Delaware history: Confederate generals celebrated in Sussex
By J.L. MILLER • The News Journal • January 17, 2010
GEORGETOWN -- Confederate flags fluttered in the breeze Saturday as a small group of people came together to celebrate the memory of two Southern generals and a chapter of Delaware history that slowly is being rediscovered.
Members of the Delaware Grays Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 2068 and the United Daughters of the Confederacy Caleb Ross Chapter 2635 gathered at the Delaware Confederate Monument in Georgetown to remember Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.
"We are gathered here to pay tribute to two very honorable men," Robert B. Eldreth Jr., commander of the Delaware Grays, told the crowd.
The event celebrated the 203rd birthday of Lee, who was born Jan. 19, 1807, and the 186th birthday of Jackson, born Jan. 21, 1824.
But it also celebrated the memory of those Delawareans who chose to wear Confederate gray instead of Union blue, men whose numbers are estimated anywhere from the hundreds to 2,000.
"The monument you see here was erected to pay tribute to the citizens of Delaware, our beloved state," Eldreth said. "The preservation of our history for future generations is something we can't let get out of our hands."
On the monument are the names of everyday men, farmers, fishermen, even a onetime News Journal reporter, John W. Dunning of Dover. Dunning was a private in the famed Mosby's Rangers.
Tracking down the names of Delawareans who fought against the Union can be difficult, as they had to go out of state to join Confederate units. Although a border state with divided loyalties, Delaware stayed in the Union.
But as research continues, more names are being unearthed, and each qualifies for a spot on the monument -- which is now full.
Dover resident Anne Happoldt is researching academic rosters, including those of Delaware College, the forerunner to the University of Delaware, for Delaware Confederates.
She found a group of Choctaw Indians who attended Delaware College before the school closed in 1859 amid financial difficulties. Because the Choctaw tribe backed the Confederacy and the students had lived in Delaware, some might qualify as Delaware Confederates.
But there are about 200 names already awaiting a spot on the monument, something the Delaware Grays hopes to rectify.
"We're working feverishly to raise money to purchase two more stones," Eldreth said. That will cost about $4,000, he said.
Confederate soldiers who returned to their native state sometimes faced hostility, and today there are many who see Confederate flags as a symbol of slavery and racism.
But members of the Delaware Grays say they're only honoring their ancestors, men who fought for a cause in which they believed.
"We're not here representing hatred," Eldreth said. "That flag is a symbol of our heritage
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100117/LIFE/1170367/Delaware-history-Confederate-generals-celebrated-in-Sussex
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Remembering Robert E. Lee
Duty is the sublimest word in the language. You can never do more than your duty. You should never wish to do less
Remembering Robert E. Lee
By Calvin E. Johnson Jr. Saturday, January 16, 2010
“Duty is the sublimest word in the language. You can never do more than your duty. You should never wish to do less.”—Robert E. Lee
Did you know that Paul Revere, Betsy Ross, Martin Luther King and Robert E. Lee were born during the month of January? History can be great fun when parents and grandparents share stories about the past with their children making the study of American history a ‘Family Affair.’
Tuesday, January 19, 2010, is the 203rd birthday of Robert E. Lee, whose memory is still dear in the hearts of many Americans and people throughout God’s good earth.
During Robert E. Lee’s 100th birthday in 1907, Charles Francis Adams, Jr., a former Union Army Commander and grandson of United States President John Quincy Adams, spoke in tribute to Robert E. Lee at Washington and Lee College’s Lee Chapel in Lexington, Virginia. His speech was printed in both Northern and Southern newspapers and is said to had lifted Lee to a renewed respect among the American people.
Robert E. Lee-Stonewall Jackson Day events are planned for Saturday, January 16, 2010, in Lexington, Virginia that includes a Memorial at Lee Chapel featuring Guest Speaker Pastor John Weaver, Past Chaplain in Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. For additional information go to: leejacksonday.webs.com:
Many more events are planned for Lee’s birthday that includes:
The United Daughters of the Confederacy’s annual Robert E. Lee birthday commemoration held in front of Lee’s statue which is in the Crypt area of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. See upcoming events at: leecamp.org/ and
The Sons of Confederate Veterans 23rd Annual Robert E. Lee birthday celebration in Milledgeville, Ga. on Saturday, January 23, 2010, beginning with a 10:45 a.m. march from the old governor’s mansion to the one time capitol building of Georgia. See details at: georgiascv.com/
Do you remember when….
On August 5, 1975, 110 years after Gen. Lee’s application, President Gerald Ford signed Joint Resolution 23, restoring the long overdue full rights of citizenship to Gen. Robert E. Lee. Read more at: ford.utexas.edu
Who was Robert E. Lee?
Robert E. Lee was born on Monday Jan. 19, 1807, at ‘Stratford’ in Westmoreland County, Virginia. The winter was cold and the fireplaces were little help for Robert’s mother, Ann Hill (Carter) Lee.
Ann Lee named her son ‘Robert Edward’ after two of her brothers.
Robert E. Lee undoubtedly acquired his love of country from those who lived during the American Revolution. His Father, ‘Light Horse’ Harry was a Revolutionary War Hero, served three terms as Governor of Virginia and was elected to the United States House of Representatives. Two members of his family also signed the Declaration of Independence.
Lee was educated at the schools of Alexandria, Va., and he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1825. He graduated in 1829, second in his class and without a single demerit.
Robert E. Lee’s first assignment was to Cockspur Island, Georgia, to supervise the construction of Fort Pulaski.
While serving as 2nd Lieutenant of Engineers at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Lee wed Mary Ann Randolph Custis. Mary was the daughter of George Washington Parke Custis, the Grandson of Martha Washington and adopted son of George Washington.
Mary was an only child; therefore, she inherited Arlington House, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., where she and Robert E. Lee raised seven children.
In 1836, Lee was appointed to first Lieutenant. In 1838, with the rank of Captain, Robert E. Lee fought in the War with Mexicoand was wounded at the Battle of Chapultepec.
Lee was appointed Superintendent of the United States Military Academy in 1852.
General Winfield Scott offered Robert E. Lee command of the Union Army in 1861, but he refused. He said, “I cannot raise my hand against my birthplace, my home, my children.”
Lee served as adviser to President Jefferson Davis, and then on June 1, 1862, commanded the legendary Army of Northern Virginia.
After four terrible years of death and destruction, Gen. Robert E. Lee met Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia and ended their battles.
Lee was called Marse Robert, Uncle Robert and Marble Man.
