St. Paddy's Day in Philly

Let's face it. Nothing says "we are blessed" better than a beer company sponsoring a cemetery tour on St. Patrick's Day. Wish we could be with our friends in Philly for this one. We'll toast you from Topeka with Bailey's, dear lads and lassies!

Is It March Already?

My God, where did February go?

There are so many things coming up, I hardly know where to start.

Got our Pony Express Mail from the Patee House, St. Joseph, Missouri. Their 150th anniversary dinner is set for April 12 in the newly renovated grand ballroom. Tickets will be $25 each with the social hour being held in the Buffalo Saloon at 6 p.m. Email patee@ponyexpress.net for more information. Much of the success and survival of the Patee House is attributed to Gary and Mary Chilcote who have devoted most of their married lives to this historic site. The Chilcotes celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary at the Patee House on March 30. Their son, Doug, daughter, Carolyn, and granddaughter, Hillary, have made the Patee House their obsession as well. We all reap the benefits of their hard work and dedication. Happy Anniversary, Gary and Mary! (Above, right, Gary on the far right, visits with our tour goers at the Patee House.) Other anniversary events will be held throughout the year so stay tuned.


By the way, True West Magazine named St Joseph the "Number 1 Western Town" for 2008. Number 5 on their list was Dodge City. We're proud to have these historic towns so close.
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Civil War Missouri/Kansas

From Scott Porter, Command and General Staff College, per my inquiry:

Deb,

"Action at Camden Point: 1864" is the Fort Leavenworth Historical Society monthly presentation at the Frontier Army Museum. On 20 March, it starts at 7PM. On 22 March, we will rally at the same museum at 0900 and drive to Camden Point. At Camden Point ,we will tour the battlefield and the Confederate Monument (right). Ed Kennedy will be in his Confederate uniform and discuss the weapons used during the battle.

-Scott

DG-It's always a treat to see Ed wearing his Confederate uniform while brandishing weapons. We hope to join you on both days!
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Jay Jackson at SAR

Another bud is speaking this Saturday, so plan accordingly! Jay Jackson, local historian and superintendent of the Missouri City Schools, will be addressing the William C. Corum Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. They meet at 9 a.m., Saturday, in the Pryor Leadership Center at William Jewell College in Liberty. Jay will discuss the Liberty Arsenal, which is thought to be the site of the first Civil War action in Missouri. The breakfast meeting is open to guests. For more information, call 816-781-0614.
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Topeka SCV

And on Saturday morning, March 15, I'll be speaking to the local Sons of Confederate Veterans here in Topeka. The meeting is held at Westside Christian Church, 6th and Lindenwood, at 10 a.m. It is interesting, free, and Denver Erickson's wife sends cookies.

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Missouri SCV

On March 29, the Missouri Sons of Confederate Veterans are having their annual meeting in Blue Springs, Missouri, and our friend, Ed Kennedy, will be speaking on Black Confederates. Email me for more details on any of these events.

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Denver Custer Symposium

On April 18, our friends Doug Scott and D. K. Clark are among the presenters at the Denver Custer Symposium.

Topics and speakers include: Eli Paul, "The 1854 Grattan Fight: Prelude to Blue Water Creek"
Ron Nichols, "The Hilltop Fight: Was Reno in Command?"
Paul Hedron, "The Scourge of Alcohol in the Old Army: Case Studies from the Black Hills Road in 1876"
Doug Scott, "Custer's Heroes: The Little Bighorn Medals of Honor in the Context of the Indian Wars"
Lori Cox-Paul, "A Frontier Army Fourth and Other Holidays"
Dennis "DK" Clark, "The Lost Site of Beecher's Island"

As I told D. K., they always save the best for last. A few years ago, I was scheduled last with my presentation, "Stand By Your Man: Army Wives on the Frontier."
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Kansas Cowboy

. . . arrived in the mail a few days ago. The "Official Publication of the Cockeyed Old West Band of Yahoos Society" is published in Ellsworth, one of the state's wickedest cowtowns by the historic cowboy himself, Jim Gray. Jim and his wife, Kassi, operate Drover's Mercantile in downtown Ellsworth and they're the real deal. They ain't just playing cowboy, they walk the walk. Well, mostly Jim tells tall tales but that's a big chunk of COWBOY life! Visit them in Ellsworth or online at http://www.droversmercantile.com/. We ran into Jim and Kassi in January at the premier of Bloody Dawn in Wichita. It's always good to see good folks and we just don't get enough of an opportunity. Jim commented that watching Bloody Dawn was "like Old Home Week cuz jest about everybody in the film was someone that had crossed our paths at one time or another." I agree. We live in a small world, spread out though we be.

