Western Pennsylvania Civil War Roundtable

Great news! With the reopening of ACFL&MH on February 1, tours of the Captain Thomas Espy Post will resume effective, Saturday, February 6. The Post room will b...e open each Saturday from 11:00AM - 3:00PM, with our wonderful docents offering guided tours and insights on the many artifacts on display. Please remember that masks and social distancing are mandatory in ACFL&MH. We can't wait to welcome you back to our treasure on the hill!

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Helen Viola Jackson, the last documented widow of a Civil War soldier, on December 16th, 2020. Ms. Jackson ...was 101 years old at the time of her passing. She had been a resident of the Webco Manor Nursing Home in Marshfield, Missouri for many years. Helen Jackson married Private James Bolin, Company F, of the 14th Missouri Cavalry, on September 4th, 1936. He was 93 years old and she was 17. Her father had volunteered her to stop by his house each day and assist him with chores as she headed home from school. Bolin did not believe in accepting charity and, after a period of time, asked Helen for her hand in marriage in order to provide for her future by leaving her his Union pension. She accepted and Bolin recorded the wedding in his personal Bible. Bolin died in June of 1939 and Helen never remarried. She also never applied for the pension. For more information on how the Sons Of Union Veterans Of The Civil War will be showing their respect for Ms. Helen Jackson, please visit our website at the following link: http://www.suvcw.org//General-Order-No.-9-2020-2021-Passin For more information about Ms. Helen Jackson please visit the following link: https://www.cherryblossomfest.com/WordPress/?page_id=2246 #SUVCW #history #civilwarhistory #militaryhistory #military #veterans #memorial #americanhistory #ushistory #lestweforget #remember #mollus #GAR #grandarmyoftherepublic #alliedorders #14thmissouri #Missouri #marshfield #Jackson #bolin #webcomanor #cherryblossom #cherryblossomfest

Sorry to say...but stay tuned! Our fearless president is working on alternative plans for field trips in lieu of our Spring and Fall AAP cleanups.

Addressing Gettysburg Podcast : PATREON PREVIEW-Noah Andre Trudeau

From the Diary of Maj. Edward Stakes: Sunday, Jan. the 3rd [January 3, 1864] About 9 o’clock A.M. Lieut. Wm. A. Bull of Florida came in and informed me that my... Bro. had been arrested and throwne in a cell to make him tell who escaped with him and that he was frosted very bad and that it was thought he would not live, this was all that I could hear as the Sargt did not tell the Lieut. any thing more. My first thoughts were to write to Col. Pierson asking to share his confinement with him, but being of the opinion that he was in a cell in the Prison I at once formed a determination to releice him at night or sacrifice my life in an attempt. I made my plans to carry my determination into affect. When about 10 o’clock, some Officer came in and informed me that my Bro. was coming in the Prison. I immediately rushed out of the doore to meet him I saw a man Led along by two officers and followed by some four or five hundread persons, when I reached my Bro, such a sight I never beheld in my life, his feet were bursted open and his hands and his face to such an extent that it was impossible to reconize one feature, his ears were as stiff as past board. I got him in his bunk and immediately sent for Col. Maxwell of Florida who was a surgeon who immediately dressed his wounds. I expect he will loose all of this toes and fingers and his left ear. -- On the night of January 1, Major Stakes’ brother, Captain John Stakes, escaped from the prison, along with a handful of other men, by scaling the wall on a homemade ladder constructed by the prisoners. John was the last man over the wall, and lost sight of the other men. He ran across the island and began to cross the lake on the ice. He recounted: The wind blew a hurricane so that I was compel to crall on my hands and knees when about half-way across my hat blew off I attempted to catch it but to my surprise found my hands as stiff as boards. I felt my ears and found them in the same condition. I now felt confident that I should die before I could get across, but were determin to make every effort to reach the Peninsula. When I got across I got on my feet but found them frozen so that I could scarcely walk, seeing a little house about 100 yards ahead I determin to crall to it, and after much difficulty succeeded in reaching the farm house. John sought shelter at the house, and told the occupants he was a Canadian sailor. They allowed him to stay and treated his frost-bite. On the 2nd, a Union guard showed up at the house, looking for a prisoner who had escaped that night and knocked down a guard while escaping. The guard discovered John and he was arrested and returned to Johnson’s Island Prison. Image: Gould Map of Johnson's Island.

