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7th Maryland, Now in our 21st year!
Volume 21, Issue 2
“We are but few in number but formidable.” -Pvt. James Shelton, 7th Md. Co. B
The National Union
(Republican)
Convention
The nominating convention of the National Union
Party, dominated by Republicans with a scattering of
War Democrats, met in Baltimore on June 7-8, 1864. By
that time, Lincoln’s supporters had thwarted various
insurgencies and secured
control of the proceedings.
The platform called for pursuit of the war until the
Confederacy surrendered
unconditionally; a constitutional amendment for the
abolition of slavery; aid to
Cedar Creek
Camp Meals
Deadline:
October 12th
disabled Union veterans;
continued European neutrality; enforcement of the
Monroe Doctrine; encouragement of immigration;
and construction of a transcontinental railroad. It also
praised the use of black
troops and Lincoln’s management of the war. On the
first presidential ballot,
Lincoln got all of the votes
except for 22 cast by Missouri delegates for General
Grant (506 of 528). The Missouri faction, however,
quickly changed their votes
to make Lincoln’s renomination unanimous.
October 2014
Like many presidents, Lincoln gave little thought to
the vice presidency; therefore, he left the selection of
his running mate to the convention, expressing no opinion publicly or privately.
Vice President Hannibal
Hamlin desired to be renominated, but he generated
little enthusiasm. Some
thought it was important
strategically and symbolically to nominate a War
Democrat, such as former
U.S. Senator Daniel Dickinson of New York. Dickinson’s election, though, would
likely put pressure on Secre(Continued on page 5)
Contact
Miss Sarah Harris
At
[email protected]
Inside this issue:
Captain’s Report
3
Ladies’ Knapsack
7
McClellan’s Letter
8
Greetings to all my 7th
Maryland friends and family. By the time this is published, October will have
arrived along with much
cooler weather and our last
big event of the season will
be just around the bend.
This summer has seemed
strange to me, with several
very long breaks between
events, and I am looking
forward to seeing everyone
again for the 150th Cedar
Creek. This should be a busy
and engaging weekend both
on the battle field and in
camp. If you haven’t already
been in touch with me re-
garding the annual Ladies’
Tea for the Ladies of the
FVB, please give some
thought as to how we can
make this important activity
even more enjoyable and
memorable. Please send me
a message with any ideas or
requests for any particular
entertainment that might be
arranged. Please volunteer
your skills and talents, or
nominate someone to provide us with something that
you know they have in their
bag of tricks. This is our
opportunity to really stand
up and show all of the ladies
who do so much to support
us and our organizations
just how
much we
appreciate
them, and
how
Cpl Stephen Blumberg
much
President
their
support means to us. I will
be anxiously awaiting your
communications on the subject.
Something new in the
camps this year, as General
Henson has previously communicated, will be the
Presidential Campaign activity. I suspect that this
(Continued on page 9)
PAGE 2
October 17-19th
h
th
150 Anniversary
Battle of
Cedar Creek.
Middletown, VA
(7 MD Company Event) (FVB )
At Cedar Creek Battlefield. Several
exciting scenarios are planned for
the three-day event. Most notably
are the battles of 3rd Winchester,
and a better scenario of the Battle
of Cedar Creek.
Also several camp scenarios are
planned. The USV will be campaigning for their candidate, Abraham Lincoln, while the Army of
the Potomac will be boosting their
choice, Gen. George McClellan. Actual voting will take place along
OUR CAMP JOURNAL
with oratories, and rallies by torchlight. Everyone is encouraged to
participate in the election campaign.
General McClellan MUST win the
election.
November 14, 2014
Federal Volunteer Brigade
Brigade Annual meeting
Gettysburg Fire Hall,
Gettysburg, PA
(7th MD Company Rep) (FVB)
VO LUM E 21 , IS S UE 2
November 15, 2014
150th Remembrance Day Parade
Morning Ceremonies and
Remembrance Day Parade
Gettysburg, PA
(7th MD Company Event) (FVB)
Join the regiment for morning
ceremonies in the National Cemetery 7:30 am. Parade then forms up
at Gettysburg High School and steps
off at 12:00 noon through the streets
of the town. Additional details and
directions to come.
The Annual Meeting will start at
7:00 PM. The company is requested
to have a representative present.
