General News

It would appear, based on the following e-mail, that the reports of the death of North & South magazine are premature:

Wasn’t there some street fighting in Baton Rouge? THis is Keith (editor) I’ve just got back from China, where among other things I’ve been laying the )production) groundwork for a return of MILITARY CHRONICLES later this year. Email was very intermittent while I was there, so i have a huge backlog to deal with. I understand that some rumor has been circulating that North & South might be going under. Suffice to say the word of our demise has been greatly exaggerated. Next isue goes to the printer in 7-10 days. The economic climate is creating some difficulties, and may mean some slippage in schedule and/or the occasional issue reduced to 84 pages (I’m trying to avoid this). But the magazine is not going to disappear. (The problem is that advertisers have had their budgets slashed, and this will remain a problem for the next 6 months). Anyone who is waiting for an email response from me, please bear with me. Will get back to you asap.
Keith

I guess that’s a good thing, if the quality issues are resolved and a new cartographer has been located. At least my investment remains afloat for another issue. Beyond that, who knows?

I believe that the task of running this business is probably more than Mr. Poulter can capably handle. I think that his renewed attempts to start a second publication are a very bad idea, as I think it more important–not to mention his legal and fiduciary duty to the shareholders–to fix the problems with North & South before trying to launch Military Chronicles. That includes not diverting a single resource of N & S for use with the new publication, as doing so would breach that duty.

The lawyer in me seems to think that putting the interests of Military Chronicles ahead of those of North & South constitutes a misappropriation of corporate opportunity for his own use and benefit, and an actionable breach of fiduciary duty, and were I still counsel to the company, that’s what I would advise him.

However, I’m just the dumb lawyer who’s on the outs. What do I know?

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My experiences in law firm partnerships have not been good. Prior to my going back out on my own at the end of March 2007, I was involved in three different partnerships, and each was a really bad experience for its own set of reasons. The last one was an economic disaster, and, as I announced here on April 4, 2007, I had to do something different. I spent some time (about six months) trying to figure out what to do with myself, including possibly going back to school to obtain an MBA. In all, I spent 18 months as a sole practitioner, at first trying to figure out what to do. Then, once I figured out that I was going to stay in the practice of law, I then spent about a year looking for the right way to do it, as I had no desire to remain a sole practitioner for a lot of reasons, not the least of which was the lack of resources.

This past summer, I made arrangements to relocate to the firm of another attorney whom I have known for years and for whom I’d always had a great deal of respect. Our discussions began last summer after I referred one of my clients to him. I moved into his building on November 1, with the idea being that I would continue to run my practice separate of his until we decided whether we should merge our practices and create a law firm. No matter what, we figured we would make that decision by April, as both of our malpractice insurance comes up for renewal in April.

Because of a couple of major cases that came in, we had to work together a great deal very quickly, and things clicked. In fact, the relationship has worked well enough already that we are in the process of merging our practices now. For now, the firm will continue to be called what it’s always been, which is Ricketts Co, L.P.A. However, I am considered to be a principal in the firm, and the plan is to change the name later this year, when my name will go on the door. There are three of us, and we will all be partners in the venture. It has already been a very good thing for me, as I now have full resources available to me and lots of additional work to supplement my own practice. In addition to taking care of the needs of my own clients, I am going to be responsible for managing the firm’s litigation practice. It’s a very good fit with my skill set.

In short, I believe that I have finally found the arrangement that I’ve been looking for for more than ten years, and it’s nice to be somewhere where I am both wanted and respected.

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Thanks to reader Todd Berkoff (again) for passing this along.

The moron re-enactor who shot the 73-year old Union re-enactor at an event last year has been indicted, proving that idiocy can, indeed, be a crime. From Saturday’s edition of The New York Times:

Re-enactor Is Indicted in Shooting of a Yankee

By RALPH BLUMENTHAL
Published: January 17, 2009
The mysterious shooting of a would-be Yankee cavalryman from the Bronx during the filming of a Civil War re-enactment in Virginia in September has been solved, according to the authorities, with the indictment of a latter-day Johnny Reb who, they say, accidentally fired a .44-caliber ball from an 1860 Army Colt pistol that was supposed to be empty.

