Adjutant’s Call - February 2025
Link to Original PDF of February 2025 Newsletter
Circular Memorandum #563 -February 2025
“The Louisiana Tigers and the Gettysburg Campaign” Presented by Scott Mingus
Multiple award-winning author Scott Mingus is a retired scientist and executive in the global specialty paper industry. The Ohio native graduated from Miami University. He was part of the research team that developed the first commercially successful self-adhesive U.S. postage stamps, and he was a pioneer in the early development of bar code labels. He has written more than 30 Civil War and Underground Railroad books and numerous articles for Gettysburg Magazine and other historical journals. He has appeared on C-SPAN, C-SPAN3, PBS, PCN, and other TV networks. Mingus writes the Cannonball blog on the Civil War history of York County, PA, where he and his wife Debi live. He also has written six scenario books for miniature wargaming and was elected to the hobby’s prestigious Legion of Honor.
Mingus received lifetime achievement awards from the York County History Center and the Camp Curtin Historical Society for his many contributions to local Civil War history. His biography of William “Extra Billy” Smith won two major awards for Confederate military history. The Gettysburg Civil War Round Table presented Mingus and co-author Eric Wittenberg with the 2023 Bachelder-Coddington Award for the best new book on the Gettysburg Campaign, If We Are Striking for Pennsylvania.
His 4th -great-grandfather Moses Mingus served in the 1st NY in the American Revolution, and 3rd -greatgrandfather Pvt. William Mingus was in the 2nd Ohio Militia in the War of 1812, fighting against Tecumseh’s warriors. Several direct ancestors were in the Union army in the Civil War, including 15-year-old Pvt. John D. Sisson of the 51st Ohio Infantry.
The Louisiana Tigers and the Gettysburg Campaign
Scott Mingus will present a PowerPoint slide presentation on one of Robert E. Lee's best (and most controversial) brigades in the Army of Northern Virginia - the Louisiana Tigers. They played a key role in the Gettysburg Campaign. Their storming and seizure of a vital fort in the Winchester defenses forced Union commander Robert Milroy to abandon the town, opening the way north to the Potomac River for Lee's forces. The Tigers were perhaps the single unit most feared by the Northern press, and some of their exploits will be recounted, followed by a discussion of their ill-fated attack on Cemetery Hill during the Battle of Gettysburg
April 23-27,2025, Field Trip to Shiloh
$200 Non-refundable Deposit is Due
We will be going to Shiloh in southwestern Tennessee April 23-27, 2025 for our annual field trip. Our guide will be Civil War historian and author Tim Smith. The signup sheet will be at the February 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. You can also pay the deposit on our website: https://buy.stripe.com/28o02x5aW5OO0zSaET. I anticipate the cost of this year’s trip will be between $425 and $450. Tim 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 losses 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 after receiving reinforemcnts during the night and were able to force the Confederates to retreat back to Corinth, Mississippi the following day. 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 are taking signups at the meetings. If you have any questions, you can email John Davis at johnd.davis@twc.com.
Things to Know About the Shiloh Field Trip
We will leave the Free Enterprise parking lot at 8:00 A.M. for the 350-mile trip to Corinth, Mississippi. You can park your vehicle in the secure parking lot at Free Enterprise, One Sodrel Dr. Jeffersonville, IN. We will stop at McDonald’s for breakfast and make another stop for lunch before arriving at our hotel at approximately 4:00. With stops, our drive will be about 8 hours total. We will be staying at the Hampton Inn, 2107 Hwy 72 West in Corinth. We will take the bus to a local Mexican restaurant as is our tradition on Wednesday night for those who wish to go. This meal is not covered by your fee.
We will spend Thursday morning in Corinth visiting the Corinth depot/railroad crossing, the Corith Civil War Interpretive Center, Confederate earthworks around Corinth and then have lunch in Corinth. We will then start northward toward Shiloh following the Confederate advance route toward the battlefield. We will visit the deployment area before visiting the Shiloh visitors center and Pittsburg Landing to set the stage for the battle. Dinner will be in Corinth and is not covered in your fee.
Friday we will leave the hotel promptly at 8:00 and travel to Shiloh to begin the first day’s action. We will examine the first two major Union lines of defense and see all the famous sites such as Fraley Field, Shiloh Church, the Crossroads, Peach Orchard, and Hornet's Nest as Grant's forces fell back toward his last line of defense on the first day of battle. We will have pizza at the hotel in the meeting room. This is paid for in your fee. Lunch covers your trip fee.
Saturday we will travel to Shiloh and pick up on the last part of Shiloh's first day of battle, finishing up with Grant's last line of defense and the Confederate attacks. We will cover the night operations and then begin the movement out onto the battlefield for the second day of battle, revisiting the same famous sites but with the story of the second day being told. We will finish the day with a stop at Fallen Timbers where the Confederate rear guard blunted a Union pursuit on April 8, 1862. We will conclude Saturday with dinner at a place to be determined (I am working on it). Our grand finale dinner will be a great way to wind up our trip before heading home on Sunday morning. This is covered in your trip fee as is lunch.
The cost of the trip is estimated currently to be $450 per person. The final cost is determined by the number of people who will be on the trip. We have a maximum number of 40 for this trip. We are now collecting the $200 non-refundable deposit that will guarantee your reservation.
