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The Courier November 2016 1
“Where Both Sides Are Heard”
Founded in 2012
The Courier
The Newsletter of the Civil War Roundtable of North Florida
Mailing address:
Civil War Roundtable of North Florida
13450 NE 100th
Street, Williston, FL 32696
Website: www.cwrnf.org
Phone: Diane Fischler (352) 378-3726; or Terry Huston (352) 359-1442
Email: [email protected]; or [email protected]
The Courier is written by Diane Fischler ([email protected])
Vol. IV, No. 11 November 2016 Gainesville, Florida
Next Meeting (open to the public)
Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016, 6 to 8 p.m. at:
Trinity United Methodist Church (TUMC)
4000 NW 53rd
Avenue
Room 232 in the front Education Center
Gainesville, Florida 32653
If you have not paid your membership dues for 2016-2017, please pay at the Nov. 10 meeting!
Effective Jan. 12, 2017, the CWRNF will meet at 6:30 p.m.
The Courier November 2016 2
CWRNF News
Oct. 13, 2016, CWRNF meeting: 23 members and guests attended
Member Toni Collins spoke on Civil War Blockade Running on Florida’s
Gulf Coast, the title of her latest book (2016). Toni gave a fact-filled and anecdotal
presentation on the history of blockading the Confederacy’s Atlantic and Gulf of
Mexico 3,500-mile-long coastline. This Northern strategy was known as the
“Anaconda Plan,” conceived by Gen. Winfield Scott, to strangle the Southern states.
This naval blockade became increasingly more effective as the war progressed. The
East Gulf Coast Blockading Squadron, based at Key West, was responsible for most of
the Florida coast from Pensacola to Cape Canaveral. This squadron was more
aggressive than the other blockading squadrons with its many landing party raids,
patrols, and skirmishes on Florida’s inlet-studded west coast.
Toni spoke of the number of Southern “privateers” being issued a “Letter of Marque and
Reprisal,” which was “written authorization from a government to a private party to fit out a ship at that
person’s own expense to attack and destroy the shipping of enemy nations [in this case the commerce of
the United States].” During the war, these smaller shallow draft ships were outshone by the highly
successful Confederate commerce raiders, such as the Florida, Shenandoah, and Alabama. The primary
targets of these landing raids were the salt-making operations along the 1,300 mile-long coast.
Confederate authorities were sometimes at odds with the Southern blockade runners who smuggled in the
more lucrative frivolous items rather than the much needed military and medical necessities.
Toni cited numerous examples of blockade runners’ adventures with details of cargo, draft, and
comedy of errors to give a personal touch to these men who ran the gauntlet.
Membership voting about meeting starting time: 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.
On Oct. 13, members voted whether to continue starting CWRNF meetings at
6 p.m. or to start at 6:30 p.m. With a show of hands, the majority of members voted
to start our programs at 6:30 p.m.—starting with the Jan. 12, 2017, meeting.
Book sales
Please donate your “gently used” history books, history DVDs,
historical maps, and/or magazines for re-sale at our monthly meetings.
Nineteenth century American history books, periodicals, and DVDs would be preferred. All
proceeds go toward outside speaker fees and room rental fees. Payment by cash or check.
Prices are not negotiable at these reduced rates. At the Oct. 13 meeting, the CWRNF made
$88 in book sales. Many thanks to members Bob Wooley and Jim Dahlman for donating more great
Civil War books.
Website: www.cwrnf.org
Please check the website periodically for updates on the CWRNF’s ongoing events,
past newsletters, upcoming speakers. We will continue emailing the monthly online Courier
newsletter as an attachment in PDF format.
The Courier November 2016 3
CWRNF newsletter: The Courier (in PDF format)
IF you did NOT receive the online Courier newsletter (sent as a PDF attachment to
your requested email address) at least one week before the next meeting, contact Diane
Fischler to email you the latest newsletter ([email protected]). But before
requesting another newsletter attachment, first please check your spam/junk folder in case the
email with attachment landed in that folder.
Membership dues
If you didn’t pay your renewal or new membership dues at the Sept. 8 or Oct. 13
meetings, please bring your check to the Nov. 10 meeting, and we will keep your name on our
CWRNF membership list. You can give a check to our treasurer, Terry Huston, or mail a
check to: Terry Huston, 13450 NE 100th
Street, Williston, FL 32696. Please make checks
payable to CWRNF. Dues go directly toward paying outside speaker fees and room rental fees.
“Like” the CWRNF page on Facebook
We have a Facebook page. Search “Civil War Roundtable of North Florida – Facebook.”
Many thanks to member John Walsh for his time and effort to update and maintain this page.
Our Facebook page receives about 400 to 500 views a year. Some of our posts have appeared on the
Civil War Trust’s Facebook page.