The shot wounded Thomas Lord, a 73-year-old former New York City police officer from Suffolk, Va., and a bluecoat with the Seventh New York Volunteer Cavalry. The group’s roots include a pitched battle against Confederates in the trenches near Suffolk in 1864.

Mr. Lord said of the shot, “It missed the main artery by centimeters, in which case I could have bled out.” He faulted the Isle of Wight County’s sheriff’s office for what he called blunders in the investigation.

The suspect, Josh O. Silva, 29, of Norfolk, Va., was armed and in costume as an unofficial walk-on in the re-enactment. He was identified with the help of movie footage that captured the gunfire and narrowed the possible suspects but did not pinpoint the gunman, said C. W. Phelps, the county sheriff.

Mr. Silva was indicted on Monday on the charge of “reckless handling of a firearm,” said Wayne Farmer, the county attorney. The charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

“No one is alleging ill will or that anyone acted intentionally,” said Mr. Farmer, speaking from his home on Friday because Virginia offices were closed for Lee-Jackson Day, marking the birthdays this month of the Confederate heroes Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and now celebrated on the Friday before Martin Luther King’s Birthday.

“If I had any idea that Mr. Silva had fired intentionally at another person, it would be a much more serious charge,” Mr. Farmer said.

Asked why Mr. Silva had not turned himself in after the shooting, Sheriff Phelps said: “He wasn’t sure he did it. He didn’t know he’d shot anyone.” He attributed delays in the investigation to recent turnovers in the county attorney’s office.

Mr. Farmer said that Mr. Silva was not a member of an organized re-enactment group but showed up in Confederate grays and joined the event, evidently unaware of rules strictly forbidding loaded weapons. He said Mr. Silva did not appear to have a criminal record and was expected to surrender on Tuesday.

Mr. Silva would not open the door to his home in Norfolk’s Willoughby Spit neighborhood on Friday, and said only, “We don’t want any.”

The shooting occurred shortly after noon on Sept. 27, 2008, as a movie crew from a company called Alderworks was filming the re-enactment of a trench battle in Heritage Park in Suffolk for a documentary.

Mr. Silva drew attention by brandishing a large unsheathed Bowie knife, Mr. Lord said. Union cavalry troops had just taken the earthworks from a group of rebel fighters when, Mr. Lord recalled, “I was hit in the right shoulder with a sharp blow — it felt like someone had hit me with a baseball bat.”

The lead ball, a reproduction fired from an authentic period pistol, punctured his scapula and ended up sticking out from the front of his shoulder. The angle of the shot, Mr. Lord said, suggested it came from someone below in the enemy ditch.

He said the area was not immediately secured as a crime scene, allowing suspects and witnesses to leave. Investigators spent weeks searching for a hunter who was presumed to have fired the shot, Mr. Lord said. He added that the authorities obtained the projectile only because he preserved it in a vial and turned it over.

Still, Mr. Lord said he was looking forward to his unit’s next re-enactment, in March at Endview Plantation in Newport News, Va., marking the Battle of Williamsburg. “I’ll be there,” he said.

Lisa A. Bacon contributed reporting from Virginia.

As Bugs Bunny would say, “what a maroon.” I certainly hope this idiot does some time.

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Thanks to reader Charlie Knight for passing this along….

The Augusta, Georgia Museum of History was recently robbed of Civil War-era items. None had a great deal of monetary value, but all are probably irreplaceable. A newspaper article from Charlie’s e-mail:

Published: January 13, 2009

(AUGUSTA) – The Augusta’s Story Room at the museum is missing some pieces of history and the theft was a brazen one.

Richmond County Investigator Alton Creech says Saturday, or Sunday, someone waited until no one was looking and smashed the display case that used to be here and took the items. No one may have seen the theft, but cameras were rolling.

Inv. Alton Creech: “There was video of the incident we’re trying to locate the exact video of the incident itself. There were also fingerprints found at the scene.”

This is a list of some of the stolen civil war ear items:

Georgia $500 note Civil War Era valued at $40.

