Upcoming CCWRT Program
Wednesday, December 11, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.
December 2024 Roundtable Meeting: “‘Connivers in Corsets’ – Female Spies & Smugglers during the Civil War”
The December 2024 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable will take place on December 11, 2024 beginning at 6:00 p.m. This will be an in-person meeting. The speaker will be Barbara Toncheff, and the title of Barbara’s presentation is “‘Connivers in Corsets’ – Female Spies & Smugglers during the Civil War.”
When 3 million men on both sides left to fight in the Civil War, they left behind the women that loved them. Many cooked and provided domestic skills, while over 400 enlisted as soldiers. However, others chose to use their feminine wiles to beguile their male enemies out of information and supplies. From commoner to socialite, both blue and gray, brave females of all ages schemed and risked incarceration and potential death if caught. Female prisoner exchanges, spy vs. spy, double agents and those who even seduced their captors are covered in this presentation. Their various clever tactics, juicy affairs and escapades are exposed in this entertaining first-person presentation by a seasoned female spy including props, photos, period news clippings, and short bios on display. Warning: Male attendees may leave never trusting any woman ever again!
Barbara Toncheff is a retired electrophysiology laboratory cardiac technician from the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus. Her long-standing passion for genealogy and Victorian history segued her into researching Civil War-era women’s daily lives and how they survived. Barbara provides a living historian presentation as a female Civil War spy-smuggler.
The December 2024 meeting will be held at the Holiday Inn Independence (6001 Rockside Road, Independence, Ohio 44131). Reservations should be made by sending an email to the Roundtable’s reservation email account (ccwrtreserve@gmail.com). Reservations must be made no later than eight days before the meeting (i.e., no later than December 3, 2024). When making a reservation, please include your name and the number and names of any guests.
The dinner for the December meeting will be a prime rib buffet. This is a holiday dinner for the Roundtable, which makes the December meeting an ideal one for bringing spouses to enjoy our special holiday dinner. There will also be vegetarian options on the buffet table. The cost of dinner is $35 per person. If a reservation needs to be canceled, it must be canceled no later than December 10, 2024. Dinner will be provided to anyone who has a reservation. Other details can be found on the Reservations web page by clicking on this link.
Meeting Summary: November 2024 – “A Thousand May Fall – An Immigrant Regiment’s Civil War: Life, Death, and Survival in the Union Army”
The November 2024 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable featured an outstanding presentation by Dr. Brian Matthew Jordan. Dr. Jordan’s presentation, which was based on his book A Thousand May Fall: An Immigrant Regiment’s Civil War, focused on an Ohio regiment in the Army of the Potomac. This regiment, the 107th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was an ethnically German regiment. As Dr. Jordan pointed out, of the approximately 3,500 Union army regiments, only 30 had a majority ethnic composition. Because of this, these ethnic regiments faced specific challenges due to prejudice.
Dr. Jordan noted that there are two schools of thought regarding the overall characteristics of the typical Union soldier. One of these holds that Union soldiers were motivated by patriotism, were very effective soldiers in battle, and were willing to persist no matter the hardships they endured. The other school of thought holds that Union soldiers came to be disenchanted after the difficulties they experienced, and they questioned the rationality of the decision to go to war and of the war effort, itself. Dr. Jordan focused on the 107th Ohio as a means of investigating these two schools of thought.
Dr. Jordan related how the men of the 107th Ohio embraced their role as soldiers during the time shortly after being mustered into the army. However, the drudgeries of life as soldiers and separation from home eventually wore on them. As if this were not enough to dishearten them, their combat experiences ripped away their fervor for the war, as exemplified by what happened to them at the Battle of Chancellorsville. The 107th Ohio was among the regiments that were positioned in a highly vulnerable location on the army’s right flank, and the men of the 107th suffered serious losses from Stonewall Jackson’s flank attack. Along with most of the XI Corps, the 107th was driven back. As a result, they were roundly blamed for the Army of the Potomac’s defeat even though their serious losses give evidence of their determined resistance against the Confederate attack. Dr. Jordan pointed out that the fault for the Union army’s defeat lay with the army’s higher commanders, who placed the XI Corps in such a vulnerable location. Due in large part to their ethnicity, the men of the 107th were accused of cowardice, in particular by the anti-war political forces at play in Ohio.
