September Meeting and Summary

Tom Fontana provided period music while were were gathering, and again while we worked out some minor technical difficulties in the presentation.

Nancy Hale presented a program about the variety of artillery used during Gettysburg, and where origianl pieces still are displayed on the battlefield.

She also spoke about some of the the artillerists themselves and there service above and beyond the call of duty.

As usual we held our book raffle with proceeds going to preservation. Preservation grants from the past program year were announced.

From the Brigade Commander ~ September 2022

It is my great honor to welcome you to the 45th campaign year of the Civil War Round Table of Eastern Pa., Inc. You need only to read our newsletter to appreciate the magnitude of the contributions that this organization, thanks to people like you, has made to America and Americans.

This month, we take time out to honor the late Karl Lehr. His legacy gift to our Round Table, made more than 10 years ago, placed our Round Table squarely among the organizations and individuals that are leading the fight to preserve the places where crucial chapters of history were written and that serve as the final resting places for countless soldiers.

We’ll be getting off to a strong start with a return visit by Nancy Hale, who will share her research results in the area of the artillerists and artillery used during the Battle of Gettysburg. You’ll find more lecture details in the newsletter. This newsletter also shares news about two upcoming Civil War-related events.

Hope to see you all very soon.

Barry

Grant wins the heart of South Bethlehem

History's Headlines: Grant wins the heart of South Bethlehem

from WFMZ - by Frank Whelan CWRT Board Member Aug 13, 2022

It’s the summer of 1869 in South Bethlehem. Gentlemen’s hats are high, cigars and whiskey plentiful and antimacassars, those little doilies designed to protect the backs of chairs from greasy male hair oil, are much in evidence. And on August 19 of that year, citizens were looking forward to something special: a visit from the President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant.

It is the high noon of America’s post-Civil War boom, and the Bethlehem Iron Company was shipping its rails around the country at a breakneck pace. A shipment had been sent around Cape Horn to San Francisco a year before for the Central Pacific Railroad that on May 10, 1869 joined the Union Pacific at Promontory Point, Utah, completing the nation’s first trans-continental railroad. That year Grant would oversee the completion of another railroad from Sacramento, California to Omaha, Nebraska. Not resting on its laurels, Bethlehem Iron that year sent executives Robert Sayre and John Fritz to Europe to investigate the new steel rail-making technology being developed there. Closer to home in Allentown the Board of Trade boasted it was possible to read a newspaper at three o’ clock in the morning by the light of that city’s iron rail mills working through the night.

It was also a time when political change brought on by the Civil War was recognized when Grant signed enforcement acts to suppress the Ku Klux Klan violence in the South and witnessed in 1870 the election of Joseph Rainey of South Carolina as the first Black person elected to the House of Representatives. Grant was also a vigorous supporter to the ratification of the 15th amendment to the Constitution, giving rights to recently enslaved Black people as citizens.

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At this distance of time, it may be difficult to appreciate Grant the way the people of his time did. Into the end of the last century, because of many scandals in his administration that were uncovered, none of which Grant personally profited, he was regarded by historians as a do-nothing president almost certainly at the bottom of the barrel and probably a drunk. Prior to 1999 the vast majority of Grant biographers either ignored Grant’s presidency or portrayed it as a failure. In 1935 the influential and flamboyant University of Wisconsin historian William B. Hesseltine (according to one account by Ralph Havener, later archivist for the University of Missouri, and one of his graduate seminar students, Hesseltine used to stab unsatisfactory student papers in a pile with a large knife) wrote “Ulysses Grant: Politician,” the standard biography of Grant whose negative view of the man prevailed among biographers for the rest of the century. In a ranking of presidents done by historians in the 1950s, Grant was rated as a failure in the White House. “Grant was a loser,” Hesseltine wrote. ”Even the dogs didn’t like the man.”

It was not until 1999 with Frank Scaturro’s “President Grant Reconsidered” that the historical tide began to turn. Many current biographers have taken another look and discovered that this view of Grant came from detractors in the 19th century, mostly political opponents, or condescending New Englanders like Henry Adams, who felt Grant lacked the sophistication or intelligence to be president and was “pre-intellectual, archaic and would have seemed so even to cave-dwellers.” As New England historians wrote the textbooks for the nation in that era, the pattern was set.

But for folks in his time, at least in the North, Grant was a hero. Not that it was always so. Born in Ohio as the first of six children he was said to have been a small, sensitive, quiet boy who early showed his talent training horses. Grant entered West Point in 1839 where he excelled in mathematics, writing, and…
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From the Brigade Commander ~ Summer 2022

Campaign 45 will be here before you know it, and this newsletter will (hopefully) begin to whet your appetite for what’s to come.