This is a preliminary business and
review meeting for the FVB.
the troops.
The Stephens City United Methodist
Church Food Pantry will be the inaugural recipient of the Federal Volunteer Brigade’s Community Campaign
food drive at the 150th Cedar Creek
event. Please, please, remember to bring
any items from the list below with you
to the event.
Items the pantry particularly needs
are cereal, boxed potatoes, rice, noodles,
macaroni, peanut butter, soups, canned
meats such as tuna, chicken, corned
beef hash, Vienna sausages and canned
ham.
Also needed are toiletries such as
Lots of good events
are in the offing. Next
year is the culmination
soap, toilet paper, and other hygiene
of the 150th Anniveritems that cannot be purchased with
sary. In which direcfood stamps.
tion will our cherished
hobby go? Will we, and
I would personally like to thank, in
event organizers, let the
Gen Jay Henson
advance, all who will be participating
things slide?
Federal Vol. Brigade
in the donation drive. As reenactors
we are fully aware of the hardships
Or do we renew our visibility, and in
suffered by the troops in 1864 and are
the
coming year, following the last,
sensitive to the need of those who suffer
great
surrender, renew our recruiting
today, on a daily basis.
efforts by attending as many smaller
events, as a Brigade, that we can.
We will make the donation to the
food pantry on Saturday morning, prior
These are questions we need to ponder
to any engagement that we will be inand
talk about in the coming months. I
volved in, and after any drill or parades
personally
find our Brigade a family,
we may schedule. I encourage everyone
too
important
to let fall by the wayside.
to be present.
I will do everything in my power to
keep us in the forefront, and favorable
In the coming months we hope to
in the public eye.
have additional campaigns. Another
food drive is scheduled for RememThe anniversary cycle may be drawbrance Day in Gettysburg, and hopeing to a close, but our work as reenactor
fully before the Christmas holiday, we
/ educators is hardly done.
would like to plan a trip to the Walter
See you at the Creek...
Reed National Medical Center to visit
VO LU ME 21 , ISS UE 2
OUR CAMP JOURNAL
PAGE 3
transferred to several different prisons,
even though early on they had been
paroled, their continued imprisonment
likely due (in their opinion) to the fact
that they worked for the Tribune.
We have all read accounts about the
war written by the individual soldier,
through letters home and books written
after the war. These writings have become important in the development of
our impressions and mind set. We also
are able to take news accounts for our
sources; newspapers were, until recently
the way that everyone got their information on current events. Just as now
the news wasn’t always true or accurate.
Hey, the photos don’t always represent
what was real either do they? Just as
the photographers didn’t always give us
a true representation of the war, the
newspapers didn’t either. Of course you
also have to take what was written by
the individuals who experienced the
war with a grain of salt too. Embellishment was one of the favorite ways to
tell a story! So what happens when you
have a tail about the experiences of
newspaper men of the day?
Junius Browne
and Albert Richardson had been
Capt. Jeff Bush
friends for over
Company Commander
ten years having
Junius Browne
There are stories of many people they
met, friend and foe while imprisoned.
It accounts their struggles with illness
and the surprising accommodations
that they were given. During their confinement they were able to obtain
southern newspapers to read. They did
receive correspondence from home but
it wasn’t regular. Between the letters
and the papers they realized that the
southern papers exaggerated as much if
not more than their own at times!
Finally their escape and perilous journey to friendly territory finds them
meeting some brave souls who had their
own lives on the line. The escape itself
was one of those actions that seems almost so simple it has to have actually
happened.
The book gives a lot of insight into
the noncombatants as well as the
“unofficial” combatants of the war.
Slaves, outlaws, deserters, home guard
troops and civilians are all covered to
an extent.
The book is one of those that I couldn’t put down. If the accounts are true
then several of the mishaps and encounters have become the basis for a
number of fictional tails. There are at
least two movie plots there!
The 150th anniversary of the battle of
Cedar Creek is fast approaching. It has
been some time since we last got together. I hope to see you all there….I’ll
see you at the fire!
Albert Richardson
“Junius and Albert’s Adventure In
The Confederacy, A Civil War Odyssey”, is a book not written by the men
but about the men from their books and
letters. Peter Carlson’s book follows
these New York Tribune writers from
just before the war began to the end.
met in 1853. By 1863 both were working for the New York Tribune. They
had already covered several engagements. They headed south to cover the
war and their true adventure began.
