Adjutant’s Call - October 2023
Link to Original PDF of October 2023 Newsletter
Circular Memorandum #549 -October 2023
The Dangerous Mrs. Greenhow: A First-Person Portrayal" Will be Presented by Emily Lapisardi
Emily Lapisardi is the editor of Rose Greenhow's My Imprisonment: An Annotated Edition, which debuted as the highest-ranking new release in Amazon.com's "U. S. Civil War Women's History" category in the spring of 2021. She has presented first-person portrayals of historical figures in fourteen states and the District of Columbia. Emily is currently Director of Musical Activities for the Catholic Chapel of the United States Military Academy (West Point, NY), where she directs the West Point Catholic Chapel Choir for services at the Academy and touring appearances including the nationally televised funeral liturgies of medal of honor recipient Chaplain Emil Kapaun. She has portrayed Civil War spy and diplomat Rose Greenhow at a range of venues including the International Spy Museum, Manassas Museum System, Manassas National Battlefield Park, the Lomas Center (Gettysburg, PA), Petersburg National Battlefield Park, the Surratt Society's annual dinner, book launch events with author Ann Blackman for her 2005 biography Wild Rose: Civil War Spy, and for numerous historical societies, reenactments, and round tables. Other recent speaking engagements include the Cape Fear Civil War Round Table, American Civil War Museum at Appomattox, Dan Sickles Civil War Round Table, C. S. S. Neuse Interpretive Center, National Civil War Museum (Harrisburg, PA), Seward House Museum, the Company of Military Historians General Meeting, the 1860s Civilian Celebration (Capon Springs, WV), the Society for Women and the Civil War's 2022 conference, and the Civil War Lecture series at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall. She also serves on the board of the Society for Women and the Civil War. Emily holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from West Virginia University (where she was named a WVU Foundation Outstanding Senior and received the university’s nomination
for the Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships), a Masters degree in Sacred Music from Duquesne University, and a certificate in Catholic Liturgy from the University of Notre Dame's STEP program. As a musicologist, she received the Communal Studies Association’s research fellowship for her work on the hymnody of American communal societies.
The Dangerous Mrs. Greenhow: A First-Person Portrayal
First-person interpreter Emily Lapisardi will portray Confederate spy and diplomat Rose Greenhow in a portrayal drawn from primary sources including Greenhow's memoirs and correspondence, bringing her vividly and realistically to life through her own words. A native of Maryland, Rose Greenhow was a prominent antebellum society hostess in Washington, D. C.; she counted politicians such as James Buchanan, John C. Calhoun, William H. Seward, and Jefferson Davis. In 1861, Greenhow developed a network of Confederate agents which provided intelligence to General P. G. T. Beauregard. She and her spy ring were credited by Jefferson Davis with ensuring the southern victory at the First Battle of Bull Run/Manassas. Arrested by Allan Pinkerton on August 23, 1861, she and her youngest daughter were imprisoned in their home and the Old Capitol Prison for more than nine months before being released to the south in June 1862. Although Mrs. Greenhow had proclaimed vehemently that she desired a public trial, this request was never granted because of concerns that she would reveal her high-ranking sources. The Confederate government dispatched Rose Greenhow on a diplomatic/propaganda mission to Europe in the summer of 1863, where she published her memoirs and was granted a private audience with Napoleon III.
April 17-21,2024, Field Trip to the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Battle of Giants: Lee vs Grant
We are going to Virginia to cover the beginning of the Overland Campaign, the battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania. The dates are April 17-21, 2024. Our guide will be renowed Civil War historian and author Gordon Rhea. He has written seven award-winning books about the American Civil War, including The Battle of the Wilderness, The Battles at Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern, To the North Anna River, Cold Harbor, On To Petersburg, Carrying the Flag, and In the Footsteps of Grant and Lee. He has conducted numerous tours of these battlefields and has been involved in their preservation. These two battles which occurred over May 5 – May 12, 1864 marked the beginning of the titantic confrontation of the war’s two greatest generals, Robert E. Lee and U.S. Grant and would to a large extent determine the outcome of the Civil War. When the Army of the Potomic numbering some 120,000 men crossed the Rapidan River on May 4 and entered the tangled undergrowth of the Wilderness, Robert E. Lee responded by having his 55,000 Army of Northern Virginia break camp and march directly towards Grant’s army. What followed was some of the war’s most savage and dramatic fighting resulting in enormous casualties on each side. We will walk this hollowed ground and cover in detail what unfolded. You can sign up now by emailing John Davis at johnd.davis@twc.com or you can sign up at the meetings beginning in September.
SEPTEMBER 2023 QUIZ
1. Where was Fort Darling?
This Confederate fort was located at Drewry’s Bluff near Richmond, Virginia.
2. What was the name of General Ulysses S. Grant’s horse?
Its name was Cincinnati.
3. Who wrote the original order of Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Farewell Address?
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Marshall of Lee’s staff wrote it.
4. Who first commanded the Union’s Irish Brigade?
That was General Thomas F. Meagher.
5. What family owned the farmhouse that General George Meade used as his headquarters at Gettysburg?
It was owned by the Leister family.
OCTOBER 2023 QUIZ
1. What was a “red badge of courage”?
2. What was Union General George McClellan’s opinion of President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation?
3. How many secretaries of state did Confederate President Jefferson Davis have?
4. What was Union General U.S. Grant’s first Civil War command?
5. What proclamation did President Andrew Johnson issue concerning President Jefferson Davis?