Civil War News Roundup 3/10/2010
Courtesy of the Civil War Preservation Trust
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Courtesy of the Civil War Preservation Trust
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(1) Army Leaders Visit Civil War Battle Site to Learn Lessons for Future Daily Press
(2) Citadel Applauds Return of Flag Dubbed "Big Red" Charleston Post & Courier
(3) Vicksburg Tourism: If You Build It, They Will Come Vicksburg Post
(4) Wilderness 'Friends' Win National Honor Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star
(5) At Ease, Soldier: Statue at Muscatine County Courthouse Laid to Rest - Muscatine Journal
(6) Kirby Takes Reins at Gettysburg - Gettysburg Times
(7) Stimulus Money Will Build Trail to Connect Battlefields Northern Virginia Daily
(8) No Casino Group Hears Speakers - Gettysburg Times
(9) Editorial: Connect City to Civil War for Sesquicentennial Clarksburg Leaf-Journal
(10) Flag From Pickett's Charge to Rise Again, Holes and All Greensboro News-Record
(11) Opinion: Sesquicentennial Offers Extraordinary Opportunities - Richmond Times Dispatch
--(1) Army Leaders Visit Civil War Battle Site to
Learn Lessons for Future -----------------------------------------------------
Army Leaders Visit Civil War Battle Site to Learn Lessons for
Future
By Hugh Lessig
3/8/2010
Daily Press (VA)
http://www.dailypress.com/news/newsletter/dp-local_army-coldharbor_0309mar09,0,7826717.story
The war drags on as political pressure mounts back home. Troops
are stretched thin. A decisive, end-it-all victory isn't happening.
This isn't the latest news from Afghanistan. The year is 1864
and the scene is up the road near Richmond.
And therein lies a possible parallel.
Today, Army leaders who fight wars with night-vision goggles
and aerial drones will find out what they can learn from the
ghosts of the Civil War.
They will tour the battlefield at Cold Harbor, a brutal and chilling
conflict, and review subsequent maneuvers that brought Union
and Confederate forces to Petersburg.
The tour sets the stage for a conference in Williamsburg on Wednesday
and Thursday.
The Training and Doctrine Command Senior Leaders Conference will
bring together representatives of the various Army schools -
TRADOC is headquartered at Fort Monroe in Hampton.
The conference will include discussion of the Army Capstone Concept,
a guiding document on how to think about future conflicts in
today's uncertain and complex world.
But some lessons of war transcend time, said William Glenn Robertson.
He directs the Combat Studies Institute at the U.S. Army Combined
Arms Center in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and will lead the tour.
"What it takes to advance - that hasn't changed whether
you're a Roman legion soldier or a soldier fighting in Afghanistan,"
said Robertson, a Suffolk native. "You're motivating people
to do something they normally wouldn't do."
Whether the year is 1864 or 2010, breakdowns in communication
can be disastrous. And it never helps when top generals have
a dysfunctional working relationship.
All that was in play during the campaign that included Cold Harbor.
"These are two weary armies in the midst of a long war and
you can draw modern parallels," Robertson said.
Robertson is a Civil War scholar. With this year's conference
at Kingsmill - and knowing the rich history of his home state
- the Cold Harbor-Petersburg connection seemed fitting.
Consider what happened.
The Civil War was in its third year in June 1864 when Confederates
under Gen. Robert E. Lee went up against Northern troops under
Gen. George Meade.
Well, technically.
Although Meade commanded his soldiers, traveling with him was
his superior, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, and it was Grant who wanted
to press the attack. Meade had bested Lee at Gettysburg in 1863
and he didn't care for Grant looking over his shoulder.
"You don't want your big boss in your hip pocket,"
said Robertson, "and that's the relationship these guys
have."
The Northern troops were exhausted and morale was low. In digging
trenches at Cold Harbor, they came across skeletal remains from
the Battle of Gaines' Mill in 1862. On the home front, President
Abraham Lincoln was set to be nominated for re-election in a
matter of days and wanted a victory.
Cold Harbor turned out to be a nightmare for the North. Thousands
of Yankee troops were killed or wounded in a hopeless assault
against Confederate positions.
But after a period of rest, Grant came up with another plan.
He disengaged his Army from Lee - no small feat - and crossed
the James River with eye toward taking Petersburg to the south.
The plan worked beautifully. Federal troops gathered resources
to bridge the James, formed a rear guard and established a blocking
position for the trip to the river.
The lesson?
"In the midst of a big war, there are a lot of casualties,
people are exhausted and they recognize the political implications
of failure," Robertson said. "They are under pressure
and there is a disaster. Then they rest and they learn."
But the lesson doesn't end here.
Once the federal troops crossed the James, "they forgot
why they came, because they don't take Petersburg," Robertson
said.
Grant essentially "sub-contracts" out the Petersburg
attack, led by the sickly Gen. William F. "Baldy" Smith,
who was suffering from dysentery and blazing headaches. He was
hesitant to attack Petersburg on June 15. When he finally moved,
it was too late. The federal troops did not take the city.
"What could have been done on the 15th was impossible on
the 18th," Robertson said.
So the Union learned, and then they stopped learning.
"Learning is continuous," he said. "People just
don't do what you want them to do. Things degrade even though
the plan is wonderful. You can't ever let up."
So who was at fault here? Blame Grant for not being hands-on,
or blame Smith who was either too sick or too cautious.
A few Army brass might weigh on that subject today.
"We use staff rides to illuminate our problems in a non-threatening
way - where you're talking about dead generals, not live ones,"
Robertson said.
--(2) Citadel Applauds Return of Flag Dubbed "Big
Red" -----------------------------------------------------
Citadel Applauds Return of Flag Dubbed 'Big Red'
By Diane Knich
3/7/2010
Charleston Post and Courier (SC)
http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/03/07/1354625/citadel-applauds-return-of-flag.html
A Civil War-era battle flag believed to be the one that flew
over Morris Island when Citadel cadets fired upon the supply
ship Star of the West arrived back at the school Friday morning
after nearly 150 years.