Captured near Vicksburg they are
Confederate Prison Pen
PAGE 4
OUR CAMP JOURNAL
VO LUME 21 , ISS UE 2
dered his resignation from the army
effective October 31, 1864.
Significant Events of October 186
Cpl. Dan Paterson Jr.
Vice President
October 1864 was a busy month for
the Army of the Potomac as well as the
7th Maryland. The period was one for
several running battles and reconnaissance in force. The first fire-fight
listed in the regimental history is
Chapel House Farm, October 1 to 3,
1864. According to the 7th’s regimental
history, The Battle of Peeble’s Farm
occurred a week later, October 7-8. My
searches for anything about the action
at Chapel House turned up several
Medal of Honor Winners but no general description of the battle action
itself. I went to the trusty OR CDROM and found that there were several
names for both of these early October
actions. Or were they one action? According to the OR and several online
sources there were several names for
this battle or battles. Poplar Springs
Church, Wyatt’s Farm, Chappell’s
House, Pegram’s Farm, Vaughan Road,
Harmon Road. Also listed as Peeble’s
Farm in Dinwiddie County, Virginia.
One thing is clear and that is that all of
these actions were part of the extended
Richmond-Petersburg Campaign. In
combination with Maj. Gen. Benjamin
Butler’s offensive north of the James
River, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant extended his left flank to cut Confederate
lines of communication southwest of
Petersburg. Two divisions of the IX
corps under Maj. Gen. John G. Parke,
two divisions of the V Corps under Maj.
Gen. G.K. Warren, and Brig. Gen.
David M. Gregg’s cavalry division were
assigned to the operation. On September
30, the Federals marched via Poplar
Spring Church to reach Squirrel Level
and Vaughan Roads. The initial Federal attack overran Fort Archer, flanking the Confederates out of their Squirrel Level Road line. Laterin the afternoon, Confederate reinforcements arrived, slowing the Federal advance. On
October 1, the Federals repulsed a Confederate counterattack directed by Lt.
Gen. A.P. Hill. Reinforced by Maj.
Gen. Gershom Mott’s division, the Federals resumed their advance on the 2nd,
captured Fort MacRae which was
lightly defended, and extended their
left flank to the vicinity of Peebles’ and
Pegram’s Farms. With these limited
successes, Meade suspended the offensive. A new line was entrenched from
the Federal works on Weldon Railroad
to Pegram’s Farm.
The next action our boys participated
in was a little better known action
known as the Boydton Plank Road or
Hatcher's Run, October 27-28.This also
took place in Dinwiddie County. This
action was directed by Maj. Gen.
Winfield Scott Hancock with divisions
from three Union corps (II, V, and IX)
and Gregg’s cavalry division, numbering more than 30,000 men. They withdrew from the Petersburg lines and
marched west to operate against the
Boydton Plank Road and South Side
Railroad. The initial Union advance on
October 27 gained the Boydton Plank
Road, a major campaign objective. But
that afternoon, a counterattack near
Burgess’ Mill spearheaded by Maj. Gen.
Henry Heth’s division and Maj. Gen.
Wade Hampton’s cavalry isolated the II
Corps and forced a retreat. The Confederates retained control of the Boydton
Plank Road for the rest of the winter
and the action was considered a Confederate victory.
Captain Ephraim Foster Anderson,
Company I, after being wounded and
captured at Spotsylvania Court House
in May and imprisoned at Libby Prison
in Richmond, Virginia, contracted tuberculosis and was exchanged. He
recovered on September 23rd, was given
a thirty-day leave of absence and ten-
October 2 –Battle of Saltville, VA. In
Augusta, Georgia Jefferson Davis meets
with P. G. T. Beauregard to give him
command of the Department of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.
October 4 - Moving north along the
Western and Atlantic Railroad in an
attempt to sever Sherman's supply line,
John Bell Hood attacks blockhouses
and encampments at Acworth and
Moon's Station.
October 5 - Battle of Allatoona Pass,
Georgia. Confederates under Samuel
French attack entrenched Federals
under John Corse protecting the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Union: 2000
engaged, 142 (k), 352 (w), 212 (m), 706
(c). Confederate: 2000 engaged, 122 (k),
443 (w), 234 (m), 799 (c).
