The Outpost 
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE SALT CREEK CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE 
VOLUME XLIII No. 5 January 2006 
387th Regular Meeting


DATE: 6th January 2006 
PLACE: Fairview Village, 200 Village Dr., Downers Grove, Il. 
TIME: 8:00 P.M. 
SPEAKER: Gene Eric Salecker 
TOPIC: The “Sultana” Disaster

 The Titanic, The Andrea Doria, The Eastland, The Edmund Fitzgerald, are all marine 
disasters with which the general public is more or less familiar due to songs, stories, 
movies, and television programs. Not so The Sultana, the greatest maritime loss of life 
in United States history. In his book, Disaster on the Mississippi: The Sultana Explosion, 
April 27, 1865, our distinguished speaker sought to rectify this general gap in historical 
knowledge. From Edwin C. Bearss: “ … few are familiar with the Sultana disaster- a 
disaster that took more lives than the sinking of the Titanic …Gene Eric 
Salecker..personalizes the tragedy and we experience the survivors pain and suffering.” 
The SCCWRT welcomes this distinguished author and scholar.

 Gene Eric Salecker is a well-known collector of Sultana artifacts and photographs, 
has been compiling data on the disaster since 1978, and has written numerous articles 
on the subject for Civil War magazines. For many years a member of a Civil War reenactment group, he maintains a comprehensive database of Union prisoners. Mr. 
Salecker is a native of Chicago and graduate of Northeastern Illinois University, where 
he now serves as a police officer. - Source: The Naval Institute Press. 

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DECEMBER MEETING

 BY 

CINDY INTRAVARTOLO

 Last month, approximately 38 
members and guests attended the 14th 
annual auction for battlefield 
preservation. As always, the election of 
new officers preceded the auction. Our 
elected officials for 2006 include 
President: Rick Zarr, Vice-President: Gil 
Mitchell, Treasurer: Bill Hupp, and 
Secretary: Jan Rasmussen. The Board of 
Directors includes: Cindy Intravartolo, 
Ron Kumnick, Len Overcash, Rob 
Girardi, and Brian Ruxton. We cannot 
function without the help of our support 
personnel. Donna Daniels will continue 
to serve as Coordinator for the Speakers 
Program so, if any of you decide to do a 
presentation, please contact Donna. 
(Hint! Hint! More on this later-Ed.) We 
are still looking for speakers for 
September, October, and November 
2006. Stephen Munier will continue as 
webmaster extraordinaire. If anyone 
has any ideas for the website, please 
contact Stephen. Brian Ruxton will 
continue as Event Coordinator for the 
97th Regimental String Band concert, 
scheduled for August. Dan McCarthy 
has agreed to another year as 
Newsletter Editor. Mary Lord will be 
our Liaison for Fairview Village.

 Of course, it wouldn’t have been a 
Salt Creek auction without our two 
master auctioneers, Jerry Feinstein and 
Dan McCarthy. Their quick wit and 
erudite (!?) discussion of the items is 
well worth the cost of admission! Along 
with the help of Rob Girardi and his 
son, Eric (Great to have those young 
legs out there! -Ed.), nearly $1500 was 
raised for battlefield preservation. Thus 
far this year, we have donated to 

Franklin, TN., Pickett’s Mill, GA., 
Newtonia, MO., and the Belle Boyd 
House in West Virginia.

 Whether you donated an item or two, 
or purchased a few to take home, your 
participation is greatly appreciated. 
Thanks to all of you for your support 
and Happy New Year!

 
PRESERVATION REPORT 
BY 
LEN OVERCASH, SR.

 BRANDY STATION, VA. -The Brandy 
Station Foundation (BSF) disclosed that 
it is purchasing 18.9 acres of battlefield 
land that had been slated to become a 
housing development. The parcel was 
the subject of a court fight earlier this 
year in which the Civil War 
preservationist group sought an 
injunction to prevent Golden Oaks 
Construction from building on the 
property just south of State Route 685 in 
Culpeper County.

 In early February, a judge refused to 
issue the injunction prohibiting Golden 
Oaks owner Clifton Schull from 
building several houses on the land. 
Schull had obtained a permit, in 
January, to build a single-family 
dwelling on the property. Schull, 
however, agreed to negotiate with the 
BSF and asked $1 million for the land in 
late March. Bob Luddy, president of the 

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BSF, said..that his group paid $560,000 
for the parcel, which is at the base of 
Fleetwood Heights and was the scene of 
heavy fighting during the June 9th, 1863 
Battle of Brandy Station. The land will 
now be protected from residential or 
commercial development. It becomes 
part of several BSF holdings in the area, 
including an adjacent parcel. The Civil 
War Preservation Trust owns more than 
1,500 acres of the Brandy Station 
battlefield. 
Source: CWi Premium. 

