This video was played at the hearing before the Pennsylvania Gaming Commission today. No one who was involved in its production was paid. It’s 9:13 long, but those are nine magnificent minutes, and I commend this video to you: Our Gettysburg Legacy

I was asked to testify at the hearing. If I had been able to put together a panel, I would have rushed to do so. In spite of our differences in interpretation, Andrea Custer is as dedicated to the South Cavalry Field as I am, and she is also opposed to the project. Unfortunately, she had a professional obligation out of town. J. D. Petruzzi was scheduled to have hand surgery today. I couldn’t put together a panel, which would have given us 30 minutes to present our opposition due to scheduling conflicts, I would have been limited to three minutes of testimony. I could not justify twelve hours of driving for three minutes of testimony, so I didn’t go. I couldn’t possibly have added anything to this video. It says all that there is to say.

Please continue to do what you can to help fight this abomination. And thank you for your support.

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With thanks to regular reader Barry Dussel for bringing this horrifying news to my attention….

Once upon a time, the Gettysburg Battlefield Protection Association really stood for battlefield preservation. It fought long and hard against the loss of the railroad cut on the first day’s battlefield–I even offered my professional services to help in that fight as a young lawyer–and it saved the Daniel Lady Farm, which although little fighting took place there, was an important spot linking the Benner’s Hill area to the Culp’s Hill sector of the battlefield. The organization did great work then.

That, however, was then. This is now. And now, the GBPA has sold its soul to the devil by coming out in favor of the casino proposal. Here’s the horrifying press release:

Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association Endorses Mason-Dixon Resort Project

Gettysburg – The Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association (GBPA) today announced its support of the proposed Mason-Dixon Resort project.

The GBPA is the oldest Civil War preservation group in the nation. Since its inception 50 years ago, the land the GBPA has secured over the years now constitutes one-third of the present day Gettysburg National Military Park, a park visited by nearly two million visitors a year.

Brendan Synnamon, GBPA president, said the group’s board of directors initially determined to take no position on the project last January but, after months of learning project details, voted to support it.

“The Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association would not support a commercial project that would use or impinge upon the battlefield. This has been a longstanding Association policy and this has not changed,” Synnamon said.

“In this case, the Eisenhower Conference Center, located well south of the Battlefield and which would be converted into the Mason-Dixon Resort, already exists as a commercial facility and the resort would not go beyond its already existing boundaries. This is a far different circumstance than taking open, undeveloped space near the battlefield and building all new structures. The existing Eisenhower Conference Center has never interfered with nor detracted from the Gettysburg Battlefield and its reuse as the Mason-Dixon Resort likewise will not interfere nor detract from the Gettysburg Battlefield,” Synnamon stated.

“Our primary mission and focus are on preservation,” asserted Synnamon. “We find, after very thorough review, that the proposed Mason-Dixon Resort project does not represent a preservation issue. The property site under discussion played no significant role in the three-day engagement.”

“The Board of Directors of the GBPA regard the proposed project as a local issue. The board is aware that the economy of the Gettysburg area and Adams County is hurting. We need jobs. We need more private investment. We could use additional visitation. The Mason-Dixon Resort offers all these things and would do so without one square inch of battlefield or nearby undeveloped open space being developed,” Synnamon said.

He added: “A stronger local economy is helpful to the cause of preservation. Preservation does not exist in a vacuum. Our local preservation work cannot thrive absent a local economy that helps induce and support it.”

“What is more, the proposed project is not on the scale and scope of what exists at large casinos. The Mason-Dixon Resort would have no more than 600 slot machines and 50 table games, which is considerably smaller than attractions at the large casinos.”

Synnamon said “It is the GBPA board’s belief that the Resort will draw more people to visit the Gettysburg area and encourage them to stay longer because there will be more to see and do here, not only with the resort but with the non-gaming components of the resort and the surrounding region from Biglerville south to the Mason-Dixon Line, and from Cashtown east to Wrightsville.

“In addition to the direct positive impact on jobs, the added visitors and visitor hours the resort will encourage will also bring in new tax and other revenues to the local communities and county.”

