Newsletter of the Ray Fawcett Chapter of The Central Ohio Civil War Roundtable

The WarCorres ondent

General-in-Chief.s ReportBy

Brian Hall

As always I would like tothank all the members and guestswho attended the meeting in Apriland heard Daniel Davis talk onCol. Lewis Grant and hisVermonters at the Wilderness. Iheard very good comments onthe presentation and am sorrythat I was unable to attend themeeting to hear it.

For those of you whowere unable to make our annualbattlefield trip you missed a funtime (we walked about 22 miles intwo days). We were able to go toan area that no other groupshave ever seen.

I would like to thank ourguides Don Pfanz and GregMertz on a great job. My thanksalso goes out to Pete for all of hishard work on planning the tripand everything else that goesalong with it. And included in mythanks are Patty and Wendy formaking our lunches each day.

Remember membershipdues are now due for those ofyou who have not paid. Thankyou to those who have paid.

I look forward to seeingall of you at the May meeting.

Your Obedient Servant,Brian Hall

May 2006

Answer to AprilPuzzler

Late in the war, in whatconflict did men of two Unioncavalry divisions fight on foot indense woods?

Five Forks, Virginia,April 1, 1865

May Puzzler

Though fought virtuallyto a draw, what battle didConfederates list as Robert E.Lee's first victory?

Suggestions for AnnualTrip

While on our trip weusually start talking about wherewe would like to go next year.

Below see a list of threeideas:

• Chickamauga• Jackson's '62"

ValleyCampaign.

• '64 ValleyCampaign

If you are interested inany of the three above or youhave any ideas please let PeteZuhars. You can contact him atzeteman@yahoo.com or PattyBarker at patricia.barker@chase.com

Vol. 15, No. 11

Historian General'sReport

ByPete Zuhars

Our speaker for theMay 10th meeting will be RobertVane his topic will be: Therelationship between Lincolnand Grant.

Mr. Vane is a member ofthe Indianapolis Civil WarRoundtable.

He holds a master'sdegree in Medieval History fromIndiana University.

He served in the UnitedStates Army. He and his wifeKandace, have two children,Andrew and Anna.

Mr. Vane's "career" as apresenter to Civil War Round-tables is just beginning. So far,he has spoken to the WestCentral Indiana and the WesternOhio Civil War Roundtables, andalso to the Abraham LincolnSociety of Indiana.

In his presentation hewill discuss how Lincoln andGrant won the war.

One of the eternalquestions of the American CivilWar is whether the Confederacyever really had a chance toprevail. Whatever one's positionon that question, the North'seventual victory has its roots inthe decision by President Lincoln

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to give Ulysses S. Grant com-mand over all the Union Armies.What followed was a partnershipunlike any other in AmericanHistory-before or since. Com-bined with Lincoln's benevolentand trusting attitude, Grant'sstrategic plan and clear directionstrained the Confederacy's mili-tary, political and economic infra-structure to its breaking point.The result was complete victoryfor the North and the establish-ment of two legends.

Adjutant General'sReport

April 12, 2006 MeetingBy

Rory Mcintyre

Esteemed guest DanDavis spoke at our April meetingon the Vermont Brigade at theBattle of the Wilderness.

William "Baldy" Smithformed the Vermont Brigade.The brigade consisted of the 2nd

VT, who enlisted in April 1861,the 3rd VT, enlisted in May, andthe 4th and 5th VT regiments, inAugust and September. TheWar Department policy normallyprecluded creating a brigade,which included only regimentsfrom 1 area, preferring to mixseveral states together to avoiddecimation of a region and topromote competition in theranks. However, the "GreenMountain Boys, as they becameknown, were an exception to thisrule. Lewis Grant led them atChancellorsville and later wasnamed brigadier general.

