Civil War Weekly Fireside

The Weekly Fireside 27 Nov 2005 - Part 1

Mon, 01 May 2006 01:45:33 GMT

"The Weekly Fireside"
of the American Civil War History
Special Interest Group;
Distribution Coast to Coast
Week ending 27 November 2005

NOTE: If you do not wish to receive the Weekly Fireside, PLEASE send email to [CWWeeklyFireside@aol.com] or [CWWeeklyFirside@gmail.com] saying "UNSUBSCRIBE" and we will remove you from the distribution. On the other hand, if you know someone who would like to receive the newsletter, please have them send an email to [CWWeeklyFireside@aol.com] with subscribe in the subject line.
NOTE from Jayne: Please be assured your email addresses are not shared with, nor sold to, anyone else.

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NOTES FROM THE HELPERS OF THE CIVIL WAR HISTORY CHATS
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If you haven't gotten your newsletter, PLEASE do check your Spam Folder just in case it's there.

IF you respond to anything in they newsletter, PLEASE send it to [CWWeeklyFireside@aol.com] screen name.

The hosts of the American Civil War rooms hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving and were able to spend it with family. We had several visitors both nights in the room and we're glad you took time to join us

We have MANY internet subscribers to the newsletter who can't access our AOL rooms, and I was wondering whether you all would like to have a Civil War chat scheduled on the internet, available to everyone. We've had several replies regarding the internet chat and they've been positive, and I thank you for your feedback. Anyone else have any ideas??

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You can visit the Genealogy Schedule by going to

[http://journals.aol.com/gchjenna/AOLGenealogyCommunityNews/] which includes our Civil War chats. Watch there for announcements for special programs in the chats... Enter your surnames, your brickwalls, Need help, GENTREK announcements, our Chat schedule, Your hosts can even let you know if they can't be in their chat and who might be subbing for them. Put this in your favorite places and visit if often.

You can also check out other Civil War chats,

Mondays 9-10 PM ET Trivia

Tuesdays 10-11 PM ET with FOREVERPATS

Wednesdays 9-10 PM ET some weeks there is a specific topic

Thursdays 9-10 PM ET Trivia

All are in the Mason Dixon Room (aol://2719:3-508-Mason%20Dixon%20Line) (on AOL only) They have some great Trivia quizzes

Stop by the NEW Genealogy Community Website. [http://www.genealogycommunity.com]

Unfortunately someone hacked into the site and Will is in the process of rebuilding it. Stop in occasionally to check on the process. Be sure to post your surnames on the appropriate message board.

Please register and be sure to post your queries on the message boards. More content is being added all the time. Once you get register, (it really is painless) try visiting one of the chatrooms to see what they look like. If we have enough interest, we could schedule a Civil War chat.

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"THE BOOK SHELF"
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OK folks I know there are those of you who read Civil War books all the time... How about taking a few minutes and telling us about them. It doesn't have to be long. Send your review to along with the title, author to [CWWeeklyFireside@aol.com]

Civil War Book Review [http://www.cwbr.com/]

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--------OUR WEEKLY READING--------
(items from our Letters, Songs,
and Poems evenings)
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THE WRECK OF THE PRISONERS TRAIN
sent to me by Tom Gladwell

This little-known accident caused more casualties than many well-recorded battles of the war. Many questions about its background and aftermath remain unanswered.

Not all the tragic waste of human life in the Civil War was on the battlefields and in the hospitals and prison camps. Fare removed from the fighting front, in the Northeast corner of Pennsylvania, near the little town of Shohola in Pike County, more soldiers died in the early afternoon of Friday, July 15, 1864 than were killed in many of the small battles that have received some notice in published Civil War history.

This is the story of that tragedy.

It has its beginning in the Point Lookout Federal military prison in Maryland. This prison camp (there were no barracks) served as a kind of distributing point for the transfer of Confederate enlisted men to other prisons farther north. Set up in August 1863, it often had a tent dwelling population of close to 20,000. Our story concerns 833 of these men, selected to be shipped to the Elmira (NY) Military prison when Grant's decision in the spring of '64 to discontinue prisoner exchange led to overcrowding at Point Lookout.

