Charlie Sheen Acts UpThe actor’s limp “Violent Torpedo ofTruth” show draws a few cheers inConnecticut, but offers little beyondhis oversize ego and star power, saysRoger Catlin. CTNow, Page B3

Saving At The PumpIs it safe to skip name-brand

gas stations and go todiscounters? How aboutpassing up premium gas

for regular? Yes and yes,experts say.

LiveSmart,Page D1

To Our ReadersYou will find Home & Real Estate in adifferent place this morning. Thesection is with the Classified pages,bundled behind the Opinion section.

Voice From The PastThe Easter greeting that arrived lastmonth at a Cromwell woman’shome from her grandfather inGreece was a bit of a shock: Itwas dated April 20, 1965.CTNow, Page B1

Warm-UpHigh of 58. Page A2

More than 55,000 Connecticut men — 12 percent of the state’s population — fought in the CivilWar, among them Lt. Lewis “Cast Iron” Jackson, shown at right, who commanded the 1st

Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery. The company fired a 13-inch seacoast mortar mounted ona rail car that came to be known as the Petersburg Express. Above, Jackson leans against themortar during the siege of Petersburg, Va., which lasted from June 1864 to March 1865. In1902, a monument was dedicated at the state Capitol that included the same type ofmortar. Below, he writes of plans for the photograph.

Excerpts From Letter To His Sister From Lewis “Cast Iron” Jackson

To: Mrs. Barzilla Thresher, Hartford, Conn.

Thirteen-inch Mortar Battery, Pitkin Station, Va. . August19th 1864

Dear Sister: … We have got a large platform car that is all iron clad to keep off the bullets of the Sharp shooters. Onthis we haul our13-inch mortar which weighs over 22 tons. Behind this we have another iron clad car for theammunition. And one for my 26 men to live in.

The shells that I am firing now are13 inches in diameter and weigh194 pounds each. We put 7½ pounds of powder in theShell and10 pounds of lead bullets so you can judge what kind of a projectile it would be to hit a man in the head with.

I am going to have a Photograph taken of the Rail Road Battery, or Land Gun Boat, as the Soldiers call it. If we getsome pictures I will send you one.

Excerpted from original letter in Connecticut state archives. Typescript by Dean Nelson, March 2011

‘CAST IRON’ JACKSON’S MORTAR

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CONNECTICUT STATE LIBRARY

QQQ

VOLUME CLXXV NUMBER 100 SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2011COURANT.COM ● MOBILE.COURANT.COM

The shell from the Confeder-ate mortar, its red fuse glow-ing “like the wings of afirefly,’’ according to one ob-

server, hung briefly before beginningits descent and exploding directly overFort Sumter in Charleston harbor.

That first shot, at 4:30 a.m. on April12, 1861, ignited the greatest, mostdecisive war in American history. Bythe time the guns fell silent four yearslater, slavery was abolished, the na-tional union was preserved and astaggering 620,000 men had died.

The Civil War left an indelible markon America’s soul. Its pivotal place in

the nation’s history is beyond dispute.“Modern America as we know it

was born in1865,’’ said James I. “Bud”Robertson Jr., one of the country’smost esteemed historians of a conflictthat remains enveloped in myth andmisunderstanding, not just in thedefeated South, but in the North, evenafter 150 years and the passage ofseveral generations.

Connecticut — where the outbreakof the war will be commemorated bythe ceremonial firing of cannons Tues-day on the north lawn of the stateCapitol — is no exception.

The contribution the state made tothe Union’s victory was immeasur-

By DAVID DRURYSpecial to The Courant

A CIVIL , A4

A Civil DivideTHE CIVIL WAR:

1861-1865

CONNECTICUT & THE WARBETWEEN THE STATES

OPINION: John Brown, HarrietBeecher Stowe and war. Page C1

TRAVEL: From Civil War to civilrights in Mississippi. Page F1

ONLINE: Find more photos, readersubmissions, events and more at

courant.com/civilwar

$2.00 in Fairfield County and outside CT,Copyright 2011The Hartford Courant Co.$1.50

STAMFORD — U.S. House Speaker JohnBoehner, in the thick of a weeklong fightduring White House budget talks, played akey role in the last-minute compromiseFriday night that avoided a federal govern-ment shutdown.