On December 31, 1862 fighting broke out in the vicinity of Stones River in Murfreesboro, Tennessee - just 35 miles Southeast of Nashville. Among those eventuall...y engaged in the fighting were the men of the 78th Pennsylvania Infantry - a regiment recruited from throughout Western Pennsylvania. January 2, 1863: ... the enemy’s batteries were posted on an eminence in a field to our front... When we were about 150 yards away from the battery, General Miller ordered the 78th Regiment to charge, and the command was instantly obeyed... We captured a battery of four guns... also the colors of the 26th Tennessee Infantry. The picture on another page, entitled ‘The Charge of the 78th Regiment,’ is reproduced and condensed from a picture that appeared just after the battle in Frank Leslie’s Magazine. The boy who is represented astride one of the captured guns was James Thorne... a member of Company A and a native of Tennessee. As he sat on the captured cannon and patted it lovingly, he called out to the commander of his company, ‘Here it is, Captain!’ - History of the Seventy-Eighth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry by J.T. Gibson, 1905

https://fb.watch/2GdB4YtOCC/

Merry Christmas and thanks for being a part of our group!

On a frigid December day in 1860, 20 year old Eliza Glenn tended a fire in the hearth as she prepared a Christmas dinner for her husband John and infant son Ave...ry. Despite the brewing secession crisis, she was content with the life she was making for her family and confident in the future. The next year she and John welcomed a little girl into their family. But by Christmas 1865 it was all gone. Her husband was dead and their home was destroyed caught in a burning crossfire of Confederate artillery as the Battle of Chickamauga raged across their yard. Today, all that remains of the Glenn home is the hearthstone where Eliza prepared meals, celebrated Christmas, and rocked her children to sleep, basking in the warmth of a tender fire. Monuments to the soldiers who fought and died at Chickamauga dot the landscape all around. But the Glenn’s hearthstone stands as a cold and silent testament to how fast our comfortable worlds can change around us, and to the Christmas dinners no longer prepared. Image: The hearthstone of Eliza and John Glenn’s cabin, located near the Wilder Tower in Chickamauga National Military Park. (CB)

Dunno if this is true...but it’d be cool if it was...

Send your boats immediately, we are sinking!" Late at night on 31 December, 1862, the USS Monitor foundered and sank. The Monitor was never considered an exc...eptionally deep sea worthy vessel, but served very well in a river environment. Knowing this, the captain and crewed viewed their ordered cruise from Virginia to South Carolina with trepidation. While enroute and under tow from the USS Rhode Island, a storm hit the ships. Despite heroic efforts by the crews of both ships, the Monitor was overwhelmed by the stormy seas and sank. The USS Rhode Island was able to rescue 47 of the crew, while 4 officers and 12 seaman were lost. By artist Andy Simmons, https://www.ans-graphics.com/

This U.S. 8th Infantry Regiment colors featured prominently in America's war with Mexico. James Longstreet, the famed Civil War Confederate general, carried the... colors as a young lieutenant during the storming of Churubusco in 1847. Longstreet served with distinction in the Mexican-American War. Early in the war, he served as a lieutenant in Zachary Taylor's army. He received brevet promotions to captain and then major.

Incredible views of the Potomac and the Harpers Ferry gap from atop Weverton Cliffs along the Appalachian Trail in Maryland. In many ways, perfect hiking conditions today...

I’m connected to this story through my Uncle Jack...he also was related to Jimmy Stewart

Have you been outside since our most recent snow storm? Although the city’s streets have been covered by Winter weather, many of Pittsburgh’s Civil War-related sites are still visible, like the Hampton’s Battery F monument in Allegheny Commons Park!

*** Announcement *** Due to restrictions etc. our final monthly meeting for the year on Dec. 16, 2020 has been cancelled. Stay healthy my friends!

