The Outpost The Newsletter of the Salt Creek Civil War Roundtable Vol. XLVI No. 8 April 2009 420th Regular Meeting DATE: 3rd April 2009 PLACE: Fairview Village, 200 Village Dr., Downers Grove, Il. TIME: 8:00 PM SPEAKER: Charles Banks TOPIC: “The Lincoln Funeral Train” On April 14, 1865 President Lincoln became the first president to be assassinated while in office. Hear about the remarkable journey of our fallen president, back to Illinois. It has never been repeated since that time, for people to pay their final respects to a fallen hero. Charlie Banks is currently president of the Lake County Civil War Roundtable and is past president of the Northern Illinois CWRT and McHenry County CWRT. He has been married for 19 years to Mary, who also enjoys the Civil War. Charlie has been employed as a CNC machinist for 25 years. His favorite part of the Civil War is the Maryland Campaign of 1862. The SCCWRT extends a hearty welcome to Mr. Banks and eagerly anticipates learning about this fascinating episode of the Civil War’s close! MARCH MEETING BY RICK BENSON On Friday March 6, 2009 Mr. Ron Carlson presented, “The Significance of the Trans-Mississippi Civil War in American History,” to 47 members and guests of the Salt Creek Civil War Roundtable. Ron began by posing the question, “Why did the North win the war?” The standard answers of population, manufacturing capacity, diversified economy, and lack of foreign recognition of the Confederacy were all touched on and several others were mentioned. He then stated that an oft-neglected reason was the Union’s ability to maintain control from Atlantic to Pacific along the East-West axis. He then set out to detail how they managed to do it and what they had to overcome. Paramount need was controlling the mineral strike areas in the West. This would provide much needed specie for the Union war effort and deny it to the Confederacy. This necessitated protecting the miners and maintaining lines of communication, in the form of the telegraph and migration routes, to the West Coast. Because of the necessary concentration on the war east of the Mississippi River, the Army was given a free hand to conduct “hard war” in the West. How they employed that hand was the focus of the rest of the talk. One example of this tactic used against the forces of the Confederacy was propounded by Gen. Thomas Ewing. In early 1863 he issued General Order No. 10 which led to the removal of 2/3 of the population in the Western Missouri counties of Jackson, Cass, and Bates. When Confederate raider William C. Quantrill perpetrated the “Lawrence Massacre” in August of that year, Gen. Ewing issued Order No. 11 which effectively depopulated the aforementioned counties in order to deprive the guerrillas of sanctuary and support. The Confederacy was not the only “nation” that posed a threat in the West. The wars with the various Indian tribes did not stop just because the Civil War was going on. Therefore, Gen. George Wright in the Dept. of the Pacific, Gen. Patrick Connor in Utah, and Gen. Benjamin Alvord on the Oregon Trail were tasked with keeping the Indians pacified and the mail and telegraph routes open. In this they were generally successful. Their troops were well-motivated, well-led, well – fed, and “not too troubled by humane instincts”. Nevertheless, all was not trouble-free. was not trouble-free. In 1862, there was a Sioux uprising in Minnesota precipitated by hunger and late shipments of government food. The revolt was put down and 38 individuals were hung. In 1864, Col. John Chivington and 700 troops were accused of attacking and murdering a peaceful village of 500 Indians at Sand Creek, Colorado. About 1/3 of the Indians were warriors and they had prepared rifle pits so there is some question as to just how much of a “massacre” this was. In the course of the war about 12,000 Indians embraced the Confederate cause and about 6,000 that of the Union. Old rivalries and bad blood arose. In this case you had Indian fighting Indian. As a result of the Confederate defeat the Cherokees led by Gen. Stand Watie had their lands reduced. In the Southwest, Gen. James Compton came in from California and led a war against both the Navajo and Mescalero Apache tribes. With the aid of famed scout Christopher “Kit” Carson, these tribes were confined to the Bosque Redondo Agency in Eastern New Mexico. The Navajos refer to this episode as “The Long Walk” from their homelands in eastern Arizona. There was a lot of suffering, death, and conflict with the Apaches. After 4 years, they were allowed to return home. In summation, the West continued to grow, in spite of, the Civil War. Union forces did a pretty good job of keeping a lid on this jar of potential problems. The SCCWRT thanks Ron Carlson for his detailed analysis of these important campaigns. PRESERVATION REPORT BY LEN OVERCASH SR VA—Officials are investigating vandalism at Appomattox Courthouse National Historic Park, where the curtain was lowered on the Civil War (Wrong!-Ed.). The vandalism occurred at the Peers House, an 1850’s structure now used primarily by park workers as housing. Park Superintendent Reed Johnson said intruders entered the structure and cut water lines, which flooded the house. He said the vandals did not take anything. PA-Tree removal in Gettysburg is officially underway this year, with the clearing of 19 acres of woodland along the Baltimore Pike. Non- historic trees were removed near Colgrove Avenue just south of town, adjacent to the new Battlefield Visitor Center. This project is part of a multi-year plan to transform the 6,000 acre Gettysburg National Military Park to its Civil War era appearance. VA-Sen. Jim Webb announced today that new legislation will fund several projects designed to protect the Shenandoah Valley’s natural and historical landmarks. Gov. Tim Kaine signed into law the bill that funds the Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Foundation, Civil War Battlefield protection grants, and land acquisition in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest. Source: c. Civil War Interactive “The Daily Newspaper of the Civil War”. Washington and Jefferson National Forest. Source: c. Civil War Interactive “The Daily Newspaper of the Civil War”. ALL FOR THE UNION Along with the crocuses, another harbinger of spring is in the offing! The Spring DuPage County Civil War show will be held on April 18. As usual, we will be sharing a table with the Northern Illinois and Chicago RT’s. We need people to staff the table! Sign up for some time at the April meeting. It’s fun! Included with this newsletter is an article from the national publication The Civil War News about our own SCCWRT and several partner organizations. Our efforts on behalf of the successful restoration of the 36th Illinois flag are recognized and several of our members got their handsome (or lovely!) faces in the picture! Max and Donna Daniels have released a DVD of their play, “An Evening with Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln”. It is available from the Prairie Star Productions online store at: www.prairiestarproductions.com/a neveningwithmrandmrslincoln.htm EDITOR’S NOTES The next board meeting will be at the Fairview Village private dining room on 3/31/09 at 7:30 PM. Call Jan at 630830- 7614 with any questions. CALENDAR OF EVENT May 1-Len Overcash-45th Mississippi/3rd battalion. June 19-Annual Banquet Meeting- Donna Daniels, “The Last Years of Mary Todd Lincoln” 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; Dan McCarthy, macarthaig@aol.com Newsletter Staff: Rick Benson, Rick Zarr, Len Overcash Sr.