April 2018 Southern MD Civil War Round Table

April 10, 2018

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its next meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 7:00pm at the College of Southern Maryland’s Center for Business and Industry, Chaney Enterprises Conference Center, Room BI-113, at 8730 Mitchell Road in La Plata, MD.

Guest Speaker: Marc Leepson

Journalist, historian, and author Marc Leepson will present a two-part program in April on the Battle of Monocacy based on his acclaimed 2007 book, Desperate Engagement: How a Little-Known Civil War Battle Saved Washington, D.C., and Changed American History.

Mr. Leepson—the author of nine books, including his latest, Ballad of the Green Beret: The Life and Wars of Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler—will give a talk on the book on Tuesday, April 10 in La Plata. Then, on Saturday, April 14, he will lead an extensive tour of the Monocacy National Battlefield outside Frederick, Maryland.

The talk—and the book—covers four short but pivotal weeks in the Civil War. The story begins on June 13, 1864, when Confederate General Jubal Anderson Early followed his commanding general Robert E. Lee’s secret orders to take an entire corps of troops from outside the defenses of Richmond and move into the Shenandoah Valley. Early quickly defeated Union General David Hunter at Lynchburg, then marched his troops north through the undefended Shenandoah Valley.

On July 5 Early’s troops crossed the Potomac, setting in motion the South’s third invasion of the North (after Antietam in 1862 and Gettysburg almost a exactly a year earlier in July 1863). The story ends almost exactly a month later, on July 14, 1864, when Early led his troops back across the Potomac after removing them from the fighting around Washington.

The key event in the entire affair, the July 9 Battle of Monocacy, played a vital and under-appreciated role in the outcome of the war. In what would be Union General Lew Wallace’s finest military hour, he and his men came out on the losing end. But, as the book makes clear, the fight at Monocacy became known as “the battle that saved Washington” because Wallace held Early up for just enough time for Grant to bring much-needed seasoned troops to man the defenses of Washington.

As for changing American history, Early’s move into Maryland and his march on Washington forced Grant to send the U.S. Army’s 6^th Corps from outside Richmond to Monocacy and Washington and to divert the entire 19^th Corps to the nation’s capital. Grant had been working on what he had hoped would be a plan to put a stranglehold around Lee in Richmond and Petersburg, a strategy that he had hoped would end the war, perhaps as early as the summer of 1864. That strategy dissolved when he had to send all the 6^th and 19^th Corps north.

Marc Leepson is the author of nine books, including Desperate Engagement, Saving Monticello, Flag: An American Biography, Lafayette: Idealist General, What So Proudly We Hailed, and Ballad of the Green Beret. A former staff writer for Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C., he has written for many magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal and Civil War Times and Military History, been interviewed on many television and radio shows (among them, CBS This Morning, The Today Show, Fox News, MSNBC, All Things Considered, and Morning Edition), has presented papers and chaired panels at academic conferences, and has given many presentations to university and high school students.

He is senior writer, arts editor, and columnist for The VVA Veteran, the magazine published by Vietnam Veterans of America. He graduated from George Washington University in 1967. After serving in the U.S. Army, including a year in the Vietnam War, he earned an MA in history from GWU in 1971. He taught U.S. history at Lord Fairfax Community College in Warrenton, Virginia from 2008-2015.

He has served on many non-profit boards, including the Library of Virginia Foundation, the Virginia State Library Board, the Loudoun County (Va.) Library Board of Trustees, and the Mosby Heritage Area Association. He lives in Middleburg, Virginia. His website is www.marcleepson.com.

Attendance is free for all, but membership is recommended. For information, contact the Round Table’s president, Ben Sunderland, at bsunderland@somdcwrt.org or 443-975-9142.

February 13, 2018

March 2018 Southern MD Civil War Round Table Meeting

March 13, 2018

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its next meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at 7:00pm at the College of Southern Maryland’s Center for Business and Industry, Chaney Enterprises Conference Center, Room BI-113, at 8730 Mitchell Road in La Plata, MD.