Evergreen Cemetery gatehouse - GETTYSBURG

https://fb.me/e/Ww8KvDil

The perfect gift for your significant other. They put up with all of your history stuff all year; don’t they deserve the best at Christmas? From the ad: Capture the essence and the glory of this brave, and unassuming hero at Gettysburg General Dan Sickles

Albert Woolson, 107, the last surviving veteran of the American Civil War, served as a drummer in the 1st Minnesota Heavy Artillery. Though he didn't fight at G...ettysburg, visitors can see his likeness on the Last Survivor statue, which honors Woolson and the Grand Army of the Republic. In this image from the Library of Congress, Woolson sits for a bust as Kalervo Kallio, noted sculptor, puts finishing touches on the clay model. #gettysburg ##findyourpark #veterans

WE - Buy Bones - Grind Bones - Dissolve Bones - Make Soft Ground Bone - Want All The Bones We Can Get." We are often asked what happened to the thousands of ho...rses and mules who were killed during the battle. How were the remains disposed of? Who did the ghastly work? Lydia Leister, whose home was used as the Headquarters of the Army of the Potomac returned to find dozens of dead animals, hastily buried or burned, strewn across her farm. Sometime following the battle, Leister sold a fair quantity of horse-bones, taken from the pits of dead animals gathered on her property, to a fertilizer company for a tidy sum. We cannot precisely say who bought them. One company, Griffith & Boyd, was the dominant "bone-fertilizer" merchant in the region for many years, circulating an informative booklet that promoted their products. Inside, the cover announced, "WE - Buy Bones - Grind Bones - Dissolve Bones - Make Soft Ground Bone - Want All The Bones We Can Get."

21 seconds at the approximate boyhood home of Thomas J. Jackson, Weston, WV, on the recent American Battlefield Trust western video swing!

Our Old House: the Ephraim Wisler "First Shot" house - historic paint sampling and analysis.

This inaugural post of the Marines Come to Gettysburg in 1922 Album depicts the United States Marine Corps encampment of 1922 on the grounds of the Gettysburg N...ational Military Park. The location is easily identified by the presence of the now five year old Virginia monument in the lower right corner of the image. Note the collection of biplanes that would participate in the exercises arranged in the upper left portion of the view. Such uses of the battlefield were not at all uncommon during this time period.

I need a trip to Gburg...

One of all time favorite pics!

Ely Parker was born Ha-sa-no-an-da on the Tonawanda reservation of the Seneca Indians in western New York in 1828. Before he was born, Ha-so-no-an-da’s mother ...had a dream which predicted that a son would be born to her that would serve as a bridge between the native world of the Seneca and that of the white man. After being reared in Seneca tradition and receiving a non Seneca education, Ha-sa-no-an-da, who had by now adopted the English name Ely Parker, was called upon by his elders to act as spokesman for his people in a conflict with the federal government over Tonawanda lands. Parker studied to practice law, but because of his race, New York State law would not allow him to practice before the bar. Parker then attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and became a civil engineer. It was while he was supervising the construction of the U.S. Customs building in Galena, Illinois, that Parker began his friendship with U.S. Grant. When the war began, Grant received a commission as Colonel of an Illinois regiment. Parker applied for an officers' commission, but was turned down. His friend, by now General Grant, succeeded in securing Parker a commission as a military secretary on his staff. When Grant was promoted to command all U.S. forces Parker was one of only a small cadre chosen by Grant to go east with him. And, so it was that Ely Parker ended up in the parlor of the McLean House on that Palm Sunday afternoon in April 1865, writing out the official copy of the terms of surrender of General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Those terms, so instrumental in bringing a divided America back together, were written by a First American. Following the Civil War, Parker went on to have an illustrious, if not troubled, career. Yet, this warrior in two camps fulfilled his Mother’s dream eventually being buried on historical Seneca land. #AppomattoxNPS #CivilWar #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth #FindYourPark #DistanceLearning Text: D.W.

https://www.facebook.com/cwdwnps/videos/1015287295614335/

Join us in commemorating Remembrance Day 2020 with a reading of the names of the fallen soldiers interred at the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Now available at https://www.gettysburgfoundation.org/remembranceday2020 #Gettysburg

Today is #WorldToiletDay, which "celebrates toilets and raises awareness of the 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation." Access t...o sanitation facilities remains a problem today for many people around the world and was a major problem during the Civil War, when poor sanitation often led to outbreaks of disease. At Johnson's Island Prison, toilets were know to the prisoners as the "sinks." Each barracks building had an associated sink located behind it. When the sinks filled up with waste, they were capped with clay and filled in, often with the soil removed while digging the new sink nearby. Archaeological evidence discovered while excavating the sinks (or latrines) at Johnson's Island has shown that not only was human waste deposited in these toilets, but also trash and contraband items such as alcohol bottles. Additionally, a number of small personal items, such as pocket knives, combs, and hard rubber jewelry items have been discovered, likely items that fell out of an unfortunate prisoner's pocket while he was using the latrine. Images: Sinks, as shown on Kern's Map of Johnson's Island Prison and archaeology field students excavating the site of a prison latrine in 2016.

