New book challenges Civil War’s old myths about Maryland

New book challenges Civil War’s old myths

Charles W. Mitchell, co-editor with historian Jean H. Baker of the new book, “The Civil War in Maryland Reconsidered,” at his home in Parkton, Md., on Nov. 21. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun)

By Jonathan M. Pitts
January 17, 2022 at 6:06 p.m. EST
Washington Post

Regular folks and history buffs who believe Maryland leaned strongly toward the Confederacy during the Civil War era have never lacked evidence for the claim.

It was a Marylander, after all, on the U.S. Supreme Court who wrote the opinion in the infamous 1857 Dred Scott case, which found that Black people were not citizens — a ruling that helped spark the fighting. And Marylanders voted for a Southern sympathizer, not Abraham Lincoln, for president in the election of 1860. Then, some 20,000 Marylanders took up arms for the Confederacy.

But such facts can be deceiving if looked at in a vacuum — or so say the scholars behind a critically acclaimed new book that aims to explode long-standing myths about the period.

In “The Civil War in Maryland Reconsidered,” a collection of 13 essays assembled and edited by Baltimore historians Charles W. Mitchell and Jean H. Baker, are independent thinkers from as far away as California and England and as close as Johns Hopkins University. They point out, among other things, that contrary to popular belief, Maryland judges refused to put the Dred Scott decision into effect; that more Marylanders voted, in total, for the three presidential candidates who backed the Union than they did for John C. Breckinridge, the Southern Democrat who carried the state in 1860, and that four times as many Old Line State men fought for the Union than for the South.

Maryland, in short, was less sympathetic to the Confederate cause, and more behind the Union, than generations of historians have implied, says Mitchell, a self-taught Civil War expert, author and editor who got the sprawling essay project rolling four years ago.

History, he says, is framed by the values of those who pass it along. In the case of Maryland’s antebellum and Civil War history, the men and women who shaped it first were people who held to the notion that the Southern cause — far from being a bloody campaign to preserve slavery — was a matter of states’ rights. They viewed it as a noble crusade that failed only because the Union side was better equipped and funded.

The earliest chroniclers, he says, were Confederate veterans. The generations of historians who succeeded them wrote at a time when powerful Democrats, North and South, were still working to deny African Americans full enjoyment of their freedoms.

“The same Confederate sympathizers who had lost the war worked hard to win it in the history books, and for many years, they succeeded,” Mitchell says, including in textbooks used in Maryland well into the 20th century.

It wasn’t until the last 20 years or so, Mitchell adds, that younger scholars began training their focus on the kinds of period documents their forebears ignored.

By diving into court and estate records, schedules of enslaved people, letters written by ordinary citizens, articles in the Black press and more, those scholars, including several represented in the book, began to put together a more comprehensive history — one that weakens Maryland’s “Lost Cause” narrative.

Mitchell and Baker, a former history professor at Goucher College and the author of multiple award-winning books, conceived “The Civil War in Maryland Reconsidered” as an entry in that new vein. Early reviewers say they’ve struck a blow for a more accurate, fuller telling of the CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE STORTY

 

Ken Burns Speaks Out About Proposed Digital Data Center Near Manassas

By Kurt Repanshek - January 12th, 2022
National Parks Traveller

A digital data center being considered for more than 2,000 acres next to Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia has been called the "greatest threat" in recent history to the battlefield and drawn opposition from filmmaker Ken Burns, who has urged Prince William County officials to oppose the project.

The "PW Digital Gateway" proposal requires the county to switch the zoning of the desired location from agricultural or estate and environmental resource to technology. 

In a letter (attached below) sent January 5 to Ann Wheeler, chair of the county supervisors, Burns wrote that the battlefield park's superintendent, in a letter to Wheeler, had said the project is the "single greatest threat to Manassas National Battlefield Park in nearly three decades."

"The warning of the superintendent should not be taken lightly," wrote Burns, one of the country's preeminent documentary filmmakers whose credits include The National  Parks: America's Best Idea. "As a student and chronicler of American history for more than 40 years, I can attest to how fragile our precious heritage is and how susceptible it can be to the ravages of 'progress.'

