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The Outpost 
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE SALT CREEK CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE 
VOLUME XLII No. 7 March 2005 
379th Regular Meeting 
DATE: 4th March 2005 
PLACE: Lisle Hilton 
TIME: 8:00 P.M. 
SPEAKER: Robert I. Girardi 
TOPIC: “What I Saw at Shiloh…” 
In this presentation we shall be hearing from Sgt. Joseph Greenhut of the 12th Illinois 
Volunteer Infantry, as portrayed by Mr. Girardi. He is returning home after having 
been wounded in the battle of Shiloh. He will discuss the nature of the war, his 
experiences in camp, and battles and events witnessed in the process. He is an actual 
soldier in the 12th Illinois from Chicago, and all of the information he presents is from 
first-person accounts, albeit with some artistic license. All persons and events 
mentioned will be authentic. 
Robert I. Girardi possesses a Masters degree in Public History from Loyola 
University. He is a past president of the Chicago CWRT, veteran of the SCCWRT and 
its former newsletter editor for 12 years before being exchanged, a member of 3 
CWRT’s, the Sons of Union Veterans, a Fellow of the Company of Military Historians, a 
Civil War book addict and re-enactor for 20 years, and an inmate of “Andersonville.” 
He has authored/edited five books on the Civil War…(and will have some for sale at 
the meeting!!!!), book reviews and articles on the Civil War, and has been on the 
committee for the Chicago Historical Society’s CW Symposium for 9 years. And much 
more his sufferings have driven from his mind!

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FFEBRURY 
MEETING 
BY 
CINDY 
INTRAVARTOLO 
Last month, our speaker, Art Foley, 
presented, “The War Songs of George F. 
Root and Henry C. Work”, before 45 
members and guests at the 378th regular 
meeting of the Salt Creek Civil War 
Roundtable. He was more than ably 
accompanied by his wife Karen, Ms. 
Ruth Gayde, Mr. Jim Yarborough, and 
Ms. Joline Bastounes. 
The songs of the Civil War ranged 
from the patriotic to the sentimental. 
Music was used to inspire and 
encourage soldiers as well as describe 
various situations that arose during the 
war, such as: separation, deeds of valor, 
enemies and friends, family, battles, 
death, prison life, loss, the end of the 
struggle, and Lincoln. Of all the 
composers of music from the Civil War 
era two men who contributed to the 
effort from Chicago were George F. Root 
and Henry C. Work. 
Foley combined narration and 
singing in his program that brought us 
the music of Root and Work as they 
intended it to be performed. We were 
taken chronologically through the war 
with songs that told its story from the 
beginning right through its end. Foley 
and Company began with Roots’ song, 
North and South, which explained the 
attitudes of the country in 1861 and 
later, in 1865, when the war ended. 
They concluded the program with 
Works’ song, ‘Tis Finished! a jubilant 
song heralding the end of the war. 
George Frederick Root (1820-1895) 
was born in Sheffield, MA, the oldest of 
eight musical children born to musical 
parents. As a boy, Root worked on his 
fathers’ farm. But at eighteen he went to 
Boston for his first piano lesson in 
search of a career in music. Within 3 
years he was teaching singing lessons 
and by 1844 left Boston for New York to 
teach in various institutions. By 1850 
his teaching assignments began to 
exhaust him and he decided to go to 
Paris to study singing. We are not sure 
how long he was in Europe, but by 1858 
he was in Chicago. There he became a 
partner in the publishing firm of Root 
and Cady and began composing music. 
He published over 500 songs, many of 
them under his German surname of 
Wurzel. His best known Civil War 
songs include: The Vacant Chair (1861), 
The Battle Cry of Freedom (1862), Just 
Before the Battle, Mother (1864), Tramp!, 
Tramp!, Tramp!, (1864), and Farewell 
Father, Friend and Guardian, (1865). They 
were songs that told of the loss of a 
loved one, patriotism, prison life, and 
the assassination of Lincoln. 
Henry Clay Work (1832-1884) was 
born in Middletown, CT. According to 
Mr. Foley, little is known of the life of 
Work compared to Root. He 
apprenticed as a printer in Hartford, CT 
and published his first song, We Are 
Coming Sister Mary, in 1853. He married 
Sarah Parker in 1857 and they had four 
children. In 1858, he moved to Chicago 
and settled in Hyde Park. He played at 
the Hyde Park Presbyterian Church, 
and his house at 57th and Dorchester is 
still standing. In 1862 he wrote Kingdom 
Coming!, a song that openly attacked 
slavery. He took the song to Root, who 
was so impressed with his effort that he 
told him to give up printing and become 
a composer. He composed as he set 
type, which meant, according to Foley, 
that he had to compose backward! It

