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Brochure Twichell Trail Pg “Following the Footsteps of Joseph On Twichell’s Trail: Twichell’s Civil War Journey” Monday, May 4 - Saturday, May 9, 2015 Description and Registration Form Part of the 2015 Celebration of AHCC’s 150th Anniversary Designed and Led by Peter Grandy and Steve Courtney I have now something to say concerning my personal proceedings with reference to the war. I had some just appreciation of the real point at issue, the dire necessity which alone should make the idea of civil strife tolerable - such an appreciation that I could pray and weep over it, yet contemplate with firmness the dreadful path, by which America is to struggle up to better days. The blood of the Twichells was emphatically up. – Joseph Hopkins Twichell to his father. Edward Twichell, April 22, 1861. In 1865, when the cornerstone of AHCC’s sanctuary was out in July 1864, nine months before Appomattox. laid, a pastor had not yet been selected. There were During those three years, Twichell was devoted to disagreements. Some believed it was important to choose his troops and ministered to them during some of an experienced pastor with a proven track record, while the most difficult and bloody battles of the war. others felt a young pastor would be preferable, one who Twichell wrote regularly and voluminously to his would grow with the new church. They all agreed, father and other family members about what he however, that some sage advice was needed, and so was experiencing. His letters have been called turned to Dr. Horace Bushnell, one of America’s most “one of the most vivid of all Civil War eyewitness respected clergy, whose only recommendation was the accounts.” Rev. Joseph Hopkins Twichell. Bushnell and Twichell had become acquainted when Twichell visited Hartford This proposed part of AHCC’s 150th Anniversary on leave from his regiment during the Civil War. They celebration will be a six-day bus tour following spent a few days together, and Bushnell was mightily the Civil War journey of Joseph Twichell from impressed. 1861-1863 (with some reference to events during his last year of service in 1864). One could argue that it was his Civil War experience that matured the young Joseph Twichell beyond his years. Whatever the case, the committee accepted Bushnell’s suggestion, and it proved to be the right choice! Twichell served 47 years as AHCC’s beloved pastor, and the church grew from 114 members to almost 750, with an active and vibrant church school, and strong mission outreach and music programs. Today we stand on his broad shoulders. It was in 1861 that 23-year-old Joseph Twichell enlisted as chaplain to the 71st New York Volunteers, part of General Daniel Sickles’ Excelsior Brigade, having finished only one year of study at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Twichell remained with this regiment throughout much of the Civil War, mustering Trip Highlights 1. The tour will begin near Washington, D.C. with the battlefield of Bull Run. Though Twichell was not present, it was of tremendous psychological importance to the young chaplain as it was to the nation in general. Twichell’s regiment was called to the capital and ultimately to the “seat of war” in Virginia. Later, at the Battle of Kettle Run nearby, Twichell’s regiment suffered its heaviest losses. Twichell would twice return there during the war to visit the graves of dear lost friends. 2. Traveling on to the Virginia peninsula, the area east of Richmond where Twichell’s regiment first saw action in 1862, we will visit many places recorded in Twichell’s letters. At the Battle of Williamsburg Twichell reportedly saved the life of a critically wounded 19-year- old Confederate soldier, William Moffatt Grier, later a minister and president of Erskine College in South Carolina. Grier’s great-grandson, the Rev. Tom Long, one of today’s foremost preachers, has twice visited AHCC to share his family’s story. We’ll visit the location of a major Union field hospital at Savage’s Station. When it was abandoned to the Confederates, Twichell led a band of wounded soldiers to safety on foot while closely pursued by the enemy. After visiting sites of the Battles of Seven Pines and Malvern Hill, we’ll travel to Harrison’s Landing where Twichell describes President Lincoln’s visit to the troops and where Twichell probably heard the very first playing of Group of soldiers from Twichell’s the bugle call Taps. 71st New York Volunteers 3. We’ll head north to visit two major Virginia battlefields, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, read Twichell’s vivid description of the first battle, and hear stories surrounding both battles. 