The Vermonters sawlittle action until the Battle of theWilderness. On the night of May5/6, Gen. A.A. Humphreysrecommended a move throughthe Wilderness to flank the Armyof Northern Virginia. The VTBrigade, part of the 6th Corps,was some of the first across theRapidan. They marched to

Wilderness Tavern where, un-sure of Lee's disposition, USGrant placed the 6th Corps aspart of a static line. General Leediscerned the Army of thePotomac's movement and order-ed AP Hill into the Wilderness.On the morning of May 5th

,

General Meade learned of Lee'smarch and sent L Grant's bri-gade, along with other units ofGetty's division to the inter-section of the Brock and PlankRoads; the Vermonters got therejust in time to face west, load,and fire. Ordered by Meade to"keep the pressure on," the fightcontinues through the day, withthe smoke and woods obscuringvisibility so much that the fightbecame, essentially, one-on-one.Lewis Grant went to get supportfor his troops. While he wasgone, his second-in-command,Lt. Stone, took a wound. Heretired to the field hospital tohave the wound dressed, theninsisted on returning to the front.When he arrived, he was almostimmediately killed. Finally,General Hancock sent supportand the Vermonters were re-lieved at about 6:30 PM; they'dbeen fighting for almost twelvehours.

On the morning of May6th

, Longstreet came up behindHill's beleaguered corps andpushed back. The VermontBrigade was the second linebehind Birney's, so when Birneywas pushed back, Vermont wasonce again in the front. Theytook advantage of the defensesthe Confederates had construct-ed and held off the assault.Later, the ANV found a railroadcut that led them to the AOP'sleft. Their flank attack rolled upthe Union left until they reachedthe VT brigade. Vermont heldfast, long enough to buy time forthe rest of the Union troops, thenthey finally fell back, realizingthey would otherwise be cut offfrom the main body.

On May th, they were

ordered back to the turnpike,where they saw some skirmishduty but no more heavy fightingin the Wilderness. Indeed, theycould have barely managed it,for their losses were staggering.Of the 2880 men who reportedfor duty on May 5th

, 1269 werekilled or wounded or wounded byMay 8th

.

Many thanks to Mr.Davis for enlightening us on thistough, battered group of men.

Donations

Roundtable member KenRamsey will match up to $1,000donations made to the Civil WarPreservation Trust from theroundtable to purchase the"Slaughter Pen" farm atFredericksbu rg.

It is estimated by FrankO'Reilly that 5,000 to 9,000casualties on the southern end ofthe field fell on this land. Thisland is just north of the Meadebreakthrough and is where themost vicious back and forthfighting of the battle took place.The dead of both sides weremixed together in "heaps." Leeupon observing this field after thefighting uttered the famous "It iswell that war is so terrible, or weshould grow to fond of it." It isconsidered to be one of the twomost important remaining unpro-tected tracts of land in the entireEastern Theatre.

Ken hopes that peoplewill recognize the importance ofthis land and help him raisesome of the cost of protecting it.

He will insure that allmonies donated will beacknowledged by letter from theCWPT, which will be valid for taxpurposes. He will detail anycash contributions specifically byname so that the CWPT can

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properly record the donation.This offer will remain

open for the next two meetings -May and June.

Ken also encouragesanybody interested to read thechapters "A Terrible Slaughter InOur Ranks" and "Getting Hill OutO'Trouble" in Frank O'Reilly'sbook - The FredericksburgCampaign. This will makeevident the importance of theland.

The Muskingum CountyCivil War Association,

Inc.

The Muskingum CountyCivil War Association, Inc. ofZanesville, Ohio, is seeking mon-etary donations in order toreplace the headstone of Lt.Charles E. Hazlett, Commanderof Battery D, 5th U.S. Artillery,who was killed July 2, 1863, onLittle Round Top at the battle ofGettysburg.

Over the years the stonehas deteriorated and been van-dalized to the point that it is nowbroken into three pieces and theinscription is no longer legible.

After two years ofresearch in order to find theexact wording originally on thestone, the MCCWA is ready toundertake this project. The gran-ite stone will cost severalthousand dollars to replicate.Upon completion of the newstone, a public dedication cere-mony will be held.