"I learned while making my documentary series The Civil War in the late 1980s—and again when I made my 2009 series on the history of the national parks—how crucial the preservation of our historic landscapes is, and I fear the devastating impact the development of up to 2,133 acres of data centers will have on this hallowed ground," he added.

Brandon Bies, the park's superintendent, wrote a lengthy letter to the county planner in December in which he pointed out that "a 10-acre portion of the application area falls within what the United States Congress has designated as part of Manassas National Battlefield Park -- lands which can and should be part of a National Park. In addition, not all areas where soldiers fought and died are within the park boundary. Over 100 acres of land under consideration have been designated by the congressionally authorized American Battlefield Protection Program as part of the battlefield 'core area.'"

"These are lands where battle action took place and are typically thought to be 'hallowed ground,'" continued Bies. "Changing the planned land use of these areas would inhibit the mission of the Park to preserve and honor the sacrifices of the 4,000 Americans who died at Manassas."

The First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) was fought near Manassas, Virginia, on July 21, 1861. The Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas) was fought over nearly the same ground during August 28-30, 1862. 

Back in 2008, Professor Emeritus Robert Janiskee wrote in the Traveler that concerns were growing over threats development posed to the battlefield.

The two battles commemorated at the 5,100-acre park, both Confederate victories, were fought less than 30 miles southwest of our nation’s capital in an area of northern Virginia that has experienced tremendous economic growth over the past few decades. Fast-growing Prince William and Fairfax counties are now so heavily developed that green space and large trees have become comparatively scarce in many areas. Locals fear that few mature trees will be left unless development is checked and strict tree protection ordinances are enforced. Another concern at Manassas and other Civil War battlefield parks is encroaching development that obscures historic sightlines. ... Some battlefield parks, such as Fredericksburg and & Spotsylvania National Military Park, are almost completely surrounded by development and exist as historic islands in a modern milieu. In such cases, historic sightlines extend only as far as the park boundary.

In reviewing the current proposal, Justin Patton, the Prince William County archaeologist, wrote that the project would "have a high potential to adversely affect cultural resources in the following forms: indirect effects such as Audio, and Visual; and direct effects in the destruction of the resource. Transportation improvements necessary to implement land use and zoning changes, will likely have an indirect and direct effects on our history as well."

Patton also noted that land within the proposal could hold significant archaeological artifacts from the Civil War:

The staff historian at the Manassas National Battlefield Park provided information on Civil War activity that occurred on or that may have occurred in the South Sector. That portion west of Pageland Land, Pageland farm, may contain Confederate encampments that were occupied during August and September 1861 and associated burials from soldier deaths in camp. There may also be soldier burials and camps as a result from the adjacent field hospital that was in use during and after the Second Battle of Manassas. Confederate artillery batteries were likely located in the area of the railroad bed, based on reports from relic hunters who found unexploded ordinance and dropped bullets. That portion east of Pageland Lane has potential for unmarked military graves and unexploded ordinance from a heated exchange of artillery fire on the morning of August 29, 1862.

The archaeologist also recommended that the proposed zoning redesignation be rejected for areas that the American Battlefield Protection Program identified as part of the battlefield 'core area.'"

A public meeting on the project is set for January 27 at the Beacon Hall Conference Center on the George Mason University SciTech Campus in Manassas.

Petersburg National Battlefield preparing for the preservation of two smokehouses

Petersburg National Battlefield in Virginia is preparing for the preservation of the two smokehouses and dairy at the General Grant’s Headquarters Unit in Hopewell. The preservation of these buildings, which are part of historic Appomattox Plantation and listed as a part of the City Point National Register District, includes the removal of the three buildings from their foundations to perform wood framing and sheathing repairs, carpentry repairs, and interior and exterior painting.

Additionally, the project will attempt to restore the three buildings' foundations. The restoration of the foundations will follow an archaeological survey to investigate the integrity of resources underground and construction of the foundations. The results of the survey will inform the restoration of the foundations.

Petersburg National Battlefield invites comments on the Preservation of Outbuildings at City Point draft Programmatic Agreement as part of the public process outlined in the regulations for Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

Comments can be made via this website. The comment period runs through February 12. 