4. We will spend two nights in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where the largest and most pivotal battle of the war took place. Twichell’s regiment was in the thick of it and was involved in a controversial troop movement - an unauthorized advance by his commander that led to the near-defeat of the Union forces. A regimental marker on the field and a barn still standing with cannonballs embedded in its bricks will enable us to stand in the exact spot where Twichell stood during the second day of this battle, experiencing heavy artillery shelling. The Civil War, of course, is more than its military battles. During this trip we will also discuss many of the moral and social issues that Twichell and others wrestled with during these turbulent times, and reflect on how these same issues, in different forms, are still with us today. Our trip will be greatly enhanced by the presence of Steve Courtney, author of Joseph Hopkins Twichell: The Life and Times of Mark Twain’s Closest Friend, and co-editor of The Civil War Letters of Joseph Hopkins Twichell. Along the way, Steve will share important background material and many wonderful stories of Joseph Twichell. Trip Details DEPARTURE: Our bus will leave promptly from the AHCC parking lot at 7:00 AM, Monday, May 4. Please arrive early enough to meet that departure time. Church bathrooms will be available. Important: Bring a bag lunch with your beverage in a reclosable plastic bottle. No glass bottles are permitted on the bus. We don’t advise you to leave you car in the church parking lot over the week. Make sure you have someone drive you to the church and pick you up on our return in the evening on Saturday, May 9, or, you can leave your car in the AHCC parking lot if you arrange for someone to pick it up later that day. ACTIVITY LEVEL: We will be walking around a number of Civil War battlefields, and you must be able to walk comfortably up to a mile over uneven and unpaved ground. ACCOMMODATIONS: All our accommodations will be at mid-priced hotels. All hotels are ranked within the top ten in their locality, per TripAdvisor.com, with three out of the four listed in the top five. MEALS: All meals are included, with the exception of three lunches: your bag lunch on the first day, and lunch on your own in Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. Provided meals will be simple, but sufficient...and a whole lot better than Civil War hardtack! TRANSPORTATION: We will travel by Post Road Stages motor coach (onboard lavatory) and make rest stops along the way. Because of the distances we need to travel, we will be spending long periods on the bus, so bring some good reading material to fill the time. The first day will be the most difficult. Traveling from Hartford to Manassas, Virginia, can take up to nine hours, depending on the traffic. But that is better than walking or riding a horse that distance, as Twichell did. NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: We plan to take 42 people on the tour, with a waiting list. Your registration and deposit will place you on the participant or waiting list according to the date received. This trip is limited to AHCC members up through December 1, 2014, when it will be opened to other interested parties, if space is available. COST: The per person cost for this trip is $875 for double occupancy and $1,125 for single occupancy. This will include lodging, bus, five breakfasts, three lunches, five dinners, guides, entrance fees, and all gratuities. Financial assistance is available. Please contact Matt Laney at [email protected] or (860) 525-6595. PAYMENT SCHEDULE: $100 is due with your registration with the balance due on or before February 9, 2015. Checks should be made out to AHCC, with “Civil War Trip” on the memo line. Additional Information ADVANCE READING: There is no required reading, but the more you read the more you’ll get out of the trip. We will send out a complete reading list, but to get started here are two recommendations: The Civil War Letters of Joseph Hopkins Twichell: A Chaplain’s Story edited by Peter Messent and Steve Courtney, and Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era by James M. McPherson. DAILY SCHEDULE: We will begin each day on the bus with prayer and a short devotional. Most days, we’ll get an early start, as there will be much to see and do to cover all the travels of Joseph Twichell. On two of the days we have scheduled a little free time for you to tour the towns of Fredericksburg and Gettysburg, including lunch on your own. Most of the evenings will be free time for you to relax, visit with one another, or go to bed early. SPECIAL GUESTS: We have arranged to be joined by local Civil War historians and guides.
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