Meeting of January 28, 2025

Join us at 6:30 PM, January 28, at Jack’s Restaurant & Bar, located at the Northwest corner of the Westgate Shopping Mall in San Jose, near Campbell (1502 Saratoga Ave, San Jose, CA 95129) and via ZOOM. This month’s topic is

Ron Vaughan on “The Battle of Little Round Top: More Than Just Chamberlain!”

Most of the research that has been performed regarding the Battle for Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg has focused primarily on the actions of Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Even the 1993 movie, Gettysburg concentrated its scenes on the actions of Chamberlain and his 20th Maine. In actuality, Little Round Top was successfully defended by a brigade under Colonel Strong Vincent, who was mortally wounded during the fighting and died five days later. Brig. Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren climbed Little Round Top and found only a small Signal Corps station there. He saw the glint of bayonets in the sun to the southwest and realized that a Confederate assault into the Union flank was imminent. He hurriedly sent staff officers, including Washington Roebling, to find help from any available units in the vicinity; Vincent’s brigade was dispatched to take control of Little Round Top. The presentation will focus on how all four of the regiments under Vincent’s command successfully defended Little Round Top

Ron Vaughan has an MA in History and a Secondary Teaching Credential. His MA thesis was entitled “A Comparison of the Military Effectiveness of the US Army and Mexico, in 1846.” He has written two published books: Viva Juarez, A Source Book for the French Intervention in Mexico, and Handbook for the Spanish Civil War, plus many magazine articles in military history related publications, most recently “Joe Shelby’s Odyssey in Mexico” in the “North & South” December 2022 issue. Ron has also been a re-enactor for periods of Roman times, American Civil War, WW I, and WW II. He is the Head Docent at the Tulare City Historical Museum and Secretary and Editor for the San Joaquin Valley Civil War Roundtable.

Quiz for January 28, 2025

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About Little Known Facts of the Civil War?

Q#1 – What were the nicknames that President Abraham Lincoln used to refer to Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis?

Q#2 – Jefferson Davis served as a member of the US House of Representatives, a US Senator on two separate occasions and as the President of the Confederate States. What was common regarding all three of these?

Q#3 – Regarding the number people who earned the Medal of Honor, which war had the most medals awarded?

Q#4 – What piece of evidence led some people to believe that Confederate President Jefferson Davis ordered the assassination of President Lincon?

Q#5 – John Wilkes Booth’s assassination of Lincoln was part of a broader conspiracy. What other actions were planned to be executed on April 14, 1865?

Q#6 – What foreign city did the Confederate Secret Service take refuge in during the Civil War?

Q#7 – What item on a pair of military pants was invented by the US Army?

Q#8 – During the Civil War era, it was commonly thought that firing a cannon over water would do what?

Q#9 – Approximately how many soldiers died of disease in the Civil War?

Q#10 – True or False: Only white people were slave holders?

Q#11 – What medical unit did Union General George B. McClellan create?

Q#12 – What was the purpose for creating the U.S. Sanitary Commission?

Q#13 – Other than carrier pigeons, what animal did the Confederate Arny use to deliver message??

Q#14 – During the Battle of Gettysburg, a group of gathered intelligence for the Union army. They posed as Confederate sympathizers and used their social networks to gather information about Confederate troop movements and plans. This information was then passed along to Union commanders, who used it to their advantage on the battlefield. What was the name given to this group of women?

Q#15 – During the Civil War, what was the monthly pay for a Black soldier?

Meeting of December 3, 2024

Kristin Patterson on “How the State of Wisconsin Assisted Civil War Soldiers’ Families”

Once the War of the Rebellion was declared, Wisconsin (a state that had only been in the Union for 12 years) was quick to enlist volunteers to fight. But as the Civil War dragged on, families left without husbands, working sons, and fathers were hard pressed to make ends meet. So Wisconsin implemented 3 ways to get money to wives, mothers (and indigent fathers), and children.