People have lived at City Point for thousands of years and the Park Service wants to ensure that the past is adequately recorded. 

Published in National Parks Traveller from NPS News Releases

Gettysburg will dedicate Thaddeus Stevens statue at courthouse on April 2

from the Gettysburg Connection
January 10, 2022 by Ross Hetrick 

A statue of Thaddeus Stevens, the most powerful congressman during and after the Civil War, will be dedicated in front of the Adams county courthouse on Baltimore Street in Gettysburg on April 2 at 2:00 p.m. It will be only the second statue of Stevens to be erected despite his importance to American history.

The dedication is part of a three-day celebration of Stevens’s 230th birthday, which will take place on April 1, 2 and 3 in Lancaster, Gettysburg and Caledonia State Park near Chambersburg. The complete schedule can be found at this webpage: https://www.thaddeusstevenssociety.com/calendar For information on banquet tickets and package deals, email info@thaddeusstevenssociety.com 

The statue is being paid for by the Thaddeus Stevens Society, a 22-year old nonprofit dedicated to promoting Stevens legacy. The sculptor is Alex Paul Loza of Chattanooga, TN.

Immortalized in the movie Lincoln, by Steven Spielberg, Stevens was a fearless champion of freedom and equality. During his lifetime, Stevens’s fame rivaled that of Abraham Lincoln and when he died in 1868, his body laid in state in the Capitol Rotunda — an honor previously given only to Lincoln and Sen. Henry Clay. 20,000 people attended Stevens’s funeral in Lancaster, PA.

He was the Father of the 14th Amendment — the single most important amendment to the Constitution– and savior of public education in Pennsylvania. He also helped persuade Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, developed reconstruction policies, spearheaded the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson, and participated in the Underground Railroad.

When he died in 1868, it was widely anticipated that there would be numerous statues erected to Stevens. “Monuments will be reared to perpetuate his name on the earth,” said Horace Maynard, a Tennessee congressman on the floor of the House of Representatives in 1868. “Art will be busy with her chisel and her pencil to preserve his features and the image of his mortal frame. All will be done that brass and marble and painted canvas admit of being done.”

Yet, 154 years after his death, there is only one Stevens statue and that only went up in 2008 at the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster. 

There are many reasons why Stevens was not remembered in brass and marble. A big reason was that admirers did not vigorously pursue efforts to honor him. But a larger reason is that his enemies — the people who wanted to destroy the country and preserve slavery — were more determined to demonize Stevens as part of the “Lost Cause” propaganda effort to distort the historic record of the Civil War and Reconstruction.

There have been a few other efforts to erect Stevens statues, but they all failed. The first one was in 1900 by Vinnie Ream, a famous sculptress who did the Lincoln statue that stands in the U.S. Capitol. She had a close relation with Stevens and even did a bust of him, which unfortunately has been lost. That possible statue, which was to be in Lancaster, was never done. 

Another statue was proposed in 1909 when a group wanted to erect a monument in Harrisburg to public education. It would have included the figure  of Thaddeus Stevens, who is known as the Savior of Public Education in Pennsylvania for a speech he made in 1835 that turned back a repeal effort of the fledgling state school system. Once again, the effort faded away.

And even in recent years, a statue was supposed to be erected at the historic Thaddeus Stevens school in Washington, D.C. as part of a renovation project, only to be scuttled by the city’s bureaucracy.

Finally, in 2015, the Thaddeus Stevens Society decided to start a fundraising effort for a statue in Gettysburg, where Stevens lived from 1816 to 1842. The fundraising went on for years and in 2018, the effort received a major contribution from Michael Charney of Ohio and the effort reached the goal of  $55,000. The Society then did a nationwide search for a sculptor and selected Alex Loza of Chattanooga, TN. 

A Christmas Message from the American Battlefield Trust

As Christmas dawns, our thoughts turn to how the soldiers of America's first century weathered each winter in the field during times of war.

 

Winter was bleak during our country's earliest conflicts. Hundreds of thousands of troops toiled in the cold or huddled in canvas-roofed huts while many died of disease in camp. Leaders generally tried to avoid operations due to the trying conditions. But for the soldiers engaged in battle, there was little rest over the holiday.

