June 16:     Mary B. Townsend (Author) “The Unknown General.”

July 21:       Larry Tagg (Author) “The Unpopular Mr. Lincoin.” This program will be held

                        outdoors in the Amphitheater.

Aug. 18:        Barbara Hemmingsen “Chattanooga.”

Sept. 15:          Mark Shapiro

Oct. 20:        Rich Marcell “Another Look at Robert E. Lee.”

Nov. 17:       Pedro Garcia “Men Really Do Go Mad: Slavery, Secession, Seward & Sumpter.”

Dec. 15:        Chraistmas Party and Round Table Social

This month our guest speaker will be Dr. Joe Wagner on “Civil War Medicine.”

The state of medical and surgical practice during the American Civil War remained primitive with almost no scientific foundation.  Based entirely on experience with what worked in previous centuries, doctors were surprisingly effective in the care of the sick and wounded.  New discoveries in science and technology were not far off, but still just beyond their horizon.  The existence of bacteria remained unknown. The germ theory of disease was yet to be determined.  X-rays not yet discovered

His initial curiosity in exploring this subject was the matter of anaesthesia.  The first successful public demonstration of anaesthesia took place at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1846.  When the Civil War began 15 years later, did the surgeons know about and  use anaesthesia? 

 We will see the answers to those questions during this presentation on “Civil War Medicine”.

Wilderness, Va.

Preservationists are trying to get Wal-Mart to move its proposed site for a Superstore to a nearby site elsewhere in the county. In the meantime, in September of last year, a lawsuit has been filed against the Orange County Board of Supervisors, who made a decision to approve a special use permit for a Wal-Mart Supercenter and associated development. While litigation is never a preferable outcome, the preservation community feels strongly that when an irreplaceable national treasure is at risk, it is our duty to exhaust all reasonable means of opposition before surrendering a site to sprawl. The Board failed to obtain critical information about the historic importance of the Wal-Mart site.  It relied exclusively of analysis provided by Wal-Mart, without securing independent review of those findings. The proposed Wal-Mart site, which would also include 100,000 square feet of other commercial development, is unprotected land within the historic boundaries of the Wilderness Battlefield and is immediately adjacent to the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.

Fort Gaines, Ala.
            In the Civil War Preservation Trust’s list of the most endangered battlefields, Fort Gaines remains in the top ten.

In addition to the information about the Wilderness and Fort Gaines, Mrs. Schwartz added that the SUVCW, Sgt. William Pittenger Camp 21, is collecting money to erect a State Historical Marker near Lake Henshaw, commemorating the “Civil War Affair at Minter’s Ranch”. They have asked for support from the Civil War community.

Acting upon the information, Mrs. Schwartz made the motion to have the SDCWRT send a check for $600.00 to the Civil War Preservation Trust, with the directive that $300.00 go to preservation efforts at The Wilderness, and $300.00 go to Fort Gaines. In addition, the SDCWRT will give $300.00 for the erecting of a State Historical Marker at Lake Henshaw. The motion was passed unanimously. 

Later in the evening, Mr. Dave Tooley gave a presentation on bookbinding and preservation. He has many years’ experience in bookbinding and preservation. He began with a brief history of how the book and later printing came to be. The book was invented in the western world in the Roman Empire when it was discovered that codices—the bound book as we know it today—was far easier for recording large works than scrolls which could stretch for hundreds of yards. During this time, most books were made of parchment, a stretched animal skin that is limed but not tanned; or vellum, a more refined and expensive stretched animal skin.

Moveable type was invented in the West by Johannes Gutenberg in middle of the fifteenth century. Moveable type was an advancement over hand writing for it was possible to cast individual letters in metal and then arrange them in a tray to make a page and multiple copies far more easily. It was possible to make anything with moveable type as the letters could be arranged for one page and then rearranged for another, and another. This process had been invented in China during the Ch’ing-li period (1041-1048).

