Last night, I sat raptly glued to the television set from the time that the polls closed at 7:30 until after President-Elect Obama spoke last night. I’ve always enjoyed politics; I was, after all, a political science major. I’ve always enjoyed watching presidential election returns (but it was strange not seeing Tim Russert doing what he so obviously loved so much), but last night was an especially fascinating night.

Last night, history was made. Only 40 years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, a black man was elected president of the United States. No less than his opponent, Sen. John McCain (whose concession speech was a paragon of class ad dignity, for which he deserves kudos and respect), recognized the historic nature of what had happened. “This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African Americans and the special pride that must be theirs tonight,” McCain said.

Perhaps with the election of Barack Obama, the last rifts of the Civil War can finally begin to heal. Or so I hope.

Godspeed, Barack Obama. And Godspeed to John McCain, a man of honor and character who knew how to lose with dignity.

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Tomorrow is election day. Tomorrow will be a truly historic election. We will either elect a black man president for the first time, or we will elect a woman vice president for the first time. Either way, the American political landscape will never be the same again.

Susan and I went and cast our ballots early, three weeks ago. We had no lines, and we stepped right up and did our civic duty. I feel badly for those who will be stuck in long lines tomorrow, but it WILL be worth the trouble.

I don’t care whether you vote for McCain, Barr, Obama, or Nader (well, I actually do, but I’m not going to preach at you about the candidates or tell you who I think you should vote for–that’s not the purpose of this post). Just do it. Go. Do your civic duty and vote. I firmly believe that those who don’t vote have no right to bitch about our political leaders, so please, whatever you do, do NOT put yourself into the category of those with no right to bitch.

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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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The drought is over!

In their 126th season, the Philadelphia Phillies have won only the second title in the franchise’s history. Ending the weirdest, most bizarre World Series game ever, Brad Lidge threw three hellacious, unhittable sliders and struck out Eric Hinske, ending the World Series and Philadelphia’s 25 year championship drought. I’m thrilled for Charlie Manuel and for 45-year-old Jamie Moyer, who grew up in the Philly suburbs and who played hookey from high school to attend the 1980 victory parade. But most of all, I am thrilled for the long-suffering fans of Philadelphia and for Harry Kalas, who finally got to call another world championship, 28 years later.

There was a certain symmetry to it: 08 is the analog of 80. Lidge ended this World Series just as Tug McGraw ended the 1980 Series–with a strikeout and then bedlam. Lidge wears number 54, while Tug McGraw wore number 45. And Lidge did it with just a little bit of Tug there with him. The night of the first game in Philadelphia, Tug’s son, singer Tim McGraw, brought out the first ball and surreptitiously sprinkled some of his father’s ashes on the pitching mound. Somewhere, Tugger’s Irish eyes are twinkling today. And Richie Ashburn is smiling down on his adopted city. And so is John Vukovich, the long-time third base coach and Phillies fixture, who died of brain cancer in March 2007.

The 100 season (4 sports, 25 seasons) drought is finally over!

Congratulations to my Phillies and congratulations to Philadelphia. Savor every moment.

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A great opportunity to preserve an entire Civil War camp site, for very little money, has surfaced in Stafford County, Virginia, near Fredericksburg. From the October 11, 2008 issue of the Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star:

Stafford considers Civil War park ACCOKEEK SITE RICH IN HISTORY

Stafford supervisors express interest in preservation group’s proposal to fund, create Civil War park

By CLINT SCHEMMER

A new idea has sprung up on how to save–and eventually open to the public–Stafford County’s best surviving cluster of Civil War sites.

The Board of Supervisors may partner with a preservation group, Friends of Stafford Civil War Sites, to accomplish those ends.

FSCWS wants to create a park to interpret and protect sites near Accokeek Creek where the Union army regrouped after the setbacks of 1862-63. The 25-acre tract is part of the 760-acre landfill administered by the Rappahannock Regional Solid Waste Management Board.

Within three years, FSCWS would raise the money to build a one-lane, one-way road linking the tract’s earthworks, regimental campsites, an 1863 log road and other historic features.