Guest Speaker: Kimberly Schwatka

We invite you to join us this evening, as Ms. Kimberly Schwatka takes us into the world of nursing during the Civil War by introducing us to Ms. Harriet Patience Dame. Ms. Dame is one of small number of army nurses who “roughed it” in the field with the men. Harriet was in the field with her “boys” the Second New Hampshire Infantry during the entire war. When the Civil War broke out, Miss Dame was operating a boarding house for students in Concord, New Hampshire. She answered the call for volunteers when the regimental surgeon of the Second New Hampshire Infantry requested two matrons. Harriet Dame applied, was quickly accepted, and traveled south to join the regiment. Harriet received her introduction to battlefield at the First Battle of Manassas, where she met up with the Second New Hampshire as the battle was beginning.

In 1862, during the retreat from the James during the Peninsula campaign, she demonstrated exceptional courage and leadership. General Hooker gave the orders that all of the sick and wounded who could not travel be left behind. Harriet organized the sick and wounded so they could help each other during the 120 mile trek. During the retreat from the Peninsula, Miss Dame was captured for the first time. At the Second Battle of Bull Run, Harriet was taken prisoner for the second time at the old stone church at Centreville, Virginia. During the unit’s furlough, instead of accepting a much-deserved furlough of her own, Harriet took charge of the New Hampshire Soldiers Aid Society rooms in Washington DC.

Harriet rejoined unit when they returned to active duty. She was present for the battle of Gettysburg and it is believed she may have been at the Trostle barn caring for the wounded. Miss Dame stayed at the Corps hospital until the sick and wounded were transferred to general hospitals.

Harriet would again rejoin the 2nd New Hampshire at Point Lookout, Maryland where it was assigned guarding prisoners of war. While the Second was assigned to Point Lookout, she was sent to investigate the sanitary conditions of the New Hampshire troops stationed near Charleston, South Carolina and St Augustine, Florida. Miss Dame would later be appointed matron of the 18th Corps Hospital at Broadway Landing during the Petersburg campaign in 1864.

After the war, the New Hampshire Legislature voted Harriet $500 for her wartime work. She donated the funds to help build a cottage at The Weirs for veterans of the Second New Hampshire. Over 600 veterans signed the petition that resulted in a private pension bill being passed granting Harriet a pension for her wartime service as a nurse. She was granted a pension as a result of $25 per month in 1884. Her invalid claim states that she was disabled by rheumatism.

Unknown to Miss Dame, then Assistant Secretary of the Treasury William E. Chandler secured an appointment for her as a clerk in the treasury department. She held the position until 1896, when she was dismissed from her post due to prolonged absence due to breaking her leg first in February 1865, and then when she broke her other leg on the evening of November 27, 1895 after being knocked down by a female bicyclist.

She served as the second president of the Army Nurses Association which had lobbied Congress for passage of a bill to grant pensions to nurses of the Civil War. Harriet was a welcome guest at veterans’ reunions and an honored guest at the annual encampment at The Weirs. Miss Dame was entitled to wear the cross of the Eighteenth Corps, the diamond of the Third Corps of Hooker’s division, and the heart of the Twelfth corps. She also received a special badge from the Second New Hampshire Infantry.

Harriet Patience Dame died April 24, 1900 in Concord, New Hampshire. She was buried in Blossom Hill Cemetery with full military honors. Surviving members of the regiment had the monument erected in the cemetery in her honor. In 2002, she was inducted posthumously into the American Nursing Association Hall of Fame for her work during the American Civil War.

Kimberly Schwatka is a customer service representative with General Dynamics IT. This fall she is returning to school to pursue her Master of Arts in Military History at Norwich University. Ms. Schwatka is a graduate of Depaul University. Ms. Schwatka became interested in Civil War history while still in junior high school. She is a reenactor and living historian with both the 20^th Maine Company E and the 17^th Corps Field Hospital. Ms. Schwatka is also a member of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. Her interest in Harriet Patience Dame grew as a result of a brief biography that was brought to her attention.