The first leg of the journey was by ship to Jersey City. Here in the early dawn of July 15, the men were transferred to a train made up of a hodgepodge of over 20 "emigrant" cars, box cars and the like. It carried a guard of about 125 soldiers stationed generally four to each car. two at the front and two at the rear. Security measures up to this point had be a bit leaky; the scheduled departure of the train at 4:30 a.m. was delayed for more than an hour by a search for three prisoners who escaped somewhere between the ship and the train.

The train finally got under way sometime after 5:30, and shortly before 1:30 in the afternoon was moving northwest toward Shohola on the single-line track of the Erie Railroad paralleling the Delaware River. At the same time, several miles up the line beyond Shohola, tragedy was in the making. An eastbound 50-car coal train came onto the main line off the Hawley branch four miles away at Lackawaxen. Conductor John Martin swung off to ask Duff Kent, telegraph operator at the junction if the track was clear for him to proceed. Kent had been carousing the night before, he was still suffering from the "morning afters," and although the flag-carrying pilot train preceding the prisoner-laden extra had passed his station giving warning, he unthinkingly gave Martin the go-ahead. So the coal train turned east at 12 miles an hour toward the now westbound prisoner train then approaching Shohola at twice that speed.

A mile west of Shohola lay a long, sharply curved cut called locally the King and Fuller's Cut from the contractors who had dug it. Track visibility in the deep cut was little better than 150 feet. There, without warning, the two engines met. A survivor described that meeting as a tremendous, crashing roar, with the engines rearing up "high in the air, face to face against each other, like giants grappling." The crash "was followed by a second or two of awful silence and then the air was filled by the most appalling shrieks and wails and cries of anguish."

The impact telescoped the leading prison car into a space of little more than six feet; all four guards and all but one of 38 prisoners were killed, most of them horribly mangled. The succeeding cars suffered proportionately less, but when survivors and the townspeople who hurried to the scene had laid out the bodies, some of them hastily pieced together from bloody fragments, the toll of the dead came to 51 prisoners and 19 of their blue-coated guards. In addition, of the civilian train crews, the fireman and brakeman of the coal train and the engineer and fireman of the Prisoner train all perished. This was not the final total; many of the 123 injured died within the next few hours.

The authorities acted promptly. A coroner's inquest was held at Shohola and strangely, though the criminal carelessness that had caused the slaughter was well known, everyone connected with the disaster was exonerated. Duff Kent was not molested; in fact, while the victims of his drunken stupidity lay dead or pain-wracked from their injuries, he callously attended a dance that night at nearby Hawley. Next day, however, he disappeared, never to be heard of again.

The railroad company took over the sad task of mass burial. A local undertaker supplied individual pine boxes for the Union dead; the Confederates were buried four in a box. A great trench 76 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 6 feet deep was dug the night of the disaster between the railroad and the river 200 yards away. In this were placed the 72 Confederates then dead. They were buried in their gray uniforms, their feet toward the river.

For 47 years, the last sleep of these Southerners in an alien soil was undisturbed save by the river floods which periodically carried away some of the bones. Then, in 1911, and act of Congress provided for re-interment of the remains in the Woodlawn National Military Cemetery at Elmira, NY. On Tuesday, June 8, 1911, after three days of labor, the removal was completed. A number of relics; knives, pens, ink bottles, daguerreotypes, uniform decorations, and the like, were turned over to the local historical society.

Traces of the tragedy have long since been obliterated, but local historians still seek the answers to two questions; What became of the author of the disaster, Duff Kent? What happened to the five prisoners who escaped in the confusion of the wreck? Somewhere in northeastern Pennsylvania or adjoining New York, it is believed are the descendants of at least one who was known to have worked in a coal mine and later lived at Matamoras. But what of the others? Did they find their way back to fight in the South's last battles, or did they begin new life in a northern land?