In October 1865, Lee was offered and accepted the presidency of troubled Washington College in Lexington, Virginia. The school was later renamed Washington and Lee College in his honor.
Robert E. Lee died of a heart attack at 9:30 AM on the morning of October 12, 1870, at the college and is buried at Lee Chapel with his family and near his favorite horse, Traveller.
Booker T. Washington, America’s great Black-American Educator wrote in 1910, “The first white people in America, certainly the first in the South to exhibit their interest in the reaching of the Negro and saving his soul through the medium of the Sunday-school were Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.”
Let’s not forget those who made our nation great!
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/19018
Remembering Robert E. Lee
By Calvin E. Johnson Jr. Saturday, January 16, 2010
“Duty is the sublimest word in the language. You can never do more than your duty. You should never wish to do less.”—Robert E. Lee
Did you know that Paul Revere, Betsy Ross, Martin Luther King and Robert E. Lee were born during the month of January? History can be great fun when parents and grandparents share stories about the past with their children making the study of American history a ‘Family Affair.’
Tuesday, January 19, 2010, is the 203rd birthday of Robert E. Lee, whose memory is still dear in the hearts of many Americans and people throughout God’s good earth.
During Robert E. Lee’s 100th birthday in 1907, Charles Francis Adams, Jr., a former Union Army Commander and grandson of United States President John Quincy Adams, spoke in tribute to Robert E. Lee at Washington and Lee College’s Lee Chapel in Lexington, Virginia. His speech was printed in both Northern and Southern newspapers and is said to had lifted Lee to a renewed respect among the American people.
Robert E. Lee-Stonewall Jackson Day events are planned for Saturday, January 16, 2010, in Lexington, Virginia that includes a Memorial at Lee Chapel featuring Guest Speaker Pastor John Weaver, Past Chaplain in Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. For additional information go to: leejacksonday.webs.com:
Many more events are planned for Lee’s birthday that includes:
The United Daughters of the Confederacy’s annual Robert E. Lee birthday commemoration held in front of Lee’s statue which is in the Crypt area of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. See upcoming events at: leecamp.org/ and
The Sons of Confederate Veterans 23rd Annual Robert E. Lee birthday celebration in Milledgeville, Ga. on Saturday, January 23, 2010, beginning with a 10:45 a.m. march from the old governor’s mansion to the one time capitol building of Georgia. See details at: georgiascv.com/
Do you remember when….
On August 5, 1975, 110 years after Gen. Lee’s application, President Gerald Ford signed Joint Resolution 23, restoring the long overdue full rights of citizenship to Gen. Robert E. Lee. Read more at: ford.utexas.edu
Who was Robert E. Lee?
Robert E. Lee was born on Monday Jan. 19, 1807, at ‘Stratford’ in Westmoreland County, Virginia. The winter was cold and the fireplaces were little help for Robert’s mother, Ann Hill (Carter) Lee.
Ann Lee named her son ‘Robert Edward’ after two of her brothers.
Robert E. Lee undoubtedly acquired his love of country from those who lived during the American Revolution. His Father, ‘Light Horse’ Harry was a Revolutionary War Hero, served three terms as Governor of Virginia and was elected to the United States House of Representatives. Two members of his family also signed the Declaration of Independence.
Lee was educated at the schools of Alexandria, Va., and he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1825. He graduated in 1829, second in his class and without a single demerit.
Robert E. Lee’s first assignment was to Cockspur Island, Georgia, to supervise the construction of Fort Pulaski.
While serving as 2nd Lieutenant of Engineers at Fort Monroe, Virginia. Lee wed Mary Ann Randolph Custis. Mary was the daughter of George Washington Parke Custis, the Grandson of Martha Washington and adopted son of George Washington.
Mary was an only child; therefore, she inherited Arlington House, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., where she and Robert E. Lee raised seven children.
In 1836, Lee was appointed to first Lieutenant. In 1838, with the rank of Captain, Robert E. Lee fought in the War with Mexicoand was wounded at the Battle of Chapultepec.
Lee was appointed Superintendent of the United States Military Academy in 1852.
General Winfield Scott offered Robert E. Lee command of the Union Army in 1861, but he refused. He said, “I cannot raise my hand against my birthplace, my home, my children.”
Lee served as adviser to President Jefferson Davis, and then on June 1, 1862, commanded the legendary Army of Northern Virginia.
After four terrible years of death and destruction, Gen. Robert E. Lee met Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia and ended their battles.
Lee was called Marse Robert, Uncle Robert and Marble Man.
In October 1865, Lee was offered and accepted the presidency of troubled Washington College in Lexington, Virginia. The school was later renamed Washington and Lee College in his honor.
Robert E. Lee died of a heart attack at 9:30 AM on the morning of October 12, 1870, at the college and is buried at Lee Chapel with his family and near his favorite horse, Traveller.
Booker T. Washington, America’s great Black-American Educator wrote in 1910, “The first white people in America, certainly the first in the South to exhibit their interest in the reaching of the Negro and saving his soul through the medium of the Sunday-school were Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.”
Let’s not forget those who made our nation great!
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/19018
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Mississippi Plans for Sesquicentennial
Commission plans for Civil War Sesquicentennial
by Lena Mitchel/NEMS Daily Journal
CORINTH – Members of the governor-appointed Mississippi Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission expect to lay out plans for the state’s commemoration and begin publicizing this year.
However, the group has met only once, with a second meeting in Corinth aborted in November by lack of a quorum.
With state Legislature starting the 2010 session last week, the commission will need lawmakers to act quickly to allocate funding for its work, something it did not do when it authorized the commission last year.
Without that funding it may be left to individual cities and communities to beef up their ongoing Civil War events to highlight that historic period.
“The Legislature put together the commission but did not fund it in any way,” said Kristy White, executive director of the Corinth Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“The route between Corinth and Vicksburg is a naturally significant corridor, so we’ve decided to work together and do some cooperative things like an itinerary for motor-coach and car tours. We don’t have a formal agreement, but these are things we can market at some of the Civil War consumer shows and other places.”
Corinth is a pivotal Civil War site in Northeast Mississippi as the focal point for the Battle of Shiloh.
That connection between Corinth and Shiloh has brought significant financial support through federal and state appropriations.
In the past six or seven years the Siege and Battle of Corinth Commission has established the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center and the Corinth Contraband Camp; bought significant amounts of battlefield acreage; and has secured funding to begin restoring the Verandah-Curlee House Museum, used as military headquarters for both Confederate and Union generals during the war.
