OLDE COLONY CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE

THE CAMPAIGN!

Reporting the latest Occurrences from Both the Front and the Rear. http://www.occwrt.org

OFFICERS

President

Joe Dipoli Vice President

Dana Zaiser Secretary

Gail Dugan

Treasurer

Don Fitzgerald Campaign Editor

Paul Griffel Past President

Rich Campagna EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

(Officers are also members) President Emeritus Joe Scalia

Bob Hearsey Martha Horsefield Barbara Magruder

Dave Sheldon

Sue Kuecker

Programs: Jack Kavanagh Membership: Paula Cunningham

Jubilee: Bob Hearsey, Gail Dugan

Web Master and Preservation: Dana Zaiser Revere Award: Martha Horsefield

Refreshment Barbara Magruder

THE CAMPAIGN! A publication of the

Olde Colony Civil War Round Table

Headquarters: Dedham, Massachusetts

Editor Emeritus – David Kenney Current Editor

gengibbon@comcast.net

OCCWRT Monthly Meetings (except June/July/August and the

October Jubilee Dinner)) are regularly held the 3rd Thursday each

month, 7:30 PM (except December—2nd Thursday) at the Endicott

Estate, Dedham.

Our Next Meeting: April 21, 2016

Thursday at the Endicott Estate in Dedham:

7:00pm Book Sale, meeting formally begins 7:30 pm

Mini-bit Civil War in 4 from the Civil War Trust

Mini-bit: OCCWRT member Jack Zeletsky

"Engineer Edward J. Johnson" Confederate Naval veteran who died at Ft.

Warren and his grave was found at Ft. Devens in 2002. OCCWRT was very involved in having Engineer Johnson’s disinterred and brought back to Georgia.

Kevin Levin, Historian, author "Unfurling the History and Memory of the Confederate

Battle Flag". Kevin Levin is an educator and historian based in Boston. He is the author of Remembering the Battle of the Crater: War as Murder and is currently working on a new project, tentatively titled, "Searching For Black Confederate Soldiers: The Civil War's Most Persistent Myth." You can find his writings in a wide range of publications, including The New York Times, the Atlantic and The Daily Beast as well as on his blog, Civil War Memory, which he has maintained since 2005.

The battle of the Crater is known as one of the Civil War’s bloodiest

struggles—a Union loss with combined casualties of 5,000, many of

whom were members of the United States Colored Troops (USCT)

under Union Brigadier General Edward Ferrero. The battle was a

violent clash of forces as Confederate soldiers fought for the first time

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against African American soldiers. After the Union lost the battle,

these black soldiers were captured and subject both to extensive

abuse and the threat of being returned to slavery in the South. Yet,

despite their heroism and sacrifice, these men are often overlooked

in public memory of the war.

In Remembering The Battle of the Crater: War is Murder, Kevin M.

Levin addresses the shared recollection of a battle that epitomizes

the way Americans have chosen to remember, or in many cases

forget, the presence of the USCT. The volume analyzes how the

racial component of the war’s history was portrayed at various points

during the 140 years following its conclusion, illuminating the social

changes and challenges experienced by the nation as a whole.

Remembering The Battle of the Crater gives the members of the

USCT a newfound voice in history.

Our Last Meeting

March 17, 2016

The Civil War in 4From the Civil War Preservation Trust, supervised by Dana Zaiser

Minibit: OCCWRT Paul Griffel

Civil War Trivia

Dr. Griffel revealed the answers to many questions of trivia that had appeared in the newsletter. Time constraints did not enable him to reveal the answer to the question: What were the “7 Failures” of Grants Vicksburg campaign.