On the question of whether the proposed project would affect heritage tourism, the GBPA Board strongly believes the Gettysburg Battlefield has a unique position among all Civil War-related sites. It is considered the place where the tide of the war changed. It is considered the most significant battle of the War, and led to President Lincoln’s defining the Union cause in honoring the dead at Gettysburg.

“Our heritage-based tourism exists because of this and this does not change,” added Synnamon. “The battlefield, this hallowed ground, will always be here, and so should economically sound communities around it .” Synnamon stated.

This statement from casino opponents sums it all up: “This is the second time that the GBPA’s stance contrasts with the stance of every national and statewide battlefield preservation organization,” said No Casino head Susan Star Paddock. “Their statement contrasts with world-renown historians and they are the smallest preservation group by far.”

She quite correctly added, “I don’t understand what the GBPA is hoping to accomplish by courting favors for casino investors.” Precisely. It’s called selling one’s soul to the Devil.

Let’s examine the hypocrisy of that, shall we?

The Lady Farm, which saw little fighting, and is more than a mile from Culp’s Hill is worthy of saving, but actual battlefield land half a mile south of the park boundary isn’t? Say what?

I can’t help but wonder whose palm got greased here, what unholy deal was cut by the board of the GBPA to sell its soul to the devil.

I can tell you this, though: I will NEVER support the organization again, and bringing it down is now one of my prime motivations. What’s more, I vigorously encourage every one of my readers to let these Judases know precisely what you think of their sell-out. Withdraw your support. Turn off the funding spigot, and instead send those funds to a REAL battlefield preservation organization, the CWPT.

LET THESE SELL-OUTS KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE AND THAT YOU WILL NOT SUPPORT THEIR SELLING THEIR SOULS TO THE DEVIL. MAKE YOUR THOUGHTS KNOWN. WITHDRAW YOUR SUPPORT, AND TURN OFF THE FUNDING SPIGOT. LET THE GBPA KNOW THAT IT HAS DEFAULTED UPON ITS PROMISE TO PRESERVE AND PROTECT THE BATTLEFIELD AT GETTYSBURG AND THAT YOU WILL NOT STAND FOR IT!!!!

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I’ve got a couple of events coming up in the next few weeks, and I thought I would post some details in case anyone is interested in checking them out.

Next Wednesday, August 18, I will be speaking to the Civil War Forum of Metropolitan New York, which meets at the Roger Smith Hotel, located at Lexington Avenue and 47th Street. The cost is $35.00 for members and $45.00 for guests. An RSVP is required. Details may be found on the Forum’s web site. I will speaking on Jeb Stuart’s controversial ride to Gettysburg.

On Tuesday, September 14, I will be giving the same talk to the First Defenders Civil War Roundtable, which is located in my hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania. The meeting will be held at Golden Oaks Golf Club in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania. The meeting begins at 6:30, and reservations are required.

I hope to see some of you there.

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With my deep gratitude to regular reader Christ Liebegott, who brought this to my attention in a comment to yesterday’s post, I give you some more compelling arguments as to why a Gettysburg casino is a really bad idea. To be honest, there are plenty of online casino sites offering great deals, plus this Mecca Bingo Promo Code brings rewards by signing up for an account then you’ll get £ 50 to play, so you don’t have to spend money from your pocket in your first few rounds….

From the August 7 edition of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper:

Rivers Casino short of revenue projections

By Rick Stouffer
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, August 7, 2010

One year after its grand opening, Rivers Casino is performing woefully short of its own revenue projections and estimates by the state Gaming Control Board, and industry watchers and rating agencies are concerned. In addition, as you can see at https://www.barbadosbingo.com not all casinos are better at their first year, as you read more, you’ll understand why.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, which follows the casino’s fortunes for investors in the parent company’s debt, downgraded the North Shore casino’s debt ratings three times in the past year.

“They spent about $800 million on the property, one of the most expensive in the state, but the most recent figures show its revenues are fifth or sixth (out of nine) casinos in the state,” said Michael Listner, an S&P analyst who follows Rivers Casino’s parent, Holdings Gaming Borrower LP. “It’s pretty mediocre results.”