A Confederate States of America $20 note valued at $32

The Bank of South Carolina currency for $.10 valued at $12

Seated Liberty half dollar valued at $120

City Council of Augusta $.25 note number 955 Civil War era vauled at $12

Augusta $1 bill Civil War era valued at $25

Pair of earrings made of hair valued at $150

Hair jewelry brooch valued at $250

Ring link chain made of meat bones (brown) with approx. 25 links valued at $250.

Inv. Creech: “They were not the most expensive items that they had. They don’t want any type of loss, in any way. It definitely could have been worse.”

This is another instance where I think that waterboarding and an all-expenses-paid vacation to Gitmo would be wholly appropriate for the perpetrators. Let’s hope that they get caught quickly.

In the interim, if anyone tries sell or donate any of these items, please report it to your local police.

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Antietam ranger John Hoptak has a fascinating post on his blog today suggesting that after the Battle of Antietam, George B. McClellan sent a note to Robert E. Lee suggesting that they declare an armistice and then march their combined armies into Washington, D. C. I’m not entirely sure that such a letter was ever sent-there is certainly no evidence of such a letter in the Official Records, but it certainly makes for a tantalizing and fascinating prospect. Read the post and see what you think.

I wonder what you Antietam and George B. McClellan students think of this…..

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Downtown Cleveland features one of the most beautiful and impressive Civil War memorials anywhere in the country. The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial sits in the heart of downtown Cleveland, and it’s nothing short of spectacular. No visit to Cleveland is complete without at least driving by it and admiring it. It’s a can’t miss.

From today’s issue of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Civil War museum in Soldiers and Sailors Monument may find permanent home in former BP Tower

Relics housed on Public Square

Monday, December 01, 2008

Grant Segall
Plain Dealer Reporter

For 104 years, Cleveland’s beloved Soldiers and Sailors Monument has doubled as a crammed Civil War museum.

The Public Square fixture closed in June for interior renovations, but its leaders opened a slightly less crammed museum recently at 200 Public Square, the former BP Tower, and put many relics on display for the first time in memory.

They hope to reopen the monument next fall. But they’re thinking about keeping the museum, known as the Showcase, open indefinitely at 200 Public Square, if building management permits. Building management could not be reached for comment.

The newly displayed memorabilia includes:

A whiskey canteen found, appropriately, at Brandy Station, Va.

A pair of sharpshooters’ glasses with the left lens reversed, which forced the shooter to focus with just his right eye.

A soldier’s chessmen.

A remnant of a shrapnel shell.

A sword originally wielded by a sculpted soldier outside the monument.

The sword was replaced early on by a sheathed sword at the soldier’s side. Neil Evans, president of the monument trustees, speculates that the change might have happened because the original was unstable, swaying and clanging in the wind.

The Showcase also displays eight historic busts at eye level that perched too high inside the monument for a good view.

The busts honor local figures such as Capt. William Smith, who died of war wounds 22 years later.

The monument, owned by Cuyahoga County, contains a wealth of wartime symbols and figures, historic and fictional, military and civilian, black and white, male and female, North and South, human and animal. On top, a statue of Lady Liberty rises 125 feet above Public Square.

The monument is undergoing several years’ worth of interior and exterior renovations, estimated to cost $1.7 million in county, state and private money. A newly hired executive director and a curator will work on the project.

Among many other tasks, workers plan to remove the stained-glass windows today for renovations expected to take four months. They also plan to add a stronger protective layer of clear glass.

“We’ve had rocks thrown through the windows,” Evans said.

Workers already have fixed the sandstone roof and scrubbed the outer walls. They plan to install air conditioning, add gallery lighting and replace the steam radiators with hot-water ones.

The steam seems to be bowing interior tablets that bear the names of more than 9,000 Union soldiers from Cuyahoga County. Some famous surnames, including Rockefeller and Hanna, stand beside unknowns.

A specialist will repair, clean, restain and repaint the interior’s wealth of marble, restoring its once brilliant colors.

“It’s going to be gorgeous,” Evans said.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

gsegall@plaind.com, 216-999-4187

This is a real win-win scenario. That the monument is getting a facelift is wonderful. That the artifacts it houses will be on display and available to the public is even better still. I’m looking forward to visiting the artifacts on my next trip to Cleveland.