First, an Allotment Fund, which soldiers could allocate all or part of their month pay to any person. This money would then be available to the person that they requested. Second, $5 extra pay per month for privates with dependant wives, mothers, or children. And lastly, bounties promised when enlisting. All of these programs helped not only the individual families but the Wisconsin economy.

The presentation will discuss how each program was implemented and who benefited. It will also talk about how the funds were raised. Original documents will be shown that were used in the processes.

Kristin, who was born and raised in Wisconsin, started collecting postage stamps when she was 10. For the past 25 years, she has focused on U.S. Civil War tax stamps and documents with revenue stamps. She has been very active in the philatelic community, serving 4 terms as President of Sequoia Stamp Club, 19 years as Chair of PENPEX Stamp Show (www.penpex.org), and on many other philatelic boards.

Kristin has authored two books. In 2003, she self published It’s a Wrap! U.S. Revenue Stamps Used on Playing Cards, 1862–1883. This colorfully illustrated book highlights fifteen U.S. Playing Card Manufacturers. In 2010, she published her second book, WESTPEX – The First 50 Years, about the most successful stamp show in the U.S.

Kristin has also written many articles for philatelic journals, including the Soldiers’ National Cemetery at Gettysburg. This article discusses how the Gettysburg Cemetery came to be and how the union states funded the effort.

Quiz for December 3, 2024

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About The Spencer Rifle? (Vernon Hayashida)

Q#1 – The carbine was handier than the rifle for the cavalry. What made the rifle, Spencer and 1873 Trap Door Springfield, the weapon of choice over the carbine for the infantry?

Q#2 – How many rounds does a Spencer hold and where is the magazine?

Q#3 – Describe the sequence in chambering a round, firing, and ejecting the spent cartridge a Spencer.

Q#4 – What is a Blakeslee Box for the Spencer?

Q#5 – What is a Stabler Cutt Off on a 1865 Spencer Carbine?

Q#6 – Who helped get 10,000+ Spencers for distributed after testing the carbine?

Q#7 – When and where was the tests in Q#-6 performed?

Q#8 – What was the one complaint of the Spencer design by the tester?

Q#9 – When was the Spencer rifle first used in significant numbers?

Q#10 – What was the problem Confederates had in using captured Spencers?

Q#11 – What are the disadvantages of the Spencer rifle over the 1861 Springfield rifle?

Q#12 – In what battle was the Spencer rifle first used after being supplied to Union forces?

Q#13 – Which Union organization purchased 700 Spencer Rifles in 1861?

Q#14 – The Spencer carbine was involved in what historical event in April 26, 1865?

Q#15 – Why was the Spencer design weapon favored by the Union Ordnance Department over the 1860 Henry Rifle?

Meeting of October 29, 2024

David Hsueh on “Let Us Die to Make Men Free: The Story of Antietam’s Union Participants”

The Battle of Antietam was a defining point not only in the American Civil War, but in American history. Fall of 1862 was the crossroads of the war and for the nation. Through the strategic victories during the Seven Days Battles and their incredible triumph at Second Manassas, General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia had nearly pinned the Army of the Potomac to submission. If General McClellan had failed to make a home stand in Maryland, it would have caused enormous implications regarding European intervention in the war and in peace talks. During this crucial time, the widening split on the question of slavery further pressured Lincoln to declare this country’s final verdict on the divisive moral argument. The Maryland Campaign, and the bloodiest day in American history at Antietam, ushered in a new beginning to make men free.

