New Discoveries for the New Year

This week, two interesting news stories broke in regard to the War Between the States. It was announced that descendants of John Wilkes Booth are exhuming his brother's body in order to obtain DNA. It will then be compared to the person thought to be buried as John Wilkes Booth. Speculation has circulated since his death (he was shot in a barn two weeks after assassinating President Abraham Lincoln) that an impostor was actually shot, and that the real JWB escaped and lived until 1903, when he committed suicide in Enid, Oklahoma under the assumed name of John St. Helen. Theories exist that he was a member of the Knights of the Golden Circle, an elite group of Confederates who concealed Booth's identity and assisted in his escape.
http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/23/did-abraham-lincoln-assassin-john-wilkes-booth-escape-dna-may-s/


Another discovery concerns a message in a bottle. The find was given to the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia in 1896. It was a gift from Capt. William A. Smith, of King George County, who served during the Vicksburg siege. The message, dated July 4, 1863, was encrypted, and the curator of the museum finally became curious enough to find out what was inside the tiny 2" bottle. Essentially, the author, who is believed to have been Maj. Gen. John G. Walker, of the Texas Division, and who had under his command William Smith, the donor of the bottle, stated that he was unable to provide support to General Pemberton, the Confederate General who was under siege in Vicksburg, Mississippi. It was on that same day that the Confederate army surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant's Union forces.
http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/25/civil-war-message-in-a-bottle-opened-decoded/?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl1|sec1_lnk3|192058

Happy Thanksgiving!

I would like to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving. The last Thursday of November was proclaimed a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln on October 3, 1863, thus commemorating "a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens." It took nearly a century before some cities in the South, such as Vicksburg, Mississippi, finally acknowledged the holiday.

Only a week earlier, on November 19, 1863, President Lincoln traveled to Gettysburg to dedicate a national cemetery that was being established to bury Union soldiers who had met their demise there. Everyone is (or should be) familiar with his Gettysburg Address. After delivering his famous speech, which he considered to be "a few appropriate remarks," he was heard to have stated, "I failed, I failed, and that is about all that can be said about it." This was because of the poor reception he received following his speech, but little did he know that his words would become one of the most famous addresses in American history.

With that, let us all give thanks for what we are blessed with. Sometimes it is difficult to perceive the blessings we receive, just as Mr. Lincoln failed to perceive the potency of his words at the time. Many have friends and/or family who are dealing with the loss of loved ones or other critical situations in their lives. During this holiday season, please pray for them, as well as our military personnel.

Mary Surratt

... the only woman convicted and hung for the role she played during the War Between the States.

Mary Elizabeth Surratt became a widow at age 42, during the summer of 1862. Her husband left behind 287 acres in what is now Prince George’s County, Maryland. He had constructed a two-story house on the land that became known as Surrattsville. The house was converted into a tavern that served as a way station for the clandestine Confederate network. Mr. Surratt also left his wife a boarding house on H Street in Washington D.C. In October 1864, Mary and her three children permanently moved to that location and rented out the tavern to a man named John Lloyd.

Over the course of the next few months, 541 H Street would become the focal point in what is considered to be one of the most influential crimes in American history. John Wilkes Booth, who frequented the Surratt home, hatched his original kidnapping conspiracy there. Other players who were involved included Mary’s son John, George Atzeroldt, who was supposed to assassinate Vice President Johnson, and Lewis Powell (aka Lewis Paine), who was responsible for the vicious attack on Secretary of State William Seward the night of April 14, 1865, (the same night that President Lincoln was assassinated). David Herold, who was a friend of John Surratt and John Wilkes Booth, rode with Booth following the assassination. He was later captured at Garrett’s Farm, where Booth was shot to death by Sergeant Boston Corbett, who was part of the 16th New York Cavalry that cornered the two men inside a barn. Also participating in the conspiracy were Samuel Arnold, who was an original plotter in the kidnapping scheme, Michael O’Laughlen, who was had been sent to kill Secretary of War Edwin Stanton but failed, and Dr. Samuel Mudd, who treated Booth’s injuries after he escaped from Washington.

Booth intended to kidnap President Lincoln in order to force the Union to surrender captured Confederates. His plans were solidified by March 1865, but were postponed for various reasons, and proved futile once General Lee surrendered on April 9. Mary Surratt traveled to her tavern on April 13, where she allegedly told her renter, John Lloyd, “to have the shooting irons ready; there will be some parties call for them.”