During the same period, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the Mississippi Department of Transportation have provided significant funding to restore the Old Corinth Depot to house the Crossroads Museum and the Railway Express Building as headquarters for the Corinth Area CVB.
The interpretive center and contraband camp are both managed by the National Park Service as units of Shiloh National Military Park, and plans are to bring the Verandah-Curlee House Museum under NPS management as well.
A project to update the orientation film at the visitors center is a priority for the 2012 commemoration events at Shiloh, said Superintendent Woody Harrell. A new orientation film for Corinth’s interpretive center is nearing completion and is planned to premiere April 6, 2012.
“The film is 52 years old and somewhat outdated, and people have talked about doing a replacement for a number of years,” Harrell said.
“We’ve taken entrance fee money for about seven years and put together enough to tackle the project of making the film. In December we executed a contract with a film company. They’ll begin preparing the script and doing all the other work between now and April 2011. Then they’ll do the filming at the same time of the year as the battle occurred, and have another 12 months for post-production like editing, developing the music score and so forth.”
The contract calls for a cost of about $390,000 to $400,000 to complete the project, Harrell said.
The Brices Crossroads Battlefield in Baldwyn is represented on the state commission by Executive Director and Curator Edwina Carpenter.
“One of our goals is to demonstrate to the public the opportunities to learn about history and the opportunities Brices Crossroads brings to Baldwyn,” Carpenter said.
“By 2011, the sesquicentennial of Brices Crossroads, we should have three new interpretive pull-off areas here, a brand new trail and a pull-off site and interpretation of the Battle of Tupelo, increasing awareness of the public about the battles fought in this area.”
New construction also is set to get under way at the Brices Crossroads Visitors Center, adding a wing to interpret the Battle of Tupelo.
“The Brices Crossroads National Battlefield Commission received a grant for this work and purchased property in Tupelo also,” Carpenter said.
The 150th anniversary of the Battle of Brices Crossroads will be June 10, 2014, and will undoubtedly draw thousands more re-enactors than do the regular biennial re-enactments, she said.
The Mississippi Civil War Trails project also continues to develop, with the work at the Brices Crossroads Museum and Interpretive Center the final piece of construction work to be completed at Trails sites, said Jim Woodrick of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, which manages the $6.2 million project.
The sites will become part of The Civil War Preservation Trust’s Civil War Discovery Trail.
Plans for commemoration events at the Okolona Battlefield have not been decided yet, said spokeswoman Patsy Gregory. However, a book released in November chronicling the Battle of Okolona has sparked great interest.
“We are real excited,” Gregory said. “It’s the first book written about the battle, written by a man who moved from Virginia to this area to research it. He had a book signing (recently) and more than 50 people came to get a book. I’ve had even more inquiries about it since then.”
The Civil War is an ongoing topic of interest even when no significant commemoration events are planned, and Corinth Area CVB’s White thinks the interest will continue to heighten as the sesquicentennial dates come closer.
White recently hosted a writer for the AAA magazine who visited Vicksburg, Brices Crossroads, Corinth and Shiloh.
“There is always a lot of interest in the Civil War and people are interested in traveling to the sites of those history-making events,” White said. “Any mention we get in the Triple A magazine or any other national publication will help us tremendously.”
Contact Lena Mitchell at (662) 287-9822 or lena.mitchell@djournal.com.
- The Civil War Preservation Trust lists 39 Mississippi sites on its Civil War Discovery Trail (www.civilwardiscoverytrail.org), with 10 of those sites in Corinth. Two additional sites are pending.
• Battery F, Corinth
• Battery Robinett, Corinth
• Beauvoir: The Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library, Biloxi
• Brice’s Crossroads Battlefield Visitor and Interpretive Center, Baldwyn
• Campaign of 1862- Driving Tour of Corinth Campaign
• Confederate Cemetery, Raymond
• Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center
• Corinth Contraband Camp
• Corinth National Cemetery
• Crossroads Museum, Corinth
• Driving Tour of Historic Raymond
• Fort Massachusetts on West Ship Island, Ocean Springs
• Fort Pemberton, Greenwood
• Friendship Cemetery, Columbus
• Grand Gulf Military Monument Park, Port Gibson
• Grenada Lake
• Longwood, Natchez
• Manship House Museum, Jackson
• Marshall County Historical Museum, Holly Springs
• Melrose, Natchez
• Mississippi Governor’s Mansion, Jackson
• Natchez National Cemetery
• Old Capitol Museum of Mississippi History, Jackson
• Old Court House Museum and Eva W. Davis Memorial, Vicksburg
• Port Gibson Battlefield
• Rail Crossing-Trailhead Park, Corinth
• Raymond Battlefield
• Raymond Courthouse
• Rosemont Plantation/ Home of Jefferson Davis, Woodville
• St. Marks Episcopal Church, Raymond
• The Beauregard Line, Corinth
• The Coker House Interpretive Center, Champion Hill (to be added with Mississippi Civil War Trails)
• The Oaks House Museum, Jackson
• The Shaifer House Interpretive Center, Port Gibson (to be added with Mississippi Civil War Trails)
• The Verandah-Curlee House, Corinth
• The William Johnson House, Natchez
• Tupelo National Battlefield
• Vicksburg Battlefield Museum
• Vicksburg National Military Park
• Waverly Plantation Mansion, West Point
• Windsor Ruins, Natchez
http://nems360.com/bookmark/5512277
by Lena Mitchel/NEMS Daily Journal
CORINTH – Members of the governor-appointed Mississippi Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission expect to lay out plans for the state’s commemoration and begin publicizing this year.
However, the group has met only once, with a second meeting in Corinth aborted in November by lack of a quorum.
With state Legislature starting the 2010 session last week, the commission will need lawmakers to act quickly to allocate funding for its work, something it did not do when it authorized the commission last year.
Without that funding it may be left to individual cities and communities to beef up their ongoing Civil War events to highlight that historic period.
“The Legislature put together the commission but did not fund it in any way,” said Kristy White, executive director of the Corinth Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“The route between Corinth and Vicksburg is a naturally significant corridor, so we’ve decided to work together and do some cooperative things like an itinerary for motor-coach and car tours. We don’t have a formal agreement, but these are things we can market at some of the Civil War consumer shows and other places.”
Corinth is a pivotal Civil War site in Northeast Mississippi as the focal point for the Battle of Shiloh.
That connection between Corinth and Shiloh has brought significant financial support through federal and state appropriations.
In the past six or seven years the Siege and Battle of Corinth Commission has established the Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center and the Corinth Contraband Camp; bought significant amounts of battlefield acreage; and has secured funding to begin restoring the Verandah-Curlee House Museum, used as military headquarters for both Confederate and Union generals during the war.