Elected officials say they are pleased with the performance of Pennsylvania’s casino industry as a whole after nearly four years of legal slots and billions of dollars in tax revenue. But analysts don’t like what they see in Pittsburgh.

“As of Aug. 1, the Rivers’ revenue since opening was about $217 million,” said Frank Gamrat, a senior research associate with the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy in Castle Shannon. “The owners projected $427 million in revenue in its first year, and the Gaming Board projected $362 million. The casino’s not living up to its hype.”

All casinos take time to ramp up operations, to determine things like the proper mix of employees and the total number of workers needed, experts said.

“It’s not uncommon for properties to take up to a year to reach operational efficiencies in their operations,” said Grant Govertsen, a partner and analyst with investment bank Union Gaming Group in Las Vegas.

Casino leaders say the newness of being able to locally and legally play a pick of more than 2,800 slot machines and, for the past month, table games hasn’t worn off at Rivers after a year.

“We’re very pleased with the business we’ve done,” said Todd Moyer, Rivers’ general manager.

Some industry watchers say the idea of being able to gamble legally in Pennsylvania remains fresh at all nine casinos in operation.

“The only domestic gaming market that hasn’t suffered considerably from the adverse effects of credit markets drying up and the recession was Pennsylvania,” said Eugene Christiansen, CEO of Christiansen Capital Advisors LLC of New York. “Because the state actually was late to legalize slots, you had all the people who were used to going to West Virginia or New York staying home to go to the bright, shiny, new facilities.”

Like his Rivers’ counterpart, Sean Sullivan, general manager of The Meadows Racetrack & Casino, is happy with his facility’s performance.

“We’re very pleased with the wagers,” Sullivan said from the North Strabane location, which opened a temporary casino in June 2007 and its permanent facility in April 2009. In 2008, The Meadows was projected to gross $118 million. It grossed more than $231 million.

“We’re doing extremely well during the midweek,” Sullivan said. “We need more parking.”

Data from the state Gaming Control Board shows that since Pennsylvania’s first casino opened in November 2006, gamblers wagered more than $76.9 billion, and the facilities paid out $70.2 billion.

Last year, the nine operating casinos sent to Harrisburg nearly $1.1 billion in taxes — nearly a quarter-billion dollars more than Nevada’s 260 casinos sent to Carson City. However, Pennsylvania’s casinos pay a 55 percent tax, and Nevada levies an 8 percent tax.

“We are very pleased with how all the casinos are performing,” said gaming board Chairman Greg Fajt. “Since November 2006, when the first casino opened in the state, $3.8 billion in tax revenue has been generated, which has meant $2.1 billion in property tax relief, about $190 per year for each property owner.”

Fajt further broke down the money collected from Pennsylvania’s 55 percent tax, including $335 million to the communities where the casinos are located, $687 million to the state’s horse racing bets and payouts industry, which he said was “flat on its back” prior to the influx of gaming levies, $290 million to economic development and tourism, and $125 million to fire departments statewide.

“The casinos have surpassed my expectations tenfold,” Gov. Ed Rendell said Friday during a visit to Pittsburgh. “When you consider that Pennsylvania’s tax revenues from gaming last year surpassed those of Nevada, that 125,000 seniors have had their property taxes eliminated, that another 235,000 had their property taxes cut by 50 percent, that the Penguins aren’t playing in Kansas City because of gaming funds, I’m ecstatic about gaming.”

Rivers pays $7.5 million annually to help pay off the $321 million Consol Energy Center. The agreement to build the replacement for Mellon Arena in the Hill District helped keep the hockey team in Pittsburgh.

Fajt said the No. 1 issue with all of the casinos was job creation.

“The casinos have created more than 12,700 jobs directly tied to the gaming industry, both slots and table games,” the gaming board chief said. The average annual wage of the created positions is between $35,000 and $45,000, he added.

