Author Archives: hlj

Meeting of December 12, 2019

Krista Castillo (via ZOOM) on “The Illustrations of Thomas Nast: Reconstruction, Politics, and Popular Consciousness”

The period of Reconstruction remains a point of contention among scholars, academics, and amateur historians largely due to the biases and opinions passed down through the generations. It is not until we step back and view the period from the context of the time that we can begin to understand the complexity of the issues involved. The illustrations of Thomas Nast, prominently displayed in Harper’s Weekly, reveal popular attitudes towards Reconstruction politics and emerging radical ideologies. In 1864, Nast played a major role in the presidential election. During the turmoil of the Reconstruction period, Nast revealed the corruption of New York City’s Tammany Hall, which led to the toppling of Boss Tweed.

Although Thomas Nast’s reputation as an illustrator, caricaturist and political cartoonist faded into obscurity over the past one hundred years, most Americans easily recognize the symbols he created such as the Democratic Donkey, the Republican Elephant and the most popular representation of Santa Clause. Nast’s deeply rooted convictions and skill transformed his pen into a weapon poised to eradicate injustice, characteristics that remain unmatched in his craft to this day.

Krista Castillo, a native of Northeastern Ohio, came to Fort Negley as the Education Manager in 2008. In 2010, she was promoted to Museum Coordinator and Site Manager. Krista holds degrees from Mount Union College (B.A., History) and Austin Peay State University (M.A., Military History). In addition to completing internships at the William McKinley National Memorial and Museum in Canton, Ohio and at the Don F. Pratt Museum at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Krista’s professional experience includes serving as registrar at the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center in Clarksville, Tennessee and as a receptionist at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Krista has served as president of the Nashville Civil War Roundtable since 2009 and as a book reviewer for Civil War News since 2016. In March 2017, she was profiled by the Emerging Civil War blog in honor of Women’s History Month. Krista resides in Clarksville, Tennessee.

December 2019 Newsletter

Meeting of November 14, 2019

Cooper Wingert and Scott Mingus on “Targeted Tracks: The Cumberland Valley Railroad in the Civil War”

The Civil War was the first conflict in which railroads played a major role. Although much has been written about their role in general, little has been written about specific lines. The Cumberland Valley Railroad, for example, played an important strategic role by connecting Hagerstown, Maryland to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Its location enhanced its importance during some of the Civil War’s most critical campaigns. Despite the line’s significance to the Union war effort, its remarkable story remains little known.

Scott Mingus, Sr.

Cooper Wingert

Cooper Wingert is the author of 12 books on the American Civil War and slavery, including Slavery and the Underground Railroad in South Central Pennsylvania, Abolitionists of South Central Pennsylvania, The Confederate Approach on Harrisburg: The Gettysburg Campaign’s Northernmost Reaches, and Harrisburg and the Civil War: Defending the Keystone of the Union. He is the recipient of the 2012 Dr. James I. Robertson, Jr. Literary Award for Confederate History, and has appeared on C-SPAN Book TV and Pennsylvania Cable Network. He is a student at Dickinson College, in Carlisle, Pa.

Scott L. Mingus, Sr. is an author, tour guide, multiple award-winning miniature wargamer, patented scientist, and history buff based near York, Pennsylvania.

November 2019 Newsletter

Meeting of October 10, 2019

Chuck Veit on “African-Americans in the Union Navy”

For those familiar with the story of African-American regiments in the Army during the American Civil War, the history of black sailors in the Union Navy offers a surprising and refreshing contrast. United States Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles mandated that all enlisted men be treated fairly no matter the color of their skin, and enforced this order throughout all aspects of naval life. “The Navy has not been in the habit of examining a seaman’s complexion before shipping him; ‘Can you fight?’ is the only question.” This is a much-overlooked aspect of the black contribution to the Northern war effort, and deserves to be better known. Navy history offers the only period example of integrated service by men of many races and backgrounds.

Chuck Veit is the author of original research books, including A Dog Before a Soldier: Almost-lost Episodes in the Navy’s Civil War; Sea Miner: Major E. B. Hunt’s Rocket Torpedo; Natural Genius: Brutus de Villeroi and the U.S. Navy’s First Submarine; and two books focusing on the salvage exploits of Massachusetts native, John E. Gowen: Raising Missouri and The Yankee Expedition to Sebastopol. Sea Miner claimed the 2016 award for Narrative Non-fiction from the Independent Publishers of New England, and Yankee Expedition won awards in both the Perennial Seller category and Book of the Year in 2017.

