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The War CorrespondentNewsletter of the Ray Fawcett Chapter of The Central Ohio Civil War Roundtable
June 2007 Vol. 16, No. 12
General-in-Chief's ReportBy
Tim Maurice
Hello Everyone: Let'stake care of some business first.If you haven't paid your dues forthis year yet please do so soon,as they are now due. Our duescover the cost of our speakers.That is their appearance fees andtravel expenses.
If anyone would like tohelp with the book raffle tableplease get with me at the nextmeeting. Your duties would beimmense, stand behind the tablesand say 3 for 5 dollars or 1 for 2dollars or just point at the sign.Any takers?
June's meeting should bea good one with our own EricWittenberg speaking to us aboutJeb Stuart's exploits during theGettysburg Campaign. Eric is amuch sought after speaker, we'relucky to have him and he worksCheap!He will have books to sell.
Your Obedient Servant,Tim Maurice
Answer to MayPuzzler
At what battle didGeneral Lee's horse Travellerbecome uncharacteristically
frightened by a bursting shell,rearing just in time for acannonball to pass harmlesslyunder his girth?
Spotsylvania.
June Puzzler
What U.S. naval officerin command of the Octanaracaptured a British schooner inJune 1863?
Historian General'sReportBy
Mike Peters
Our speaker for the June13th, meeting will be EricWittenberg. The topic will be"Jeb Stuart's ControversialRide to Gettysburg."
Eric is an accomplishedCivil War cavalry historian andauthor, and has written over adozen books on Civil Warcavalry subjects, as well as twodozen articles in popular CivilWar magazines (North & South,Blue & Gray, America's CivilWar, and Gettysburg Magazine).
His first book,Gettysburg's Forgotten CavalryActions won the prestigious 1998Bachelder-Coddington LiteraryAward.
His most recent booksare Rush's Lancer's: The ffh PACavalry in the Civil War; TheBattle of Monroe's Crossroads;and the Civil War's FinalCampaign & Plenty of Blame toGo Around: Jeb Stuart'sControversial Ride toGettysburg. The latter was co-authored with J. D. Petruzzi.
Eric is presently workingon an Ulric Dahlgren bio as wellas an in-depth study of Morgan'sRaid.
Eric also conducts toursof cavalry battlefields and relatedsites. He was instrumental insaving important battlefield landat Trevilian Station, Virginia, andwrote the text for the historicalwaysides located at TrevilianStation.
He Lives in Columbuswith his wife Susan and theirbeloved dogs. He is also theCEO of Ironclad Publishing, Inc.
Adjutant General'sReport
May 9,2007MeetingBy
Rory McIntyre
Esteemed guest DaveRoe spoke at our May meeting onhis recently published diaries of
Continued on page 2
Valentine Randolph entitled: ACivil War Soldiers Diary.
A graduate of DickinsonCollege, in Illinois, Pvt. Randolphenlisted on September 19, 1861.From that day forward, with only afew days missing while he was inthe hospital, he recorded hisobservations regarding the life ofa private in the Union Army.
He wrote of the dailyroutine of the soldier, as well asmany important events as seenthrough his eyes. One of hisearliest reports is the story of howhis regiment almost mutiniedduring training as they werepromised new muskets but weregiven old ones. (They got theirnew muskets). His regiment thenwent to Williamsport, Marylandthrough Mansfield and theybecame part of the Army of thePotomac. He wrote of theremoval from command ofColonel Light and the emotionaleffect it had on the men. Onlylater did he discover that Lighthad deserted the regular army in1857. With this tale, he answeredthe long-standing mystery of whyLight was dismissed; no otherresource contained it.
His diary is an invaluablesource for such information. Notonly does he tell of the battles inwhich he participated, fromKernstown to, Petersburg, butalso of what the regular soldiersaw, felt and experienced. Hiswritings contain details of theloading of men onto a railcar andhow they slept while in transport,a visit to Fort Frederick, the flightof Lowe's balloon with a portrait ofMcClellan painted on the side, thetrades enemies made of suppliesacross the lines, and the sadnessand longing soldiers felt for home.
In 1864, Randolph camedown with malaria in Hilton Head.His stay in the hospital was theonly gap in his day to daywritings. He mustered out inSeptember 1864. His last diaryentry tells of his train ride home
and the indelicacy of fallingasleep between two women.
After his discharge,Randolph studied theology andbecame a Methodist minister. Hedied, in 1895, of complicationsresulting from his earlier bout withmalaria.
The roundtable sincerelythanks Mr. Roe for sharing notonly the stories but allowing us tosee the diaries themselves. Pvt.Randolph's writings are truly atreasure for any Civil Warstudent.
Membership Dues
It's that time of yearagain to pay your membershipdues.
You can bring your duesto the meetings or mail them to:The Central Ohio Civil WarRoundtable, P.O. Box 471, LewisCenter, OH 43035-0471.
Single $25Family $35Student $15
Please make your checkpayable to The Central Ohio CivilWar Roundtable.
Welcome New Members
Please welcome thefollowing new members:
Richard & Patricia HendersonHugh Harmount
Raffle
The May raffle raised$52.00. As always thanks toeveryone who have participated.
Civil War EducationAssociation
Below are listed someupcoming tours:
• An All Star WalkingTour of the Battle ofGettysburg. June 15-17, with Gary Kross,Rich Bellamy, SueBoardman, Jim Clouse,Andie Custer and MikeVallone. Friday 8:45 am- Sunday 3:30 pm. Thecost is $395, whichincludes 3 lunches.
• Young Heroes ofGettysburg AWalking Tour. July 14-15, with Gary Kross andZachery Fry. Saturday8:45 am - Sunday 12:00pm. The cost is $195,which includes lunch.
