The Outpost THE NEWSLETTER OF THE SALT CREEK CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE VOLUME XLIV No. 8 April 2007 400th Regular Meeting DATE: 30th March 2007 PLACE: Fairview Village, 200 Village Dr., Downers Grove, Il. TIME: 8:00 P.M. SPEAKER: Gordon P. Ramsey TOPIC: “Ballooning in the Civil War: How the Air Force Really Began.” The American Civil War boasts many firsts in military history. Among them is the first coordinated use of hot air balloons. Although these balloons had been around for about 80 years, they had never been used extensively for warfare. Thanks to a handful of motivated balloonists and a bit of politics, they found considerable use during the first part of the war on the eastern front. However, the combination of competition and politics led to the abandonment of wartime ballooning during the last half of the war. Mr. Ramsey will discuss the history of balloons, how balloons work, their military use, and the corresponding human conflict and politics that led to their cancellation during the war. The lessons learned during the short time of their involvement led to the humble beginnings of the Air Force. Gordon Ramsey is a professor of Physics at Loyola University, Chicago. He received his Ph.D. from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1982 and began teaching at Loyola that year. He has been a resident scientist at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont since 1986, where he does research in particle physics. Among his other interests are music, military history, and cats. He teaches a course in “The Physics of Music” at Loyola and has given his “Physics of Cats” talk in various forms to diverse audiences. Gordon is a member and Treasurer of the South Suburban Round Table. His interest dates back to high school where his junior thesis was on the economic causes of the War. He is a veteran officer of the USAF. Welcome, Dr. Ramsey, to our podium. 1 MARCH MEETING BY CINDY INTRAVARTOLO On March 2, Mary Carol Farber, Salt Creek member, spoke on the “Women’s Movement during the Civil War”, before 40 members and guests at the 399th regular meeting of the Salt Creek Civil War Roundtable. Farber discussed the significance of the women’s rights movement before, during, and after the Civil War. The movement began in Seneca Falls, New York in July 1848 when a meeting was organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton to discuss the social and civil rights of women. It was at that meeting that Stanton began her career as an advocate of women’s rights. She developed the “Declaration of Sentiments”, patterned after the Declaration of Independence, demanding social and political equality for all women, including the right to vote. The women’s movement pressed state legislatures to pass laws improving the status of women. Due to their efforts, the state of New York passed the Married Woman’s Property Act in 1848. Susan B. Anthony, a temperance activist, and Stanton met for the first time at the annual convention in 1851 and by 1852 they joined forces to promote the women’s movement. In 1860 Anthony and Stanton experienced great success as the New York Married Woman’s Property Act was amended. Women gained the right to own their property, manage their wages, and be joint guardians of their children. The last annual meeting of the women’s convention was held in February 1861, but Farber maintained that the women’s movement did not grind to a halt. She noted that the war itself served as a training ground for women as they gained important occupational and organizational skills they would use later. In 1863, Anthony and Stanton, along with Lucy Stone, formed the National Woman’s Loyal League, and collected enough signatures to help pass the Thirteenth Amendment to end slavery. By supporting the Thirteenth Amendment they believed that woman suffrage would soon follow. In addition, Farber discussed the activities of other influential women in the women’s rights movement including Mary Post Hallowell, Mary Rice Livermore, and Myra Bradwell. Mary Livermore not only organized and ran the most successful sanitary fair in Chicago during the war, but after the war she organized the Chicago Women’s Suffrage Convention in 1869. Although women were denied the right to vote, women in Illinois gained the right to own property. It wasn’t until 1900 that all states finally granted property rights to women. The women’s suffrage movement was a battle largely fought with words, Farber noted, stating that it’s considered the longest non-violent struggle in U.S. history. Stanton died in 1902 and Anthony in 1906, long before their 2 dream would become a reality. These women, and others like them, made it their life’s work to make the world a better place for their daughters. It wasn’t until 1920 before women were granted the right to vote, 72 years after the first women’s convention in 1848. The SCCWRT wishes to thank Mary Carol Farber for celebrating “Women’s History Month” with an enlightening