The Outpost 
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE SALT CREEK CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE 
VOLUME XLIV No. 10 June 2007 
402nd Regular Meeting 

DATE: 1st June 2007
PLACE: Lisle Hilton, 3003 Corporate West Drive (Warrenville Rd. East of
Naperville Rd.)
TIME: 6:30 (Cocktails), 7:30 (Dinner), 8:30 (Speaker)
SPEAKER: Patrick Brennan
TOPIC: “The Battle of Nashville”


Regarded now as the most decisive action in the Civil War, the Battle of Nashville 
represented the Confederacy’s last hope in the West. A careful examination reveals 
otherwise. There was little hope, or military sense, in either the strategy, or the tactics, 
of Southern commander John Bell Hood. Combine that with the stolid competence of 
his Federal adversary, George Thomas, and you have the ingredients for the war’s 
worst Confederate battlefield defeat. 

Patrick Brennan is Associate Editor of “North and South” magazine and has written 
thirteen articles for that publication as well as contributing other articles to “Blue and 
Gray” and “Civil War Regiments” magazines. He is also the author of two major works 
on the Civil War: Secessionville: Assault on Charleston and To Die Game: Major 
General James Ewell Brown Stuart . His long association with the award winning 
Towers Productions has also included acting as historical consultant for "Raise the 
Hunley" and “Conspiracy: The Lincoln Assassination”. He has lectured on the war at 
various roundtables nationwide and at Secessionville and Brandy Station battlefields. 
It is with a great deal of admiration and gratitude that the SCCWRT welcomes this 
distinguished historian to it’s podium. 

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MAY MEETING 

BY 

CINDY 
INTRAVARTOLO 
On May 4, 2007, 29 members and guests 
of the Salt Creek Civil War Roundtable 
attended a general book discussion. The 
almost hour –long (Yay!-Ed.) talkfest 
brought forth a variety of tomes 
covering almost every aspect of the war. 
From battles (Shiloh and Perryville), 
through naval actions, to Civil War 
pharmacy, there was something for 
everyone. Of particular interest to this 
reporter was the subject of the economic 
consequences of the war. It placed the 
CW in the context of the Industrial 
Revolution it had spawned. Names 
such as Borden, Lilly, Rockefeller, 
Carnegie, Swift, Armour, and Cudahy 
had their way smoothed by the demand 
for the sinews of war and the 
integration of a truly national industrial, 
and financial, infrastructure. Another 
angle came in the area of a recent book 
on Civil War pharmacy, not only 
discussing the development of the 
pharmaceutical industry to support the 
Union troops, but also outlining how 
denial of pharmaceuticals to the 
Confederacy was one of the true 
successes of the Union blockade (Are 
you reading this, Roger?-Ed.). All in all, 
the evening was one of the liveliest we 
have had in a while and all present 
expressed great satisfaction with its 
results. We really should do more of 
this! Thanks to all who chose to share 

their reading adventures with us. 
(Contributing Columnist-D.E. 
McCarthy) 


PRESERVATION REPORT 

BY 
LEN OVERCASH SR 
TN.-The push to create a national park 
in Williamson County now has the 
backing of Franklin taxpayers. 
Aldermen unanimously agreed 7-0 
during their monthly meeting to kick in 
$25,000 toward an overall $110,000 
National Park Service study of the 
county’s historic sites to determine 
whether they are suitable for national 
park status. 
VA.-The Silver Cos. and a Spotsylvania 
County businessman have stepped 
forward to help preserve significant 
Civil war sites here. The donations of 
land and money were announced 
recently at the Central Virginia 
Battlefields Trust’s annual meeting at 
Slaughter Pen Farm. 

The Silver Cos. donated 6 acres to the 
trust in July 2001, on the Wilderness 
Battlefield adjacent to the National Park 
Service property along State Route 20 in 
Orange County. The site is known as 
Grant’s Knoll and is where Union Gen. 
Ulysses S, Grant had his headquarters in 
May 1864, in the opening engagement of 
what became known as the Overland 
Campaign. This was Grant’s first 
encounter with Confederate Gen. Robert 

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E.Lee. According to the trust, the Silver 
Cos. is preparing a deed to donate an 
additional 6 acres. Dr. Mike Stevens, 
president of the trust, said Silver has 
made significant contributions to 
preservation efforts here. “They are to 
be commended and we deeply 
appreciate it,” he said. “This is the 
gateway to Ellwood and the Wilderness 
battlefield.” 