On November 19, 1863, a crowd of approximately 15,000 people gathered on the hallowed ground of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to dedicate a National Cemetery for the... Union dead who had fought there little more than four months earlier. Among the speakers present was President Abraham Lincoln, who delivered 272 immortal words in a matter of nearly three minutes - a testament to the sacrifice of those who fell during the suppression of the rebellion, and an assurance that the nation shall have a new birth of freedom... Nearly half a century later these words were recalled by Civil War veterans of Allegheny County when they were painted above the auditorium stage of Oakland’s Soldier’s Memorial Hall. Just as veterans did in 1910, visitors to Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum can clearly see Lincoln’s words today, as they are part of the largest known painted display of The Gettysburg Address.

Just a bit of an update: Next week we return to start recording for Season 3, and we will be leading off the season with a two-part episode on Alfred Iverson a...nd his North Carolina brigade here at Gettysburg. As always, if you have any questions about the topic, feel free to post them below, and we will answer them on the air.

With the reburials in the cemetery proceeding in earnest and dignitaries and spectators beginning to arrive in town, the #daystodedication were winding down by ...the time Abraham Lincoln left the White House on November 18. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad originally planned for the president to leave Washington at 6:00 AM the day of the dedication, but when Secretary of State Edwin Stanton informed Lincoln of this, the president refused, stating that the slightest delay would make them fail entirely have the whole event be a breathless running of the gauntlet. In the end, Lincoln boarded a four-car train at the B&O Station in Washington, which left around noon on November 18. In addition to his personal secretaries, valets, and escorts, Lincoln was joined by three cabinet secretaries and representatives of the Italian, French, and British diplomatic corps. Rounding out the party were the United States Marine Band and a detachment of the Invalid Corps. When the train switched lines in Baltimore, they were joined by Major General Schenck of the Middle Department, the band of the 2nd U.S. Artillery, and the mayor of Boston. Lincoln charmed the crowds with brief, often witty remarks, at stops along the way as the train traveled to Hanover Junction and Hanover in Pennsylvania before arriving in Gettysburg at 6:00 PM, where he was met by David Wills and Edward Everett who walked with him to the Wills House. It should be noted that while a lasting myth of the Gettysburg address is that it was written during the train ride to town. However, none of the accounts of those on the train mention ever seeing Lincoln writing during the trip and members of his cabinet recall being shown a draft of the speech in Washington prior to his journey. IMAGE: The station at Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania at the time of Lincoln’s journey to Gettysburg (NARA)

The Soldiers Monument that now stands in Allegheny Commons Park is just a fraction of what was once referred to as one of the finest pieces of work in the stat...e. This memorial previously stood proudly above old Allegheny City atop what was at one time known as Monument Hill - now the site of Community College of Allegheny County, Main Campus. Since its dedication on Decoration Day of 1871, the Soldiers Monument stood undisturbed for more than 50 years. With its imposing build, the Soldiers Monument exhibited a broad foundation, which was 40 feet tall, crested with four 6.5 foot tall figures representing the different arms of service, and cannon at each corner of the base. Antietam, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Appomattox were inscribed on each of the four sides, while an 11 foot tall figure of Fame adorned the very top. Engraved on the face of the monument are the words: Erected to the memory of the 4,000 brave men of Allegheny County, who fell in the great struggle to maintain the integrity of our union. The eye of God rests upon their graves, even when unmarked by man, and their sleeping dust shall arise in the morning of the resurrection. At one time, this towering tribute could be seen clearly from Mt. Washington, just across the Ohio River. The memorial was re-designed when it was moved to its present location in 1931, as part of a $33,000 project on behalf of the Pittsburgh Art Commission. The figure of Fame, as well as the towering spire, are all that remain of the original structure.