Then, with about three hours’ sleep,Boehner flew to Connecticuton Saturday to rally Repub-licans at the 33rd annualPrescott Bush Awards Din-ner — the biggest annualfundraiser for the Connecti-cut Republican Party.

Boehner told the crowd ofabout 550 Republicans thathe always believed the shut-down would never happen.

“The goal is not to shut down thegovernment,” he said. “The goal is to cutspending in Washington, D.C.”

During an evening speech that lasted lessthan 20 minutes, Boehner talked about thebehind-the-scenes negotiations at theWhite House among Republicans, legisla-

STAMFORD

Boehner:BalancedBudgetIs Goal

House Speaker TellsGOP Deal Is First Step

By CHRISTOPHER KEATINGckeating@courant.com

BOEHNER, A12

Boehner

In a small state with 10 billionaires andthousands of millionaires, Connecticut isthe land of the luxury car.

And Greenwich is ground zero.While some in Connecticut’s middle

class struggle to earn an annual salary of$50,000, it is not unusual for a Greenwich

resident to buy a car worth more than that.Up and down Greenwich Avenue, the mainretail street, shoppers can spot the mostexpensive luxury cars in the nation. Publicrecords in the assessor’s office show thatGreenwich has 2,373 cars valued at morethan $50,000 each.

As such, local car dealers and someGreenwich residents are quite concernedabout Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget-balancing proposal to impose an additional3 percent “luxury tax” on the sale of all cars

In Greenwich, The LandOf Porsches And Jaguars:

No LoveFor Luxury

Car TaxBy CHRISTOPHER KEATING

ckeating@courant.com

LUXURY, A9

MALLOY PLAN

State Staunchly Pro-Union, Split On Slavery, Race

HUSKIES’ RUN TO NO. 1A C O M M E M O R AT I V E S E C T I O NThe stories, the stats, the personalities: Relive the magic ride of Kemba Walker and teammatesto the NCAA championship. And look back at the women’s record-setting season. Inside today

Big Y has rolled out its premiumloyalty program for $20 a year,and Savvy Shopper readers weighin with some mixed reviews.LiveSmart, Page D1

People’s PharmacyReader suggestions: Underarmodor on clothes? Try sprayingwith cheap vodka. Weakfingernails? The dietarysupplement MSM might help.Living, Page F3

For more tips, go tocourant.com/health

Korky Vann’sDeal Of The Day

CLASSIFIED .............................K1-6LOTTERY .....................................A2MOVIES ........................................G5OBITUARIES ...........................B4-7PUZZLES .............................F4, K6

up to $500 Resort Credit &Kids Stay, Play & Eat FREE!

60%Off

upto

at select resorts

Extravaganza

SalE!ExtravaganzaExtravaganza

Book by 4/18/11 • Travel 5/1 - 9/30/11

See our adon the

back page ofSunday’s

Travel section!

800 vacation experts • 160 stores • 59 years experience

1.866.417.4792Pu

blic

atio

n D

ate:

04

/10/

2011

Ad

Num

ber:

Inse

rtio

n N

umbe

r:

Siz

e:

Col

or T

ype:

Clie

nt N

ame:

Adv

ertis

er:

Sec

tion/

Pag

e/Z

one:

M

AIN

/A01

/SU

N3

Des

crip

tion:

Th

is E

-Sh

eet

con

firm

s th

at t

he

ad a

pp

eare

d in

Th

e H

artf

ord

Co

ura

nt

on

th

e d

ate

and

pag

e in

dic

ated

. Yo

u m

ay n

ot

crea

te d

eriv

ativ

e w

ork

s, o

r in

an

y w

ay e

xplo

it o

r re

pu

rpo

se a

ny

con

ten

t d

isp

laye

d o

r co

nta

ined

on

th

e e-

tear

shee

t.

A4 SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2011 THE HARTFORD COURANT

The Connecticut Civil War Com-memoration Commission and manyother groups are planning numerousevents to commemorate the 150th

anniversary of the U.S. Civil War.