Please come out as we celebrate Women’s History Month with this informative presentation. Attendance is free, but membership is recommended. For more information, please call Round Table President Ben Sunderland at 443-975-9142 or email at bsunderland@somdcwrt.org.

January 9, 2018

February 2018 Southern MD Civil War Round Table Meeting

February 13, 2018

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its next meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 13, 2018 at 7:00pm at the College of Southern Maryland’s Center for Business & Industry, Chaney Enterprises Conference Room, BI-113, at 8730 Mitchell Road in La Plata, MD.

Guest Speaker: David R. Craig

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round table is pleased to welcome back for Hartford County executive David Craig. For those that enjoyed his October 2014 presentation the the Round Table about Maryland Confederate Brigadier General James Archer, you shall certainly enjoy tonight’s presentation on his latest book “Greetings from Gettysburg”.

Mr. Craig will discuss with us this evening the Battle of Gettysburg, its creation and change as a National Battlefield Park, how his book could help one tour the Gettysburg National Battlefield or remember a time when they did and the vintage post cards he used in the writing of this book.

David Craig attended Havre de Grace High School and was a History major at Towson State College (BS), and Morgan State University (Master’s Degree). Married to Melinda Lee (Blevins) Craig for 45 years. Teacher at Harford County Public School (Middle School) for 15 years and assistant principal for 19 years. Havre de Grace City Councilman five years, Council President one year, Mayor 9 years, State Delegate one term, State Senator one term, Harford County Executive 10 years (2 1/2 terms–longest serving in the county. State Secretary of Planning for Governor Hogan for 1 1/2 years and currently Executive Director of the MD WWICC. Member of the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War (Baltimore) due to my great-grandfather Robert Craig who was in the 2nd Battery, Maryland Light Artillery, USA. Also a soccer coach for 25 seasons. Currently “Pop Pop” of eight grandchildren (father of three).

Please come out and help us welcome back David Craig. Attendance is free for all, but membership is recommended. For information, contact the Round Table’s president, Ben Sunderland, at bsunderland@somdcwrt.org or 443-975-9142.

December 12, 2017

January 2018 Southern MD Civil War Round Table Meeting

January 9, 2018

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its next meeting will take place on Tuesday, January 9, 2018 at 7:00pm at the College of Southern Maryland’s Center for Business and Industry, Chaney Enterprises Conference Center, Room BI-113, at 8730 Mitchell Road in La Plata, MD.

Guest Speaker: Bonnie Mangan

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Rescheduled from March 2017 due to inclement weather, the Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is happy to be able to present Ms. Bonnie Mangan as she educates us about Clara Barton’s Efforts to Identify Civil War Missing Soldiers!

Clara Barton is often identified as a Civil War nurse and the founder of the American Red Cross. But between the end of the Civil War and her introduction the Red Cross while traveling in Switzerland, she sought to find out what happened to the thousands of unknown Union dead.

Barton considered the naming of the dead an obligation of the nation that sent so many to an unaccounted death far from home. Just as she saw a need to have medical care and supplies at hand on the field during the battle, she recognized that “an accounting of the dead is an accounting to the bereaved,” as Drew Gilpin Faust explains in This Republic of Suffering. Barton understood both of these needs before the government did.

Barton began her work just prior to the Quartermaster Office’s Reburial Program.

In April 1866 Congress passed a Joint Resolution that authorized and required the Secretary of War “to take immediate measures to preserve from desecration the graves of soldiers of the United States who fell in battle or died of disease in hospitals; to secure suitable burial places in which they may be properly interred; and to have the graves enclosed so that the resting places of the honored dead may be kept sacred forever.” Barton sought to name the individual dead, something finally done with the National Cemetery Act of 1872.

Using Barton’s writings, this talk will concentrate on the work of the Missing Soldiers Office. During this period, Barton went on the lecture circuit speaking about her wartime experiences to fund the Missing Soldiers Office. Barton also testified before the Congressional Joint Committee on Reconstruction reporting on conditions in Georgia, which she viewed first hand when she accompanied the expedition to set up the Andersonville National Cemetery.