During the same period, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the Mississippi Department of Transportation have provided significant funding to restore the Old Corinth Depot to house the Crossroads Museum and the Railway Express Building as headquarters for the Corinth Area CVB.
The interpretive center and contraband camp are both managed by the National Park Service as units of Shiloh National Military Park, and plans are to bring the Verandah-Curlee House Museum under NPS management as well.
A project to update the orientation film at the visitors center is a priority for the 2012 commemoration events at Shiloh, said Superintendent Woody Harrell. A new orientation film for Corinth’s interpretive center is nearing completion and is planned to premiere April 6, 2012.
“The film is 52 years old and somewhat outdated, and people have talked about doing a replacement for a number of years,” Harrell said.
“We’ve taken entrance fee money for about seven years and put together enough to tackle the project of making the film. In December we executed a contract with a film company. They’ll begin preparing the script and doing all the other work between now and April 2011. Then they’ll do the filming at the same time of the year as the battle occurred, and have another 12 months for post-production like editing, developing the music score and so forth.”
The contract calls for a cost of about $390,000 to $400,000 to complete the project, Harrell said.
The Brices Crossroads Battlefield in Baldwyn is represented on the state commission by Executive Director and Curator Edwina Carpenter.
“One of our goals is to demonstrate to the public the opportunities to learn about history and the opportunities Brices Crossroads brings to Baldwyn,” Carpenter said.
“By 2011, the sesquicentennial of Brices Crossroads, we should have three new interpretive pull-off areas here, a brand new trail and a pull-off site and interpretation of the Battle of Tupelo, increasing awareness of the public about the battles fought in this area.”
New construction also is set to get under way at the Brices Crossroads Visitors Center, adding a wing to interpret the Battle of Tupelo.
“The Brices Crossroads National Battlefield Commission received a grant for this work and purchased property in Tupelo also,” Carpenter said.
The 150th anniversary of the Battle of Brices Crossroads will be June 10, 2014, and will undoubtedly draw thousands more re-enactors than do the regular biennial re-enactments, she said.
The Mississippi Civil War Trails project also continues to develop, with the work at the Brices Crossroads Museum and Interpretive Center the final piece of construction work to be completed at Trails sites, said Jim Woodrick of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, which manages the $6.2 million project.
The sites will become part of The Civil War Preservation Trust’s Civil War Discovery Trail.
Plans for commemoration events at the Okolona Battlefield have not been decided yet, said spokeswoman Patsy Gregory. However, a book released in November chronicling the Battle of Okolona has sparked great interest.
“We are real excited,” Gregory said. “It’s the first book written about the battle, written by a man who moved from Virginia to this area to research it. He had a book signing (recently) and more than 50 people came to get a book. I’ve had even more inquiries about it since then.”
The Civil War is an ongoing topic of interest even when no significant commemoration events are planned, and Corinth Area CVB’s White thinks the interest will continue to heighten as the sesquicentennial dates come closer.
White recently hosted a writer for the AAA magazine who visited Vicksburg, Brices Crossroads, Corinth and Shiloh.
“There is always a lot of interest in the Civil War and people are interested in traveling to the sites of those history-making events,” White said. “Any mention we get in the Triple A magazine or any other national publication will help us tremendously.”
Contact Lena Mitchell at (662) 287-9822 or lena.mitchell@djournal.com.
- The Civil War Preservation Trust lists 39 Mississippi sites on its Civil War Discovery Trail (www.civilwardiscoverytrail.org), with 10 of those sites in Corinth. Two additional sites are pending.
• Battery F, Corinth
• Battery Robinett, Corinth
• Beauvoir: The Jefferson Davis Home and Presidential Library, Biloxi
• Brice’s Crossroads Battlefield Visitor and Interpretive Center, Baldwyn
• Campaign of 1862- Driving Tour of Corinth Campaign
• Confederate Cemetery, Raymond
• Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center
• Corinth Contraband Camp
• Corinth National Cemetery
• Crossroads Museum, Corinth
• Driving Tour of Historic Raymond
• Fort Massachusetts on West Ship Island, Ocean Springs
• Fort Pemberton, Greenwood
• Friendship Cemetery, Columbus
• Grand Gulf Military Monument Park, Port Gibson
• Grenada Lake
• Longwood, Natchez
• Manship House Museum, Jackson
• Marshall County Historical Museum, Holly Springs
• Melrose, Natchez
• Mississippi Governor’s Mansion, Jackson
• Natchez National Cemetery
• Old Capitol Museum of Mississippi History, Jackson
• Old Court House Museum and Eva W. Davis Memorial, Vicksburg
• Port Gibson Battlefield
• Rail Crossing-Trailhead Park, Corinth
• Raymond Battlefield
• Raymond Courthouse
• Rosemont Plantation/ Home of Jefferson Davis, Woodville
• St. Marks Episcopal Church, Raymond
• The Beauregard Line, Corinth
• The Coker House Interpretive Center, Champion Hill (to be added with Mississippi Civil War Trails)
• The Oaks House Museum, Jackson
• The Shaifer House Interpretive Center, Port Gibson (to be added with Mississippi Civil War Trails)
• The Verandah-Curlee House, Corinth
• The William Johnson House, Natchez
• Tupelo National Battlefield
• Vicksburg Battlefield Museum
• Vicksburg National Military Park
• Waverly Plantation Mansion, West Point
• Windsor Ruins, Natchez
http://nems360.com/bookmark/5512277
Flags Face Uncertain Future
Civil War flags may face their toughest battle yet
By Chris Carola
ALBANY, N.Y. - They made it through Shiloh, Antietam, and Gettysburg, but many of the Civil War battle flags in the nation's state-owned collections might not survive the budget battles being waged in some statehouses.
Preservation work on deteriorating banners carried in some of the war's bloodiest battles has been eliminated, scaled back, or ignored by state budget planners focused on finding money for basics such as education, health care, and transportation.
In New York, home to the nation's largest state-owned collection of Civil War battle flags, money for a preservation project is being cut from Gov. David Paterson's proposed budget. Indiana's funding for flag conservation has been returned to the state's general fund. Ohio hasn't provided government funding for its 400-plus Civil War battle flags in nearly a decade.
Another recent budget casualty is Pennsylvania's allocation for maintaining the battle-flag collection it preserved in the 1980s.
"Thank goodness we did it back then," Ruthann Hubbert-Kemper, executive director of the Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee, said of the project, which conserved all of the Keystone State's nearly 400 Civil War battle flags.