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THE HELP DESK
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Do you have a question that you didn't get to ask in the chatrooms??
Send us and email [CWWeeklyFireside@aol.com] and we'll post it here to see if some of our readers can help you. If you get an answer to your question, please let us know.

From IllinoisCW

I would like to acquire copies of the following two books.
ALL WERE NOT HEROES by Edward C. Johnson - published in 1997 in Chicago
&
LIST OF THE U S SOLDIERS EXECUTED BY U S MILITARY AUTHORITIES DURING THE LATE WAR - published by the U S War Department in 1892

Please contact me regarding price and condition"
Frank Crawford
[IllinoisCW@aol.com]

Thanks

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DID YOU KNOW?
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If you have something we could use here, PLEASE send it along. Thanks!!!!

Robert Todd Lincoln arrived too late to stop three separate presidential assassinations.He met his father, President Abraham Lincoln, at the theatre after John Wilkes Booth had fired the shot. He went to a Washington train station to meet President Garfield, arriving only minutes after he was shot. And, he traveled to Buffalo, New York to meet President McKinley, but got there after the fatal shot had already been fired.

Lincoln had a cat named "Bob," a turkey named "Jack," and a dog named "Jib."

Lincoln's brother, half-brothers, and brothers-in-law fought in the Confederate Army.
For more fascinating Lincoln trivia, check out
[http://www.geocities.com/presfacts/lincoln.html]

The Weekly Fireside 27 Nov 2005 - Part 2

Mon, 01 May 2006 01:43:54 GMT

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Weekly Web Sites we've received
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If you have a favorite Civil War site, please send them to [CWWeeklyFireside@aol.com]

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From An Madra Rua

Abraham Lincoln Research Site
[http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton/Lincoln2.html]

Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/alhtml/malhome.html]

Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project
[http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/]

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From bitsobluengray

From one of the maillists I belong to:

[http://www.gettysburgtimes.com/headlines/news/112105/front2.htm]

Speaker says diverse groups participated in the Civil War

Gettysburg Times: HEADLINES

Balloons in the Civil War

[http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/

Lighter_than_air/Civil_War_balloons/LTA5.htm]

Brothers Bound - A Source Page for Information on the Civil War Era Prisoner of War Experience

[http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~south1/bound.htm]

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From AndersonvillePOW

this was in answer to a question on a maillist

This is the main page:
[http://www.hti.umich.edu/]

Click on Making of America (on the right)

Then in blue search box type "Sameuel Bates" and click search

Scroll down a couple entries, and voila.

Lots of other entries, too. Thanks again and take care.

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FROM OUR READERS
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If your ancestor has or you have a story to tell about your ancestor, please send it to us.

[CWWeeklyFireside@aol.com]

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A BIT OF COMMUNITY...MEMBERS HELPING MEMBERS
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I'm going to put a note here to all of you have so graciously offered to help folks out. If you no longer want to be on this list please let me know and I will take your name off the list. I've had email telling me they've sent email to someone on the list for help, and the email was deleted before it was ever even read.

If you have a resource from which you would be willing to do look-ups for folks, please let us know and we'll add it here.

NEW!!! [ybcr@comcast.net] (thanks Madge) Madge Johns has told us she has a copy of Avery Harris' Civil War Journal and will look up names in the 143rd PA Vol. Regt. company A-K rosters

NEW!!! CWfan2 (thanks CW) I have extensive files on both the 123rd and 169th NYV and will do look ups on any veterans in either unit. I can go to the North Carolina Archives and do look ups on NC soldier records. However, I do not do Genealogy work.

FuzzyMonkee00@aol.com has offered to do lookups for anyone who has an ancestor who served in the 53rd Alabama Partisan Rangers.

JDevi4@aol.com has offered to help anyone with info on the 3rd Tennessee Mounted Infantry US and other Tennessee units from both sides.

