If you haven’t read the book you should!

Lots of elbow grease and two heavy-duty cranes moved this donated 20-ton boulder, deposited in Ohio during the Ice Age, to Sunbury (Ohio) Square in July, 2012. It will serve as the base for a bronze equestrian statue of Union Civil War General William Starke Rosecrans, who was born near Sunbury. It will also rectify the fact that Rosecrans is the war’s only major general without a statue.

About two years ago, BGES member Joe Heiberger told me of an interesting organization he was volunteering with. It had restored a 19th century coaching inn – a stagecoach-era hotel for man and beast – and was now involved in commissioning and erecting an equestrian statue of its hometown general, William Starke Rosecrans. Sunbury, Ohio, was the place and the Big Walnut Historical Society was the organization that had restored the Myers (coaching) Inn, one of Sunbury’s oldest structures. I promised to visit and see what they were doing.

I fulfilled my pledge in June 2012 and found a motivated organization whose high-energy people had well advanced a nearly $200,000 project. The group – nominally centered around a local reenactor, Tom Paul, who portrayed General Rosecrans, and his staff of reenactors – had a prototype design of the statue completed, the spot on the square prepared and a huge stone which would be the base of the monument in storage. I visited all the sites and consulted with the key individuals making specific recommendations. I had a follow-up meeting with Polly Horn, one of the key players in the community, the next day.

Computer placement of Alan Cottrill’s wax model of the Rosescrans statue on the boulder.

The core of my recommendation was that the project could and should be primarily funded locally. The Governor was from the area and the case was a compelling one. I said that such a combination argued for an appeal to community pride. That recommendation has proven fruitful and I am pleased to report that Sunbury and the Big Walnut Historical Society are within sight of their fundraising objectives. BGES has been invited to the tentative dedication in September 2013 and the stone base is now in place upon the town square.

While BGES wasn’t involved in a formal donation, I did believe it was important to offer members the opportunity to participate in this project. There’s the opportunity to make a lasting contribution by sponsoring a brick in honor of a member of the Army of the Cumberland or in your own right. It is a worthy project–I am sponsoring a brick for myself in honor of BGES and in tribute to my daughter who is a representative of the future that we must think of in all our preservation work.

Parrott and ordnance rifle – Fort Clinch

BGES may be a small organization, but our members’ generous support allows us to go beyond our battlefield tours and make even more of a difference in preserving America’s rich heritage.

This year we made good on several educational commitments.

We funded one-third of the cost of a centerpiece exhibit at the newly opened visitors’ center at the Sailor’s Creek Battlefield, near Rice, Va. The first-of-its-kind display features a hologram of a Union soldier and a Confederate soldier discussing actions during the battle where Robert E. Lee’s Army lost close to 8,000 men on April 6, 1864, key to his decision to surrender soon after.

We partnered with the Hanover (Virginia) County Sesquicentennial Committee to produce a brochure featuring the county’s Civil War sites, including North Anna where we’ve been supporting interpretation projects since 1997 – and where we’re key players in expanding interpretation of the battlefield park.

We fulfilled our pledge as leading supporters in helping the Friends of Raymond restore and place 10 pieces of artillery on the battlefield at Raymond, Mississippi.

We funded the $5,000 prize for the Society of Civil War Historians‘ First Public History Award, presented to the Gunn Historical Museum in Washington, CT, for its splendid presentation, “Life through Letters.”

We partnered with the National Geographic Society to publish Winston Groom’s superb book, “Shiloh, 1862” – our third collaboration with NGS as part of our mission of “Revealing our Past for our Future.”

We held a book sale to raise funds to finance the repair and painting of BGES’s Chatham headquarters and reduce its principal debt.

We’ve begun working on replacement of some interpretive signs at Perryville Battlefield.

We kicked off efforts to help Florida’s Fort Clinch fund an additional artillery piece as as part of its educational outreach.

Last, but by no means least, we conducted 8 battlefield tours for wounded warriors recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. This year, we served nearly 200 warriors and family members.

As I’ve said before, “For a group so small, we pack quite a wallop! To paraphrase Stonewall Jackson, ‘Who could not conquer with such members as these?’”

Happy Thanksgiving to all our members and friends!

Abraham Lincoln, President-elect

One of the most famous ideas in history – “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights” – begins the preamble of the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. This idea informs all other institutions under which Americans live.

During his pre-inaugural trip from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington D.C., President-elect Abraham Lincoln would refer to this foundational ideal during a visit to the place of the Declaration’s birth.

At Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, on February 22, 1861 – the anniversary of George Washington’s birth – Lincoln said in “wholly unprepared” remarks: “I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.”

Standing in the place where the Founders dedicated themselves to what Lincoln had earlier called the Declaration’s “sacred principles” deeply moved the new president, who said: “I have often pondered over the dangers which were incurred by the men who assembled here and adopted that Declaration of Independence – I have pondered over the toils that were endured by the officers and soldiers of the army, who achieved that independence. I have often inquired of myself, what great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy so long together. It was not the mere matter of the separation of the colonies from the mother land; but something in that Declaration giving liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but hope to the world for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights should be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance.”