The lack of funding for flag preservation could hurt efforts to promote the 150th anniversary of the Civil War next year.
Battle flags are commonly used in Civil War exhibits, but usually only after lengthy preservation work that can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Staging publicity-generating events using the flags may be more difficult in the run-up to the Civil War sesquicentennial in 2011, advocates say.
"This isn't the time to be cutting this. It's the time to be increasing it, because it will be bring in tourism dollars," said Ed Norris of Lancaster, Mass., head of the battle-flag preservation committee for the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
The total number of battle flags in state-owned collections isn't clear, but it's likely several thousand, only a fraction of which have been preserved. Some have deteriorated into mere fragments and fringe, victims of neglect or exposure to light, heat, and humidity.
"Time is the enemy," Hubbert-Kemper said.
With New York facing a budget deficit in the billions of dollars, the state is dropping its $100,000 annual funding for flag preservation, parks agency spokesman Dan Keefe said.
Civil War buffs and historians consider battle flags, especially those damaged by shot and shell, to be among the most compelling artifacts to survive the war. Flags marked a regiment's location on the battlefield, and flag bearers made prominent targets. Some banners are stained with blood.
"There are many flags that were carried in battle heroically by soldiers who died in doing so," said Christopher Morton, assistant curator at the State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs, where many of New York's flags are stored.
In the South, several states rely on donations from reenactment groups and descendants of Confederate soldiers to fund flag preservation.
The Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Va., is home to the largest Civil War battle-flag collection in the South, with more than 500.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20100110_Civil_War_flags_may_face_their_toughest_battle_yet.html
By Chris Carola
ALBANY, N.Y. - They made it through Shiloh, Antietam, and Gettysburg, but many of the Civil War battle flags in the nation's state-owned collections might not survive the budget battles being waged in some statehouses.
Preservation work on deteriorating banners carried in some of the war's bloodiest battles has been eliminated, scaled back, or ignored by state budget planners focused on finding money for basics such as education, health care, and transportation.
In New York, home to the nation's largest state-owned collection of Civil War battle flags, money for a preservation project is being cut from Gov. David Paterson's proposed budget. Indiana's funding for flag conservation has been returned to the state's general fund. Ohio hasn't provided government funding for its 400-plus Civil War battle flags in nearly a decade.
Another recent budget casualty is Pennsylvania's allocation for maintaining the battle-flag collection it preserved in the 1980s.
"Thank goodness we did it back then," Ruthann Hubbert-Kemper, executive director of the Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Committee, said of the project, which conserved all of the Keystone State's nearly 400 Civil War battle flags.
The lack of funding for flag preservation could hurt efforts to promote the 150th anniversary of the Civil War next year.
Battle flags are commonly used in Civil War exhibits, but usually only after lengthy preservation work that can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Staging publicity-generating events using the flags may be more difficult in the run-up to the Civil War sesquicentennial in 2011, advocates say.
"This isn't the time to be cutting this. It's the time to be increasing it, because it will be bring in tourism dollars," said Ed Norris of Lancaster, Mass., head of the battle-flag preservation committee for the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
The total number of battle flags in state-owned collections isn't clear, but it's likely several thousand, only a fraction of which have been preserved. Some have deteriorated into mere fragments and fringe, victims of neglect or exposure to light, heat, and humidity.
"Time is the enemy," Hubbert-Kemper said.
With New York facing a budget deficit in the billions of dollars, the state is dropping its $100,000 annual funding for flag preservation, parks agency spokesman Dan Keefe said.
Civil War buffs and historians consider battle flags, especially those damaged by shot and shell, to be among the most compelling artifacts to survive the war. Flags marked a regiment's location on the battlefield, and flag bearers made prominent targets. Some banners are stained with blood.
"There are many flags that were carried in battle heroically by soldiers who died in doing so," said Christopher Morton, assistant curator at the State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs, where many of New York's flags are stored.
In the South, several states rely on donations from reenactment groups and descendants of Confederate soldiers to fund flag preservation.
The Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Va., is home to the largest Civil War battle-flag collection in the South, with more than 500.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20100110_Civil_War_flags_may_face_their_toughest_battle_yet.html
Monday, January 11, 2010
Florida Student Assulted for Display of Confederate Flag
Florida Teen Arrested in Scuffle Over Confederate Flag
Sunday, January 10, 2010
NAPLES, Fla. — A Naples high school student was charged with felony battery over a scuffle with another student who had a Confederate flag displayed on his car.
Collier County Sheriff's deputies responded to Lely High School Friday to a complaint that one student tried to pull another student out of the car.
A report shows that 18-year-old Alfredo David was arrested at the scene. The victim was not identified.
He told authorities David taunted him to try to start a fight over the flag, punched him in the chest through the open windows and then tried to pull him out of the car.
There was no phone number listed for David.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,582724,00.html?test=latestnews
Sunday, January 10, 2010
NAPLES, Fla. — A Naples high school student was charged with felony battery over a scuffle with another student who had a Confederate flag displayed on his car.
Collier County Sheriff's deputies responded to Lely High School Friday to a complaint that one student tried to pull another student out of the car.
A report shows that 18-year-old Alfredo David was arrested at the scene. The victim was not identified.
He told authorities David taunted him to try to start a fight over the flag, punched him in the chest through the open windows and then tried to pull him out of the car.
There was no phone number listed for David.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,582724,00.html?test=latestnews
Lee and Jackson Remembered
Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson Were Anti-Slavery
By Chuck Baldwin
Published 01/11/10
Praise For Lee And Jackson
January is often referred to as "Generals Month" since no less than four famous Confederate Generals claimed January as their birth month: James Longstreet (Jan. 8, 1821), Robert E. Lee (Jan. 19, 1807), Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (Jan. 21, 1824), and George Pickett (Jan. 28, 1825). Two of these men, Lee and Jackson, are particularly noteworthy.
Without question, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were two of the greatest military leaders of all time. Even more, many military historians regard the Lee and Jackson tandem as perhaps the greatest battlefield duo in the history of warfare. If Jackson had survived the battle of Chancellorsville, it is very possible that the South would have prevailed at Gettysburg and perhaps would even have won the War Between the States.
In fact, it was Lord Roberts, commander-in-chief of the British armies in the early twentieth century, who said, "In my opinion, Stonewall Jackson was one of the greatest natural military geniuses the world ever saw. I will go even further than that--as a campaigner in the field, he never had a superior. In some respects, I doubt whether he ever had an equal."