Upcoming Meetings
(second Thursday of each month—6 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church) (speakers and topics subject to change)
Nov. 10, 2016:
The former executive director of the National Civil War
Naval Museum (Columbus, Georgia), Bruce H. Smith, will speak
on Secret Naval Missions of the Civil War: Both Sides. Prior to
his tenure at the Naval Museum, he was the curator of the National
Museum of the Pacific War at the Admiral Nimitz Center
(Fredericksburg, Texas). He has been involved in numerous
consulting Civil War naval projects and professional presentations.
Above painting: David and Goliath by artist Paul Bender, which
illustrates a small Union Navy launch’s spar-torpedo attack, led by Lt. William Cushing, on the
Confederate ironclad Albemarle. The confrontation was on the night of Oct. 27-28, 1864, at
Plymouth, North Carolina.
Painting courtesy: www.bendermaritime.com
Dec. 8, 2016:
No CWRNF meeting. Civil War Roundtable Holiday Dinner at Napolatano’s.
The Courier November 2016 4
Jan. 12, 2017:
Member Bill Zettler, in his ongoing research on the role of Germans in the Federal
armies, will talk about Major Gen. Carl Schurz (1829-1906). Schurz was a German
revolutionary in 1848, U.S. Minister to Spain (1861-1862), Union general at
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chattanooga, U.S. senator (1869-1873), and Secretary of the
Interior (1877-1881) under Rutherford B. Hayes. Right photo: Gen. Carl Schurz.
Photo courtesy: civilwarfacialhair.wordpress.com
Feb. 9, 2017:
Member Bob Wooley will speak about the Skirmish at Station No. 4,
which occurred on the morning of Feb. 13, 1865, near Cedar Key. The skirmish
was between Union and Confederate soldiers in the fields on the mainland near one
of the station stops on the Florida Railroad. Left sketch: Battle of Station 4:
A sketch from Dickison and His Men: Reminiscences of the War in Florida
(1890) by Mary Elizabeth Dickison shows Confederate troops firing on the
Federals. In the background is Number 4 trestle.
Sketch courtesy: http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/stationfour.html
March 9, 2017:
Members Fred & Judy Donaldson will talk about the Red River
Campaign (March 10 to May 22, 1864), Bailey’s Dam episode, and the
recent attempt at raising Acting Rear Adm. David Dixon Porter’s
flagship USS Eastport (ironclad) sunk by a mine in the river above
Alexandria, Louisiana, on April 15, 1864. Right photo: USS Eastport.
Photo courtesy: http://photos.usni.org/content/10025478jpg
April 13, 2017:
Tracy Revels, a professor of history at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South
Carolina, will give a talk titled “Florida’s Civil War: Terrible Sacrifices,” based on her
2016 book. According to a press release, “Florida was ignored and unprotected by the
Confederacy. The home front was contested, especially in port cities, and many Floridians
became refugees. Raids and guerrilla activity inflicted misery on civilians.” Dr. Revels will
sell and autograph her book after the meeting.
May 11, 2017:
Guest speaker Dr. Warren Feldman, who authored the book Blood, Guns, and
Germs: A Novel of Civil War Medicine (2010), will speak on Civil War medicine.
Amazon describes the book as follows: “Blood, Guns, and Germs is the story of a
young idealistic medical student, who guides us through the real world of Civil War
Medicine. Through his eyes, we see and feel the blood, guts, and horror of 19th
Century medicine.”
The Courier November 2016 5
June 8, 2017:
Noah Gengler, a retired U.S. Navy officer and former vice president of the
Pensacola Civil War Round Table, will give a talk on Sibley’s New Mexico
Campaign: Blood and Treasure in the Southwest. He will address the dream of a
Confederate empire in the Southwest and how Gen. Henry H. Sibley recruited the
expedition basically on his own, with little help from Richmond. He will discuss the
battles at Val Verde (Feb. 20-21, 1862) and Glorieta Pass (March 26-28, 1862).
Left photo: CSA Gen. Henry H. Sibley (1816-1886)
July 13, 2017:
Author Philip Leigh will make a third appearance to speak on his latest book: The
Confederacy at Flood Tide: The Political and Military Ascension, June to December 1862 (2016). Leigh states that these seven months offered the Confederate States of America the
best opportunity to achieve independence—and why the CSA’s efforts failed. Phil first spoke
to our Roundtable in July 2015 on his book, Lee’s Lost Dispatch and Other Civil War
Controversies (2015), and in April 2016, he gave a talk on another one of his books, Trading
with the Enemy: The Covert Economy During the American Civil War (2014).