HMS Polychrest@aol.com has said he would be happy to assist in research on: 18th Missouri Volunteer Infantry USA, which was organized in Northern Missouri before finally fighting at Shiloh and serving with Sherman starting in '63. Also, Missouri Units and state CW history in general -- both Union and Confederate.

Please put "Missouri CW Research" or "18th MO VOLS" in the subject line when contacting me

UBucket@aol.com has offered to do free Civil War research from veterans from Wisconsin. He is the author of "Civil War Veterans of Winnebago County, Wisconsin"

eharding2@cox.net has offered to do lookups for folks with ancestors from the Confederacy, focusing mainly on North Carolina, but has other sources also.

GoldHobo@aol.com has told us if anyone wants info the the 85th NY Inf. Regt. (Plymouth Pilgrims) you may email her. She has a book about them. Her one request is that you put 85th Regt. in the subject line so she doesn't delete it by mistake

JLawson656@aol.com has access to Pension Records for Civil War Soldiers in Louisiana. If you

need help, send JL an email.

MOM611@aol.com said she has a book on the men of the 9th OHIO if anyone needs information.

Nanatnt2@aol.com has a book on the 85th NY Infantry which spent most of their time in

Andersonville.

Trumpshallblow17@aol.com has a list of all the Civil War Venterans buried in every known

cemetery and family plot in Maury Co., TN both Confederate anbd Union from which she is willing to check for your ancestor. Also if you have anyone on the list and have additional information, Trump would appreciated you sending it to her.

Bitsobluengray@aol.com has Delaware Civil War Union Rosters from two different sources and a book "They Died at Fort Delaware"

If anyone is doing Illinois Civil War research, you may email IllinoisCW@aol.com Tell him Jayne

sent you. He will give it priority and see what he can find for you.

If YOU have a Civil War Ancestor, Kevin/frye@pstel.net does Volunteer research at Andersonville Civil War Prison in Andersonville, GA. Any research he does is absolutely at NO cost and he is willing to do all he can. There are more than 32,000 prisoners on record from the Union, and quite a few who were held prisoner there as Union regiments from Confederate states. There are also nearly 13000 marked graves of those who died there. Kevin's focus is dedicated to ALL of those held prisoner during the war, on both sides, as well as all Americans who gave their freedoms for those that we enjoy today.. He just happens to be near Andersonville, so that is where he does his work.
Visit Kevin's site at: [http://www.angelfire.com/ga2/Andersonvilleprison/index.html]

If YOU have a question regarding Confederate researching, visit Steve Teeft's website at

[http://www.dixieresearch.com] Tell him you saw his address in the Weekly Fireside.

Steve@dixieresearch.com

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"THE TOWN CRIER"
Civil War Calendar!!
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If your group is sponsoring any events or you know of a great event, please send it to

[CWWeeklyFireside@aol.com] and we will be glad to include it here in our calendar.

You might want to check out this site if you're looking for an event in your area:

[http://www.civilwar-va.com/events/index.html] OR [http://www.sutler.net/eventlist.asp]

December 3 Maryland
Annual Memorial Illumination at the Antietam National Battlefield. More than 23,000 candles placed on the battlefield, each representing a casualty. Driving tour begins 6 pm on Route 34 east of Sharpsburg. Inclement weather reschedule date is Dec. 10. The park visitor center will close at 3 pm. 301-432-5124 or [http://www.nps.gov/anti].

December 3 North Carolina

Christmas Open House at the Bentonville Battlefield near Four Oaks., Living history, decorations and more. 10 am-4 pm. Free. 910-594-0789.

December 10-11 Virginia

Living history, encampment, period music, kids' games and military demonstrations at Ferry Farm, George Washington's Boyhood Home across the river from Fredericksburg, Virginia. 10 am-4 pm Saturday, 10 am-2 pm Sunday. $5. [www.ferryfarm.org] or 540-370-0732, extension 11.

December 10-11 Virginia
Reenactment, "The Battle of Fredericksburg." Events scheduled on both sides of the Rappahannock River including two battles on Saturday. Activities in downtown Fredericksburg and at Ferry Farm. Check [http://www.47thVA.org] for updated information and schedules.

