May/June 2016 - The Civil War Roundtable of Gettysburg

“The most important Roundtable, in the most important small town, at the most important battlefield, in the most important country in the world.” – Joe Mieczkowski, past president
The
“...While politicians
contend, and men are
swerved this way and
that by conflicting tides
of interest
and passion,
the great cause of human
liberty is in the hands of
one...who shall not fail
nor be discouraged...”
ANGLE
MAY/JUNE 2016
– harriet beecher stowe
A bimonthly publication of the Civil War Roundtable of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
OFFICERS AND SUPPORT
Lynn Heller........................................ 717.398.2072
President........................................ [email protected]
Roger Heller....................................... 717.398.2072
Vice President........................................... [email protected]
Fred Hawthorne..................................717.515.2428
Recording Secretary................. [email protected]
Linda Seamon....................................717.359.7339
Membership Secretary.................................. [email protected]
David Diner....................................... 717.420.5730
Treasurer............................................. [email protected]
Dave Joswick.......................................717.877.3975
Newsletter.......................................... [email protected]
Linda Joswick......................................717.253.5477
Webmaster....................................... [email protected]
BOARD MEMBERS
Hilda Koontz, Larry Korczyk, Dale Molina,
Larry Plymire, Ron Rock, Don Sangirardi,
Linda Seamon, Kendra Debany (past president)
Visit us online at www.cwrtgettysburg.org
ImpendingActions
JUNE 23RD
Information and details about upcoming
Gettysburg Roundtable presentations.
Life and death at
the George Spangler Farm
We will explore 150 year history of the Gettysburg battlefield.
Historians have devoted minimal attention to the history of the
landscape itself and the complicated, divisive, and controversial
nature of preserving, interpreting, and commemorating America’s
most hallowed ground. Ultimately the Gettysburg landscape is
significant beyond the events of July 1-3, 1863. Dr. Murray’s program explores the first preservation and commemorative efforts of
the Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association and the U.S War
Department, with a particular focus on the National Park Service
administration.
The National Park Service acquired the battlefield in 1933 and
the ensuing eight-decades highlights the complicated nexus between preservation, tourism, popular culture, interpretation, commemoration, and memory. The Park Service’s management of the
battlefield occurs not in a vacuum, but within a larger realm of
political, social, and academic trends. Decisions made by park
officials simultaneously influence the interpretive story at Gettysburg, the narrative presented to thousands of park visitors, and
shape more broadly the Gettysburg experience. The history of the
Gettysburg battlefield from 1933 to the present underscores the
complicated relationship between race and reunion, public and
private interests, between preservation theories and utilitarian
uses, between the National Park Service and the American people,
and between fact and fiction.
Jennifer M. Murray is an Assistant Professor of History at the University
of Virginia’s College at Wise. She is the author of On A Great Battlefield:
The Making, Management, and
Memory of Gettysburg National
Military Park, 1933-2013. This book
won the 2014 Bachelder-Coddington
Award and was named one of the best
Civil War books of 2014 by the Civil
War Monitor. She is currently working
on a biography of George Gordon Meade, titled Meade at War. In addition,
Jennifer M. Murray
Murray worked as a seasonal interpretive park ranger at Gettysburg National Military Park for nine summers.
Photo by Lynn Heller
MAY 26TH
“On A Great Battlefield”:
The History of Gettysburg
National Military Park 1863-2015
F
or five weeks following the battle of Gettysburg the home and
farm of the George Spangler family served as the field hospital
of the Eleventh Army Corps. Over 1,900 Union and Confederate
wounded were cared for on the property, making it one of the largest field hospitals established following the battle. Join Gettysburg
National Military Park Supervisory Historian Christopher Gwinn
for an in-depth and behind the scenes look at the history of the
Spangler Farm, discover the people whose lives are forever connected with the site, and marvel at the pristine nature of one of the
best preserved hospitals and farms associated with the battle and
campaign of Gettysburg.
Meet at the Gravel Parking Lot across from Power’s Hill on
Granite School House Rd. at 6:00 PM.
Christopher Gwinn is a seven year veteran of the National Park Service.
