The Outpost 
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE SALT CREEK CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE 
VOLUME XLIII No. 4 December 2005 
386th Regular Meeting


DATE: 2nd December 2005 
PLACE: Lisle Hilton (Note: We return to old meeting site for this meeting 
only!) 
TIME: 8:00 P.M. 
SPEAKER: Various 
TOPIC: “Annual Book and Memorabilia Auction and Election of 
Officers”

 Once again the holiday season has rolled around and it is with much excitement that 
we contemplate gifting that cause so near and dear to our hearts: The preservation of 
Civil War battlefields. So, prepare to be generous comrades! Already have the 
particular item? Be thinking of Holiday Shopping and how easily you can cross off the 
list someone who may be less fortunate than you and would appreciate the gift of 
History or Art! (I know Foley is clean, doesn’t take up much space, and is easy to feed.) 
Happen not to care for the Robert E. Lee place mat or the postcard engraved with: 
“Greetings from Poison Springs”!?. Never fear! Surely you know someone who 
deserves the metaphorical “coal in the stocking”! In other words, lets loosen up those 
wallets and supply ourselves with good memories for a lifetime! Besides, board 
members will be supplying refreshments! Members are urged to bring items they 
might want to dispose of!

 On a side note we will also be holding our annual elections for RT officers. Talk 
about a chance to get even! Nominations will be accepted prior to the meeting and 
from the floor. Just make sure the poor dupe will accept beforehand. To date the 
candidates are: President: Rick Zarr, Vice-president: Gil Mitchell, Treasurer: Bill Hupp, 
Secretary: Jan Rasmussen, Board of Directors: Ron Kumnick, Cindy Intravartolo, Brian 
Ruxton, Roger Bohn, and Len Overcash. 

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NOVEMBER MEETING

 BY 

CINDY INTRAVARTOLO

 On November 4th, past president 
Roger E. Bohn presented” The Union 
Naval Blockade in the American Civil 
War: Blockaders and Blockade-
Runners” to 40 members and guests at 
the 385th regular meeting of the 
SCCWRT.

 Bohn began with a review of the 
causes of the Civil War because, in order 
to understand the cause and effect of the 
blockade and blockade running, it is 
first necessary to understand what 
caused the war and what then created 
the need or necessity for a blockade. 
Although he cited the many causes of 
the war as slavery, cotton, Northern 
aggression, states rights, etc., he 
suggested that it was Lincoln’s election, 
and the South’s reaction to it that 
actually contributed to the start of the 
war. In a timeline, he noted that Lincoln 
was elected on November 6, 1860 but 
not in the South as Lincoln was not on 
the southern ballot. South Carolina 
became the first state to secede from the 
Union on December 20. On April 12, 
1861, Ft. Sumter was fired upon and, on 
April 14, Lincoln asked for 75,000 
volunteers to form the Union Army. On 
April 19, he issued a Proclamation of 
Blockade for all southern ports. This 
covered more than 3500 miles of 
shoreline. On June 1, England decreed 
that armed cruisers and privateers from 
the United States of America and the 
self-styled Confederate States of 
America could not carry items into 
British ports. Bohn noted that once a 
blockade was legally proclaimed, under 

international law, the reasonable 
expectation of being stopped, searched, 
and seized was all that was required to 
be a legal and effective blockade. When 
Lincoln declared the blockade, the 
Union Navy has 90 ships but only 14 
could be put to port. In order to enforce 
the proclamation, it was necessary for 
the Union to begin building a fleet as 
well as provide the men to serve and 
maintain it.

 The blockade also created a new 
maritime industry, according to Bohn, 
and that was blockade running. Using 
small, fast, shallow draft ships, 
enterprising captains and owners would 
attempt to elude the blockading fleet to 
deliver munitions and other supplies to 
the Confederacy. The captain of a 
blockade-runner could hope to earn as 
much as $5000 in gold for a successful 
run, as long as they were willing to do 
something illegal and risk getting 
caught. The South would get much 
needed supplies from Europe through 
distribution points in Havana, Cuba or 
Matamoros, Mexico. From those 
locations, materials would be placed 
into smaller, faster, ships that would 
attempt to run the blockade to southern 
ports. In his book, Lifeline of the 
Confederacy, Stephen Weiss wrote that, 
of the 1300 attempted runs, 1000 were 
successful. However, the supplies that 
were delivered were far below the 
South’s needs for continuing to 
prosecute the war. The surrender at 
Appomattox was the end result of 
running out of men, materials, and 
means for carrying on the fight. 

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 On June 23, 1865, President Andrew 
Johnson officially ended the Union 
blockade. What did it accomplish? 
Roger stated that Weiss, in his book, 
claimed blockade running brought in 
60% of the Confederacy’s modern arms, 
1/3 of the lead needed to make bullets, 
and 2/3 of the saltpeter for gunpowder, 
“Without it, the Confederacy would 
have been without proper supplies of 
arms, bullets, and powder.” Bohn cited 
the views of many other authors on the 
effects of the blockade and left us to 
form our own conclusions.