October 7 - Naval Engagement at Bahia
Harbor, Brazil. CSS Florida vs USS
Wachusett.
October 9 - Battle of Tom's Brook, Virginia. Phil Sheridan ordered his cavalry to attack a detachment of Confederate cavalry that had been harassing
his column and is beaten by General
Custer & Merritt’s cavalry divisions.
After a battle that covered almost 10
miles the Union cavalry stopped, having captured 300 Confederates.
October 12 - Roger Taney, Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court, dies.
October 13 - Maryland, a border state,
abolishes slavery in their new constitution.
October 17 - General James Longstreet
resumes command of his corps after
suffering a serious wound at The Wilderness in May.
October 19 - Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia. In the last major engagement in
the Shenandoah Valley, Jubal Early
[CS] defeats Phillip Sheridan [US] in
the first of two fairly distinct engagements. During the second engagement,
Sheridan arrived and rallied the federals, who easily repulsed Early.
Confederates raid on St. Albans, Ver(Continued on page 5)
VOLUME 21, ISSUE 2
OUR CAMP JOURNAL
PA GE 5
Connecticut.
(Continued from page 1)
tary of State William Seward, another
New Yorker, to resign from the cabinet.
The convention swung to Andrew Johnson, the Union military governor of
Tennessee, who had the double distinction of being a War Democrat and a
Southern Unionist. He was nominated
overwhelmingly on the first vicepresidential ballot. Since most radicals
were satisfied with the party platform
and the direction, though not the pace,
of the Lincoln administration on
emancipation, Johnson’s nomination
was palatable to them.
The Democratic Convention
The Democrats, on the other hand,
were energized by what they saw as the
morass of a stagnant Union war effort:
death, debt, and destruction with no
end in sight. Furthermore, several of
Lincoln’s key policies were extremely
unpopular: emancipation, the military
draft, the use of black troops, and violations of civil liberties. Democrats also
benefited when the president’s outline
of preconditions for peace negotiations,
in his “To Whom It May Concern” letter of July 1864, included the stipulation that the Confederate states abolish
slavery. Frederick Douglass had to
convince Lincoln not to backpedal on
that forward-looking stance, and the
president did stand firm, even though it
undercut his support among War Democrats and conservative Republicans.
Democrats played the race card for all
its worth, insisting that the Republi-
cans were upending traditional race
relations and advocating
“miscegenation”—a word for raciallymixed marriage allegedly coined during
the campaign.
The Democratic National Convention
met in Chicago in late August 1864,
when Union military prospects appeared dim. That circumstance
strengthened the Peace wing of the Democratic Party, led by Clement Vallandigham, a former congressman from
Ohio, and Fernando Wood, a congressman and former mayor from New York
City. Their proposals for a cease-fire
and negotiated settlement with the Confederacy were ratified by the delegates
and incorporated into the
official party
platform.
Confusing the
issue, though,
the Democrats
overwhelmingly chose
General
George B.
McClellan, a
War Democrat, as their
presidential
nominee over
two peace candidates, Governor Horatio
Seymour of
New York and
former Governor Thomas
Seymour of
“withdrawals”. The raiders than fled by
stolen horses to Canada where 14 of the
18 were captured quickly by Canadian
authorities with close to $90,000 of the
loot.
(Continued from page 4)
mont. The Northernmost action of the
Civil War as 18 Confederates stage an
attack on the 4 banks and citizenry of
St. Albans, Vermont. Led by the young
CSA Lt. Bennett Young, the plan begins north of the border in Canada and
was successful as over $200,000 was
obtained during their prompt
October 23 - Battle of Westport, Missouri.
October 26 - Battle of Decatur, Alabama.
October 27 - Battle of the Southside
Railroad and Battle of Hatcher's Run
Virginia. Battle of Burgess Mill, Vir-
McClellan was the controversial former general-in-chief of the Union
army, praised as an superb trainer of
raw recruits, beloved by his men as the
dashing “Young Napoleon,” yet much
criticized for his hesitancy, which some
characterized as cowardice, in committing his troops to battle, particularly at
the Second Battle of Bull Run and
Lee’s retreat after Antietam. U.S. Representative George Pendleton of Ohio, a
Peace Democrat, was selected as the
vice-presidential nominee after former
treasury secretary James Guthrie of
Kentucky, the leader on the first ballot,
withdrew.