Some upcoming events:

t Tuesday, 8 a.m.: Twelve cannonswill be fired on the north lawn of thestate Capitol, marking the start of theCivil War with the Confederate attackon Fort Sumter, S.C. At noon,Professor Matthew Warshauer ofCentral Connecticut State Universitywill speak at the Old State Houseabout the state’s role in the Civil War.

t Friday: CCSU, the Association forthe Study of Connecticut History, andthe Connecticut Humanities Councilplan a daylong “Connecticut in theCivil War” conference at theuniversity. Registration is required.

t April 16, 17: Weekend-long

observances and activities at CCSUwill mark the official start of the statecommission’s commemoration.Opening ceremonies start at 10 a.m.Apri. 16. There will be exhibits anddemonstrations at CCSU and atStanley Quarter Park, New Britain. Forthe full schedule, go toccsu.edu/civilwar.

t Monuments: There are scores ofCivil War monuments around thestate. To see a list and learn more, goto chs.org/finding_aides/ransom/introd.htm.

t History: Professor MatthewWarshauer of CCSU has written a newbook, the first in-depth look atConnecticut’s role in the Civil Warpublished in 46 years: “Connecticut inthe American Civil War: Slavery,Sacrifice & Survival” (WesleyanUniversity Press).

JOHN WOIKE | JWOIKE@COURANT.COM

THE NAMES of New Britain men who died in the Civil War are etched into thestonework of the Soldiers’ Monument in Central Park on the city’s Main Street.More than 55,000 Connecticut men, about 12 percent of the state’s population,fought in the Civil War.

CONNECTICUT GROUPS PLAN EVENTSTO MARK 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF START OF CIVIL WAR

able. About 55,000 men, 12 per-cent of the state’s population,served in the war and 5,354 ofthem perished.

Connecticut factories andshipyards supplied the Union’sarmies and navy with hugequantities of guns, ammuni-tion and materiel, while thestate’s wives, sisters and moth-ers took the lead in the care andprovisioning of its troops.

More than 130 war monu-ments and memorials acrossthe state attest to the wartimesacrifice and dedication ofConnecticut citizens.

It’s a stirring narrative, to besure, but one that glosses oversome rather unpleasant reali-ties.

StrikingContradictions

While Connecticut wasstaunchly pro-Union and itsresidents largely opposed tothe spread of slavery, it wasalso virulently anti-black —the “Georgia of New England,’’in the words of Massachusettsabolitionist William LloydGarrison — and home to anactive, vociferous peace move-ment that came perilouslyclose in the spring of 1863 totoppling the Republican stateadministration.

In 1864, fueled by a string ofUnion successes, PresidentAbraham Lincoln was re-elect-ed in a landslide, yet squeakedby in Connecticut, his 2,405-vote margin of victory securedby a change in the state’sconstitution that extended vot-ing rights to soldiers serving inthe field.

In October 1865, just monthsafter the guns had been stilled,Connecticut voters soundly re-jected a state constitutionalamendment that would havegiven blacks the right to vote.

These striking contradic-tions about how and why Con-necticut fought the war andtheir legacy are examined in“Connecticut in the AmericanCivil War: Slavery, Sacrifice &Survival” (Wesleyan Univer-sity Press, 2011), the first in-depth look at the state’s CivilWar experience published in 46years.

The book’s author, MatthewWarshauer, a history professorat Central Connecticut StateUniversity, said residents to-day would be surprised tolearn of “the intense anti-blackracism that existed and thatConnecticut didn’t line up”and fully support the war ef-fort.

A co-chairman of the Con-necticut Civil War Commemo-ration Commission, War-shauer, like other historians ofthe period, believes that thewar’s 150th anniversary pro-vides an opportunity for afresh, more balanced and nu-anced look at the conflict. It’s achance, he said, to examinewhat it resolved — the end ofslavery and the claimed rightof state secession — and what itdid not — racial and politicalequality and the limits of fed-eral power, topics that are stillhotly contested today.

“History is about under-standing the themes that ex-tend across generations,’’ War-shauer said.

“And The War Came’’On April 15, 1861, in response

to the attack on Fort Sumter,Lincoln asked for 75,000 troops

to help put down the rebellion.Connecticut’s governor, Wil-

liam A. Buckingham, a Repub-lican, immediately called forvolunteers. Within days, the1stRegiment of the ConnecticutVolunteer Infantry was formedin Hartford and the 2nd Con-necticut Volunteer InfantryRegiment was mustered inNew Haven a few days later.

They were the first in what

grew to a total of 30 infantryregiments, including the 29thColored Volunteers, artilleryand cavalry units that the statesupplied to the Union armies.

Nearly half — 47 percent — ofConnecticut males betweenthe ages of 15 and 50 served inthe war.