The red palmetto flag, known as "Big Red," took a 1,200-mile
journey aboard a special climate-controlled 18-wheeler from Iowa,
where it has been stored in a museum.
More than 750 people donated $61,000 to bring the flag home and
build a special display room in the school's Holliday Alumni
Center, where it will be displayed soon after the official unveiling
March 19.
The room has floor-to-ceiling glass through which people can
see the flag.
The space is temperature- and humidity-controlled and is equipped
with a security system and monitored by three cameras.
The flag is on a four-year loan from the State Historical Society
of Iowa.
Museum staff can check the condition of the flag anytime from
a computer through the monitoring cameras. And it's insured for
$500,000.
Ed Carter, a 1966 graduate of The Citadel and chairman of the
Big Red Recovery Committee, said, "I'm standing next to
a piece of history. It gives me chills."
The flag, which is about 10 feet by 7 feet, is mounted on a white
mat and framed. It shows its age a bit, with some frayed edges,
a few small holes and some stains. But its in remarkable condition,
historians and school leaders said.
It drew applause, followed by stares when the crate was opened
for a sneak peek for the media and some officials soon after
it arrived.
The historic flag is significant to The Citadel, which adopted
a model of it as its spirit flag in 1992, but nobody knew until
recently what had happened to the original.
A committee from the school's alumni association first heard
about a flag that might be the original Big Red about five years
ago, Carter said.
Another alumni group researched the flag and released a report
in October making the case that it is likely the original.
Michael O. Smith, director of Iowa's State Historical Museum,
has said the red flag, which has a white palmetto tree in the
center and a white, inward-facing crescent in the upper-left
corner, was donated to the museum by Willard Baker in 1919. Baker,
a Civil War veteran, said only that he "got the flag in
Mobile, Ala., at the end of the Civil War."
Because museum officials have such limited information about
how Baker acquired it, they can't guarantee that the flag is
The Citadel's Big Red.
But after extensive research and testing, Smith has said, he
thinks it likely is.
Some Citadel alumni and others consider the shots fired on Jan.
9, 1861, at the Star of the West, which forced the supply ship
to turn around, to be the first shots of the Civil War. The Star
of the West was a merchant vessel that was supplying the federal
troops at Fort Sumter.
Richard Jordan, president of the school's senior class, said
there's "a buzz" about the flag on campus. "It's
eerie to know that flag flew over cadets just like us so long
ago," he said.
Jordan's class donated $5,000 to the effort to bring the flag
home, and he thinks many cadets will rush to see it as soon as
it is open for viewing.
"The alumni center is definitely going to get more foot
action," he said.
-(3) Vicksburg Tourism: If You Build It, They Will
Come -----------------------------------------------------
Vicksburg Tourism: If You Build It, They Will Come
By Steve Sanoski
3/7/2010
Vicksburg Post (MS)
http://www.vicksburgpost.com/articles/2010/03/07/news/doc4b9324badcca6062722181.txt
From Civil War battlefields, antebellum homes and historical
museums to outdoors adventures, Delta blues and riverboat casinos,
Vicksburg tourists are attracted to the River City for myriad
reasons.
"Vicksburg is easy to sell. It really is, because if you
name it, we got it," said Elmerree Bradley, supervisor of
the Mississippi Welcome Center on Washington Street, which welcomes
about 150,000 visitors a year and offers a picturesque view of
the Mississippi River and the river bridges. "And they come
for it all."
Tourism directly accounted for about 4,000 jobs in Vicksburg
and Warren County in 2009 - about 16 percent of the entire workforce
- according to the Mississippi Development Authority Division
of Tourism. Visitors to the city and county spent an estimated
$209 million last year. Those numbers have dipped steadily in
recent years, and the MDA Tourism Division is predicting a still-lagging
economy will cause industry indicators to slide a little further
this year.
But with new museums on the way, the 150th anniversary of the
Civil War nearing and continuous refinement of marketing and
advertising efforts by the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors
Bureau, those in the local tourism industry are optimistic stagnant
tourism numbers will climb in coming years.
In development
Two new museums will open near the floodwall murals, splash fountain
and playground at the City Front Catfish Row Art Park within
two years.
With the retired MV Mississippi IV as its centerpiece, the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers Interpretive Center broke ground in November
and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2011. The $16
million interpretive center and museum will feature interactive
exhibits on the Corps' efforts to improve navigation and limit
flooding on the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Exhibits
on life surrounding the lower Mississippi River are also planned,
as is a walkway and observation deck.
One block away down Levee Street, the long-vacant, 103-year-old
Yazoo & Mississippi Valley Railroad depot is about to undergo
a renovation that will result in a new transportation museum
and office spaces for two tourism-promotion agencies.
City officials have estimated work on the Levee Street Depot
will begin this summer. A year after renovations begin, second-story
offices spaces for the Vicksburg Main Street Program and the
VCVB should be ready for occupancy. The transportation museum,
which will feature steamship, railway and aviation models, as
well as historical exhibits, memorabilia and a library, is expected
to open six months later.
"That will be a big shot in the arm for us, because both
of those products will give Vicksburg something new that people
have not seen here before," said Bill Seratt, VCVB executive
director. "It's definitely going to bring some renewed interest
to Vicksburg tourism."
The year 2011 also will also bring the start of Vicksburg's participation
in the nationwide Civil War Sesquicentennial, commemorating the
150th anniversary of the War Between the States. The first event,
Seratt said, will be in April 2011, and local events will continue
through July 4, 2013 - the sesquicentennial of the fall of Vicksburg
to Union forces.
The Mississippi Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission
has been formed by the Legislature, but remains unfunded. The
City of Vicksburg is matching $150,000 with a $150,000 federal
Preserve America grant to develop local sesquicentennial events,
said Seratt, who also chairs the state commission.