The Campaign
In accepting the
nomination, McClellan
rejected the peace plank
of the party platform,
vowing instead to prosecute the war with more
skill and vigor than
Lincoln. The president
despaired of his chance
for reelection and
feared that, despite
McClellan’s assurance,
the momentum of a
Democratic victory
would fortify the Peace
faction and force the
general to recant his
campaign promise. Lincoln, therefore, made
his cabinet sign, sight
unseen, a pledge to cooperate with Presidentelect McClellan during
(Continued on page 6)
ginia.
October 28 - William Tecumseh
Sherman, in Gaylesville, AL, decides to
return to his field headquarters in
Kingston, GA. rather than pursue John
Bell Hood into Alabama.
October 31 - Nevada becomes the 36th
state in the United States.
PAGE 6
OUR CAMP JOURNAL
(Continued from page 5)
the interim period to ensure a speedy
Union conquest of the Confederacy before the general’s inauguration. A few
days after McClellan’s nomination,
however, the military tide began to turn
in the Union’s favor with the fall of
Atlanta on September 2 to General
William Tecumseh Sherman and subsequent Union successes. Consequently,
McClellan’s star began to fade and the
president’s reelection seemed more
likely.
The Republican campaign warned the
Union: “Don’t swap horses in the middle of the stream.” They went beyond
that innocuous slogan, however, to
equate opposition to Lincoln and the
Republicans with disloyalty to the Union. They papered the North with posters of Thomas Nast’s political cartoons,
“The Chicago Platform” and
“Compromise with the South,” which
depicted the Democrats essentially as
traitors. A Republican pamphlet alleged there was a clandestine agreement
between the Peace Democrats and the
Confederates. In October, party officials
distributed 10,000 copies of the report
by the judge advocate general of the
army, Joseph Holt, on secret societies of
Confederate sympathizers in the North,
implicitly associated with the Democratic Party.
The Union servicemen were an important segment of Lincoln’s base of
support. Where they had been able to
vote in the 1863 off-year elections, they
had voted heavily Republican. In the
fall of 1864, Secretary of War Edwin
Stanton saw to it that they were given
absentee ballots (when state law allowed) or furloughs home to vote in
person. Lincoln himself wrote to General Sherman asking him to allow his
men from Indiana to return home
in October to vote in that state’s
crucial election. The president
asked the same of Generals George
Meade and Philip Sheridan regarding the Pennsylvania election, of
General William Rosecrans concerning the Missouri election, and
of Navy Secretary Gideon Welles
relating to the New York election.
Stanton and Holt also used patronage and government contracts to
shore up the Republican political
machine.
The Election Results
With 78 percent of the Union
electorate casting ballots, Lincoln
was reelected in an Electoral College landslide, 212 to McClellan’s
21. The 55% popular vote for the
president was the third largest in
VOLUME 21, ISSUE 2
the nineteenth century, surpassed only
by Jackson’s first victory in 1828 and
Grant’s reelection in 1872. McClellan
won only New Jersey, Delaware, and
Kentucky. Republicans drew support
from native-born
farmers, skilled and
professional workers,
those of New England
descent, younger voters, and military personnel. Democrats
were strongest in the
cities and among
Irish- and GermanAmericans (the most
populous immigrant
groups). It has been
estimated that Lincoln received 78% of
the vote of Union soldiers and sailors. The
figure was not necessary for his reelection, but was perhaps the margin of
victory in a few close states and, more
importantly, of great symbolic value.
Republicans also gained seats in Congress to retain unassailable control, 149
to 42 in the House and 42 to 10 in the
Senate; took back several state legislatures; and lost only the governorship of
New Jersey (McClellan’s home state).
The Democrats, though, remained a
viable party. McClellan captured 48% of
the vote in a bloc of states stretching
from Connecticut to Illinois, and Republican totals declined over 1860 in
several key states, such as New York,
Pennsylvania, and Indiana. The twoparty system was sound, and Democrats
were well positioned to challenge Republicans in future contests.
Sources consulted: William A. DeGregorio,
The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents;
David Herbert Donald, Lincoln (1995);
Harold M. Hyman, “Election of 1864” in
History of American Presidential Elections, vol. III: 1848-1868, ed. Arthur M.