The forts, camps and road were part of what FSCWS has called the “Valley Forge of the Civil War.” Stafford’s camps–only a few of which survive–are where Union troops recovered from failures at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville and early 1863’s “Mud March,” gaining the strength to prevail at Gettysburg.

Supervisor Harry E. Crisp II introduced the plan, which he and his colleagues voted 7-0 Tuesday night to send to the county Historical Commission. Supervisors requested a report within 30 days.

In another unanimous vote, supervisors asked the Planning Commission to amend the county land-use plan to include the historic tract as a public park.

Beforehand, the board heard an impassioned plea to act from Stafford historian D.P. Newton, founder of the White Oak Museum and an FSCWS director.

“This is the best, if not the last, remaining piece of ground that can present the history of the Civil War to residents of Stafford and visitors to the area,” Newton said.

“I ask you to honor these men and have a place where the old, the young, the disabled–everyone–can go and see what they constructed, that still exists. These soldiers’ footprint upon Stafford County, let that be their memorial.”

He noted that in 1940, the U.S. government proposed preserving the largest concentration of regimental camps in eastern Stafford. It dropped the plan when America went to war after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Today, those sites are gone, buried under a sea of subdivisions, Newton said.

“If you’re going to build a park, this is the only place you’ve got left,” he said of the Accokeek Creek tract.

In addition to financing the park’s access road, FSCWS has agreed to build trails, create a picnic area and install historical markers.

To get started, FSCWS needs about $10,000 in seed money for engineering work to design the road and estimate construction costs.

But even that small expense is a concern at a time when Stafford is cutting its budget and considering layoffs, Supervisor Mark Dudenhefer said.

FSCWS hopes to open the park by 2011, the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, which is expected to foster fresh interest in the conflict and more tourism at historic sites.

Since 2005, FSCWS has worked with the county and builders to preserve Stafford’s remaining camps and earthworks, post roadside markers and erect a granite monument to the soldiers who manned one redoubt that was recently bulldozed for a housing development.

Clint Schemmer: 540/368-5029
Email: cschemmer@freelancestar.com

According to the same article, the following will be preserved:

The proposed park tract in central Stafford features 12 historic sites. Its forts were built to defend against a feared attack by Confederate cavalry.

A network of such earthworks protected the Union encampments in Stafford, home to at least 120,000 troops, and the army’s bustling supply depot at Aquia Landing on the Potomac River.

The tract encompasses:

FORT 1: This two-faced, 248-foot-long Union army battery has two gun platforms that may have held 3-inch ordnance rifles or 12-pound Napoleon cannons. At its center is a square, 9-foot-deep supply pit or blockhouse. The fort area includes a zigzag trench and rifle pits.

FORT 2: This three-faced, 210-foot-long battery had four or five cannons.

FORT 3: This three-faced battery, which may have held six guns, included a heavily built blockhouse with below-ground storage for powder and shells.

FORT 4: Originally about 200 feet long, this earthwork has been damaged by logging.

WINTER CAMPS: A picket post and two dug-in winter camps, which had log shelters with fireplaces for the soldiers, are near the forts. One camp has what is believed to have been an officers’ quarters made of sandstone.

CORDUROY ROAD: The area’s wartime road network included a pine-log road, built so the Army of the Potomac could move wagons and heavy guns through boggy areas.

BRIDGE REMAINS: Sandstone abutments survive from a bridge that crossed a creek for an 18th-century road that was a major route for the Union army’s 11th Corps.

QUARRIES: Two late 18th-century sandstone quarries, one of which appears to have later become a mill, speak to Stafford’s role as a provider of building stone. Cut stone was put on skids and pulled by oxen or horses, or loaded onto shallow scows and taken downstream on Accokeek Creek.

–from Dovetail Cultural Resource Group and the Friends of Stafford Civil War Sites

What a treasure! To see an actual corduroyed road still in existence? Wow….

$10,000 is nothing to save such a site and begin the process of getting it ready for public access. Surely someone will step forward and donate the necessary money to do so….