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would take Work one to three weeks to 
compose a song. 
The two men eventually had a falling 
out, and in 1865 Work decided to take 
his family to Europe. Upon his return, 
he had a lot of personal problems and 
left his family to live in Philadelphia. In 
the 1870’s, he returned to printing but in 
1876 composed one his most popular 
post-war songs, Grandfathers’ Clock. He 
died at age 51 in Hartford, CT. where he 
was buried. His most popular Civil War 
songs were: Brave Boys are They! (1861), 
Kingdom Coming! (1862), Grafted into the 
Army (1862), Little Major (1862), Babylon 
is Fallen! (1863), Come Home, Father! 
(1864), and Marching Through Georgia 
(1865). 
Root and Cady moved their 
publishing house, in 1871, from Clark St. 
to the Crosby Opera House on 
Washington. During the Chicago Fire, 
they suffered a loss of $370,000 and 
eventually closed the firm in 1873. Root 
went back to teaching and eventually 
traveled to Europe and England, 
discovering how famous he had become 
along the way. He died in 1885 and was 
buried in North Redding, MA. 
The SCCWRT extends its great 
thanks to Art Foley and friends for an 
evening of entertainment and education 
on two giants of Civil War music. 
PRESERVATION REPORT 
BY 
LEN OVERCASH SR. 
(This months report falls into the 
“Lest we become complacent” category- 
Ed.) 
BRANDY STATION, VA.-The Brandy 
Station Foundation lost round two in its 
fight to prevent a Culpepper developer 
from building homes on an 18.9-acre 
parcel on which part of the Brandy 
Station battle was fought. Culpepper 
Circuit Judge John Cullen refused to 
issue a temporary restraining order 
against Clifton Shull and his Golden 
Oaks Construction Co., that would have 
prevented the developer from building 
two single-family dwellings for which 
he received construction permits two 
weeks ago. “It is not clear to the court 
that irreparable harm is apparent [to the 
plaintiff],” Cullen said. (Huh!?-Ed.)… In 
rejecting the request for the restraining 
order, Cullen cited case law that holds 
the interest of the individual above that 
of the public, except in specific cases. 
He warned Shull, however, that he was 
proceeding at his own risk if he 
developed the property before the 
appeal is settled. Shull bought the land 
in April 2003 for $450,000. Wayne 
Stilwell, the former owner, said he tried 
to sell it to the foundation, but got no 
response. 
CHARLESTON, SC-Historic Morris 
Island, where black troops of the 54th 
Mass. charged to glory in 1863, is for 
sale and an ad has been posted on EBay. 
The asking price for the property, 
advertised as Cummings Point, is $12.5 
million. The tract is being marketed for 
one large home, not a development 
project. “It’s sad to see such a priceless 
piece of American history put up for 
auction like some unwanted holiday 
gift,” said Jim Campi, spokesman for the 
Civil War Preservation Trust. 
The property is for sale on E-Bay, not 
up for auction. 
Source: Civil War 
Interactive(civilwarinteractive.com)

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ALL FOR THE UNION 
The Berwyn Park 
District has dropped 
their sponsorship of 
the fall Gettysburg trip. 
The search for an 
alternate sponsor has 
commenced. 
Our newest board member, Stephen 
Munier, has been updating the website. 
It looks great! We now have over 600 
hits! Thank You, Stephen! 
The 14th Annual Civil War Symposium, 
sponsored by the Kankakee Valley 
CWRT, will take place on April 2nd. See 
enclosed flyer for details or pick one up 
at the meeting! 
EDITOR’S 
NOTES 
March 1st is rapidly approaching! All 
you stragglers get your dues in or lose 
your access to the most spectacularly 
edited newsletter in the land effective 
with the next edition. Remember $30 by 
mail or $25 by E-Mail. 
We are getting a bit low on book and 
other donations for our various raffles. 
Comb those attics! Plumb those 
basements! Ask Uncle Hiram what he 
might have stashed away! It is all for a 
good cause! 
The next board meeting is at the home 
of Roger Bohn, 2 S 644 Devonshire Ln., 
Glen Ellyn, Il. 630-858-2956. 3/1/05, 
7:30 P.M. 
CALENDAR OF EVENTS” 
April 1st-Steve Stewart-“Soldiering in the 
Railroad Regiment 
May 6th-Dan McCarthy-“Irishmen 
Meagher and Mitchel” 
June 3rd-Banquet-Speaker Thomas 
Cartwright-“Humor in the Civil War” 
June17th-97th Regimental Concert- 
Edison Middle School-Wheaton, Il. 
Sept. 2nd-Bill Teshner-William T. Sherman 
Sept. 17th-Collector’s Show-Northlake, Il. 
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