Chickasaw Bayou (December 26–29, 1862) Sherman disembarked with three divisions at Johnson's Plantation on the Yazoo River to approach the Vicksburg defenses from the northeast. On December 27, the Federals pushed their lines forward through the swamps toward the Walnut Hills, which were strongly defended. On December 28, several futile attempts were made to get around these defenses. On December 29, Sherman ordered a frontal assault, which was repulsed with heavy casualties, and then withdrew.[9]

Holly Springs: During this period, the overland half of Grant's

offensive was failing. His lines of communication were disrupted by

raids by Van Dorn and Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, who

destroyed his large supply depot at Holly Springs. Unable to subsist his

army without these supplies, Grant abandoned his overland advance. Grant's Bayou Operations, January–March 1863That

winter, Grant conducted a series of initiatives to approach and capture

Vicksburg, [12] termed "Grant's Bayou Operations". Their general theme

was to use or construct alternative waterways so that troops could be

positioned within striking distance of Vicksburg, without requiring a

direct approach on the Mississippi under the Confederate guns. The

Williams Canal across De Soto Peninsula had been abandoned by Adm.

Farragut and Brig. Gen. Williams in July 1862, but it had the potential

to offer a route downriver that bypassed Vicksburg's guns. In late

January 1863, Sherman's men, at the urging of Grant—who was advised

by the navy that President Lincoln liked the idea—resumed digging.

Sherman derisively called the work "Butler's Ditch" (since it was Maj.

Gen. Benjamin Butler who had sent Williams upriver to do the work),

which was barely 6 feet wide by 6 feet deep. Grant, undoubtedly

influenced by Lincoln's continuous inquiries as to the status of the

canal, ordered Sherman to expand the canal to 60 feet wide and 7 feet

deep and the effort became known as Grant's Canal. It was not properly

engineered based upon the hydrology of the Mississippi River,

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however, and a sudden rise in the river broke through the dam at the head of the canal and flooded the area. The canal began to fill up with

back water and sediment. In a desperate effort to rescue the project, two

huge steam-driven dipper dredges, Hercules and Sampson, attempted to

clear the channel, but the dredges were exposed to confederate artillery

fire from the bluffs at Vicksburg and driven away. By late March, work

on the canal was abandoned. (Remnants of about 200 yards of Grant's

Canal are maintained by the Vicksburg National Military Park in

Louisiana).[13]

Lake Providence Expedition[Grant ordered Brig. Gen. James B. McPherson to construct a canal of several hundred yards from the Mississippi to Lake Providence, northwest of the city. This would allow passage to the Red River, through Bayous Baxter and Macon, and the Tensas and Black Rivers. Reaching the Red River, Grant's force could join with Banks at Port Hudson. McPherson reported that the connection was navigable on March 18, but the few "ordinary Ohio River boats" that had been sent to Grant for navigation of the bayous could only transport 8,500 men, far too few to tip the balance at Port Hudson. Although this was the only one of the bayou expeditions to successfully bypass the Vicksburg defenses, historian Ed Bearss calls this episode the "Lake Providence Boondoggle."[14]

Yazoo Pass Expedition The next attempt was to

get to the high ground of the loess bluffs above Hayne's Bluff and below Yazoo City by blowing up the Mississippi River levee near Moon Lake, some 150 miles (240 km) above Vicksburg, near Helena, Arkansas, and following the Yazoo Pass (an old route from Yazoo City to Memphis, which was curtailed by the 1856 levee construction that sealed off the Pass from the Mississippi River to Moon Lake) into the Coldwater River, then to the Tallahatchie River, and finally into the Yazoo River at Greenwood, Mississippi. The dikes were blown up on February 3, beginning what was called the Yazoo Pass Expedition. Ten Union boats, under the command of Lt. Cmdr. Watson Smith, with army troops under the command of Brig. Gen. Benjamin Prentiss, began moving through the pass on February 7. But low-hanging trees destroyed anything on the gunboats above deck and Confederates felled more trees to block the way. These delays allowed the Confederates time to quickly construct a "Fort Pemberton" near the confluence of the Tallahatchie and Yalobusha Rivers near Greenwood, Mississippi, which repulsed the naval force on March 11, March 14, and March 16. The Union effort collapsed in early April.[15]