Though Barton’s work on behalf of the missing was undertaken independently of the government’s (as Clara often preferred) they were part of the overall national program to honor those who gave the last full measure. And Barton certainly should be considered a pioneer in this endeavor.

Bonnie Mangan grew up in Chicago and attended the University of Illinois. She earned Masters degrees in Middle East Studies and Library Science. After working aboard she was hired by the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress. She recently retired after 36 years of faithful federal service.

Bonnie became interested in mid 19^th century history reading about the Alcotts and the Transcendentalists. After hearing Eileen Conklin speak on Women at Gettysburg, 1863, she signed up to attend the first Conference on Women and the Civil War, the precursor to the Society for Women and the Civil War (SWCW). To learn about the Civil War she followed the Vermont Brigade. Bonnie credits her late friend, Dorie Silber of Walden, VT, and Wilbur Fisk (2^nd VT) with nurturing this interest.

Since 2011 Bonnie has been a National Park Service volunteer at Arlington House where she is considered the resident Yankee. She is a docent at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office. She also serves on the board of SWCW.

Bonnie lives in Arlington, VA with her cats Fuller (named for Margaret Fuller) and Alcott (named for all the Alcotts).

Please come out and shake off some of those post holiday blah’s! Attendance is free, but membership is recommended. For more information, please call Round Table President, Ben Sunderland, at 443-975-9142 or email at bsunderland@somdcwrt.org.

November 16, 2017

Southern MD Civil War Round Table Spring Field Trip

Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table

Monocacy Battlefield Tour

Saturday, April 14, 2018

9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

The Tour: Join us for our annual Spring Tour of the Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table. This tour will begin in La Plata (CSM Campus), where participants will board a chartered bus for The Monocacy Battlefield.

The Battle of Monocacy (also known as Monocacy Junction) was fought on July 9, 1864, approximately 6 miles from Frederick, Maryland, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864 during the American Civil War. Confederate forces under Lt. Gen. Jubal A. Early defeated Union forces under Maj. Gen. Lew Wallace. The battle was part of Early’s raid through the Shenandoah Valley and into Maryland in an attempt to divert Union forces away from Gen. Robert E. Lee‘s army under siege at Petersburg, Virginia. The battle was the northernmost Confederate victory of the war. While the Union troops retreated to Baltimore, Maryland, the Confederates continued toward Washington, D.C., but the battle at Monocacy delayed Early’s march for a day, allowing time for Union reinforcements to arrive in the Union capital. The Confederates launched an attack on Washington on July, 12 at the Battle of Fort Stevens, but were unsuccessful and retreated to Virginia.

The Guide: The tour guide is Marc Leepson, author of the book, “Desperate Engagement”. He will also speak to the round table on Tuesday, April 10th. Contact is Ben Sunderland @ 4439759142 or bsunderland@somdcwrt.org.

^Cost:^{The cost of the trip (bus and lunch) is $55 for members and $65 for nonmembers. Save money through early bird registration (March 13, 2018) $50 for members and $60 for nonmembers.}

November 14, 2017

December 2017 Southern MD Civil War Round Table Meeting

December 12, 2017

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its next meeting will take place on Tuesday, December 12, 2017 at 7:00pm at the College of Southern Maryland’s Center for Business and Industry, Chaney Enterprises Conference Center, Room BI-113, at 8730 Mitchell Road in La Plata, MD.

Guest Speaker: Rick Richter

We adopt a local flair this evening as Mr. Rick Richter joins us to share his work, research and knowledge on the 4th Maryland Artillery. He will present to us this unit’s ties and connections to the Southern Maryland area, as well as some of the campaign’s that they participated in. His book, “Three Cheers for the Chesapeake: History of the 4^th Maryland Artillery” represents the culmination of 25 years of researching the unit. Rick has lectured on the Chesapeake Artillery before both battlefield preservation and living history groups, and appeared as the consulting historian on an episode on Benner’s Hill at Gettysburg for The Travel Channel’s “Mysteries at the National Parks” series. He was also an exhibitor in the B&O Railroad Museum’s “The War Came by Train” exhibit.