Dr. Jordan went on to tell how the 107th Ohio endured a similar fate on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. The men of the regiment were positioned on Blocher’s Knoll and again found themselves in an exposed location on the right flank of the Army of the Potomac. As at Chancellorsville, the 107th was struck by a strong Confederate attack. Despite putting up stiff resistance, the 107th was driven back. The regiment fell back to a position at Cemetery Hill, where they beat back another Confederate assault and held their position. In spite of that, the 107th was criticized for its retreat from Blocher’s Knoll rather than lauded for its stand at Cemetery Hill.
The 107th Ohio, as Dr. Jordan discussed, continued to serve admirably after Gettysburg, including with the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment at Fort Wagner. Ironically, one of the last battles in which the 107th participated, the Battle of Dingle’s Mill, occurred on the same day that Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant. The 107th performed courageously at this battle, but their achievements here received little recognition due to the much greater news from Appomattox Court House. In all, the 107th gave valiant service to the country, in contrast to the harsh criticism it received.
Dr. Jordan concluded by relating some post-war experiences of the 107th Ohio, in particular the difficulties that a number of the men were forced to live with as a result of their wartime service, such as physical handicaps and mental suffering. Dr. Jordan also noted that it is not possible to fully understand Union army soldiers without studying the men in ethnic units. A poignant anecdote that Dr. Jordan told involved the 107th Ohio’s monument at Gettysburg. When the surviving men of the unit made the decision for the location of the 107th’s monument, they chose not Cemetery Hill, where the regiment drove off a strong Confederate assault, but Blocher’s Knoll, where the regiment suffered a serious loss of its members.
The Roundtable is extremely grateful to Dr. Jordan for his very scholarly and thoroughly captivating presentation. Dr. Jordan’s presentation was erudite and eloquent, and the Roundtable thanks him for his exceptional and engaging presentation.
Click on the book link above to purchase from Amazon. Part of the proceeds from any book purchased from Amazon through the CCWRT website is returned to the CCWRT to support its education and preservation programs.
November 2024 Charger Uploaded
The November 2024 issue of The Charger has been uploaded. It can be accessed by clicking on this link.
Latest History Brief (October 2024) Now Posted
Roundtable historian Dan Ursu’s October 2024 history brief has been posted. Dan’s latest history brief is General Meade’s Proposed Pipe Creek Line, and it describes the defensive position that George Meade had in mind for the Army of the Potomac instead of the Cemetery Ridge position at Gettysburg. Dan’s history brief can be accessed by clicking on this link.
Membership Roster and Contact Information
We have worked very hard to improve our membership database and contact information this year, but we know we probably have more work to do. Please be sure to keep us advised of changes in contact information by sending us the information at clecwrt@gmail.com. We monitor that email account on a regular basis, so this would be a big help in making sure we can keep you informed of group activities. If you want to see what has been posted on our Facebook page or Twitter account, you do not have to become a member of the Roundtable. Everyone is welcome to view our Facebook page and Twitter account. These can also be accessed by googling “Cleveland Civil War Roundtable” and either “Facebook” or “Twitter” and clicking on the appropriate link in the search results.
Cleveland Civil War Roundtable Monthly Meetings
Meeting Time: Monthly meetings of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable are typically held on the second Wednesday of the month from September through May. Meetings ordinarily begin with a social hour at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the program at 7:00 p.m. Meetings usually end by around 9:00 p.m. All of our meetings are currently held in person, and barring any future health-related restrictions, we anticipate that all meetings will be held in person.
Meeting Location: In-person meetings are held at the Holiday Inn Independence, 6001 Rockside Road, Independence, Ohio 44131.
Reservations: For in-person meetings, you must make a dinner reservation for any meeting you plan to attend. Reservations must be made no later than eight days prior to the meeting (so we can give a head count to the caterer). For information on making a dinner reservation, click on this link.