FRANKLIN, TN- When the metal arm 
of the trackhoe piloted by Franklin 
Mayor Tom Miller plunged through the 
roof of what had long been a Pizza Hut 
yesterday, it scattered roofing shingles, 
lumber, and bricks to loud approval 
from a crowd of about 200. In that 
moment, decades of frustration for 
many came to an end. The land where 
the Pizza Hut once stood, bought by the 
city for $300,000 earlier this year, will be 
converted to a park to memorialize the 
soldiers who fought and died there 
during the November 30, 1864, Battle of 
Franklin.

 Jim Lighthizer, president of the 
national group Civil War Preservation 
Trust, recalled how, years ago, he told a 
group of Franklin preservationists that if 
they wanted to exact change, they had 
to get involved politically. “What we 
have is nothing short of a miracle,” he 
said. 
Source: Civil War Preservation Trust 

KENOSHA, WI. -(Submitted by Bill 
Hupp)Although no Civil War battles 
were fought in the upper Midwest, the 
states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, 
Iowa, and Michigan were, nonetheless, 
important to the war effort.

 Not only did Midwestern soldiers 
leave their families to fight in the war, 

but the states provided food, weapons, 
supplies, and more.

 The lives and legacies from this war 
tell an important story. It’s a story that 
the city of Kenosha, Wis., in partnership 
with the Kenosha Public Museum, 
believes is worth preserving and 
honoring.

 Earlier this fall, museum officials 
announced plans for a civil war 
museum to be built along Lake 
Michigan just north of the Kenosha 
museum on 54th Avenue.

 The $16.6 million, two-story, 59,000 
square foot building, designed by 
Engberg Anderson Design Partnership 
of Milwaukee, will house a 15,000 
square foot permanent gallery that will 
showcase Civil War artifacts, personal 
stories, full-scale, interactive exhibits, 
and a permanent Veteran Memorial 
Gallery. Groundbreaking is scheduled 
for the spring… 
(Excerpted from an article by Kathryn 
Otte on www.dailyherald.com posted 
Tuesday 12/13/05. Read the entire 
article for far more!) 
If any of you have ideas, information on 
sources, (or good items to donate), 
contact Dan, at djoyce@execpc.com.

 The website for the Kenosha Public 
Museum is: 
http://www.kenosha.org/museum/, and 
there is a link to a presentation on the 
CW museum in either flash-player or 
PDF format. 
Source: Linnea Bass, Secretary, THE 
COMPANY OF MILITARY 
HISTORIANS. 

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ALL 
FOR THE 
UNION

 In a change from previous years, the 
97th concert will be held at the Waldorf 
Tabernacle, Methodist Campground, 
Des Plaines. The board decided on this 
as it is a “period” location, natural 
setting, and FREE if we allow cottage 
owners in without charge. It was also 
felt we might increase attendance by 
shifting to a fresh geographic area and 
getting publicity assistance from the 
campground.

 As indicated earlier, a donation in the 
amount of $250 was sent to the Belle 
Boyd House/ Berkeley County 
Historical Society in recognition of the 
work done for the SCCWRT by Mary 
Lord. 


EDITOR’S

 NOTES

 We need speakers! Everything from 
Sept. 2006 onward is wide open so get 
your bids in now. If there is anything 
you wish to talk about, maybe have a 
new perspective on an old topic, or a 
subject you feel has been unjustly 
neglected, sign up now! This only 
works if you participate!

 We have discontinued our Wheaton 

P.O. Box. It was not cost-effective. 
Dues may be mailed to: Salt Creek 
CWRT c/o William J. Hupp, 405 Dawn 
Avenue, Glen Ellyn, Il. 60137. If you 
have something you want in the 
newsletter, it must be submitted to the 
newsletter editor at the contact 
information on this missive by the 15th 
of the preceding month. Also, you may 
e-mail the website or contact any board 
member at any meeting with any 
concerns.

 The next board meeting will be held 
at the residence of Brian Ruxton, 
Tuesday, 01/03/06 at 7:30 P.M., 311 N. 
Walnut Ct., Elmhurst, Il., 630-279-4533 


CALENDAR OF EVENTS 
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. 
June2nd- Banquet at Lisle Hilton- speaker-
TBA 
August 5th-97th Regimental String Band at 
Methodist Campground, Des Plaines. 

September to infinity-TBA 

The Salt Creek Civil War Roundtable 

www.saltcreekcwrt.org. 
President: Rick Zarr 
Vice-President: Gil Mitchell 
Treasurer: Bill Hupp 
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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