Yet, as Civil War scholars, we often get so caught up in studying the biographies of high-ranking officers and memorizing order of battles that we often forget the human cost of battle and war. Counts of casualties can just seem like numbers typed on pages. After all, it is hard to imagine all the death and carnage these battles caused, but we must remember that behind every casualty is a human being, and thus, a personal story. Being a scholar of the American Civil War isn’t just being knowledgeable of the minute details of military campaigns but also means that we are able to understand, empathize, and share the stories and experiences of the soldiers that fought in it. By visiting hallowed ground and contemplating, and by putting ourselves in the shoes of these brave fighters, it puts our lives in total perspective. Imagine how the soldiers must have felt, having just a few minutes to process that every defense or every assault may be their last. Would they have thought about their families back home in this final moment: their sweethearts, their brothers and sisters, their mothers and fathers, their wives and children? Would they have experienced guilt that their families would have to struggle to live without their financial support? Or rather, did some express a certain joy in reuniting with their lost comrades again? How would we respond in their shoes? Would we cowardly run for the rear in an attempt to save our own life, or would we obey orders, hoping that our sacrifice would be enough to save our unit and our army? Regardless, we must understand that we would not have the courage, bravery, and fearlessness of these men to make this sacrifice on the harrowing day of September 17, 1862.

Instead of retelling the well-known history of the Battle of Antietam, this narrative style talk, “Let Us Die to Make Men Free: The Story of Antietam’s Union Participants,” attempts a different approach by telling the stories and vignettes of two Union regiments, the 12th Massachusetts (I Corps, 2nd Division, Third Brigade) and the 16th Connecticut (IX Corps, Third Division, Second Brigade); two Union field-grade officers, Major Rufus Dawes of the 6th Wisconsin (I Corps, 1st Division, Fourth Brigade) and Lieutenant Colonel Wilder Dwight of the 2nd Massachusetts (XII Corps, 1st Division, Third Brigade); and the famed “Angel of the Battlefield”, nurse Clara Barton, whose acts of bravery and benevolence displayed that even in the depths of hell, humanity and morality could still transpire. Through the soldiers’ writings and the accounts of others that served alongside them, the talk aims to tell a complete picture of their lives at the outbreak of the Civil War, to illustrate their hopes, courage, worries, and fears while fighting the Maryland Campaign, and how their future memory of the ghastly Battle of Antietam gave them immeasurable grief and trauma.

David Hsueh is currently an incoming junior as a political science student at the University of California, Berkeley. As an avid history learner since kindergarten, his first introduction to the American Civil War came when he read about President Lincoln. However, his true passion for the Civil War began after his first viewing of the movie Gettysburg, and his subsequent visits to the Gettysburg and Antietam Battlefields seven years ago at age 11. His two main interests in the Civil War regard brigade to army leadership decisions on the battlefield and human interest stories, both of generals and of the common soldier.

Antietam is his favorite Civil War battlefield to visit, having been there a total of five times. His favorite spot on the Antietam battlefield is Snavely’s Ford, the location where Isaac Rodman’s 9th Corps division forded over the Antietam Creek. He is currently reading D. Scott Hartwig’s title To Antietam Creek, and highly recommends Bradley M. Gottfried’s The Maps of Antietam.

Quiz for October 29, 2024

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About Union General Daniel E. Sickles?

Q#1 – Daniel E Sickles’ parents were Susan Marsh Sickles and George Garrett Sickles. What was Sickles’ father’s occupation?

Q#2 – Sickles’ official birthdate is October 20, 1819. His year of birth is sometimes given as 1825, and Sickles was known to have claimed as such – why did Sickles give people different dates for his birth?

Q#3 – As a young man, what trade did Sickles learn?

Q#4 – In 1847, what was the first political office that Sickles was elected to?

Q#5 – On September 27, 1852, at the age of 32, Sickles married Teresa Bagioli against the wishes of both families. How old was his bride?

Q#6 – While being a member of the New York State Assembly, why did this governmental organization censor Sickles?

Q#7 – On February 27, 1859, in Lafayette Square, across the street from the White House, Sickles shot and killed Philip Barton Key II, the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia and the son of Francis Scott Key. What was the motive that led Sickles to shot Key?