Following the assassination, a woman whose niece worked for Mary contacted police, saying that suspicious men had been seen at Mary’s boarding house. Subsequently, everyone in the house, including Mary, was arrested. Before leaving, Mary was caught in a lie, denying that she knew Lewis Powell, who just happened to show up with a shovel, claiming that she required his services for digging a ditch.

At the trial, several eyewitnesses testified to her involvement in the assassination scheme, including George Atzeroldt. Some claimed that they had seen Mary conversing with Booth, who gave her a wrapped package containing field glasses that she was to leave with her tenant, John Lloyd. Although her son escaped conviction because he was in New York at the time, Mary was not so lucky. Tried before a military commission, the conspirators were found guilty. Mary was one of four sentenced to death by hanging. No one believed she would actually be put to death because of her gender, but regardless of her lawyers’ issuance of a writ of habeas corpus, the federal judge’s order to have her delivered to his courtroom on the morning of her execution (which was ignored), and pleas from her daughter, Anna, President Johnson refused to commute Mary’s sentence. Two days before her execution, the judge advocate general delivered a plea for her clemency to President Johnson, who later claimed that he received no such request until after the hanging.

Mary Surratt died in Washington’s Arsenal prison yard on July 7, 1865 with Lewis Powell, David Harold, and George Atzeroldt. As army personnel crowded into the yard to watch, the first woman to be executed by the U.S. government fell through the gallows’ trap doors alongside her co-conspirators. Whether she was actually guilty of the crimes she was accused of committing, or whether her sentence was unjustified and unfair, remains a topic of debate.

A film directed by Robert Redford, entitled “The Conspirator,” tells the story of Mary Surratt, and is set for release in March 2011. If you have the opportunity, visit Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. In the basement is housed a unique museum containing descriptions and artifacts surrounding this inauspicious act.

Halloween Haunts (pt. 3 )

Most people think of cemeteries and battlefields when they hear about strange apparitions that exist in regard to the Civil War. However, many old fortresses are rumored to host the spirits of soldiers past as well. As my final installation of "Halloween Haunts," I bring to you the forts that time forgot.

Fort Delaware, located in Delaware City, Delaware, is an imposing structure that is said to be one of the most haunted places in America. It is no wonder, considering the suffering that took place during the War Between the States. The fort unintentionally became a prisoner of war camp, with most of its inhabitants being captured at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. The fort, located on six acres, with 32 foot high walls and surrounded by a medieval moat, housed over 40,000 men by war's end. The fort had the highest mortality rate of any POW camp: 2500 to 3000 men died. The ghosts of incarcerated Confederates still inhabit the place, as does a woman and several children. Across the river is Finn’s Point National Cemetery, where most of the Confederate soldiers are buried. Sadly, only one marker is placed, which reads, "Erected By The United States To Mark The Burial Place Of 2436 Confederate Soldiers Who Died At Fort Delaware While Prisoners Of War And Whose Graves Cannot Now Be Individually Identified."

Fort Monroe, where President Jefferson Davis was imprisoned following his capture after the fall of the Confederacy, is another ominous place that seethes with spiritual energy. Located in Virginia, which ranks as the most haunted place in America according to the National Register of Haunted Locations, the fort has reported many spiritual sightings, including those of Abraham Lincoln and General U.S. Grant.

Off the gulf coast of Alabama exists two ancient forts that have now become tourist attractions: Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines. Both forts have a long history of military service, surviving many wars, and not surprisingly, both have their share of supernatural inhabitants. Visitors have reported hearing footsteps, seeing strange apparitions that follow them out of the park areas, and noticing ghosts that observe them while they are there.

May Anniversaries in Relation to the War Between the States

Although April is considered an important month in regard to the Civil War because it essentially started and ended in that month, Lincoln was assassinated, and April is now considered "Confederate History Month," I feel that May is a significant month as well. Many events took place during May that changed the course of the war. First came the Battle of Chancellorsville, which took place on May 1-3, 1863. My book, A Beckoning Hellfire, discusses this battle in depth. The Confederates won the fight, which set the stage for Lee to advance into Pennsylvania. Also during the battle, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was accidentally killed by his own men. It will always remain a mystery as to whether the Confederacy would have come out victorious had Jackson survived.

The Battle of the Wilderness began on May 5, 1864. This battle took place almost on the same exact location where the Battle of Chancellorsville was fought a year prior. In fact, men testified to seeing old bones exposed after being hastily buried. Sadly, many soldiers were buried where they fell, and the sacred ground today is riddled with makeshift grave sites. Even more appalling is that the area has been sold to investors and made into subdivisions.