August 10, 2017: No CWRNF meeting
Sept. 14, 2017:
Boyd Murphree will give a presentation on The Other
Team: Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet. Lithograph shows the
CSA president and his cabinet shortly after the beginning of the Civil
War. Print courtesy: Library of Congress Prints & Photographs
Division. Note: Robert E. Lee (in the center) was an advisor, not a
cabinet member. This print was originally published in New York
shortly after the end of the war, but does not include any of the
replacement appointments made during the course of the war.
Left to right: Stephen Mallory, secretary of the navy;
Judah P. Benjamin, attorney general; Leroy Pope Walker, secretary of war; President Jefferson
Davis; Gen. Robert E. Lee; John Reagan, postmaster general; Christopher Memminger, secretary
of the treasury; Vice President Alexander Stephens; and Robert Toombs, secretary of state.
Oct. 12, 2017: TBA
Nov. 9, 2017:
Author Candice Shy Hooper will speak on her latest book, Lincoln’s Generals
Wives: Four Women Who Influenced the Civil War for Better and for Worse, published
in 2016. The book focuses on Jesse Fremont, Nelly McClellan, Ellen Sherman, and Julia
Grant. According to the book jacket, each of these women had been “their husband’s
closest confidantes and had a profound impact on their ambitions and actions. And these
women’s attitudes toward and relationship with Lincoln had major historical significance.
The Courier November 2016 6
Relying on a close reading of letters, memoirs, and other primary sources and for the first time, mapping
the women’s wartime travels, the author explores the very different ways in which these women
responded to the unique challenge of being Lincoln’s generals’ wives.” After the meeting, Candice will
sell her book for $30.
Dec. 14, 2017: No CWRNF meeting. Civil War Roundtable Holiday Dinner
* * * * * * * * * * *
Left photo: The 25th
annual Camp Grayling
Historic Long Range Artillery Competition this past
July in Michigan: Member Bob Wooley and his
team are firing a 12-pound solid ball with two
pounds of black powder in a CSA bronze Napoleon.
The team has taken the name of Reilly’s
Battery, 1st North Carolina Artillery, Battery D.
Bob Wooley portrays Capt. James Reilly. This
North Carolina battery served with Gen. John Bell
Hood at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863. The battery
consisted of six guns, two of them bronze 12-
pounder Napoleons. Photo by: Rita Lythgoe
* * * * * * * * * * *
Upcoming Local & Regional & State Civil War Events (events & dates subject to change; please confirm event before traveling)
Nov. 4-6, 2016:
Ocklawaha River Raid. This raid of March 7, 1865, consisted of about 30 Union troops from
Jacksonville who raided the Marshall Plantation in east Marion County, 11008 S. Hwy. 475 (Florida
Horse Park), Ocala, FL. Keith Kohl: [email protected] or (352) 454-6089
Nov. 5-6, Dec. 3-4, 2016:
First Weekend Union Garrison at Fort Clinch, 2601 Atlantic
Ave., Fernandina Beach, FL. www.floridastateparks.org/fortclinch
Right aerial photo: Fort Clinch at Fernandina Beach
Photo courtesy: http://www.florida-backroads-travel.com/fort-
clinch-state-park.html
The Courier November 2016 7
Nov. 9-13, 2016:
Living History Program Events at Fort Jefferson (including medicine of
the Civil War demonstrations) at Dry Tortugas National Park (on Garden Key)
to commemorate NPS Centennial, 70 miles west of Key West, FL (accessible
only by 2 ¼-hour NPS catamaran for $175; $165 over age 62).
www.nps.gov/drto; https://www.drytortugas.com/faqs
Left photo: Yankee Freedom III catamaran that transports passengers to Fort
Jefferson, leaving Key West at 8 a.m., and then back to Key West, arriving at
5:15 p.m. Photo courtesy: https://www.drytortugas.com/faqs
Nov. 12-13, 2016:
Raid on the Suwannee River, Heritage Park and Gardens, 1004 Helvenston St. SE, Live Oak,
FL. [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected];
https://www.facebook.com/HeritageParkAndGardens
Nov. 19-20, 2016:
Battle of Bowlegs Creek, 1639 Frostproof Hwy., Fort Meade, FL.