The men left family farmsand factories and gave up com-fortable professions to take up

arms against a rebellion thathad erupted in places most ofthem had never been.

Why did they do it?The traditional answer — to

preserve the Union — fails toconvey the passion and depthof feeling that animated thosealive during the 1840s and1850s, when the issue of slaverydominated national politics.

Northern states, reliant on

free labor and with a highlyvisible abolition movement,growing industrial might andexpanding financial and mer-cantile interests, believed thatthe country was being heldhostage by “the slave power’’ —Southern plantation ownerswho viewed slave labor as aright protected under the U.S.Constitution that could be ex-tended anywhere legitimately.

The tie that bound thesecompeting, contrasting eco-nomic systems was the produc-tion of slave-dependent cotton,“and both the South and theNorth became seduced by itseconomic power and turnedaway from a morality that theyknew was challenged and trou-bling,” Warshauer said.

Those fighting for the Unioncause believed that slavehold-ing secessionists “sought toundo the work of the foundinggeneration by dismantling agovernment that affordedwhite citizens wide economicand political opportunities andstood as a democratic exampleto the world,’’ concluded GaryW. Gallagher, the John L. NauIII Professor in the History ofAmerican Civil War at theUniversity of Virginia.

Slavery had ended in Con-necticut just13 years before thestate marched to war. Freeblacks accounted for but 8,227of the state’s 460,147 residents,according to the 1860 Census,and a rising tide of Europeanimmigrants, principally fromIreland and Germany, hadswelled its labor force. Theabolition movement, by com-parison with neighboring Mas-sachusetts, remained modest.

Beginning with the FirstBattle of Bull Run, in July 1861,Connecticut troops saw actionin all the theaters of the con-flict and participated in itsmost ferocious battles, notablyAntietam, Fredericksburg,Vicksburg, Gettysburg, ColdHarbor and the Seven Days.

A CIVIL WAR DIVIDEContinued from Page A1

JOHN WOIKE | WOIKE@COURANT.COM

MATT WARSHAUER, a Central Connecticut State University professor, has written a new book on Connecticut’s role in the Civil War. He isshown a the Soldiers’ Memorial in downtown New Britain, which honors that city’s residents who died during the war.

STATE, A5

Actor Matthew Broderick learnedabout an ancestor who served witha Connecticut regiment and diedfighting with Gen. Sherman out-

side Atlanta.Musician Lionel Richie discovered a great-

grandfather who, born a slave, became a prom-inent civic leader in the post-war AfricanAmerican community in Tennessee.

They are two of the celebrities who haveappeared on the NBC genealogy show “WhoDo You Think You Are” who successfullytraced Civil War-era ancestors with the help ofonline research tools.

Digital record-keeping has revolutionizedgenealogical research and broadened its acces-sibility through the Internet. The150th anni-versary of the Civil War is expected to furtherboost its popularity as people seek informationabout their ancestors.

Anastasia Harmon, lead family historian forthe online genealogical service ancestry.com,said the site is based on building one’s familytree. After filling in names or partial names ofparents, grandparents and other known rela-tives, links are then established to officialrecords, usually beginning with the1930 U.S.Census, the most recent one publicly available.

Culling information such as names of house-hold members, places of birth, occupations

and birthplaces of parents allows the searcherto obtain links to prior census and other publicrecords, eventually progressing back to CivilWar-era military service and pension records,regimental musters, pay records and roll calls.

“People are amazed on how much they canfind and how far they can go back. The censusis a key cog to the search,” Harmon explained.

Ancestry.com can search about 6 billionrecords. A user can establish a family tree forfree, then pays a subscription of $12.99 a monthfor the search function. Beginning April 7,visitors will be able to search the site’s CivilWar records free for one week, said Sean Pate,public relations director for ancestry.com.

History educator Carolyn Ivanoff, an assist-ant principal at Shelton Intermediate Schoolwho is developing a Web-based program onConnecticut during the Civil War, said she alsorecommends using the American Civil WarResearch Database (civilwardata.com), a sub-scription service with access to the service-related records of more than 4 million Unionand Confederate soldiers.

Other valuable genealogical research tools,she said, include the National Park ServiceCivil War Soldiers and Sailors System, with anindex of 6.3 million soldiers; the NationalArchives, where original Union and Con-federate service and pension records are main-tained and accessible by online request; andsearchable databases of contemporary statenewspapers for obituary information.