 

Soldiers preparing for the bloody Battle of Stones River in late December 1862, or shivering in the trenches outside of Petersburg in 1864, found little respite on Christmas or New Year's Day. In 1776, Continental soldiers braved bitter conditions and moved across the icy Delaware River under the command of George Washington to launch a surprise attack against Hessian soldiers and disrupt their traditional German Christmas celebrations.

 

Soldiers who were not on active campaign struggled against the weather and the boredom of life in winter quarters. They sought to bring some semblance of home and comfort to the holiday season. They relished letters from their loved ones, shared special meals, felt loneliness and longing, and even engaged in epic snowball fights. There are records of Civil War soldiers bringing traditional holiday customs like caroling, gift exchanges, and decorating, to camp.

 

One soldier from the 17th Maine recorded that he and his fellow troops eagerly awaited the "sundry boxes and mysterious parcels" directed to them "with feelings akin to those of children expecting Santa Claus." Another soldier, Alfred Bellard of the 5th New Jersey Infantry, recalled a small tree, "decked off with hard tack and pork, in lieu of cakes and oranges," that added festivity to life in a winter camp.

 

Soldiers often let their folks at home know what kind of food they craved. One Confederate soldier from North Carolina wrote his mother,

 

"I wish you would send me a big cake and some dried apple pies or 'slapjacks,' I believe they call them, some molasses, dried fruit, lard, vegetables &c any thing you choose. Please send me a bottle of brandy and some sugar and I will make an eggnog from Christmas if I can manage to get some eggs. Please send me a pound or two of butter for we very seldom get any up in these diggings."

 

Yet, despite troops' best efforts to partake in holiday celebrations on the front, the season also served as a reminder that soldiers were separated from their loved ones and the comforts of home.

 

As we count our blessings, let us also deepen our appreciation for our soldiers' devotion and how they shaped - and continue to shape - the country we call home, often far away from their families. Thank you for doing your part to help ensure that their memory is never forgotten.

Pennsylvania revises Confederate markers, recasts forces as “enemy” soldiers

From Spotlight PA Dec 14, 2021

After removing a trio of Confederate historical markers an hour west of Gettysburg, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has replaced two with significant revisions that view Confederate milestones through a more critical lens.

The McConnellsburg, Fulton County, markers and plaques commemorate the first deaths of Confederate soldiers in Pennsylvania and the site of the Southern army’s last encampment here. The state removed them in September of 2020, capping a review initiated by the state historical commission and Gov. Tom Wolf’s office following deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va., three years prior.

Two of the items have been revised to position the Union army more centrally in the historical narrative and to depict the Confederates as a destructive invading force. The items were reinstalled in May, said Howard Pollman of the commission, which oversees the state’s historical marker program.

The third item — a bronze plaque dedicated by a neo-Confederate group before the commission gained oversight — will not be replaced.

“The administration recognizes that some markers may contain outdated cultural references that must be addressed,” Wolf’s office explained in an email to Spotlight PA, adding, “These decisions are not made lightly or hastily.”

The McConnellsburg changes are as follows:

  • A plaque commemorating the final Confederate encampment in Pennsylvania will no longer be displayed by the state, having been “accessioned into PHMC’s collection for interpretive purposes.” The plaque was dedicated by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a neo-Confederate group widely known for venerating the Southern army and whitewashing Civil War history.

  • A historical marker with similar text and the same subject has been updated to include mention of the Union “routing” that followed for “the last Confederates to camp on Pennsylvania soil.”

  • A historical marker commemorating the first Confederate deaths in Pennsylvania has been edited to emphasize Confederate raids and property thefts. It also now mentions the Confederate Army’s “invasion of Pennsylvania” and describes the Confederates as “enemy” soldiers. A prior version mentioned only a neutral-sounding “skirmish.” The marker’s title has been changed from “Confederate Dead” to “Gettysburg Campaign.” 