"The state funding is still in limbo, but we'll be promoting
the sesquicentennial very aggressively," Seratt said. "In
addition to one-time sesquicentennial events, our annual local
events such as the Tapestry home tours and the Run Thru History
will have a Civil War theme and carry the sesquicentennial icon.
The sesquicentennial is going to bring a lot of media attention
to Vicksburg, and there will be a lot of interest from both the
casual Civil War fan and the Civil War buffs."
Tapestry, the annual interpretive home tour series launched in
2009, is an example of how Vicksburg continues to refine its
cultural heritage products, Seratt said.
Tapestry mixes traditional home tours- offered in Vicksburg for
more than 50 years - with presentations unique and relevant to
each property, including jewelry-making, Civil War surgical practices,
a history of the Vicksburg slave trade and the art of making
stained glass. This year's weekend series has been expanded to
include 17 properties. It will kick off Thursday and run through
April 5.
"Research shows that baby boomers are very interested in
historic interpretation for their children and grandchildren,"
Seratt said. "They don't want the lessons of America to
be forgotten, and they want more than just historical markers."
To that end, the VCVB has begun beefing up its stock of period
clothing to lend to tour operators to give Tapestry and other
events a more authentic feel. The VCVB thus far has purchased
some men's jackets and 30 dresses for about $3,000.
"The big challenge is to provide value - and value does
not mean being cheap. It means providing visitors a quality experience
for their money," said Seratt.
Room to improve
One of Seratt's first priorities upon taking the reigns of VCVB
in April 2007 was to re-stylize and update the Vicksburg logo
and tourist guide to appeal to a more affluent traveler. He also
urged the VCVB board of directors to invest in new niche tourism
guides to capture travelers who had not been targeted before.
"We basically have two distinct groups of tourists, the
cultural heritage tourists and the gamers," Seratt said.
"But we have so many more resources that we're not taking
advantage of."
In 2009, the VCVB unveiled a glossy, full-color nature guide
in partnership with the Audubon Society Lower Mississippi River
Program in Vicksburg and the Lower Delta Partnership. The guide
highlights wildlife areas in a 30-mile radius of Vicksburg and
provides info on accessing them and the Mississippi River.
"The Mississippi River is a huge draw, and we need to tap
into that more," Seratt said. "As you travel between
Memphis and Vicksburg, you really don't have the opportunity
to get up close and personal with the Mississippi River. Here,
you really get to understand what a power body of water it is."
Eco-tourism is one of just a few niche travel markets the VCVB
is trying to tap into to diversify Vicksburg's image. A "soft
adventure" tour guide focusing on camping, canoeing, hiking,
biking and birding and is being developed. Another guide highlighting
the artistry of the sculptures and monuments in the VNMP is also
in the works. Seratt also hopes to update a guide on Vicksburg
architectural styles, and VCVB board member Willie Glasper is
looking into developing an African-American tour and guidebook.
"We're looking at doing something that explains the role
blacks played in the history and development of Vicksburg - not
just a guide that points out African-American sites," said
Glasper. "There's a need for it, and if we do it right I
think we could really tap into more revenue for the city. The
national military park has been one of our greatest tourism assets
for a long time, and I don't want this to sound negative, but
I think we need to look beyond the park and the re-enactments
because Vicksburg has so much more to offer."
Bradley said an African-American tour route for Vicksburg is
one of the most requested programs she doesn't have at the Mississippi
Welcome Center.
Bradley noted similar guides of Natchez, Jackson and Philadelphia
are very popular with tourists. "It's their history, and
they want to see it."
Other areas in which Bradley said she feels ill-equipped to advise
tourists include children's activities and regular evening entertainment.
The splash park at Catfish Row is popular with families in the
summer months, but Bradley said tourists frequently say they
wish Vicksburg had a year-round amusement park. For many tourists
travelling by car on U.S. 61 - The Blues Highway - Vicksburg
is a midway point on the Memphis-to-New Orleans trip. The majority
of those tourists want live music, said Bradley, and are disappointed
at Vicksburg's offerings compared to other Delta cities and towns.
"They really want regular evening entertainment; live blues
and jazz - that's what they've come to Mississippi for,"
she said. "The weekends are not so bad, but during the week
the schedule is pretty thin."
Moving ahead
While the VCVB visitor center on Clay Street and the Mississippi
Welcome Center one of the primary sources of information, tourists'
methods for booking rooms and finding attractions, restaurants
and bars is continually moving online. The mode by which the
majority of tourists are finding Vicksburg is also changing.
"The majority of travelers are not stopping at welcome centers
anymore. They're going online to find out about hotels, restaurants
and attractions, and making most of their plans based on what
they find there. They're printing out the info they want, and
they're calling for our brochures less and less," Seratt
said.
Seratt has responded to that shift by convincing the VCVB board
to commission a $75,000 overhaul of the VCVB Web site, which
continues to evolve.
"Our Web site is a living marketing piece - it will constantly
be changing," he said. "We're about to ratchet it up
to the next level, with more online sweepstakes and promotions."
Seratt also has increased VCVB television and print advertising
spending by 50 percent over the past three years - to roughly
$645,000 this year - hitting all major metro markets with commercials
and ads in the Southeast.
Drawing in additional tourists from those drive-in markets will
be key, as river tourism travel has all but dried up in Vicksburg
over the past two years. The loss of three river tour steamboats
that brought thousands of visitors to the city each year has
had a sizable impact on local attractions.
In November 2008, the 174-passenger Delta Queen steamboat docked
in Vicksburg for the last time. Before that, at the end of the
2007 season, the 422-passenger Mississippi Queen and the 426-passenger
American Queen ceased operations and their stops here.
"We used to get about 40 to 50 stops per year, and two to
three busloads of visitors who would come to all the local attractions
from each stop," said Battlefield Museum owner and operator
Lamar Roberts.