While the strategies and circumstances of the War of Northern Aggression can (and will) be debated by professionals and laymen alike, one fact is undeniable: Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. Jackson were two of the finest Christian gentlemen this country has ever produced. Both their character and their conduct were beyond reproach.
Unlike his northern counterpart, Ulysses S. Grant, General Lee never sanctioned or condoned slavery. Upon inheriting slaves from his deceased father-in-law, Lee freed them. And according to historians, Jackson enjoyed a familial relationship with those few slaves that were in his home. In addition, unlike Abraham Lincoln and U.S. Grant, there is no record of either Lee or Jackson ever speaking disparagingly of the black race.
As those who are familiar with history know, General Grant and his wife held personal slaves before and during the War Between the States, and, contrary to popular opinion, even Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation did not free the slaves of the North. They were not freed until the Thirteenth Amendment was passed after the conclusion of the war. Grant's excuse for not freeing his slaves was that "good help is so hard to come by these days."
Furthermore, it is well established that Jackson regularly conducted a Sunday School class for black children. This was a ministry he took very seriously. As a result, he was dearly loved and appreciated by the children and their parents.
In addition, both Jackson and Lee emphatically supported the abolition of slavery. In fact, Lee called slavery "a moral and political evil." He also said "the best men in the South" opposed it and welcomed its demise. Jackson said he wished to see "the shackles struck from every slave."
To think that Lee and Jackson (and the vast majority of Confederate soldiers) would fight and die to preserve an institution they considered evil and abhorrent--and that they were already working to dismantle--is the height of absurdity. It is equally repugnant to impugn and denigrate the memory of these remarkable Christian gentlemen.
In fact, after refusing Abraham Lincoln's offer to command the Union Army in 1861, Robert E. Lee wrote to his sister on April 20 of that year to explain his decision. In the letter he wrote, "With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I have therefore resigned my commission in the army and save in defense of my native state, with the sincere hope that my poor services may never be needed . . ."
Lee's decision to resign his commission with the Union Army must have been the most difficult decision of his life. Remember that Lee's direct ancestors had fought in America's War For Independence. His father, "Light Horse Harry" Henry Lee, was a Revolutionary War hero, Governor of Virginia, and member of Congress. In addition, members of his family were signatories to the Declaration of Independence.
Remember, too, that not only did Robert E. Lee graduate from West Point "at the head of his class" (according to Benjamin Hallowell), he is yet today one of only six cadets to graduate from that prestigious academy without a single demerit.
However, Lee knew that Lincoln's decision to invade the South in order to prevent its secession was both immoral and unconstitutional. As a man of honor and integrity, the only thing Lee could do was that which his father had done: fight for freedom and independence. And that is exactly what he did.
Instead of allowing a politically correct culture to sully the memory of Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. Jackson, all Americans should hold them in a place of highest honor and respect. Anything less is a disservice to history and a disgrace to the principles of truth and integrity.
Accordingly, it was more than appropriate that the late President Gerald Ford, on August 5, 1975, signed Senate Joint Resolution 23, "restoring posthumously the long overdue, full rights of citizenship to General Robert E. Lee." According to President Ford, "This legislation corrects a 110-year oversight of American history." He further said, "General Lee's character has been an example to succeeding generations . . ."
The significance of the lives of Generals Lee and Jackson cannot be overvalued. While the character and influence of most of us will barely be remembered two hundred days after our departure, the sterling character of these men has endured for two hundred years. What a shame that so many of America's youth are being robbed of knowing and studying the virtue and integrity of the great General Robert E. Lee and General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.
Furthermore, it is no hyperbole to say that the confederated, constitutional republic so ably declared by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence of 1776 and codified into statute by the U.S. Constitution of 1787 was, for the most part, expunged at the Appomattox Court House in 1865. After all, it was (and is) the responsibility of the states to be the ultimate vanguard of liberty. Without a tenacious, unrelenting defense of liberty by the sovereign states, we are reduced to ever-burgeoning oppression--which is exactly what we see happening today.
Thankfully, freedom's heartbeat is still felt among at least a few states. State sovereignty resolutions (proposed in over 30 states), Firearms Freedom acts (passed in 2 states--Montana and Tennessee--and being proposed in at least 12 other states), and official letters (Montana), statements (Texas Governor Rick Perry), and resolutions (Georgia and Montana) threatening secession have already taken place.
Yes, freedom-loving Americans in this generation may need to awaken to the prospect that--in order for freedom to survive--secession may, once again, be in order. One thing is for sure: any State that will not protect and defend their citizens' right to keep and bear arms cannot be counted on to do diddlysquat to maintain essential freedom. It is time for people to start deciding whether they want to live free or not--and if they do, to seriously consider relocating to states that yet have a heartbeat for liberty.
I will say it straight out: any State that will not protect your right to keep and bear arms is a tyrannical State! And if it is obvious that the freedom-loving citizens of that State are powerless to change it via the ballot box, they should leave the State to its slaves and seek a land of liberty.
I, for one, am thankful for the example and legacy of men such as Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. They were the spiritual soul mates of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. They were men that loved freedom; they were men that loved federalism and constitutional government; and they were men of courage and understanding. They understood that, sometimes, political separation is the only way that freedom can survive. Long live the spirit of Washington, Jefferson, Lee, and Jackson!
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=516
By Chuck Baldwin
Published 01/11/10
Praise For Lee And Jackson
January is often referred to as "Generals Month" since no less than four famous Confederate Generals claimed January as their birth month: James Longstreet (Jan. 8, 1821), Robert E. Lee (Jan. 19, 1807), Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (Jan. 21, 1824), and George Pickett (Jan. 28, 1825). Two of these men, Lee and Jackson, are particularly noteworthy.
Without question, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were two of the greatest military leaders of all time. Even more, many military historians regard the Lee and Jackson tandem as perhaps the greatest battlefield duo in the history of warfare. If Jackson had survived the battle of Chancellorsville, it is very possible that the South would have prevailed at Gettysburg and perhaps would even have won the War Between the States.
In fact, it was Lord Roberts, commander-in-chief of the British armies in the early twentieth century, who said, "In my opinion, Stonewall Jackson was one of the greatest natural military geniuses the world ever saw. I will go even further than that--as a campaigner in the field, he never had a superior. In some respects, I doubt whether he ever had an equal."
While the strategies and circumstances of the War of Northern Aggression can (and will) be debated by professionals and laymen alike, one fact is undeniable: Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. Jackson were two of the finest Christian gentlemen this country has ever produced. Both their character and their conduct were beyond reproach.
