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Three Days in Gettysburg with Lincoln: The Lincoln Forum – 2007

By Mel Maurer
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2007, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: The Lincoln Forum (www.thelincolnforum.org) is an organization that “endeavors to enhance the understanding and preserve the memory of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War.” Founded in 1995, the Forum meets each year in Gettysburg, PA, on the anniversary of Lincoln’s address at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery. Several members of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable are also members of the Lincoln Forum and attend its meeting each year. CCWRT past president and 8-year Lincoln Forum member Mel Maurer agreed to our request to provide a recap of this year’s event. (Read Mel’s reports on the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012 Forums.)

The Essential Lincoln Bookshelf

By Mel Maurer and William F.B. Vodrey
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2010, All Rights Reserved

We will not be surprised if everyone who comes to this web page shouts, “Fools! With at least 16,000 books on Abraham Lincoln written over the years, how could anyone hope to boil them all down to a mere handful?” A fair question, but throwing caution to the wind, here is our idiosyncratic list of favorites. Disagree? Have at it!

The Lincoln Legacy: The Man and His Presidency

By William F.B. Vodrey
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2016, All Rights Reserved

Tony Kushner, screenwriter of Steven Spielberg’s movie Lincoln, and Sarah Vowell, author of Assassination Vacation, appeared at the Maltz Center on November 29 as part of Case Western Reserve University’s Think Forum speaker series. CWRU Prof. Jerrold Scott acted as moderator for a lively, interesting discussion of Civil War history and pop culture.

Jesse James – The Last Rebel of the Civil War?

By Mel Maurer
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2008, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: The article below is the text from Mel Maurer’s presentation to the Roundtable on May 14, 2008.

“Jesse James,” said Carl Sandburg, “is the only American who is classical, who is to this country what Robin Hood…is to England, whose exploits are so close to the mythical…”

Wounded Lion: U.S. Grant’s Last Campaign

By Mel Maurer
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2005, All Rights Reserved

Ulysses S. Grant, his wife, Julia, and their family had always enjoyed their annual vacations at their summer home on the beach in New Jersey. However, the summer of 1884 would be different from all the rest. As they moved there in June of that year, Grant was no longer president, nor was he any longer a wealthy former president. This time Grant had not come here to relax, but rather to seriously consider his future.

Balthasar Best and the American Dream

By Mel Maurer
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2005, All Rights Reserved

I was first introduced to Balthasar (also Balthazar) Best by his great grandson, Bill Lasswell, almost two years ago (2003) on the battlefield at Gettysburg. My grandson, Eric, and I had just parked near the Pennsylvania Monument on our auto tour and had walked across the road to the tableau describing the actions of the 1st Minnesota when an older couple approached us. The man said he had noticed that my license plates were from Cuyahoga County. He told us how his great grandfather, Balthasar Best, who had fought with the 1st Minnesota, had survived a shipwreck in 1850 somewhere off the shores of Cuyahoga County when he was just a boy. Mr. Lasswell then asked if I might know anyone named Kleinschmidt – the name of the family that took the young Balthasar in when he managed to reach shore. I told him that I didn’t but that I would do some research when I got home on the shipwreck and the Kleinschmidts.

Andersonville’s “Clerk of the Dead”

By Dick Crews
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2009, All Rights Reserved

Civil War prison Andersonville was only in operation for fourteen months, but is considered the most notorious United States prison. During this short period of just over a year of operation, 45,000 Union soldiers would suffer miserably and 13,000 would die.

An Ancestor at Shiloh

By Dale Thomas
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2001, 2008, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in The Charger in the winter of 2001.

I did not have any ancestors who fought in the Civil War since they were still back in Europe, but my wife, Lea, had a great grandfather, John J. Babbitt, who served three years in the 50th Illinois. A farmer living in St. Augustine, Illinois, Babbitt was twenty years old when he and his uncle, along with a number of cousins, volunteered on September 24, 1861. After less than a month of training in Quincy, Illinois, the Regiment crossed the Mississippi River and began operations against guerrillas in Missouri that continued until late January of 1862. In February, the 50th Illinois was reassigned and ordered to Tennessee where it saw action at Fort Henry and Fort Donelson and then took part in the occupation of Clarksville and Nashville. At the end of March, the Regiment was sent by river boat to Pittsburg Landing.

Officer Profiles: Short Biographical Sketches of Civil War Officers

Editor’s note: This page contains a collection of brief biographical profiles of Civil War officers published in the Charger over the years. Most of these profiles are not original to either the Charger or this website but were cobbled together from various sources. The focus of these profiles is on less well-known players in the Civil War drama and not the superstar generals on whom we tend to more often focus our attention.