In a separate gift, Stevens announced 
that Spotsylvania businessman Hugh 
Cosner donated $100,000 toward the 
purchase of Slaughter Pen Farm. That’s 
significant boost for the trust, which 
pledged $1 million to help the national 
Civil War Preservation Trust buy the 
property. 
GA.-Civil war enthusiasts are fighting 
over battlefields threatened by the 
urban sprawl surrounding Atlanta 
fearing that history will be lost to real 
estate development. Dan Brown is in 
charge of the Kennesaw Mountain 
National Battlefield, near Atlanta. He 
controls 3,000 acres of national land. It’s 
the land outside the battlefield preserve 
that is being eaten up by development 

The list goes on and on all around the 
park. Kennesaw Mountain is about 30 
mile north of Atlanta. The once sleepy 
farmland is now prime suburban 
property. Home prices are expected to 
start in the $750,000 range and even 
exceed $1 million, according to 
developer Larry Thompson, who stands 
on a fresh path of red clay that snakes 
through the woods of his newest 
project, called Beauvoir. 
CHALESTON, W.VA.-In a stunning 
reversal of fortune for anti-windfarm 
advocates, the state Supreme Court of 
Appeals on Wednesday unanimously 
agreed to hear two cases claiming the 
West Virginia Public Service 
Commission erred last fall in its decision 
to give the green light for building 124 

electric-producing wind turbines in 
northern Greenbrier County. 
Source for above articles: Civil War 
Interactive (www.civilwar 
interactive.com) “The Daily Newspaper 
of the Civil War” 

“Ancestors of mine fought on both sides 
of the Civil War,” recalls Sen. James H. 
Webb Jr., Virginia Democrat, “including 
William Jewell, who was wounded in 
the Battle of Cedar Mountain in 
Culpepper County, Virginia, wounded 
again at Antietam, and was finally killed 
in action, at Chancellorsville, on May 3, 
1863.” 

As the freshman senator puts it: “It is 
not every day you can visit these 
battlefield sites and have an immediate, 
direct connection with your ancestors. 
“Equating such battlefields to “outdoor 
classrooms,” Mr. Webb, a former 
Secretary of the Navy, warned senators 
this week that more than 200,00 acres of 
“significant” battlefield land is now 
threatened by development. To prevent 
their loss, he urged his colleagues to 
fully fund the Civil war Battlefield 
Protection program, an arm of the 
National Park Service. But for the 
preservation program and their partners 
with the Civil War Preservation Trust, 
we would have lost key sites from such 
national shrines at Antietam, 
Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, 
Manassas, Harpers Ferry, Bentonville, 
Mansfield, and Champion Hill. Their 
names still haunt us to this day,” Mr. 
Webb noted. “Had the [preservation 
program] not intervened, the sites 
would have been lost forever to 
commercial and residential 
development.” 
Source: Civil War Preservation Trust 

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ALL 

FOR THE 

UNION 

We are working with Civil War Historian 
magazine to sell subscriptions. The cost 
is $28.95 for a regular subscription and 
the roundtable receives $14.50 for a new 
subscription and $5.00 for a renewal. 
Proceeds to go to battlefield 
preservation. Any questions? Call Rick 
Zarr at 708-597-2780. Subscription 
forms will be at the meeting. 


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.,9/4/07. Phone No. 630-769-6182 

This is the last newsletter for this year. 
As we stack arms, strike tents, and take 
to the cars for a well-earned furlough. 
Everyone have a safe and enjoyable 
summer season. We hope to see every 
last mother’s son or daughter of you at 
Fairview Village in September. 

Speaking of summer, do not forget to 
attend your favorite Civil War reenactments coming soon to a site near 
you 

Welcome New Members: A Hearty 
SCCWRT hello to Rick Benson of 
Naperville who recently joined our unit. 
We hope he enjoys the ride! 

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 

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 Banquet-Cricket Bauer 
Pohanka-TBA 

September5-TBA 
October 3-TBA 

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 

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