Rick Richter was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in nearby Silver Spring, MD. He received both his BA and MA degrees from the University of Notre Dame. Rick has been an avid Civil War collector and researcher ever since his father gave him a bullet from Gettysburg when he was six years old. He has since had items from his collection displayed at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore as well as special events at the Daniel Lady Farm in Gettysburg.

After a career as an executive in sales and marketing in the Consumer Goods industry, Rick is now a partner in a large executive recruiting firm. He has six grown children and lives in Toronto. His interest and research into Maryland Civil War units continues.

Attendance is free for all, but membership is recommended. For information, contact the Round Table’s president, Brad Gottfried, at bradgottfried@yahoo.com or 862-268-5576.

October 15, 2017

Southern MD Civil War Round Table Film Series

November 14, 2017

Come out and join us for the third season of Civil War films from 4:25pm – 6:45pm, prior to the regularly scheduled Round table meeting tonight. Movies will be shown at the College of Southern Maryland’s Center for Business and Industry, Chaney Enterprises Conference Center, Room BI-113, at 8730 Mitchell Road in La Plata, MD. Admission is free!

Tonight’s Feature: The Birth of a Nation (2016)

Set against the antebellum South, this update of the infamous film of 1915, written and produced by Nate Parker, follows Nat Turner (played by Nate Parker), a literate slave and preacher, whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer), accepts an offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves. As he witnesses countless atrocities – against himself and his fellow slaves – Nat orchestrates an uprising in the hopes of leading his people to freedom.

The 2016 film uses the same title as “D.W. Griffith’s 1915 KKK propaganda film in a very purposeful way”, said TheHollywood Reporter. Parker has said his film had the same title “ironically, but very much by design”. According to the filmmaker, Nate Parker, “Griffith’s film relied heavily on racist propaganda to evoke fear and desperation as a tool to solidify white supremacy as the lifeblood of American sustenance. Not only did this film motivate the massive resurgence of the terror group the Ku Klux Klan and the carnage exacted against people of African descent, it served as the foundation of the film industry we know today. I’ve reclaimed this title and re-purposed it as a tool to challenge racism and white supremacy in America, to inspire a riotous disposition toward any and all injustice in this country (and abroad) and to promote the kind of honest confrontation that will galvanize our society toward healing and sustained systemic change.”

September 15, 2017

Southern MD Civil War Round Table Film Series

October 10, 2017

Tonight’s Feature: “Free State of Jones“

Newton Knight, played by Matthew McConaughey, is a disillusioned Confederate army deserter who returns to Mississippi to lead a militia of fellow deserters, runaway slaves, and women in an uprising against the corrupt local Confederate government. “The movie tells of a counter-rebellion in a Mississippi town during the Civil War, and is based on a true story. The film is done in a style that emulates “Twelve Years a Slave”, and … deals with topics of slavery and secession in a way that is poignant but also constructive” (Casey Nicholson). The “free state” that Knight formed within the state of Mississippi operates under the credo that no man shall be owned, and poor men should not be losing their lives so the rich can get richer. It’s a truly powerful film about freedom and an earnest man who believes in equality–even on a subconscious level” (IMDb).

September 12, 2017

October 2017 Southern MD Civil War Round Table Meeting

October 10, 2017

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its next meeting will take place on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 at 7:00pm at the College of Southern Maryland’s Center for Business and Industry, Chaney Enterprises Conference Center, Room BI-113, at 8730 Mitchell Road in La Plata, MD.