“The Rivers is a world-class facility — a great addition to the waterfront,” said Megan Dardanell, spokeswoman for Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato. “It’s contributed property taxes on that site, and the casino has been a wonderful community partner, contributing to the funding of the Consol Energy Center, plus it’s another entertainment venue.”

But S&P’s downgrades don’t breed confidence.

“I don’t think things are as rosy at the casino as they say,” Gamrat said. “And we know that the casino industry’s revenues slack off in the fall.”

S&P’s Listner said he remains concerned that Holdings Gaming can generate enough cash at Rivers to make payments on its debt as well as maintain the property.

“The opinions of rating agencies have no impact whatsoever on the operations of Rivers Casino,” responded Rivers spokesman Jack Horner.

Property maintenance, specifically casino upgrades, can become a big strain for any casino, consultant Christiansen said. Casino owners must spend huge amounts of capital every five to seven years to refresh their properties.

“Those in the casino industry always are trying to make themselves the next great property by constantly updating, adding new equipment,” Listner said. “Five years down the road could be a real challenge for the Rivers’ owners. We’re concerned now with the level of cash flow to meet debt service as well as upkeep.”

In short, the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh, which was successfully pitched based on all of the same arguments being advanced by the idiots who think that a half mile south of the southern boundary of the Gettysburg battlefield is a great place for a casino, is not performing anywhere close to the projections for its performance. The actual numbers are almost 50% below those originally projected by the owners, and it has been downgraded by Standard & Poors three times in the past year. And this was the most expensive casino in the state.

To the people of Adams County who support this terrible idea: Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.

Again, please join in me in doing all you can to prevent this from happening.

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The following editorial appeared in today’s edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Casinos again pose a threat to battlefield
It is altogether fitting and proper that gambling be kept away from Gettysburg’s hallowed ground.

By Mindy Crawford

In the months and years to come, Americans can expect to witness and participate in a wide variety of events commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Official committees and commissions in numerous states, including Pennsylvania, are planning reenactments, exhibits, lectures, concerts, tours, and other opportunities to mark the occasion. The vast majority of events are planned to highlight the significance of this turning point in American history, to encourage thoughtful commemorations befitting such a solemn theme.

But here in the Keystone State, there is one proposal up for state approval that is markedly different. We Pennsylvanians are confronted with a proposal that runs radically counter to that far-reaching commitment to the remembrance of what happened on the now-deathless fields where the Civil War was decided. The question before the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board: whether, on the eve of the Civil War sesquicentennial, to license a casino at the gateway to America’s most blood-soaked battlefield.

That’s right – should gambling be given a Gettysburg address?

If this all sounds a bit too familiar, it should. Less than five years ago, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board rejected a prior proposal to build a casino on the doorstep of the Gettysburg battlefield, partially on the strength of the impassioned outcry from around the state and across the country. Now, however, another group of investors has again raised the specter of this ill-conceived idea, and chosen an even worse location for the venture.

Though the investors continue to make the argument that the casino would bring much-needed jobs to Adams County, the economic viability of an Adams County casino location is questionable, at best. A key argument made in the previous application was that a Gettysburg casino would draw patrons from Baltimore and Washington, logic that has also been applied to the current site. However, the explosion of gambling facilities throughout the Mid-Atlantic, vying for the same customers as an Adams County location, totally undermines a business model that the gaming board found questionable when it rejected the previous application.

Worse yet, a casino could have a disastrous impact on Gettysburg’s heritage tourism-based economy. In Vicksburg, Miss. – home to a similarly famed battlefield of that war – the development of casinos was accompanied by a drastic decline in visitation to the National Park and a slow strangling of the local, tourism-based economy. Risking a similar outcome is a gamble Gettysburg cannot afford.

Such irresponsible and incompatible development also seriously threatens to undermine the sanctity of the famed Gettysburg landscape. Casino proponents have put forth a variety of creative measurements to distort the site’s location and significance, but the truth is this: The casino would be located just a half-mile from the boundary of the Gettysburg National Military Park, on land identified as historically sensitive by the American Battlefield Protection Program, an arm of the National Park Service. Suggesting that the battlefield and the visitors’ experience somehow stops at the administrative, political boundary of a park, as investors attempt to do, is simply ludicrous.