Q#8 – In the 1850s, Sickles had received a commission in the 12th Regiment of the New York Militia; what rank did Sickles eventually attain with this unit?

Q#9 – At the outbreak of the Civil War, Sickles was appointed colonel of one what military unit?

Q#10 – While in command of his military unit, what non-battle related action did Sickles perform that won for him the approval of the influential Committee on the Conduct of the War?

Q#11 – For a variety of reasons, Sickles missed significant actions at the Battle of Williamsburg and the Second Battle of Bull Run. What was the reason Sickles missed the Battle of Antietam because the III Corps, to which he was assigned as a division commander.?

Q#12 – How did Sickles become the only Union corps commander without a West Point military education?

Q#13 – At the Battle of Chancellorsville. What two sets of advice did Sickles provide to Army of the Potomac Commander, Joseph Hooker, that Hooker ignored, that historians of the battle believe could have caused the battle to turn out very differently for the Union if Hooker had heeded Sickles’ advice?

Q#14 – What two factors played into Sickles’ decision to move his Third Corp west off the lower part of Cemetery Ridge?

Q#15 – Despite his one-legged disability after being wounded at the Batlle of Gettysburg, Sickles remained in the army until the end of the war. Who prevented Sickles from returning to a combat command?

Meeting of September 24, 2024

Tonya Graham McQuade on “A State Divided—Gaining Insights into Missouri’s Important Role in the Civil War”

Did you know that many people actually believe the Civil War started in Missouri? Missouri was a state torn apart by political disagreements and violence even before the firing on Fort Sumter in April 1861. While the Missouri Compromise of 1820 helped to postpone the Civil War for four decades, the Platte Purchase, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Dred Scott case, and the “Bleeding Kansas” border wars—all of which played out here—added fuel to the fire. Some of the war’s first blood spilled on Missouri’s soil, and 42% of the battles occurred here during the first year of the war. Missouri even found itself with two competing governments: one supporting the Union; the other, the Confederacy.

Overall, Missouri suffered more than 1000 engagements on its soil. Many of those involved guerrilla warfare – including the Centralia Massacre and Battle of Centralia, which occurred Sept. 27, 1864—160 years ago this month. As it turns out, today’s speaker discovered she has family ties to Centralia on both the Union and Confederate sides.

In this talk, author Tonya Graham McQuade—whose family roots go deep in Missouri—will discuss Missouri’s interesting Civil War history and share excerpts from her new book, A State Divided: The Civil War Letters of James Calaway Hale and Benjamin Petree of Andrew County, Missouri, 1862-1865. The book includes fifty previously unpublished Civil War letters written by two of her ancestors and explains the context in which these two Missouri soldiers and their families found themselves living, both before and during the Civil War, as they watched discord, destruction, and bloodshed erupt all around them.

Originally from Tennessee and Indiana, Hale and Petree each had relatives who fought and died on both sides of the war. Their letters provide vivid details and unique perspectives into their lives and experiences during the war. Tonya will explain how this book came about, read some excerpts from the letters, and show some related maps, family trees, and photos. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Tonya Graham McQuade is the author of A State Divided: The Civil War Letters of James Calaway Hale and Benjamin Petree of Andrew County, Missouri, 1862-65, and is a contributing writer to the Emerging Civil War website. She has a love for both history and historical fiction and a passion for writing which she plans to continue pursuing. In October she will be going on a book tour in Missouri to discuss her book at many of its relevant sites.

Tonya is the great-great-great granddaughter of James Callaway Hale, who wrote forty of the letters in the book. Hale’s daughter Mary Ann married the brother of Benjamin Petree, who wrote the other ten letters. In A State Divided, Tonya tells the story of these two Missouri soldiers as they march and drill with their regiments, avoid several close calls with guerrillas and enemy troops, witness the buildup to the Vicksburg Campaign, get an in-depth look at wartime St. Louis, overcome illness, trek with Sherman through the Carolinas, ponder the devastation they encounter, celebrate victory in Washington, D.C., and spend a lot of time sitting around, longing to be home, writing letters to their families.