• The Atlanta Campaign- A Field Tour. July 26-28, with Gary Ecelbargerand Scott Patchan.Thursday 8:00 pm -Saturday 5:00 pm. Thecost is $325, whichincludes 2 lunches.
For more information contactCWEA, Box 478, Winchester, VA22604, www.cwea.net or call800-298-1861.
A Nation Divided
Lakeside, Ohio, issponsoring a Civil War Week,August 19-24, 2007.
• Sunday, August 19,2:00 p.m. EldonSnyder, PhD. PresentsLetters of a Civil WarSoldier: Martial Adjust-ment in Wartime.
• Monday, August 20,10:30 a.m. p.m.Randall BuchmanEmeritus of History &Archaeology at DefianceCollege. Presents
Lincoln.s Nominationand the Role of Ohio.
• Monday, August20, 1:30 p.m. - EdHaney and DebbieWeinkamer.Presents Lettersfrom the Front:Correspondence ofJames and LucretiaGarfield.
• Tuesday, August21, 10:30 a.m. -Randall BuchmanEmeritus of History& Archaeology atDefiance College.Presents Mr. LincolnTakes a Train Ride.
• Tuesday, August21, 1:30 p.m. -Kenneth W. Bach,MA and Civil Waractor presents aportrayal of Lt.General Ulysses S.Grant.
• Wednesday,August 22, 10:30a.m. EricWittenberg, CivilWar author PresentsGlory Enough for all:Sheridan's Raid andthe Battle ofTrevilian Station.
• Wednesday,August 22, 1:30p.m. - DodsworthSaxhorn BandPresentsInstruments & Musicof the Civil War Era.
• Wednesday,August 22, 3:30p.m. EricWittenberg, CivilWar author Topic tobe announced.
• Thursday, August23, 10:30 a.m. -John C. Frazio,President of theCleveland Civil WarRoundtable PresentsUnion GeneralFrancis Barlow andArabella, Con-federate GeneralJohn Gordon andFanny Love Storiesand Controversy.
• Thursday, August23, 1:30 p.m. -Corie Root & TedBadgerow andDodsworth SaxhornBand PresentsSongs of the CivilWar.
• Friday, August 24,10:30 a.m. - JimLeeke, AuthorPresents A HundredDays to Richmond:Ohio's HundredDays' Men in theCivil War.
• Friday, August 24,1:30 p.m. - Tour ofJohnson's Island,Prisoner of WarDepot, andConfederateCemetery.
For additional informationincluding cost contact GretchenCurtis at (419) 798-4461 ext 239or [email protected]
Napoleon Collins (1814-1875)
A career officer,Napoleon Collins was in frequenthot water for his cavalier attitudetoward international law.
Having entered the U.S.Navy at the relatively old age of20, he had seen combat action inthe Mexican War and risen to the
rank of lieutenant by theoutbreak of the Civil War.
On November 7, 1861,he was the skipper of thegunboat Unadilla in the battle ofPort Royal. Promoted tocommander on July 1862, hewas captain of the Octanara inthe West Indies Squadron whenhe seized a British vessel, theMont Blanc, in the Bahamas.Although a prize court foundsome justification in his action,the vessel was returned andCollins was censured. He wasthen assigned to another craft,the Wachusett. He again got intotrouble for violating internationallaw. He was in the port of Bahiain neutral Brazil when onOctober 5, 1864; the CSSFlorida came into port. Twodays later he rammed the raiderat night and fired a couple ofshots until the Confederatessurrendered. He then proceededto tow the prize out to sea,ignoring the pursuing and firingBrazilian gunboats. Uponlanding in the United States, hewas suspended from duty andordered before a court martialwhich sentenced him todismissal. This was set aside,however, and he resumed activeduty after the close of the war.Rising to rear admiral, he died inPeru still on duty.
From Who Was Who in the Union?
The Pearce Civil WarMuseum
The museum is locatedon the Navarro College Campusin Corsicana, Texas. It has oneof the best manuscriptcollections west of theMississippi. It consists of morethan 14,000 original Civil Warletters, documents and artifacts.
For information visitwww.pearcecollections.us [email protected] orphone (903) 875-7642.
The War CorrespondentPatty Barker, Editor
Roundtable OfficersTim MauriceGeneral-in-Chief
614-818-9175 [email protected] BarkerInspector General
614-985-3353 [email protected] Mclntyre
Adjutant General614-261-7179 [email protected]
Mike PetersHistorian General
614-866-6766 npeters [email protected] BarkerChief of Signal Corps
614-985-3353
War Council MembersBrian HallWar Council CommanderRobert HattonWendy PetersJack ErwinWilliam Barr
THE WAR CORRESPONDENTNewsletter of The Ray FawcettChapter of The Central Ohio Civil War Roundtable
P. O. Box471Lewis Center, OH 43035-0471
CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS
Wednesday, June 13 7:30 p.m. - The speakerwill be Eric Wittenberg. The topic will be "JebStuart's Controversial Ride to Gettysburg."The meeting will be held at the WestervilleElectric Company, 139 E. Broadway,Westerville, OH 43081.
Future Meetings:
Tentative 2007 schedule:
July 11 - Dallas Cahill - topic to tbaAugust 8, - Professor Glenn LaFantasie -William C. Oates in War and PeaceSeptember 12 - Dr. Lenette Taylor, CaptainSimon Perkins, Jr., Union QuartermasterOctober 10 - Harold George - Civil WarMonuments of OhioNovember 14 - Scott Mingus, Sr. - the GordonExpeditionDecember - no meetingDates are subiect to cham!e