We’ll get off to a strong start on September 6th with a return visit from Rev. Dr. Nancy Hale, a Civil War re-enactor and author. Last year, her talk, “Faith and Duty,” was accompanied by a terrific slide show that introduced the audience to Civil War chaplains while she shared stories of their personal bravery and contributions made to their respective regiments. This year, Nancy will present, “Artillery at Gettysburg: The Guns, the Artillerists, and the Medal of Honor.” Watch for more lecture details in our September newsletter issue.

In other news, we’re making final decisions about items to include in our annual print raffle fundraiser for Campaign 45. And we have plenty of donated Civil War books in inventory to hold our traditional book raffle which, as always, will precede each lecture.

The Board of Directors will be meeting in August to make a final decision about where Campaign 44 preservation funds will be donated. More to come on this subject. Inside, you’ll also find a quick look back on Campaign 44, especially our June meeting.

A special shoutout to Kay Bagenstose, who made several donations to our CWRT during the campaign year, including one in June. I hope that what’s left of your summer is enjoyable. For myself, I’m already looking forward to seeing the many familiar faces that I’ve been missing.

BARRY

The Man Behind the West Park Civil War Monument

WFMZ June 11, 2022
By Frank Whelan (CWRT Board Member)
Click here for complete article

Almost every day many people, from school children to dog walkers, pass a statue of a soldier in Allentown’s West Park. On permanent guard duty since 1917, he represents a time, between the Civil War and World War I, when monumental art reflected the culture. This is a story of the artist behind the monument.

The First Defenders were disappointed. By 1916, of the Civil War era soldiers who had been the first troops in 1861 to answer President Lincoln’s call to come to Washington, D.C., only 43 out of the original 530 were still living. So, when the Pennsylvania Legislature agreed to allocate $1,500 for the erection of a tablet to honor them, they were thrilled. But it was only to have their hopes dashed. Governor Brumbaugh vetoed the request because the funds he said were just not available. Some felt doubly hurt because the governor was Pennsylvania German and widely popular in Dutch country.

That was when General Harry C. Trexler stepped in. Born in 1854 Trexler had been a child of 11 when the troops came home, and it was probably among his first memories. Whatever it was, by his later years Trexler had developed a profound knowledge of some of the most obscure skirmishes of the War Between the States, often shocking his business associates. He once surprised a southern executive with whom he was negotiating by noting his middle initial was a Z and that it was for a little-known Confederate officer named Zollicofer who died early in the war. “General, you are the first northerner I have ever met that made that observation,” he replied.

To help out his beloved veterans, Trexler announced he would donate not just for a plaque, but an entire statue dedicated in West Park to the veterans. He named a committee of three to supervise the project: Allentown Mayor Al Reichenbach, a Republican; former Mayor James L. Schaadt, a Democrat; and A. S. Weishampel, one of the city’s leading architects and a close student of the prevailing style known as Beaux Arts classicism. Trexler aide Nolan Benner would later note that a competition was held and that designs for a heroic statue flowed in from around the country. Finally a decision was reached. The winner was George T. Brewster of Tottenville, Long Island.

Any records that may have existed from the competition have vanished long ago. We don’t know what sort of role Trexler may have had in the selection, although it is hard to imagine he did not have a significant one. But as the only professional in the field of the arts on the committee, Weishampel must have had a decisive opinion. So as one of the best known and respected creators of monumental art in the country, Brewster must have been a logical choice. In the period between the Civil War and World War I in particular he was one of the most popular and prolific figures in the field. Only August “Gus” Saint Gaudens (1848-1907) was considered his superior.

Brewster was born on February 24, 1862 to Altheus Brewster and Mary S. Cushman in Kingston, Massachusetts, a seafaring town that was founded in the 17th century, shortly after the arrival of the Pilgrims. He could trace his lineage back to William Brewster, one of the leaders of the Mayflower Pilgrims. In a time when such things were considered more important than they are today, the fact that Weishampel’s wife was a Mayflower descendent whose family in the 18th century had relocated to Cape May, New Jersey may have given Weishampel entre to Brewster to take on the Allentown commission when his…
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June Meeting and Summary

Guest Speaker, Hampton Newsome, spoke about the little known raid which took place early in July, 1863, at the same time the battles at Gettysburg were being fought. The account is contained in his soon-to-be-published book called “Gettysburg’s Southern Front.”

Nicknamed the “Blackberry Raid” after the abundant blackberries which grew along side the path taken by the troops of Union Maj. Gen. Erasmus Darwin Keyes as they advanced from White House Landing, Virginia, in an attempt to destroy a number of bridges, including Bottom's Bridge on the Chickahominy river.