ANCESTORS IN THE CIVIL WAR

Filling Out Family Trees150th Anniversary Likely To Spur More Searches

By DAVID DRURYSpecial to The Courant

THE CIVIL WAR: 1861-1865 CONNECTICUT & THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES

Pu

blic

atio

n D

ate:

04

/10/

2011

Ad

Num

ber:

Inse

rtio

n N

umbe

r:

Siz

e:

Col

or T

ype:

Clie

nt N

ame:

Adv

ertis

er:

Sec

tion/

Pag

e/Z

one:

M

AIN

/A04

/2

Des

crip

tion:

Th

is E

-Sh

eet

con

firm

s th

at t

he

ad a

pp

eare

d in

Th

e H

artf

ord

Co

ura

nt

on

th

e d

ate

and

pag

e in

dic

ated

. Yo

u m

ay n

ot

crea

te d

eriv

ativ

e w

ork

s, o

r in

an

y w

ay e

xplo

it o

r re

pu

rpo

se a

ny

con

ten

t d

isp

laye

d o

r co

nta

ined

on

th

e e-

tear

shee

t.

THE HARTFORD COURANT SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2011 A5

*Rates effective 03/28/2011 and are subject to change without notice. The Annual PercentageRate (“APR”) is variable each month and will be established based on an Index PLUS or MINUSa margin. The Index is the highest United States Prime Rate as published in the Eastern Edition

of The Wall Street Journal on the last business day before the start of each month’s billing cycle. As of03/28/2011 that Prime Rate was 3.25%. HOWEVER, THE APR CAN NEVER GO BELOW THEMINIMUM APR OF 2.50%. The maximum APR will be 18.00%. As of 03/28/2011 for lines of creditfrom $10,000 to $500,000 the margins range from 1.24 to -.26 percentage points if you maintain a checkingaccount throughout the term of your line, resulting in corresponding variable APRs ranging from 4.49% to2.99%. As of 03/28/11 for lines of credit from $10,000 to $500,000 the margins range from 1.49 to -.01%percentage points if you do not maintain a checking account throughout out the term of your line, resultingin corresponding variable APRs ranging from 4.74% to 3.24%. Please call for current rates and terms.There is a $50 annual fee, which is waived for qualified People’s United checking account holders for thefirst year only. If you close your account within two (2) years after the date of your Note, you must pay aprepayment fee of $500. If the Note is secured by property located in the State of New York borrower(s) mustalso pay People’s United Bank back the mortgage tax paid by People’s United at the time of the originationof the Note. If you close your account after the second anniversary of the date of your Note, there will beno prepayment fee. Existing People’s United Equity Credit Line customers are not eligible for this offer.Property insurance is required. Flood insurance may be required. Equity Credit Lines are available only for1-2 family owner-occupied properties and approved condominiums located in Connecticut, Massachusetts,Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Westchester, Rockland, Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam, Dutchess,Orange, Ulster and Sullivan counties of NY and in the NY City boroughs of Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), NewYork (Manhattan), Queens and Richmond (Staten Island) and are not available on cooperatives or propertieslisted for sale. The Equity Credit Line has a minimum line amount of $10,000 and a maximum line amount$500,000. Other terms and conditions apply. Consult your tax advisor regarding the deductibility of interest.Offer available on applications received by June 19, 2011. ©2011 People’s United Bank Member FDIC

Take advantage of a Home Equity Lineof Credit before this rate goes away.Whether you’re paying for education, homeimprovement, or taking care of debt, putyour trust in the bank that’s been helpingNew Englanders for 169 years. Learnmore at peoples.com/possibilities or call1-877-772-8778.

· No closing costs· No points· No application fees· Use only what you need· Interest may be taxdeductible

2.99%*

APRVariable

Home Equity Line of CreditRates as low as

EXIT 33 OFF I-91HARTFORD TOLL FREE 866-785-0102

Lia Hyundaiof Hartford

ONLYAT

or visitLiahyundaiofhartford.com

2011 TUCSON

10 Year100,000 MilesPowertrainProtection

5 Year50,000 Miles

Bumper ToBumper Coverage

5 YearUnlimited Miles24-hr RoadsideAssistance

10-Year/100,000-Mile

URGENT ALERT – URGENT ALERT

200 HYUNDAISALES RACE

YOU WIN BIG!SAVE THOUSANDSYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWINNNNNNNNNNNN BBBBBBBBBBBBBIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUU WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWINNNN BIGGGGGGG!YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWINN BIGGGGGGGGGYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUU WINN BIGGGGGGG!YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWINNNNNNNNNNNNN BBBBBBBBBBBBIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!

