Category: History Briefs

History briefs written by the Roundtable historian

General Burnside of “Burnside’s Bridge” Fame Faced Infamy at Fredericksburg for Lack of a Bridge

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 December 2022 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable.

Exactly 160 years ago today on December 14, 1862, the Union Army of the Potomac (AOP) retreated from Fredericksburg after its disastrous winter assault on Confederate forces dug in and well positioned on the bluffs above the town and beyond. The defeat of the Union attack was so complete and comprehensive that it solemnly moved Robert E. Lee to utter one of his most famous quotes, recounted by Shelby Foote in Volume II of his The Civil War: A Narrative, “A British observer saw ‘Antique Courage’ in Lee’s manner as he turned to Longstreet…lowering his glasses after a long look at the blasted plain where still more Federals massed…’It is well that war is so terrible. We should grow too fond of it.'”

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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.

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“Old Abe” the Eagle

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 September 2022 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable.

As mentioned in my last history brief, this edition was to continue to whet the appetite for new Roundtable president Lily Korte’s upcoming annual field trip from September 22-24 to cover General Phil Sheridan’s 1864 campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, with the completion of my recap of Jackson’s 1862 Valley Campaign. However, since tonight’s speaker is focused on the Valley, Lily thought it best for our group to have a different history brief topic tonight lest they feel overwhelmed with too much “Valley Campaigns”! To wit, what do “Old Abe,” the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and the modern-day 101st U.S. Airborne Division have in common? Many of you probably already know, but for the remainder and as a recap for others, you will now find out!

In 1861 in the state of Wisconsin, the leader of the Flambeau sect of the Chippewa Tribe of American Indians, whose name was Chief Sky (Chippewa name: Ahgamahwegezhig), cut down a tree with an American eagle nest that contained two baby eaglets. Only one of the eaglets survived. The chief, seeing an opportunity, traded the eaglet to a local farmer for a bushel of sweet corn.

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Jackson in the Shenandoah River Valley – March 10 to May 22, 1862

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 April 2022 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable.

As mentioned in last month’s history brief, to whet the appetite of members for vice president Lily Korte’s September 2022 Cleveland Civil War Roundtable annual field trip to cover General Phil Sheridan’s 1864 campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, the next several history briefs will focus on General Stonewall Jackson’s Valley Campaign of 1862. The accompanying map will be helpful in following this narrative.

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The Shenandoah River Valley during the Civil War

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 March 2022 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable.

“Almost Heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River.” Many of you recognize these words as lyrics from the famous John Denver song, “Country Roads.” Some of you also might recall that on the annual field trip to Antietam and Harpers Ferry in 2018 during my presidential year, one of our guides, Jim Prentice, was quite certain that Mr. Denver wrote this song while sitting on a river bench in Harpers Ferry – the spot where these geographic features come together at the extreme northern end of the Shenandoah River Valley. I bring this up since our vice president, Lily Korte, is planning her field trip to the Shenandoah River Valley to cover Ohioan Union General Philip Sheridan’s 1864 Valley Campaign. After discussion with Lily, I decided to whet our members’ appetites for the September excursion by highlighting the Shenandoah River Valley during the Civil War. This history brief reviews the Valley, itself, and some of its most important features. The various places that are described in this history brief can be located on the map below.

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McClellan’s “Pieces of Position” at Antietam

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 December 2021 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable.

Most of my recent history briefs have focused on aspects of the Western Theater of the Civil War. This month, we return to the Eastern Theater with a look at General McClellan’s use of heavy artillery and especially that which he massed on the eastern ridge of Antietam Creek during the Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862. For those who went on the field trip in September of 2018 to Antietam/Harpers Ferry during my year as Roundtable president – or otherwise have visited the site – please recall the Pry House which rests on that ridge. Although Union artillery was positioned at many points along the ridge, the heaviest of the pieces were just to the south of the Pry House on either side of the Boonesboro Pike.

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The Battle of Chickamauga: The 21st Ohio at Snodgrass Hill

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 October 2021 meeting of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable.

The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable just returned from our excellent fall field trip planned by President Mark Porter to Chickamauga and Chattanooga. Therefore, I thought that it would be appropriate to focus on some aspect of the field trip for this history brief. During our battlefield visits it became obvious to me that the stand of the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment at Snodgrass Hill would be ideal. Our guide, Robert Carter, termed it every bit as heroic and consequential as the stand of the 20th Maine on Little Round Top at Gettysburg. Indeed, the length of the line defended by the 21st Ohio was far greater than that of the 20th Maine at the end of its line. Also, the stand of the 21st Ohio was longer in duration, as it began in the early afternoon and ended with the fall of darkness.

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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.

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Vicksburg Falls – Pemberton Surrenders to Grant – July 2 to July 4, 1863

By Daniel J. Ursu, Roundtable Historian
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2020-2021, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article is the history brief for July 2021. Because the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the in-person meetings of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable in the 2020-2021 season, this history brief was submitted during the following summer and not as part of a monthly meeting.

We pick up where we left off last month with the second underground mine explosion by the Union on July 1, which destroyed the Confederate’s Third Louisiana Redan in the fortified line defending besieged Vicksburg. This was the second such detonation at this redan. The first was followed by a failed Union assault. After the second blast no assault was attempted pending General Grant’s desire to do so at such time when numerous underground mines could be detonated simultaneously.

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Grant Besieges Vicksburg – May 23 to July 1, 1863

By Daniel J. Ursu, Roundtable Historian
The Cleveland Civil War Roundtable
Copyright © 2020-2021, All Rights Reserved

Editor’s note: This article is the history brief for June 2021. Because the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the in-person meetings of the Cleveland Civil War Roundtable in the 2020-2021 season, this history brief was submitted during the following summer and not as part of a monthly meeting.

We pick up from last month’s history brief where we left off in the wake of Grant’s second major assault on the prepared defenses of the Vicksburg fortress. It was marginally more successful than the hasty first attack of the May 19 and was deliberately planned, complete with an early morning prebombardment. The assault succeeded in taking the Railroad Redoubt for several hours but seriously threatened only one other major defensive work, that being the Second Texas Lunette. Overall, the attack was another disappointing setback. Going forward, Grant would more patiently await the demise of the Vicksburg garrison via siege warfare, which inevitably over time would exhaust its food, stores, and munitions. Ultimately, in Grant’s mind, it should force a C.S.A. surrender by their Commanding General Pemberton.

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