January 14, 2006 Living history, anniversary programs commemorating the anniversary of the Second Battle of Fort Fisher, Kure Beach, North Carolina. Special tours and demonstrations. Details: [www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hs/fisher/fisher.htm]

Be sure to check

[http://www.civilwar-va.com/events/index.html]

[http://www.sutler.net/eventlist.asp]

For other events

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Schedule of Upcoming Topics/Events
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Time:
Monday Night at 9 PM ET in the Mason Dixon Line Room

[aol://2719:3-508-Mason%20Dixon%20Line] TRIVIA
Thursday Night at 9 pm ET in the Mason Dixon Line Room

[aol://2719:3-508-Mason%20Dixon%20Line] TRIVIA
Thursday Night at 11pm ET in the Ancestral Digs Room [aol://2719:3-232-Ancestral%20Digs] with Jayne, Rua and Will and their many faithful friends :)
Friday Night at 10 PM ET in the Ancestral Digs Room [aol://2719:3-232-Ancestral%20Digs] with Jayne and Sandy

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Schedule is subject to change

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Put these screens names, GCH Jayne CW, GCH Rua CW, GCH Sandy J, GCH

Will CW on your buddy list and if you can't find your way to the rooms, IM one of us and we'll get you in (AOL only).

Thursday, December 1, 11 PM ET till 1 AM - rescheduled - "A Scouting Expedition" a letter written by Peter Wellington Alexander, a war correspondent, to the newspaper.

Friday, December 2, 10 PM ET till midnight - rescheduled - A couple of newspaper articles... "A History of the Military Life of Harlan Gause" and "An Old Soldier Tells of an Incident in the White House During the Civil War"

Thursday, December 8, 11 PM ET till 1 AM - songs, letters and poems

Friday, December 9, 10 PM ET till midnight - songs, letters and poems

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WHAT WE ARE ABOUT
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OUR FOCUS: the "History of the American (United States) Civil War," with by-products of

laughter, and camaraderie!

OUR GOAL: to enhance your Genealogy activity, knowledge, and "wisdom" by talking about the history surrounding their lives and actions; specifically the "Civil War" that our ancestors lived through and died because of.

Captain Oliver Wendell Holmes of the 20th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, said it so well.

"I think it is a noble and pious thing
To do whatever we may by written
Word or molded bronze and sculpted
Stone to keep our memories, our
Reverence and our love alive and
To hand them on to new generations

All too ready to forget."

OUR PROMISE: to provide an "online" environment that is NOT judgmental and to address ALL

aspects of this "Pivotal Period" in our History, with honesty and truth (as we know it).

We'll See You Thursday, and/or Friday Night.
Jayne, Rua, Sandy and Will

The Weekly Fireside 20 Nov 2005 - Part 1

Mon, 01 May 2006 01:41:38 GMT

"The Weekly Fireside"
of the American Civil War History
Special Interest Group;
Distribution Coast to Coast
Week ending 20 November 2005

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NOTES FROM THE HELPERS OF THE CIVIL WAR HISTORY CHATS
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If you haven't gotten your newsletter, PLEASE do check your Spam Folder just in case it's there.

IF you respond to anything in they newsletter, PLEASE send it to [CWWeeklyFireside@aol.com] screen name.

Thursday we read a letter written by Peter Wellington Alexander who was a war correspondent. If you'd be interested in other letters, you may purchase the book from [http://www.bellegrovepublishing.com. Friday there was a variety of subjects and since Saturday, November 19, 2005 was the 142nd Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, we read Lincoln's Address.