The Declaration was Lincoln’s “political chart and inspiration,” as his aide and biographer John G. Nicolay also attested. But because of the universality of its ideals, America’s Declaration of Independence has also served to inspire generations the world over.

The legacy of 1776 is indeed something to celebrate – today and everyday!

Sunbury News article about the visit. (click to enlarge)

Two weeks ago, Blue & Gray Education Society Executive Director Len Riedel traveled from Chatam to Sunbury, where he visited the Rosecrans statue site and the Myers Inn Museum, home of the Big Walnut Area Historical Society. Len met with members of the Rosecrans Headquarters Unit and the Historical Society and then at the Rosecrans statue site, Riedel he also met with Sunbury Mayor Tommy Hatfield, village administrator Dave Martin, village solicitor David Brehm and Myers Inn Curator Polly Horn.

This article from the Sunbury News covers the visit in more detail: Blue & Gray Visits Sunbury (pdf).

Len Riedel explains Gettysburg.

Some moments in life remind you with perfect clarity why you do what you do. During our most recent tour of the Gettysburg Battlefield for wounded warriors, such moments were plentiful.

The day after concluding the “Hancock at Gettysburg” tour, BGES Executive Director Len Riedel and BGES volunteers were ready to repeat the experience – this time with our Yellow Ribbon Fund partners and 25 service members undergoing treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

The troops and 10 family members were ready to go by 8 a.m. so they could take full advantage of the day. Take advantage they did. We noted in a recent post Ed Bearss’ admiration for wounded tour members who never allowed their injuries to keep them on the bus. Just like those he wrote so movingly about, “these troops came.”

As we stood at the center of the Union position on East Cemetery Hill – the object of intense Confederate attacks on July 1, 2, and 3 – Len reminded those gathered on Sunday that this was their land as well, that it was entirely appropriate for a national cemetery to be there to pay lasting tribute to those willing to risk all for kin and country.

Len pointed to the statue of General Winfield Scott Hancock, on horseback, whose extended hand served to steady and calm his troops – a gesture invested in what Len characterized as “leadership most sublime.”

General Stanley McChrystal (USA, Ret.) speaking to the group.

This tour also included Yellow Ribbon Fund board member General Stanley McChrystal (USA, Ret.), former Commander, International Security Assistance Force and Commander, U.S. Forces Afghanistan. We paused to contemplate the State of North Carolina Monument depicting North Carolinian infantrymen advancing during Pickett’s Charge, which would claim heavy casualties from their ranks. General McChrystal noted the statue’s heroic proportions, reflecting the larger-than-life place that our heroes – men and women just like them – have held and will continue to hold in our public consciousness.

The general also noted the strength that great leaders derive from their soldiers. Indeed, he pointed out that General Robert E. Lee’s belief in the capabilities of his soldiers never wavered … that Lee’s plan at Gettysburg was not a forlorn one – the Federals won the battle; Lee didn’t lose it.

Briefing at the North Carolina Statue

Both the lessons of the past and this particular day at Gettysburg made strong impressions on us all. General McChrystal walked and talked with one soldier overcome by emotion by the significance of the three-day battle and of the Civil War, especially for her as an African-American soldier.

Another vivid reminder of why we of BGES choose to understand and preserve America’s history came from the youngest member of the tour. For nearly 45 minutes on the ride home, a 14-year-old young man enthusiastically engaged Len in an intense discussion, revealing his tactical and political understanding of the Civil War. He is today the newest and youngest member of BGES to seek his own membership.

Moments and people like these make us truly grateful for what we do.

Ed Bearss

Like his father in World War I, Ed also served as a Marine. He enlisted in April, 1942, and saw action in the Pacific, including with the legendary Marine Raiders at Guadalcanal. A severe wound from enemy machine-gun fire in early January, 1944, sent him back to the United States for over two years of recuperation.

After his return to civilian life, the GI bill saw Ed to Georgetown University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Foreign Service. A master’s degree in history followed at Indiana University (his thesis was on Confederate Major General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne). Soon after, Ed was persuaded to become a battlefield historian.

The rest, as they say, is history.  And what a history: Foremost Civil War expert. Locator, excavator and preserver – with Warren Grabau and Don Jacks – of the Union ironclad, U.S.S. Cairo, which, thanks to their efforts is on display for all to see at Vicksburg National Military Park. Chief Historian of the National Park Service, Chief Historian Emeritus, today. Author. And interpreter extraordinaire, as those privileged to experience Ed in person know so well.

Aside from his lifelong passion for understanding and preserving the Civil War, there’s another ingredient that’s helped make Ed a national treasure in his chosen profession – he’s never forgotten what it’s like for the soldier – or Marine – on the ground.

In “Receding Tide,” a book the Blue and Gray Education Society was fortunate to collaborate on with Ed and Parker Hills, Ed reflects on this connection. It comes in the context of a very special audience of soldiers from Walter Reed – veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq – who’d made the journey to Gettysburg to understand, as Ed put it, “what this battlefield means to America and Americans.”

