T The Newsletter of the Salt Creek Civil War Roundtable Vol. XLX No. 10 June 2010 432nd Regular Meeting The Abraham Lincoln Book Shop was established in 1938, to service the needs of collectors and scholars, professional historians and independent writers, dedicated first edition hunters, and casual history enthusiasts. A group of friends of the owner, Ralph Newman, became the charter members of the Civil War Round Table of Chicago--the first of what would become the movement of Civil War Round Tables to be established all across the U.S.A. The list of this group's members reads like a "'Who's Who" of Lincoln and Civil War scholars. In 1971, Daniel Weinberg entered into partnership with Newman, and in 1984, Dan became the sole proprietor. The Book Shop specializes in Lincolniana, material related to the Civil War and material related to U.S. presidents. Rare books, autographs, manuscripts, works of art, statuary, and other treasures are to be found there. In-print and out-of-print books, pamphlets, historic broadsides, cartes de visite, photographs and many other treasures are all available. The Book Shop is located at 357 W. Chicago Avenue, just west of Orleans Street, in Chicago. Call 312-944-3085; also check: www.alincolnbookshop.com Dan will present to us the view of a selection of important and historic artifacts that have gone through his Book Shop. Of even more interest are the stories that Dan relates in regard to the artifacts' acquisition and the stories of the people involved. The Outpost DATE: 18th of June 2010 PLACE: Lisle-Hilton, 3003 Corporate West Drive, Lisle, IL 60532 TIME: 6:30 PM Cocktails, 7:30 Dinner, 8:30 Presentation SPEAKER: Daniel Weinberg, owner of the Abraham Lincoln Book Shop TOPIC: "Dealing in History: Adventures Through Historical Artifacts" MAY MEETING BY RICK BENSON On Friday May 21, 2010 we had a very interesting Panel Debate by (4) members of the SCCWRT on the above topic. It was moderated by Kurt Carlson. Former President Tony Cichanck chose “The Battle of The Wilderness. Longtime member Len Overcash chose “The Campaigns for Fort Henry & Fort Donaldson. Former President Brian Ruxton choice was “The Atlanta Campaign”. Former President Don Sender chose “The Fall of Vicksburg”. Each of the 4 individuals was allowed a 10 minute opening statement in defense of their choice. Tony Cichanck started out. He felt that the battle itself was not the truly significant aspect of this situation. It was that Grant the following day, continued to move South – in-spite of the results of the Battle. Tony used both Physics & the English language to support his contention. He referred to “Turning Point” as being the initial reaction that achieved the desired result. He felt that the key to defeating the Confederacy was to keep Lee & The Army of Northern Virginia on the defensive, not capturing alleged “Confederate” geography. Thus, he contented that this action by Grant in fact set the tone for the balance of the Civil War. Len Overcash was up next. Len stated the phrase “turning point” means a significant change. He further stated that attempting to identify a single battle or event is a risky undertaking. The Confederates not only lost these two forts, 20,000 plus soldiers, and their weapons, but they lost Kentucky plus the better part of Western & Central Tennessee. Additionally, the Confederacy also lost the shipment of tobacco, whiskey, & snuff from Kentucky, which could be sold to Europe for hard currency or goods. Tennessee was the #2 manufacturing state behind Virginia in the Confederacy. Again, the Rivers in Tennessee opened up the “soft underbelly” of the Confederacy to invasion by Union Armies and Navies. Len related that the Confederacy lost from the Mississippi River East to Nashville in Tennessee. Additionally, the Confederacy also lost an assembly point for invasion of the North of the Ohio River. Next was Brian Ruxton, discussing his choice The Atlanta Campaign. Brian started with a quote “War is politics by other means, and that war is an extension of politics”. He then talked about all the elections that had transpired over the years, and their effect on this specific war. In August, 1864 the War Democrats wanted to pursue the unification of the country, but