Chuck is President of the Navy & Marine Living History Association and is a frequent speaker on 19th century naval topics at area historical societies and Civil War roundtables, as well as at the Naval War College in Newport, RI. Other venues have included the NOAA Maritime Heritage Education Conference, Mariners’ Museum Civil War Navy Conference, and the Naval Order of the United States in St. Petersburg, FL.

October 2019 Newsletter

Meeting of September 12, 2019

Ron Kirkwood on “Too Much for Human Endurance: The George Spangler Farm Hospitals and the Battle of Gettysburg”

The George Spangler story is the rare Gettysburg tale that has never been told in entirety until now. Amazingly, after thousands of books and many generations gone by, there was still uncharted territory about the Battle of Gettysburg until “Too Much for Human Endurance: The George Spangler Farm Hospitals and the Battle of Gettysburg” by Ron Kirkwood. Ron’s book and presentation discusses Spangler’s experiences and perspectives including;

  • The XI Corps Army of the Potomac hospital on George and Elizabeth Spangler’s farm, which treated up to 2,000 patients.
  • The First Division, II Corps hospital at Granite Schoolhouse on the Spanglers’ land. They had two hospitals on their property totaling probably 3,000 men.
  • The Army of the Potomac Artillery Reserve, which was based at Spangler and included 106 cannons and 2,300 men.
  • How the Army of the Potomac used the location and size of the farm militarily to help win the battle.
  • The Spanglers and their neighbors before the battle, during the battle and what happened to them after the battle.
  • Stories of the heroism and suffering of the patients, surgeons, nurses, Spanglers and Spangler neighbors.

Ron Kirkwood is the author of “Too Much for Human Endurance: The George Spangler Farm Hospitals and the Battle of Gettysburg,” which was published in May 2019. Ron is retired after a 40-year career as an editor and writer in newspapers and magazines including USA TODAY, the Baltimore Sun, the Harrisburg Patriot-News and York Daily Record. Ron edited national magazines for USA TODAY Sports, he was the editor in charge of National Football League coverage for USA TODAY Sports Weekly, and he managed the copy desk in Harrisburg when the newspaper won the Pulitzer Prize in 2012. Ron is a native of Michigan and a graduate of Central Michigan University, where he has returned as guest speaker to journalism classes as part of the school’s Hearst Visiting Professionals series. Ron lives in York, Pennsylvania, and has been a Gettysburg Foundation guide at The George Spangler Farm Field Hospital Site since it opened in 2013.

September 2019 Newsletter

Karl Pusch – Member Profile

One of the unique aspects of gathering information from members of Old Baldy CWRT and writing about them is the wide diversity of interests the members have. When you walk into a meeting and see the many individuals one could assume the simple fact that they are “Civil War Buffs.” However, how the members became part of OBCWRT is in itself a factor that separates this group from other fraternal organizations. Karl Pusch, in this writer’s opinion, is a person who exhibits a common interest that the membership shares about the Civil War, but as a different perspective on the how and why membership is important.

Karl was born and raised in Phillipsburg, NJ and although he moved to South Jersey in 1973, he will always consider Phillipsburg his home town. After graduating from Phillipsburg High School in 1963, he earned his BA in History from Lafayette College in 1967. Returning home from a three-year enlistment in the Army in 1970 Karl enrolled at Lehigh University working on an MA in history. After finishing his MA in 1973, he took a job at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and worked in the Training Division, EEO Office, and the Employee Relations Division. When the yard closed in 1995 Karl worked as a salesman for Macy’s and J.C. Penny and retired for good in 2008.

Through marriage to quote Karl he inherited two wonderful daughters who have blessed him with three granddaughters. Unfortunately, daughter Katherine lives in Arizona and daughter Jennifer lives in Oregon. He is a big fan of Lafayette football a Friend of Lafayette Football and holds memberships in the Maroon Club, the Marquis Society and the Fleck Society. Presently, Karl resides in Washington Township with his dog Buddy, who is a registered service dog, who has an official ID badge from Lafayette College and has been officially photographed with the college president. Karl enjoys riding his bike, skiing, and playing softball and enjoys doing home fix-up projects.