[email protected]; https://www.facebook.com/events/159403010885948
Dec. 10-11, 2016:
Civil War Encampment and Christmas Celebration, on grounds of Presidents Hall of Fame
Museum, 23 N. Hwy. 27, Clermont, FL. [email protected] or (352) 988-9760
Dec. 10-11, 2016:
Raid on Fort Pierce, Savannah Recreational Area, 1400 E. Midway Rd., Fort Pierce, FL. http://www.facebook.com/FTPierceRaid
Jan. 21-22, 2017:
Brooksville Raid (July 1, 1864), 11210 Cortez Blvd., Brooksville, FL (Sand Hill Boy Scout
Camp on US Hwy. 50—10 miles west of Brooksville). http://www.brooksvilleraidreenactment.com
Feb. 4-5, 2017:
Battle of Townsend’s Plantation (fictional battle), 20651 US Hwy. 441, Mt. Dora, FL
(Renninger’s Flea Market) http://www.townsendfirm.com/plantation.htm
Feb. 4-5, 2017:
Battle at Fort Taylor, 601 Howard England Way, Key West, FL (at Fort Taylor State Park).
http://www.https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fort-Zachary-Taylor-Historic-State-
Park/110194162344049
Feb. 18-19, 2017:
Battle of Olustee (Feb. 20, 1864), 5890
Battlefield Trail Rd., Olustee, FL (Olustee
Battlefield State Historic Site).
http://battleofolustee.org or
https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Olustee-Battlefield
Photo courtesy: https://battleofolustee.org/reenactment.html Photo by: Victoria Dorsey
The Courier November 2016 8
Rifles, Rails & History in Tavares, Florida
Photos by Diane Fischler on Sept. 25, 2016
Above photo: The Florida Confederate Memorial Wall is a traveling 10-panel wall for soldiers,
sailors, marines, physicians, and chaplains serving with Florida’s Confederate units, who died in
combat or as a result of wounds, diseases, illnesses, or accidents. Floridians from other Confederate
forces are also listed on these panels (http://www.tfcmw.org/). The paintings on each section are by
noted Civil War artist John Paul Strain (http://www.johnpaulstrain.com/biography.htm).
The Courier November 2016 9
Rifles, Rails & History Exhibits
Below left: Replica of Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, the first combat sub to sink an enemy
ship. This half-scale model is owned by the Sons of Confederate Veterans Kirby-Smith Camp.
Below middle: The Hunley’s bow-mounted 17-foot-long spar torpedo was designed to 1) ram a
wooden ship, 2) detach the black powder torpedo, 3) back away, and 4) detonate the mine. In
Charleston Harbor, on Feb. 17, 1864, the Hunley successfully sank USS Housatonic, but the
submarine never resurfaced. The Hunley was found on May 5, 1995, and raised on Aug. 8, 2000, as
thousands watched the sub surface once again—136 years later.
Below right: Replica of a Confederate observation balloon. The original balloon, with a cotton
envelope coated with varnish, was operated by Capt. John R. “Balloon” Bryan, who first flew it
over the Union lines on April 13, 1862, during the early part of the Peninsula Campaign. Lower
right corner of photo: Confederate torpedo, now called “naval mines.” They were defensive
weapons to keep Union gunboats and ships from moving freely on the rivers in the South.
Below left: “Sawbones” (slang for a Civil War surgeon using a bone saw to saw through and sever
bones) inspects his bloodied surgical instruments. He is surrounded by ever-present flies and gnats.
Below middle: Civil War surgeon’s bone saw. Photo courtesy: http://medicalantiques.com
Below right: Outside the medical tent—the inevitable pile of amputated limbs. Amputation was the
most common form of Civil War surgery—on both sides of the war. Approximately 60,000
surgeries were amputations—equating to 75% of all operations performed during the war
(https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/lifeandlimb/maimedmen.html).
The Courier November 2016 10
Al Stone as Gen. Robert E. Lee at Rifles, Rails & History
Al Stone portrays Gen. Robert E. Lee. According to the back cover of his book, GeneraLee
Speaking: My Life as a Living Historian, “Al Stone is the pre-eminent Living Historian who portrays
General Robert E. Lee for Civil War events, movies, documentaries and programs. Stone has for years
been the ‘Lee of choice’ for many Civil War events, as well as for the Lee family.” The Nov.
2016 issue of Civil War News features an article (p. 21) by Al Stone. The article is entitled
“The Role of Reenactors & Living History” in which he states: “Recognizing ‘who’ and
‘what’ reenactors and living historians are, the charge at hand is to continue, unabated, the
task of keeping our history alive.”
At Rifles, Rails & History, Al Stone spoke about Lee’s decision to side with the CSA.
In 2015, he made a 60-min. DVD entitled “The Dilemma of General Robert E. Lee: Contest
for the Constitution.” The DVD is available from: https://confederateshop.com/shop/dvd-
the-dilemma-of-general-robert-e-lee-contest-for-the-constitution/ Al Stone’s website is: www.generalrelee.com
GeneraLee Speaking: My Life as a Living Historian (2016) by Allan K. Stone and
David C. Trimble, with Foreword by Mrs. Custis Glover—the great-great-
granddaughter of Robert E. Lee. 248 pages, $20 paperback. Available from
Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/GeneraLee-Speaking-life-Living-
Historian/dp/1535329947/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474652987&sr=8-
1&keywords=generaLEE+speaking+by+al+stone