 The SCCWRT extends its deep thanks 
to Roger Bohn for shedding copious 
light on this oft-neglected aspect of the 
war.

 
PRESERVATION REPORT 
BY 
LEN OVERCASH, SR.

 MUSCATINE, IA.-Unidentified 
vandals at the Greenwood Cemetery 
knocked over more than 70 headstones 
at the historic 150-acre graveyard and 
may have caused more than $100,000 in 
damages, according to police officials. 
Richard Klimes, Muscatine Director of 
Parks and Recreation, the destruction 
was, to his knowledge, “the largest act 
of vandalism at Greenwood Cemetery 
for at least the last ten years.” Many of 
the destroyed headstones were from the 
Civil War –era, while others were 
estimated to be at least 100 years old. 
FRANKLIN, TN.- After confusion and 
delays about missing paperwork, a 
$500,000 federal grant to help the city 
buy the Country Club of Franklin will 

now be going directly to the city of 
Franklin rather than the state Historical 
Commission. That means the city could 
have a crucial piece of funding in place 
for the $5 million purchase of the club in 
time for the Nov. 30 closing date-not 
coincidentally the 141st anniversary of 
the Battle of Franklin.

 That grant money, initially 
earmarked for the non-profit Franklin’s 
Charge, is coming from the American 
Battlefield Protection Program, a unit of 
the National Park Service, as part of a 
grant applied for by the Civil War 
Preservation Trust. City and 
preservation leaders hope to convert the 
110 –acre club into a battlefield park that 
would be the hub of a larger national 
park commemorating all the historical 
sites in Williamson County. The CWPT 
is also providing Franklin’s Charge with 
a separate $400,000 grant. “The grant 
itself was never in jeopardy,” Jim Campi 
of the CWPT said, “This was just a 
detail that was never worked out.” 
Source: Civil War Interactive 
(www.civilwarinteractive.com) “The Daily 
Newspaper of the Civil War” 


ALL

 FOR THE 

UNION

 Some feedback from our website-
Mr. Zarr,

 I was browsing around the web 
today, and was amazed to find my 
name among the charter executive 
committee members of the Roundtable. 
I was, at the time, 15 years of age (I am 
now 58).

 I recall fondly many of the charter 
members of the group, including Mrs. 
Steele, for whom I occasionally did 
some baby-sitting chores. 

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 I was a member of the group for just 
a year, as my family moved to 
Connecticut in 1963. I recall one 
meeting that year at which E.B. Long, 
Bruce Catton’s researcher, gave the 
presentation, and, at my last meeting, I 
gave the presentation, on the Battle of 
Gettysburg.

 I am now a retired military officer 
and, as the love of the study of the war 
never left me, my wife and I retired to 
Gettysburg. We have been living here 
for the last two years, and thoroughly 
enjoy it.

 If there are any of the old timers still 
around from 1962-63 (Ed. Note-Ralph 
Hwastecki and “Bob” Luginbill still are) 
please give them my best wishes and 
ask them if they remember the token 
“kid” on the group’s executive 
committee. 

Art House 

(Thank You, Art, we are always eager to 
hear from those who were around in the 
“early days”!-Ed.) 


EDITOR’S 

NOTES

 On a personal note, the Editor wishes 
to thank all those who offered their 
thoughts, prayers, and support on the 
recent death of my brother, Raymond. 
Whether you came to the services, sent a 
card, or just told me of your concern, 
rest assured it will never be forgotten.

 The next board meeting will be held 
at the home of Cindy Intravartolo at 7:30 

P.M on Nov. 29. Address: 751 S. Dwyer 
Ave., #3E, Arlington Hts., 847-590-5107. 
CALENDAR OF EVENTS 
Jan. 6th 2006-Gene Salaker-The Sultana 
Disaster 
Feb. 3rd-Larry Hewitt-How Lincoln Won the 
War 
March 3rd-Gale Pewitt-The Confederacy in 
Canada 
April 7th-Len Overcash-Ft. Fisher 
May 5th-Phil Lauricella-Glass Slide Show of 
last Gettysburg Veteran’s reunion. 
June 2nd-Paul Coski-Confederate Battle 
Flag Controversy 
(Note-Next year is wide open! We will need 
speakers starting in September!) 

The Salt Creek Civil War Roundtable 

P.O. Box 4873 
Wheaton, Il. 60189-4873 
www.saltcreekcwrt.org. 
President: Rick Zarr 
Vice-President: Gil Mitchell 
Treasurer: Bill Hupp 
Asst, Treasurer: Tony Cichantk 
Secretary: Jan Rasmussen 
Historian: Cindy Intravartolo 
Sgt. At Arms: Ron Kumnick 
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 

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