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Last night’s game 5 of the World Series was the sports equivalent of needing a cold shower. The game started in a fine mist, and the weather steadily and progressively deteriorated as the game went on. By the sixth inning, the field was a soggy mess, and it was unplayable. It was also about 40 degrees, with whipping winds. Consequently, the game was suspended with the score 2-2 at the end of the top of the sixth inning. The weather in Philly is supposed to be just as bad today, if not worse.

The game never should have been started. It was unfair to both teams, and it would have been unfair and unfulfilling for the game to be rain-shortened and for the Phillies to win the World Series that way.

I remain convinced the Commissioner Bud Selig is a complete idiot and that he allowed Fox Sports to push the game into going forward when anyone with the ability to read a weather radar could see that it was bad and would get worse, not better. As Bugs Bunny would say, “what a maroon!”

To say that was frustrating does not do it justice.

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Back in August, Rob Shenk, the Director of Internet Strategy and Development for the Civil War Preservation Trust, contacted me and asked me whether I would be interested in being featured in a piece on blogging the Civil War that he was developing for the CWPT’s web site. I said sure and had fun putting it together.

The results of that collaboration have been published to the CWPT’s web site, and can be found here.

Thanks to Rob for asking. I hope you all enjoy.

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I attended my first meeting of the Buffington Island Battlefield Preservation Foundation on Saturday. The meeting was held at the facility of the Meigs County Historical Society in Pomeroy, Ohio, which is the nearest town of any consequence to the Buffington Island battlefield. Pomeroy is also the county seat of Meigs County.

A couple of months ago, I was named one of the founding voting trustees of the organization, so this was my introduction to the group. It’s taken several years of political haggling and wrangling to get things to this point. Apparently striking a balance between folks from Meigs County and outsiders like me was one of the big hang-ups. Interestingly, the president and vice president are both outsiders, while the secretary and treasurer are local folks from Meigs County. I guess that’s as even a split as is possible. If it works, it’s fine by me.

The first order of business was for the trustees–there are nine of us, although the by-laws of the organization call for thirteen; we’re still looking to fill those four slots–to vote for the slate of officers put forward by the same nominating committee that proposed me as a trustee. I was nominated to serve as vice president and agreed to serve in that role if elected. Since I was running unopposed, my election was something of a foregone conclusion, but the formalities need to be obeyed. So, I am now officially the vice president of the BIBPF. As the vice president, I’m also now a member of several committees, including the historical interpretation committee and the fundraising committee.

To make a long story short, there is a lot of work yet to be done. Sadly, the sand and gravel country has begun its mining operations there, and a significant portion of the battlefield has been forever destroyed. They do not plan on filling in their ponds when done, so that part of the battlefield will never be restored. It’s sad, but it was inevitable, and there simply is nothing that can be done about it. That ball was set in motion ten years ago, and the Army Corps of Engineers approved the operation, which, in turn, cast the die.

The other big problem, of course, is that the Ohio Historical Society owns only four acres of the battlefield. The rest is in private hands, meaning that it’s all threatened. Prior attempts to purchase preservation easements have been met by the locals with great resistance, so we have our work cut out for us. There is no doubt about that.

The good news is that the Ohio Civil War Trails Commission plans on running its John Hunt Morgan trail through Meigs County in 2009. Using TEA-21 funds from the Federal government, the trail will bring interpretation and visitors to the battlefield, and we hope to be able to raise its profile among the public. One of our projects will be to come up with some standard interpretation of the battle’s main details, so that we’re ensuring that folks get a consistent interpretation of the events that occurred there.

This will be a long-term and challenging process, but I look forward to the challenge. I look forward to working with the other officers and trustees, and I likewise look forward to working with the Civil War Preservation Trust and other similar preservation organizations. I will keep you posted on our progress.

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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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I’ve already told you about the Monterey Pass Battlefield Association, and I’ve previously mentioned the upcoming November 8 event. However, I want to give it another shout out for a couple of reasons. First, I really believe in the organization and what it’s trying to accomplish. Second, it’s going to be a terrific program.