Similarly, to imagine that a development of this type and scope will not spawn further inappropriate growth at the largely rural edges of the battlefield is naive. So, too, is believing that all of the promises made by casino investors as they seek their license, such as limiting construction to retrofitting existing buildings, will be kept once approval is granted. Bitter, long-term reality indicates that should amendments to state gaming laws be considered again in the future – as they were this winter, when table games were approved and the application process for this remaining license was reopened – this and other gaming locations will continue to grow to the maximum permissible size.

Next year, the beginning of the sesquicentennial will serve as a time for Pennsylvanians, and all Americans, to commemorate our past and celebrate our future. The two, of course, go hand in hand. Recently, nearly 280 historians wrote to Gaming Control Board chairman Gregory Fajt that the casino threatens the “essential meaning of Gettysburg’s place in American history.” And on the eve of our Civil War’s sesquicentennial, protecting that legacy is particularly critical.

Ms. Crawford is, of course, absolutely correct. The statistics about visitation to the Vicksburg battlefield declining substantially after the opening of a casino there are especially telling and provide all of the reasons necessary to oppose this hare-brained idea. Once more, I call on all of my readers to do all you can to oppose this stupid idea.

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From the June 28, 2010 edition of Fredericksburg Daily, I am pleased to report another important preservation victory at Brandy Station:

Brandy Station win

Another victory for preservationists at Brandy Station

Date published: 7/28/2010

IMAGINE: It could have been a 3.4-million-square-foot development of condominiums, a multiplex theater, a water park, an equestrian center, a hotel and asphalt, lots of asphalt. Instead, thanks to some generous landowners, 443 acres in Culpeper County, part of the Brandy Station battlefield, has been preserved.

The property, owned by brothers Chuck and Pete Gyory, joins another piece of battlefield land–349 acres owned by Beauregard Farms LP–placed in conservation easements. These two parcels bring the total property in Culpeper and Western Fauquier counties donated by landowners in recent years to more than 2,000 acres. Civil War buffs are rightfully overjoyed.

It’s difficult to imagine a 19th-century field of conflict when houses and shopping centers have overcome the land, hence the value of conservation easements. These leave the land in the hands of the property owners, who give up the rights to develop it in exchange for tax credits.

The 1863 Battle of Brandy Station marked the beginning of the Gettysburg Campaign. Gen. Robert E. Lee had amassed his army near Culpeper, preparing to make the march north. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart’s cavalry was centered at Fleetwood Hill near Brandy Station.

A Union cavalry detachment in Fauquier County discovered Stuart’s presence and, early in the morning of June 9, initiated a surprise attack. What followed was a 12-hour, saber-on-saber battle around St. James Church and all over Fleetwood Hill–the largest calvary engagement of the Civil War. One Confederate cavalryman later wrote that the Union attack on the guns positioned at St. James Church was “the most brilliant and glorious” cavalry charge of the war.

The fascination with the Civil War only seems to grow. Motives and methodologies, strategies and personalities come to light as we study and learn. America’s great family feud created heroes and villains and left scars that still linger. Binding up the nation’s wounds is made easier when battlefields are preserved. Now, thanks to landowners, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, and the Civil War Preservation Trust, part of the Brandy Station battlefield will withstand one more attack–from 21st-century development.

However, the funds still have to be raised to pay for these conservation easements, and although there is a major matching grant, the BSF and APCWS still have $67,000 to raise in order to meet the requirements for the matching grant funds. Please visit the CWPT’s 2010 Brandy Station Campaign page and do what you can to help save nearly 800 acres of prime battlefield land.

And thank you for your continuing support of our efforts to forever preserve this jewel in Culpeper County.

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I was gone for two straight long weekends. Both were spent stomping battlefields, and there was one common theme through both: beastly heat and high humidity. That sort of heat saps your energy and your strength.

The first trip:

I flew to St. Louis on Thursday, July 15, and my friend Mike Noirot picked me up at the airport. We had lunch at a really neat microbrewery in St. Charles, which is a growing suburb of St. Louis, and then, after checking into my hotel, we went to check out some of the famous Civil War graves in St. Louis, and there are plenty of them worth visiting.