The loss of the Queens, said Roberts, has cut into the number
of annual visitors at his museum by 10 percent. A Louisiana law
enacted in 2009 forbidding schools to take out-of-state field
trips has cut into business about 10 percent more, he added.
"People are just hanging on by their fingernails trying
to get through these times," said Roberts, who also is executive
director of the transportation museum under development. "I
think our only hope is to begin advertising Vicksburg as a real
destination, and not a stop on the way to your destination."
Visitation numbers at the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum, Old Court
House Museum and Vicksburg National Military Park were all up
slightly in 2009 over the year previous. While Roberts' overall
numbers were down, he said visitation was up slightly when tourists
generated by the Queens was not factored in.
Weighing Vicksburg's developing attractions and events against
the still-dismal economy and other challenges facing the local
tourism industry, Seratt said he's optimistic about visitor numbers
going forward.
"I think they're headed up," he said without hesitation.
"We still market very aggressively to the group tour market,
but most of our traffic is going to come from individual travelers
in the future - and we're adjusting. We'll continue to focus
on advertising in a 500-mile radius to keep Vicksburg in the
forefront of travelers' minds, and we'll continue to refine the
branding of Vicksburg as our offerings expand and improve."
--(4) Wilderness 'Friends' Win National Honor -----------------------------------------------------
Wilderness 'Friends' Win National Honor
By Clint Schemmer
3/6/2010
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star (VA)
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2010/032010/03062010/532334/index_html?page=1
The Virginians who are restoring Orange County's Ellwood Manor
and interpreting the historic site to the public have received
a signal honor.
Friends of the Wilderness Battlefield, the all-volunteer group
that operates the 1790s home as a visitor contact station for
the National Park Service, was presented with a chairman's award
this week by Civil War Preservation Trust leader John L. Nau
III.
Theirs is one of three such awards for education, philanthropy
and historic preservation that are made by Nau, a Texas businessman
who chairs the trust's board of trustees and is also head of
the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
FOWB is the first organization to receive the award for achievement
in historic preservation.
Awards also went to Norfolk residents Mark and Karen Perreault
and Maryland teacher Robert Rinehart.
The achievement awards recognize individuals and organizations
that have had a tremendous impact on historic preservation in
their states.
Nau commended FOWB for its 15 years of work to protect the 1864
battlefield, many interpretive programs and efforts to restore
Ellwood to its wartime appearance. The group's members contribute
more than 1,000 man-hours each year to open Ellwood to the public,
and have raised more than $325,000 to spruce up the antebellum
building, which served as a military headquarters during the
battles of Chancellorsville and the Wilderness.
Ellwood is one of the two most heavily visited tourist sites
in Orange County, along with Montpelier, home of President James
Madison and his wife, Dolley.
"Friends of Wilderness Battlefield has been a fearless advocate
for the protection of the battlefield, its context and its legacy,"
Nau said.
Noting the group's objections to Walmart's plan to build a 138,000-square-foot
Supercenter in eastern Orange just outside the Fredericksburg
and Spotsylvania National Military Park, he said: "The courage
this group has shown in stepping forward should be an example
to other advocacy groups across the nation."
FOWB is a plaintiff, along with National Trust for Historic Preservation
and six local residents, in an ongoing lawsuit against Orange
County over its decision to permit the Walmart retail development.
Turning to the other CWPT honorees, Nau praised the Perreaults
for their years-long commitment to battlefield protection and
other historic preservation causes.
Mark Perreault has been a leader in the effort to see management
of Hampton's Fort Monroe--scene of many important events during
the Civil War--pass to the National Park Service once the U.S.
Army vacates the site in 2011.
He also helped persuade Norfolk Southern to preserve the ground
where Confederate Lt. Gen. A.P. Hill, a Culpeper native, was
killed near Petersburg seven days before the surrender at Appomattox.
Most recently, the philanthropist couple enabled CWPT to acquire
critical acreage at Appomattox Station, a battlefield that had
long been thought beyond protection.
Nau recognized Rinehart, an inspiring educator at Southampton
Middle School in Bel Air, Md., outside Baltimore, for his work
using historic preservation as an innovative tool to teach civic
activism.
Nau announced the awards during the CWPT board of trustees' meeting
Thursday at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in downtown Washington.
A graduate of the University of Virginia, Nau has led fundraising
efforts for the U.Va. foundation.
With 55,000 members, CWPT is the largest nonprofit battlefield
preservation organization in the United States. Since 1987, it
has helped save more than 29,000 acres of battlefield land in
20 states.
--(5) At Ease, Soldier: Statue at Muscatine County
Courthouse Laid to Rest -----------------------------------------------------
At Ease, Soldier: Statue at Muscatine County Courthouse Laid
to Rest
By Erin Tiesman
3/2/2010
Muscatine Journal (IA)
http://www.muscatinejournal.com/news/local/article_8d697b70-2616-11df-82af-001cc4c002e0.html
It's been 135 years since hands have touched it.
Now, the Civil War memorial soldier, which stood a silent watch
over the Muscatine County Courthouse, has come down to be saved
from more damage by the Earth's elements.
On Monday afternoon, local historian Lee Miller, 70, watched
as a Muscatine Power and Water crew wrapped a harness around
the 6-foot, 2-inch statue's waist, gently placing wood between
the arms to protect it from breaking.
"We've already decided if he crumbles apart, he crumbles
apart," Miller said, his eyes staying on the statue.
Some of it did. While the half-ton statue was lifted up from
its 30-foot pillar, its fragile musket and worn legs snapped,
crumbling to the ground in pieces. But the destruction stopped
there.
As the soldier was brought down to the ground, his mustache,
tilted brim hat and ragged cape were still visible. Small indentations
were still present where his mouth and eyes once were.
The memorial was created by a monument company in the late 1800s,
Miller said, and was dedicated in 1875 by Gov. Samuel J. Kirkwood.
Kirkwood noted that "more names (of Civil War veterans)
were to be added later," Miller said, but that never happened.
