The Newsletter of the Salt Creek Civil War Roundtable Vol. XLXVIII No. 9 May 2011 411th Regular Meeting The 15th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment is best known as the Scandinavian Regiment. Led by Colonel Hans Christian Heg, the Scandinavians saw long and hard service, fighting in over 20 battles, including Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and the Atlanta Campaign. Jerry Allen grew up on a farm in La Crosse County Wisconsin with a predominantly Norwegian heritage. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a BS degree in Mathematics and Physics. He received a MS degree in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Jerry currently works as a pension consultant in downtown Chicago. He and his wife Ellen live in Cary. Although not a professional historian, Jerry has had a life-long interest in history with special interest in the Civil War and American Indian Conflicts. He is past president of the Chicago and Northern Illinois Civil War Round Tables and is a member of SCCWRT and various other Civil War Round Tables. His other Civil War projects include the research and portrayal of his great- grandfather Capt. John K. Allen of the 78th Illinois Infantry Regiment, the Minnesota Conflict of 1862, and the portrayal of General George H. Thomas. Besides describing the Scandinavian’s involvement in the Civil War, Jerry will also take us up north to Norway. That would be the Township of Norway in Racine County Wisconsin where a group of Norwegians formed the settlement of Muskego, which became the mother colony of other Norse settlements in Wisconsin. This is where the Scandinavian Regiment got its start. The SCCWRT extends its welcome to this civil war enthusiast and scholar and look forward to an enlightening and entertaining The Outpost DATE: Friday, May 20, 2011 PLACE: Fairview Village Downers Grove, IL 60516 TIME: 8:00 p.m. SPEAKER: Jerry Allen TOPIC: "Fur Gud og Vort Land!" APRIL MEETING BY RICK BENSON On Friday April 15, 2011 Bruce Allardice presented a Power Point presentation and talk on Conscription and the Civil War. He began his presentation talking about the “Draft” in the US, which initially was for 9 months. In NY the initial reaction to the draft was riots. The riots killed as many as were killed in the initial battles. What made “Drafts” so popular was that Napoleon defeated all the professional armies of Europe with a draft conscripts. The French were the people that realized that rich people would figure out a way to avoid the draft. Hence they allowed rich people to avoid the draft by paying either a substitute, or by a “buy-out”, or bribery. The monies received from “buy-outs”, helped to pay for the war effort, hence it was acceptable. Draftees also paid other people to knock out their front teeth. Without front teeth, you couldn’t tear open the cartridge – hence you couldn’t be drafted. At the start of the Civil War, all countries of the world had conscription. The US was an exception. We only used volunteers up to the Civil War. Prior to the Civil War there also was no Income Tax. Both of these changed as a result of the Civil War. Both sides had more volunteers than they could use or accept in 1861. Both sides signed volunteers for 12 months. Both sides realized that their Armies would shrink or disappear in mid-1862, as many of these soldiers would not re- enlist. Initially the South drafted men 18-35. In Sept. 1861 it was increased to maximum age 45. In 1864, they drafted men between ages of 17 to 50. It was the South that initiated the draft at the recommendation of Jefferson Davis with agreement from R.E. Lee. The Union passed their draft in 1863 – a year after the “States Rights” Southern draft legislation. Five Northern States had a State Draft to fill the government requirements for soldiers. The Union Government based the State quotas on the 1860 Census. Exemptions: Since the draft laws were generated by politicians, they (shockingly) exempted themselves. Next, Newspaper Editors were exempted, as they primarily swayed the populous to vote for these politicians. Then Teachers, Printers, and Doctors were exempted. Certain workers, like the workers at Tredegar Iron Works also got exempted. In the North, they allowed only one son per family to be drafted. The same held true for “only sons”. Sheer numbers prevented these exceptions from happening in the South. The Confederates also drafted passifests for non-combat roles, such as driving a wagon, or helping out in a hospital. North Carolina & Pennsylvania both had the National Draft declared unconstitutional as they owed their allegiance to the State. There was a lot of abuse of exemptions for Sheriffs, Clergy, Government Workers, Militia Officers. In the South they also had a “20 Slave Law” exemptions. The Confederates then countered by making these 20 Slave Plantations provide food and other goods at “published” Government prices, which were much lower than market prices. You could also get an exemption for medical issues, being on drugs, or bad eye sight. These deferments were all abused. For $300.00 you could buy your way out of the draft. Hence the phrase “Rich man’s war, poor man’s fight”. The government then paid “Enlistment Bonus” out of this $300.00 they got from the rich person. By 1863, the Confederate price for buying a substitute was $6,000.00. The Confederate Government abolished substitutes in 1863. In the North, firms sprang up that advertised that they