Our first stop was at Calvary Cemetery, where we visited the graves of William T. Sherman, Dred Scott, the playwright Tennessee Williams, and a Civil War Medal of Honor winner. We then crossed the street and went to Bellefontaine Cemetery. Bellefontaine Cemetery is well worth a visit, as it has formal tours laid out, including a Civil War-only driving tour. Among the graves we visited there were Sterling Price, Don Carlos Buell, Francis Blair, John Pope (who has a surprisingly modest grave that we walked by twice before figuring out which one it was), William Rogers Clark of Lewis & Clark fame, his Confederate general son, Meriwether Lewis Clark. It’s definitely worth a visit.

From there, we had great seats in the Redbird Club at Busch Stadium, where we watched Manny Ramirez dog it in the outfield. The Cards beat the Dodgers 7-1. It was 95 with high humidity that day, and it was hot, let me tell you.

Friday, we were off to Springfield, Missouri for a visit to the Wilson’s Creek battlefield. I had never been there before. It’s a really compact but well preserved and well interpreted battlefield. It was 95 again, and again with high humidity, and it was thoroughly unpleasant getting out of the car, but we did. We hiked a lot of the battlefield. I really enjoyed the visit in spite of the heat, and would gladly go back again. We made a stop at the outstanding battlefield museum, where, to my great surprise, the ranger in charge not only recognized me from my photo but is a regular reader of this blog (so, too, is the ranger in charge of the park library at Wilson’s Creek, who knew my name immediately when I said it). That always weirds me out when that happens, as I never realize how wide the readership of this blog really is.

We then took a ride over to the town of Newtonia, where there were battles in 1862 and 1864 (during the Sterling Price raid). Just before we got to Newtonia, a hellacious thunderstorm blew up, and it was raining sideways when we got there. It was so bad, in fact, that I kept checking the clouds to look for rotation. The heavy rains meant that we never got out of the car there, so we didn’t get a chance to read the interpretation on the battlefield. I will have to go back some time.

We checked into our hotel and asked for a restaurant referral, and had an absolutely spectacular meal at the Flame Steakhouse in Springfield. It was, without question, one of the best meals I have ever had. That ended a long but terrific day.

On Saturday, we were up early and drove the 1.5 hours down to the Pea Ridge battlefield near Bentonville, Arkansas. Again, I had never been there previously, so it was all uncharted territory for me. It became one of my very favorite battlefields after just one visit. For those who have never been there, it is an absolutely gorgeous field with lots of excellent interpretation and good tours. There is a spectacular overlook on Big Mountain that provides a gorgeous view of the entire Elkhorn Tavern sector of the battlefield that is well worth the time to take in. I had read the good book on the battle by Shea and Hess years ago when it first came out, but I didn’t remember it well (and I am now re-reading it). It’s a fabulous place to visit, and I highly recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in what turned out to be one of the most important battles in the Western Theater of the Civil War.

Again, it was beastly hot there. We pretty well wilted hiking in the heat, but we kept after it. When we finished the tour, we had a quick lunch in Bentonville, and then drove down to the Fort Smith Historic Site, which was another 1.5 hours southwest of Bentonville. We visited the National Cemetery, and then spent about twenty minutes in the beastly heat there. It was just too hot there, and there is no shade, and when we figured out that there was little of interest there, we left. 98 degree heat with high humidity and no shade is not fun.

We then headed to the excellent Prairie Grove State Battlefield Park near Fayetteville. I had just finished Bill Shea’s excellent book on the battle, so it was fresh in my mind. There’s a nice visitor center there and lots of really good interpretation. There’s a 1.5 mile walking tour and a driving tour, and we did both. After Perryville, it’s probably the best state park battlefield I’ve ever visited.

We got there at 4:15, at the height of the heat, and it was horrific. I thought we were going to melt while taking the walking tour–no air movement, hot sun, and black asphalt. It makes for a BAD combination. But I really enjoyed the place, which is definitely worth a visit. The combination of the twin defeats at Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove meant that Missouri was forever lost to the Confederates.