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Once again, a hat tip to reader Todd Berkoff for bringing this nifty tidbit to my attention.

Most of you are familiar with the story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, a regiment of black men led by Boston Brahmin Robert Gould Shaw, which made the heroic but unsuccessful assault at Battery Wagner in Charleston harbor on July 18, 1863. The regiment included one of Frederick Douglass’s sons, as well as other prominent Boston freedmen. Their story was immortalized in the excellent 1989 film Glory, which netted Oscars for Denzel Washington (Best Supporting Actor) and two others.

The Massachusetts National Guard has announced that it is re-activating the 54th Massachusetts and making it an active unit once more. On November 21, 2008, a ceremony will be held in which the 54th Massachusetts will be restored to active service. Originally an infantry unit, the 54th will become the Massachusetts National Guard Ceremonial Unit (aka Honor Guard). The original flags of the 54th will be brought out for the reinstatement ceremony.

I can think of no better tribute to the men of the original 54th Massachusetts than reinstating their unit to active duty all these years later. Hopefully, the members of the new 54th Massachusetts will lave a mark on history as favorable as their famous forebears.

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In the category of people who are galactically stupid is the moron who fully loaded his weapon at a recent reenactment and shot some poor bastard. Of course, the moron has failed and refused to step forward and accept the consequences for being galactically stupid:

Civil War re-enactor’s injury shakes die-hards

By STEVE SZKOTAK, Associated Press Writer – Sat Oct 25, 10:56 am ET

RICHMOND, Va. – In the passionate world of Civil War re-enactors, authenticity is everything — from uniforms with historically correct stitching to hardtack made from scratch.

A battle re-enactment last month pushed realism to the limits: a retired New York City police officer portraying a Union soldier for a documentary film was shot in the shoulder, possibly by a Confederate re-enactor.

The shooting sent the 73-year-old to the hospital and left the Isle of Wight Sheriff’s Office in rural southeastern Virginia with a Civil War-style CSI case. Investigators used film to piece together what happened and have narrowed a suspect to one re-enactor.

The Sept. 27 injury also sent ripples through the tight-knit re-enactment community, which can be understandably sensitive to public perceptions of thousands of enthusiasts toting swords and firearms in roughhewn uniforms, often on horseback.

“We were sort of freaked out because this hits the hobby hard,” said Ed Hooper, editor of Camp Chase Gazette, a monthly magazine aimed at re-enactors. “It is so out of the norm.”

The shooting of Thomas R. Lord Sr. in a Suffolk park violated the cardinal rule of re-enacting — no loaded weapons. Black powder brings the flash and bang to the pageantry, but even that primitive explosive is used gingerly.

Re-enactors said Lord’s shooting may have happened in part because walk-ons were used. These are re-enactors who typically are not affiliated with a unit and unfamiliar with the chain of command or safety rules, akin to a football player showing up on game day to play for a team the athlete has never met.

Lord’s shooter was among several Confederate re-enactors who showed up at the filming, said John C. Jobe, a member of Lord’s unit who witnessed the shooting.

Re-enactors who have worked in filmed battles said the camera itself might have been a factor, saying filmmakers sometimes put realism over safety and ignore the hobby’s strict rules of engagement. The re-enactors who were there when Lord was hurt said they weren’t sure whether the film crew checked for loaded weapons before the battle commenced.

Sheriff C.W. “Charlie” Phelps said he didn’t have evidence that the filmmakers were negligent.
“I can’t say that anybody dropped the ball,” he said.

Lord was shot in the shoulder while portraying a member of the 7th New York Cavalry. The unit answered an Internet casting call from a film company called Alderwerks.

Officials with the Virginia Film Office were not familiar with the company or the director, listed on the casting call as Matthew Burchfield, who was credited as a casting assistant on director Terrence Malick’s 2006 film “The New World,” starring Colin Farrell and Christian Bale.

In an e-mail to The Associated Press, Burchfield declined to discuss specifics of the filming because of the investigation.

“We are thankful for Mr. Lord’s recovery and continue to keep him in our thoughts,” Burchfield wrote. “We have been in full co-operation with the investigators on this case and await their findings.”

