Civil War Anecdotes – The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable

The Hero of Gettysburg Surveyed the Great Lakes.

By Daniel J. Ursu, Roundtable Historian
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2022-2023, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was the history brief for the November 2022 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable.

Many of our members have enjoyed the recreational pleasures of living on the Great Lakes and especially Lake Erie. Most of us at one time or another have boated, fished, swam, sunbathed on a beach, or simply enjoyed a pleasure cruise, for instance on the Goodtime III. However, it is probably overlooked when we enjoy Lake Erie that this is due in part to the work done prior to the Civil War by the hero of Gettysburg, none other than General George Gordon Meade.

I’ll Trade You a Fredericksburg for a Winchester and a Pea Ridge.

By David A. Carrino
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2022, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in The Charger in October 2022.

The October 2021 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable was an especially enjoyable one for me. It was not so much a memorable meeting, but a memory-able one. By memory-able, I mean that the meeting brought back memories for me. What made the meeting memory-able is that I sat with AJ Cianflocco, who at the time of the October meeting was a recent recruit to our organization. AJ and I were classmates at John Carroll University, Class of 1972, and we had not really seen each other since our days at John Carroll. The October meeting was a nice opportunity for us to catch up on the decades since our graduation. Talking with AJ is one of the things that made the meeting memory-able, because we had the opportunity to tell each other about our lives since graduation. AJ, like me, has a professional background in an area other than history. AJ is a physician, and I had no idea that he is interested in the Civil War. Because of this, I asked him how he came to acquire an interest in that conflict. His answer was another reason that the October meeting was memory-able for me, because AJ’s answer brought back a memory from my youth. AJ said that his interest in the Civil War began with trading cards about the Civil War that were sold many years ago. I likewise collected those cards, and while I remember the cards, I do not remember much about the specifics of them. This led me to do some investigation into those cards.

Was “Prince John” Only Acting?

By Brian D. Kowell
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2021, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in The Charger in October/November 2021.

“He’s the hero for the times,
The furious fighting Johnny B. Magruder”

– Civil War Ballad

Though a small engagement, the Battle of Big Bethel on June 10, 1861, made General John Bankhead Magruder a celebrity. Pompous, egotistical, and given to theatrical behavior, he thrived on the recognition. Nicknamed “Prince John” because of his penchant for lavish entertainment, courtliness toward ladies, and fashionably ornate military dress, he also was fond of strong drink.

A Footnote in Civil War History

By Brian D. Kowell
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2022, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in The Charger in February 2022.

There are 18 outdoor Civil War statues spread throughout much of central and northwest Washington, D.C. There are 11 statutes of Union generals, two of Union admirals, and one (which was recently removed) of Confederate General Albert Pike, who was depicted as a Mason and not as a general. The other Civil War statues in Washington, D.C. are a G.A.R. Memorial, Peace Monument, Emancipation Memorial, and, the newest, an African American Civil War Memorial.

In addition to the statuary, there are a number of historical plaques to the Civil War at various sites. One of the strangest sites is located on the grounds of the Washington Naval Yard. The plaque there reads:

“Within this wall is deposited the leg of Col. Ulric Dahlgren U S V
wounded July 6th 1863 while skirmishing in the streets of Hagerstown
with the rebels after the Battle of Gettysburgh”

The Near Capture of Ulysses Grant by Confederate General Jackson

By David A. Carrino
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2022, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in The Charger in January 2022.

Perhaps the two most intriguing words in history are “What if?” This is true whether the word “history” is used in the context of the past, itself, or in the context of the study of the past. In the latter context, “What if?” leads to interesting, enjoyable, thought-provoking, and sometimes intense discussions. When people who are interested in history concoct alternative histories based on some event happening differently (i.e., a what-if), the discussions that follow are one of the things that contribute to people’s interest in history. In the former context of the word “history,” a real-life what-if strategically placed into the past (if such a thing were possible) could, as George Bailey learned, produce a substantially different present than the one in which we now live, and this is a significant reason for those interesting, enjoyable, thought-provoking, and sometimes intense discussions when “What if?” is inserted into the study of the past.

Frederick Dent Grant at the Vicksburg Campaign

By Daniel J. Ursu, Roundtable Historian
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2021-2022, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was the history brief for the September 2021 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable.

For those of you who have been following my recent history briefs regarding Grant’s Vicksburg Campaign, you know that we left off at the fall of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. However, before we move on, there is one often overlooked aspect that I believe is uniquely interesting. During the campaign Grant was accompanied by his oldest son, Frederick Dent Grant. The young Grant sent letters and otherwise wrote about his experiences from his youthful perspective as a 12-year-old.

New Civil War Database Goes Online

By William F.B. Vodrey
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2005, 2007, All Rights Reserved

The National Park Service has announced that the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System (CWSS) website is now up and running. It features basic information on the service records of over 6 million Civil War soldiers and sailors, and the database can be found at www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm. Due to the sometimes erratic and duplicative record-keeping of the day, as well as reenlistments, the number of entries is greater than the number of those who actually served. The website also lists Federal and Confederate regiments and their battles.

On the Set of the Movie Gods and Generals

By David R. Thomas
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2008, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in The Charger in February 2002.

For three weekends this fall, I was on the set for the upcoming film Gods and Generals, based on the novel by Jeff Shaara. The film covers the years from John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry up to the Gettysburg Campaign. I had a wonderful experience working with this movie.

Behind the Lines: My Life as a Yankee in Franklin, TN, Part 6

By Mel Maurer
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2004, All Rights Reserved

Part 6 of a 6-part article

When General John Bell Hood looked out from Winsted Hill in the late afternoon on November 30, 1864, the day he would lead so many men to their deaths in the Battle of Franklin, he would have seen, among other things, three miles north from where he stood, the farmhouse of Fountain Branch Carter on the immediate west side of Columbia Road just behind two lines of Federal entrenchments. The Carter cotton gin was about 100 yards from the house on the east side of the road. These structures would see some of the heaviest fighting, not only in the Battle of Franklin, but also of the whole Civil War.

Behind the Lines: My Life as a Yankee in Franklin, TN, Part 5

By Mel Maurer
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2004, All Rights Reserved

Part 5 of a 6-part article

Franklin had four major events each year at the time I moved there – one in each season. The last weekend in April, the town’s street were closed and filled with various booths of goodies and crafts for Franklin’s annual and very well attended “Main Street Festival.” In August stages were set up on several downtown streets for the town’s annual Jazz Festival (yes, jazz, not country music). On the closest weekend to Halloween, the streets were again closed for Pumpkin Fest with a costumed parade of young and old and various activities and booths. On an early weekend in December, the Heritage Society holds its “Dickens of a Christmas” festival, wherein townspeople dress up as Dickens characters, and the town becomes an English village, an event that attracts hundreds of visitors over its two days. (I was Batman for Pumpkin Fest and David Copperfield for Dickens, but I never had the chance to dress as a Federal or Confederate.)