When the monument was moved to the left side of the lawn in 1910
and rededicated in 1925, over 60 names of other Civil War veterans
were still left off the bronze plaques that are affixed there
today.
Through fundraising, Miller and the other members of the Civil
War Memorial Committee - Muscatine County Supervisor Wayne Shoultz,
Dan Clark, Ron Miller, Sandy Lee, and Paul Blanchard - hope to
have a new soldier built and added to the current memorial and
the 63 names placed on an additional, shorter monument next to
the old one.
The total cost for the refurnished memorial is estimated at $17,000.
Miller hopes to see it completed and ready for rededication on
July 4, 2011 - the year of the 150th anniversary of the start
of the Civil War.
Chad Behnke, an apprentice lineman with Muscatine Power &
Water, was one of three MP&W employees helping on behalf
of donated company time and equipment.
"I've never done anything like this before," Behnke
said.
After conversations with professional preservationists, Lee Miller
and his committee decided to take the soldier down.
Blanchard, commander of the Muscatine VFW, spent most of the
two hours in a box crane, securing the soldier's harness for
its removal.
"Back then, they thought marble would last forever,"
he said after the soldier was placed in a flatbed trailer.
Miller believes the pollution from factories, exhaust from cars,
along with Iowa's ever-changing seasons and harsh climates might
have contributed to its deterioration.
As those present picked up pieces of the statue's broken remains,
Blanchard suggested selling the pieces to raise money for the
new statue and additional monument.
After the statue was removed, the question was where to keep
it. Plans at one time had the statue stored at the Muscatine
Art Center or MP&W, but space constraints have changed those
plans.
Supervisor Dave Watkins and Eric Furnas, director of administrative
services, suggested the work release center as a place for temporary
storage.
"We just want to get him inside," Miller said. "If
we get him inside, we can stop the deterioration."
As the crews gathered their supplies and trucks left the lawn,
Civil War Committee members looked at the soldier now removed
from his pedestal.
"It didn't go the way we planned," Blanchard said after
bringing the broken statue down. "It's fragile."
Miller, however, was happy with the result. He expected the worst.
"I'm amazed," he said watching it swing from the crane
on its way down. "I really didn't think we'd get this much
of the soldier."
--(6) Kirby Takes Reins at Gettysburg -----------------------------------------------------
Kirby Takes Reins at Gettysburg
By Scot Andrew Pitzer
3/1/2010
Gettysburg Times (PA)
http://www.gettysburgtimes.com/articles/2010/03/01/news/local/doc4b8bb35a96ae3313237248.txt
Thirty-six year National Park Service veteran Bob Kirby takes
over today as the new superintendent at Gettysburg National Military
Park.
Kirby replaces former battlefield boss John Latschar, who was
demoted to a desk job in Maryland last year.
Previously, Kirby served as superintendent at Petersburg National
Battlefield in Virginia. He led that park for about a decade,
before being named the battlefield boss at Gettysburg in January.
He called his new position "a tremendous challenge,"
noting that Gettysburg is the most famous Civil War site in America.
"It's an icon park," Kirby told the Petersburg Progress-Index.
"It's a huge honor to be asked to be superintendent of a
nationally significant cultural resource."
He noted that the "scale of operations is bigger" in
Gettysburg, with more than 80 full-time staffers and seasonal
employees compared to roughly 35 full-time employees in Virginia.
Kirby is now responsible for running the daily operations of
the 6,000 acre park and the Eisenhower National Historic Site.
He'll also work closely with the park's nonprofit fundraising
and management partner, the Gettysburg Foundation, and oversee
the new $103 million Battlefield Visitor Center. The Petersburg
park is not involved in a private-public partnership.
National Park Service Northeast Regional Director Dennis Reidenbach
described Kirby as a "seasoned veteran who combines demonstrated
leadership skills with experience." With the 150th anniversary
of the Civil War approaching, Reidenbach added that "Bob
is the right individual to oversee both the best known Civil
War park in the national park system, and to manage a significant
presidential site."
Catoctin Mountain Park Supt. Mel Poole had been serving as interim
superintendent in Gettysburg, in the past few months since Latschar's
reassignment. He is returning to his position in Maryland, effective
today.
In the past, Kirby served as assistant superintendent at Delaware
Water Gap National Recreation Area and "chief of interpretation"
at Lowell (Mass.) National Historic Park. He was an environmental
protection specialist for the Defense Logistics Agency in Ogden,
Utah; outdoor recreation director with the Department of the
Army in West Germany; and held several positions at Golden Gate
National Recreation Area.
Kirby is the 11th permanent superintendent since the National
Park Service took control of the Gettysburg Battlefield in 1933.
Past superintendents are: James R. McConaghie (1933-1941); J.
Walter Coleman (1941-1958); James B. Meyers (1958-1963); Kittridge
A. Wing (1963-1966); George F. Emery (1966-1970); Jerry L. Schober
(1970-1974); John R. Earnst (1974-1988); Daniel A. Kuehn (1988-1989);
Jose A. Cisneros (1990-1994); John Latschar (1994-2010); and
James Robert "Bob" Kirby (2010).
--(7) Stimulus Money Will Build Trail to Connect
Battlefields -----------------------------------------------------
Stimulus Money Will Build Trail to Connect Battlefields
By Preston Knight
2/27/2010
Northern Virginia Daily (VA)
http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2010/02/stimulus-money-will-build-trail-to-connect-battlefields.php
The Virginia Department of Transportation has obligated money
toward the last of its stimulus-funded projects, which include
a bike and pedestrian trail linking the Fishers Hill Battlefield
to the Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park.
Plans for the trail project, which received $850,000 through
the American Restoration and Recovery Act, were announced last
year, when about $1 billion worth of infrastructure projects
in Virginia received stimulus money. The commonwealth received
$694.5 million in highway funding under the special legislation,
and was required to have its allocation obligated by Tuesday,
according to a VDOT news release.