Hardbound books are printed on large sheets of paper on which a number of pages in the book are printed on the same sheet. These large sheets are then folded to make a section of a book which is called a signature and may consist of 4, 8, 16, 32, or more pages of the book. A book which consists of 320 pages, for example, may consist of 10 signatures of 32 pages each. The pages in a signature are then sewn together and the other edges cut. The signatures are then placed together in order, and then cords are placed across their backs and then the signatures and cords are sewn together to make the book and the edges are evened out. It may be noticed in old books that there are a number of straps across the spine. These straps are the cords. The backs of the books are rounded to make opening easier. Finally a piece of cloth, such as muslin, is cemented over the back of the book covering the cords. Some modern books are not sewn, but glued together like a writing pad. Original hide glue will dry out, crack thus causing the book to fall apart over time. Additionally, this hide glue is silverfish food. 

With the pages in the book together, it is necessary to make the cover. Folded sheets of paper—the endpapers—are added to forward and end of the book. Endpapers may be marbleized paper which is produced by floating the paper over water filled with dyes. The endpapers are then glued to the cover boards. The spine is best attached to the ends of the cover boards and not the back of the book itself, because when the book is opened, the spine will not move with the pages and this will assist in the longevity of the spine. When the spine is glued to the back of the book, it will move when the book is opened and an old spine will crack and disintegrate when the book is opened. It is best in old books of this design to open the books as narrowly and as little as possible.

With the cover and spine completed, it is necessary to cover the book in leather or similar material. There is almost no limit to the materials that can be used to cover a book. High-quality books use leather and similar animal materials while lesser-quality and high-use books may use a cloth cover. There are several hybrids with cloth and other material as well as leather scraps cemented together. With the book covered in leather, or other material, the title and other information is pressed in the book with gold leaf. Cheaper books may use brass, etc. The title may also be placed on a separate piece of leather and then cemented to the book. With the title completed and impressed upon the book, the book is complete. 

Mr. Tooley also spoke of the various materials used in the bookmaking process. For cement, Mr. Tooley uses a modern compound that is designed to last for centuries. He does not use the more original hide glue for it draws insects and other creatures which likely contributed to the book’s poor condition in the first place.

The paper in the book changed after the advent of moveable type. Paper made of animal skins were of high-quality, but impractical for mass production and were relegated to high-quality books. Beginning in the seventeenth century, rags were soaked until they became soft and then pressed together to make paper. Rag paper is of good quality and many still retain their original color. In the Industrial Revolution, more books were required and printers turned to wood-based paper. This mid-nineteenth century to early twentieth century paper is of notoriously poor quality, because when it was produced, the makers used acid and did not thoroughly wash the paper allowing the acid to disintegrate the pages over time. Many books made in the nineteenth century have suffered such a fate and their pages are very brittle today. Modern paper is a mixture of wood and rags and is treated with chemicals which should not cause their degradation.

The boards used in the cover of a book may be of any material, such as wood and card paper, but most older books are made of a mixture of straw, wood scraps, etc. cemented together. Many other aspects of the books were made from animal products.

With the advent of half-tone printing—using various concentrations of dots to show shading instead of continual shading—photographs could be placed in books as separate plates. In some old books, it may be noted that there is a piece of tissue paper in front of the plates. This is done to prevent the very strong inks used in the production of plates from bleeding through to the other pages.

As for the preservation of books, Mr. Tooley said that the worst enemy of a book is moisture. Also, gravity is not kind to books when they are on shelves and he advises that large “coffee table” size books be laid flat, not stood as usual. When books are made and when Mr. Tooley preserves them, a large press is used when cementing the various parts together. Mr. Tooley also showed several examples of books which he had restored, or was in the process of restoring, to illustrate the process of bookbinding. Some books which are not restored to preserve originality are placed in specially made boxes. It was later revealed that the oldest book Mr. Tooley has restored was from the year 1510 and two of the examples present at the meeting were from the mid-eighteenth century. There were, of course, several examples relating to the Civil War. Such a presentation was essential to anyone who is interested in collecting books from the time of the Civil War and no one is more qualified than Mr. Tooley to present on antiquarian books.

The author would like to extend his gratitude to Mr. Tooley for his invaluable assistance in the compilation of the article.

Our speaker for this meeting will be our President and Leader, Dave Tooley. Dave in his past life has been a respected Bookbinder and will speak on both how those old books that we all have were bound and with what materials they used when first published. He will also explain how he restores antique books in need of help. Last but not least how to care for these treasured volumes, so future generations will be able to enjoy and learn from them. This will be a very informative presentation, so please don’t miss it.

PUT ON YOUR THINKING CAPS.