Schlesinger, Jr. (New York: Chelsea House
Publishers, 1985), pp. 1155-1178; Harper’s
Weekly via HarpWeek; James McPherson,
“Abraham Lincoln,” American National
Biography (online); Phillip Shaw Paludan,
The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln (1994);
and, Jon Schaff, “The Domestic Lincoln:
White House Lobbying of the Civil War
Congresses,” White House Studies (Winter
2002).
VO LUME 21 , ISS UE 2
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip
is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the
prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the
people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the
vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and
hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for
you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon’d
wreaths—for you the shores acrowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass,
their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and
dead.
My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and
still,
My father does not feel my
arm, he has no pulse nor
will,
The ship is anchor’d safe
and sound, its voyage
closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
Does Walt Whitman’s use of extended
metaphor accurately represent the feelings of the nation at the time of writing?
Let’s analyze the poem, in order to answer
this writing prompt:
Lines 1-2: These lines refer to the end of
the Civil War, with the prize that was
won being the reunification of the United
States, and the end of slavery.
OUR CAMP JOURNAL
Line 3: People are celebrating the end of
the war
Line 4: At the same time of celebration,
people are also mourning the loss of life
during the war
Lines 5-8: Referring to the assassination
of Abraham Lincoln, these lines give the
first hint towards Walt Whitman’s feelings about the event.
Lines 9-12: Abraham Lincoln’s accomplishments are being celebrated, through
music, parades, decorations, anything
people can use to celebrate the end of the
war and the man who brought the country through it.
Lines 13-16: The key word in these lines
is ‘dream’, many people are in denial
about Abraham Lincoln’s death, they do
not believe it could have happened at the
time that it did.
Lines 17-18: Many people, including
Walt Whitman, are starting to accept the
fact that Abraham Lincoln is dead.
Lines 19-20: Reflection, again, upon the
fact that the United States is safe, and the
Union is victorious.
Lines 21-24: The nation continues to celebrate a victory, but also mourn
the death of a great leader.
Walt Whitman utilizes two extended metaphors in this poem;
the first being the metaphor of
Abraham Lincoln being the
‘captain’, and the second being
the metaphor of the United,
States, or Union, as the ‘ship’. It
is, indeed, an appropriate use of
metaphor, as Abraham Lincoln
was a leader - a captain - of the
Union - a large vessel - and
guided it through difficult times
and into safety. These are referred to as extended metaphors due to the
fact that they are references throughout
the entire literary piece.
But one must return to the original
question – do these extended metaphors
accurately represent the feelings of the
nation at the time of writing? The answer
is no. Written in 1865, the poem clearly
describes the feelings of Walt Whitman;
he spent the Civil War bringing food to
hospitals and helping to take care of Union soldiers, and so his alliances are very
clear. Whitmanrefers to himself at the
end of the poem, where he explains that
as other people celebrate the end of the
PAGE 7
war, he will continue to mourn the
death of Abraham
Lincoln. It is also
safe to say that
Whitman was not
Miss Sarah Harris
the only one to
Civilian
have these feelings
at the end of the
Coordinator
war, and after
Lincoln’s death. Lincoln’s death was
mourned by many people; one would simply have to refer to pictures of Lincoln’s
funeral procession to see proof of this.
However, this poem does not reflect the
feelings of the entire nation. The fact that
Lincoln’s died at an assassin’s hand is
proof enough that there were some people
who would, and did, rejoice at his death.
There are many Southern towns and communities that did not join in the mourning process after his death.
This is an assignment that is given to 8th
grade students to complete; they are asked
to read the poem, read some articles about
reactions to Lincoln’s death, and then
they are to develop a thesis and defend it
with proof from the text.
The struggle is that many students, especially the students I work with, have limited knowledge on the Civil War. To
make matters a little more frustrating,
the students receive this assignment in
the first term, but do not learn about the
Civil War in history class until the
fourth term. Over the past summer, many
Language Arts teachers asked that this
assignment be moved to the end of the
Language Arts curriculum, so that it
would better align with what they are
doing in history class. Needless to say,
this request was denied, with the reasoning that students did not require a vast
amount of background knowledge in order to complete the assignment. I beg to
differ.
After struggling with this assignment last
year, the teacher I work with was willing
to skip this assignment, as a means to
reduce frustration levels for our class and
the particular students we work with.