If they had succeeded, Keyes and the 6,000 men of the IV Corps would have prevented Confederate reinforcements from intercepting Lieut. Col. George Washington Getty's march to the South Anna Railroad bridge—a key component of General Lee's line of communication with Richmond.

Newsome spoke of the challenges and difficulties encountered, and ultimately the cautious and ineffective strategies Keyes employed. Keyes seemed to spend most of his energy during July manufacturing excuses for his failure. The campaign would mark the abolitionist's last field command; he would later fade into obscurity.

In addition to the regular book raffle, we also drew winners for the annual preservation raffle, both of which are pictured below.

Book Raffle Winners June 2022

Annual Preservation Raffle Winners - June 2022

Harper's Ferry Field Trip on June 5th

On Bolivar Heights at Harper’s Ferry NHP

CWRT of Eastern PA set out on a glorious Saturday in June to tour the Harper’s Ferry battlefields where the states of West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia converge. Claire Kukiekla did a fantastic job of coordinating the trip, our tour guide - the esteemed Dennis Frye, and even a buffet lunch at the local inn.

Frye’s most recent volume about Harper’s Ferry, entitled “Confluence” was available in the visitor center and also online

We gathered at the Washington County, WV Visitor’s Center and made our way to Bolivar Heights for our first stop. Dennis Frye, retired chief ranger at Harper’s Ferry for many years, dramatically retold the story of the battle as we caravanned from one battle location to another throughout the day.

After a brief pause for refreshment at the Clarion Inn, we drove a short distance and went back in time from 1862 to 1859 and stopped at the Allstadt House and Ordinary. Frye explained that this was one of the home attacked by John Brown’s raiders to seize hostages and free enslaved people in an effort of begin an overthrow of slavery in the US.

We then resumed the tour beginning to understand the complexity of Lee’s Special Orders 191, and the incredible feat of actually carrying them out, in spite of the discovery of a copy of the orders by Federal Troops.

Frye explained how the Union Commander defending Harpers Ferry, performed well, in spite of later criticism of his actions. His ability to hold onto the battlefield, eventually delayed Lee’s incursion into Pennsylvania, where Lee hoped to influence the 1862 mid-term elections.

As we drove to each location, we could visually imagine the challenges of both defending against the Confederate advance, and the obstacles encountered by the Confederates themselves.

Our final stop was the church which served as HQ for Confederate Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws charged with taking Maryland Heights.

It was a day of learning, insights and understanding. Thank you Dennis Frye, and Claire for each making it a memorable day.

Some photos of the day are below in a slide show.

From the Brigade Commander - June 2022

I’ve heard that those who attended the Lincoln Funeral Train Commemorative event were very pleasantly surprised. In fact, word has it that several people have already expressed interest in attending next year’s event. Thanks to Claire Kukielka for pulling this trip together for us on fairly short notice.

Speaking of Claire, it’s not too late to contact her and sign up for what will be a fabulous day trip to Harpers Ferry NHP on June 4. Some trip details, which you’ll find if you click here, will be useful to anyone already signed up—or thinking about signing up.

June 7 is our last Campaign 44 meeting, and we’ll be welcoming back Hampton Newsome as our speaker for the evening. He will share his research about a little-remembered military action that took place in Virginia while the Battle of Gettysburg raged. On page 2 of the June Newsletter, you’ll find an overview of his presentation and dinner sign-up information.

Prizes for our annual print raffle will be picked at the start of the meeting. There’s still time for you to make a purchase through the mail OR when you arrive for the June meeting. You’ll find a list of Campaign 44 prizes on page 7 of the newsletter.

Saving the best for last … the American Battlefield Trust (ABT), having recently celebrated its annual Victory Week, announced that, thanks to many of you and organizations like our CWRT, 659 battlefield acres have been saved in the last 12 months, raising the total battlefield acreage saved by the ABT to 55,000!

I hope you’ll consider coming out for our June meeting so that we can celebrate our role in preserving our nation’s history together.

Barry

May Meeting Summary and Photos

Jane Peters Estes treated us to a fascinating presentation about Vivandieres - the women who served with both Union and Confederate armies. These women actually shared the dangers of the battlefield in order to aid the men in their regiments. Two of these women received medals for “bravery under fire.”

These women wore uniforms - often of their own making, or purchased with their own funds. They wore skirts, but also pants to allow ease of service.

They served as water bearers, nurses, color bearers, and even rallied the troops in times of hesitancy. Some were skilled riders on horseback.

Regular army regiments were reluctant to allow them to serve with them, therefore almost all served with the volunteer regiments for the various states, Including the 25th PA from our own region.
She highlighted the lives of a number of the women, some of whom blended into the troops, as well as others who were colorful and much beloved.

Pictured below is also our May book raffle winners.