We then drove the 6 hours back to St. Louis, arriving at my hotel at 10:40. It had been a VERY long day. Sunday morning, we made a quick visit to the Jefferson Barracks Historical Site for a visit to the National Cemetery, and then a quick stop to take a photo of U. S. Grant’s Hardscrabble Farm house, which is now part of a large nature preserve owned by Anheuser Busch. A mammoth thunderstorm delayed my return flight, but I got home Sunday afternoon. We covered more than 1000 miles, and had a blast. Mike is an excellent traveling companion, and he knew those battlefields well. I think he’s going to do a book on Wilson’s Creek, and I think he will do an excellent job of it.

The second trip:

I was in the office for 2.5 days last week, and then Wednesday, it was on the road again. This time, it was for Ted Alexander’s annual summer soiree, which was titled “From Cedar Mountain to Antietam”, and focused on the Second Bull Run Campaign. I got to Chambersburg in time for a good talk on the first half of the campaign by old friend John Hennessy.

Thursday morning, it was off to the battlefield at Cedar Mountain in Culpeper County, which I had never before toured. The tour was led jointly by Ed Bearss, John Hennessy, and Clark B. “Bud” Hall. We had to move quickly, but we saw much of the battlefield, including the seldom-visited monument to the 10th Maine Infantry, which is on private property and not part of the park. Again, it was very hot and humid, which sapped all of our energy.

After lunch, we then stopped at St. James Church at the Brandy Station battlefield to discuss the movements of the armies and the fighting along the Rappahannock River on the way to Manassas. We then stopped at Jeffersonton Church, site of a meeting between Lee, Stuart, Jackson, and Longstreet. Our final stop that day was at an overlook for the Thoroughfare Gap battlefield. Then, it was back to Chambersburg and a fun dinner with Ted Alexander, John Hennessy, Ed Bearss, and Bud Hall. It doesn’t get much better than that in terms of company.

Friday was lecture day. I gave a talk on Pope’s Horsemen, and Bud did one on Stuart’s cavalry in the campaign. Dennis Frye gave a fascinating and thought-provoking talk on Ambrose Burnside and his role in the campaign, and pointed out that Burnside was actually George McClellan’s go-to guy during the Maryland Campaign. The long day was capped by the annual battlefield preservation fundraiser auction. I auctioned off a personal tour for the winner and five friends, which I was happy to do.

Saturday was more battlefield touring, with the whole day being spent at Second Manassas. Ed and John led the tour, and according to a sign next to Henry House Hill, it was 106 degrees out, with high humidity. After a very quick stop at Stuart’s Hill, we began at Brawner’s Farm, which is a fascinating battle. I had not been there since about 80 acres of trees were cut down, and it has REALLY changed the viewshed at the battlefield. As just one example, the spot where S. D. Lee’s guns were was always in deep woods and couldn’t be seen. Now, it’s wide open, as is the area of the Deep Cut attack, and it dramatically changes the battlefield by showing just how close together these sites are, when it was previously impossible to visualize that due to the thick, dense woods. The effect is much like the effect of the tree cutting at Gettysburg. Kudos to the park superintendent at Manassas for pursuing the tree cutting program.

The downside is that there is not a stick of shade out there, and with that kind of heat, it was draining. Ed led us on a 3.5 mile hike all the way to the Deep Cut, and everyone about melted. After lunch, we covered the August 29 attacks along the unfinished railroad cut, the Deep Cut attack, and then visited the New York Reservation, known as the Vortex of Hell for the tremendous casualties taken by the 5th New York Infantry there–25% KIA during this fight. We then went to Chinn Ridge, and finished on Henry House Hill.