For the re-enactors in the group

Looking through the fence at the Pennsylvania monument and Round tops

SLAVE CABINS, Brentwood, Tenn., roughly 15 miles south of Nashville A shared chimney. It’s believed eight to 10 slaves lived in the cramped quarters of each cabin. Amazing survivors from 19th century. READ MORE: http://john-banks.blogspot.com//worlds-apart-how-slaves-ma

A little humor...

We would like to thank all the veterans who served in our armed forces. Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, the first national military park in ...the United States, was created as a result of the vision of the veterans who struggled in the dense woods and fields in 1863. One of the most influential veterans, and considered the "father" of the park, was Henry V. Boynton, the lieutenant colonel of the 35th Ohio Infantry during the Battle of Chickamauga. As a result of his service in scaling the heights of Missionary Ridge, he became a Medal of Honor recipient. Thank you all again for your service and willingness to sacrifice on our behalf. Image: Henry V. Boynton (Congressional Medal of Honor Society)

FOLLICLY CHALLENGED ADAMS FAMILY MEMBER Meet Charles Francis Adams Jr., the great-grandson of President John Adams and grandson of President John Quincy Adams. ...Born on May 27, 1835, C.F. Adams, Jr. was a lawyer, writer, railroad regulator, arbitrator, journalist, railroad president, and soldier. His father was a distinguished diplomat, two of his brothers -- Henry Adams and Brooks Adams -- were historians, social critics, and writers, and a third, John Quincy Adams II, was a Democratic politician in Massachusetts. In a nutshell, Charles F. Adams, Jr. came from an illustrious pedigree. After studying law with Richard Henry Dana and Charles Francis Parker and then passing the bar, Adams opened his own practice only to find himself unable to attract clients and sustain a living on his own. Instead, he spent his time socializing with Boston's social and political elites, a pastime made possible by the Adams family name and money. But in 1859 he joined a local Boston militia and "accompanied his father and Senator William Seward on a month-long rail tour of the west, going as far as Lawrence, Kansas. On their return they visited the Republican presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln at his home in Springfield, Illinois; Stephen Douglas in Toledo, Ohio; and other politicians along the way." "After the great celebration of Lincoln's election, Adams noted that, My own impression is that the experiment of secession is about to be tried. He attended the inauguration in March 1861. A month later his first mature essay, The Reign of King Cotton, appeared in the April 1861 Atlantic." Adams applied for a lieutenant’s commission with the First Massachusetts Cavalry, joining in December 1861. "At the beginning of 1862, he was stationed in New York and then Port Royal, South Carolina. Once there he felt he was poorly trained, as were most of those around him. In September 1862 he saw his first fighting at James Island as an aide to Robert Williams, a West Point graduate. A year later Adams was promoted to captain. He fought at Antietam and Gettysburg and then in 1863 [including at Aldie] against Lee’s cavalry." In the 1st Mass. Cavalry's regimental history by Benj. W. Crowinshield, it is recorded that on February 13, 1863, Capt. C.F. Adams received from back home an English bulldog "with a very open countenance, which he named 'Mac,' who proved a great favorite." After going on furlough in 1864, during which time he was engaged and managed to travel to London and Paris (some furlough, huh?), "he asked Massachusetts Governor Andrew to attach him to the Army of the Potomac Headquarters with Generals Meade and Grant. However, after six months of orderly duty at headquarters he longed to return to action. In September 1864 he was commissioned lieutenant colonel with the [colored] Fifth Massachusetts Calvary under his old friend Henry S. Harry Russell. When Russell resigned, Adams took charge of his regiment, [which then involved] guarding a prison camp. Using his influence with Army of the Potomac staff he requisitioned and received twelve hundred horses." Adams wrote in his autobiography: "I had the satisfaction of leading my regiment into burning Richmond, the day after Lee abandoned it. A few months later, sick again with malaria and dysentery, he left his command for good and traveled north to Newport. He left the Army and in 1866 President Andrew Johnson made him a brevet, or honorary, brigadier general for his bravery and service. Thereafter, he and his brother Henry found a ready outlet for their articles in Edward Lawrence Godkin's new weekly magazine, The Nation. He was involved in the creation of the Massachusetts Railroad Commission, being appointed one of three commissioners in June 1869. The next month the North American Review printed, Chapters of Erie, his expose of the railroad speculations of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jay Gould, James Fisk, and Daniel Drew. Adams' portrait of their Wall Street manipulation was an early example of muck-raking journalism. Adams concluded that economies of scale in the railroad industry would lead to even larger railroad systems and regulated monopolies might be the best way to lower costs and minimize rates. "His work with the commission standardizing railroad law, accounting, and safety regulations was adopted by other states. In 1877 Adams and the commission also negotiated an agreement between labor and management ending the Boston & Maine Railroad strike. The next year his Railroads, Their Origins and Problems, raised his national profile." "In that year President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed Adams one of five new government directors of the Union Pacific Railway (UP). Representing the public, they served alongside 15 corporate directors representing stock holders. A new law created a special UP auditing bureau in the Department of the