could provide substitutes. Northern States counted anybody they could, such as negro soldiers. States and cities offered “bonuses”. People that lived in State border areas would go to the State offering the higher “Bonus”. Many of these people than deserted to do this same thing again. They were known as “Bounty Jumpers”. To counter this, States would not pay the “Bonus” until the signee was “Honorably Discharged”. Out of 776,000 Union draftees, only 46,000 actually served. Many got Medical Discharges. Many paid a commutation fee, etc. Best estimate of draftees in the Confederate Armies was 126,000 draftees. Again, much of this was due to sheer lack of numbers. Bruce feels that the “high water mark of the Confederacy was in the fall of 1862, as the South has the draft then, but the North has not yet instituted the Draft”. In the North, many draftees fled to Canada. In the South, many just flat out avoided the draft by refusing to acknowledge its legality. Jones County, MS seceded from the State of Mississippi. Hence all draft resisters could refuse to be inducted. A very interesting presentation on a yet another aspect of the Civil War that has not been over-saturated with information. PRESERVATION REPORT BY LEN OVERCASH, SR. Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report Update & Resurvey. Congress has called for an update of the 1993 Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Report on the Nation's Civil War Battlefields to be undertaken by the American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) of the National Park Service. This update will identify preservation opportunities and reflect changes in conditions and threats for the 384 Civil War battlefields listed in the 1993 report. The final report is intended to not only provide Congress with an update of the 1993 report, but also to provide information for Federal, State, and local agencies, and non-profit organizations to aid in planning for the preservation of Civil War battlefields. In order to update the report, The ABPP has undertaken a resurvey of the 384 battlefields. The study has been divided into two parts: surveys for each battlefield, and collection of preservation information from organizations administering battlefield lands. The size and scope of the 1993 battlefield Study and Core area boundaries are being reassessed and surviving areas that retain integrity are being identified. The preservation information being gathered for each site includes acreage of protected lands, documentation of existing site interpretation, and cataloguing of preservation activities undertaken since 1993. To date, field surveys have been conducted at all 384 battlefields in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia. In the spring of 2003, the Civil War Trust asked the consulting firm of Davidson Peterson Associates to conduct a study to determine who is visiting Civil War battlefields and what impact those visitors have on the local economy. We asked visitors at each site to complete a short survey telling us the length of their stay, approximating their expenditures, and giving basic demographic information, including age, income and education level. Davidson Peterson then used economic models to extrapolate the larger economic benefits to the community. (The source for the above article[s] is CWT. ALL FOR THE UNION Final notice for 2011 dues Renewals will gladly be accepted at the meeting or by mail to: Jean Cairns,Treasurer 1420 71st St., Downers Gr., 60516 Many thanks to those members who helped at the C.W.Collector's Show: Rick Benson, Don Sender, Cindy Heckler, Jane Munsie, Jean Cairns, Cindy Intravartolo, Dan McCarthy, Bruce Allardice, Kurt Carlson, Bill Sell, Rick Zarr, Roger Bohn, Barney Bucholz & Jan Rasmussen WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS: Len & Emily Kowalski Civil War re-enactors are needed for filming at Dollinger Farms June 10-12. Program to air on Discovery Channel 815-765-9322 UPCOMING CIVIL WAR EVENTS MAY 17, 2011 LINCOLN DAVIS CWRT Speaker: David O. Stewart Topic: "Impeachment of Andrew Johnson" Country House Restaurant Alsip, IL Lincolndavis roundtable@yahoo.com MAY 21-22, 2011 CIVIL WAR DAYS –Naper Settlement 523 S. Webster St, Naperville, IL 630-420-6010 May 25, 2011 "Baseball & the Civil War" Speaker: Bruce Allardice DuPage Co. Historical Museum 630-510-4941 MAY 26, 2011 SOUTH SUBURBAN CWRT Speaker: Frank Crawford Topic: "Medical Practices on the Mississippi" PNC Bank LaGrange Rd (Rt. 45) & Lincoln Hwy (Rt. 30) russelltarvid@hotmail.com JUNE 3, 2011 NORTHERN ILLINOIS CWRT Annual Banquet "Fort Pulaski" Speaker: Gloria Swift Concorde Banquets, Kildeer, IL (847) 438-0025 JUNE 10, 2011 CHICAGO CIVIL WAR ROUNDTABLE Speaker: Peter Carmichael Topic: "Robert E. Lee & the Strategy of Annihilation" Holiday Inn Mart Plaza Chicago 350 North Orleans Street Dinner 6:30 p.m. (630) 460-1865 to make reservations chicagocwrtdinner@earthlink.net FUTURE MEETINGS 2011 (3RD FRIDAY OF THE MONTH) June 17, 2011 Annual Banquet "Illinois Fights the Civil War" Speaker: Robert Girardi RESERVATIONS DUE BY JUNE 10 Sept.16, 2011 "Judah Benjamin" Speaker: Rick Benson THE SALT CREEK CWRT www.saltcreekcwrt.org President: Jan Rasmussen Vice-President: Rick Benson Treasurer: Jean Cairns Secretary: Rick Zarr Historian: Cindy Intravartolo Meeting Liaison: Mary Lord Newsletter Editor: Jennie Warner Newsletter Staff: Rick Benson, Len Overcash Sr, Rick Zarr, Jan Rasmussen Webmaster: Stephen Munier