However, I did not want to back down
from this challenge, I wanted to tackle
this assignment. The first thing we decided was to reverse the order of activities
within the assignment; originally the
(Continued on page 9)
PAGE 8
OUR CAMP JOURNAL
vain, that we had abandoned that Union for which we have so often perilled
our lives. A vast majority of our people,
whether in the army and navy or at
home, would, as I would, hail with unbounded joy the permanent restoration
of peace on the basis of the Union under the Constitution, without the effusion of another drop of blood, but no
peace can be permanent without Union.
McClellan's Letter Accepting the
Democratic Presidential
Nomination.
ORANGE, N. J., Sept. 8.
To Hon. Horatio Seymour and others,
committee, etc.:
GENTLEMEN,—I have the honor
to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter informing me of my nomination
by the Democratic National Convention, recently held at Chicago, as their
candidate at the next election for
President of the United States. It is
unnecessary for me to say to you that
this nomination comes to me unsought.
I am happy to know that, when the
nomination was made, the record of
my public life was kept in view. The
effect of long and varied service in the
army, during war and peace, has been
to strengthen and make indelible in
my mind and heart the love and reverence for the Union, Constitution, laws,
and flag of our country impressed
upon me in early youth. These feelings
have thus far guided the course of my
life, and must continue to do so until
its end. The existence of more than one
government over the region which once
owned our flag is incompatible with
the peace, the power, and the happiness of the people. The preservation of
our Union was the sole avowed object
for which the war was commenced. It
should have been conducted for that
object only, and in accordance with
those principles which I took occasion
to declare when in active service. Thus
conducted the work of reconciliation
would have been easy, and we might
have reaped the benefits of our many
victories on land and sea.
The Union was originally formed by
the exercise of a spirit of conciliation
and compromise. To restore and preserve it, the same spirit must prevail in
our councils and in the hearts of the
people. The reestablishment of the
Union, in all its integrity, is and must
continue to be the indispensable condition in any settlement. So soon as it is
clear, or even probable, that our pre-
ISS UE 21 , VO LUME 2
sent adversaries are ready for peace
upon the basis of the Union, we should
exhaust all the resources of statesmanship practiced by civilized nations, and
taught by the traditions of the American people, consistent with the honor
and interests of the country, to secure
such peace, reestablish the Union, and
guarantee for the future the constitutional rights of every State. The Union
is the one condition of peace. We ask no
more.
Let me add what I doubt not was,
although unexpressed, the sentiment of
the convention, as it is of the people
they represent, that when any one State
is willing to return to the Union it
should be received at once with a full
guarantee of all its constitutional
rights. If a frank, earnest, and persistent effort to obtain these objects should
fail, the responsibility for ulterior consequences will fall upon those who remain in arms against the Union, but
the Union must be preserved at all hazards. I could not look in the face my
gallant comrades of the army and navy
who have survived so many bloody battles, and tell them that their labors, and
the sacrifices of so many of our slain
and wounded brethren, had been in
As to the other subjects presented in
the resolutions of the convention, I
need only say that I should seek in the
Constitution of the United States, and
the laws framed in accordance
therewith, the rule of my duty and the
limitation of executive power; endeavor
to restore economy in public expenditures, re-establish the supremacy of the
law, and by the operation of a more
vigorous nationality resume our commanding position among the nations of
the earth. The condition of our finances, the depreciation of the paper
money, and the burdens thereby imposed on labor and capital, show the
necessity of a return to a sound financial system, while the rights of citizens
and the rights of States, and the binding authority of law over the President,
army, and people, are subjects of no less
vital importance in war than in peace.
Believing that the views here expressed are those of the convention, and
the people you represent, I accept the
nomination. I realize the weight of the
responsibility to be borne should the
people ratify your choice. Conscious of
my own weakness, I can only seek fervently the guidance of the Ruler of the
Universe, and, relying on His all powerful aid, do my best to restore Union
and peace to a suffering people, and to
establish and guard their liberties and
rights.
Very respectfully,
GEO. B. MCCLELLAN
Civil War Re-enactors;
America’s Living Historians.
(Continued from page 1)
group impression will liven up the camps ever
so slightly. I encourage everyone to put some
thought into how you can contribute individually to the Army of The Potomac’s support for
their candidate of choice, our own George B.
