Adjutant’s Call - November 2024
Link to Original PDF of the November 2024 Newsletter
Circular Memorandum #560 - November 2024
“Gone With the Glory: The Civil War in Cinema” Presented by Brian Steel Wills
Brian Steel Wills is the Director of the Center for the Study of the Civil War Era and Professor of History at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Ga. Dr. Wills is a member of the Georgia Civil War Commission and immediate past President of the Atlanta Civil War Round Table. He is also the author of numerous works relating to the American Civil War. His latest publication is Inglorious Passages: Noncombat Deaths in the American Civil War (Kansas, 2017) received the 2018 Richard Barksdale Harwell Award winner for the best book on a Civil War topic for the year 2017 presented by the Atlanta Civil War Round Table.
His biography of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, A Battle From the Start: The Life of Nathan Bedford Forrest (HarperCollins) is currently in reprint as The Confederacy’s Greatest Cavalryman: Nathan Bedford Forrest (Kansas). This work was chosen as both a History Book Club selection and a Book of the Month Club selection.
His other titles include The River was Dyed with Blood: Nathan Bedford Forrest and Fort Pillow (Oklahoma, 2014); Confederate General William Dorsey Pender: The Hope of Glory (Louisiana State University, 2013); George Henry Thomas: As True as Steel (Kansas, 2012), which was the recipient of the 2013 Harwell Award; Gone with the Glory: The Civil War in Cinema (Rowman and Littlefield, 2006); The War Hits Home: The Civil War in Southeastern Virginia, (Virginia, 2001) and an updated edition of the James I. “Bud” Robertson, Jr., Civil War Sites in Virginia (Virginia, 2011).
In 2000, Dr. Wills received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Commonwealth of Virginia, one of eleven recipients from all faculty members at public and private institutions across the state. He has also received the Charles L. Dufour Award from the Civil War Round Table of New Orleans in 2013 and just named the recipient of the Frank E. Vandiver Award of Merit in 2020 by the Houston Civil War Round Table.
“Gone With the Glory: The Civil War in Cinema”
From Birth of a Nation to Cold Mountain, hundreds of directors, actors, and screenwriters have used the Civil War to create compelling cinema. However, each generation of moviemakers has resolved the tug of war between entertainment value and historical accuracy differently. Historian Brian Steel Wills will take us on a journey through the portrayal of the war in film, exploring what Hollywood got right and wrong, how the films influenced each other, and, ultimately, how the movies reflect America's changing understandings of the conflict and of the nation.
A Message from Your President – John Davis
It is an honor to serve as President of our Round Table in this our 64th year. First, I want to thank our outgoing President Julie Bartlett for doing an outstanding job this past year. She was responsible for moving us forward with using technology to allow members to use our website to make reservations, pay dues and for meals in advance and to use credit cards at meetings. She did such a great job that the Board of Directors has selected her as our President-elect for 2025-2026! Secondly, I want to thank you, our members, whose interest in this important part of our nation’s history makes our organization possible.
Once again, we have another exciting year planned. We have already had two great speakers in Chris Mackowski and Jack Davis, and we have several more excellent ones on the schedule. We are looking forward to hearing our own Thomas Mackey speak to us December 12 about Copperhead Clement L. Vallandigham. The 12th Annual Bourbon & BBQ was a major success with the famed Samuels family sharing some amazing stories about their relatives and the history of Makers Mark distillery. Special thanks go to the folks who put this together, Doug Krawczyk, Chris Morris, Bob Glass and Terry Pyles and to all those who worked so hard to make this happen. We had 75 attendees at the event and funds were raised that will help sustain our operations. Over $25,000 has been raised by the Bourbon & BBQ over the years that helps sustain our Round Table and allows us to bring in the very best historians to our meetings and contribute to battlefield preservation. We will again be taking a major field trip in April this time to Shiloh, one of the best-preserved battlefields of the war. We have secured the services of Tim Smith who is absolutely the best possible guide we could have.
Finally, I want to thank our Board of Directors who make this organization one of the very best Round Tables in the country with their hard work on all facets of the Round Table. Their efforts and leadership are crucial to our continued success.
12th Annual Bourbon & BBQ a Big Success!
The 12th Annual Bourbon & BBQ was held on the afternoon of October 6 at Farmington. Over 75 members and friends of the Round Table gathered on a beautiful fall day at historic Farmington to hear members of the Samuels family tell stories about their connections to Jesse James, Frank James and William Quantrill. They brought pictures and other artifacts including a presentation revolver that was given to Robert E. Lee. The Samuels also told some very interesting stories about how Marker’s Mark came to be a major player in the bourbon world. We were treated to a tasting of 6 of their bourbons including some of their latest products. The attendees were treated to a delicious BBQ dinner provided by Kingsley meats which included pulled pork, ribs, and all the fixins. Several bottles of bourbon were auctioned off at the end helping raise more for the RT.