Steele's Bayou Expedition[Admiral Porter started

an effort on March 16 to go up the Yazoo Delta via Steele's Bayou, just north of Vicksburg, to Deer Creek. This would outflank Fort Pemberton and allow landing troops between Vicksburg and Yazoo City. Confederates once again felled

trees in their path, and willow reeds fouled the boats' paddlewheels. This time the Union boats became immobilized, and Confederate cavalry and infantry threatened to capture them. Sherman sent infantry assistance to repel the Confederates bedeviling Porter, but Porter's approach was abandoned as too difficult.[16]

Duckport Canal Grant’s final attempt was to dig another canal from Duckport Landing to Walnut Bayou, aimed at getting lighter boats past Vicksburg. By the time the canal was almost finished, on April 6, water levels were declining, and none but the lightest of flatboats could get through. Grant abandoned this canal and started planning anew. From December through March, including Chickasaw Bayou and the Mississippi Central advance, seven

initiatives, or "experiments", by Grant had failed. Grant claimed in his memoirs that he had undertaken these experiments primarily to keep his troops busy during the flooded and disease-laden winter months and that he had had no expectation of success. This claim is contradicted by correspondence from Grant at a later date

(Source: Wikipedia)

Mark Mello

Gettysburg 1863

“The Fight for the Triangular Field and Devils Den”

35 members of the group heard a splendid presentation from this

student of history at Bridgewater State University. He will no

doubt emerge as an important Civil War Scholar. With a keen

sense of history and interpretation, he was able o present a

depiction of this battle through the eyes and lives of those who

were there:

He focused on several individuals who represented the

experience of battle, “seeing the elephant.” They included

Colonel A Van Horne Ellis

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Major James Cromwell

Captain Charles Weygand

Put Charles Edwards

Private Jesse Camp

These were men from the 124th New York, known as the

“Orange Blossoms” from Orange County NY

Experiences from Confederates included members of the 1st

Texas regiment, including Colonel Phillip Work and Pvt. James

Bradfield

Their experiences will be provided in greater detail in an

upcoming edition of the newsletter. A summary of the battle of

the Triangular field is provided courtesy of the Web site “The

Brothers War”

As the mid-summer sun glided effortless across the sky, the

Confederates of Lieutenant General James Longstreet's 1st

Corp set about getting into position. Although veterans of

many battles, they could not know that this day would see

more bloodshed than even the third and final day of the

largest battle ever fought on American soil. As the

determined Southerners began their assault, Major General

John Bell Hood's seasoned soldiers moved towards the

Federal lines along the rise of Houck's Ridge, ending at

Devil's Den at the base of Big and Little Round Tops. The

1st Corps' commanding General said of their position,

"Hood's division was moved on farther to our right, and got

into position, partially enveloping the enemy's left."

However, almost as soon as the movement progressed,

General Longstreet noted, "General Hood received a severe

wound soon after getting under fire, and was obliged to

leave the field. This misfortune occasioned some delay in

our operations." The fearless southern General would lose

permanent use of his shattered left arm.

Brigadier General Evander Law's Brigade would

advance on the right of Hood's Division against the

Federals on the far end of Houck's Ridge. After Hood's

wounding however, General Law would take command of

the Division with Colonel James Sheffield, 48th Alabama

now heading Law's Brigade. Colonel Sheffield described

the action then as follows. "On reaching the enemy's lines,

where they were well and strongly situated, I ordered my

regiment forward, which was gallantly obeyed until within

about 20 paces of their line. Here the fire of the enemy was

severe. Here the men opened fire on the enemy, and for

some time continued, until the left, from the loss of men

and their exposed position to a fire front the front and from

the mountain on the right, were forced to fall back. The

right steadily maintained its position for some time, forcing

the enemy to withdraw from their first line and establish

their line a short distance to their rear, where they

continued their fire. After the contest had continued for an

hour and a half, and my whole regiment had been brought

to the front the third time, only to be driven back, I ordered

them to reform in the rear of their advanced position. While

doing this, I was ordered to take command of the brigade.

After this, the regiment was commanded by Capt. T. J.