The Federal Highway Administration approved obligating funding
on the department's final project this week, it states, and by
meeting the deadline, Virginia is positioned to accept additional
stimulus funding not obligated by other states.
Around the Northern Shenandoah Valley, VDOT obligated funds for
bridge repair on the Senseny Road overpass in Frederick County
(more than $1 million); pavement restoration and rehabilitation
along four miles of Interstate 66 in Warren County ($1.4 million);
and improvements to four roads in Shenandoah County, including
Old Schoolhouse and Zepp roads.
Of those projects, the Warren County one is complete, according
to VDOT.
The Fishers Hill trail, the department states, is slated to be
awarded for construction in September 2011. The Shenandoah Valley
Battlefields Foundation has been working on the project, including
having a management committee meet. Its members include Pam Sheets,
Shenandoah County's director of parks and recreation, and Strasburg
Town Councilwoman Sarah Mauck.
Beth Stern, the foundation's director of policy and communications,
said the trail will be about 10-12 miles long, connecting protected
areas of the battlefield to one another and then sending visitors
to the boundary of Cedar Creek and Belle Grove. It's designed
for non-motorized traffic.
It's yet to be determined if the path, a $1.3 million project
that officials have said was to also receive another $400,000
from federal transportation grants, will be paved. Stern said
there are a number of benefits to its existence regardless.
"It allows people another way to move around the landscape,"
she said. "It brings jobs [construction and contractors].
Ultimately, it provides a way to build community."
The trail carries national significance, too, Stern added, by
enhancing and promoting historic sites.
Elizabeth McClung, executive director of Belle Grove Plantation,
said she has not been involved in developing the trail, but she
is all for it.
"Anything that links historic sites is an important thing
to do," she said.
--(8) No Casino Group Hears Speakers -----------------------------------------------------
No Casino Group Hears Speakers
By Scot Andrew Pitzer
2/19/2010
Gettysburg Times (PA)
http://www.gettysburgtimes.com/edition/edition/?haspdf=1
As former Adams County Commissioner Dick Waybright took the microphone
Thursday night during a No Casino Gettysburg town hall meeting,
he looked out over the crowd gathered at the Gettysburg Fire
Hall and proclaimed: "Here we go again."
Three years after No Casino Gettysburg fought and defeated an
Adams County slots project, the volunteer group has re-formed
to
combat another proposal by the same investor.
A crowd of about 125 people attended the group's two-hour "informational"
meeting, featuring nine guest speakers and topics including
heritage tourism, real estate and economics.
No Casino Gettysburg Chairwoman Susan Star Paddock said her group
is "back and better than ever." The group opposes Gettysburg
businessman David LeVan's plan to convert the Eisenhower Inn
along Business 15 in Cumberland Township into an exclusive slots
resort: the "Mason Dixon Resort & Casino."
"It offends the heritage tourists who are our community's
bread and butter," said Paddock.
History professor and "heritage tourism expert" Violet
Clark was the night's keynote speaker, as she rounded out the
program with a 20-minute presentation. She referenced a 2001
study citing that 58 percent of tourists state that "commercialism
affects their decision to return to an historic site."
The Tennessee resident also cited studies showing that visitation
in Vicksburg, Miss. - another Civil War site - has declined by
45 percent since gaming was authorized in the 1990s.
"If we lost 45 percent (visitation), the loss would be $54.9
million," said Clark, citing Civil War Preservation Trust
statistics. "I hope the casino will make that up."
Paddock recounted the history of LeVan's previous gaming project,
Crossroads Gaming Resort in Straban Township, which was denied
by the state's Gaming Control Board in 2006. The board cited
"overwhelming opposition" as one of its reasons for
rejecting the plan, with the project's proximity to Gettysburg
National Military Park.
Paddock believes that the Eisenhower Inn site (compared to the
Route 15/30 interchange in Straban) is an "even worse location."
She pointed out that the Eisenhower Inn is located in a "less
developed part of the county with no public utilities,"
and noted that the 300-room hotel "has to bring in water
in the summer."
The property is already home to commercial, recreational and
residential development, including Devonshire Village. Paddock
said that the "80 families that live there are very, very
nervous about the proposal."
The 100-acre site is zoned for "mixed-use" commercial
development and next month, Cumberland Township supervisors are
voting on legislation that would allow gaming in that area.
"They (Mason Dixon) have asked Cumberland Township for blank-check
zoning, which means they can get it anywhere," said Paddock.
Gettysburg area realtor and guest speaker Bill Reaver explained
that potential homeowners are concerned about living in a casino
community. He thinks that a casino is "out of place"
near the 6,000-acre Gettysburg National Military Park.
No Casino advocates have argued that LeVan's proposal is located
a "half-mile" away from the battlefield boundaries.
"What would we think of the French if they built a casino
one mile from Normandy Beach?" asked Reaver.
Other speakers talked about gambling addiction, social services,
the area's historical significance, job loss/creation and casino
economics.
The majority of the crowd was made up of "anti-casino"
advocates, although some members of Pro Casino Adams County were
peppered throughout the audience, including spokesmen Jeff Klein
and Tommy Gilbert.
"It was all based on emotion and not on facts," Klein
said following the meeting. "There weren't a lot of facts,
at least from what I heard."
The session was civil, except for one slight outburst. When Clark
introduced herself on the microphone, one person in the crowd
- imitating her Tennessee accent - told her to "shutup."
Clark responded to the remark, replying that the issue was "too
important" to hush.
No questions were taken from the public, as the nine speakers
utilized the entire two hours.
--(9) Editorial: Connect City to Civil War for Sesquicentennial
-----------------------------------------------------
Editorial: Connect City to Civil War for Sesquicentennial
Clarksville Leaf-Journal
2/17/2010
Clarksville Leaf-Journal (TN)
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20100217/OPINION01/2170327
The sesquicentennial for the Civil War is fast approaching. The
150th anniversary commemoration runs from 2011 to 2015.