I have had several requests to have a program where we have a debate on a battle, political decision, Man against Man or anything that will make for interesting evening. Maybe even change some minds or at the least make walk away with something you didn’t know when you arrived at the meeting.

If you have an idea of something you would like to see or be a part of the debate please e-mail me at trolley@cox.net or see me at our meeting.

Bill Cooper, Program Chairman

This month’s presentation was a show and tell and various members of the Civil War Round Table brought their Civil War artifacts, books, and stories relating to Christmas. Below is a list and description of those who presented.

1. Sharon Tooley: a book entitled “Music and Musket: Bands and Bandsmen of the American Civil War” by Kenneth Olson. The book contained many stories about music in the war, but there was no mention of Christmas. There was, however, a very interesting story about a drummer boy in the war by the name of Johnny Clem. Clem was only ten when the war began and tried unsuccessfully to enlist as a drummer boy until he was accepted in the 22^nd Michigan in 1862. There exists a story where he was at the Battle of Shiloh and he was nearly killed and his drum destroyed. He also showed bravery during the Battle of Chickamauga and after the war, he continued with the Army. He advanced in rank until he retired in 1916, the last active duty officer to have served in the Civil War. He died in 1937 at the age of 85. Another interesting story was the one of Henry J. White who was a drum major in the early part of the war. His story was exceptional in the fact that he was 89 years old and was still as vigorous as the 20-year-old men around him!
2. Al Haun: an answer to the question about shipping containers for goods during the Civil War. As a re-enactor, Mr. Haun has the advantage of not only knowing the history but living it out as well. One might ask what was used to package Christmas packages being sent to the soldiers in the Civil War. At first one might think wooden crates would be the answer, and they would, but wood is heavy and since freight is charged by weight, it would be prohibitively expensive to mail goods in this manner, especially when the goods being sent are lighter than the packaging. The answer was cardboard, which is much lighter than wood. It is true that cardboard boxes were used during the Civil War, but not the corrugated kind we are used to today, but heavy card paper layered and cemented together which looks similar to the cardboard used in old book covers. This worked well as long as the package did not get wet. To illustrate his example, Mr. Haun had a cardboard box from the Second World War, but such was the same as those during the Civil War. Shipping in the 1860s was done by railroad and could take between a week and two months depending upon the destination.
3. Curtis Dryer: two poems from the Civil War relating to Christmas. The first poem was by Confederate soldier named William Gordon McCabe (Aug. 4, 1841-Jun. 1, 1920) and was about the recollection of the joys of being home for Christmas. He fondly illustrates how joyous it would be to go home instead of fighting in the war and how the halls would be decorated and his mother would be very glad to see him. He added that his friends also long to go home, but there is no home for him as he only has the bivouac (his army encampment). The second poem was by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and was entitled “Christmas Bells” and was written in 1864. This poem was about the misfortune of the joyous the sounds of peaceful church bells being drowned out by cannon fire. Longfellow then called for peace on Earth and an end to conflict and hatred. He ended with the fact that good will prevail.
4. Kathleen Bell: a Christmas poem by the Poet Laureate of the Confederacy, Henry Timrod (Dec. 8, 1828-Oct. 7, 1867). In the beginning of the war, Timrod had been an avid patriot whose patriotic poems roused the emotions of young men in the Confederacy to join the Confederate Army. He himself could not fight for long due to an illness, but he seems to have done his part with his inspirational patriotic poems. As the war wore on, his son died and later his youthful vigor gave way to depression. He wrote a poem entitled “Christmas” during this time and the theme is peace. Owing to his depression, the poem is depressed and written in a more formal English of older times.
5. Dave Tooley: an account of slaves during Christmas in the war after Lincoln’s Proclamation from a book, “The Civil War Song and Story” (1892) by Frank Moore. The account began early in the day with the slaves rising and gathering with one wearing a red coat. They then sang songs about salvation and manage to give correct lyrics despite the fact they were illiterate. Their quotations of scripture are also strikingly accurate and when asked how they could accomplish such without reading, they said they heard it once and repeated it over again until the learned the verse. In the end, they all looked forward to their pending freedom.
6. Bill Cooper: a story set in modern times that could easily apply to all soldiers in all wars. The story began with Santa Claus descending the chimney to find the house empty except for a young man sleeping on the floor. Santa was perplexed by such a situation and later found out that the soldier had served in the current Iraq War and he slept in such an austere manner for it was his wish and an honor to those still overseas. Santa then realized that today—as much as in the 1860s—we owe the fact that we can have a Merry Christmas to those who are fighting wars to maintain peace, democracy, &c.

