Adjutant’s Call - March 2024
Link to Original PDF of March 2024 Newsletter
Circular Memorandum #554 - March 2024
“July 3rd,1863 at Gettysburg: What Was Robert E. Lee Thinking” Presented by James Hessler
We welcome James Hessler to the Round Table. James was our guide on our recent field trip to Gettysburg and he did an outstanding job for us. James Hessler has worked as a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park for two decades. Jim has authored or co-authored three fulllength books on the Gettysburg campaign: Sickles at Gettysburg (2009), Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg (2015), and Gettysburg’s Peach Orchard (2019). His books received several distinguished book awards.
Jim currently co-hosts the popular Battle of Gettysburg Podcast. His other media appearances include Travel Channel, C-SPAN, NPR, PCN-TV, and other outlets. He also authored articles in Gettysburg Magazine, America’s Civil War, and Hallowed Ground Magazine. He was one of the primary content designers for the American Battlefield Trust’s mobile Gettysburg application. Jim is a frequent speaker for Civil War Round Tables and other historical groups nationwide. In addition to Gettysburg, he leads tours at several other battlefields and historic sites across the country. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Little Bighorn Associates and formerly on the Executive Council for the Association of Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guides.
Follow Jim’s Facebook page at James Hessler’s Gettysburg History to receive updates on Jim’s current and future projects.
“July 3,1863 at Gettysburg: What Was Robert E. Lee Thinking?”
One officer wrote, “No aspect of the Battle of Gettysburg has been more criticized and less understood” than Robert E. Lee’s decision to launch the doomed assault known as Pickett’s Charge on July 3, 1863. Why did General Lee think it could succeed? What were his objectives? Who did he really blame for the failure? What part did The Adjutant’s Call 2 March 2024 the Yankees play in the outcome? Join Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide, co-author of “Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg,” and Battle of Gettysburg Podcast co-host James Hessler as we review the decision-making process behind one of the most commonly asked questions that Gettysburg Battlefield Guides receive, “What was Robert E. Lee thinking when he ordered Pickett’s Charge?”
Books, Books Books!
We will have all three of James Hessler’s books for sale at the meeting: Sickles at Gettysburg (2009), Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg (2015), and Gettysburg’s Peach Orchard (2019).
Suggested Reading List for the Wilderness – Spotsylvania
There is no better place to start than the books by our guide, Gordon Rhea. These are easily the best studies of these two battles ever written. “The Battle of the Wilderness May 5-6, 1864” and “The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern May 7-12, 1864” cannot be topped. Bradley Gottfried has written two detailed map studies of the battles that give a map-by-map detailed explanation of these battles. “The Maps of the Wilderness” and “The Maps of Spotsylvania Through Cold Harbor” are highly recommended. For briefer and more recent books, I recommend Chris Mackowski’s “Hell Itself: The Battle of the Wilderness” and his book “A Season of Slaughter: The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House”. Both of these books are from the Emerging Civil War Series.
April 17-21,2024, Field Trip to the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Battle of Giants: Lee vs Grant with Gordon Rhea
$200 Non-refundable Deposit is Due!
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. The signup sheet will be at the January meeting. We are also collecting the $200 non-refundable deposits. You can sign-up by emailing John Davis at johnd.davis@twc.com and mailing your $200 non-refundable deposit check made out to LCWRT directly to Louisville Civil War Round Table, 9462 Brownsboro Road - #142, Louisville, Ky., 40241. The $200 non-refundable deposit is now due which will guarantee your reservation for the trip. We anticipate the cost of this year’s trip will be between $450 and $475. 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 meeting.
The Emerging Civil War
Chris Mackowski, is the managing editor of the Emerging Civil War Series which serves as a public historyoriented platform for sharing original scholarship related to the American Civil War.
The primary audience is the general public, so scholarship is defined broadly: historical research, memory studies, travelogues, personal narratives, essays, book reviews, and photography. Journalistic-style coverage of current Civil War-related events and the Civil War in pop culture are also included. Furthermore, ECW encourages respectful discussion about that material. ECW does not publish fiction or poetry.
Our Mission
ECW seeks to encourage a diversity of perspectives in the scholarship it presents. We do that, in part, by identifying and spotlighting the next generation of Civil War historians and the fresh ideas they bring to the historical conversation.