A Special Thank You is due Doug Krawczyk for his hard work in putting this Bourbon & BBQ together and for organizing the “Bourbon & BBQ Team” that made it happen! Thanks to all the following for their contributions.
Chris Morris… for leading and directing the outstanding conversation with Bill, Rob and Gary Samuels and early set-up and tear down. Art Boerner… for handling the check-in registrations and auction receipts + early setup and tear down. Doug Butler… for handling the check-in registrations and auction receipts. Terry Pyles…for manning and conducting the tours of Farmington for our guests + set-up and tear down. Julie Bartlett and Mike Kurowski… for assisting in set-up & tear down…+ being the Official “Custodial Keeper” of the LCWRT Glencairn glasses + Mike’s assistance from “start to finish”. Lowell Griffin…for assisting in set-up & tear down. Stephanie Blair…Thank you for assisting in set-up & tear down. Bill McIntosh…Thank you for set-up and managing the audio system. Julie Bartlett…Janis Griffin…Kay Glass…Margaret Krawczyk…Stephanie Blair… Terry Pyles…Art Boerner… Chris Morris…Thank You for providing appetizers and incidentals for our guests. Ed Durnil… for the professional auctioneering by bringing in additional and significant monies for the LCWRT. Bob Glass…Thank You for making this soirée truly happen and your moral support and indispensably.
New Book on Union Civil War Burials in Kentucky – Betty J. Gorin Co-author
Union Civil War Burials in Kentucky – The Edmund B. Whitman Diary: Journal of a Trip Through Parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, & Georgia; A.N. Field’s Notes and Lawrence B. Fisk with Major Whitman. Written by Joseph E. Brent & Betty J. Gorin, 2024.
During the American Civil War, over 15,000 U.S. troops died in Kentucky. Union Civil War Burials in Kentucky is the story of how these soldiers were buried in National Cemeteries in the Commonwealth.
The book relates the birth of our nation’s National Cemetery System: how the remains of the Union dead were located, exhumed, and reinterred in a national cemetery. It includes the transcribed and annotated journal of Edmund Burke Whitman, who was charged with creating National Cemeteries in this region of the country. Whitman describes the work undertaken to find Kentucky’s 15,000 graves of Union dead.
In addition to the journal, there are 92 pages which include tables with the names of some 1,850 soldiers who were located and reburied. These annotated tables list name, rank, regiment, company, original burial, and final resting place of the men. Over thirty illustrations, every-name index, and bibliography are included.
This 8½ x 11softbound book, 177 total pages is available from Amazon for $25.00 plus shipping.
April 23-27,2025, Field Trip to Shiloh Albert Sidney Johnston vs U.S. Grant with Tim Smith
We will be going to Shiloh in southwestern Tennessee April 23-27, 2025 for our yearly field trip. Our guide will be Civil War historian and author Tim Smith. He has written the definitive account of the battle in his award-winning book, Shiloh: Conquer or Perish. Tim was our guide in 2012 and did a fantastic job for us. We could not have a better guide. Tim has served as a park ranger at Shiloh National Military Park for six years and has conducted numerous tours of this battlefield and has been involved in Shiloh’s preservation. The battle of Shiloh occurred on April 6-7, 1862 and the resulting causulties of more than 16,000 shocked the nation. After being surprised by Albert Sidney Johnston’s Confederate army on the morning of April 6, the Federals rallied under Grant’s leadership and were able to force the Confederates to retreat back to Corinth, Mississippi the following day after receiving reinforemcnts during the night. The Shiloh battlefield is one of the best preserved battlefields of the Civil War. We will also be going to Corinth and visiting the Corinth battlefield and visitor’s center. We will be staying in Corinth. We will walk this hollowed ground and cover in detail what happened there. We will begin taking signups in November. If you have any questions, you can email John Davis at johnd.davis@twc.com .
OCTOBER 2024 QUIZ
1. Where was the greatest supply base (Union) of the war located?
It was located at City Point (Hopewell), Virginia.
2. What infantry manual was most widely used by both sides during the war?
Hardee’s Tactics was the manual used by both sides.
3. Who saved Little Round Top for the Union at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863?
General Gouverneur Warren is usually credited for that save.
4. Where were the first Confederate forts to surrender?
The two forts on Hatteras Island, North Carolina, fell to Union troops on August 29, 1861, after 2-days of heavy naval bombardment.
5. What was the basic artillery weapon used in the war?
It was the brass Napoleon 12-pounder.
NOVEMBER 2024 QUIZ
1. Who was the first Union general to die in battle during the Civil War?
2. What was the largest surrender of Confederate troops of the Civil War?
3. What was the largest of all Confederate war industries?
4. During the Civil War, which president commuted every death sentence for desertion that came across his desk?
5. Who was the first general in American history to command an army of 30,000 men?