Mar. 17- Phil Binks “Civil War Firearms”

Apr. 21- Gean Armistead “Charles Stewart: First Admiral & Forgotten Hero”

May.- Mike Schooling TBA

Jun.-TBA

Jul.-TBA

Aug.-TBA

Sep.16-Social

Oct. 21-TBA

Last month’s presentation given by Mark Shapiro on Ambrose Bierce referred to his short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” conceded by many as one of the greatest literately works ever written.  In 2005, Kurt Vonnegut referred to “Occurrence” in his book A Man Without a Country as one of the greatest works of American literature, and called anyone who hadn’t read it a “twerp”. If you would like to read this short story you can find it at the following web page. Enjoy. http://fiction.eserver.org/short/occurrence_at_owl_creek.html

Last month’s presentation given by Mark Shapiro on Ambrose Bierce referred to his short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” conceded by many as one of the greatest literately works ever written.  In 2005, Kurt Vonnegut referred to “Occurrence” in his book A Man Without a Country as one of the greatest works of American literature, and called anyone who hadn’t read it a “twerp”. If you would like to read this short story you can find it at the following web page. Enjoy. http://fiction.eserver.org/short/occurrence_at_owl_creek.html If you are one of those who still have not ventured into ciberspace and the internet but would like to have a copy of this short story let me know and I will print one for you.

            Bierce was born in Ohio on June 24, 1842 and was the tenth of thirteenth children. He was not close to his father and he had had a very poor relationship with his mother. His parents were poor, but literate and wished him to take an interest in books and writing, which he would later develop after the war. Upon the outbreak of war, he enlisted with the Federal army soon after President Lincoln’s call for volunteers, and was one of the first to do so in his county. He saw extensive service in the war and fought in several battles. He was involved in the Battle of Shiloh and in Sherman’s March and on June 23, 1864, he was shot in the left temple by a Confederate sniper. Luckily for him, considering the medicine of the time, he survived, but the bullet remained in his temple and he suffered severe headaches for the rest of his life and even the slightest exertion would make them worse. His head wound ended his fight in the Civil War.

Amrose Bierce and "the Skull of a Former Freind"

         After the war, he continued in the army and went out to San Francisco where he later resigned with the rank of brevet major. He remained in California in San Francisco where he married in 1871. He had two sons and a daughter, of whom he outlived the sons and divorced his wife in 1904 after her questionable conduct several years before. His headaches were further complicated by his constant asthma.

            After settling in California, Bierce began his literary career. Around that time, he made friends with Mark Twain with whom he was about as close as possible for a man with his personality.  An early piece that brought him to prominence was an editorial he wrote in 1887 as a response to the Secretary of War’s efforts to return captured Confederate flags to their owners. Many objected, but Bierce did not see the need of the hatred and support the return, stating it was his place to voice and opinion as he helped to capture the said flags. Such editorials brought him to the attention William Randolph Hurst and he later went to work for his paper, the San Francisco Examiner where he wrote a regular editorial.

            Bierce was very confrontational and had a distaste for authority figures such, editors, despite being for a time. His dislike of authority figures was reflected in his writings. Bierce often attacked other writers, politicians, and even those who tried to be close to him. He even attacked Oscar Wilde and his work when the he visited San Francisco. Wilde and the public did not pay attention and Wilde remained vastly popular with the locals. Although his attacks were usually at people and might be seen as humorous by some, other writings were very discriminatory, such as one piece which was strongly anti-Semitic. His harsh criticisms earned him several nicknames including “Diabolical Bierce” and the most popular, “Bitter Bierce”, and his favorite, “The Wickedest Man in San Francisco”.