Eubanks, who reformed and carried it to the front, where

the battle-ground was held during the night, bringing off

our wounded.

In this battle the regiment (48th AL) had 275 men

engaged. There were 102 killed, wounded, and missing."

Major General David B. Birney, General Hood's

counterpart on the Union side of the field described how he

positioned and used his men. "My line was formed with

Ward on the left, resting on the mountain, De Trobriand in

the center, and Graham on my right in the peach orchard,

with his right on the Emmetsburg road. Smith's battery of

rifled guns was placed so as to command the gorge at the

base of the Sugar Loaf Mountain; Winslow's battery on the

right of Ward's brigade, and a battery from the Artillery

Reserve; also Clark's and Ames' batteries to the right, in

rear of the peach orchard, supported by Graham's brigade,

and the Third Michigan, from the Third Brigade, and the

Third Maine, from the Second Brigade. Randolph's,

Seeley's, and Turnbull's batteries were placed near the

Emmetsburg road, on the front, parallel with it. I

immediately sent an aide to Major-General Sykes asking

for the division promised to support my left. I now opened

(say at 3.30 p.m.) with Clark's and Smith's batteries upon

the columns of the enemy moving toward our left, parallel

with the Emmetsburg road.

At 4 o'clock the enemy returned the artillery fire

on my entire front, and advanced their infantry en masse,

covered by a cloud of skirmishers. Major-General Sykes

reached my left opportunely, and protected that flank. A

portion of his command, under General Barnes, had been

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placed in rear of the right of De Trobriand's brigade, but

during the fight he withdrew his force, and formed some

300 yards farther in the rear.

Of those Union skirmishers, Major Homer R.

Stoughton, commanding the 2nd United States

Sharpshooters would note, "The enemy's skirmishers

advanced to the top of the hill in our front, and immediately

after they placed a battery directly in our front, and being

too far for our range, I sent forward a few men under cover

of

woods

on the

left, and

silenced

one

piece

nearest

us.

T

he

enemy

then

advance

d a line

of battle covering our entire front and flank. While they

were advancing, the Second Regiment did splendid

execution, killing and wounding a great many. One

regiment broke three times, and rallied, before it would

advance. I held my position until their line of battle was

within 100 yards of me and their skirmishers were pushing

my right flank, when I ordered my men to fall back, firing

as they retired."

Major General Birney would continue, "As the

fight was now furious, and my thin line reached from Sugar

Loaf Hill to the Emmetsburg road, fully a mile in length, I

was obliged to send for more re-enforcements to Major-

General Sickles, and Major Tremain, aide-de-camp to the

commanding general, soon appeared with a brigade of the

Second Corps, which behaved most handsomely, and,

leading them forward, it soon restored the center of my line,

and we drove the enemy from that point, to fall with re-

doubled force on Ward's brigade. My thin lines swayed to

and fro during the fight, and my regiments were moved

constantly on the double-quick from one part of the line to

the other, to re-enforce assailed points."

Union Brigadier General J. H. Hobart Ward,

commanding the men on the Federal's far left would note in

his report, "The enemy had now approached to within 200

yards of my position, in line and en masse, yelling and

shouting. My command did not fire a shot until the enemy

came within the distance prescribed, when the whole

command fired a volley. This checked the enemy's advance

suddenly, which gave our men an opportunity to reload,

when another volley was fired into them. The enemy now

exhibited much disorder, and, taking advantage of this

circumstance, I advanced my right and center with a view

of obtaining a position behind a stone wall, about 160 yards

in advance, and which the enemy was endeavoring to reach.

While advancing, the rear columns of the enemy pressed

forward to the support of the advance, who rallied and

again advanced. This time our single line was forced back a

short distance by the heavy columns of the enemy. In this

manner for the space of one and a half hours did we

advance and retire, both parties endeavoring to gain

possession of the stone wall."

"Our men, now much exhausted and nearly

destitute of ammunition, were relieved by a portion of the

Second and Fifth Corps, when we retired and bivouacked

for the

night."