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You can visit the Genealogy Schedule by going to

You can also check out other Civil War chats,

Mondays 9-10 PM ET Trivia

Tuesdays 10-11 PM ET with FOREVERPATS

Wednesdays 9-10 PM ET some weeks there is a specific topic

Thursdays 9-10 PM ET Trivia

All are in the Mason Dixon Room (aol://2719:3-508-Mason%20Dixon%20Line) (on AOL only) They have some great Trivia quizzes

Stop by the NEW Genealogy Community Website. [http://www.genealogycommunity.com]

Unfortunately someone hacked into the site and Will is in the process of rebuilding it. Stop in occasionally to check on the process. Be sure to post your surnames on the appropriate message board.

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"THE BOOK SHELF"
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Civil War Book Review [http://www.cwbr.com/]

TITLE----REBELS OF BABYLON: THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF ABEL JONES

(a novel)
AUTHOR---OWEN PARRY
PUBLIHER--- WILLIAM MORROW<aka HARPER COLLINS>
ISBN---0-26-251-392-6

I have been following the Civil War adventures of Welshman, turned American, Able Jones through 5 books,now this is the 6th. Parry's hero is a wounded immigrant, wounded at 1st Manassas but also haunted in spirit by what he endured as a British solider in India.

A flawed hero is always, better than the unflawed hero. Rebels of Babylon, take Abel to New Orleans to investigate the apparent murder of daughter of a northern power broker. Abel is now a Major, and is answerable to only two people, President Lincoln and William Seward. Our Major Jones plans on a straight forward murder investigation, but instead finds a labyrinth of intrigue in New Orleans, where nothing is as it seems. Along the way, he meets some very shady and very sneaky people. He even has a run in with General Nathaniel Banks, who has replaced "Spoons" butler, in charge of New Orleans. Our hero, eventually works it all out, but in the mean time, takes us on a journey through the New Orleans of the federal occupation.
This is a wortthy addition to this series.

If you would like to meet Abel Jones from the beginning, Mr Parry's first book in this series is FADED COAT OF BLUE

AntietamCW

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--------OUR WEEKLY READING--------
(items from our Letters, Songs,
and Poems evenings)
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Yesterday, on the 142nd Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, my husband, oldest son and I went to Gettysburg to see the Remembrance Day Parade. As we were driving thru the town, it was almost as if we had been taken back in time. MANY men, women and children walking around town in period dress... an awesome site.

As I was watching the parade, which lasted a full hour, it reminded me that, even though it's a day late, I should share the Gettysburg Address with you all. I never really thought much about the words until a couple of years ago, so as you read it now, really pay attention and think about what he said.

Lincoln's Gettysburg Address,
given November 19, 1863 on the battlefield near
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . . can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . . we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth.

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THE HELP DESK
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DID YOU KNOW?
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If you have something we could use here, PLEASE send it along. Thanks!!!!

Cost Of The American Civil War

         The approximately 10,455 military engagements, some devastating to human life and some nearly bloodless, plus naval clashes, accidents, suicides, sicknesses, murders, and executions resulted in total casualties of 1,094,453 during the Civil War. The Federals lost 110,100 killed in action and mortally wounded, and another 224,580 to disease. The Confederates lost approximately 94,000 as a result of battle and another 164,000 to disease. Even if one survived a wound, any projectile that hit bone in either an arm or a leg almost invariably necessitated amputation. The best estimate of Federal army personnel wounded is 275,175; naval personnel wounded, 2,226. Surviving Confederate records indicate 194,026 wounded.
        In dollars and cents, the U.S. government estimated Jan. 1863 that the war was costing $2.5 million daily. A final official estimate in 1879 totaled $6,190,000,000. The Confederacy spent perhaps $2,099,808,707. By 1906 another $3.3 billion already had been spent by the U.S. government on Northerners' pensions and other veterans' benefits for former Federal soldiers. Southern states and private philanthropy provided benefits to the Confederate veterans. The amount spent on benefits eventually well exceeded the war's original cost.
        Inflation affected both Northern and Southern assets but hit those of the Confederacy harder. Northern currency fluctuated in value, and at its lowest point $2.59 in Federal paper money equaled $1 in gold. The Confederate currency so declined in purchasing power that eventually $60-$70 equaled a gold dollar.
        The physical devastation, almost all of it in the South, was enormous: burned or plundered homes, pillaged countryside, untold losses in crops and farm animals, ruined buildings and bridges, devastated college campuses, and neglected roads all left the South in ruins.
        Detailed studies of Union and Confederate military casualties are found in Numbers and Losses in the Civil War in America 1861-65 by Thomas L. Livermore (I901) and Regimental Losses in the American Civil War, 1867-1865 by William F. Fox (1889).
Source: "Historical Times Encyclopedia of the Civil War" Edited by Patricial L. Faust [http://www.civilwarhome.com/warcosts.htm]