May marks the anniversaries of several other battles as well: the Battle of McDowell, Virginia on May 8, 1862, the Battle of "Bloody Angle" at Spotsylvania Court House on May 12, 1864, the Battle of New Market, Virginia on the 15th, 1864, the Battle of Champion's Hill on the 16th of 1863, the Battle of Fair Oaks on May 24, 1862 and the First Battle of Winchester on May 25, 1862. With Memorial Day only a few weeks away, let us remember all these terrible battles that took place on our own country's soil, and the honorable lives that were lost there.

Confederate Terrorists

Recently, a CNN political analyst by the name of Roland S. Martin, who is black, publicly denounced the Confederacy, conveniently airing his views during Confederate Heritage Month. In his statement, Martin claims that all Confederate soldiers should be considered terrorists, and compares them to, of all things, the jihad and Taliban.

First and foremost, Mr. Martin, these are two separate issues and should by no means be blurred into similarities of any kind. Perhaps you are overlooking the fact that slavery might not have even played a part in the Civil War if Lincoln and his cronies had mimicked the actions of Europe by purchasing slaves from slaveowners, and subsequently allowed their freedom. Lincoln was not in favor of freeing slaves, but in fact, preferred the continuation of slavery to exist in Southern, as well as Northern states, and in western territories. "Terrorist" acts were actually committed by extremists such as the Border Ruffians and John Brown.

If you insist on claiming that Southern soldiers were terrorists, then perhaps you should reacquaint yourself with Northern soldiers' behavior at the time. Their actions were far more terrorist-like than the South in that they indiscriminately invaded, destroyed, raped, and stole everything in their path. To say, Mr. Martin, that Confederates were willing to take up arms against their brethren as an act of terrorism is a malicious attempt to justify what actually took place 150 years ago. The North is just as much to blame for the cause of the Civil War, and slavery could have been abolished far sooner and with a more pleasant outcome than it did because the North refused to compensate the South.

As far as your accusation goes that Confederate soldiers were all terrorists, they were no more terrorists than the Northern soldiers were. (General Sherman comes to mind.)If you take time to read some of these soldiers' letters, Mr. Martin, you will see what their true intentions were, which was in fact to defend their homes. You must also take into account the climate of that era, the predominant Christian faith, which is far different than Muslim beliefs, and the fact that white male supremacy reined in every corner of the world, not just in America. The definition of a terrorist is any unconventional fighter who is unaffiliated with a major military force and attacks civilians for political purposes. To consider Confederate soldiers as terrorists is very narrow-minded indeed. To relate it to the current state of affairs in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Afghanistan is nothing less than laughably ridiculous.

Old Soldier Retires

I recently wrote about an old Civil War statue that was being retired in Muscantine, Iowa. The statue was taken down on Monday, and sadly, the legs and musket of the old soldier crumbled. Lee Miller, a local historian, was glad to see that the rest of the statue stayed intact. The marble statue will be kept in storage, and a new statue will take the place of the old one, along with updated plaques listing soldiers who were omitted before.
http://www.muscatinejournal.com/news/local/article_8d697b70-2616-11df-82af-001cc4c002e0.html

On this date in 1861 and in 1865, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated. Before the first ceremony took place, Lincoln was sneaked into Washington for his own protection, but strangely enough, attended the inauguration in an open horse-drawn carriage. At the second inauguration, heavy rains made the roads so muddy that traffic was nearly at a standstill. Sadly, the president would be assassinated only a month later. At the second inaugural, it is said that the crowd had a difficult time understanding Vice President Johnson's speech. This is because he was taking whiskey prescribed by a physician for an ailment. He reportedly drank so much that his speech was rambling and incoherent! One of the spectators in the crowd was none other than John Wilkes Booth, who would later become Lincoln's assassin.

Black History Month

In honor of Black History Month, I thought it appropriate to talk about the part African-Americans played during the Civil War. Everyone knows that President Lincoln signed into law the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. What they likely don't know is that he had no intention to free slaves in northern states, or states that he had jurisdiction in. In fact, in his home state of Illinois, freed slaves were disallowed, and Lincoln did nothing to reverse the fact.

During the War Between the States, the Union army enlisted black soldiers. However, most of those poor guys were forced to hard labor, and didn't engage in battles. By the war's end, African Americans constituted less that one percent of the U.S. population, yet made up 10 percent of the Union army. Altogether, 180,000 black men enlisted, which was more than 85 percent of those eligible.