G

eneral

Ward

would

later

speak

with

respect

and

pride of

the

many

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officers he lost this day. "The One hundred and Twenty-

fourth New York lost its colonel and major (both shot

through the head). Col. A. Van Horne Ellis was one of

those dashing and chivalrous spirits that we frequently read

of, but seldom encounter in real life. He fell while gallantly

leading his men in a charge. In this he was ably seconded

by Lieutenant-Colonel Cummins and Major Cromwell, the

major falling within a few seconds of the colonel, and the

lieutenant-colonel being severely wounded." He would add,

"The number of effective men in the brigade when they

engaged the enemy was not 1,500" lamenting "the total loss

in my brigade was 46 officers and 712 enlisted men." [5]

THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE

PRESIDEN

I AM GOING TO BE A BIT LATE FOR THE April

meeting as I have a ton of family business popping up

in April. I will call the estate with my progress.

In case you thought that the Emancipation

Declaration and 13th

Amendment took care of

slavery; think again. I am reading a book by Douglas

A. Blackmon called “Slavery by Another Name” This

really interesting book chronicles the ways that blacks

were re enslaved by a corrupt legal system that

produced slavery more barbaric than the old one.

Blacks “convicted” of minor offenses were sold to

farmers and factories to work off their legal fees and

fines and in the process were beaten and abused

routinely for decades.

I probably will call a board meeting in early May to

wrap up the program year and plan the annual picnic.

Please keep me in the loop on what is going on in the

meantime.

Thank you to all of our chairpersons for keeping the

chapter running smoothly and keep up the great work

Joe Dipoli.

Please support the generous contributors to the Jubilee

Raffle:

ALEXANDER, TED, SOUTHERN REVENGE,

AUTOGRAPHED COPY

AMERICAN DIGGER MAGAZINE, ACWORTH, GA,

SAMPLE & 1 YEAR SUBSCRIPTION

BOSTON RED SOX: BASEBALL AUTOGRAPHED BY

CLAY BUCHLOLZ

CAMPAGNA, JOAN, NECKLACE AND EARRINGS

CIVIL WAR NEWS, TUNBRIDGE, VT, 1 YEAR

SUBSCRIPTION AND BACK ISSUES

DEDHAM COMMUNITY THEATRE, DEDHAM, MA, Two

Movie Passes and Pop Corn

DEDHAM SAVINGS, DEDHAM, MA, $50.00 AMERICAN

EXPRESS GIFT CARD

DIPOLI, JOE, Book, Newburyport in the Civil War

DUGAN, GAIL, Books, Appomattox T Shirt and Tote

DIXIE GUN WORKS: $10 gift card

FULTON, PAT, CIVIL WAR STAMPS, Necklace, Bracelet

GRIFFEL, PAUL, GETTYSBURG POSTER

HEARSEY, DOREEN, Desk Top Lincoln Statue

HEARSEY, ROBERT, 35 BOOKS, DVDs, Statue

HOLIDAY INN DEDHAM, DEDHAM, MA, HOTEL ROOM

FOR GUEST SPEAKER

ISABELLA RESTAURANT, DEDHAM, MA, $25.00 GIFT

CARD

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PARADISE CAFÉ, DEDHAM, MA, 50% DISCOUNT

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TAUNTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY, TAUNTON, MA, MEMBERSHIP 1 YEAR

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VALORI TRELOAR, MD, NEWTON, MA,

DERMATOLOGY SAMPLES, 3 BAGS

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Civil War History:

The incredible opportunities to learn and share our

heritage:

The Civil War Round Table of Greater Boston

Meetings: 7:30 pm on the 4th Friday of each month,

Sept. to June

President David L. Smith

781-647-3332

www.cwrtgb.com

The Civil War Round Table

of North Worcester County

Meetings: 7:00 pm on the 2nd Tuesday of each

month, Sept. to June, at the

Leominster Historical Society

17 School Street

Leominster, MA 01453

For information contact:

President, Ruth Frizzell

nwccwrt@comcast.net or www.nwrccwrt.org

978-365-7628

The Civil War Round Table of

Central Massachusetts/Worcester

Meetings are held at 7:00 p.m. on the

4th Wednesday of each month

September to June

at the Holden Senior Center

Main Street

Holden, MA

For information contact:

President Mark Savolis

860-923-2777

Civil War Roundtable of Cape Cod

P.O. Box 1431 20 Main St.