From there, we had a dinner with a short program in the Mumma Farm barn at the Antietam National Battlefield. The ambiance is great there, and the view is nothing short of spectacular, but it was just too hot and we were all too hot from the long day to really enjoy it. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

Saturday’s lunch was a special treat. I sat next to Ed, and asked him what he thought of the HBO production The Pacific (he really didn’t like it). One of the other guys asked Ed about how he was wounded on New Guinea during World War II, and he regaled us with the story of his wounding and rescue. Ed is now 87 and is a true force of nature. He’s a national treasure who has forgotten more than I can ever hope to know.

It was just awful out there in terms of the heat. I drank something like 60 ounces of Gatorade, two big bottles of water, and 3 larges glasses of Diet Coke at lunch, and I was still dehydrated when I got back to the hotel. I was asleep by 10:30.

Yesterday morning, I got up and made a quick trip to Fairfield, PA to shoot photos for the new edition of Gettysburg’s Forgotten Cavalry Actions that will be published by Savas-Beatie next year, and then drove home.

It’s been a pretty remarkable run. I took lots of photos. They can be found here. I hope you enjoy them.

As for me, I need a vacation from my exhausting vacations. 🙂

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Brig. Gen. William W. Averell left behind this excellent description of the traditional role of cavalry:

Reliable information of the enemy’s position or movements, which is absolutely necessary to the commander of an army to successfully conduct a campaign, must be largely furnished by the cavalry. The duty of the cavalry when an engagement is imminent is specially imperative—to keep in touch with the enemy and observe and carefully note, with time of day or night, every slightest indication and report it promptly to the commander of the army. On the march, cavalry forms in advance, flank and rear guards and supplies escorts, couriers and guides. Cavalry should extend well away from the main body on the march like antennae to mask its movements and to discover any movement of the enemy.

Cavalry should never hug the army on the march, especially in a thickly wooded country, because the horses being restricted to the roads, the slightest obstacle in advance is liable to cause a blockade against the march of infantry. Moreover, in camp it furnishes outposts, vedettes and scouts. In battle it attacks the enemy’s flanks and rear, and above all other duties in battle, it secures the fruits of victory by vigorous and unrelenting pursuit. In defeat it screens the withdrawal of the army and by its fortitude and activity baffles the enemy. In addition to these active military duties of the cavalry, it receives flags of truce, interrogates spies, deserters and prisoners, makes and improves topographical maps, destroys and builds bridges, obstructs and opens communications, and obtains or destroys forage and supplies.

Good stuff.

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Last weekend, I traveled to Missouri and toured Calvary Cemetery and Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, caught a Dodgers/Cardinals game, toured Wilson’s Creek, Newtonia, Pea Ridge, and Prairie Grove battlefields, and also made a visit to Fort Smith.

Tomorrow, I leave for Ted Alexander’s annual summer soiree, which will include tours of Cedar Mountain, Second Bull Run, South Mountain, and part of the Antietam battlefield. I’m doing a talk titled “Pope’s Horsemen”.

Next week, when I’m back and the dust has settled, I will write up both trips and post some of my photos from Missouri and Arkansas. Please be patient. I hope it will be worth your while.

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With many thanks to Jim Schmidt for bringing this little gem to my attention, I give you more dumbass re-enactors…

From the July 6, 2010 issue of the Morris County [NJ] Daily Record comes these candidates for dumbass re-enactors of the year:

Hanover cops: 2 injured when mistaken Civil War gun powder tube explodes

By JAKE REMALY • STAFF WRITER • July 6, 2010

HANOVER — A 66-year-old Livingston man was burned when a man asked him for a light and, instead of lighting a cigarette as he thought, he lit a paper cartridge filled with gun powder.

Police said Joseph Princiotta, 42, of Jersey City, obtained the cartridge from his friend, a Civil War re-enactor, who had the tube of gun powder with some of his re-enactment gear.

The incident occurred last Wednesday around midnight.

Police said Princiotta thought it was a firecracker and asked the alleged victim to light it as he was walking through the parking lot of the Brookside Diner, Hanover Detective Earle Seely said. The gun powder ignited, flared up and burned the man’s arm. He was taken to St. Baranabas hospital and released. Princiotta had slight burns on his hand as well.

Princiotta was charged with simple assault.

Amazing. Can you say “dumb-ass”, boys and girls?

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