discussion of the women’s rights movement. Who would have thought that such non-violent issues were going on at a time when so many others had divided the country into war? PRESERVATION REPORT BY LEN OVERCASH SR. GA. – Archaeologist Dan Elliot has a pickup truck, a bulging, warped, briefcase and several large boxes jammed with hundreds of brown paper bags. They look like those old-time, school lunch bags. But instead of peanut butter sandwiches, each holds maybe a single iron canister shot, or an Enfield rifle bullet, or possibly a cannonball fragment, items that have been buried for at least 140 years. In the past year, Nash Farm has become one of the more riveting historical sites in metro Atlanta, and also one of the better feel-good stories. Its 205 acres were slated to become a sub-division before the county intervened. (Italics added) The move not only energized local Civil War buffs, but also has drawn admiration from regional historians along with officials of the Civil War Preservation Trust in Washington. Now, through the recent work of Elliott and his associates Dan Battle and Mike Benton, Nash Farm received its first thorough archaeological assessment ever. “Saving this site was huge,” said Elliott. “It will not only be one of the great Civil War sites, but for archaeologists it could be a gold mine. “We’re laying the groundwork now,” he said. “I think you could spend the next 15 years studying this place.” TN – National Park Service officials could soon begin a study to determine if Williamson County’s Civil War sites are deserving of National Park status. Franklin Mayor Tom Miller and a park service spokesman both confirmed that an agreement to conduct a study of countywide historic sites is being finalized between federal and city officials. Once that agreement is in place, the study could begin within the next few months. Launching the study would be a crucial step in local officials’ plans to lure more history-minded tourists to Williamson County while preserving local history. The study, which won congressional support in late 2005, would include all of Williamson County’s Civil War sites including those found in Brentwood, Spring Hill, Thompson’s Station, and Triune. Source: The Civil War News Roundup (http://www.civilwar.org) From: Barbara Gaerttner@ky.gov Welcome to the PBPA! We appreciate your pledge and support as we work to preserve Kentucky’s largest battlefield. The PBPA and our partners are successful only with the help of members like you. This has been a dynamic year and we look forward to 2007 with much enthusiasm…Again, thank you for your support. (PBPA stands for Perryville Battlefield Protection Association-Ed.) 3 ALL FOR THE UNION The SCCWRT has been offered participation in a two-day excursion to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Springfield from Fancy Free Holidays. Departure would be 6/7/07. Interested? Contact Mary Lord at 200 Village Dr. Apt. 341, Downers Grove 60516 Phone: 630769-6182. EDITOR’S NOTES The next board meeting will be held at the home of Mary Lord, 200 Village Dr., Apt. 341, Downers Grove, Illinois at 7:30 P.M., 4/24/07. Phone No. 630-769-6182. The Margie Bearss Memorial Fund is still open for donations but time is running out! The last opportunity to sign the condolence card, and make a donation, will be at the next meeting. Please give generously. The April meeting is the 400th in the long and proud history of the SCCWRT. The board has approved a decorated cake and will be issuing a souvenir certificate. Letters have been sent to the ex-presidents and, hopefully, some will attend. Long Live the SCCWRT! (Wonder if Marilyn Steele is proud of what she has wrought?!-Ed.) CALENDAR OF EVENTS May 4-What are you Reading? General Book Discussion. June 1-Annual Banquet at Lisle Hilton- Patrick Brennan on the Battle of Nashville September 7-Marshall Krolick-Council of War, July 2, 1863 October 5-Paula Walker-Major General Gouverneur Kemble Warren and the Battle of Five Forks November 2-Annual Battlefield Preservation Auction at the DuPage Co. Historical Society. Dec. 7-Roger E. Bohn-Anecdotes and Adventures of the Civil War Blockade. January 4, 2008: Robert I. Girardi-TBA February 1-Bjorn Skaptason-Shiloh March 7-Eric Girardi-69th New York State Volunteers of the Irish Brigade April 4-TBA May 2-TBA June 20-Annual dinner banquet at the Lisle/Hilton (3rd Friday)-Cricket Bauer Pohanka-TBA September 5-TBA October 3-TBA November 7-Annual Battlefield Preservation Auction at the DuPage County Historical Society. December 5-TBA (Plenty of spots left for those who want to get in on the fun! -Ed.) The Salt Creek Civil War Roundtable www.saltcreekcwrt.org. President: Rick Zarr Vice-President: Gil Mitchell Treasurer: Brenda Grazis Secretary: Jan Rasmussen Historian: Cindy Intravartolo Meeting Liaison: Mary Lord Newsletter Editor: Dan McCarthy, 4358 Lawn Ave., Western Springs, IL,60558. 708-246-7873, macarthaig@aol.com Newsletter Staff: Cindy Intravartolo, Len Overcash Sr., Jan Rasmussen 4