Born in Amesbury, Massachusetts he graduated from Gettysburg College
in 2006 and received his Master Degree in Public History in 2008. He has
worked as an Park Ranger at Antietam
National Battlefield, Boston National
Historical Park, and the National Mall
and Memorial Parks where he created
some of the first interpretive programming conducted at the Martin Luther
King, Jr. Memorial. He is currently the
Supervisory Ranger for Interpretation
and Education at Gettysburg National
Military Park and lives just south of the
battlefield with his wife Allyson and his
two dogs.
Christoher Gwinn
2
Hello Friends!
Well Mother Nature has not disappointed – the battlefield and town are
filled with signs of Spring and beckoning us to go out and enjoy.
from the
a CW battlefield or site you have visited. Maybe you could come to a meeting prepared to ask a Trivia Question!
It’s fun to get involved, and it helps us
all to know each other a little better.
If anyone has time at the concluInside our GAR Hall, we are ready
sion of the meeting to help clean up
to host our last indoor meeting until
the refreshment table – dump out the
September, with Dr. Jennifer Murcoffee, or put the sugar, creamer etc.
by
ray on May 26th. Her presentation
into the plastic bin, or wipe off the
Lynn Heller
will be on the history of Gettysburg
tablecloth etc., it would really be apNational Military Park. And then comes summer! We have three preciated. Many of you have already done this, and thank you for
outstanding field programs to look forward to, conducted by Chris- that!
topher Gwinn, Scott Hartwick, and John Hoptak. ( Make sure your
Again, we encourage you to contact Linda Seamon by phone or
membership has been renewed for 2016 so that you can attend!
email,
to switch your mailed newsletters over to full color, emailed
These programs are for members only.)
newsletters. Thanks for your dedication to our roundtable!
Speaking of our indoor meetings, would you like to be more
involved in our programs? Do you have a Civil War related artifact
you can “Show and Tell”? How about sharing your thoughts about
Lynn
May 1, 2016
Dear Members,
roundtable.
the financial status of our
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lized that we are required
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not had an audit in 10 yea
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our financial picture.
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could find no evidence of
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Individual......... $30.00
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A brief history of the beautiful, historic GAR Hall
3
contributed by Lynn Heller
B
housed the coffins of Captain Dwight Eisenhower’s Camp Colt’s
men who had perished of the disease.
uilt in
1822 by
the Methodist Episcopal
congregation, it is
Gettysburg’s
oldest standing church
building
that continues to serve
the community.
By 1930, there were only six GAR members left, and the building
was turned over to Camp 112, Sons of the Union Veterans. Over the
years, their numbers also dwindled, and the building and cemetery
was purchased by Historic Gettysburg Adams County in 1988. Remaining the current owners, HGAC is dedicated to preserving all
things historic in Gettysburg and Adams County.
The beautiful murals on the walls were painted in 1991 by the
folk artist Virginia Jacobs McGlaughn, of Fairfield, PA.
We are lucky indeed, to have such a beautiful and historically
memorable building in which to hold our meetings.
During the battle, it served as a hospital, as did most other buildings in town.
The Citizen hero of Gettysburg, John
Burns, was a staunch Methodist, and
he and his wife Barbara were members.
From Tim Smith’s book John Burns, the
Hero of Gettysburg – “according to Oscar D. McMillin, who lived on Seminary
Ridge, “when Burns attended church, he
had his place under the Gallery; he wore
a swallow tail coat with gilted buttons.”
By 1874, as the membership grew,
they built a larger church, and put the
old church and the graveyard up for sale.
It stood empty until 1888, when a group
of local Civil War veterans, who belonged
to the National Organization of the
Grand Army of the Republic, purchased
it for $600.00. The official name given
is “Corporal Johnston H. Skelly Post #9,
GAR Hall”. Skelly was a Gettysburg resident who had enlisted with the 87th Pa.
Infantry, and who was mortally wounded at 2nd Winchester,
June, 1863.
In 1918 Gettysburg suffered
a devastating Spanish Flu
epidemic, and the GAR Hall
From September to May, we meet
on the fourth Thursday of the month at
the GAR Building, 53 East Middle Street.
Light refreshments and conversation
starting at 7:00 PM., and the featured
program beginning at 7:30 PM.