(A six-foot-tall roadside monument to the Confederate dead — erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy nearby — is not…

For complete story, click this link

Rare Civil War ID Tag Donated To Monocacy National Battlefield

Rare Civil War ID Tag Donated To Monocacy National Battlefield

By Compiled From N... - December 14th, 2021

This ID tag from a Civil War soldier was donated to the Monocacy National Battlefield/NPS

Dying in battle and being laid to rest in an unmarked grave was a common fear of Civil War soldiers. A recent addition to the collection at Monocacy National Battlefield in Maryland demonstrates one of the ways soldiers sought to ensure their loved ones would know their fate.

The Monocacy National Battlefield Foundation donated to the National Park Service a rare Civil War identification tag, in the shape of a disk, from a soldier who was wounded at the Battle of Monocacy.

The small, bronze-colored ID disk belonged to Samuel M. Weigel, a private with Company G of the 138th Pennsylvania Infantry. According to regimental history, Private Weigel was severely wounded during the Battle of Monocacy. Weigel survived his injuries and lived until 1922.

“It is amazing that after 157 years, this ID disk is returning to the battlefield,” said Andrew Banasik, the battlefield's superintendent. “This small piece of metal is a tangible reminder of the price paid by so many to save Washington.”

The ID disk is a rare addition to the park’s museum collection and will provide opportunities to highlight new stories. It will allow the park to explore the cost of the battle in casualties, soldier’s efforts to ensure their loved ones would know their fate, medical care in the Civil War, and the aftermath of the battle. The park has another ID tag from the 138th Pennsylvania that looks completely different than the recent addition.

Before the United States military provided standard issue identification tags -– often called “dog tags” -- soldiers had to find their own way to ensure their bodies could be identified. Some soldiers used stencils to mark their clothing and belongings. Others purchased small metal tags, personalized with their name and regiment. Because soldiers had to purchase these tags with their own money, there is no standardized style and no official record of how many soldiers had them.

At the Battle of Monocacy on July 9, 1864, the 138th Pennsylvania was one of several battle-hardened regiments of the VI Corps sent by Gen. U.S. Grant to intercept a Confederate army heading to Washington. Arriving hours before the battle after two days of travel, these veteran troops doubled the number of U.S. soldiers at Monocacy Junction. Positioned on the Thomas Farm, the 138th engaged in some of the fiercest fighting at Monocacy.

Winter Lecture Series at Gettysburg NMP - Jan thru Mar 2022

Winter Lecture Series 2022

Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30 pm
January 8 to March 12, 2022
Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center

Featuring some of the best Rangers, historians, and authors from across the country, the 10-week Winter Lecture Series will once again return to the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center in 2022! From the Centennial of the Civil War and the complicated legacy of Robert E. Lee, to the creation of the novel The Killer Angels and the evolution of the Gettysburg battlefield, these free hour-long lectures will explore and illuminate the people, places, and continuing legacies of the American Civil War. The Winter Lecture Series is held at 1:30 p.m. on weekends in the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center from January 8 through March 12, 2022. Free tickets will be available day of at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center.

NOTE: Due to the continuing impacts of the Covid pandemic, attendance will be limited to the first one hundred individuals and mask usage in the theaters will be mandatory, regardless of vaccination status.

For those unable to attend in person, all Winter Lectures will be live streamed to the Gettysburg National Military Park YouTube and Facebook Pages.


Sat. Jan. 8 - Following the 11th Virginia during Pickett's Charge
Troy Harman, Gettysburg National Military Park

Join Ranger Troy Harman for a fascinating discussion of the unique challenges faced by the 11th Virginia during Pickett's Charge. From their position on the far right of the assault, to the obstacles they faced during the advance, the experiences of this one regiment provide a distinctive case-study of the most famous attack at Gettysburg.

Sun. Jan. 9 – Personal Turning Points – Jefferson Davis and George Thomas
Bert Barnett, Gettysburg National Military Park

Join historian Bert Barnett as he explores the decisions made by two men during the secession crisis of 1860-61: Jefferson Davis and George Thomas. Both Southerners, each had served the nation long and honorably; each had seen its potential, yet their visions differed. Their disagreement illuminates this important chapter in the history of the American Civil War.

