The Newsletter of the Indianapolis Civil War Round Table
May 2006
May 2006 HARDTACK Page 4
Monday, May 8, 2006 7:30 p.m. at the Indiana History Center
The Red River Campaign
presented by Gary Joiner
Gen. Nathaniel Banks Gen. Richard Taylor Admiral David Dixon Porter
In the Spring of 1864, faced with growing concerns about France’s designs on the former Mexican province of Texas, and seeking to quell the demands of New England textile manufacturers for new supplies of cotton, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln authorized a complex military movement intended to solve both his political and economic problem. Proceeding up the Red River from southern Louisiana towards Shreveport, a combined army and naval force would seize valuable stores of the Southern cash crop and secure the way for U.S. troops to occupy east Texas. General Nathaniel Banks was given charge of this Red River Expedition, which involved some 60 naval vessels, including 20 gunboats, under Admiral David Dixon Porter. A second Federal column under the command of Gen. Frederick Steele was to converge on Shreveport from the northeast, marching out of Little Rock, Arkansas.
The resulting military campaign, which commenced on March 12 and ended May 20, 1864, was one of the most destructive of the War. It was also a fiasco—and nearly a disaster—for the Federals, who were hampered by undisciplined troops, inadequate supply lines, and adverse weather and terrain. The campaign’s objective was thwarted on April 8th when Gen. Richard Taylor’s Confederates defeated Banks at the battle of Mansfield (also known as Sabine Crossroads). At our May meeting, Gary Joiner, an acknowledged authority on the Red River Campaign, will lend his knowledge and insights into a fascinating but long neglected chapter of the War.
About Our Speaker
Gary Joiner is a military historian, cartographer and author who developed a special interest in studying river channel migration and historic road networks while studying the Red River Campaign of the U.S. Civil War. Gary holds an undergraduate degree in history and geography and a Master's degree in history from Louisiana Tech University; he earned his doctorate in history from St. Martin's College, Lancaster University, Lancaster, England.
Gary is the author of One Damn Blunder from Beginning to End, the Red River Campaign of 1864 which has won two national history book honors, the A.M. Pate, Jr. and the Albert Castel awards. In addition to teaching history at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, where he is also director of the Red River Regional Studies Center, Gary owns a cartography firm where he is a consultant on demographic, historic resources, geographic and archaeological matters. In addition to speaking at history conferences and programs across the nation, he has appeared as a history expert numerous times on Louisiana Public Broadcasting and The History Channel and has been a panelist on terrorism on MSNBC.
Gary has three books awaiting release at the University of Tennessee Press: No Pardons to Ask, nor Apologies to Make, the journal of a Civil War soldier from Bossier Parish, due this month; Through the Howling Wilderness: The Red River Campaign of 1864 and Union Defeat in the West, to be released in October; and, as senior editor, Little to Eat and Thin Mud to Drink, a volume of journals, letters, and documents of Union and Confederate soldiers and civilians in Louisiana and Texas in 1863 and 1864.
Destruction of the U.S. Transport John Warner by Confederate batteries on Red River, May 4, 1864
May 2006 HARDTACK Page 4
The Indianapolis Civil War Round Table
2005-2006 Campaign
Officers:
President: Ray Shortridge
Vice President: Steve Hill
Secretary: Janet Mitchell
Treasurer: Peg Bertelli
Committee Chairs:
Programs: Steve Hill
Publicity: Norris Darrall
Preservation: Andy O’Donnell
HARDTACK Newsletter:
Editor: Dave Klinestiver
Distribution:
Dave Klinestiver (Email) Tony Roscetti (U.S. mail)
ICWRT Meeting: May 8, 2006 at 7:30 P.M.
at the
Indiana History Center
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, Indiana
Join Us Before the Meeting at Shapiro’s Deli!
All ICWRT members and guests are invited to join us
at Shapiro’s Delicatessen before the meeting to enjoy dinner and fellowship.
See you at Shapiro’s beginning at 5:30 P.M.