Our June, July, and August summer
meetings are in the field starting at 6:00
PM, with the meeting location announced
in the bi-monthly newsletter and on the
roundtable website: www.cwrtgettysburg.
org.
Whenever treacherous weather is predicted, the CWRT President and Vice
President shall determine by 3:00 PM on
that day whether the program should be
cancelled or not. Announcements will be
made on WGTY 107.7 FM and ESPN Radio 1320 AM.
The next scheduled board meeting begins at 6:30 PM on Thursday, May 12,
2016 at the Hoss’s Restaurant.
Simpson receives the Grand Army award
At the Grand Army Republic Museum and Library’s
Annual Preservation Luncheon in Philadelphia on March
19th, Dick Simpson received their Grand Army Award
named for Samuel P. Town. Dick received this award for his
many efforts at education and preservation service to the
Civil War Community.
Beginning in 2004, Dick has given over 150 lectures on
the Civil War throughout the Northeast. With his six lectures he has raised over $10,000 for battlefield preservation
through donations and his Civil War book raffles.
For many years Dick has been the Advisor and has given
financial support to the local Boy Scout Explorer Post 1863.
This is a high school Civil War reenacting group made up
of young boys and girls in the Lancaster area.
Dick is a civilian Civil War reenactor portraying Governor Frederick Holbrook, the Civil War Governor of Vermont.
He is an active member of dozens of Civil War organizations in Pennsylvania, Vermont and New Jersey.
Hugh Boyle (left), President of the Grand Army
of the Republic Museum and Library, presenting the Grand Army award to Dick Simpson.
Photo by Lynn Heller
It’s membership grew over the years, and it prided itself in paying more attention to African Americans than any other church
in the area, and they were welcomed into
the congregation.
4
TURNING A JACK
“The skirmish fire now became murderous. Having found that the
enemy kept close to the ground so as to afford an uncertain target,
owing to his dun clothes, we began, as the boys called it, to be
scientific, in our fire. In this way four or five neighbors in the line
would load and, seeing a puff of smoke rise from some spot in front,
would ‘watch for it.’ Being ready as soon as the smoke would rise,
they would all aim and fire together,
Generally, the poor ‘Johnny’ was hit
by this device. This was called ‘Turning a Jack,’ and continued amongst
us.
The skirmishing was of that steady
nature that comes from acquaintance
with the ground and with the enemy’s
manner of fighting. The firing was
rapid enough, and yet there was not
much random work. It was almost as
much as a man’s life was worth to rise
to his height from the ground. The
advance of our line in the early morning had strewn the ground with our
Private Thomas Galwey,
wounded, who, in our retreat to the
Eighth Ohio Infantry
fence, were necessarily left where they
fell, now between the two fires. About thirty yards in front of my
company stood a solitary tree which, I suppose, had been left as
a shade for men in the harvest field. During the morning this tree
became conspicuous on account of the well-aimed shots that came
from it. We soon became aware that a couple of bold enemy sharpshooters had crawled up to it and we’re now practicing on any
thoughtless man who offered himself as a mark. About the middle
of the forenoon a cry of, ‘Don’t fire, Yanks!’ rang out, and we all
got up to see what was coming. A man with his gun slung across
his shoulder came out from the tree. Several of our fellows aimed
at him but the others checked them, to see what would follow. The
man had a canteen in his hand and, when he had come half-way
to us, we saw him (God bless him) kneel down and give a drink to
one of our wounded who lay there beyond us. Of course we cheered
the Reb, and someone shouted, ‘Bully for you! Johnny!’ Whilst this
was going on, we had all risen to our feet. The enemy too, having
ceased to fire, were also standing. As soon as the sharpshooter had
finished his generous work, he turned around and went back to the
tree, and then at the top of his voice shouted, ‘Down Yanks, we’re
going to fire.’ And down we lay again.”
THE NATIONAL
M
U
S
E
U
M
®
in association with the Smithsonian Institution
T
he National Civil War Museum announces their living history schedule for the 2016 spring/summer season. Encampments
include Confederate & Union infantry units, loading and firing
demonstrations and much more!