Unlike his northern counterpart, Ulysses S. Grant, General Lee never sanctioned or condoned slavery. Upon inheriting slaves from his deceased father-in-law, Lee freed them. And according to historians, Jackson enjoyed a familial relationship with those few slaves that were in his home. In addition, unlike Abraham Lincoln and U.S. Grant, there is no record of either Lee or Jackson ever speaking disparagingly of the black race.
As those who are familiar with history know, General Grant and his wife held personal slaves before and during the War Between the States, and, contrary to popular opinion, even Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation did not free the slaves of the North. They were not freed until the Thirteenth Amendment was passed after the conclusion of the war. Grant's excuse for not freeing his slaves was that "good help is so hard to come by these days."
Furthermore, it is well established that Jackson regularly conducted a Sunday School class for black children. This was a ministry he took very seriously. As a result, he was dearly loved and appreciated by the children and their parents.
In addition, both Jackson and Lee emphatically supported the abolition of slavery. In fact, Lee called slavery "a moral and political evil." He also said "the best men in the South" opposed it and welcomed its demise. Jackson said he wished to see "the shackles struck from every slave."
To think that Lee and Jackson (and the vast majority of Confederate soldiers) would fight and die to preserve an institution they considered evil and abhorrent--and that they were already working to dismantle--is the height of absurdity. It is equally repugnant to impugn and denigrate the memory of these remarkable Christian gentlemen.
In fact, after refusing Abraham Lincoln's offer to command the Union Army in 1861, Robert E. Lee wrote to his sister on April 20 of that year to explain his decision. In the letter he wrote, "With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I have therefore resigned my commission in the army and save in defense of my native state, with the sincere hope that my poor services may never be needed . . ."
Lee's decision to resign his commission with the Union Army must have been the most difficult decision of his life. Remember that Lee's direct ancestors had fought in America's War For Independence. His father, "Light Horse Harry" Henry Lee, was a Revolutionary War hero, Governor of Virginia, and member of Congress. In addition, members of his family were signatories to the Declaration of Independence.
Remember, too, that not only did Robert E. Lee graduate from West Point "at the head of his class" (according to Benjamin Hallowell), he is yet today one of only six cadets to graduate from that prestigious academy without a single demerit.
However, Lee knew that Lincoln's decision to invade the South in order to prevent its secession was both immoral and unconstitutional. As a man of honor and integrity, the only thing Lee could do was that which his father had done: fight for freedom and independence. And that is exactly what he did.
Instead of allowing a politically correct culture to sully the memory of Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. Jackson, all Americans should hold them in a place of highest honor and respect. Anything less is a disservice to history and a disgrace to the principles of truth and integrity.
Accordingly, it was more than appropriate that the late President Gerald Ford, on August 5, 1975, signed Senate Joint Resolution 23, "restoring posthumously the long overdue, full rights of citizenship to General Robert E. Lee." According to President Ford, "This legislation corrects a 110-year oversight of American history." He further said, "General Lee's character has been an example to succeeding generations . . ."
The significance of the lives of Generals Lee and Jackson cannot be overvalued. While the character and influence of most of us will barely be remembered two hundred days after our departure, the sterling character of these men has endured for two hundred years. What a shame that so many of America's youth are being robbed of knowing and studying the virtue and integrity of the great General Robert E. Lee and General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.
Furthermore, it is no hyperbole to say that the confederated, constitutional republic so ably declared by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence of 1776 and codified into statute by the U.S. Constitution of 1787 was, for the most part, expunged at the Appomattox Court House in 1865. After all, it was (and is) the responsibility of the states to be the ultimate vanguard of liberty. Without a tenacious, unrelenting defense of liberty by the sovereign states, we are reduced to ever-burgeoning oppression--which is exactly what we see happening today.
Thankfully, freedom's heartbeat is still felt among at least a few states. State sovereignty resolutions (proposed in over 30 states), Firearms Freedom acts (passed in 2 states--Montana and Tennessee--and being proposed in at least 12 other states), and official letters (Montana), statements (Texas Governor Rick Perry), and resolutions (Georgia and Montana) threatening secession have already taken place.
Yes, freedom-loving Americans in this generation may need to awaken to the prospect that--in order for freedom to survive--secession may, once again, be in order. One thing is for sure: any State that will not protect and defend their citizens' right to keep and bear arms cannot be counted on to do diddlysquat to maintain essential freedom. It is time for people to start deciding whether they want to live free or not--and if they do, to seriously consider relocating to states that yet have a heartbeat for liberty.
I will say it straight out: any State that will not protect your right to keep and bear arms is a tyrannical State! And if it is obvious that the freedom-loving citizens of that State are powerless to change it via the ballot box, they should leave the State to its slaves and seek a land of liberty.
I, for one, am thankful for the example and legacy of men such as Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. They were the spiritual soul mates of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. They were men that loved freedom; they were men that loved federalism and constitutional government; and they were men of courage and understanding. They understood that, sometimes, political separation is the only way that freedom can survive. Long live the spirit of Washington, Jefferson, Lee, and Jackson!
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=516
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Sunken Yankee Gunboat Found in Texas
Civil War history surfaces with help of Austin archaeology group
More than 140 years later, Texas City Channel yields sunken Union vessel. Deborah Cannon/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Bob Gearhart Archaeologist is cataloging wreck items.
The Battle of Galveston came alive for Bob Gearhart with a dive into 46 feet of visually impenetrable Texas City Channel water.
Surveying, site mapping and dredge scheduling gave way to the acrid smoke of cannon and rifle fire of a surprise attack on Jan. 1, 1863, which for a time, returned the city of Galveston to Confederate control. In the chaos of the following morning, the USS Westfield, flagship of the Union blockade there, ran aground in 7 feet of water near Pelican Spit in Galveston Bay.
As Cmdr. William B. Renshaw prepared to destroy the Westfield rather than allow her to be captured, the side-wheel ferryboat exploded, killing Renshaw and a boat crew assisting him. What hadn't been carried off by the crew before the explosion remained deep in the Texas City Channel.
The passage is deep, but not deep enough for satisfactory international ship navigation. In 2004, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced a
$71 million partnership with the oil and refinery businesses that depend upon a navigable Texas City Channel to deepen it. To ensure the integrity of archaeological preservation, the corps hired a nautical archaeology group from Austin headed by Gearhart, who works with PBS&J , a national engineering, environmental and construction planning company.