AAAAAAAAVE TTTTTTTTTTTTTHOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSAAAAAAAANDDDDDDDDDDDDSSSSSSSSSSAAAAAAAAVE TTTTTTTTTTTTTHOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUSSSSSSSAAAAAAAANDDDDDDDDDDSSSSSSSSSSSS

$59******************************* $159*$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ***********************************ASLOWAS

F R E EF R E E

TT

3 DAY3 DAYEVENTEVENTSUNDAY!MONDAY!TUESDAY!

ONLYAT

F R E EF R E E

A MONTHDOWNDELIVERS!

APPROVALS

ON -SITE!

NEEDCREDIT?COME &GET IT!

ALL CREDITALL CREDITAPPLICATIONSAPPLICATIONSREVIEWED FORREVIEWED FORSAME DAYSAME DAYDELIVERY!DELIVERY!

WE MUST SELL 200 NEW HYUNDAIS ! !

ATTEND THIS EXCITING 3-DAY EVENT

On Carnival Cruise Lines

ALL REBATES INCLUDED TO DEALER. EXCLUDES PRIOR SALES. PAYMENT, DOWN PAYMENT & DISCOUNT VARIES WITH SELECTED MODELS AND CREDIT CRITERIA. SEE DEALERFOR DETAILS. $59 DOWN PLUS TAX, TITLE, REGISTRATION AND CONVEYANCE FEES. LIMIT 1 PER CUSTOMER. SALE ENDS 4/15/11 AT 8PM. *Free, no additional charge.

4 night / 5 day cruise to

the Bahamas or Mexico

Air fare and port charges not included

WITH PURCHASE OF A NEW OR USED CAR

*FREE

FREEFREE

Think, SaveAct Now

2011 SONATA

LIA HYUNDAI OF HARTFORDLIA HYUNDAI OF HARTFORD

Don’t miss the Boat! with the purchase of anew or used vehicle

with th

$$3003000000

included

LENDERSON DEMAND

clud

ACCENT ELANTRA AZERA SANTA FE

On the home front, Connecti-cut women organized groupsto produce uniforms, knap-sacks, flags, bandages andother essentials. A network of70 local aid societies under thedirection of the Hartford Sol-diers Aid Society tended to thephysical, medical and emo-tional needs of the state’stroops.

Mystic shipyards built shipsfor the Union blockade andConnecticut was transformed,in Warshauer’s phrase, into “avirtual arsenal unto itself,’’with well-known gunmakerslike Colt, Eli Whitney Jr.,Sharps and Savage Arms pro-ducing rifles and revolvers;Hazard Powder Co. manufac-turing gun powder; and theCollins Co. churning out bayo-nets and cutting tools.

War OppositionNot everyone was swept up

in the patriotic wave.From the onset, there were

Connecticut citizens opposedto war with the Confederacy.Peace flags flew around thestate and in June 1861, a nearriot erupted in Goshen afterone resident raised the seces-sion banner.

The peace wing of the stateDemocratic Party found itschampion in Thomas H. Sey-mour, a Mexican War hero whoin April 1863 challenged Gov.Buckingham in a bitter, highlycontested campaign.

By that time, the Emancipa-tion Proclamation had takeneffect, ending slavery in theConfederate states, and Con-necticut’s highly partisannewspapers provided the fo-rum to debate the war’s properaims: restoring the union as itexisted in 1860 or ending slav-ery.

Impassioned pleas were pub-lished from soldiers in the fieldand key furloughs allowedsome units to return home tovote, swinging the election inBuckingham’s favor. Connecti-cut soldiers fully understoodthat emancipation deprivedthe Confederacy of the forcedlabor it needed to restock itsdepleted white military.

One soldier, Fred Lucas ofthe 19th Connecticut VolunteerInfantry, explained in a letterto his mother his anger atSeymour and his supporters:

“We can have some littlerespect for an armed traitor inthe enemy’s rank, but for thosewho sympathise with treasonat home we have none but forthem we have the greatest anddeepest disgust.”