It’s called the Thunder on the Mountain and the Retreat from Gettysburg Seminar. Here’s the agenda for the day:

Schedule of Events

8:30: Registration

9:00: Welcome

9:15-10:30: First Presentation includes Eric Wittenberg and J. David Pertruzzi

10:30-10:45: Break

10:45-11:45: Second Presentation will given by Ted Alexander

11:45-1:00: Lunch

1:00-2:00: Third Presentation will be given by John A. Miller

2:00-2:15: Break

2:15-3:15: Final Presentation will be given by Troy Harman

3:15-3:30: Conclusion and Final Remarks

Blue Ridge Summit to Host Seminar, November 8th, 2008

Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. – The One Mountain Foundation will host a special Civil War seminar “Thunder on the Mountain & the Retreat from Gettysburg”. This seminar will explain the Pennsylvania Campaign and why it is important to preserve various sites along the retreat from Gettysburg.

Speakers will include Eric Wittenberg and J. David Pertruzzi discussing their new book entitled “One Continuous Fight”. Kent Masterson Brown author of the book “Retreat from Gettysburg”, Ted Alexander author and Chief Historian at Antietam National Battlefield and John A. Miller Civil War Historian of the area and author will also be presenting. Speakers will discuss their areas of expertise. Display setups by local organizations will be promoting area history.

Pre-registration post marked by October 10th is $45.00 and will include a lunch, refreshments and snacks. Registration at the door the day of the event will be $60.00, so register early. The seminar will be held at the Blue Ridge Summit Fire Hall just off of Route 16 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on November 8th, 2008. For more information contact the One Mountain Foundation through their website at www.onemountainfoundation.org or the Monterey Pass Battlefield Association by logging onto www.emmitsburg.net/montereypass. All proceeds from the event will go back into preservation and other interpretational events of the mountaintop.

Our Speakers

Eric Wittenberg, J. David Petruzzi and Michael Nugent: A talk about key points of their new book “One Continuous Fight”. This book is their latest release about the battles during the Confederate retreat from Gettysburg as well as General Meade’s pursuit of the Confederate Army.

Ted Alexander: Chief Historian at Antietam National Battlefield. Ted will discuss the aftermath of the battle of Gettysburg. The battles of Smithsburg and Hagerstown and how they played a major role during the Pennsylvania Campaign.

John A. Miller: Historian of the Emmitsburg and Monterey Areas and author. An informal talk about the battle and the Confederate Retreat through Monterey Pass. John will discuss the first hand accounts by those who fought and marched through Monterey Pass “The Gateway of Agony”.

Troy D. Harman: National Park Service Ranger since 1984. His assignments have included historical interpretation at Appomattox Court House National Historic Park (NHP), Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park (NMP), Independence NHP, Valley Forge NMP, Eisenhower National Historic Site (NHS), and, since 1989 Gettysburg NMP. He also teaches in the history department at Harrisburg Area Community College and is working on a Ph.D. in history at Lehigh University. Troy received an M.A. from Shippensburg University, and a B.A. from Lynchburg College, both in history. He has presented his book, Lee’s Real Plan at Gettysburg, in seventeen states, and it is in its fourth printing. Troy, his wife Lisa, and 6 year old son Daniel live near Gettysburg.

Unfortunately, a scheduling conflict forced Kent Masterson Brown to pull out, but Troy Harman has agreed to step up and take his place. The same problem–uncooperative schedules–also forced our co-author Mike Nugent to pull out of the event, and he will be missed there. Nevertheless, it should be an excellent program for a really worthy cause.

Also, on December 13, I will be doing a presentation on the Battle of Trevilian Station for the Louisa County Historical Society as one of its monthly programs. I will be at the Historical Society from 10:30-12:00 that Saturday, giving a talk and then signing books. The Society and I are going to use the opportunity to promote the preservation of the battlefield and to give credit to the Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation for the extraordinary job it has done in preserving the Civil War’s largest all-cavalry battlefield. If you’re in the area, please come by and say hello.

These are my last two events for 2008, which has been a VERY busy year. However, they’re both worthy causes, and I’m looking forward to both. I hope to see some of you there.

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