Re-enactors’ attention to detail was on display again this month at Cedar Creek Battlefield in northern Virginia, when thousands participated without any serious injuries, according to Jake Jennette, who commanded the Confederate forces that weekend.

With the cadence of a retired Marine Corps infantry officer, Jennette ran through a laundry list of inspections his troops must undergo, from weapons inspections to repeated drills.

“When we go on the field we are satisfied that the weapon is cleared,” Jennette said. “We’ve trained these guys. We start them out as a private in the ranks.”

Walk-ons would not be allowed to fight under Jennette’s command.

“We don’t let strangers fight,” he said. “We fight together, we trust each other.”

Rookies typically will have faces smudged with powder to signal a new arrival — known as “seeing the elephant,” he said. Bayonets are removed, and weapons are aimed upward during a charge.
According to witnesses, Lord was raising his arm in victory when a musket ball ripped into him. “I felt like I got hit in the shoulder with a baseball bat,” Lord told The Daily Press of Newport News. He declined interviews with The Associated Press, citing the investigation.

The hobby has come a long way from its ragtag origins to the near-fanatical authenticity modern purists demand.

The National Park Service allowed 2,500 re-enactors to stage a battle in 1961 on Manassas National Battlefield Park, in what some view as the birth of Civil War re-enacting. A horse-drawn caisson bolted and had to be chased down and someone was knocked down by a cannon blast. The park service no longer allows battlefield re-enactments.

Hooper, the editor of the re-enactor magazine, believes the hobby has been surprisingly injury-free despite the frenetic battle scenes.

The most serious incident he could recall was a shooting 20 years ago at the re-enactment of the Battle of Gettysburg. A Charlottesville man was wounded when he was accidentally shot by a re-enactor from France, according to news accounts.

Phelps said the shooter could face a misdemeanor charge of reckless handling of a firearm up to a felony, malicious wounding.

For his part, Hooper said the shooting will only amplify safety.

“This will make people, especially the commanders, take a good look at the men in his unit,” he said.

Now, I’m not a reenactor and never have been. Candidly, it’s something I have never really understood. However, I recognize its popularity, and I also recognize the need for safety when it takes place. It has to be about trust, or else nobody would put themselves in harm’s way voluntarily.

This moron violated that trust and desperately needs to be prosecuted. He needs to spend some time in prison. There is simply no excuse for what he did. None.

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Hat tip to reader Todd Berkoff for bringing this to my attention.

The State of Delaware’s second-most famous Civil War general, Maj. Gen. Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert, has been honored with a monument by his hometown, Milford, Delaware. The photo comes from the Milford Beacon newspaper:

By David LaRoss
Milford Beacon
Fri Jul 04, 2008, 08:06 PM EDT

Milford, Del. –
Milford’s general finally has his statue.

On Sunday, June 29, the Milford Museum unveiled its monument to Gen. Alfred Torbert, a 7-foot bronze statue that now stands less than a mile down Walnut Street from where the Civil War general lived 130 years ago.

“This should have been done a long time ago,” said Marvin Schelhouse, chairman of the committee that designed, raised funds for and installed the statue.

The statue will present an opportunity for Milfordians to learn about “a local, historical figure of extraordinary talents,” Milford Mayor Dan Marabello said at the dedication ceremony.

For Schelhouse, the statue is the culmination of more than 40 years of research and dedication to Torbert’s life and achievements.

“I’ve been building toward this since 1964,” he said.

The former Marine has been a Civil War buff since before he enlisted, and he spent much of his time in the Marine Corps base at Quantico, Va., studying Torbert. And as it turns out, he contributed more than enthusiasm to the project.

Two months ago, when the statue arrived, it was almost perfect, except for the sword in its hand, which was almost a foot too long. The museum had a replacement ready well before the unveiling, but actually swapping out one sword for the other required a bit of brute force, and two of the hooks that held the sword onto the statue’s belt snapped off in the process.

That’s not an easy thing to replace, but Schelhouse found the perfect replacement in a surprising place – his own closet. The statue is now wearing two hooks from his own replica Civil War belt.

“It was an exact match,” he said. “Now it’s wearing something of mine.”