            Bierce’s work about the war was quite shocking for its day and remains so today. He described the battles very vividly and described all the horrors of battle. One description that distinguished Bierce was his description of the Battle of Shiloh. Bierce began writing about the war at a time when scholars were just beginning to take interest in the war, since it had only ended a couple of decades before. Another piece by Bierce that gained notoriety was An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge which was published in 1891. In the story, a Confederate sympathizer is about to be hanged for the sabotage of a railroad bridge for which he was not responsible. As he was to be hanged, the rope broke and he was able to escape under fire. He manages to make it back home undetected, but when he arrives, he feels a strong pain in his neck and all goes black. It turns out that he never escaped and was actually hanged in reality. This twist ending has become famous and has been repeated numerous times. It has been said that this story is a precursor of post-modern literature.

            Another famous work by Bierce is the Devil’s Dictionary which he complied over several years. This book takes the form of a regular dictionary, but its definitions are a satire. Below are some sample definitions:

1. Acquaintance, n. A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to. A degree of friendship called slight when its object is poor or obscure, and intimate when he is rich or famous
2. Education, n. That which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding.
3. Mayonnaise, n. One of the sauces that serve the French in place of a state religion.
4. Politician, n. An eel in the fundamental mud upon which the superstructure of organized society is reared. When he wriggles he mistakes the agitation of his tail for the trembling of the edifice. As compared with the statesman, he suffers the disadvantage of being alive.

            Bierce’s personality led to several clashes and his severe criticisms of other writers led their own against him. He took to carrying a loaded pistol with him at all times and on his desk he kept a human skull which he said came from a former friend. He was not close to many people and as a person would become closer to him, he would push them away again. One writer who was fond of Bierce received severe criticism from him. The author was Stephen Crane and his book, The Red Badge of Courage, was about the adventures and troubles of a soldier in the Civil War. Crane wrote realistically about war despite having been born after the war and never having been in combat. This fact and the fact he became more famous than the genuine veteran Bierce’s realistic descriptions gained Crane severe criticism from the former.

            Bierce was well known amongst authors for his literary work, but with the public, he was better known for his editorials as this was the days of sensational yellow journalism. One of his poems did, however, gain him national attention, albeit negative. In 1900, the governor of Kentucky was shot and killed and Bierce published an editorial in Hearst’s paper about the event. In the editorial, Bierce wrote that no one could find the bullet that killed the governor as it was on its way to killing President McKinley. There was little stir at the time, but when McKinley was shot and killed the following year, there was outrage against Hearst and his paper. The poem ended Hearst’s efforts to become president, but despite the setback. Hearst did not reveal Bierce as the author nor did he apologize for the incident. In actuality, Bierce’s poem was meant to show dismay rather than a call to kill McKinley.

Dr. Shapiro Speaking About the Life of Ambrose Bierce

            Bierce’s death was perhaps one of the most interesting events in literary history. In his seventy-first year in 1913, Bierce made a tour of his former battle sites from the Civil War and then headed to Mexico to observe Pancho Villa (before his murderous rampage in New Mexico in 1916) and watch the Mexican Revolution as it happened. He was not heard from again after December of 1913 and his fate remains unknown. Some say that he came back to kill himself at the Grand Canyon and others state that he was a spy for the Federal Government on Mexico—neither of which seem plausible nor have been proven.

            Bierce was one of the most controversial writers of his generation, but his realistic writing style foreshadowed that in the years after his death. He was a major influence on Ernest Hemmingway, both of whim did not like their mothers and were wounded in battle. In retrospect, many scholars argue that Bierce’s writings about his experiences in the Civil War are among the best on war, even better than those of Hemmingway and Stephen Crane’s work of fiction.

The conference, to be held in Clovis, California, October 23-25, 2009 on the Campaign for Chattanooga, Tennessee, represents the best of what the West Coast Conference offers.

The keynote speaker, Professor Steven Woodworth, was described by Dr. Gary Gallagher as the “Dean of Civil War Historians for the study of the Western Theater.” Other speakers include Dr. William Glenn Robertson, director of the Combat Studies Institute at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Professor Robertson is regarded as the world’s expert on the battle of Chickamauga. Also speaking, Wiley Sword, author of the definitive book on the battle of Chattanooga, in addition to four staff historians from the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park and Dr. Jim Stanbery of Los Angeles Harbor College.

http://www.chattanooga2009.com/speakers.html

In brief, the nation’s leading scholars on the Chattanooga Campaign will be gathered for this occasion. Never before has the West Coast Conference offered such an ambitious program.

Information detailing our program, speakers, registration, hotels, etc is available at: www.chattanooga2009.com