Karl’s became interested in the Civil War after seeing “Gone With the Wind” when it was re-released in 1954. About the same time, he read a mini-biography of Robert E. Lee, viewed a classic TV show “You Are There” that dramatized the surrender at Appomattox, and finally read a comic book dealing with Jackson’s role at Chancellorsville. In spite of that interest, Karl’s first love of history was always about Ancient Greece and Rome: his favorite comic book will always be the Classic “Caesar’s Conquest,” the condensed version of Caesar’s “Commentari de Bello Gallico.” He said he read it at least 20 times, to the point where he could recite portions of it. He can recall reading about the Second Punic War in James A. Breasted’s “Ancient Times….” and being the only person in his third and four grade classes who could spell or pronounce Epaminondas

One of Karl’s stated advantages of working at the Shipyard was the generous vacation time granted which has allowed him to visit almost every Civil War Battlefield east of the Mississippi River. A ROTC Summer Camp in 1966 allowed him to check off a trip to Gettysburg, an extended summer trip in 1974 allowed him to visit numerous sites in Kentucky and Tennessee with stops at Ft. Donelson, Perryville, Mill Springs, Shiloh, Nashville, Franklin, and Murfreesboro. Future summer trips allowed him to visit major battlefield and other historical sites in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Karl has also visited more than 25 countries in North America, South America, Europe, the Mideast, and Asia and several at least twice. He has visited an incredible number of historic sites along with major battlefields far too numerous to mention in this snapshot, but it is sufficed to say Karl has check offed major “bucket list” sites.

During his numerous visits to various battlefields he was concerned how American sites were being subjected to urban land development encroachment especially after visiting some battlefields in France and England. Except for modern paved roads, the battlefields at Crecy (where on August 26, 1346 Karl was serving as a Welch archer under the command of the Black Prince, on the right flank, on the downward slope near the windmill), Agincourt, Waterloo, Hastings, Naseby, Bosworth, Field, Flodden and Bannockburn look much the same as they did when these battles were fought. The French and English Governments are aggressively committed to preserving their historic sites. Karl had a hard time understanding why we weren’t doing the same here in the U.S. So, when the Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites was formed in 1987, he immediately joined. As with many organizations, it had its growing pains and trials, but it is now known as the American Battlefield Trust, an organization committed to preserving sites from the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and the Civil War. It is because of the ABT that Karl is a member of the OBCWRT; Karl met member Ed Komczyk at a Trust conference four years ago, Ed told Karl about Old Baldy; Karl attended a meeting, liked what he experienced and has been with us since then.

Karl’s favorite Civil War movies are– Birth of a Nation, Gone with the Wind, Gettysburg, and The Horse Soldiers. His other favorite movies are Lawrence of Arabia (he feels this is the greatest movie ever made), Bridge on the River Kwai, The Sea Hawk, The Third Man, Quo Vadis, The Robe, 300 Spartans, Helen of Troy, and the Desert Fox. His favorite Civil War books are Douglas Southall Freeman’s “Lee’s Lieutenants” and Ed Coddington’s (one of Karl’s instructors at Lafayette) “Gettysburg: A Study in Command”.

Karl still has several “bucket list” things he would like to do; traveling the Trans-Canada Highway from Vancouver to Montreal, visit the Custer Battlefield, Mt. Rushmore, the Devils Tower, and the Mesa Verde. But most important to him is to see a Toledo Mud Hens game at Fifth/Third Bank Field

As you can see Karl has a unique perspective on our common interest.

Member profile written by Steve Peters

Meeting of August 8, 2019

James Mundy on “The Tanner Manuscript – In the Right Place at the Right Time”

At the ripe old age of 18, Corporal James Tanner lost both legs below the knees at Second Bull Run. Almost three years later, in the early morning hours of April 15, Tanner would create one of the most compelling documents recording the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Jim Mundy, Director of Education and Programming at the Union League of Philadelphia, will talk about Tanner, his manuscript, and the circumstances of his life that led up to that night, and his life afterwards as a veteran and citizen.

James G. Mundy, Jr. is Director of Education & Programming for the Archives of the Union League of Philadelphia. A native Philadelphian, Jim graduated La Salle University with a BA in History that included a concentration of courses in archival management. He started working at the Union League May 15, 1978 as the Associate Archivist. Between 1979 and 1989, Jim held the positions of Librarian and Archivist/Curator. In 1989 Jim moved into club management, holding several positions including House Manager and Membership Director, before moving back into the history and archival fields. In October 1996 he became the Director of Library & Historical Collections. In 2012, now as part of the Abraham Lincoln Foundation staff, Jim became the Director of Education & Programming. Jim is also the Curator of Art. In his current position, Jim is responsible for the research and installation of the exhibits in the Heritage Center; the training and scheduling of docents and tours; scheduling the League’s cultural programming; and the management and care of the League’s fine art collection. Jim also serves as the League’s historian.