The vitriol of ConnecticutDemocrats over emancipationand black equality reached afever pitch in the 1864 cam-paign. “The core of the Demo-cratic message was raciallymotivated, in the hope that thecontinued ridicule of blacksand abolitionists would suc-cessfully sway white voters,’’concluded Warshauer.

The strategy failed. Lincolnwas re-elected, and the warended six months later.

The WarRemembered

The Connecticut Civil WarCommemoration Commission,created by executive order lastSeptember, is one of more than20 state commissions or com-mittees formed to recognizethe war’s 150th anniversary.

Unlike the Civil War Centen-nial of the 1960s, there is nonational commission, so indi-vidual states are left to decidehow much — or how little — todevote to the commemoration.

Virginia, home to the Con-federate capital and scene of 60percent of the war’s battles,occupies one end of the spec-trum. The Virginia Sesquicen-tennial of the American Civil

War Commission has receiveda state appropriation of $2million annually since 2008,according to its executive di-rector, Cheryl Jackson, and iscurrently sponsoring a majorexhibit at the Virginia His-torical Society in Richmondfunded by a $950,000 NationalEndowment for the Human-ities grant.

Connecticut’s commission,like those in most other states,operates on a shoestring, withno direct state support, sub-

sisting on small donations,some money from CCSU andlarger grants from the Con-necticut Humanities Counciland The Travelers, whosefounder, James Batterson, wasa leading supporter of Lincolnand Buckingham.

The commission’s mission— to increase public under-standing of the Civil War andits legacy — comes at a timewhen, as Warshauer pointsout, the study of history andsocial studies “is under siege”

in public schools because ofbudget-cutting.

A recent story in Newsweekmagazine, focusing on the pub-lic’s ignorance of Americanhistory and government, said38 percent of 1,000 Americancitizens given the U.S. citi-zenship test failed.

James Robertson, whose lec-tures on the Civil War at Vir-ginia Tech and on NationalPublic Radio have riveted gen-erations of students, advisesConnecticut teachers to usediaries, letters, anecdotes andhuman details to bring thestory of the nation’s greatesttrial to life.

“Teach the human aspect ofthe war, the emotional aspect ofthe war. One of my axioms of ahalf-century of college teach-ing is if you don’t understandthe emotional aspect of the war,you don’t understand the war,’’he said.

Booker DeVaughn, the re-tired president of Three RiversCommunity College and co-chairman of the Connecticutcommission, has an avid inter-est in local and state history.

An African American, hehas served on the board of theHarriet Beecher Stowe Center,researched the accomplish-ments of the 29th Colored In-fantry and said that one legacyof the war is that society canchange for the better.

“How you incorporate blackpeople, African Americans,into the life of America hasbeen an ongoing issue,” hesaid.

“We are moving toward atime when the ideals of theAmerican Revolution — “wethe people” — really mean allthe people. We continue toprogress. This commemora-tion recognizes where we were

“Young people may not beconfident they can changethings. But society can bechanged. You go from theEmancipation Proclamation tothe election of Barack Obama.”

StateContinued from Page A4

ALEXANDER GARDNER PHOTO | HANDOUT

IN 1862, President Abraham Lincoln, center, Maj. Gen. John A.McClernand and detective Allan Pinkerton are shown in Antietam, Md.

“Young people may not be confidentthey can change things. But society can be changed. You go from the Emancipation Proclamation

to the election of Barack Obama.”

Booker DeVaughn, co-chairman, Connecticut Civil War Commemoration Commission

THE CIVIL WAR: 1861-1865 CONNECTICUT & THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES

Pu

blic

atio

n D

ate:

04

/10/

2011

Ad

Num

ber:

Inse

rtio

n N

umbe

r:

Siz

e:

Col

or T

ype:

Clie

nt N

ame:

Adv

ertis

er:

Sec

tion/

Pag

e/Z

one:

M

AIN

/A05

/2

Des

crip

tion:

Th

is E

-Sh

eet

con

firm

s th

at t

he

ad a

pp

eare

d in

Th

e H

artf

ord

Co

ura

nt

on

th

e d

ate

and

pag

e in

dic

ated

. Yo

u m

ay n

ot

crea

te d

eriv

ativ

e w

ork

s, o

r in

an

y w

ay e

xplo

it o

r re

pu

rpo

se a

ny

con

ten

t d

isp

laye

d o

r co

nta

ined

on

th

e e-

tear

shee

t.