As a collective, the individuals who comprise ECW are encouraged to share their own unique interests and approaches. The combined collection of material—and the respectful discussions that surround it—forward ECW’s overall effort to promote a general awareness of the Civil War as America’s defining event. This is a link to their website emergingcivilwar.com.. You can subscribe and receive daily emails that will contain a variety of articles by historians that will be of interest to you.
John Mosby’s Retaliatory War
By Kevin Pawlak February 22, 2024 from the Emerging Civil War
The Civil War was ugly by 1864. It had been an ugly, destructive war long before then, but the conflict took a decidedly dark turn in the war's fourth year.
Few places witnessed this than the Shenandoah Valley and John Mosby's Confederacy that summer and fall. A tit-for-tat of brutal acts waged back and forth between Mosby's Rangers and Philip Sheridan's Federal army, particularly the Yankee cavalry.
On August 13, 1864, Mosby's men struck the wagon train of Sheridan's horsemen outside Berryville. The raid netted over 500 horses and mules, 200 cattle, and 200 prisoners.
Six days later, after a strike against a picket post left one of George Custer's cavalrymen dead, Custer ratcheted up the stakes of the game. He ordered his troopers to burn four nearby homes to send a message to the locals that aiding the Rangers would no longer be tolerated. They burned two; Mosby's men caught up to them in the process of torching the third. "No quarter! No quarter!" yelled Captain William Chapman as they charged the home-burners. Fifteen of Custer's men were killed or mortally wounded in the close-quarters melee. Bad blood festered between the two sides.
They met again on September 23 outside Front Royal. Mosby's men pounced on what they thought was a vulnerable Federal ambulance train. They failed to detect a large Federal cavalry force accompanying the train. It was too late. The Confederates pitched into the train before quickly deciding to withdraw. Federals became incensed when one of their men, Lieutenant Charles McMaster claimed to have been shot while in the act of surrendering. The Yankees, under orders likely from General Alfred Torbert, executed the six Rangers they managed to capture in the fight. Less than a month later, one more Ranger became the victim of a Federal noose.
Mosby was not present during these executions, but he was surely aware of them. He sought to put an end to this back-and-forth brutality. After seeking permission from his superiors and contemplating the legality of his proposed action (Mosby was a prewar lawyer), Mosby proposed to hang seven of Custer's men (he believed for the rest of his life that Custer was at fault).
Custer's prisoners in Mosby's possession drew straws to see who the unlucky seven would be. Then, Mosby's men led them to Berryville to be hanged. Ultimately, three were hanged, two were shot, and two escaped. That was enough for Mosby. He informed Sheridan of his reasoning for ordering these retaliatory actions. The Adjutant’s Call 6 March 2024 "Hereafter, any prisoners falling into my hands will be treated with the kindness due to their condition, unless some new act of barbarity shall compel me, reluctantly to adopt a line of policy repugnant to humanity." Sheridan responded (though no modern eye has seen the reply), but the senseless retaliation stopped. The killing did not. Both sides continued to face one another in many skirmishes until the war's close in 1865.
FEBRUARY 2024 QUIZ
1. What was Abraham Lincoln’s salary during his first term as president?
It was $25,000.
2. When Lincoln was assassinated, what was found in his brown leather wallet?
He had a pencil, a Confederate five-dollar bill, and eight newspapers clippings including clippings of unrest in the Confederate army, emancipation in Missouri, the Union party platform of 1864, and an article on the presidency by John Bright.
3. In the Lincoln White House were “Bob”, “Jack”, and “Jib”. Who were they?
“Bob” was a cat; “Jack” was a turkey; and “Jib” was a dog.
4. What kind of legal will did Lincoln have?
Strangely enough for a lawyer, Lincoln died without drawing up a will. When he was killed, his son Robert asked family friend and Supreme Court Justice David Davis to take charge of the estate.
5. Lincoln was the only American president to have what?
He received a patent, No.6469, for his invention of a device to lift boats over shoals without having to unload their cargoes. The patent was granted on May 22, 1849, but was never manufactured. His scale model is at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
MARCH 2024 QUIZ
1. Who was the senior Confederate general at the beginning of the Civil War?
2. Through how many states did President Lincoln’s funeral train travel before reaching its destination?
3. During the Civil War how many times did Harpers Ferry change hands?
4. What were the main anesthetics used by doctors during the Civil War?
5. Who made the official announcement to a joint session of Congress that Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin had been elected president and vice-president of the United States?