Many of the assignments Gearhart has taken on in his 20 years with PBS&J involve disproving the archaeological significance of areas in the way of construction or improvement. Of the five sites with possible historical significance that PBS&J surveyed for the Texas City Channel, four yielded finds, such as a sunken channel buoy and a thick piece of steel cable.
The importance of the fifth was confirmed when a diver in the black water bumped into an 11-foot-long piece of metal with an opening at one end.
On Dec. 10, that piece of metal — a 10,000-pound Dahlgren cannon, one of 1,200 made during the Civil War and one of only 50 recovered — was unveiled at Texas A&M University's Institute of Nautical Archaeology.
"It's the pinnacle for me so far for projects like this," said Gearhart, who is cataloging everything recovered by the Westfield wreck.
"This was the flagship of the Union fleet. The surrender of Galveston Island took place on the Westfield. You think about how the war might have been different had she not run aground," he said. "It's so cool."
The members of Gearhart's team was relatively certain they had located the Westfield as early as 2005. Their plan to recover her permits from the Texas Historical Commission and the U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command . The diving expedition to locate her was made in 2008, Gearhart said. The raising of the cannon Nov. 22 and the recovery of the rest of the salvageable metal followed almost a year of planning for the dredging of the channel by the Army Corps of Engineers, he said. The cost of the archaeological portion of the dredging bill was about $3 million, he said.
What the team found was the metal leftovers of a craft built by tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt to be a Staten Island Ferry but was instead sold to and armed by the Union with the outbreak of the Civil War.
"There was no part of the hull left, just a scattering of metal artifacts," Gearhart said. "When the ship ran aground, much of the material pertaining to the war was probably taken off. The Confederate Army also salvaged some of the Westfield later in the war because they needed the metal."
After some testing to ensure nothing would be damaged, the team employed a powerful electromagnet with a face 5½ feet in diameter to pull up larger metal pieces. The team recovered several thousand artifacts, down to tiny, rust-encrusted nails. Other items included 19 cannon balls and 11 oval-shaped U.S. Army buckles, their lead faces stripped of their brass coating.
"We were surprised and pleased to discover that the firebox was intact," Gearhart said. "The iron grates, side by side, where the coal was shoveled in, were still in place."
The tagging, description and cataloging of each artifact should be completed by the end of January, Gearhart said. The items will all eventually be taken for preservation at the Conservation Research Laboratory at the Institute of Nautical Archaeology in College Station .
"This is a part of history I knew nothing about until we got started," Gearhart said. "I have an appreciation now for the role that the Westfield played in the Civil War. In my experience, this is my best project so far."
http://www.statesman.com/news/texas/civil-war-history-surfaces-with-help-of-austin-148311.html
More than 140 years later, Texas City Channel yields sunken Union vessel. Deborah Cannon/AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Bob Gearhart Archaeologist is cataloging wreck items.
The Battle of Galveston came alive for Bob Gearhart with a dive into 46 feet of visually impenetrable Texas City Channel water.
Surveying, site mapping and dredge scheduling gave way to the acrid smoke of cannon and rifle fire of a surprise attack on Jan. 1, 1863, which for a time, returned the city of Galveston to Confederate control. In the chaos of the following morning, the USS Westfield, flagship of the Union blockade there, ran aground in 7 feet of water near Pelican Spit in Galveston Bay.
As Cmdr. William B. Renshaw prepared to destroy the Westfield rather than allow her to be captured, the side-wheel ferryboat exploded, killing Renshaw and a boat crew assisting him. What hadn't been carried off by the crew before the explosion remained deep in the Texas City Channel.
The passage is deep, but not deep enough for satisfactory international ship navigation. In 2004, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced a
$71 million partnership with the oil and refinery businesses that depend upon a navigable Texas City Channel to deepen it. To ensure the integrity of archaeological preservation, the corps hired a nautical archaeology group from Austin headed by Gearhart, who works with PBS&J , a national engineering, environmental and construction planning company.
Many of the assignments Gearhart has taken on in his 20 years with PBS&J involve disproving the archaeological significance of areas in the way of construction or improvement. Of the five sites with possible historical significance that PBS&J surveyed for the Texas City Channel, four yielded finds, such as a sunken channel buoy and a thick piece of steel cable.
The importance of the fifth was confirmed when a diver in the black water bumped into an 11-foot-long piece of metal with an opening at one end.
On Dec. 10, that piece of metal — a 10,000-pound Dahlgren cannon, one of 1,200 made during the Civil War and one of only 50 recovered — was unveiled at Texas A&M University's Institute of Nautical Archaeology.
"It's the pinnacle for me so far for projects like this," said Gearhart, who is cataloging everything recovered by the Westfield wreck.
"This was the flagship of the Union fleet. The surrender of Galveston Island took place on the Westfield. You think about how the war might have been different had she not run aground," he said. "It's so cool."
The members of Gearhart's team was relatively certain they had located the Westfield as early as 2005. Their plan to recover her permits from the Texas Historical Commission and the U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command . The diving expedition to locate her was made in 2008, Gearhart said. The raising of the cannon Nov. 22 and the recovery of the rest of the salvageable metal followed almost a year of planning for the dredging of the channel by the Army Corps of Engineers, he said. The cost of the archaeological portion of the dredging bill was about $3 million, he said.
What the team found was the metal leftovers of a craft built by tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt to be a Staten Island Ferry but was instead sold to and armed by the Union with the outbreak of the Civil War.
"There was no part of the hull left, just a scattering of metal artifacts," Gearhart said. "When the ship ran aground, much of the material pertaining to the war was probably taken off. The Confederate Army also salvaged some of the Westfield later in the war because they needed the metal."
After some testing to ensure nothing would be damaged, the team employed a powerful electromagnet with a face 5½ feet in diameter to pull up larger metal pieces. The team recovered several thousand artifacts, down to tiny, rust-encrusted nails. Other items included 19 cannon balls and 11 oval-shaped U.S. Army buckles, their lead faces stripped of their brass coating.
"We were surprised and pleased to discover that the firebox was intact," Gearhart said. "The iron grates, side by side, where the coal was shoveled in, were still in place."
The tagging, description and cataloging of each artifact should be completed by the end of January, Gearhart said. The items will all eventually be taken for preservation at the Conservation Research Laboratory at the Institute of Nautical Archaeology in College Station .
"This is a part of history I knew nothing about until we got started," Gearhart said. "I have an appreciation now for the role that the Westfield played in the Civil War. In my experience, this is my best project so far."
http://www.statesman.com/news/texas/civil-war-history-surfaces-with-help-of-austin-148311.html
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