Interior leaving the government directors the task of touring the road and reporting on its condition. They did in September and October and Chairman Adams, wrote a 20-page report and submitted it in December. He resigned because the Board of Government Directors had almost entirely failed to accomplish the results that were expected of it. . . "Adams joined the UP corporate board and made a long inspection tour of the Union Pacific Railway in 1882. In March 1883 he was asked to chair a committee exploring the road's management problems. In addition to management problems, they found the UP was operating in the red, its stock price was dropping, and a recession was drying up sources of loans. Later that year, after Jay Gould left the board and Sidney Dillion resigned as president, Congress urged Union Pacific directors to appoint Adams as Dillion's replacement. Adams seemed like the ideal candidate; he understood railroads, he was honest, he came from a good family, and he knew how to work with Congress and eastern investors. Adams accepted and resigned from the Eastern Trunk Line Association board the following year." "As Union Pacific President, Adams knew what was needed. He attacked internal problems by consolidating operations into departments and bringing in new managers. In Washington he fought pending lawsuits, attempted to refinance government debt, lobbied for favorable legislation, and did his best to deal with hostile legislators and bureaucrats. Unfortunately, most of his initiatives came to naught. With six transcontinental lines competing for scarce freight and passenger business it was impossible to increase railroad income. Rate wars cut into profits, pooling schemes regularly collapsed, debt relief legislation was delayed by investigations rehashing old abuses, and losses curtailed dividends. Without dividends stock prices fell leaving the road vulnerable to Wall street financiers." "Unable to borrow money to keep the railroad afloat, Adams was forced to seek the help of Jay Gould. On November 26, 1890, Dillion replaced Adams as president of the UP and control of the railroad returned to Jay Gould. Adams had done as well as could be expected meeting the challenges that the Union Pacific faced. The railroads had led Gilded Age expansion and prosperity but that ended with the Panic of 1893, the start of a long depression. Many railroads went bankrupt. In October 1883 the Union Pacific went into receivership. The panic also put the Adams family finances in crisis. Although critical of materialism, Adams had built his own fortune during the Gilded Age. He invested in land and stock, often collaborating with his older brother John [by] using borrowed money." "His two-volume "Richard Henry Dana: A Biography," was published in 1891. This was quickly followed by his innovative local history, "Three Episodes in Massachusetts History" (1892), and the historiography, "Massachusetts: Its Historians and Its History" (1893), a book that praised neither the founders nor the historians." "At the turn of the century Adams helped organize the Boston Anti-Imperialist League. His beliefs about American foreign policy were similar to his brother Henry’s but differed from brother Brooks'. The Spanish-American War had left America with foreign possessions. Adams said, We are blood guilty; and we are doing to others in violation of our traditional policy and all the teachings of history what we have protested against when attempted on us or doing elsewhereI feel I ought to bear witness. "His remarks about race were more problematic than his anti-war statements. In his autobiography, Adams concluded that the negro was wholly unfit for cavalry service, lacking absolutely the essential qualities of alertness, individuality, reliability and self-reliance. In speeches, he praised Robert E. Lee as an American patriot because his surrender averted possible last-ditch guerrilla and bush-whacking efforts by Confederates. Apparently, Adams didn't notice Klan intimidation, voter suppression, the terrorism of lynchings, and the widespread use of debt peonage to replace slavery." For an even more revealing and unflattering retrospective on Adams' racism, see: https://werehistory.org/the-fall-of-the-house-of-adams-cha/ During the last weeks of the 1908 presidential election campaign Adams delivered a speech in Richmond, Virginia, The Solid South and the Afro-American Race Problem. He began by saying, And so I propose on this occasion to handle the dynamite referred to [in the speech title] with a freedom bordering on recklessness. Fulfilling that promise, he said that reconstruction was worse than a crime, and suggesting that the solution to the Negro Problem should be, worked out in the south, without external intervention. W.E.B. DuBois responded by letter, telling Adams he was . . . not only wrong but distinctly sensational in the worst sense of the term. DuBois found it astounding, That a man of the twentieth century would stand up and indiscriminately vilify one hundred and fifty million or more human beings. . . "Charles Francis Adams, Jr. is remembered, but his reputation doesn't match that of his brothers Henry and Brooks, let alone his grandfather and great-grandfather... Adams died of stroke [in 1915] during a bout with influenza in Washington, D.C. His funeral was at the Quincy church, and he now lies near his brother John in Mount Wollaston cemetery. Eight months after his death, the Massachusetts Historical Society held a memorial service at First Church, Boston. Henry Cabot Lodge, his old student, was the principal speaker. His wife Minnie lived until March 23, 1935. She rests near him." -- Text compiled from Wesley V. Hromatko's "Charles Francis Adams, Jr.," published on March 30, 2015 at https://uudb.org/articles/charlesfrancisadamsii.html. It is based upon the biography of Charles Francis Adams, Jr. in the Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography, an on-line resource of the Unitarian Universalist History & Heritage Society.