The Muskingum CountyCivil War Association is a non-profit, tax-exempt organizationunder Section 501@ (3) of theI.R.S. laws which has as itsgoals the education of our citi-zens through preservation anddemonstration.

To make a donation orfor further information, contact

Donald C. Moody, President,Muskingum County Civil WarAssociation, P.O. Box 1863,Zanesville, Ohio 43702-1863;www.muskingumcivilwar.org ore-mail: hazletl@muskingumcivilwar.org

Dues

It is that time of year torenew your membership in theCentral Ohio Civil War Round-table.

Individual - 25.00Family - 35.00Student - 15.00

Please make checkspayable to the: Central Ohio CivilWar Roundtable. They can bebrought to the meetings ormailed to: Central Ohio Civil WarRoundtable, P.O. Box 471, LewisCenter, OH 43035-0471.

If you have paid yourdues since January 2006 you arepaid for the year.

Slaughter Pen Farm

I found this informationin The Civil War News and itgoes along with roundtablemember Ken Ramsey's offer tomatch donations to the CWPT.

The CWPT began high-lighting the importance of theSlaughter Pen Farm for threeyears ago, and has been activelyattempting to buy it for a yearfrom owner John Pierson.

Mr. Pierson died inAugust. The Trust approachedthe niece, who inherited thefarm. In December the propertywent on the market for $12.3million, touted as "one of the bestindustrial sites in the Common-wealth of Virginia.

In February, Tricord,Inc., came to the assistance ofthe Trust and purchased anoption on the farm. Tricord andthe Trust have an agreement

that will turn the property over tothe Trust.

The Trust hopes to closeon the property in June.

The 205-acre propertyfronts the historic Tidewater Trailon U.S. 2 south ofFredericksburg. It is locatedimmediately south of ShannaAirport, and lies across therailroad tracks from part of theFredericksburg & SpotsylvaniaNational Military Park. It isbelieved that t

here is no other place onthe Fredericksburg battlefieldwhere a visitor can follow theattack by the Union army frombeginning to end.

Civil War EducationAssociation

Below are listed someupcoming tours:

• Turner Ashby: TheKnight of the Valley: AField Tour.June 9-11, 2006, withStephen Lee Ritchie andBrandon H. Beck.Friday, 8:00 pm throughSunday, 3:00 pm. Thecost is $245, whichincludes Saturday lunchand Saturday PMhospitality suite.

• The Three Days of theBattle of Gettysburg: ATactical Study andWalking Tour.June 16-18, 2006, withGary Kross, RobertBaker and JayJorgensen. Friday, 9:00am through Sunday 3:30pm. The cost is $395,which includes 3lunches.

Contact CWEA, Box478, Winchester, VA22604, www.cwea.netOr call 800-298-1861.

The War CorrespondentPatty Barker, Editor

Roundtable OfficersBrian HallGeneral-in-ChiefGary MilliganInspector General

614-793-0761milligg@columbus.rr.comRory McIntryeAdjutant General

614-261-7179 rmci@columbus.rr.comPete ZuharsHistorian General

740-363-9542 zeteman@yahoo.comPatty BarkerChief of Signal Corps

614-985-3353War Council MembersPete ZuharsWar Council CommanderMike PetersKen RamseyRichard CartwrightEd Chapdelaine

THE WAR CORRESPONDENTNewsletter of The Ray FawcettChapter of The Central Ohio Civil War Roundtable

P. O. Box 471Lewis Center, OH 43035-0471

CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS

Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - The speaker willbe Robert Vane o'n The relationship betweenLincoln and Grant. The meeting will held atthe Westerville Electric Company, 139 E.Broadway, Westerville, OH 43081.

Future Meetings:

June 14, 2006 - Mark Grimsley, How to Read ACivil War Battlefield.July 12, 206 - TBAAugust 9, 2006 - TBASeptember 13, 2006 - TBAOctober 11, 2006 - TBANovember 8, 2006 - TBA

Dates are subiect to chanl!e