The Outpost The Newsletter of the Salt Creek Civil War Roundtable Vol. XLVI No. 9 May 2009 421st Regular Meeting DATE: 1st May 2009 PLACE: Fairview Village, 200 Village Dr., Downers Grove, Il. TIME: 8:00 PM SPEAKER: Len and Mary Fran Overcash TOPIC: “A Brief History of the 45th Mississippi Regiment” The 45th Mississippi played a role in Patrick Cleburne’s fabled division and its bravery is unquestioned. It fought the major engagements of Shiloh, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Atlanta, Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville. Mary Fran’s great-grandfather, C.H. Oetkin, enlisted in this unit and served from 1862 until it surrendered at Bentonville, so it has a very special place in the Overcash-Lund household! Len Overcash has been a member of the Salt Creek Civil War Roundtable since 1997 and a board member since 2005. This is his 5th presentation to the SCCWRT and, in March, 2009, he did a presentation to the Kankakee Valley CWRT. He has had five articles published in The Battlefield Journal, a small CW newspaper. (His journalistic skills have been invaluable to The Outpost also!-Ed.) The SCCWRT enthusiastically welcomes our esteemed member and good friend and looks forward to his personal history of this hard-fighting unit. APRIL MEETING BY RICK BENSON On April 3rd, 2009 Charlie Banks, current president of Lake County CWRT, and past-president of Northern Illinois and McHenry County CWRT”S, gave a talk on the Lincoln Funeral Train. The “need” for this train came about as a result of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Mary Lincoln was against a public viewing. However, friends convinced her to allow it. Permission was given to Sec. of War Stanton to arrange for viewing en route to the Springfield, Illinois burial. Stanton appointed a committee, headed by Ohio Governor John Buell, to make the arrangements. John W. Garrett, Chairman of the Baltimore and Washington R.R., was consulted on the technical issues. Mrs. Lincoln wanted the train to go direct to Springfield, with stops in the sate capitals. Gov. Buell’s initial route was: Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, Chicago, and, finally, Springfield. This plan was subsequently modified to retrace the Inaugural route with the exception of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Gen. Daniel C. McCallum of the US Military Railroads determined that the train would consist of 2 locomotives, 6 passenger cars, a baggage car, and the Presidential Car, which was modified by removing the front and rear platform railings, and installing rollers and catwalks to facilitate the loading and unloading of the coffin. Black crepe, curtains, and furniture coverings were chosen for the décor. Lincoln’s coffin occupied one end of the car, while that of his son Willy occupied the other. The journey began Friday, April 21st at 6:00 A.M. The finalized route was Baltimore, Harrisburg, PA., Philadelphia, New York, Albany, Buffalo, Columbus, OH. Cleveland, Indianapolis, Chicago, and Springfield. Delegations from Cincinnati came to the Columbus stop. State Governors boarded the train as it entered their states and exited when the next state was reached. The corpse had to be cared for due to the heat and humidity. It was “chalked” several times, and “dusted and cleaned up”, before viewing in NYC. Jeremiah Gearney Jr. was permitted to photograph here and this photo of Lincoln lying in state is the only one known to exist. In Albany, the engine that had taken Lincoln to Washington in 1861 took over the train. to Washington in 1861 took over the train. On April 28, Cleveland had the only outdoor viewing on the route. The train was stopped for 1 hour in Michigan City Indiana to receive a delegation from Illinois for the trip to Chicago. The citizens of Michigan City provided a bountiful breakfast to the entourage. When the train reached Chicago, roughly 7,000 persons per hour came through the viewing. The St. Louis and Alton RR then took the casket on to Springfield. On this part of the trip, they traveled through Lincoln, IL. a town that had been named after him when he was a practicing attorney. Over this entire 1,700 mile journey with all the stops the train was only 1 hour late. The casket was unloaded for the last time and taken to the Old Capitol building where it was viewed by an estimated 75,000. It was then taken to Oak Ridge Cemetery for interment. As Stanton said, now he belonged to the ages. Some technical information: The funeral car had been made by the Pullman Co. It had four “trucks” to accommodate different track gauges. The car was wider than normal and some bridges had to be modified to accommodate it. This car wound up being sold several times and was destroyed in a fire in Minnesota in 1911. The SCCWRT thanks Charlie Banks for his fascinating and enlightening account of the history of the Lincoln Funeral Train. PRESERVATION REPORT BY LEN OVERCASH SR FREDERICK, MD. (AP)-A State Senate committee has rejected a bill that would have blocked construction of a proposed trash incinerator near a Civil War battlefield just south of Frederick. The action effectively kills an effort by local Republican Sen. Alex Mooney to prevent Frederick County from building a $527 million incinerator in an industrial park near the Monocacy National Battlefield. The incinerator would burn trash from Frederick and Carroll counties to generate electricity and conserve landfill space. The bill would have barred new, large-scale incinerators within a mile of national parks. The Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee voted 6-3...to give the bill an unfavorable report. GETTYSBURG, PA.-Battlefield visitation was down again in Gettysburg last year, despite numbers suggesting that overall tourism was up. “We’re experiencing most of the phenomena that many people are experiencing,” says Gettysburg National Military Park Supt. John Latschar. Our park visitation is down, almost 10 percent. But at the same time, visitation at the visitor center is up. People seem to be spending less, once they reach their destination.” IL-The Lincoln Log Cabin was built on an 86-acre site. It is a replica of the Lincoln home originally built in 1835. With current budget issues constantly fluctuating, weight is falling on the shoulders of the volunteers to keep up the farm. 1835. With current budget issues constantly fluctuating, weight is falling on the shoulders of the volunteers to keep up the farm. Last year Lincoln Log Cabin operated with four paid interpreters and two paid maintenance workers, volunteers made up the rest of the staff. Their contract was originally set to run from may1 through Oct.31. However, the contract for paid workers was terminated as of July 31 of last year. Source: c. Civil War Interactive “The Daily Newspaper of the Civil War”. ALL FOR THE UNION Just in case you didn’t get one, or have lost it, a copy of our banquet flyer is enclosed with this newsletter. You have until May 31 to get in on a truly unique experience. See Donna Daniels in her play, “The Last Years of Mary Todd Lincoln” along with a superb meal of ; Sirloin of Beef, Bruschetta Chicken, or Honey- Ginger Salmon, the fellowship of your colleagues in the CW community, and a silent auction, all for the low, low, price of $40 per person! How can you go wrong? See flyer for details. EDITOR’S NOTES The next board meeting will be at the Fairview Village private dining room on 06/09/09 at 7:30 PM. Call Jan at 630 830-7614 with any questions. CALENDAR OF EVENT June 19-Annual Banquet Meeting- Donna Daniels, “The Last Years of Mary Todd Lincoln” September 4-Art Foley-The Five Civilized Tribes in the Civil War 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.