Old Baldy Civil War Round Table of Philadelphia November 11, 2004, The One Hundred and Forty-Third Year of the Civil War November 11th The President’s Letter Thursday Meeting Hello Everyone! The November 11th Meeting Election month is here and by the time you read this the of the Old Baldy Civil War election of 2004 will be history. Hopefully everyone got to Round Table will start at 7:30 exercise their right to vote and the country has made the pm on Thursday at the Civil right decision. War and Underground Thanksgiving is right around the corner and the weekend Railroad Museum at 1805 Pine Street in Philadelphia. The of November 19-21st is Remembrance Weekend in speaker will be David Duncan from The Civil War Gettysburg. Friday, the 19th starts out with James Getty Preservation Trust. The topic will be Battlefield reading the Gettysburg Address in the National Cemetery. Preservation. It will be a very important night for everyone The 20th is the parade of troops down Steinwehr Avenue concerned about the state and future of our Civil War in the center of town and also later that evening is the 2nd Battlefields. annual Luminary at the Cemetery. It was an awesome and impressive sight last year. So if you have never come to “Faults of the Atlanta Campaign” Gettysburg for this weekend you might want to give it a try. Guaranteed you will want to return each year. The October 6th Program was Dr. Richard McMurry. Dr. McMurry gave one of his imposing presentations (factual Last month our speaker was Dr. Richard McMurry who and humorous) on “Faults of the Atlanta Campaign”. gave a fantastic as well as a humorous talk on the Faults Dr. Richard M. McMurry is a retired professor of history of the Atlanta Campaign. This month’s meeting is very who has written several books on the war in the west. important for anyone to attend who is concerned about the preservation of Civil War battlefields. Thursday, Titles include "Two Great Rebel Armies," "John Bell Hood and the War for Southern Independence" and continued on page 2 "The Road Past Kennesaw: The Atlanta Campaign of 1864." Richard is always welcome at Old Baldy. Dr. Richard M. McMurry Bring a friend, neighbor and another Civil War buff to enjoy a fascinating subject and to support our speakers at Old Baldy. 1 November 11th speakers from the CW Preservation Trust of a Union regiment. Identifiable by his trademark black will be here to enlighten us on this ongoing mission. So velvet suit (he eschewed uniforms), a volley from the please make a special effort to attend. Yankees killed McCulloch instantly. His successor, General James McIntosh, was killed minutes later and the leader- Hope to see you all there!! less Confederates retreated. McCulloch's death was the Nancy Caldwell turning point in the battle, and the Confederate defeat President ensured Union domination of northern Arkansas for the rest of the war. One of Texas' most noted heroes, Ben McCulloch was born in Tennessee and died in Arkansas. He spent most of his life in service to Texas, however, and is buried in the Texas State cemetery in Austin. HistoryChannel Birth: November 11, 1811 Death: March 7, 1862 Texas State Cemetery Today in Civil War History Austin, Texas November 25, 1863 - Battle of Missionary Ridge Union General Ulysses S. Grant breaks the siege of General Ben McCulloch Chattanooga, Tennessee, in stunning fashion by routing the Confederates under General Braxton Bragg at Missionary Ridge. For two months since the Battle of Chattanooga, the Today in Civil War History Confederates had kept the Union army bottled up inside November 11,1811 - Ben McCulloch born of a tight semicircle around Chattanooga. When Grant Confederate General Ben McCulloch is born near arrived in October, however, he immediately reversed the Rutherford City, Tennessee. defensive posture of his army. After opening a supply line by driving the Confederates away from the Tennessee Raised in Tennessee, McCulloch followed his friends Davy River in late October, Grant prepared for a major offensive Crockett and Sam Houston to Texas in 1835. Measles in late November. It was launched on November 23 when kept him from joining Crockett at the Alamo, where its Grant sent General George Thomas to probe the center of defenders, including Crockett, were massacred when the the Confederate line. Stunningly, this simple plan turned Mexican army overran the mission during the Texas War into a complete victory, and the Rebels retreated higher for Independence. McCulloch served with Houston at the up Missionary Ridge. On November 24, the Yankees decisive Battle of San Jacinto, in which Mexican General captured Lookout Mountain on the extreme right of the Santa Anna's army was defeated and