2016 LIVING HISTORY SCHEDULE*
June 11 & 12................. 2nd US Sharpshooters, Co. C
June 18 &19.................. Cooper’s Battery
July 9 & 10.................... 21st North Carolina
July 23 & 24.................. 1st MD Battalion, Co. A
July 30 & 31.................. 15th NJ, Co. B
August 6 & 7................. 4th VA, Co. F
August 13 & 14............. 14th TN, Co. B
August 20 & 21............. 2nd SC Co. I, Palmetto Guard
August 27 & 28............. Red Rose Minutemen
Museum visitors will see the
flash and smell the smoke of
Civil War muskets and rifles.
Visitors are encouraged to visit
the camps and ask living historians questions about their attire,
food rations and daily life. Most
infantry groups perform loading
and firing demonstrations each
day. Saturday demonstrations
are at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. & 3 p.m.
and Sunday demonstrations are at 1 p.m. & 3 p.m.
CWRT field
trip this July
Check out the attached
flyer for all the details.
*Programs are weather contingent. Visitors should check the Museum’s website
for more information and updates to this schedule, as they are subject to change.
- Private Thomas Galwey, Eighth Ohio Infantry,
skirmishing in front of Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg
“Center Shot”: Private Jacob Miller of the 9TH IN Vol. Inf.
By Michael Lee Kelley, reprinted with permission from Civil War News
O
f the 24,430 wounded Union and Confederate soldiers who fought
in the Battle of Chickamauga, in Georgia, one veteran stands out as
the most unusual survivor of the bloody battle. Private Jacob Miller, of
Naperville, Illinois, was serving with Company K, 9th Indiana Volunteer
Infantry, part of Major General William Rosecrans’ Army of Cumberland,
when he was shot in the head by a Confederate sniper of Major General
Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee, near Brock Field on the morning of
September 19, 1863. The bullet struck him between the eyes and lodged
inside his skull.
According to historical information provided by the Cass County Historical Society, Private Miller enlisted into Company K from Logansport,
Indiana at the age of 23. The 9th Indiana Regiment was mustered on April
25, 1861, at Laporte, Indiana for three months of active service and was
commanded by Colonel Robert H. Milroy, who was commissioned on April
26, 1861. The 9th saw action in West Virginia at Grafton, Philppi, Laurel
Hill, and Corrick’s Ford. It was mustered out on July 29th, 1861.
The 9th was reorganized for three years of active service in August,
1861 and saw action at the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, Stones River,
Chickamauga, and participated in Sherman’s Campaign across Georgia.
Private Miller’s active combat service ended the day he was shot in the
head and left for dead. His remarkable story of survival was told by Miller
and recorded in the Daily News of Joliet, Illinois in June of 1911.
After the war, he joined the Grand Army of the Republic, a veterans
organization much like today’s American Legion. When he attended the
encampments, his fellow war veterans nicknamed him “Center Shot” for
the open bullet wound in his forehead. According to Miller, “I was in a
semi-reclining position and raised up my elbow to take aim, when I was
hit by a rebel bullet.”
His Company Commander, Captain McConnell, was standing behind
him and Miller thinks that the sniper was trying to shoot his Captain, but
the bullet was aimed too low and struck him instead. When Company
K fell back from that position in retreat, his comrades had given him up
for dead. He went on to say, “When I came to my senses some time after
I found I was in the rear of the Confederate line. So not to become a prisoner, I made up my mind to make an effort to get around their line and
back on my own side. I got up with the help of my gun as a staff, then
went back some distance, then started parallel with the line of battle. I
suppose I was so covered with blood that those that I met, did not notice
that I was a Yank.
JACOB MILLER continued on page 5
JACOB MILLER
5
continued from page 4
Major General Alexander P. Stewart’s CSA Division (Buckner’s Corps)
routed the Union Brigades from the Brock Farm area but did not have
enough forces to pursue the Union troops. Miller managed to stumble
along, but on the way, he ran into a Confederate soldier who was out front
scouting the lines and the rebel soldier took mercy on Miller’s plight. He
gave Miller a drink of water from his canteen and pointed in the direction
of the Union Line.