808 S. Meridian St. (just south of McCarty Street)
The ICWRT thanks the Indiana War Memorial Foundation
and the Colonel Eli Lilly Civil War Museum
for their support and sponsorship of its programs
In this issue of HARDTACK: Page
May 2006 Meeting: The Red River Campaign presented by Gary Joiner .…..……………………………..……………...1-2
ICWRT News …………………………………...….…………………...... …4
Upcoming ICWRT Programs…………………….…………………….….. 5
Calendar of Events…..……………………..………………….…………... 5
Trimble’s Trivia …………………………………..………………....…….. . 6
Asked…and Answered …………………..……………………………… 7-8
ICWRT Annual Trip………………………..…………………………….. 9-10
From the Bookshelf…………………………………………………………11
June Banquet Info. and Reservation Form…………………. Endsheet 1
Re-enlistment Form……………………………….……………. Endsheet 2
May 2006 HARDTACK Page 12
ICWRT News
SIX MORE PEOPLE NEEDED FOR ANNUAL TRIP!!
The troops are in line of battle, but reinforcements are needed before we can go into battle!
A Report from Nikki Schofield
Thirty-four people so far have signed up for the annual trip, The Western Campaign, which is scheduled for the last week of June. We need just six more people to cover the cost of the chartered bus and qualify for the special motel rates, which are based on having 40 participants. It would be a shame to have to cancel the trip. Our guides are enthusiastic about our coming, and the schedule offers many opportunitiesto look and learn about the Civil War. You can walk where our soldiers walked. The time with fellow Civil War buffs gives added chances to learn from each other.
Cost-wise, the ICWRT annual trip is a real bargain. Comparable 7-day Civil War tours typically exceed $1,500 and are usually closer to $2,000.The cost of our trip, with double occupancy rooms, is only $550 (if you are single, we will try to pair you with a roommate). For further information, call tour guide Nikki Schofieldat 328-8782.
Annual Banquet Meeting June 12 at Primo
This year’s ICWRT Annual Banquet meeting, marking the official close of the 2005-2006 Campaign, will be held on June 12, 2006 at Primo Banquet & Conference Center, 5649 Lee Road, Indianapolis. A buffet dinner will be served beginning at 6:30 PM. The cost is $20 per person, with payment due by June 1st. A reservation form is included with this newsletter. Please mail or hand-deliver a completed reservation form along with your payment in full to either Tony Roscetti or Peg Bertelli. As always, guests are welcome and encouraged!
Our meeting will consist of a “Collectors’ Showcase.” ICWRT members who want to show off their personal collections of Civil War artifacts, ephemera and memorabilia are invited to bring them to the meeting (display tables will be provided). Dick Listenberger will be our guest speaker, and will be available to discuss your collection with you.
It’s Re-up Time Once Again…
This year’s campaign of the Indianapolis Civil War Round Table will soon be at an end. Now is the time to sign that form and deliver that check for another tour of duty. Dues remain unchanged: $25 for an individual membership, $30 for a family and $10 for students. All members are offered the opportunity to receive the HARDTACK newsletter via email free of charge; those who wish to receive a paper copy by U.S. Mail are asked to pay an additional $12 to cover the costs of copying and postage. A re-enlistment form is included at the end of this newsletter.
Upcoming ICWRT Programs
May 8, 2006 The Red River Campaign Gary Joiner
June 12, 2006 Annual Banquet / Collectors’ Showcase * Dick Listenberger
* the June meeting will be held at Primo Banquet & Conference Center, 5649 Lee Road, Indianapolis
Calendar of Events
May 6-7Sat.-Sun. / 29th Ohio Civil War Collector’s Show, Richland County Fairgrounds, Mansfield, OH
U.S. 30 and Trimble Road Exit. Four buildings with 30 gun Artillery Show, 6 gun battery firing demonstrations both days. For information: contact Don Williams at 419-289-3120 or Wayne Williams 419-884-0480
June 10-11
Sat.-Sun. / Civil War Weekend at Conner Prairie, 13400 Allisonville Rd., Fishers, IN
Featuring artillery and infantry demonstrations and music by Saxton’s Cornet Band.
Battle reenactments on both days. Free with general admission. For more information: http://www.connerprairie.org/Events/civilwarweekend.asp
June 24-30
Sat.-Fri. / ICWRT Annual Field Trip/Bus Tour: “The Western Campaign”
Scheduled visits include Springfield, IL; Corinth, MS; Shiloh National Military Park, TN.