(Little Mac) McClellan. Some quick research
should provide you with some points of debate
and guide your position on why Little Mac is
the best choice for President, and prepare you
to develop this aspect of your impression for
this potentially raucous campaigning activity.
Some things to consider as you prepare to support our candidate are offered here in order to
get the wheels turning.
McClellan is acknowledged for doing an outstanding job organizing and training the Army
of The Potomac after the Union defeat at 1st
Manassas. He developed tremendous esprit de
corps in the men under his command. He was
experienced as an engineer, explorer, and in
world affairs as an observer during the Crimean War, unlike the backwoods lawyer he is
opposing. He was 2nd in his class of 1842 at
West Point. Lincoln himself had said, regardless of McClellan’s contemptible attitude, that
he “would hold McClellan’s horse” if his skills
helped win the war. He is credited with keeping Kentucky, and what we know as West Virginia, out of Confederate hands. McClellan’s
Army of The Potomac headed off
Lee’s attempt to invade Maryland
and the North with a stalemate
at Antietam after being placed
back in command of that force
for a 2nd time.
He was nominated in 1864 by
the Peace Democrats to run for
President on an anti-war, peaceat-any-price platform which
promised to end the war as
quickly as possible through a
negotiated peace with the Confederacy. Political figures in
1864, both Republican and Democrat, attempted to convince
Lincoln to call McClellan back
to a command position for the
Union as a means of disrupting
the Democratic Peace Party
heading into the elections. They
were very concerned about
McClellan becoming the opponent in the race. Presidents hadn’t served a 2nd term since Andrew Jackson’s victory in 1832,
why would we want to change
that?
Emancipation as a key initiative was a major point of concern
for voters in the North,
McClellan’s supporters would
focus on that point to sway voters
to their side. During the three
months of the summer of 1864
alone, 65,000 Union troops, a
comparatively huge number of
casualties, had accumulated.
Jubal Early’s Confederate forces
had nearly reached Washington.
Things were not going well for
Lincoln and the Union. Peace
Democrats wanted this to end at
any cost, even if it might mean
negotiating Confederate independence. Attempting to deflect
negative points about McClellan
and his military short-comings,
Little Mac’s Democratic supporters may have derided President
Lincoln using terms such as a
Liar, Thief, Braggart, Usurper,
Despot, Butcher, and would say
that he had abused his presidential powers and acted unconstitutionally by censoring the press
and instituting military rule
where it wasn’t needed and by
arresting critics without the
benefit of trial
(MillerCenter.org).
Some of the many reference sources
readily available for your research are;
Civil War Trust at CivilWar.org, HistoryNet.com, AbrahamLincolnsClassroom.org, Shotgun’s Home of the
American Civil War at CivilWarHome.com, USHistory.org, MillerCenter.org, Wikipedia, and countless other
sources.
In review, I need to hear from you
regarding the Ladies’ Tea to be held at
Cedar Creek, and do your homework
regarding the 1864 Presidential Campaign as a part of your impression for
the camp activities planned for Cedar
Creek. And as always, go over your kit
and your supplies, plan and prepare
well, exercise, stay healthy and get hydrated heading into 17 October, and for
newer members please know that nights
in Middletown, VA, can get quite chilly
in October.
Reach out if you have questions or
concerns, or need help with anything.
Travel safely and I’ll see you in camp.
(Continued from page 7)
curriculum calls for students to read the
poem first, and then read articles on people’s reactions to Lincoln’s death. By having students read the articles first, is it
our hope that they will be able to approach the poem with an understanding
of people’s feelings towards Lincoln’s
death, instead of trying to figure that out
after reading a poem filled with metaphors. And, of course, we will be spending
a day on providing background knowledge. With their limited knowledge on
the Civil War (and in some cases, where
Maryland is located on the map), it can
only be beneficial to provide a ‘crash
course’ in the Civil War. At the start of
October, I will be presenting on the
causes, events, and aftermath of the Civil
War, in the hopes to provide the students
with a better understanding of the events
that led Walt Whitman to write one of
his most famous poems.
I have been working on a mourning
dress, which I will wear during the presentation, as a means to better create a
mood and setting for the students. I hope
to be able to provide pictures in the next
newsletter, as well as positive news that
this assignment had a little more success
this year than it did last year. Knowledge
of history is important, no matter what
the curriculum writers say.