Join us at 6:30 PM, April 29, 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

Alan Sissenwein on “William B. Franklin, One of the Union’s Worst Generals”

William B. Franklin is a largely forgotten figure today, but he contributed to three of the worst defeats the Union army suffered. His military career began on a stellar note, graduating first in West Point’s 39-man Class of 1843, but the Civil War was to show he was no combat general. Appointed by George McClellan to command the 6th Corps, Franklin’s worst moment came during the Antietam campaign when he was charged with relieving the besieged Federal garrison at Harpers Ferry. Through his own timidity, Franklin failed in his mission, resulting in the surrender of over 10,000 Union troops. He continued to display poor generalship at the Battle of Fredericksburg, for which he became a political scapegoat. Transferred to Louisiana, Franklin committed an error that worsened Union losses at the Battle of Sabine Crossroads, a Federal defeat that led to the collapse of Nathaniel Banks’ Red River campaign.

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.

Join us at 6:30 PM, May 27, 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

Kirstein Ta on “Reminiscences of Smithville in Dekalb County, Tennessee: A personal account of the Civil War through a child’s eyes”

William Thomas Foster was only three years old in the fall of 1860 when he witnessed the first signs of an impending civil war. After April 1861, he would see two of his older brothers Eratus D. Foster and Stephen M. Foster join up with Capt. Cantrell’s Company C, 23rd Regiment, Tennessee Confederate Infantry. His third brother John B. Foster would go on to join the 15th Mississippi Regiment.

In William’s personal account of his family’s experiences during the civil war he shares the hardships felt by many families during those tumultuous four years. Even more disconcerting is the stories he shares about his family’s encounters with a group of Confederate guerillas led by a young man by the name of Pomp Kersey.

Pomp Kersey and his gang spent the majority of 1863-1864 terrorizing the town of Smithville, but Pomp particularly liked harassing the Foster family due to the knowledge that William’s father was a known Union sympathizer. Pomp eventually found himself on the wrong end of a gun in July of 1864, but the wrong end of whose gun?

Kirstein Hansen-Ta is a new student of the Civil War. In July 2024 she inherited ten six-inch binders that contained her family history dating as far back as 1630 to present day. As incredible as all this history is, she found none as interesting, or as fascinating as the family’s experience in the Civil War. There were several men on both sides of her family that fought for the Confederacy. This included her second great grandfather, in addition to a number of uncles. She is happy to report that with the exception of one they all returned home.

Amid the hundreds of pages inside these binders Kirstein came across what she considers the most valuable four pages of them all. These four pages are a type-written letter from an uncle describing all three of his older brothers, and their time in the Confederate army. Additionally, he goes on to describe what life was like for the family during the Civil War, as well. What Kirstein realized after reading these stories was that the most intriguing part of the civil war wasn’t necessarily the battles, or the politics, but rather about the people who lived through it.

Wanting to learn more about the Civil War, Kirstein came across the website for the South Bay Civil War Round Table, and she officially became a member in October 2024. She looks forward to learning more about this significant time in our country’s history.

Tom McMahon on “Bleeding Kansas”

Setting the stage with a short recall of the violent guerilla warfare that sets pre Civil War Kansas bleeding and on Fire,1855-9 over the issue of slavery we examine the stark contrast of the type of conflict carried out in Virginia by Lee ,a West Point model of proper military engagement as contrasted to the bushwhack raids and battles west of the Mississippi which were out of control of Jefferson Davis in his struggle with his generals. One of my main interests will be to high light the contingent of Union troops who were stationed in Alabama throughout the entire war ,cavalry that became the personal guard of General Sherman in his March to the Sea and the destruction of a 200 year economic plantation way of life for the people of the South. It looks like only a short mention of the March to the Sea can be taken up , so this might be for another time.,

Tom McMahon, San Francisco born in 1928, Roman Catholic priest for 26 years, pastor of Old 1897 historic church in New Almaden, married to Elaine (deceased 2021, two sons, five grandchildren), member of local San Jose South Bay Civil War Roundtable for 16 years, retired mental health therapist, amateur historian, founder of History Club at Almaden Senior Center, writer-researcher, and one who enjoys life and people.

Bob Burch on “California in the Civil War: Other California Units”

This is the fifth of a twelve-part series on California and the American Civil War. This presentation will explore the history of those units that served in the Eastern Theater during the American Civil War that enlisted a good portion of their recruits from California or had that state’s name in their unit designation. Nearly ten percent of Californians who volunteered during the war did so into units from other states. They did so for a variety of reasons including the desire to represent their state during the war to preserve the Union. Consequently these “other California units” represented their state continuously from the Battle of First Bull Run until General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox four years later.

Eventually Californians served in five other states’ volunteer regiments. On the West Coast these units were the 1st Washington Territory Infantry and 1st Oregon Cavalry Regiments. On the East Coast these were the 32nd New York Infantry Regiment (aka “California Regiment”), Baker’s Brigade (aka “California Brigade”) of four regiments, and the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment’s “California Hundred” and “California Battalion”.

Along the way we will meet several forgotten Californians who served their country well. Colonel Roderick Matheson from Healdsburg who fought at First Bull Run and later died from wounds received at the Battle of Crampton’s Gap. Colonel Francis Pinto of San Francisco who commanded regiments during the Peninsula, 2nd Manassas, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville Campaigns. Major Archibald McKendry who commanded the California Battalion and eventually the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment when only a captain. Captain James Sewell Reed of the California Hundred who died while leading his unit against Mosby’s partisans and Captain Hugh Armstrong who replaced him and led that company from Battle of Fort Stevens until Appomattox. And Captain Henry Crocker of San Francisco who participated in nine battle and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor at the Battle of Cedar Creek.

Except for the “CAL 100” Cavalry, these units have disappeared from history despite the presence of the California Regiment’s monument on Cemetery Ridge at Gettysburg and mention in many original source documents from newspapers to the Official Records. This presentation will attempt to remember and honor their contribution to the Union cause.

Bob Burch is a native Californian, born and raised in Santa Clara County. He is also a lifetime student of the Civil War. He had the opportunity to visit many Civil War sites from Florida to Pennsylvania to New Mexico during his 30 year military career. Like many California CWRT members, he desires to understand his home state’s role in the war. He started collecting material for this presentation ten years ago and initiated a serious study 15 months ago. This series documents his research in great detail. Time allows only a few key points from each slide to be presented. Numerous period photographs and magazine drawings are included for visual effect with the intent of comprehending California’s role in the Civil War.

Meeting Minutes June 2017