The Riverview School on Rte 6A

3rd Monday of each month, 1:00 p.m. Yarmouth

Senior Center

Fred Wexler, President, or John Myers, Programming

at (580) 896-6421

The Civil War Roundtable

of the Merrimack

P.O. Box 421

West Newbury, MA 01985

54th Mass Glory Brigade Foundation

Ben Goff, Corr. Secy

P.O. Box 260342 Mattapan 02126

(617) 254-7005 goffbf@juno.com

President Emmett Bell-Sykes

sykeswisdom@verizon.net

617-333-9970

54thmass@verizon.net

The Greater New Bedford

Civil War Roundtable

Joe Langlois, Pres.

info@newbedfordcwrt.org

Fourth Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m.

1000 S. Rodney French Blvd. New Bedford

(thanks to Nadine Mironchuk, Northshore CWRT)

Rhode Island Civil War Round Table

third Wednesday of the month; social hour at 5:30,

meeting and speaker at 6:00.

Please note that we have a new meeting place: Instead

of the William Hall Public Library in Cranston, R.I.,

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we are now meeting at the historic Sprague Mansion,

at 1351 Cranston Street, Cranston, R.I.

FYI, the Sprague Mansion is the headquarters of the

Cranston Historical Society. More than two centuries

old, it was the property of the Sprague family, which

dominated the textile industry in Rhode Island in the

1800s. Two of the family members became governors

of Rhode Island, including Civil War Governor

William Sprague.

Chairman is Mark Dunkelman

(NYVI154th@aol.com)

Secretary is Len Levin (lenlevin5@hotmail.com)

Civil War Round Table of East Bridgewater

Dalejulius91@gmail.com

North Shore Civil War Round Table Dextor Bishop, president 53 Andrew Street, Lynn Largest GAR Hall and museum in the United States. You must attend a meeting to see a landmark Civil War heritage site!

Olde Colony Civil War Round Table Schedule 2015-2016

Such appreciation to the effort of Jack Kavanagh Program chair!

Most meetings begin at 730 pm with announcements from the President, followed by a presentation: The Civil War in 4, a video program from the Civil War

Preservation Trust, organized by Dana Zaiser:”

April 21, 2016 New speaker Kevin Levin

History of the Confederate Battle Flag

May 19, 2015

“Alexander Stephens”

Brian Sims: “Russia in the Civil War”

ANNOUCEMENTS:

The group now has an active PO box to receive Civil

War related mailings and materials:

Olde Colony Civil War Round Table

P.O. Box 361

Dedham, MA 02027

Note the Zip is 02027, not the routine zip for Dedham

which is 02026

Congratulations to Paula Cunningham, champion of

the OCCWRT Civil War Trivia Contest

Dues are due!

OCCWRT 2016-2017

MEMBERSHIP DUES

Date:_____________2015

Name ____________________________________

Address___________________________________

City______________________State___Zip______

Enclosed is my check for :

Individual Membership $ 20

Family Membership $ 25

Annual Membership plus added

Donation to Preservation Fund $_____

MAILTO: Paula Cunningham,

62 Ridgewood St., Taunton, MA 02780

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DUES ARE IMPORTANT!

Dues provides funds for awards to speakers

Dues provide funds for refreshments

OCCRWT provides a yearly donation to the Endicott

Estate, ensuring that our meetings can be held in an

historic and enriched meeting environment

Money from dues are distributed to worthy preservation

organizations and activities

Paying dues demonstrates a commitment to

preservation of our heritage and Civil War

history!