Sat. Jan. 15 – Fighting for Loyalty: Political Life in the Army of the Potomac
Dr. Zachary Fry, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College

The citizen-soldiers who fought at Gettysburg represented the nation’s diversity of political opinion. Whether at headquarters or around the rank-and-file campfire, partisan debate in the Army of the Potomac was usually bitter and personal. And the soldiers were not shy in assuming the role of moral and political conscience of the nation, particularly when antiwar voices threatened the Northern war effort. This lecture explores key moments in which the Union Army argued wartime politics under the public gaze, threatened home front dissent, and mobilized for political campaigning—all while fighting on the front lines of the nation’s most devastating war.

Sun. Jan. 16 – Spying for Longstreet: Lt. Henry Thomas Harrison and the Gettysburg Campaign
Karlton Smith, Gettysburg National Military Park

Accompany Ranger Karlton Smith as he explores the life and career of famed scout, Lt. Henry T. Harrison. From Harrison's role as a scout for General James Longstreet, to his impact on the course of the Gettysburg Campaign, Karlton Smith will separate the fact from fiction behind this fascinating individual.

Sat. Jan. 22 – "The star of blue has turned to gold": Adams County’s Native Sons in WWII
Daniel Vermilya, Eisenhower National Historic Site

World War II impacted every town and city across the United States. The towns and villages of Adams County, Pennsylvania were no different. Over 100 servicemen from Adams County were killed in action or died of their wounds in World War II. Of those, over a dozen were ultimately buried in Gettysburg National Cemetery. Some of these men were born and raised in Gettysburg. Others were tied to Adams County by their careers, education, or family. What they all had in common was they all called this area home. Join Park Ranger Dan Vermilya to explore the stories of these native sons of Adams County who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Second World War.

Sun. Jan. 23 -“Fantasyland Gettysburg”
John Hoptak, Gettysburg National Military Park

It was described as a “magical wooded wonderland,” “a place where fairytales came to life,” and “a famous happy-land of ferns, fountains, flowers, fairytales and fun.” Others believed it to be a blight upon a sacred landscape and an intrusion on hallowed ground. From 1959 through 1980, the theme park Fantasyland Gettysburg entertained children of all ages. Discover more about the rise and fall of this unique place and the era in which it operated at Gettysburg.

Sat. Jan. 29 – Michael Shaara: A Writer’s Life
Matthew Atkinson, Gettysburg National Military Park

Perhaps no other book has influenced public perception of the Battle of Gettysburg more than The Killer Angels. But who was the writer and man behind the prose that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1975? What personal experiences helped influence the writing of this classic historical novel? Discover more about the great writer and share the viewpoint of Ranger Matt Atkinson reading The Killer Angels for the first time.

Sat. Jan. 30 - "Old Buck" The Life and Career of Admiral Franklin Buchanan, CSN
Karlton Smith, Gettysburg National Military Park

Join Ranger Karlton Smith as he examines the U. S. Navy career of Franklin Buchanan. After making the decision to resign in 1861, Buchannan would go South in 1861 to become the only admiral in the Confederate Navy. Buchanan's U. S. Naval service included being chief of staff to Commodore Matthew Perry on his 1854 expedition to open Japan. Buchanan will command the CSS Virginia at Hampton Roads on March 8, 1862, and the CSS Tennessee at Mobile Bay in August 1864.

Sat. Feb. 5 –Robert E. Lee & Me: A Southerners Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause: A Conversation with Ty Seidule
Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, Hamilton College

Ty Seidule grew up revering Robert E. Lee. From his southern childhood to his service in the U.S. Army, every part of his life reinforced the Lost Cause myth: that Lee was the greatest man who ever lived, and that the Confederates were underdogs who lost the Civil War with honor. Now, as a retired brigadier general and Professor Emeritus of History at West Point, his view has radically changed. From a soldier, a scholar, and a southerner, Ty Seidule believes that American history demands a reckoning.