Miller continued
saying, “I struck an old
by-road and followed
it the best I could, as by
this time my head was
swelled so bad it shut
my eyes and I could see
to get along only by raising the lid of my right
eye and look again and
so on till I ran afoul of
something, then would
look again and so on
till I came to the Lafayette Pike near the Kelly
house and started towards the field hospital
at the springs. I at length
got so badly exhausted
I had to lie down by the
side of the road. At last
some bearers came and
put me on their stretcher and carried me to the
hospital and laid me on
the ground in a tent. A
hospital nurse came and Pvt. Jacob Miller. Note the bullet wound in his forehead.
put a wet bandage over
my wound and around my head and gave me a canteen of water.
I don’t know what time of day they examined my wound and decided
to put me on the operating table till after dark some time. The surgeons
examined my wound and decided it was best not to operate on me and
give me more pain as they said I couldn’t live very long, so the nurse took
me back into the tent.
I slept some during the night. The next morning (Sunday), the doctors
came around to make a list of the wounded and of their company and
regiments and said to send all the wounded to Chattanooga that the ambulances would carry and told me I was wounded too bad to be moved,
and if the army fell back those that were left there could afterwards be
exchanged.”
Miller was determined not to be taken prisoner. As long as he could
stand and drag one foot after another, he would make his way to safety.
He had a nurse give him a canteen full of water and left the tent without
being seen. He got behind some wagons near the road and then began to
slowly walk away. His eyes were still shut and he had to lift his eyelid to
see where he was going. He moved away from the sounds of the artillery
and musketry fire.
He recounted, “I worked my way along the road as best I could. At one
time I got off to the side of the road and bumped my head against a low
hanging limb. The shock toppled me over, I got up and took my bearings
again and went on as long as I could not drag a foot then lay down beside
the road, to see if I could not rest so I could move. I hadn’t lain long till the
ambulance train began to pass.”
The ambulance drivers saw Miller and asked him if he was still alive.
One of them stopped and placed Miller into the ambulance. Once he was
inside the ambulance, he passed out. He said, “On Monday, September
21st, I came to myself and found I was in a long building in Chattanooga,
Tennessee, lying with hundreds of other wounded on the floor almost as
thick as hogs in a stock car. Some were talking, some were groaning. I
raised myself to a sitting position, got my canteen and wet my head. While
doing it, I heard a couple of soldiers who were from my company. They
could not believe it was me as they said I was left for dead on the field at
the left of Brock Cabin. They came over to where I was and we visited together till then came an order for all the wounded that could walk to start
across the river on a pontoon bridge to a hospital, to be treated ready to
be taken to Nashville. I told the boys if they could lead me, I could walk
the distance.” Because of the heavy military convoys of wagon trains and
troops crossing the river in retreat, the wounded men had to wait until
sundown to cross over. Once across the river, they met up with a wagon
teamster from Company K who got them some food, the first Miller had
eaten since the morning of his wound. They laid down on a pile of blankets under the wagon to rest for the night. The teamster stayed awake all
night to keep their wounds moist with water from a nearby spring.
On Tuesday morning, September 22nd, they awoke to the sound of a
crackling camp fire where a comrade had made coffee and some food for
the wounded. Afterwards, they had their wounds cleaned and dressed by
a doctor and then got aboard a wagon heading to Bridgeport where they
would board a train for Nashville. The wagon ride was so rough, Miller’s
head began to hurt and he and his comrades got out and walked the 60
miles in four days to the train station.
Along the way, Miller was able to open his right eye and could see to
get around. They arrived at the train station and boarded a box car for
the rest of their journey. They made it to the hospital at Nashville where
Miller recalls, “I remember I was stripped and in a bath tub of warm water
in a hospital at Nashville. I do not know what date it was, in fact, I didn’t
pay much attention to the dates from the Friday at noon when I got in the
box car at Bridgeport to start to Nashville. After some length of time I was
transferred to Louisville, Kentucky. From there to New Albany, Indiana.
In all the hospitals I was in, I begged the surgeons to operate on my head
but all refused.”
Miller suffered for nine months then got a furlough home to Logansport
and went to see his local doctors, Doctors Fitch and Colman, and asked
them to operate on his wound. They took out a musket ball and after he
recovered from his operation, returned to the army hospital at Madison
and stayed there until the end of his enlistment on September 17,1864.