Kassi and Jim (left) host the annual "Spring Gather" April 21 - 23, and if you're hankering for a taste of the real cowboy life, this is your chance. Tell them we said "hey."

Black Confederates

Byron from Tennessee reports that all of Knox County has the hacking, hocking, malady from which I have been suffering. Sales of moonshine must be through the roof! "Government liquor," as Grandpa called it, just doesn't have quite the same medicinal quality. . . .

Major Melissa Tune, currently assigned to the Army's Command and General Staff College, is also a TV personality in Augusta, Georgia. She recently interviewed my bud LTC (ret) Ed Kennedy and myself for a special segment on black Confederate soldiers. Also weighing in on the discussing was Ethan Rafuse, from the CGSC's history department. She did an overview of of the subject as well as another story on the removal of a Confederate soldier's headstone in a Missouri cemetery.

It seems that someone called the cemetery claiming to be the descendant of John Noland, a black man who rode with William Clarke Quantrill. The descendant said that Noland was neither black nor Confederate and asked that the stone be removed. Actually, both Noland's race and his service are fairly well documented. Police were called and the incident is under investigation, but let me assure you, the local Sons of Confederate Veterans are outraged that a mere phone call could uproot a memorial marker.

While Tom and I were researching The Day Dixie Died, we stopped in the Augusta Public Library and were reading old newspapers on the microfilm. A black woman and her daughter sat next to me to work on a school project. Being unfamiliar with the machine, the lady asked me if I could help her thread the film. I hoped she wouldn't notice that on my screen was an ad for a slave auction in Augusta, in mid-April 1865. Listed for sale was a girl about the age of her daughter. I was so overcome I had to bite my lip to control my emotions.

And, lest any of you doubt the experts at my beck and call, this email from Col. Kennedy describes the photo at the top of the page:

Deb,

GREAT Photo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post-war reunion photo:

#1 Not "Battle Flag" but the "Ensign"

#2 Shoes are 20th Century

#3 Canteen is Model 1885 U.S. Army canteen used until 1910

#4 Hat is Model 1875 U.S. Army "kepi" pattern. Used by fraternal and vet organizations

#5 Age of veteran

#6 "Uniform" is veteran reunion suit

#7 Veteran reunion ribbons and medals on uniform

Regards,
Ed

Consumed

Dear Reader, were we living 50 or a hundred years ago, I would swear I have consumption. I have coughed until my ears are ringing. While talking with my aunt on the phone last night, she commented that my breathing was so wheezy she thought I had pneumonia. I missed Civil War Roundtable on Tuesday night, I missed Michelle Martin at Lecompton on Sunday, and I just flat missed several days because I was too feverish to function. Alas, misery loves company and my sister is suffering in Mayberry and from Massachusetts, my friend Jack McDonough reports his girlfriend has flu. Not that I am happy to hear these folks are sick -- but it is helpful to know we are not on an island in Kansas. Last night, Tom, too, succumbed to the ravages of this fitful cough.

Hopefully, we'll be well by October when we head to Olde Colony Civil War Roundtable, Dedham, Massachusetts. This is such a robust group and we're thrilled they asked us back. It's also a beautiful time of the year to visit New England.

In the meantime, some medicinal brandy seems in order. Here's to you, Doc!

(Top photo: Dennis Quaid as a consumptive Doc Holliday in the film, Wyatt Earp)

A Brief History of the "Woah"

Fellow blogger and fellow Virginian, Si, asked for a brief history of the "woah." Actually, he wanted a book, so I'm recommending a series, Bruce Catton's. It just doesn't get any better. We are honored to have in our household the series Catton wrote that belonged to our friend Ron Erickson.

First, Si, Virginians created America. Even the Lost Colony was technically Virginia though it wound up as part of the Old North State. Pocahontas, Captain John Smith, John Rolfe. Jamestown, Williamsburg, Yorktown. Patrick Henry, George Mason, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington. This is what I learned in Mrs. Katie Hiatt's 4th grade history. Nothing in my life dissuaded me from this basic understanding until Tom and I visited Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, not North Carolina.

We went to the Old Manse (above, and grounds, below), family home of one Ralph Waldo Emerson. I wish I knew the name of the guide for she was a most knowledgeable and gracious woman. She was passionate about the history of this house, once rented by Nathaniel Hawthorne and his young bride. She pointed at the window where Emerson's grandmother stood, cradling Emerson's father in her arms, and watched the first shots of the Revolution.