Jim is the past President of The Woodlands Cemetery Company and The Woodlands Trust for Historic Preservation in West Philadelphia, the German Society of Pennsylvania and The Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery, and the past Vice President of Development of the American Friends of the Attingham Summer School for the Study of British Country Houses and Collections. Jim also served on the Board of Directors of The Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association.

Meeting of July 11, 2019

Sarah Kay Bierle on “From California to Gettysburg: The Hancock Family”

A special live Skype presentation.

In 1858, Winfield and Almira Hancock and their two children moved to California. As a U.S. Army officer, Winfield S. Hancock’s duties had taken the family to several remote outposts, but their time in California would be some of their most memorable days. The American Civil War began while the Hancocks were in California, and this conflict presented challenging choices. Their decision—made in California—would impact one of the great battles of the war.

Sarah Kay Bierle is the managing editor for Emerging Civil War’s blog and owner and conference coordinator at Gazette665, a California-based business focused on advancing history discussion and education. A graduate from Thomas Edison State University with a B.A. in History, she has spent the last few years researching, writing, and speaking about the American Civil War. Her fourth book, “Call Out The Cadets”—a nonfiction study on the Battle of New Market—released this spring from Savas Beatie.

Meeting of June 13, 2019

Milt Diggins on “Stealing Freedom Along the Mason-Dixon Line: Thomas McCreary, the Notorious Slave Catcher from Maryland”

Slave catching and kidnapping, and the politically blurred distinction between them, contributed to growing hostility in the decades prior to the Civil War, a controversy that inflamed passions along the Mason-Dixon Line. The story of Thomas McCreary, a Maryland slave catcher and kidnapper, and his community presents a closeup view and insight into the controversies over slave catching. Prigg v. Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania’s efforts to protect the rights of its citizens and residents; the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850; trials in Philadelphia; the career of Philadelphia’s notorious slave catcher, George F. Alberti; and the Christiana Resistance and subsequent treason trial fold into this story. The Maryland government insisted McCreary was a heroic slave catcher, and proslavery advocates insisted on their constitutional right to recapture accused fugitive slaves without restrictions in northern states. Many Pennsylvanians, and some Marylanders and Delawareans, regarded McCreary a villainous kidnapper, and two Pennsylvania governors wanted him extradited from Maryland and tried for kidnapping. African Americans who experienced the brutality, communities outraged by the incursion of slave hunters, and abolitionists openly opposed to slavery struggled for justice. But stakeholders in the institution of slavery went to great lengths, including murder, to protect the institution without qualms about their methods.

Milt Diggins is a retired educator, an independent researcher, public historian, speaker, and the author of Stealing Freedom along the Mason-Dixon Line: Thomas McCreary, the Notorious Slave Catcher from Maryland. He has researched the Underground Railroad, slave catching, and kidnapping in the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Baltimore Corridor, and he has given numerous presentations on those issues throughout the region. His book, Stealing Freedom along the Mason-Dixon Line, published by the Maryland Historical Society, uses the story of an Elkton slave catcher and kidnapper to frame a larger story of slave catching and kidnapping in the region around the time of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

Meeting of May 9, 2019

Martha Moore on “Washington Roebling, Civil War Engineer”

Martha’s presentation covers Col. Washington Roebling’s service in the 6th N.Y. Independent Battery, his work building wire suspension bridges in Virginia, mapmaking, battlefield redoubt construction, aerial surveillance, and his role at Gettysburg under Gen. Gouverneur Warren.

Martha Moore is a founding trustee of the Roebling Museum, located in the former company town of Roebling, New Jersey. The museum’s mission is to document and interpret the engineering innovations of John A. Roebling, the company he founded, and the social history of the Roebling workforce and company town. In the decade-plus since the museum’s founding Martha has been involved in research, exhibit development, fundraising, and governance of the museum. She was for many years a national reporter for USA TODAY and is now a writer for Columbia Law School. She lives in New York and is a descendant of John A. Roebling.