The Weekly Fireside 20 Nov 2005 - Part 2

Mon, 01 May 2006 01:40:25 GMT

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Weekly Web Sites we've received
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If you have a favorite Civil War site, please send them to [CWWeeklyFireside@aol.com]

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From Moweq

Patriotic Order Sons of America
[http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmuseum/fraternalism/posa.htm]

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From bitsobluengray

Civil War PA Regiments

[http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/HMore/civwarpa.htm]

The Civil War Letters of Fannie Austin

[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~snugaza/austin/index.html]

The Generals of the American Civil War

[http://www.generalsandbrevets.com/]

The Papers of Abraham Lincoln

[http://www.papersofabrahamlincoln.org/]

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From RKat91

Another very interesting Civil War site.

Harper's Weekly from the Civil War period and more....

[http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1862/may/censorship.htm]

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FROM OUR READERS
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If your ancestor has or you have a story to tell about your ancestor, please send it to us.

[CWWeeklyFireside@aol.com]

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This was sent to me by JDevi4

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.
Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.
Both Presidents were shot in the head.

Now it gets really weird.

<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 />Lincoln 's secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy's Secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.
Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939. .

Both assassinswere known by their three names.
Both names are composed of fifteen letters.

Now hang on to your seat.

Lincoln was shot at the theater named 'Ford.'
Kennedy was shot in a car called ' Lincoln' made by 'Ford.'

Lincoln was shot in a theater and his assassin ran and hid in a warehouse.
Kennedy was shot from a warehouse and his assassin ran and hid in a theater.

Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.

And here's the kicker...

A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe, Maryland

A week before Kenedy was shot, he was with Marilyn Monroe

The Weekly Fireside - 20 Nov 2005 - Part 3

Mon, 01 May 2006 01:38:21 GMT

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A BIT OF COMMUNITY...MEMBERS HELPING MEMBERS
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If you have a resource from which you would be willing to do look-ups for folks, please let us know and we'll add it here.

NEW!!! [ybcr@comcast.net] (thanks Madge) Madge Johns has told us she has a copy of Avery Harris' Civil War Journal and will look up names in the 143rd PA Vol. Regt. company A-K rosters

[FuzzyMonkee00@aol.com] has offered to do lookups for anyone who has an ancestor who served in the 53rd Alabama Partisan Rangers.

[JDevi4@aol.com] has offered to help anyone with info on the 3rd Tennessee Mounted Infantry US and other Tennessee units from both sides.

[HMSPollychrest@aol.com] has said he would be happy to assist in research on: 18th Missouri Volunteer Infantry USA, which was organized in Northern Missouri before finally fighting at Shiloh and serving with Sherman starting in '63. Also, Missouri Units and state CW history in general -- both Union and Confederate.

Please put "Missouri CW Research" or "18th MO VOLS" in the subject line when contacting me

[UBuecket@aol.com] has offered to do free Civil War research from veterans from Wisconsin. He is the author of "Civil War Veterans of Winnebago County, Wisconsin"

[eharding2@cox.net] has offered to do lookups for folks with ancestors from the Confederacy, focusing mainly on North Carolina, but has other sources also.

[GoldHobo@aol.com] has told us if anyone wants info the the 85th NY Inf. Regt. (Plymouth Pilgrims) you may email her. She has a book about them. Her one request is that you put 85th Regt. in the subject line so she doesn't delete it by mistake

[JLawson656@aol.com]has access to Pension Records for Civil War Soldiers in Louisiana. If you

need help, send JL an email.