What does the cost of the trip cover? In addition to the cost of the bus, the fee includes the fees charged by our guide, Tim Smith, any fees for admission to the National Military Parks, three lunches, the Friday night pizza party at the hotel, the grand finale dinner on Saturday night, and all gratuities paid to our guide and bus driver.
What is not covered? You will be responsible for your hotel which you will get at the reduced group rate of $150 per night plus Mississippi state taxes. We are getting a group rate that is $30 less that the regular rate. You will also be responsible for any meals not covered by the trip fee.
I hope you will make plans to join us on what promises to be a great experience with a great guide and great fellowship! Mark your calendars for April 23-27. You can sign up at the meetings or by emailing John Davis at johnd.davis@twc.com. If you have any questions, please send your email to John or talk to him at the meetings.
Five More Myths of Shiloh
Our guide for Shiloh, Tim Smith, in his book, “The Untold Story of Shiloh” lists what he considers to be the 10 myths of Shiloh. I am sure he will explain all of these in detail on the field trip. Here are the other five.
Myth 6: The Hornet’s Nest Was the Pivotal Action at Shiloh. This myth originated with Union veterans who fought in the Union center who stressed their role in the battle claiming they had saved Grant’s army. The first park historian, David Reed, fought in the center with the 12th Iowa and he developed the Hornet’s Nest interpretation of the battle. Actually, the heaviest fighting at Shiloh occurred on the western and eastern portions of the battlefield not in the center where the Hornet’s Nest was. A study in the 1880’s locating the dead on the battlefield showed that most of the casualties were located on the western and eastern parts of the battlefield.
Myth 7: The South Would Have Won if Beauregard Had Not Called off the Assaults. During the war and afterwards, former Confederates railed against Beauregard for calling off the assaults after he took command when Albert Sidney Johnston’s death. Corp commanders Bragg and Hardee later in the war blamed Beauregard for the Confederate defeat even though their post battle reports made no mention of blame. In the end, calling off the attacks was the right decision. Taking into account the terrain, Union reinforcements, and the confusion in the Confederate ranks, the Confederates could not have broken Grant’s last defense line.
Myth 8: The South Would Have Won Had Johnston Lived. According to this view, Johnston’s death caused a lull in the attacks on the critical Confederate right slowing progress toward Pittsburg Landing. Also, Johnston’s death placed Beauregard in command, and he called off the attacks. Charles Roland maintained that Johnston’s superior leadership skills would have resulted in a Confederate victory. Actually there was no lull in the Confederate attacks because of Johnston’s death. The lulls in the attacks were the results of ammunition shortages and the need to reform battle lines. The lulls in action were common in all Civil War battles. The lulls after Johnston’s death were most likely the result of the natural sway of battle.
Myth 9: The Sunken Road Was Sunken. Coupled with Hornet’s Nest, the Sunken Road has become a major emphasis at Shiloh. Every visitor wants to see Sunken Road and while important fighting did occur there it is largely based on the myth of the road being sunken and providing a natural defensive position. There is no evidence that the Sunken Road was sunken. It was a little used farm lane and post war photos show only a path. Soldiers accounts and diaries as well as the official reports do not refer to the road as sunken. A soldier in the 4 th Louisiana described the road as “3 feet deep” but his unit was never in this part of the battlefield! It was not until 1881 that the term “sunken road” was published.
Myth 10: A.S. Johnston Died at the “Johnston Tree. The Johnston death tree has been accepted as the place where the Confederate General died after a bullet severed as artery in his leg and he bled to death. The tree died in the 1960’s and has been removed from where it stood. There has been a controversy about where Johnston actually died since the time of the battle. Senator Isham Harris in 1896 returned to the park to mark the place where he had found Johnston slumping in the saddle. After careful examination he pointed out the area near the now-famous tree. But he also said Johnston had died in a nearby ravine. The tree became sacred when the park commission place a wooden board on the tree in 1896. This is where visitors came to believe this is where the general died even though the plaque itself said Johnston died 50 yards away in the ravine. The famous tree associated with Johnston’s death actually had little to do with his wounding or his death
JANUARY 2025 QUIZ
1. Who commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia immediately before General Robert E. Lee was appointed on June 1, 1862?
Major General Gustavus Woodson Smith temporarily took command when General Joseph Johnston was wounded on May 31, 1862. However, Smith was not up to the task and Lee was quickly appointed the next day.
2. About how long did Generals Grant and Lee meet at the McLean House on April 9, 1865?
They met for approximately 90 minutes from 1:30—3:00 pm.
3. After Virginia, which Southern state had the most fighting in it during the Civil War?
That state was Tennessee.
4. Which Confederate state had the smallest population?
Florida had the smallest population.
5. Where did General Ulysses S. Grant first see action during the Civil War?
He first saw action during the Battle of Belmont, Missouri on November 7, 1861.
FEBRUARY 2025 QUIZ
1. What words did General Robert E. Lee add to General Ulysses S. Grant’s proposed terms of surrender for the Army of Northern Virginia?
2. What popular product that we snack on was also popular during the Civil War, especially with the civilian populations on both sides?
3. What nation of Native Americans did Confederate Brigadier General Stand Watie belong to?
4. Who was President Abraham Lincoln’s personal secretary?
5. General Ulysses S. Grant held the highest rank in the U.S. Army. What was that rank?