The push to build a statue began in January 2007, and was a community effort from the beginning. The cost to commission the work was supported largely by donations from individuals and private companies.

“We took in $75,000 in private donations,” said committee member David Kenton. “And when we hit a hurdle, we needed $10,000 and the city of Milford came through.”

Milford School District Superintendent Bob Smith and his assistant, Peggy Short, took over 100 reference photographs for the sculptor to use – a good thing, since they ended up giving the job to a sculptor in Beijing, China, who would have had to fly 8,000 miles to see the models first-hand.

Schelhouse said that price was the biggest factor in commissioning the job outside the United States.

“Museums are poor. We scrape money where we can,” he said.

Ze Feng Tao, the artist and owner of the local Portrait For You art studio, volunteered to be the project’s liaison to China, making contact with the artist and reporting progress back to Milford.

“I figured the liaison would have to be in China for as much as a month. Tao was there for four months,” Schelhouse said.

Torbert was born in Georgetown as the youngest of seven children, and entered the United States Military Academy in West Point after high school, he received a second lieutenant’s commission after graduation. In 1861, he turned down commission to serve in the Confederate Army, opting to stay loyal to the Union.

He commanded both infantry and cavalry in the Civil War, first as colonel of the 1st New Jersey Infantry – part of the Army of the Potomac, the largest Union force in the eastern front – and then as commander of the 1st Division of the Army of the Potomac’s Cavalry Corps. He fought in the campaign surrounding the Battle of Gettysburg, and in 1865 briefly commanded the entire Army of the Shenandoah.

“He’s a genuine hero,” Schelhouse said.

After the war, Torbert took on a series of diplomatic posts in Cuba, France and El Salvador before settling down in Milford. He died in 1880 in the sinking of the S.S. Vera Cruz, and is buried in the Methodist Episcopal Cemetery in Milford. “It’s easy to pick out which grave is General Torbert’s – it’s the biggest monument in the cemetery,” said Rev. Earle Baker, who gave an invocation and benediction at the ceremony.

Torbert, of course, had the dubious honor of being one of three generals fired by Phil Sheridan during the last year of the Civil War. He was a decent soldier who was out of his element commanding cavalry and then was punished for it by Sheridan.

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I’m 47 years old, and a lifelong Philadelphia sports fanatic. It’s been 25 years since a Philly pro team won a world championship. In my lifetime, there have only been 5 of them (2 by the Flyers in 1974 and 1975, 2 by the 76’ers in 1967 and 1983, and the Phillies in 1980). Consequently, a true Philly sports fan is defined by pain and suffering and heartbreak. We know suffering, and we know heartbreak. “There’s always next year” is the constant refrain. In 1973, the 76’ers went 9-73 for the season, the worst record for a professional team ever. The Phillies are best known as the only team in the history of professional sports to roll up 10,000 losses, a dubious record of futility at best. The other defining moment in Phillies history is the epic collapse of 1964, when they had a 6.5 game lead with 12 to play, lost 10 in a row, and finished third. That’s also not a happy memory.

With such a history of heartache, it’s often hard to get excited about it when teams do have good seasons. A few years ago, when the Eagles went to the Super Bowl, I was very blase about it, because I knew they weren’t going to win. It’s hard not to be terribly cynical about it when you’ve been disappointed so many times.

At the same time, few memories of my youth are more vivid than watching Tug McGraw strike out Willie Wilson to end the 1980 World Series and the joyous chaos that erupted as the Phightin’ Phils won the only championship in franchise history. I was 19 years old, and I always thought that there would be more such moments. I was wrong.

Last night, for only the sixth time in the 125 year history of the Philadelphia Phillies, they won the National League pennant and are headed to the World Series! Completing an utter domination of a scrappy Los Angeles Dodgers team, the Phillies won 5-1 behind the dominant pitching of Cole Hamels, Ryan Madsen, and Brad Lidge and slammed the door on the rest of the National League.

Somewhere, the late, great Tug McGraw’s Irish eyes are twinkling this morning, he’s patting his heart as he always did after a narrow escape, and he’s saying “YA GOTTA BELIEVE!”

This time, I do.

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