Texas gained its Union lines, and this set the stage for the Battle of independence. After the war, McCulloch served in the Missionary Ridge. Texas legislature and the Texas Rangers, the primary law enforcement agency in the Republic of Texas. He fought The attack took place in three parts. On the Union left, under General Zachary Taylor during the Mexican War General William T. Sherman attacked troops under Patrick and served as a U.S. marshal in the 1850s. Cleburne at Tunnel Hill, an extension of Missionary Ridge. In difficult fighting, Cleburne managed to hold the hill. On When the Civil War broke out, McCulloch became a the other end of the Union lines, General Joseph Hooker colonel in command of Texas troops. He rode to San was advancing slowly from Lookout Mountain, and his Antonio and forced the surrender of a Federal arsenal force had little impact on the battle. It was at the center there, while his brother, Henry, took control of Federal that the Union achieved its greatest success. The soldiers posts on the Texas frontier. In May 1861, Ben McCulloch on both sides received confusing orders. Some Union became a brigadier general in the Confederate army and troops thought they were only supposed to take the rifle was assigned to defend Indian Territory. He formed pits at the base of the ridge, while others understood that alliances with several tribes in the area before moving his they were to advance to the top. Some of the force to southwestern Missouri, where he played a key role Confederates heard that they were to hold the pits, while in the Confederate victory at Wilson's Creek on August others thought that they were to retreat to the top of 10, 1861. Missionary Ridge. Furthermore, poor placement of McCulloch commanded a wing of the Army of the West Confederate trenches on the top of the ridge made it diffi- as it approached a Union force led by General Samuel cult to fire at the advancing Union troops without hitting Curtis in northwestern Arkansas in March 1862. Curtis their own men, who were retreating from the rifle pits. The took up a defensive position around Elkhorn Tavern and result was that the attack on the Confederate center waited for the Confederates to attack. On the night of turned into a major Union victory. After the center col- March 6, McCulloch marched his troops around Curtis's lapsed, the Confederate troops retreated on November 26, right flank and prepared for an early morning assault on and Bragg pulled his troops away from Chattanooga. He March 7. Curtis discovered the movement, and blocked resigned shortly thereafter, having lost the confidence of McCulloch's advance. That day, at the Battle of Pea Ridge, his army. Curtis held off a furious attack by McCulloch's force. The Confederates suffered 6,687 men killed, wounded, McCulloch rode forward to monitor his men's progress and missing, and the Union lost 5,824. Grant missed an when he emerged from some underbrush directly in front continued on page 3 2 opportunity to destroy the Confederate army when he in the spring after Grant was promoted to general in chief chose not to pursue the retreating Rebels, but of all Federal forces. Chattanooga was secured. Sherman resumed the attack HistoryChannel Two Beautiful Monuments return to the Gettysburg Battlefield Andrzej Dajnowski of Forest Park, Illinois and one of the NPS Rangers put the final touches on the restoration of the 74th Pennsylvania Infantry monument. The monument was struck by an SUV and almost totally destroyed. But through the “magic” of Andrzej it sets on it’s “Hollowed Ground” once more. On the same day the Park Service put the top of the 4th Ohio Infantry monument back on it’s base. It had been missing since the turn of the century (1900) do to structural damage from the soft metal (Zinc) used to create it. I happened to be on the Battlefield that day doing some photography and came upon these two nice events. Don Wiles Seventy Fourth Regiment Infantry Colonel Alexander Von Schimmelfennig In March, 1862, the "74th" marched to the Shenandoah to November 9, 1862. Valley to reinforce Fremont's Mountain Department, assist- Colonel A. Von Hartung ing in driving Stonewall Jackson's force southward after to July 11, 1864. the battle of Cross. Keys. Under Major-Gen. Franz Sigel a Colonel Gottlieb Hoburg forced march was made to Cedar Mountain. In Pope's to August 29, 1865. movement of August, 1862, the regiment met the enemy Philadelphia Companies A and K at Freeman's Ford. Here Brig.-Gen. Henry Bohlen, com- Total Enrollment: 197 Officers and Men manding the brigade, was killed, Col. Schimmelfennig tak- ing his place. Battles followed at Groveton and Bull Run THE "74th" was largely composed of men of German (second).