Guest Speaker: Gary Dyson

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table welcomes author Mr. Gary Dyson, as he discusses his book, “The Ambush of the Isaac P. Smith, Family Ties and the Battle on the Stono, January 30, 1863.” Mr. Dyson will present the story of the USS Isaac P. Smith, which was ambushed by Confederate shore batteries and captured on the Stono River near Charleston, South Carolina on January 30, 1863. John Wyer Dicks (Executive Officer) and Frederic Calvin Hills (Paymaster) were officers on the Smith, meeting each other as shipmates, spending time as prisoners of war together, and immediately after the Civil War becoming related when Frederic married John’s daughter Marianne. This book also tells the history of the Smith leading up to its capture as well as provides an account of the crew’s captivity, the lives of Dicks and Hills after the war, and some brief biographies of other combatants, North and South. Battle reports and eyewitness accounts were used to describe the battle. Published through Lulu.com, Mr. Dyson’s book is available there as well as Amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

The Ambush of the Isaac P. Smith, Family Ties and the Battle on the Stono, January 30, 1863

Gary L. Dyson is a retired Environmental Specialist from the city of Gaithersburg, MD and a former Marine. He is a lifelong history enthusiast and has spent countless hours reading, researching and exploring battlefields – from the French and Indian War to World War II. Gary owns Dyson Genealogy and Historical Research and is the author of “Ambush of the Isaac P. Smith” and “A Civil War Correspondent in New Orleans, the Journals and Reports of Albert Gaius Hills of the Boston Journal.” He has a BS in Natural Resources Management from Oregon State University. Gary lives in Mount Airy, MD with his wife Emily and has two children away at college. He is also a board member for the Frederick County Civil War Round Table. We invite everyone to join us and Mr. Dyson, as we learn about one of the lesser known stories of the American Civil War.

Attendance is free for all, but membership is recommended. For information, contact the Round Table’s president, Ben Sunderland, at bsunderland@somdcwrt.org or 443-975-9142.

July 31, 2017

September 2017 Southern MD Civil War Round Table Meeting

September 12, 2017

The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table is pleased to announce that its next meeting will take place on Tuesday, September 12, 2017 at 7:00pm at the College of Southern Maryland’s Center for Business and Industry, Chaney Enterprises Conference Center, Room BI-113, at 8730 Mitchell Road in La Plata, MD.

Guest Speaker: Joseph Stahl

For those that joined us on our 2016 Spring Field Trip to Antietam, tonight’s speaker will be very familiar. For those that did not, you are in for a treat, as our guide from our survey of Antietam, Joseph Stahl, returns to speak to us about Union ID discs, as The Southern Maryland Civil War Round Table kicks off its sixth (6th) season.

The presentation “Union ID Discs” will introduce information on the history, types and makers of the “metals” as they were called in the Civil War. These discs were bought by the soldiers as they were not government issue. Examples of most of the major types of discs will be shown and information about each of the owners of the discs will be included. The discs will be on display at the presentation.

Joseph Stahl retired from the Institute for Defense Analyses where he authored or co-authored more that 50 reports on defense issues. Since his retirement he has become a volunteer and Licensed Battlefield Guide at Antietam. He grew up in St. Louis, where he earned an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. He is a member of the Company of Military Historians, SHAF, the Hagerstown Civil War Roundtable and is co-author of the first book on ID discs Identification Discs of Union Soldiers in the Civil War. He has spoken to various Civil War groups including the Northern Virginia Relic Hunters, South Mountain Coin and Relic Club, Rappahannock, York, Chambersburg and Hagerstown Round Tables, Chambersburg Civil War Tours, Save Historic Antietam Foundation and the NPS Antietam. In addition Joe has authored more that two dozen articles about items in his collections for the Gettysburg Magazine, the Washington Times Civil War Page, Manuscripts, America’s Civil War, Military Collector & Historian the Journal of the Company of Military Historians, the Civil War Historian and the Skirmish Line of the North-South Skirmish Association. Displays of items from of his collection have won awards at several Civil War shows.

Mr. Stahl also has been a member of the North-South Skirmish Association for more than 20 years and has shot civil war type muskets, carbines and revolvers in both individual and team competitions.

Attendance is free for all, but membership is recommended. For information, contact the Round Table’s president, Brad Gottfried, at bradgottfried@yahoo.com or 862-268-5576.