A long-time English teacher at Los Gatos High School, Tonya lives in San Jose, California. She is an active member of Emerging Civil War, South Bay Writers/California Writers Club, National League of American Pen Women, and Poetry Center San Jose. You can learn more about Tonya on her website at tonyagrahammcquade.com, as well as find photos related to the book and to her research trips to Missouri. You can also find links to her Chasing History and Emerging Civil War blog posts, her poetry and photography, and her social media sites.

Quiz for September 24, 2024

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About the Gettysburg East Cavalry Battle?

Q#1 – On what date was the East Cavalry Battle fought?

Q#2 – Why was the battle given the name “East Cavalry Battle”?

Q#3 – What was the Confederate forces high level objective in this battle?

Q#4 – What major highway did the Confederate cavalry hope to capture?

Q#5 – Which four Confederate cavalry brigades participated in the battle?

Q#6 – Approximately how many Confederate cavalry troopers were involved in the battle?

Q#7 – From the Union Cavalry Corps commanded by Major General Alfred Pleasonton, which division was involved in the East Cavalry Field battle?

Q#8 – Who were the two original Union brigade commanders assigned to the area given the name East Cavalry Field?

Q#9 – How did Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer become involved in the East Cavalry Field battle?

Q#10 – What tactical error did JEB Stuart make before the battle began that assisted the Union in their preparation for the battle?

Q#11 – What major Confederate battle action began at the same time that JEB Stuart ordered an assault by the 1st Virginia Cavalry?

Q#12 – What was the rallying cry Custer is credited with using when he was ordered to attack the Confederate cavalry?

Q#13 – After Custer’s charge initially caused the Confederate Virginian cavalry to retreat, what happened next?

Q#14 – How long in time did the East Cavalry Field Battle last?

Q#15 – What were the casualties incurred in the East Calvary Field battle?

Meeting of August 27, 2024

Alan Sissenwein on “George Armstrong Custer – Part 2”

Custer is mainly remembered for his defeat and death at the Battle of Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876. Custer’s disastrous end, however, has eclipsed his very credible career in the Civil War, where he initially won the celebrity that made his final defeat a shock to the nation. This talk is intended to present a more three-dimensional view of Custer as both a man and a soldier, examining his conduct in both the Civil War and the Indian Wars.

Alan Sissenwein has been a member of the South Bay Civil War Round Table since 1997 and currently serves as its vice president. A professional writer, he holds a bachelor’s degree in history from UC Berkeley and a master’s in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He is currently writing the second draft of a book on the Battle of Fredericksburg.

Quiz for August 27, 2024

Civil War Quiz: What Do You Know About Civil War Prisons?

Q#1 – At the start of the Civil War, what system was in place between the Union and Confederate forces regarding prisoners?

Q#2 – What event in 1863 caused a momentous change in the way prisoners were treated?

Q#3 – Approximately how many Union soldiers became prisoners?

Q#4 – Approximately how many Confederate soldiers became prisoners?

Q#5 – Approximately how many Union soldiers died in captivity?

Q#6 – Approximately how many Confederate soldiers died in captivity?

Q#7 – What were the major causes of deaths in Confederate prisons?

Q#8 – During a period of 14 months at Camp Sumter (aka Andersonville) how many Union prisoners were confined there?

Q#9 – During the winter month of January 1865, at Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois, what percentage of the Confederate prisoners confined there died?

Q#10 – At the Elmira Prison in New York state, what percentage of the Confederate prisoners confined there died?

Q#11 – What did prisoners eat during the Civil War?

Q#12 – Where was Libby Prison located?

Q#13 – What prisoners were incarcerated at Libby Prison?

Q#14 – What was Castle Morgan?

Q#15 – Who was executed because of Andersonville?