cleveland – The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable

Armistead, Ashby, and “The Star-Spangled Banner”

By Brian D. Kowell
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2025, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in The Charger in October 2025.

On September 14, 1814, lawyer Francis Scott Key stood aboard a truce ship outside Baltimore Harbor and watched through the night as the British bombarded American-held Fort McHenry. As the sky lightened and he glimpsed the American flag still waving above the ramparts, the inspired Key removed a letter from his pocket and began to write verses upon the back. The finished poem was later titled “Defense of Fort McHenry” and put to music as “The Star-Spangled Banner.”¹

A Civil War-Era Invention That Literally Was a Game-Changer

By David A. Carrino
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2026, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in The Charger in February 2026.

The Civil War is often called the first modern war because many advances in technology and in military practices had their first widespread use during the Civil War. This is articulated nicely and succinctly in an article on the website of the Chicago Historical Society: “The Civil War demonstrated for the first time how industrial technology had transformed the nature of warfare.” After the Civil War, wars and the methodology of waging war would never be the same as before, a fact that European nations cruelly learned in World War I. Rifled muskets, ironclad warships, the use of railroads to transport troops and supplies, faster and better medical treatment of the wounded, the use of the telegraph to enhance the speed of communication, surveillance balloons, and trench warfare all experienced their first widespread wartime use in the Civil War. Moreover, the practice of total war came to prominence during the Civil War, which also saw the first sinking of an enemy warship by a submarine. The Union war effort was even aided by the mass production of horseshoes with a machine that could make a horseshoe per second.

Brothers in Arms: Edgar and William Abbott at Stones River – In Their Own Words

By Thomas M. Cooper
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2025, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in The Charger in October 2025.

This is a story of discovery, of happenstance, of survival, of collaboration – and of gratitude.

Directly after Dan Masters’ March 13, 2024 presentation to our Cleveland Civil War Roundtable on the Battle of Stones River, I approached him about my having had two great-great grandfathers involved in that engagement – one from Ohio and one from Indiana. He asked which Indiana unit, and I recalled the 4th Battery, Light Artillery. Dan said in fact he had posted information about Capt. Asahel Bush’s 4th Indiana Battery on his website just the day before his CCWRT presentation. (See reference and website: “Reminders of the 4th Indiana Battery’s Fight along the Wilkinson Pike,” March 12, 2024.)

Lines Drawn in War: Cartographers, Cameras, and the Civil War Landscape

By Don Iannone
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2026, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in The Charger in April 2026.

The American Civil War is often remembered through movement. Armies advance, lines break, and commanders maneuver across contested ground. Beneath these visible actions lay a quieter discipline that made such movement possible. Cartographers, working as topographical engineers, surveyors, and mapmakers, translated uncertain terrain into usable knowledge. Their work shaped strategy, influenced outcomes, and helped define how the war would be remembered.

These men did more than record geography. They interpreted it. In doing so, they imposed order on chaos, sometimes accurately, sometimes imperfectly, but always with consequence.

Edwin Cole Bearss, 1923-2020

By Brian D. Kowell
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2026, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in The Charger in January 2026.

Edwin Cole Bearss was born on June 26, 1923 in Billings, Montana. His parents were Omar Effinger Bearss (1896-1981) and Virginia Louise Morse Bearss (1901-1964). He had one younger brother, Robert (Pat) Bearss. Ed was raised on a 10,000-acre cattle ranch that was 90 miles west of Billings and was named the E bar S. He grew up with kerosene lamps and horse-drawn plows. Ed and his brother Pat worked on the ranch when not attending school. Their first school, a one-room schoolhouse, Sarpy School, was six miles away, and sometimes the boys rode together on horseback to and from the school.

Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, Part 5

The Fall of Atlanta

By Daniel J. Ursu, Roundtable Historian
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2025-2026, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was the history brief for the April 2026 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable.

Part 4 of this series (the March 2026 history brief) covered the previous phase of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign in the wake of General Ulysses S. Grant’s letter of April 4, 1864, which directed Sherman regarding the rebel Army of Tennessee: “to break it up, and to get into the interior of the enemy’s country as far as you can, inflicting all the damage you can against their war resources.” Part 4 specifically covered Sherman’s advance against the retreating Confederate army from the Chattahoochee River to the Battle of Peachtree Creek. With the aggressive Confederate General John Bell Hood now in command of the rebel Army of Tennessee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis thought that the momentum of the campaign could possibly turn in the South’s favor. But the rebel defeat at Peachtree Creek was a step in the wrong direction.

Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, Part 4

Chattahoochee River to the Battle of Peachtree Creek

By Daniel J. Ursu, Roundtable Historian
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2025-2026, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was the history brief for the March 2026 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable.

Part 3 of this series (the February 2026 history brief) covered the previous phase of Union General William Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign in the wake of General Ulysses Grant’s letter of April 4, 1864, which directed Sherman regarding the rebel Army of Tennessee: “to break it up, and to get into the interior of the enemy’s country as far as you can, inflicting all the damage you can against their war resources.” Part 3 specifically covered Sherman’s advance against General Joseph Johnston’s retreating Army of Tennessee from Kennesaw Mountain to the Chattahoochee River. A formidable defensive general, Johnston throughout the campaign selected excellent defensive positions. But now, the Chattahoochee River was the last natural defensive position only a few miles north of Atlanta itself. As they say, Johnston “had his back up against the wall.”

Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, Part 3

Allatoona Pass to Kennesaw Mountain and the Chattahoochee River

By Daniel J. Ursu, Roundtable Historian
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2025-2026, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was the history brief for the February 2026 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable.

Part 2 of this series (the December 2025 history brief) further examined Union General William Sherman’s continued Atlanta Campaign in the wake of General Ulysses Grant’s letter of April 4, 1864, which directed Sherman regarding the rebel Army of Tennessee: “to break it up, and to get into the interior of the enemy’s country as far as you can, inflicting all the damage you can against their war resources.” That history brief covered Sherman’s advance against General Joseph Johnston’s retreating Confederate army from Resaca to Allatoona, arriving there on May 20, 1864. A formidable defensive general, Johnston throughout the campaign selected ideal defensive positions, and Allatoona was among the best.

The Most Important State, North or South, during the Civil War Era (Other than Ohio) – Illinois

Other than Ohio, what was the most important state, North or South, during the Civil War era? Illinois

By David F. Parchem
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2026, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: The subject of the annual Dick Crews Memorial Debate at the January 2026 Roundtable meeting was: “Other than Ohio, what was the most important state, North or South, during the Civil War era?” Four members made presentations on the topic; the article below was one of those four presentations.

“Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men.”

General George S. Patton

The three most important men for winning the Civil War came from Illinois.

The Most Important State, North or South, during the Civil War Era (Other than Ohio) – New York

Other than Ohio, what was the most important state, North or South, during the Civil War era? New York

By Don Iannone
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2026, All Rights Reserved

New York and the Union War System: Men, Money, Movement, and Mind

Before I begin, I want to thank Judge William Vodrey for organizing this debate and the members of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable for hosting it. It’s a privilege to be part of a forum that takes history seriously and argues about it in good faith.