Surely, it was a knowledge these soldiers instinctively knew – and shared – with their guide. For battlefields, as Ed writes, “are reminders of the very high cost of our democracy.”

Indeed, Ed writes about this group who, on account of their injuries, might have stayed on the bus. But, instead, he writes, whether they had to struggle or not, “these soldiers came. Battlefields are special places, where ordinary people become extraordinary.  They don’t ask for the attention, and most are motivated to serve by the most basic of instincts – patriotic love and respect for their country. I know that feeling because it inspired me to join the United States Marine Corps. It binds me to them to this day.”

We – and generations to come – are beneficiaries of Ed Bearss’ tireless work to illuminate that powerful bond as it existed yesterday and as it exists today.

Happy Birthday, Ed!  And here’s to many more!

Parker Hills at Chickamauga

A true staff ride rests on preliminary background study of a battle or campaign before stepping foot onto the field itself. We provide carefully selected materials – such as maps and biographical and personality information on significant leaders – to get you started. Armed with a basic understanding, you’re more than a casual observer – you’re primed to comprehend an event on a number of different levels and better retain what you learn.

Next, the field becomes the laboratory where lessons are truly revealed. When you walk over contested ground, you draw closer to understanding the human dimension of war. You can see how weather and terrain weighed into commanders’ decisions – or how they each shot carefully laid plans to bits. Trudging up a hill, you can appreciate the challenges of maintaining unit cohesion. Even seeing the roads once used to convey thousands of men helps you appreciate how much time and space it takes to move an army, including its food and ammunition.

Expert field guides stress things like decision making at all levels – tactical and strategic. They explore the human foibles that sometimes determine outcomes. They make the fog and friction of war come alive – imparting lessons that aren’t soon forgotten.

Here’s a small window into what participants can expect on one segment of one day of Parker Hills’ June 20-23 field study of Union General Winfield Scott Hancock at Gettysburg:

“Hancock literally saved the day of July 2 at Gettysburg, and July 3 was no different. We will walk the lines of the II Corps on Cemetery Ridge and discuss the action. We will see the site where Gibbon is wounded and see Lieutenant Stephen Brown charge into the fray armed with only a camp hatchet. We will see Lieutenant Alonzo Cushing go down, and we will discuss Brigadier General Lewis Armistead’s brief penetration of the Union line….”

The newly minted BGES received valuable early support from Will Greene, President of the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites (APCWS), and Mark Stephens, the APCWS program director. They helped advocate for the BGES to the APCWS board and got access to the APCWS mailing list of some 7,000 people. Len then stuffed envelopes and wrote letters inviting APCWS members to support a joint symposium and tour with the BGES in October, 1994, at the Seven Days Battle sites near Richmond, Virginia.

The photograph of the cornfield was taken at the site of the Battle of Glendale, where our first tour goers learned about Robert E. Lee’s final opportunity to intercept the Union Army on June 30, 1862.

BGES’s first event was a symposium which preceded the APCWS annual tour. Our faculty included Terry Jones, Louis Manarin, Joe Glatthaar, Ed Bearss, Mike Andrus, Mike Litterst, A. Wilson Greene, and Archer Jones. Our third tour, of the Overland Campaign in the spring of 1995, brought onboard Bill Matter, John Hennessy, Gordon Rhea, and Andy Trudeau. Tour leaders recognizable in the photo included Greg Mertz, Frank O’Reilly and Mike Miller – all are still active with BGES.

Riedel continues to welcome people to what he calls his “Walter Mitty Dream.” Except that the organization has only grown from its first beginnings – which is great for Len, who loves his role as founder and mover of this uniquely American battlefield university. Len says that “if I didn’t do this, I’d have to work for a living!”

Of course, BGES has never just been about tours. We pride ourselves in getting projects done on time and on budget. BGES’s first project, providing a wooden APCWS site sign at The Coaling, a strategic point at the Battle of Port Republic, was $600 – which was a lot for an organization with less than $3,000 in annual income. That sign is long gone as the Civil War Trust now controls the site. BGES’ second project is also overlooked; but it is the paved parking lot at the foot of Sitlington Hill, site of the May 1862 Battle of McDowell. BGES’s unpaid Director raised $3,000 in matching funds for the APCWS’ share of a $15,000 Department of Transportation matching grant.

BGES has come a long way in the past 18 years. Today its 400-plus members constitute a generous and devoted following that has enthusiastically taken up preservation and education work at some key Civil War battlefields. Soon BGES will turn over $30,000 to the Friends of Raymond to refurbish 10 cannon on the Raymond Mississippi battlefield – as one example of its work.

BGES has also heard the call to serve our service members wounded in Afghanistan and Iran. As partners with the Yellow Ribbon Fund, BGES volunteers help take wounded warriors and their families to sites like Gettysburg, Antietam, Fredericksburg and other sites in the Washington, D.C. area.

Riedel sums up the past 18 years in characteristic style: “Happy Birthday to ‘Bee Gees!’ Here’s to 18 more!” For BGES, the past is prologue to what’s yet to come.