For more information contact: Nikki Schofield, Tour Director, at
(317) 328-8782 or
We recommend confirming all dates, times and locations for events not sponsored by the ICWRT
If you know of a Civil War-related event that may be of interest to ICWRT members, please send your information to: HARDTACK ().
Trimble’s Trivia
by Quizmeister Tony Trimble
THIS MONTH’S QUIZ: WHO SAID IT?
1. Who said, “The man and hour have met,” and about whom?
2. Who issued orders to his men to, “Live of the country while you are in Mississippi”?
3. Who said, “I can scarcely think of him without weeping,” and about whom?
4. Who professed as his personal motto, “Duty is ours, consequences are God’s”?
BONUS: What former pre-war president is credited with saying the same thing?
5.About whom did their father say, "Here lie my two sons. Only God knows which was right"?
ANSWERS WILL BE PUBLISHED IN NEXT MONTH’S HARDTACK
Answers to the April Quiz:
Where did these Confederate generals die?
1. Richard Brooke Garnett Gettysburg
2. States Rights Gist Franklin
3. Robert Selden Garnett Carrick’s Ford
4. James Ewell Brown Stuart Yellow Tavern (mortally wounded…he died in Richmond!)
5. John Hunt Morgan Greenville, Tennessee
Asked…and Answered
At our April meeting, several members raised questions relating to our program topic (the post-War years of Robert E. Lee) that managed to “Stump the Band.” Here are the answers:
“Hey! —Who turned our lawn into a graveyard?”: The Fate of Arlington
Arlington House, built on a bluff overlooking the Potomac River and the nation’s capital, was the pre-War home of Robert E. Lee and his family. Built by George Washington Parke Custis (Lee’s future father-in-law) between 1802 and 1817, the mansion was designed to resemble the Temple of Theseus in Athens.
On April 20, 1861, Robert E. Lee was at home at Arlington when he made his momentous decision to resign his commission in the U.S. Army. Two days later, Lee left Arlington for Richmond to accept command of Virginia's military forces; he would never return. About a month later, with seizure of the property by federal forces imminent, Mrs. Lee also left Arlington. Fortunately, she was able to send some of the family valuables away to safety.
The Arlington Mansion initially was used as a military headquarters by U.S. generals McDowell and McClellan. Thereafter, it was occupied by federal officers superintending the nearby defenses of Washington. Some of the remaining Lee family possessions were moved to the U.S. Patent Office (in Washington City) for safekeeping. Several items, however, including some Mount Vernon heirlooms, had already been looted and scattered.
A Wartime law required that property owners in areas occupied by federal troops appear in person to pay their taxes. Unable to comply with this rule, Mrs. Lee saw her estate confiscated by the government in 1864. On June 15th of that year, a 200 acre section was set aside as a military cemetery, the beginning of today’s Arlington National Cemetery. In 1892, Lee’s son, G.W. Custis Lee, sued the federal government for the return of the property. By then, however, hundreds of graves covered the hills of Arlington, and he accepted the government's offer of $150,000 for the property.
Lee’s Residences after Appomattox
Shortly after the surrender of his army in April 1865, Lee joined his family in Richmond, where they stayed in a house on Franklin Street as a guest of the owner. Matthew Brady made his famous photographs of the General on the back porch of this house on April 16, 1865 (including two views with his son, G.W.C. Lee, and an aide, Walter Taylor).
The house on Franklin Street in Richmond, Virginia
“Derwent”
In the summer of 1865, the Lees took up residence, as guests of the owners, at “Derwent” in rural Cumberland County, Virginia (due west of Richmond, about halfway between Richmond and Lynchburg).
Mary Lee called it a “little retired place with a straight up house and the only beauty it possesses is a fine growth of oaks which surround it.”
Lee’s Homes at Washington College
Upon moving to Lexington in the fall of 1865 to assume his duties as president of Washington College, the Lee family occupied the school’s “President’s House.” This was the same residence where Thomas J. Jackson and his first wife (the daughter of the College’s then president) had lived for a short time more than a decade earlier. The house is now known, appropriately enough, as the Lee-Jackson House (pictured at right).
In 1869, the Lees moved into a new President’s House that they had built nearby on the campus. The photo at left, taken soon after the house was constructed, shows Traveller’s quarters nearby, to the left of the house. It was here that Lee died on October 12, 1870. The residence continues to serve as the President’s House for Washington and Lee University.