*** ANNOUNCEMENT *** We are sorry to say that our monthly meeting for November (11.18.20) is cancelled.

On November 10, 1865 at 10:32 a.m. Captain Henry Wirz was hung for his participation in the events at Andersonville. On the scaffold, Wirz reportedly said, I k...now what orders are, Major. I am being hanged for obeying them. Image Credit: Library of Congress Image Description: Captain Henry Wirz on a scaffold at the Old Capital Prison, November 10, 1865. Alt text: High scaffold surrounded by armed soldiers.

Somethings never change. Even Civil War nurses couldn't resist a good photo-op at Lookout Mountain.

Museum Monday Heroes with Hooves, an exhibit about horses and mules during the Civil War is on display in the Visitor Center. Stop by Friday-Monday, 10:00 AM - ...4:00 PM to see the exhibit and a few horse related artifacts. The exhibit is also available on our website: https://www.nps.gov/stri/cw-horses-and-mule.htm

Richard Wolfe of the Rich Mountain Battlefield Foundation tells the story of Frederick Lander's heated exchange with Confederates high above Rich Mountain.

Little is known about this unidentified #Pittsburgh Civil War veteran of the G.A.R. Post no. 151. This photo was taken in Pittsburgh's South Side in 1895. Homann, Edward, photographer.(https://www.loc.gov/item/2017660649/)

This election has not been decided! No, not THAT election. We want you to vote in the first Battle of Gettysburg Podcast Fantasy Draft. If you have not listened... yet, what are you waiting for?? Attached are the results for each team presented in their reverse draft order. Read all of the teams and click LIKE to VOTE for your favorite team. Click LiKE on your favorite team. Easy! LBG pride and bragging rights are at stake. Click LIKE to VOTE for your favorite team! See more

We’ve had 83 new folks like our page in the past 28 days! Just wanted to say welcome to all our new followers. When I started this page for the WPACWRT I never thought we’d have so much interest. Please feel free to say hi and let us know where you’re from in the comments!

George Nixon of the 73rd Ohio Volunteers received treatment at the George Spangler Farm & Field Hospital after being severely wounded on the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Today, his remains lie in the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. #MuseumMonday #NationalOhioDay

1864 was also a presidential election year, and electioneering by representatives of the two candidates, Abraham Lincoln and George McClellan, as well as variou...s state candidates, began months before the election during the early months of the Petersburg campaign. The first two drawings below from the Becker Collection (https://beckercollection.bc.edu/) show electioneering efforts. The final drawing illustrates soldiers of the Army of the Potomac voting in their camp. See more

Rainbows, cool skies and no rain at Antietam today!