Sun. Feb. 6 - From Chaos to Solemnity: Emerging Myths and Misconceptions from the Aftermath of Battle
Barbara Sanders, Gettysburg National Military Park

Were Civil War doctors operating as in the Dark Ages? Were the 2,400 Gettysburg civilians left alone to care for the 51,000 battle casualties? Did Lincoln really write the Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope during the train ride to town? Even after the guns fell silent, Gettysburg was the scene of great chaos, hardship, and sacrifice. But lingering within the mists of this increasingly reverential landscape were several unknowns, some half-truths, and outright falsities. This lecture will explore the myths surrounding Gettysburg, from the immediate aftermath of battle to the dedication ceremony on November 19th and up to repeated myths by some of today's visitors.

Sat. Feb. 12 – “Those Who Died Here…Will Then Have Died in Vain:” Commemorating the Battle of Gettysburg at 100
Dr. Jill Titus, Gettysburg College

Dr. Jill Titus, Associate Director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, will explore the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address through the lens of civil rights activity and Cold War politics, examining the relationship between historical memory, Civil War commemoration, and contemporary events.

Sun. Feb. 13 – If These Things Could Talk: Treasures from the Collection of Gettysburg National Military Park
Tom Holbrook, Gettysburg National Military Park

Explore the museum collection at Gettysburg National Military Park with Ranger Tom Holbrook and discover some of the fascinating stories each object tells. From the simple to the extraordinary, each piece offers a window into the story of the American Civil War.

Sat. Feb. 19 – Camp Nelson and America’s Complicated Soul
Superintendent Ernie Price, Camp Nelson National Monument

Established as a supply depot and hospital during the Civil War for the U.S. Army, Camp Nelson became a large recruitment and training center for African American soldiers (USCTs), and a refugee camp for their wives and children. Thousands of enslaved people escaped to this site with the hope of securing freedom and ultimately controlling their futures by aiding in the destruction of slavery. Join Superintendent Ernie Price for an exploration of this brand-new unit of the National Park Service.

Sun. Feb. 20 - Framing the Fields
Angela Atkinson, Gettysburg National Military Park

For many of us the battlefield and its features are ingrained in memory, and we have a hard time seeing this landscape as anything other than Gettysburg National Military Park. But how did the park, and all its infrastructure, truly come together under the management of the federal government? Join Supervisory Park Ranger Angie Atkinson as she delves into this important era in battlefield creation and looks at how many of these things came to be.

Sat. Feb. 26 –“If Practicable” at Gettysburg
Troy Harman, Gettysburg National Military Park

The order "if practicable" was given by both General Meade and Lee several times during the Gettysburg Campaign, each time leading to profound outcomes, involving actions or inactions at Cemetery Hill, Little Round Top, and more. It is amazing how the power of words can change the course of history. Join Ranger Harman for an intriguing discussion on how generals interpreted the same words differently to adapt to their situation.

Sun. Feb 27 – Gettysburg’s Rebel Commissioner: The Life and Legacy of William Robbins
Christopher Gwinn, Gettysburg National Military Park

William Robbins served within the ranks of the 4th Alabama Infantry and participated in the fighting at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863. Over thirty years later he returned to the battlefield, this time as a commissioner of the newly created Gettysburg National Military Park. More than almost any other Confederate veteran, Robbins would shape how Americans remembered the battle, specifically the role of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Sat. Mar. 5 – The Fighting Ellet Family
Matthew Atkinson, Gettysburg National Military Park

In 1862, the Union Navy suffered a crushing defeat against the CSS Virginia ironclad ram. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton turned to Charles Ellet to develop a Ram Fleet to counter the Confederate’s technological advances. Along with his son and brother, the Ellet family helped turn the tide on the Mississippi River for the Union and had a few adventures at the same time!

Sat. Mar. 12 – Gettysburg Roots: A Family, a Farm, and the Fight for Freedom
Jared Frederick, Pennsylvania State University – Altoona

Once partially concealed by numerous postwar additions, the Civil War era homestead of Gettysburg blacksmith James Warfield and his family now stands revived to its 1860s appearance along the Millerstown Road. Rehabilitation efforts yielded as many questions as answers. Who were the Warfields? How did they and fellow African American families cope with Confederate invasion? What role did they and descendants play in the Gettysburg community? Finally, how might this historic property convey broader understandings of Civil War America and beyond? Join historian Jared Frederick for this in-depth look chronicling the complexity and courage of Gettysburg's civilian wartime experience.