The timing is perfect for Clarksville. It can capitalize locally
on the national and international attention that the sesquicentennial
will bring through the renovation of Fort Defiance, located at
120 A St. in New Providence near Sevier Park.
Confederate troops originally built the fort in November 1861
on the confluence of the Red and Cumberland rivers as a way to
defend the river approach to Clarksville. It was abandoned as
Union troops seized Clarksville in February 1862. Confederates
briefly recaptured the city and the fort from August to September
1862. Then, Union troops retook both, and Clarksville remained
occupied for the remainder of the war.
Col. Sanders D. Bruce of Kentucky was placed in command at Clarksville
after the Union forces regained control, and the fort was renamed
Fort Bruce.
The fall of Fort Defiance helped to open Middle Tennessee up
to the Union forces. This event, along with surrender of Fort
Donelson and the battle of Fort Henry, eventually led to the
fall of Nashville.
The property was donated by retired Judge Sam Boaz, who had preserved
the site, to the city in the mid-1980s. The city, Austin Peay
State University and several community groups cleared the land,
which was subsequently excavated for historic artifacts.
Today, the earthworks remain, and Clarksville will be building
a 4,700 square foot Fort Defiance Interpretive Center near the
site to complement and enhance it. Rufus Johnson Associates has
produced an architectural rendering of the center. The Customs
House Museum is bringing an educational element to the building,
and the Clarksville Museum Board is selecting the appropriate
artifacts. Nature trails, landscaping and paved access drives
will be included.
The city contributed $325,000 toward the project in order to
qualify for $1.3 million in grant money from the Federal Highway
Administration.
Clarksville's role in the Civil War received national attention
back in 1990 when it was one of the places profiled in Ken Burns'
PBS documentary, "The Civil War." The city didn't take
full advantage of the attention then, but it's not too late.
With the renewed focus on Fort Defiance, the city can build on
that base of interest - as an historic treasure and as an economic
engine through increased tourism.
--(10) Flag From Pickett's Charge to Rise Again,
Holes and All -----------------------------------------------------
Flag From Pickett's Charge to Rise Again, Holes and All
By Donald W. Patterson
2/10/2010
Greensboro News-Record (NC)
http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/02/09/article/flag_at_pickett_s_charge_to_rise_again_holes_and_all
One of North Carolina's most famous flags soon will be publicly
displayed for the first time since Union forces captured it nearly
150 years ago at the Battle of Gettysburg.
A group of Civil War re-enactors has agreed to raise the money
needed to conserve the battle flag of the 22nd N.C. Regiment,
which included men from Guilford, Randolph and Caswell counties.
Lost during Pickett's Charge on July 3, 1863, the flag has been
kept in storage at the North Carolina Museum of History for more
than 100 years, but hasn't been displayed because of its condition.
"We want to feel like we are not just out there re-creating
battles," said Skip Smith of Lenoir, commander of the 26th
N.C. re-enactors group. "We can make a difference and help
our own state museum."
Since 2004, the 300 plus members of the 26th have raised more
than $65,000 to place battlefield monuments as well as conserve
four of the museum's collection of Civil War battle flags.
The conservation of the 22nd flag, which will take nearly a year
and cost $6,400, is part of the museum's Adopt-An-Artifact program,
an effort that allows residents to make tax-deductible contributions
that will help protect some of the state's most valuable treasures.
Museum officials estimate they have hundreds of objects - flags,
paintings, furniture, uniforms, sculptures, quilts - that need
hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of conservation work.
"With the budget crunch, they don't have the money to conserve
any of these items," said Smith, a middle school teacher.
"That's another reason we are there to help them out."
Museum officials say Smith's group has led the way in raising
money for conservation.
"These are not a bunch of yahoos," said Tom Belton,
the museum's curator of military history. "They have a great
love and appreciation for North Carolina's involvement in the
Civil War. They are certainly the regiment most involved in historic
preservation."
Smith said his group wants to help conserve one flag a year.
To promote efforts to conserve the 22nd flag, Smith has sent
posters and brochures to historic sites across the state, but
most of the money will be raised through raffles held by the
re-enactors.
The group selected the 22nd flag after a News & Record story
on the tattered wool banner appeared July 3, 2008. After the
story ran, the museum received more than $500 in donations from
readers, but not nearly enough to pay for the conservation.
"I said, 'We need to finish that flag,'" Smith said.
"We love the history of the 22nd."
Organized July 11, 1861, in Raleigh, the 22nd consisted of nearly
1,000 men from Guilford and several other counties from the western
half of the state.
By the time the regiment reached Gettysburg, the unit had fought
in a dozen battles.
On July 1, 1863, the first day of fighting at Gettysburg, the
22nd sustained heavy losses. Then, on July 3, the regiment would
be decimated in one of the most famous charges in military history.
In all, the unit lost 157 men at Gettysburg, or 59 percent of
its force.
The unit's bravery during the charge was captured in a painting
by Civil War artist Mort Kunstler. Called "The High Water
Mark," it shows the flags of the 22nd and the 26th regiments
as they approach the Union line.
The Yankees held, drove back their attackers and captured their
flags.
In 1905, the government agreed to return the flags to their respective
states, including more than 30 to North Carolina.
Today, the museum has 115 Civil War flags, about 80 percent of
which need conservation work.
The 22nd flag shows the story of combat: the regiment name in
yellow; the battles where it flew in blue; holes that curators
say could be from bullets; stains that could be from blood; a
black identification number placed on it by its captors.
"This flag has everything," said Cathy Heffner, president
of Textile Preservation Associates, a company in Ranson, W.Va.,
which will do the conservation work. "It is telling you
everything you need to know about that unit."
Heffner explained that conservation doesn't mean repairing the
flag, but halting its deterioration.
After a year of fund-raising and a year of conservation, Smith
hopes to hold a dedication ceremony for the flag in January 2012.
It will be an opportunity to honor the men who rallied around
it.