Miller went home and resumed civilian life despite his open wound.
He had lost the vision in his left eye. Seventeen years after he was wounded, a buck shot dropped out of his wound and thirty one years later two
pieces of lead came out of the wound. For sixty four years he lived with his
open wound between the eyes that penetrated the skull three-quarters of
an inch. It was large enough to place the end of his little finger into the
wound, which caused him terrible pain and discomfort.
During his post war life time he had bouts of side effects such as a stupor for two weeks, dizziness, delirium, and when he was sick with a bad
head cold, the pressure on his brain would build up and cause intense
pain in his skull. The bouts of delirium would cause him to imagine he
was back on picket duty again and he would tramp back and forth on his
beat, a stick on his shoulder for a musket, a pitiful object of the sacrifice
for freedom. After the pieces of the bullet fell out of his open wound, he
regained his normal health and continued living his life until the old age
of 87.
Miller said in his interview, “Some ask how it is I can describe so minutely my getting wounded and getting off the battlefield after so many
years. My answer is, I have an everyday reminder of it in my wound and
constant pain in my head, never free of it while not asleep. The whole
scene is imprinted on my brain as with a steel engraving. I haven’t written
this to complain of any one being in fault for my misfortune and suffering
all these years, the government is good to me and gives me $40.00 per
month pension.”
Miller was living testimony to one of the most remarkable constitutions
ever possessed by a human being. His obituary was published in the Logansport Pharos Tribune on January 14, 1927 and reads:
Funeral services for Jacob ‘Center Shot’ Miller, age 87, a well known Civil
War veteran, were held at the Presbyterian church in Braidwood, Illinois this
afternoon. The Civil War veteran often visited in Logansport. His nickname is
significant because of a bullet wound which he had carried from the time of
the war until his death. The wound was directly above the bridge of his nose
penetrated the skull.
Private Jacob Miller was buried at the Oakwood Cemetery, Will County,
Wilmington, Illinois. His unit, the 9th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment was mustered out of federal service on September 28, 1865.
Of the 2,141 men who served, 353 died in the war, 11 officers and 129
enlisted men were killed in action or died of wounds, and two officers and
220 enlisted men died of disease. Private Miller considered himself one of
the lucky ones who survived the war and lived a long life. A most remarkable American hero.
NEW &
6
Noteworthy
TEXANS AT GETTYSBURG: Blood and
Glory with Hood’s Texas Brigade
by Joe Owens and Randy Drais
PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS NOW
Tickets are being reserved
quickly! Be sure to reserve
your EXCLUSIVE-ACCESS
CUPOLA TOUR and Museum
Admission early. Click on this
link for more information: https://tickets.seminaryridge
museum.org/Info.aspx?EventID=14
Mess Duties
May 26....................................................................... Deb Novotny
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS:
David Bowen
Charles and Gabrielle Lee
Civil War Roundtable
of Gettysburg, PA
Eric Wittenberg (left) is presented with the 2015 Gettysburg CWRT
Book Award by Larry Plymire, Chairman of the Book Committee.
The awaed was presented to Wittenberg at the March Roundtable meeting for his fine 2014 work titled “The Devil’s to Pay”: John
Buford at Gettysburg.
PO Box 4236
Gettysburg, PA 17325-4236
Photo by Lynn Heller
T
he Texans from Hood’s Texas Brigade
and other regiments who fought at
Gettysburg on 1-3 July 1863 described
their experiences of the battle in personal
diaries, interviews, newspaper articles, letters and speeches. Their reminiscences provide a fascinating and harrowing account
of the battle as they fought the Army of
the Potomac. Speeches were given in the
decades after the battle during the annual reunions of Hood’s Brigade Association
and the dedication of the Hood’s Brigade
Monument that took place on 26-27 October 1910 at the state capital in Austin, Texas.
These accounts describe their actions at Devil’s Den, Little Round
Top and other areas during the battle. For the first time ever, their
experiences are compiled in Texans at Gettysburg: Blood and Glory
with Hood’s Texas Brigade.