[MOM611@aol.com] said she has a book on the men of the 9th OHIO if anyone needs information.

[Nanatnt2@aol.com] has a book on the 85th NY Infantry which spent most of their time in

Andersonville.

[Trumpshallblow17@aol.com] has a list of all the Civil War Venterans buried in every known

[Bitsobluengray@aol.com] has Delaware Civil War Union Rosters from two different sources and a book "They Died at Fort Delaware"

If anyone is doing Illinois Civil War research, you may email [IllinoisCW@aol.com] Tell him Jayne sent you. He will give it priority and see what he can find for you.

If YOU have a Civil War Ancestor, [Kevin/frye@pstel.net] does Volunteer research at Andersonville Civil War Prison in Andersonville, GA. Any research he does is absolutely at NO cost and he is willing to do all he can. There are more than 32,000 prisoners on record from the Union, and quite a few who were held prisoner there as Union regiments from Confederate states. There are also nearly 13000 marked graves of those who died there. Kevin's focus is dedicated to ALL of those held prisoner during the war, on both sides, as well as all Americans who gave their freedoms for those that we enjoy today.. He just happens to be near Andersonville, so that is where he does his work.
Visit Kevin's site at: [http://www.angelfire.com/ga2/Andersonvilleprison/index.html]

If YOU have a question regarding Confederate researching, visit Steve Teeft's website at [http://www.dixieresearch.com] Tell him you saw his address in the Weekly Fireside. [Steve@dixieresearch.com]

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"THE TOWN CRIER"
Civil War Calendar!!
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If your group is sponsoring any events or you know of a great event, please send it to

[CWWeeklyFireside@aol.com] and we will be glad to include it here in our calendar.

You might want to check out this site if you're looking for an event in your area:

[http://www.civilwar-va.com/events/index.html] OR [http://www.sutler.net/eventlist.asp]

December 3 North Carolina

Christmas Open House at the Bentonville Battlefield near Four Oaks., Living history, decorations and more. 10 am-4 pm. Free. 910-594-0789.

December 10-11 Virginia

Be sure to check

[http://www.civilwar-va.com/events/index.html]

[http://www.sutler.net/eventlist.asp]

For other events

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Schedule of Upcoming Topics/Events
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Time:
Monday Night at 9 PM ET in the Mason Dixon Line Room

[aol://2719:3-508-Mason%20Dixon%20Line] TRIVIA
Thursday Night at 9 pm ET in the Mason Dixon Line Room

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Schedule is subject to change

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Put these screens names, GCH Jayne CW, GCH Rua CW, GCH Sandy J, GCH

Will CW on your buddy list and if you can't find your way to the rooms, IM one of us and we'll get you in (AOL only).

Thursday, November 24, 11 PM ET till 1 AM November 25 - HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you and yours. There will be no official chat but if you'd like to show up, you are most welcome to do so. I'm sure you'll find some of us there

Friday, November 25, 10 PM ET till Midnight ET - There will be no official chat but if you'd like to show up, you are most welcome to do so. I'm sure you'll find some of us there

Thursday, December 1, 11 PM ET till 1 AM December 2 - to be announced

Friday, December 2, 10 PM ET till midnight - to be announced

Thursday, December 8, 11 PM ET till 1 AM - songs, letters and poems

Friday, December 9, 10 PM ET till midnight - songs, letters and poems

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WHAT WE ARE ABOUT
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OUR FOCUS: the "History of the American (United States) Civil War," with by-products of

laughter, and camaraderie!

Captain Oliver Wendell Holmes of the 20th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, said it so well.

All too ready to forget."

OUR PROMISE: to provide an "online" environment that is NOT judgmental and to address ALL

aspects of this "Pivotal Period" in our History, with honesty and truth (as we know it).

We'll See You Thursday, and/or Friday Night.
Jayne, Rua, Sandy and Will