didn’t really care about the slavery issue. On September 22, 1864, John Fremont who was also running for President withdrew from the race. After September 1, 1864, it became apparent that the South could not militarily win the war. The South’s option was to make the war so costly to the Union, which they would sue for a cessation of hostilities. Last was Don Sender & his choice, The Fall of Vicksburg. First, the loss of between 20 & 27,000 prisoners. Fort Hudson fell on July 9, 1864, & the Confederacy lost another 6,000 soldiers & materials. Second, The Confederacy is split in two. Texas, Louisiana, & Arkansas are stopped from supplying the Eastern Confederacy. Third, supply of Salt. You can’t process & store meat without salt. Additionally, the cattle hides from the Texas cattle provided the shoes, belts, ammunition boxes, etc. for the Confederate Army, not to mention meat. Fourth, Confederate currency was depreciated by 1000%. Fifth, this Campaign made Ulysses S Grant. Without the success of Vicksburg, Grant could have been just another soldier “lost” in the annuals of the Civil War. Kurt Carlson then opened the meeting up to questions and comments. Dan McCarthy chimmed in with an expansion for Len Overcash position on Fort Henry & Donaldson by referring to the Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky. This battle too was lost by the Confederacy, and this forced the Confederates to withdraw from Bowling Green, Kentucky to Nashville, leaving all of Western Tennessee to the Union. There were a few other comments, and as time was starting to become a factor, Kurt Carlson basically made a summation where it is darn near impossible to identify any one battle as the “TURNING POINT”. He related that all parties were well prepared, and defended the opening position very well. This was a fun concept that SCCWRT apparently had gotten away from in the recent era. It was a very interesting & thought provoking panel discussion! ALL FOR THE UNION Cindy Intravartolo has informed us she is relocating to the Peoria/Springfield area at the end of July. Cindy has been an active member in the round table since joining in 1989. As well as volunteering for every SCCWRT event, she has served as board member, newsletter staff member, secretary and president in 1997. She gave a feature presentation and has shared memorabilia stories about on her favorite civil war general, John Buford. In October 2005 she coordinated and moderated a panel discussion on "Roles of Women during the Civil War." Her contributions have been invaluable. As historian she has created and compiled the history of the round table. She has graciously donated her albums to the round table. She promises she will be back for special events, but will be greatly missed at the monthly meetings. We wish Cindy nothing but the best in her new ventures. ROB GIRARDI will speak on "Railroad Defense in the Atlanta Campaign" to the Milwaukee CWRT on June 17th. WELCOME to new member Mark Demski. Mark is a civil war re-enactor with the 1st Michigan Engineers and was recruited by Jerry Feinstein UPCOMING CIVIL WAR EVENTS “Civil War Days” July 10, 2010 Lakewood Forest Preserve near Wauconda featuring encampment, reenactments and first person portrayals. McHenry County CWRT McHenry County Historical Museum Union, IL Tuesday, July 13, 2010 Speaker: Tom DeFranco “Controversies of Gettysburg” Time: 7:30 p.m. www.mchenrycivilwar.com Kenosha Civil War Museum 5400 First Ave Kenosha WI Tuesday, August 3, 2010 Speaker: Ed Bears “Spirit of Freedom Lecture: The influence and impact of the upper middle west on the Civil War” www.thecivilwarmuseum.org FUTURE MEETINGS 2010 (3rd Friday of the month) Sept 17: Paula Walker "A Whitman's Sampler: A Sampling of Poetry From the War Years" Oct 15: Roger Bohn "Zebulon B. Vance: South Carolina's Governor & Blockade Runner Nov 19: Annual Auction Glen Ellyn History Center Dec 17: Memorabilia/Show & Tell THE SALT CREEK CIVIL WAR ROUNDTABLE www.saltcreekcwrt.org President: Jan Rasmussen Vice-President: Robert Girardi Treasurer: Paula Walker Secretary: Rick Zarr Historian: Cindy Intravartolo Meeting Liaison: Mary Lord Newsletter Editor; Jennie Warner, jenniewarner@gmail.com Newsletter Staff: Rick Benson, Rick Zarr, Len Overcash Sr.