"You can conserve uniforms, but uniforms only represent
one person," Smith said. "The battle flags represent
the whole regiment, everybody who marched under it. That's why
we do battle flags."
--(11) Opinion: Sesquicentennial Offers Extraordinary
Opportunities -----------------------------------------------------
Opinion: Sesquicentennial Offers Extraordinary Opportunities
By Rick Tatnall
2/7/2010
Richmond Times Dispatch (VA)
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/opinion/commentary/article/ED-TATN07_20100205-200403/322518/
Good citizens of Richmond, the sesquicentennial is coming, the
sesquicentennial is coming!
The what?
Sesquicentennial is defined as "a 150th anniversary or its
cele bration." In 2006, the Virginia General Assembly created
the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission
(HB1440) "to prepare for and commemorate the sesquicentennial
of Virginia's participation in the American Civil War."
While the commission was created for the Civil War anniversaries,
the sesquicentennial is also the 150th anniversary of events
leading to emancipation and the abolition of slavery. So, when
I say the sesquicentennial is coming, I mean the 150th anniversary
of a series of events and circumstances that forever changed
our city, our nation, and the world.
For many complex reasons -- some related to issues of race --
Richmond has not embraced the power of its Civil War history,
including its standing as the capital of the Confederacy.
If being the Confederacy's capital has made Richmonders cringe,
Richmond's prominent role in slavery has made them want to run
and hide, which has led to a coordinated repression of events
and memories. The result has been a host of lost opportunities
and a significant stunting of the economic and social growth
of the community of Richmond.
Esteemed Richmond Times-Dispatch Editor Virginius Dabney warned
Richmond that losing its mystique as the capital of the Confederacy
would lead it to become "just another city." The same
could be said for the mystique of Richmond's incredible 400-plus
years of history -- continually nurturing the development of
our nation since 1607. Possibly due to the Civil War and slavery
issues, Richmond has never embraced the power and magnitude of
this historical résumé.
All that can change with the sesquicentennial, which offers a
treasure trove of opportunities for the community of Richmond,
for the commonwealth, and for the nation. Richmond has a unique
opportunity to craft and present an incredible, interactive historical
experience through its commemoration of the sesquicentennial
-- especially if it is done accurately, respectfully, introspectively,
and energetically.
Richmond can and should make the argument that all who call themselves
Americans must come to Richmond between 2011 and 2015 to better
understand their heritage and their charge for the future. We
need Barack Obama on the steps of the White House of the Confederacy
exhorting Americans to use the sesquicentennial as the springboard
to a new America. A similar argument should be crafted for the
international community.
The potential financial windfall offered by a properly presented
sesquicentennial is unprecedented and comes at a time when economic
conditions have affected many important government and community
resources, with more cuts on the way and very few new sources
of revenue on the horizon.
The community of Richmond should see itself as truly blessed
to have such an opportunity both to turn its short-term economic
situation around and to help guarantee its long-term economic
vitality. The beauty of this opportunity is Richmond does not
need to spend any money to make it happen -- we have had all
of the attractions in place for 150 years or more.
Equally important, the sesquicentennial offers the community
of Richmond a four-year opportunity to firmly establish the region
as The Birthplace of Our Nation because of its amazing 400-year
history -- and the chance to highlight its other incredible institu
tional and natural resources, especially the James River.
The seeds of future visits will be planted when people come to
see and understand the Civil War and slavery and are also introduced
to Powhatan and Patrick Henry, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
and the Virginia War Memorial, John Marshall and Bill "Bojangles"
Robinson, Church Hill and "The Harlem of the South,"
Thomas Jefferson and Maggie Walker, and the Richmond Folk Festival
and First Fridays.
The Future of Richmond's Past is a new community collaboration
process engaging a growing collection of educational institutions,
museums, organizations, and individuals working to strengthen
Richmond's presentation of its powerful history, with special
attention initially to its Civil War and slavery-related history.
This group of extremely intelligent and well-meaning people has
started the process of reinterpreting Richmond's history and
presenting it in a more accurate and compelling way, but they
can only do so much.
It is time for Richmonders from all over the region to join in
the process. It is time for Mayor Dwight Jones, Council President
Kathy Graziano, and Venture Richmond to see the sesquicentennial
as a powerful economic engine for the City of Richmond.
It is time for the leaders of the region to see it as the ultimate
regional collaboration project. It is an opportunity for Gov.
Bob McDonnell and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling to use it to create a
lot of new jobs. It is an opportunity for communities of faith
to use it to examine the thoughts and decisions of their ancestors
in the light of today, with a look to tomorrow (especially Methodists,
Presbyterians, and Baptists -- Christian denominations that suffered
significant splits related to the Civil War and slavery). And
it is an opportunity for Richmonders and Americans to engage
in honest conversations about race, poverty, and the power of
community that -- while painful at times -- should lead to a
positive transformation for the community of Richmond, for the
commonwealth, and for the nation.
Consider being an American at the time of the firing on Fort
Sumter in April of 1861 on through the surrender at Appomattox
in April 1865. Regardless of which side one was on or where one
lived, consider the expenditures made by Americans across the
country -- daily expenditures in energy, emotion, income, and
intellect by literally everyone of all ages, every single day
for more than four years.
Now consider the sacrifices made during this time, including
the ultimate sacrifice made by hundreds of thousands of Americans,
and the financial and emotional impact on their families and
communities. Imagine how invested and involved almost all Americans
were in trying to shape their personal future and the future
of their country.
For four years, it was quite an extraordinary display of collective
human effort -- and because it was fraught with conflict and
uncertainty, it was a time of true, unbridled American citizenship.
Now, imagine duplicating that collective human energy, emotion,
income, and intellect for four years in a collaborative effort
to increase the quality of life for all Richmonders, and for
all Americans.
Good citizens of Richmond, the sesquicentennial is coming. Let's
make it an event they celebrate 150 years from now.