My knees nearly buckled. No wonder they thought the Revolution was theirs! She stood with her babe in arms and watched the shots in her own backyard.


Thus, Si, the weight of this revelation hit me. America's Civil War is the ultimate sibling rivalry. Northerners thought the ideals of the Revolution, this newly forged nation, belonged to them. Southerners knew in certitude it was theirs. Then there was the bastard child--the black race--who cared not about the inheritance but who just wanted a place at the table. They just wanted to sit down beside us at the table of our father and mother.

We could not have fought so bitterly, nor wounded one another so deeply, were we not brothers and sisters.

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Thus Ever . . .


Roman mythology defines the unique Great Seal of Virginia. The obverse of the seal features the Roman goddess Virtus standing over a defeated opponent. Virtus is dressed in Amazonian garb, and holds a spear and a sheathed sword. She represents the virtues of heroism, righteousness, freedom, and valor. She stands in a classical victor's pose over a fallen tyrannical foe, whose crown lies on the ground. The state's motto "Sic Semper Tyrannis" ("Thus Always to Tyrants") appears at the lower edge. The seal was approved at Virginia's 1776 Constitutional Convention, and the principal designer is said to have been George Wythe. A committee composed of Wythe, George Mason, Robert Carter Nicholas, and Richard Henry Lee collaborated on the design. In 1930 another committee was charged with standardizing the seal's design because of all the variations that came into use over the years. What the committee approved was basically adopting the 1776 seal as the standard. In 1949, another standard was implemented, when Virginia's Art Commission defined the official color scheme for the seal. From netstate.com

Spring, Please!

I took this photo from my office window a few days ago. Doesn't matter which day, because it is the same scene any day. Yes, our constant weather forecast is "Winter Advisory." It's the scene inside my head as well, though not as pretty.

NPR reported this week that 250 strains of the flu have been identified this season and at least two have found me. I had a bout a couple of months ago and then this week. Fever for three days. Now it has settled in my upper chest and vocal chords. I have never been so ready for spring.

Whackado, Whackado

While perusing blogs the other day, I came across this one: We have met the enemy and he is us.: Roger Miller Si's blog reminded me of how much I love Roger Miller, one of the brightest and most creative songwriters who ever lived. Si lives on Virginia's eastern shore . . . the very thought of it makes me salivate as I look out at snow encrusted rooftops here in Topeka. . . . Among the youtube links Si has provided is one of Miller with Johnny Cash. It's priceless. We're not the only ones who love Miller, whose characterization of Alan-A-Dale in Disney's Robinhood (above) was a favorite of many of our generation. See Jette Kernion's post here: http://www.cinematical.com/2007/01/02/vintage-image-of-the-day-roger-miller-and-robin-hood/

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Sanders Wins Jefferson Davis Award

A book by a Kansas State University history professor has been recognized with the Jefferson Davis Award for distinguished book-length narrative history from the Museum of the Confederacy. Charles W. Sanders Jr., wrote While in the Hands of the Enemy: Military Prisons of the Civil War, published by the Louisiana State University Press in 2005.

"I am pleased to learn that this outstanding book on the Civil War prison system by Chuck Sanders has won the very prestigious Jefferson Davis Award,"said K-State President Jon Wefald. "Reviewers have called it 'the best book ever published on Civil War prisons and prison policy.' I am proud that Chuck is a member of our faculty both for his knowledge and for his engaging teaching style; his expertise and enthusiasm greatly benefit our students."

The Museum of the Confederacy's annual book awards competition recognizes outstanding historical research and writing on the period of the ConfederateStates of America. (Monnie Ryan took this photo of the entrance to Johnson's Island Federal Prison in Ohio.)

Sanders's primary field of study is 19th-century U.S. History, and his secondary interests include military history and American political history. He teaches a variety of American history courses, including The United States to 1876, The Civil War and Reconstruction, and the Advanced Seminar in History. He earned a bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University, a master of education from North Georgia College, a master of arts from the U.S. Naval War College, and a doctorate in history from K-State.

Dr. Sanders will be speaking to the Eastern Kansas CWRT on Thursday, February 28, at the Potawatomi Mission, KSHS, Topeka, at 6:30 p.m. The public is invited, and there is no admission, but we invite you to join our group.

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Philly Phillies

We end on a lovely note today. . . . At the Lincoln Ball held in the Union League in Philadelphia, our dear friends. . . . Carol Waskie, Kathy Tortoriello, Mary Ellen Fairbairn, each of whom is married to a Union general. (Don't they look young?) Visit http://www.cw-leaders.com/COUG/lincoln-ball-feb-2008-1.htm for more photos.