On the Confederate side, General Patrick Cleburne advocated enlisting slaves to fight for the cause in return for their freedom. But after he was killed in 1864, the idea fizzled until it was again raised in November 1864 by President Jefferson Davis. The Confederate Congress authorized enlisting 300,000 black soldiers in March 1865, but the war ended the following month. Speculation arises that if the war had ended sooner, Lincoln probably would not have signed the Emancipation Proclamation into law. The Confederacy missed the opportunity to tap into their largest source of manpower, and were thus so outnumbered that they were doomed to fail.

Another Anniversary for 2009

This year marks the 150th anniversary of John Brown's Raid at Harper's Ferry. For those unfamiliar with John Brown, he was a religious fanatic who was also a staunch abolitionist. He killed a bunch of slave owners in Kansas, and that is how it became known as "Bleeding Kansas." From there, he took his posse to Virginia, where he attempted to start an uprising. However, his plans backfired, as no slaves revolted. The U.S. Marines closed in, and captured John Brown. Sadly, the first man to die in the raid was a freed slave. Robert E. Lee and J.E.B. Stuart participated in the capture at the arsenal building. Strangely, those men would end up fighting for the Confederacy only two years later.

As John Brown was led to the gallows, he is quoted as predicting the bloody days to come: "I, John Brown am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood." Ominous, to say the least! One of the spectators to witness the hanging was John Wilkes Booth, who was Abraham Lincoln's assassin. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was also in attendance.

In honor of the anniversary of this profound event that some say started the Civil War, historians from Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland formed the John Brown Sesquicentennial Quad-State Committee to promote the event. They even staged a mock hanging!Events also included re-enactments, dramatic productions, art exhibits, academic lectures, and special tours. If you ever have the opportunity to see this historical town, I strongly recommend it.

The Year of Lincoln

Historians and the media have dubbed 2009 as the "Year of Lincoln," because it is the 200th anniversary of his birthday. We have honored our illustrious 16th president since his election, but his legacy became even more apparent following his death. Because he was the first American president to be assassinated, and because the country had just gone through four years of horrible misery, Abraham Lincoln will forever go down in history as the man who saved the slaves, which is what he verbally wished to be remembered for the most.

In 1909, it was decided that Lincoln would appear on the penny in honor of his 100th birthday, and his likeness has been there ever since. He was the first president to be immortalized on U.S. currency, and his face also appears on five dollar bills. There is nothing on record that indicates why Lincoln was chosen for the $5 bill,which took place in the 1920's.

Lincoln's likeness also appears in many other places. There is an enormous monument in Washington D.C. that has inspired many, including Martin Luther King, Jr., who gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech there. Our current president, Obama, was so inspired by Lincoln that he pledged his oath of office on the same Bible as Lincoln. Old Abe is one of only four men chosen to be immortalized on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. His statue stands at Gettysburg, he (of course) has a presidential library in Springfield, Illinois, and he is honored, along with the Father of our Country, George Washington, every February. Some of us even get the day off! Lincoln will always hold a fascination to us, and even though he was considered just another politician during his presidency, he has since been elevated to an iconic status, even considered a martyr by some.

A Rare Find

I love watching Antiques Roadshow to see what people show up with, especially the ones who have purchased their finds at yard sales for a fraction of what the item is worth. Case in point: in 2006, a man by the name of Bruce Steiner purchased a box of papers from a flea market for $27.95. Inside, he discovered an envelope with these words written on it: "Let this man enter with this note." It is dated April 14, 1865, and signed, "A. Lincoln." The note was signed the same day Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Skeptical at first, Steiner, who is an avid Civil War buff, decided to get the note analyzed, and discovered that the handwriting seemed to be genuine. However, he ran into obstacles when historical societies refused to acknowledge his discovery. He continued to pursue the note's authenticity, and sent it to a handwriting expert, who confirmed that the handwriting seems to be that of President Lincoln himself. The estimated value is $120,000.

It's amazing how things like this keep resurfacing. In 1954, an old photograph showing Lincoln at Gettysburg, taken by Mathew Brady, was discovered at the National Archives. This year, old photographs have constantly been discovered in long-forgotten places, as well as manuscripts, letters, and even a watch with an inscription inside. Because this is Lincoln's 200th birthday year, artifacts relating to him are of special interest. If only I could be so lucky as to make an amazing discovery like that! It would be like finding hidden treasure.